Do Personality Changes Occur in Parents Receiving Behavioral Family Therapy?

The present outcome study is a preliminary report on whether personality changes occur in parents receiving behavioral family therapy. Behavioral techniques for changing the identified patient's presenting problem were taught to the parents and each family member was given a weekly behavioral homework assignment intended to change the dysfunctional interactions assessed in the family.
An analysis of pre and post measures using Cattell's 16PF questionnaire showed a significant decrease in the parent's self-sufficiency index, indicating increased group dependence. The mean number of sessions was 12.6. The results of this study raise questions about the nature of the personality changes occurring in family therapy of this type. Family therapists, often-times assuming the role of the "expert" for the family, may be unwittingly fostering group dependence and losses in confidence for parents receiving such family guidance.     

Training in Human Relations Skills as a Preferred Mode of Treatment for Married Couples*

While effective communication is recognized as important to marital adjustment, few therapeutic alternatives specifically attempt to teach improved communication skills in a systematic manner. In this study, five couples experiencing marital difficulties participated in a traditional therapy group with emphasis upon cathartic release and problem solving. A similar group of five couples participated in a training group consisting of a systematic didactic and experiential approach emphasizing the ability to discriminate and communicate helpfully. The results of outcome measures assessing gain in interpersonal skills and overall functioning indicate significant improvement in the training as compared to the traditional group.     

Are services to prevent foster care effective?

The prevention of foster care became an important issue for child welfare services during the 1970s. Two main types of prevention models have emerged: crisis intervention programs intended to prevent imminent placement and intensive service programs designed to avert those crisis situations that precipitate placement. A critical analysis of several project evaluations leads to the conclusion that neither model has been markedly successful. Low nominal project placement rates seem attributable to inability to predict placements and to client selection biases. From a strictly financial perspective, preventive services have been considerably more expensive than regular services, including temporary family foster care. Data from a new demonstration project in New Jersey illustrate various problems in providing and evaluating preventive services to families referred to protective service agencies. Implications of the findings for prevention programs and policies are discussed, and a new direction focused on truly early intervention with children and families is proposed.     

Sonet-1: Social network analysis and modeling system

SONET-I is a preliminary but completely operational version of a package of computer programs for the analysis of social structure. The programs were written to implement a strategy for the analysis of social networks which the authors have developed over the past several years. The conceptual basis for the research method has its origins in graph theory on the one hand and in anthropological studies of social organization — especially kinship studies — on the other. The method can, in fact, be seen as a graph theoretic formalization and generalization of kinship-based methods of social analysis often associated with British social anthropology.     

Quality of life indicators and program evaluation

Social indicators and program evaluation research have much in common. Quality of life work specifically raises the question of objective versus subjective variables, aggregate data versus distributional and individual issues, and the reference standards used in judgment and evaluation decisions. This article presents perspectives on these issues from the orientation of quality of life research and proposes that these approaches have relevance for program evaluation work.     

Optimal Planning Quantities for Product Transition

The replacement of an existing product with a new one presents many challenges. In particular, uncertainties in a new product introduction often lead to extreme cases of demand and supply mismatches. This paper addresses inventory planning decisions for product upgrades when there is no replenishment opportunity during the transition period. We allow product substitution: when a company runs out of the old product, a customer may be offered the new product as a substitute. We show that the optimal substitution decision is a time‐varying threshold policy and establish the optimal planning policy. Further, we determine the optimal delay in a new product introduction, given the initial inventory of the old product.     

改革开放与中国特色社会主义

改革开放是选择中国特色社会主义道路的逻辑起点,又是不断拓展这条道路的强大动力;改革开放是形成中国特色社会主义理论体系的实践源泉,又是不断完善这个理论体系的实践基础;改革开放是中国特色社会主义制度的鲜明特征,又是不断增强这一制度生机活力的重要法宝。     

关于地理环境决定论及其反思

在中外生态思想史上,地理环境决定论由来已久,可追溯到西方古希腊时期和中国的先秦时期。其中亚里士多德、孟德斯鸠、黑格尔、普列汉诺夫等人的观点值得关注。他们对此有着不同的论述,例如孟德斯鸠重视气候因素,普列汉诺夫重视生产力因素。对于环境决定论,学者们虽有着不同的看法,但各有其合理性。通过梳理地理环境决定论的发展史,我们才能对这一问题获得更好的理解。在生态危机全球化的当代,自觉关注经济社会发展的地理环境特别是生态因素不仅必要而且紧迫。     

论列斐伏尔节奏分析视域中的劳动与休闲

列斐伏尔在节奏分析的视角下把日常生活和时空问题结合起来,运用节奏分析理论对劳动与休闲的关系进行了再思考,深化了日常生活批判理论。列斐伏尔区分了劳动与休闲的节奏,他认为由传统进入现代,支配日常生活的时间节奏愈来愈以机械为中心,人们听从机械的本能,劳动与休闲的关系发生了巨大变化,劳动与休闲都被异化了,休闲被转换成为一种产业,它既是劳动生产的中断,同时又是生产及扩大再生产得以进行和维持的源泉,因此,列斐伏尔分别对现代性的技术异化、规训权力的生成和作为意识形态的媒体进行了批判,揭示了现代社会劳动与休闲被机械组织化的根源,对我国社会现代化建设具有重要的理论指导意义。