Should Parents be Prevented from Having Conflicts

This is a slightly modified version of an address given by Lyn Hoffman during the Children of Parents in Conflict Conference which was held in Adelaide in August, 1979.     

EMPHASES OF THE MAJOR FAMILY THERAPY MODELS: A FAMILY FIRO ANALYSIS

This paper analyzes 13 models of family therapy according to their special emphases on the Family FIRO model's dimensions of inclusion, control and intimacy. We first examined chapters on each model in Gurman and Kniskern's Handbook of Family Therapy; we then sent our preliminary ratings to the authors of the chapters for comment. The final conceptual analysis of the models indicated that 4 family therapy models emphasize inclusion as a primary focus, 4 emphasize control, and 5 emphasize intimacy. We also rated the secondary and tertiary emphases of the models. This analysis provides a possible guide for therapists who wish to be eclectic or integrative in their work, specifically, by suggesting a way to match therapy techniques from different family therapy models to the presenting family issues that each model emphasizes most strongly.     

Intimate partner violence: prevalence and risk factors for men in Cape Town, South Africa

This study examined the prevalence of and risk factors for intimate partner physical violence against women. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 1,378 men working in Cape Town municipalities. An average of 42.3% (95% CI: 39.6, 44.8) reported physical violence against a partner of the last 10 years, and 8.8% (95% CI: 7.3, 10.3) reported physical violence in the past year. After adjustment for age, occupational group, and race, the factors associated with use of violence against partners of the last 10 years were having no post-school training (OR = 2.10), witnessing parental violence in childhood (OR = 1.87), involvement in fights at work (OR = 2.73) and in communities (OR = 1.54), drug use (OR = 1.99), problem alcohol use (OR = 1.98), perceiving hitting women to be acceptable (OR = 4.54), frequent conflict (OR = 2.40), women's alcohol use (OR = 2.25), conflict about sex (OR = 2.16), and conflict about his infidelity (OR = 2.81). The study shows that ideas supportive of gender inequality and normative use of violence in different settings are major underlying factors for men's violence against partners.     

Legal gambling availability and problem gambling among adolescents and young adults

A national US telephone survey was conducted with 2274 respondents aged 14–21. The number of types of legal gambling operating in the respondent's state was positively related to the odds of lifetime gambling, current gambling, current frequent gambling and current problem gambling. For respondents aged 18–21, odds of current problem gambling, as opposed to never gambling, increased 39% for each additional type of legal gambling. The number of types of gambling in which a respondent was old enough to participate legally had a positive relationship to gambling involvement, including problem gambling. Being old enough to participate in specific forms of gambling was positively related to the frequency of playing those specific types. It was concluded that a greater number of types of legal gambling, as well as being old enough to legally play a greater number of types of gambling, is associated with a greater likelihood of problem gambling.     

The Relationship of Ecological and Geographic Factors to Gambling Behavior and Pathology

The current study examined the effect of neighborhood disadvantage and gambling availability on gambling participation and pathology. A national telephone survey included 2631 US adults. Census data was used to characterize the respondents neighborhood, and the distance from the respondents home to gambling facilities was calculated. Logistic and linear regressions were performed to predict gambling participation and pathology. Results showed that the neighborhood disadvantage was positively related to frequency of gambling and problem/pathological gambling. The presence of a casino within 10miles of the respondents home was positively related to problem/pathological gambling. The permissiveness of gambling laws was positively related to any gambling in the past year, as well as frequent gambling. These results were interpreted to mean that the ecology of disadvantaged neighborhoods promotes gambling pathology, and that availability of gambling opportunities promotes gambling participation and pathology.     

Attitudes and Behavior toward Hippies: a Field Experiment Accompanied by Home Interviews*

It was hypothesized that subjects who exhibit high social distance toward a hippie-target will be more likely to report a hippie shoplifter than subjects low on social distance. This hypothesis is derived from the theoretical literature in deviant behavior and social psychology and examines two issues: (1) the relationship between social distance and the severity of reaction to deviance, and (2) the extent of congruence between verbal scale scores and overt actions. The hypothesis was tested using observational data collected during a field experiment in which rigged shoplitting events were enacted and self-report data collected during follow-up interviews. The data support our hypothesis and increases our confidence in the congruence of attitudes and behavior.     

Hard times and vulnerable people: initial effects of plant closing on autoworkers' mental health

Large-scale 1987 General Motors plant shutdowns offered an unusual opportunity to study effects of actual and anticipated unemployment on mental health. Workers from four closing and 12 nonclosing plants (Ns = 831 and 766 respectively) were interviewed approximately three months before scheduled plant closings. Dependent variables were baseline frequencies of somatic, depressive, and anxiety symptoms. The quasi-experimental design made it possible to explore systematically the mental health problems of individual autoworkers as a function of their employment status, their demographic characteristics, and the interaction of the two. Three groups were formed by dividing workers at closing plants into those already laid off and those anticipating layoff; the third group consisted of workers in nonclosing plants. Results revealed a pattern of interaction between unemployment and demographic variables, showing differential vulnerability to job loss. Less educated blacks were especially affected; follow-up analyses showed that their more distressed mental health could not be attributed entirely to other, prior stressors.     

Uses of Probabilistic Exposure Models in Ecological Risk Assessments of Contaminated Sites

Food web models have two uses in assessments of environmental contaminants. First, they are used to determine whether remediation is needed by estimating exposure of end-point species and subsequent effects. Second, they are used to establish cleanup goals by estimating concentrations of contaminants in ambient media that will not cause significant effects. This paper demonstrates how achievement of these goals can be enhanced by the use of stochastic food web models. The models simulate the dynamics of PCBs and mercury in the food webs of mink and great blue herons. All parameters of the models are treated as having knowledge uncertainty, due to imperfect knowledge of the actual parameter values for the site, chemicals, and species of interest. This uncertainty is an indicator of the potential value of additional measurements. In addition, those parameters that are responsible for variance among individual organisms are assigned stochastic uncertainty. This uncertainty indicates the range of body burdens that are expected when the end-point species are monitored. These two types of uncertainty are separately accounted for in Monte Carlo simulations of the models. Preliminary monitoring results indicate that the models give reasonably good estimates of heron egg and nestling body burdens and of variance among individuals.     

Assessing the differences in distance of interstate migration, 1980

"This study examines distance of 1975-80 interstate migration [in the United States] and several explanations for the relations between distance and characteristic of migrants and locations.... Observations are individual records from the 1980 one-in-ten-thousand PUMS files. The sample is restricted to nonblack, noninstitutionalized head of households, age 25 to 64 in 1980.... We find outmigration is shaped by characteristics of individuals; however, distance of migration is shaped by characteristics at locations. Findings lend support to an interpretation of distance reflecting psychic costs and information and are consistent with a cost/benefit view of factors contributing to distance of migration."     

Combating sexual offenses on the college campus: keys to success.

The authors emphasize the need for programs to prevent sexual offenses at institutions of higher education. They briefly describe efforts underway at Bowling Green State University and offer 6 strategies for improving the likelihood of success in sexual assault education, prevention, and response efforts.