Delayed Stress Response Syndrome: Family Therapy Indications*

The paper draws upon the work of Mardi Horowitz and his colleagues in the explication of the delayed stress response syndrome. The syndrome is a form of chronic catastrophic stress disorder to be discussed in the new “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.” The theoretical nature of the syndrome and its most characteristic symptoms are delineated within the context of treating Vietnam combat veterans. The paper outlines treatment implications within a family therapy program. Specific issues and procedures discussed include (a) diagnosis of the syndrome and the family pathology within which it is embedded, (b) identification of the particular family characteristics which tend to affect and be affected by the syndrome, and (c) the use of both the spouse and another survivor of the catastrophic event in the treatment program.     

Engel functions revisited

Engel functions for the United States, based on cross-sectional data for 1972–73, are compared with those for 1960–61. Elasticities of expenditure for major categories of consumption are consistent with those found in other countries at various levels of economic development. However, elasticities for specific items within major categories varied markedly. Rental housing emerges as an inferior good. Superior goods are grouped into four major classes based on expenditure elasticities. Low elasticities tended to decline over time and were associated with positive family size elasticities. Expenditure elasticities that were high tended to become still higher over time and were associated with negative family size elasticities. An examination of expenditure elasticities across income classes indicates that ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ families have become more alike with respect to expenditures for ‘necessities’ but more unlike with respect to expenditures for ‘luxuries’ — education, recreation, owner housing, and men's and women's clothing. As incomes have risen, the composition of consumption has changed, as have the meaning and character of poverty. Questions are raised concerning the significance and research implications of the declining achievement/aspiration ratio for certain kinds of goods and services for many consumers within the United States and for most consumers in countries where incomes have risen less relatively and absolutely than have those of families in highly developed economies.     

The role, function, and contribution of attribution theory to leadership: A review

The purpose of this article is to review literature that has focused on the role of attributions in leadership processes and to explore and explain how the study of attributions does, and can, contribute to our understanding of the dynamics of leadership. The historical roots of attribution research are discussed, along with early attributional research in the leadership area. Two streams of attributional criticisms are addressed and recent attributional research relevant to leadership is reviewed. We argue and demonstrate that attributions account for significant proportions of the variance in leadership behaviors. We conclude with suggestions for including attributional perspectives in comprehensive models of leader behavior.     

The Social Costs of Gambling: An Economic Perspective

Much of the opposition to legalized gambling is based on analyses of the social costs that occur as a result of pathological gambling. It is our contention that many, if not most, authors who have contributed to this literature are either unclear or misguided in what they define as social costs. Instead of starting with a clear definition of what constitutes a social cost, these authors have adopted an ad hoc approach-using "common sense" to determine what constitutes losses to society and then attempting to quantify the impact of those activities. We believe this is not, as some suggest, simply a matter of semantics. Rather, it is a serious problem in the gambling literature. How do we differentiate between a consequence of pathological gambling that is a "social cost" and one that is not? Which of the consequences of addictive behaviors that are associated with gambling arise when gambling is legal, and which will be manifest in some form whether or not gambling is legal? In this article we explain the economic perspective on social costs. An understanding of this paradigm removes the subjectivity in the classification of pathological gambling's social costs. The paper has three major components. First, we introduce the economic notion of social costs. Using this paradigm, we differentiate between the "true" social costs related to pathological gambling, and other negative consequences that cannot legitimately be classified as social costs. Second, we evaluate a recent social cost study using the economics social cost paradigm. Third, we discuss two types of social costs that have been largely overlooked in the gambling literature. One is caused by gambling prohibition. The other occurs as a result of "rent seeking" that is related to the political process surrounding the legalization of gambling.     

Is Who Delivers the Treatment More Important than the Treatment Itself? The Role of The Therapist in Common Factors

In this article, we discuss the role of the therapist in change in couple and family therapy. We argue that the therapist is a key change ingredient in most successful therapy. We situate our discussion in the common factors debate and show how both broad and narrow common factor views involve the therapist as a central force. We review the research findings on the role of the therapist, highlight the strengths and weaknesses of this literature, and provide directions for future research. We then use this review as a foundation for our recommendations for theory integration, training, and practice.     

Results of National Alcohol Screening Day: college demographics, clinical characteristics, and comparison with online screening

OBJECTIVE: The authors evaluated the efficacy of the 2002 college-based National Alcohol Screening Day (NASD) by determining: (1) the demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants that were screened and (2) the degree to which those scoring at hazardous drinking levels received clinical intervention or were referred for further assessment or treatment. PARTICIPANTS: Of 45,368 participants, 23,334 were screened and 14,598 received some form of clinical intervention, defined as advice or referral. METHODS: The authors conducted nonparametric and univariate analyses to test for statistical differences in demographics, clinical-characteristics, and interventions-as a function of-screening mode. RESULTS: Nearly 34% of those screened in person had an AUDIT score of 8 or higher, indicating harmful or hazardous drinking. Of these, only 10% had ever undergone alcohol treatment. More than 58% of those screened online scored 8 or higher, and of this group, fewer than 6% had ever undergone alcohol treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the in-person event and the online interactive program associated with NASD are serving markedly different populations, particularly with regard to clinical indicators.     

International Migration at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century: The Role of the State

This note reviews recent theoretical and empirical work on the determinants and efficacy of state immigration policies to draw conclusions about the future direction of policy regimes throughout the globe and their likely effects. An age of increasingly restrictive immigration policies is emerging, but it is still unclear how effective these policies will be in controlling the volume and composition of international migration. States can be located along a continuum of efficacy with respect to the imposition of restrictive policies. Unfortunately virtually all research done to date has focused on the effectiveness of restrictive policies in major immigrant-receiving developed countries. More research needs to be done to determine just how effective restrictive immigration policies can be under varying degrees of state capacity.     

Guestworker programs: Evidence from Europe and the United States and some implications for U.S. policy

Mounting concern in the United States over increased illegal migration from Mexico during the past decade has generated a heated policy debate and led to a number of proposals as to how the U.S. government should deal with the problem. Among these has been a call for a temporary worker program similar to the U.S.-sponsored Bracero Program (1942–1964) in which over 4 million Mexican workers were recruited to perform temporary agricultural labor in the southwestern United States. This article considers the implications of such a program by examining the social and economic effects of previous guestworker programs in the United States and western Europe from the perspective of both sending and receiving societies. Particular attention is paid to the efficacy of these programs in promoting temporary as opposed to long-term immigration of foreign workers as well as their developmental impact on sending countries.Now at 2405 Rayburn House Office Building, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington DC 20515.     

A macrosimulation approach to the investigation of natural fertility

This paper is part of a long-term investigation known as the Mormon Historical Demography Project. It examines the capability of a simulation model, originally proposed by John Bongaarts (1976), to fit the natural fertility pattern which characterized the mid-nineteenth century Mormon population. Application of this model permits estimates to be made of the historical timing and age-incidence of fertility limitation. A sensitivity analysis of the model’s parameters demonstrates that simple changes in the model’s proximate determinants of fertility, excluding contraceptive practices, would be insufficientto account for later transition effects. Thus the results successfully capture the dynamics underlying the Mormon natural fertility pattern as well as offer a framework for future modeling of the transition away from natural fertility.