Selecting a family therapy model: the role of personality attributes in eclectic practice*

The expanding knowledge and skill bases within the interdisciplinary family therapy profession pose a significant challenge for evolving practitioners, at whatever stage along the professional development process they find themselves. This challenge raises a basic question regarding whether there are any constraining forces to the level of eclecticism in practice towards which one can aspire. This paper empirically explores the role played by the personality attributes of the family therapist in facilitating and/or inhibiting one's adherence to a variety of approaches to family practice.     

Training with o (observing) and T (treatment) teams in live supervision: reflections in the looking glass*

Working with a treatment and observing team at the same time, behind the oneway mirror, offers a variety of ways to: (a) generate multiple realities; (b) work with two different models of family therapy simultaneously; and (c) provide feedback on the teams' own roles, rules and group process. The process that 6 trainees and two supervisors used with T and O teams to examine their own coevolution as a therapeutic system using the Milan model of family therapy and Ericksonian hypnotherapy is described. The article concludes with a discussion of the advantages and pitfalls of this type of dual supervision.     

AIDS as a political issue: working with the sexually prostituted in the Philippines

An estimated 200,000-500,000 men, women, and children work in prostitution in the Philippines in a variety of venues, including brothels, nightclubs, pubs, massage parlors, and other legitimate entertainment establishments. Few, however, are voluntary prostitutes. Many people who work as prostitutes have been recruited from the provinces, kept in conditions similar to slavery, and forced to earn money from prostitution to pay for their transportation, board, and lodging. Many prostitutes work in urban centers and tourist resorts in the countryside. During the 1970s, then President Ferdinand Marcos promoted tourism as a major industry, effectively marketing attractive Filipinas to tourists. Sex tourism has flourished in the country ever since. Thousands of prostitutes are also located in Olongapo and Angeles, 2 cities north of Manila, from where they serve the sexual desires of US military personnel. The presence of US military personnel in the Philippines has always been associated with prostitution. The country's social hygiene centers, prostitutes in Manila and Davao, and AIDS education are briefly discussed.     

International migration,international relations and foreign policy

Recent literature on migration, international relations, and foreign policy is reviewed in this article, stressing applications of global systems paradigms, studies of state entry and exit rules, and anatomies of domestic policy-setting processes on migration. After a concise assessment of the contemporary theory of global political economy, the paper argues for seeking mid-range generalizations on the international relations of migration. It also suggests that analysis begin with the policy-setting processes of the state. Especially through the use of comparative perspectives available from domestic policy making studies and from the field of international comparative public policy, this approach offers the opportunity to fix empirically the political roles of transnational social forces, which often present themselves as participants in domestic policy contests. Promising future directions in the study of state-to-state relations are also evaluated, with the anticipation that verifying regional or other intermediate patterns of world migration politics may contribute to more general theories of international political economy.     

Population registers: some administrative and statistical pros and cons

The advantages and disadvantages of introducing a central population register are discussed in the context of the United Kingdom. The discussion covers a range of issues, including "justice, fairness, freedom, privacy, efficiency, the fight against crime and fraud, and relations between the government and the community." The author describes the use of population registers in other European countries, the statistical implications of better population registers, the various population records that do exist in the United Kingdom, and the proposal to introduce identity cards in Australia. A summary of a discussion that took place following presentation of the paper at the Royal Statistical Society is included (pp. 28-41).     

Evolution of family policy in the light of demographic development in West European countries

The author examines some of the issues facing those responsible for developing family policies in European countries, many of which are experiencing rapid demographic aging. Population dynamics in Council of Europe member countries are first described. Implications of this trend for social policies as a whole are also reviewed.     

International migrations in Europe: Polish perspectives for the 1990s

"This article presents estimates of the size of emigration from Poland during the 1980s as well as projections concerning the migration patterns in the 1990s. The author anticipates a contraction of the volume of population outflow by some 50 percent: from about 100,000 to about 50,000 per year, on the average. These projections are based upon the examination of the role of a number of incentives and barriers to migration, including economic, demographic and political factors. In the final section, prospects concerning immigration to Poland are briefly discussed."     

Inheritance and wealth composition

This paper studies the effects of variables pertaining to alternative bequest motives on the composition of households' portofolio. It relies on a 1986 survey on the assets structure of 5600 French households. The main conclusion is that bequest motives indeed influence the composition of households' wealth. However, available data does not allow one to sort out the influence of specific models of inheritance.We thank John Ermisch, Jim Lindsey and two referees for their comments and suggestions. This research benefitted from the financial support of the SPES program.     

Physician executives: where they are and what they do

As hospital operations become increasingly complex, so does the institution's management and organizational structure. Physician executives with titles of medical director, vice president for medical affairs, medical administrator, chief of staff, medical staff president, etc., are playing more important roles than ever before. This article will briefly review some recent literature describing physician executive profiles. The results from a survey of ten university teaching hospitals are also presented as supplementary information regarding current staffing models. Finally, several physician executive staffing-related issues will be discussed in light of the literature and the survey results.     

Environmental issues: the challenge for the chief executive

Businesses are under pressure to adopt environmental policies and incorporate them into their strategic business planning as a matter of routine. These pressures are coming from at least five sources--stricter legislation, consumer demand, competitive advantage, staff concerns and community pressure. The challenge is enormous but there is growing evidence that sound environmental management provides pay-off in bottom line results. Business organizations have a vital role to play and its good for them. There are opportunities for new business as well as threats to those organizations which continue to ignore the trends.