Evaluation: Clinical results and research methodology

The favorable results of two major research reports-Progress on Family Problems by Beck and Jones and a series of studies ofDepressed Patients by Weissmanet al.—are reviewed for the purpose of comparing the methodologies of these studies with that of other well-known research reporting casework treatment to be noneffective. A number of the latter studies are critically examined for their use of social norms rather than client-oriented indicators of improvement, inadequate measuring devices, failure to select appropriate areas of measurement, inappropriate generalization from narrow study populations, overconcentration on delinquents, predelinquents, and multiproblem families, inadequate attention to motivation, inappropriate hypotheses, and serious errors in statistical procedures and in the selection of control groups.     

Group Therapy with Couples in Conflict

This article describes a psychoanalytically based time limited model of couples group therapy, using live clinical material to illustrate the process and flow of therapy. Because of the pre-therapy clear agreement regarding number of sessions, it is important that the contract be adhered to by all parties, underscoring issues of reliability regarding commitment and fostering completion. Critical themes such as dependence and independence rapidly become focal issues in treatment. Mirroring, reflecting, confronting, supporting and interpreting are among the treatment techniques utilized. A heterosexual co-therapy team is recommended as the optimal therapeutic pair for group leadership.     

A Diaclectic Approach to Family Therapy and Practice: Selectivity and Synthesis

In this article, a case is made for transcending any one model or theory, or any reliance on particular techniques as a panacea. Instead, new integrations of intuitive understanding, which represent the artistry of healing, and of scientific knowledge of various theories, in a spontaneous and therefore unique responsiveness to the specific family requesting help are sought. In this way, the most growth oriented and change producing therapeutic environment is created.     

The Anatomy of Hope

Hope and despair are antonyms that describe a person's emotional state, determine whether one receives a psychiatric label, and whether one experiences others as potentially loving or threatening. Patients come to the therapist, bereft of a sense of self-esteem and personal potency, seeking the gift of hope which the therapist, who treasures life, is uniquely qualified to give. The cultivation of hope and the abolition of despair are prime ingredients in psychotherapy, yet have received little attention in the therapeutic literature. This article examines the nature and origin of hope and despair.     

Determinants of attitudes held by Irish catholic and protestant women towards gender roles,maternal employment and social perceptions of women in Irish society

This paper is drawn from my doctoral thesis, which analyses similarities and differences in the social and religious attitudes of modern Catholic and Protestant (Church of Ireland) women in the Republic of Ireland.

My work is new in that it studies the attitudes of a female sample that is stratified according to religious tradition (Catholic/Protestant). The sample is also stratified by age (21–46/47–70 years) and location (rural/urban). Irish sociological and feminist scholarship has produced diverse work concerning many facets of Irish women's lives, but little research has specifically focused on the attitudes of Irish Protestant and Catholic women as distinct groups.

Qualitative and quantitative questionnaires were used to study the social and religious attitudes of respondents living in 12 counties throughout the Republic of Ireland. Twelve distinct attitudinal factors emerged from factor analysis. Themes contained in these factors included: 1. ?Perception's of social attitudes to women in Irish society

2. ?Attitudes to Article 41.2.1/2 of the 1937 Constitution1 41.2.1 “In particular, the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.” View all notes 41.2.2 “The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.” View all notes

3. ?Attitudes to maternal employment

4. ?Perception of the role of the Catholic/Protestant churches in women's lives

5. ?Religiosity

6. ?Attitudes to majority Catholic/minority Protestant status

7. ?Attitudes toward women clergy

8. ?Attitudes to moral issues (divorce and abortion)

9. ?Attitudes to Church influence in moral issues

The emergence of these factors are a significant contribution to sociological and feminist research because they have not previously been specifically researched from the perspective of Catholic and Protestant women.

The effects of religion, age and location on the 12 factors were then examined by means of analysis of variance, which identified those variables having significant main effects and interaction effects on respondent attitudes. Results emerging from percentage distributions and analysis of variance are presented for respondent attitudes to gender roles, maternal employment and perceptions of social attitudes towards women in Irish society.     

Chinese Biographies of Experts in Medicine: What Uses Can We Make of Them?

After a long eclipse in the European academic world that favored other forms of narrative and other sources, biographies have resurfaced in historical research over the last three decades. Renewed interest in biographies for research in the humanities in general has, in turn, launched a reevaluation among historians, sociologists, and demographists of biography and the biographical method. Benefiting from this reflection that mainly focuses on the European biographical tradition, this paper analyzes biographical enterprise within the Chinese tradition by relying on a broad collection of official biographies of people who were locally renowned for their skills in medicine during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). By using an approach that combines a quantitative and qualitative analysis of a series of 422 biographies briefly described in this paper, it first sheds light on the features and function of these narratives. Then, it demonstrates how, in spite of their limitations, biases, and heterogeneity, these biographies of medical experts can provide crucial material for reconstructing the medical landscape at a specific time and place without limiting it to the handful of men whose writings have survived.     

Effective retirement age from employment and full‐time employment,and the impact of the 2008 crisis

Estimates of effective retirement age based on labour force participation rates are commonly used for actuarial experience review and policy development. However, the transition from work to retirement and the socio‐economic environment have evolved over the years, influenced by a growing role for gradual retirement and the labour market impact of the 2008 economic crisis. Rather than focusing exclusively on retirement ages based on labour force participation rates, this article presents complementary estimates of retirement ages to better assess the effective retirement age from employment. It also introduces the concept of retirement from full‐time employment, showing that the retirement age from full‐time employment is systematically lower than the retirement age from employment. The results reveal that the trend towards an increase in the retirement age has been impacted by economic conditions when considering the effective employment of older workers. Results are presented for different Member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development over the period 2005–2015.     

Assessing the effects of monetized food aid on: reproductive behavior in rural Honduras

This article describes the methodology and findings of a study undertaken to assess whether the monetization of non-emergency food aid has adversely influenced national family planning program efforts in Honduras. Due to time constraints, an ex-post, non-equivalent group design was the strongest feasible study design. In the study, women receiving food aid in the form of cash coupons were compared with women receiving food rations and a third group of comparable women who were not food aid recipients on three types of outcomes: recent fertility, fertility preferences, and contraceptive use (both current and intended). A ‘sample selection’ model was used in the analysis to control for unobserved differences between comparison groups. No compelling evidence for either adverse demand- or supply-side effects was observed.