The therapist as a catalyst in promoting separation-individuation

This paper describes a therapeutic approach to patients fixated at or regressed to a developmental point in the separation-individuation phase. The normal developmental sequence from autism and symbiosis to the achievement of a position of on-the-way-to object constancy as elaborated by Mahler and her colleagues is summarized. Though the original experience cannot be replicated, a precise understanding of what has been missed in the early dyad between mother and child enables the therapist to help repair lesions and promote growth through the patient-therapist relationship and carefully designed interventions. A case illustration is offered of treatment of a patient with profound difficulties at the symbiotic phase which impede negotiation of separation-individuation.     

Community Activism in the USA: Catholic Hospital Mergers and Reproductive Access

This article analyzes how grassroots organizing diminishes the potential loss of reproductive services in communities affected by Catholic hospital mergers. The empirical contribution of this study is to highlight changing patterns of pro-choice social movement mobilization and approaches to conflict resolution in the reproductive rights arena. To discover how Catholic hospital mergers threaten access to reproductive services, five case studies based in diverse regional and demographic areas throughout the USA are developed. From the case studies, we analyze which organizational factors most strongly influence the preservation of services. Among the variables which may affect outcomes are: characteristics of the acquiring institution, the type of coalition created to terminate the merger, the failure of pro-life activists to counter-mobilize, incentives for compromise on both sides, and regulatory intervention by government or state action. The study concludes that this new phase of the abortion struggle represents renewed vigor among local pro-choice activists and demonstrates that grassroots coalitions who oppose the curtailment of services often preserve reproductive healthcare options in their communities by creating alliances with professionals and other coalition partners.     

Multiple Family Group Therapy for Families with Children Placed in Out-Of-Home Care in a Chinese Context

Since the 1980s, the family-centered approach has been widely adopted in the west (e.g., the United States) as an approach to serving children living in an out-of-home care context. In comparison, in Hong Kong, out-of-home care services tend to be child-centered and child-protection oriented. This article (1) examines the child welfare service, specifically out-of-home care services, in Hong Kong and (2) makes the case for integrating family-centered out-of-home care services for children. Three vignettes are presented that demonstrate the use of Multiple Family Group Therapy (MFGT) to promote family-centered practice. The article concludes with a discussion of challenges and recommendations related to a shift to family-centered practice.     

Implementing a Gero-Infused Curriculum in Advanced-Level MSW Courses in Health,Mental Health and Substance Abuse: An Evaluation

This article presents evaluation results from a curricular innovation aimed at increasing the capacity of social work graduates to serve older adults in health, mental health, and substance abuse settings. Working as a team, faculty developed, incorporated, and evaluated gerontology-infused syllabi and teaching modules in multiple sections of the 3 courses, with 2 sections serving as a comparison group. Results indicated that students exposed to the gero-infused curriculum increased their age-related knowledge and self-competence from pre- to posttest, and achieved a greater increase in knowledge than did the comparison group. Implications of the findings to social work education are discussed.     

Case studies of the families of schizophrenics 1

This case study examines therapeutic mechanisms in the work with the parents of a latency aged child, with child separation anxiety disorder, according to the DSM-5 classification. In this single–case study design, the mechanisms identified are practitioner-researcher’s intervention narratives within a theoretically informed framework that is shaped by the psychodynamic understanding of the causes and treatment for the child separation anxiety disorder. The study evaluates the process and the effectiveness of the practitioner-researcher’s treatment throughout the analysis of 11 sessions with the parents. These intervention narratives modified the often unconscious “aggressive” parental beliefs and attitudes toward the child. They also contributed to the progressive reduction and, finally, extinction of his separation anxiety disorder. The study finally demonstrates that, apart from the intervention on the current relationship dynamics between the parents and the child, parent work involves intervention in the emotional difficulties of the parents as well as intervention focused on the couple relationship problems, especially those that reinforce the separation anxiety of the child. The parents were treated in a Child and Adolescent Community Mental Health Centre in a major urban area in southern Europe, and they consented to the publication of anonymous information of the case.     

On the validity of retrospective assessments of pregnancy intention

Information on pregnancy intention is often gathered retrospectively (after the birth of a child). This article investigates whether the retrospective assessment of pregnancy intention leads to biased estimates of the extent or consequences of unintended fertility. Comparisons are made between pregnancy intentions ascertained during pregnancy and after birth using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. To address the bias caused by selective recognition or acknowledgment of pregnancy, we used the longitudinal feature of the data to determine actual pregnancy status at the time of interviews, which, in turn, was used as an instrumental variable for the retrospective (versus prospective) reporting of pregnancy intention. After correction for selective pregnancy recognition, we found no evidence that the retrospective assessment of pregnancy intention produces misleading estimates of either the number or the consequences of unintended births. This finding is supported by additional analyses of a small subsample of women for whom information on pregnancy intention was collected both during pregnancy and after birth.     

Twice removed: Mizrahi settlers in Gush Katif

What does ethnicity (or race) have to do with the struggle over land in post-1967 Israeli occupied territories? On the Israeli scene, post-1967 settlers tend to be depicted as religiously motivated Jews of Ashkenazi descent and often Anglophone origin, while Jews from the Middle East and North Africa (Mizrahim) tend to be associated with development towns and other locations known for high unemployment and generally depressed socio-economic situations. Prior to the Israeli disengagement of 2005 there was a great deal of public attention focused on the controversy surrounding settlement in the occupied territories. The conflict often appeared in stark oppositions of ‘left-wing secular liberals’ against ‘right-wing religious radicals.’ The most outspoken messianic settlers and those often depicted in mainstream media tended to be of Ashkenazi origin, a representation that denies the presence of Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent (Mizrahim) in the settlements then slated for evacuation. This article raises a set of questions about the hegemonic representation of the Israeli socio-political-religious scene regarding the relative absence of representations of Mizrahi Jews who lived in the settlements of Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip. It asks both what this representation accomplishes and what is at stake in recognizing the Mizrahi presence as settlers in post-1967 occupied territories.     

Addressing disproportionality through undoing racism, leadership development, and community engagement

In 2005 the Texas 79th legislature passed Senate Bill 6, which included mandates to address disproportionality. This article will describe how the Texas Department of Family Protective Services in collaboration with Casey Family Programs' Texas State Strategy systems improvement initiative is addressing disproportionality statewide through promising practices and innovations in undoing racism trainings, values-based leadership development, and community engagement strategies.