THREE APPROACHES TO FAMILY THERAPY: A STUDY OF CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE*

The literature on professional development suggests that the process of segmentation or specialization within a profession logically accompanies the aggregation, dissemination and application of new and expanding bodies of knowledge. The present study empirically examines the extent and dimensions of this process of segmentation within the family therapy movement by comparing the belief and action systems of 1000 experienced family therapists oriented to one of three major models of family therapy. Two theses are suggested which may explain the findings depicting a unique patterning of similarities and differences among the three models; each implying different directives and implications for the continued growth of the interdisciplinary practice of family therapy.     

Equal Relationships: Fostering Growth for Clients and Counselors

Luthman, S. G., & Kirschenbaum, M. The Dynamic Family .
Stapleton, J., & Bright, R. Equal Marriage .     

The rescission of behaviors: Inconsistent responses in adolescent sexuality data

In longitudinal survey research, certain questions can be rescinded illogically. For instance, respondents who at Time 1 report having had sexual intercourse may at Time 2 report never having done so. This paper reports measurement techniques and analyses of these types of inconsistencies from an ongoing longitudinal adolescent sexuality project. Inconsistencies in intercourse, masturbation, and other sexual behaviors are reported and compared to rates from other studies and other less sensitive behaviors within the same study. Three conclusions are presented: (1) inconsistencies should be considered a natural part of any longitudinal survey process and should be incorporated into the response model; (2) inconsistency rates in these particular data support the contention that adolescent sexuality data of appropriate quality for analytical purposes can be obtained; and (3) inconsistency rates in fact contain substantive information concerning the processes under consideration.     

A two-sex nuptiality-mortality life table

The “problem of the sexes” has been one of trying to reconcile inconsistent male and female demographic rates. The present paper deals with that question in the context of a two-sex nuptiality-mortality life table. A “rectangular” population, with equal numbers of persons in each age-sex group, is introduced as a standard, and a standardization relationship expressed in equation (9) relates changes in rectangular population rates to changes in age-sex composition. The standardization relationship is shown to satisfy a number of desirable properties and produce a realistic two-sex model. The standardization approach is then applied to data from Sweden for 1973, and the results and their implications are discussed. In particular, it is seen that the total number of marriages in a two-sex population neither is nor should be bounded by the total numbers of marriages in the associated male and female one-sex nuptiality-mortality tables.     

Gay marriages and communities of sexual orientation

This article focuses on gay male couples as they exist within friendship networks of other gay men. By comparing homosexual men who are part of a gay community with those who are less integrated into a gay community, we attempt to show that the sexual liaisons of the former are more “marriage-like.” Gays committed to a community of other homosexual men were found to live more often with their lovers, be more sexually faithful to their lovers, and to have more emotionally intimate relationships. Also, they were found more likely to associate with other gay couples. Commitment to a gay community was not found to be associated with length of a liaison, and it seemed that when respondents defined emotional intimacy in terms of sexual exclusiveness there may have been a tendency for disruption of relationships. The gay community validates the sexual liaisons of gay men in the same way that the heterosexual world validates the pairings of heterosexuals and transforms their subinstitutional sexual liaisons into the institution of marriage.