Demographic Responses And Population Change

Most Western societies have gone through a process of population change during the past 100-150 years. One important aspect is the socalled demographic transition: the shift from high to low birth and death rates, and accelerated growth resulting from the lag between falling mortality and falling fertility, in national populations. Equally important has been the "rural-to-urban" transition, which involved the migration of millions of people from rural areas. It is hypothesized, following the suggestion of Davis (Theory of the Multi-Phasic Demographic Response), that the adjustment in reproductive behavior made by a community in response to a rising "strain," such as that resulting from higher natural increase, is likely to differ depending upon the ease with which the community can relieve the strain through out migration. Relationships among such characteristics of modernization as intensity of industrialization, speed of urbanization, structural changes in the agricultural system, and declining fertility are implied. Case studies of England and Sweden lend support to the hypothesis: more rapid urban-industrial development, larger-scale movement from rural areas, and a delayed decline in the rural birth rate distinguish the English transition.     

Nonverbal relational control in family communication

A nonverbal component for an observational coding system of verbal relational control, the Family Relational Communication Control Coding System (FRCCCS; Friedlander & Heatherington, 1989) was developed and validated for research with families or other groups. In so doing, it was demonstrated that nonverbal relational control behaviors can be reliably identified and that these behaviors enhance communicative meaning in predictable ways. First, a pool of nonverbal behaviors with relational control meaning (e.g., head nod, raised eyebrow) was identified from consultation with family therapy researchers and from the literature. Second, the behaviors that were retained from the results of a content validity test were perceived by three independent samples as commonly understood, discrete attempts to either gain control (one-up) or relinquish control (one down) of a social relationship. Still other behaviors were eliminated based on results of a cluster analysis, the interpretation of which was the basis for composing operational definitions for four classes of nonverbal behaviors. Finally, assessments of the interjudge reliability and criterion validity of the nonverbal coding scheme supported its psychometric adequacy. Comparison of effect sizes showed that these discrete nonverbal behaviors accounted for over twice the variance in observers' perceptions as the verbal behaviors.     

Rejoinder to Roberto Bachi's article on The Population of Israel

This article is a response by authors Friedlander and Goldscheider to a review article about their book written by Roberto Bachi. They maintain that he has misunderstood their analysis. In order to convey the gist of their analysis, a brief outline is presented of the objectives of their book, The Population of Israel. According to the authors, Israel provides an interesting case study of the relationship between population processes and policies which may have more far-reaching implications. The focus on Bachi's criticisms is on the analysis of immigration patterns and policies, especially an evaluation of Israeli natality policies. Mainly, he was critical of the immigration model, where the use of absolute numbers of immigrants rather than rates of immigration was preferred. The authors did compare immigration rates and volume of immigration for the periods 1924-26 and 1933-36 and these waves of migration were analyzed. Bachi has claimed that the main reason for the decline in immigration to Israel is due to the progressive exhaustion of Jewish population outside Israel; clearly the appropriate explanation is otherwise. Bachi should be able to see how immigration to Israel has responded in ways similar to the socioeconomic and political forces of other international migrations. The authors cite Bachi on 2 points and show how he wrote a biased and distorted review in order to defend his ideological position. Kibbutz fertility and birth rates as influenced by abortion are the 2 issues discussed. The 2 authors claim that since abortion in Israel is connected to socioeconomic and ethnic subgroups, a policy which restricts abortions would reinforce ethnic stratification and discrimination. Other criticisms by Bachi are refuted as well. The authors feel that it is necessary to question the assumptions underlying policies, to evaluate critically their efficacy, and to search out the relative costs and benefits of alternative investments. In analyzing population policies and patterns in Israel, Friedlander and Goldscheider argue for the central importance of population factors in the continuing evaluation of Israeli society. New population polcies must take into account the errors and weaknesses of previous policies in order that they not be repeated.     

Demographic responses and socioeconomic structure: Population processes in England and Wales in the nineteenth century

This paper explores some theoretical and empirical aspects related to the theory of change and multiple response. The empirical analysis focuses on 600 relatively small and homogeneous geographical units of England and Wales for the period 1851-1910. These units are classified into six identifiable socioeconomic types and the analysis is male for each of them. Two interrelated tissues are studied. First, a set of explanatory variables, connected either with strain or with factors relieving strain, is constructed. The effects of these explanatory variables on nuptiality, marital fertility, and migration responses are examined for each socioeconomic type, with respect to their significance, intensity, and direction. The patterns of these effects show general consistency with multiphasic response considerations for all socioeconomic types. A significant finding in this part is that migration affects very strongly the intensity of the marital fertility decline response. The second issue deals with theoretically expected patterns of interrelationships among responses in terms of substitutability and complementarity. The theoretical interrelationships are compared with the empirical for each socioeconomic type; and in general, consistency is established. Moreover, these interrelationships can be interpreted for each socioeconomic type in a way that appears to be consistent with multiphasic response considerations. An important finding in this part is that emigration and marital fertility decline are substitute responses in agricultural-based districts. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Three perspectives on clients' experiences of the therapeutic alliance: a discovery-oriented investigation

To deepen our understanding of the therapeutic alliance in conjoint treatment, we interviewed clients in four families about their individual, private experience of the alliance after an early session. These qualitative data were triangulated with family members' scores on Pinsof's Family Therapy Alliance Scale-Revised and observational ratings of their behavior on the System for Observing Family Therapy Alliances. This discovery-oriented investigation focused on three interrelated aspects of the alliance: the family's shared sense of purpose about the needs, goals, and value of therapy (i.e., within-system alliance), split alliances with the therapist, and felt sense of safety within the therapeutic context. Results were highly consistent across the three perspectives and congruent with idiographic, therapist-rated outcomes.