ACCREDITATION: WHAT CONSTITUTES APPROPRIATE MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY EDUCATION?*

This study compared the mail questionnaire responses of 132 training directors and 79 clinical members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). The findings about preferred criteria for accreditation, training requirements, and attitudes toward major professional issues suggested several key differences between training directors and clinical members, as well as important similarities. These divergent and convergent trends are described and discussed.     

Life cycle of families in an urban community

This study is based on a sample of 1203 families in the city of Sholapur, conducted in 1955 using a cross-section analytical method based on income and family size, in relation to age of head of household. The nature of the life cycle is representational rather than statisitical. Nearly half the household heads were between ages 26-40; 10% were 15-25; and 40% were over 40. The average family size increased steadily and continuously from 3.9 members when the head was under 20, to 6.6 when the head was 55. The number of dependents at this age increased from 2.7 to 4.6. The average number of earners increased from 1.3 to 2. After age 55 the average family size declined from 6.6 to 5.4 for the 56-60 age group. Until the age of 40 the head of the family is usually the only earner. The son at age 20 begins to earn. At 55 the head may retire, but another son may take his place as an earner. The proportions of families with income below Rs. 500 decreased continuously from about 42%, when the family head was under 20; to 15% when he was between 26-40; rose to 25% between ages 46-50; and declined to 12% at ages 56-60. The proportion rose again to 32% over age 60. The proportion of families below Rs. 1000 decreased from 89% in the 0-20 age group to 41% in the 51-55 group, after which it rose to 64% in the over 60 group. The median income of the family increased continously from Rs. 591 when the head was under 20, and increased to the highest level of Rs. 1275 between ages 51-55.     

A Review of the Current State of Negotiated Order Theory: an Appreciation and a Critique*

It is argued that the theory of negotiated order, which has remained largely submerged within a series of fairly specific “grounded” case studies of occupations, professions, and complex organizations in the health field, has a number of attractive qualities to it. As such, it represents one of the more exciting recent developments in the study of organizations The present paper examines the more recent historical origins of the theory, summarizes its major points, and critically assesses its strengths and weaknesses. Since most of the substance of the theory is found in studies of health professionals working in hospital settings, the examples used here are also derived from this particular body of literature. Some future possible directions which we believe will improve the overall explanatory power of the perspective are presented in the concluding section.     

Predicting continued use of marijuana among adolescents: the relative influence of drug-specific and social context factors.

Most research on the determinants of adolescent drug use has focused on predictors of either initiation or current use. Little attention has been given to the determinants of continued use of drugs after initiation, even though some researchers have found that the consequences of continued use are more serious than those associated with experimental or occasional use. In this study, a longitudinal sample of 456 secondary and high school students who had already tried marijuana was used to examine the determinants of continued use of marijuana. Nearly 38 percent of those who had tried marijuana continued using, according to the definition operationalized in this study. Potential predictor measures were grouped in a drug-specific domain and a social context domain, and their effects on continued use, controlling for background characteristics, were examined in logistic regression models. Results showed that only the drug-specific domain had a statistically significant effect on the likelihood of continued use. Students who felt that the adverse physical and psychological effects of marijuana were not very important reasons for discontinuing use and those who had gotten stoned during their experimental stage of use were the most likely to continue use after initiation. The results suggest that the perceived physical and psychological effects of the drug are more important determinants of continued use than are social factors or benefits related to use. Any relationships between social factors and continued use are mediated by the perceived effects and risks of the drug.     

System reliability estimation for the Exponential load-strength model

A system comprising k identical components is considered. The system load that is common to all components is treated as a random variable, modeled by a one-parameter Exponential distribution. Each component's resistance to load is also taken as a random variable, modeled by another one-parameter Exponential distribution that applies to each component. The system is considered redundant, meaning that the system remains operative so long as any m out of k components function, where 1≤m≤k. An expression for system reliability of this load-strength model is derived. The maximum likelihood estimator is compared with the structural expectation of system reliability.     

A Class of Experimental Designs Balanced for First Residuals

In this paper a new class of designs involving sequences of treatments balanced for first residual effects has been introduced. These designs require only t experimental units for 2t periods, t being the number of treatments to be tested. A unified method of constructing these designs for all values of t (≥2) along with an appropriate method of analysis is presented. Besides, their efficiency relative to some well known designs is investigated.     

Some population characteristics of villages differentiated by size,location, and growth

Selected social characteristics of individuals were examined for groups of villages simultaneously dichotomized by size, location relative to larger cities, and population change. The percent of people having a selected characteristic in each village group of the resulting eight-fold classification was taken as the dependent variable, and difference scores indicating main effects and first order interactions were obtained for each characteristic. The universe is the 375 incorporated places under 2500 in 1950outside the SMSAs of Wisconsin. Size of place was found to be important for the sex ratio, education and income levels, and labor force and occupational variables. Characteristics associated with nearness to a large city included income, male labor force participation, occupation, and industry. Growth was important for age and sex differences, education, income, and some labor force, occupation, and industry variables. An interaction between location and growth was found for several occupation and industry characteristics. The consistency between some of the results and previous research on larger places supports the contention that villages, although classified as rural, share many characteristics of urban centers. The industry and occupation differences by location, and the interaction between location and growth, strongly suggest that location is tied closely to function here. Places near cities over 25,000, especially those that are growing, may serve as residences for commuting blue-collar workers, or perhaps as small manufacturing centers, while most places more remote from cities continue to function as small service centers for a rural hinterland.