Maximum-likelihood estimation for constrained- or missing-data models

In statistical models involving constrained or missing data, likelihoods containing integrals emerge. In the case of both constrained and missing data, the result is a ratio of integrals, which for multivariate data may defy exact or approximate analytic expression. Seeking maximum-likelihood estimates in such settings, we propose Monte Carlo approximants for these integrals, and subsequently maximize the resulting approximate likelihood. Iteration of this strategy expedites the maximization, while the Gibbs sampler is useful for the required Monte Carlo generation. As a result, we handle a class of models broader than the customary EM setting without using an EM-type algorithm. Implementation of the methodology is illustrated in two numerical examples.     

The Go-Between — Strategic Therapy with Teenagers in Separated Families*

The adolescent's experience of divorce needs to be understood within a developmental and systemic framework. Problematic or symptomatic behaviour in teenagers from separated families often reflects on the family's difficulty in managing the transition to a new and different family organisation. The type of problem or symptom presented is shaped partly by the developmental characteristics of the adolescent period, as well as being indicative of unresolved problems within the broader family system. Problem resolution can often require the involvement of both separated parents and their children in a conjoint interview, in which case a strategic family therapy approach can be particularly useful. A strategic approach offers the therapist clear guidelines regarding the focus and process of the interview, and assists the therapist to be in charge whilst remaining neutral in the sense of not allying more with one side or another. Case illustrations are included of a strategic approach with teenagers and their separated families.     

Family Therapy with Adolescents: Giving Up The Struggle

This paper examines problems in adolescence from the perspective of a power struggle between parent(s) and teenager. The structural approach of Minuchin and the strategic approaches of Haley, Madanes, and the Mental Research Institute (M.R.I.) are considered in relation to the significance they attribute to power and power struggles in families with adolescents. It is argued that the M.R.I. approach has certain therapeutic advantages for working with problematic adolescents, primarily because of its focus on understanding and intervening in the power struggle itself. A focus on the power struggle as the ‘problem’ reminds the therapist of the circular nature of parent-adolescent interactions. This awareness assists the therapist to design indirect interventions that are less likely to become absorbed into this vicious cycle. It also encourages a therapeutic stance that prevents the therapist from becoming involved in a power struggle with family members.     

Interpretation of Airborne Asbestos Measurements

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is the preferred method of measuring airborne asbestos in buildings, but TEM measurements cannot be used directly in the existing equations relating risk to exposure because the equations are based on measurements made with a different technique--phase contrast microscopy (PCM). Comparison between measurements made by different methods is not simple because the methods differ in the size of particles they can detect, and the relationship between exposure and disease is thought to depend on, among other things, asbestos fiber size. Previous suggestions for converting TEM measurements to PCM equivalents lack generality because they fail to take into account the size distribution of the asbestos particles and the expectation that fiber-size distributions in current nonoccupational environments could differ from the workplaces of the past on which the risk equations are based. A mathematical model is presented for investigating the conversion of airborne asbestos measurements made by one method to an equivalent measurement made by another method. "Equivalent" means having the same potential to cause disease. The model clarifies the issues of concern and suggests approaches for obtaining meaningful conversion factors that will allow TEM measurements to be used in PCM-based risk equations.     

The hidden component in census-derived migration data: Assessing its size and distribution

Comparison of Norwegian "linked" decennial census data with statistics compiled from 10 years' migration registrations showed that the amount of movement omitted by census data was considerable. This hidden movement was of a similar order at every administrative level, but only when total movement was considered. There was wide variation between regions, migration directions, and streams. In some cases census data misrepresented the direction of net movement. Available evidence suggests that these patterns are not confined to Norway, raising the possibility that research findings based on census-derived migration data may merely be artifacts of the data.     

Educational Attainment and the Lesbian Wage Premium

This paper provides insight into the wage gap between lesbians and heterosexual women. Using data from the 2000 Decennial Census, we find a lesbian premium that equals approximately 10% for women without a bachelor’s degree, and is nearly non-existent for women with higher levels of education. These findings are consistent with proposition that the gap between lesbians’ and heterosexual women’s commitment to the labor market narrows at higher levels of education. We also find that controls for industry and occupation exert only a small effect on the gap between lesbian and heterosexual women’s wages.

Spiritual development with marginalized youth: a status report

Efforts to clarify the appropriate uses of spirituality programming with marginalized youth are under way. Some researchers suggest that such programs should consider spiritual exploration and growth as a core part of treatment, involve youth voluntarily and as decision makers, and align programming with youth's cultural experiences.     

"The Approved Bureaucratic Torpor": Goodwin Watson, Critical Psychology, and the Dilemmas of Expertise, 1930–1945

The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) played an important role in expanding the mandate and influence of American psychology. This article examines the nature of that role through a consideration of the early career of SPSSI's first president, Goodwin Watson. During the Depression, Watson encouraged psychologists to abandon value neutrality and political disinterestedness in favor of politically committed activist science. Government service and political persecution during World War II prompted Watson to conclude that his Depression-era views had neglected the problematic interface between psychological expertise and policy formation. Responding to these concerns, Watson adopted a professional model that emphasized psychology's neutrality and objectivity. The article also considers the implications of his experience for contemporary debates on psychology's professional orientation.