FAMILY THERAPY AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH*

Qualitative research is becoming accepted by the scientific community as a viable way to explore and understand socialscience phenomena. The purpose of this paper is to describe the essential features of the qualitative research paradigm and to encourage further development of that paradigm in the field of family therapy. First, typical characteristics of qualitative research designs are delineated; these characteristics are illustrated with two extended examples from the qualitative research literature in the field of education. Next, possible applications of the qualitative paradigm to research issues in the field of family therapy are discussed. Finally, potential pitfalls that could inhibit the development of qualitative family therapy research are examined. It is hoped that this paper will serve as a stimulus for the development of qualititative research in the field of family therapy.     

Gender symmetry in dating intimate partner violence: does similar behavior imply similar constructs?

The present study examined the extent to which there is gender symmetry in the topography and experience of dating intimate partner violence (IPV). Self-report data were collected from 450 undergraduate men and women at a large Southeastern university. Perpetration and victimization rates were examined, as were context, function, and experience of fear. Results support the view that dating IPV is generally symmetrical at a topographical level, although significantly more women than men reported perpetration of severe physical assault. However, gender asymmetries were found in the context, function, and experience of fear. These findings suggest that gender-sensitive approaches are crucial to the understanding of dating IPV.     

Youth–Family,Youth–School Relationship,and Depression

This study sought to examine the association between adolescents’ relationship with family and school and depressive symptoms across ethnic/racial groups (White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian), and to test potentially unique explanatory power in youth–family relationship versus youth–school relationship, in a sample of 4,783 adolescents. Depressive symptoms were assessed with a 19-item, modified Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). The results indicated that youth–family relationship and youth–school relationship were significant predictors of adolescent depression. However, the findings of the study indicated that unique contributions by youth–family relationship and youth–school relationship were different by racial/ethnic groups. These findings elucidate protective factors for adolescent depression and highlight the importance of cultural context of each racial/ethnic group.     

Model Uncertainty and Model Averaging in the Estimation of Infectious Doses for Microbial Pathogens

Food‐borne infection is caused by intake of foods or beverages contaminated with microbial pathogens. Dose‐response modeling is used to estimate exposure levels of pathogens associated with specific risks of infection or illness. When a single dose‐response model is used and confidence limits on infectious doses are calculated, only data uncertainty is captured. We propose a method to estimate the lower confidence limit on an infectious dose by including model uncertainty and separating it from data uncertainty. The infectious dose is estimated by a weighted average of effective dose estimates from a set of dose‐response models via a Kullback information criterion. The confidence interval for the infectious dose is constructed by the delta method, where data uncertainty is addressed by a bootstrap method. To evaluate the actual coverage probabilities of the lower confidence limit, a Monte Carlo simulation study is conducted under sublinear, linear, and superlinear dose‐response shapes that can be commonly found in real data sets. Our model‐averaging method achieves coverage close to nominal in almost all cases, thus providing a useful and efficient tool for accurate calculation of lower confidence limits on infectious doses.     

Sociocultural change,activity, and individual development: Some methodological aspects

This piece which introduces an article in this issue proposes a methodology for studying individual learning and development related to sociocultural change.¹ The author argues that the mediating function of activity affords a new methodology that allows the study of sociogenetic‐ontogenetic relations without having to resort to reductionism or Cartesian dualism. The tri‐part methodology involves 1) Simulation by selecting key activities that can be constrained and arranged in sequence to model changesin society, and by that same sequence of activities, induce learning and development; 2) Heterochronicity which looks comparatively at the histories and time frames of various activities in a research site as well as the comparative histories and timeframes of particular activities and the lives of different generations of the research population in the interest of identifying periods of rapid societal change, and 3) Leading activity which is co‐determined by the point in an individual's developmental history at which she participates in the activity as well as the genetic sequence of activity categoires characteristic of that society.     

Activity as a mediator of sociocultural change and individual development: The case of school‐work transition in Nepal

This study explores how sociocultural change and individual development are mediated by activities in a process complicated by temporal transitions in environment and in the activity which leads, or is psychologically primary. Based on research among rural Nepali high school students becoming shopkeepers and among rural shopkeepers attending adult education, the author suggests a cultural‐historical alternative to transfer in understanding the continuity and discontinuity of personal knowledge across situations and over time.     

The influence of ideational contests of social policy on government welfare efforts

There has been limited empirical research on the interaction between media influence and governments' decision-making in the social policy field. Drawing on a wider study of the ideation of poverty in South Korea, this research tests if policy ideas represented in the media have bottom-up framing effects on policymaking and can be a reliable indicator of the government's social policy efforts. This study analysed the editorials of major Korean daily newspapers, over the period of a decade from 2000 to 2009. The analysis outcomes identified a significant correlation between the extent of poverty discussions in the media and government welfare spending.     

The Effects of Divorce on Children: Married and Divorced Parents' Perspectives

Three hypotheses, derived from the social psychology literature, regarding the impact of marital status history on parents' attitudes toward the impact of divorce on children were examined. Married parents (n = 118) were expected to report more negative effects of divorce on children than divorced parents (n = 114); mothers and fathers whose own parents remained married were expected to rate the impact of divorce more negatively than mothers and fathers whose parents had divorced; and, divorced parents who initiated their own divorce were expected to report fewer negative effects of divorce on children than parents who did not initiate divorce. All three hypotheses were supported, extending the self- and vested-interest research to the divorce literature.     

Sexual Abuse Prevention Mobile Application (SAP_MobAPP) for Primary School Children in Korea

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effects of a sexual abuse prevention mobile application, SAP_MobAPP, for primary school children. Forty-five subjects were trained for 40 minutes once a week. The experimental group received education that utilized the SAP_MobAPP. Control group A received Web based sexual abuse prevention education, while control group B received textbook based sexual abuse prevention education. Effectiveness was verified through a survey on child sexual abuse recognition and avoidance skills administered before and after training. The SAP_MobAPP program improved recognition (awareness) and the child’s skills to avoid child sexual abuse situations, and the effects were long-lasting. However, differences between groups were not statistically significant. This study developed a sexual abuse prevention application and verified its effectiveness. Awareness and skills to avoid child sexual abuse after app education increased immediately after training and four weeks later. The SAP_MobAPP could be used for sexual abuse prevention education in schools.     

Multiple Predictors of Korean Elderly Men's Leisure Participation

This study examines the leisure constraints experienced by elderly men and investigates how leisure constraints affect their level of participation in leisure activities. A convenience sampling of the independent elderly, sixty or older, residing in Seoul and the province of Kyenggi in Korea comprised the study sample. Of the total 275 participants, 164 were male. The study employed hierarchical multiple regression analysis including demographic, health status, financial status, and leisure constraint factors impacting participation in leisure activities. The findings of the study highlight the importance of interpersonal constraints of elderly men in leisure participation. The elderly men reported significantly higher levels of interpersonal constraints than the elderly women. Financial status factors, such as leisure allowance and employment status, were confirmed to be more influential predictors in determining the elderly men's leisure participation. Practice implications include considering interpersonal constraints or financial status to enhance elderly men's leisure life.