International Adoption: Counseling and the Adoption Triad

Despite a 60-plus–year history of international adoption (IA) placements, the body of research exploring counseling and psychological interventions for those affected by IA is still in its infancy. This critical review of the state of the literature addresses research, theory, and practice relevant to the international adoption triad (adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoptees). We highlight the lack of empirical attention to the clinical needs of birth parents, the tendency to overlook the clinical needs of adoptive parents both pre- and post-adoption, early childhood vulnerability in international adoptees, and adolescent identity challenges and the attendant clinical issues.     

The International Adoption Experience: Do They Live Happily Ever After?

This study presents the perspective of parents who adopted children internationally and their now adult adopted children regarding the impact of international adoption on their lives. Areas explored include adaptation of the child and family, challenges experienced along the way, influence on various aspects of their lives, parent-child relationship, rewards and regrets associated with the adoption experience, recommendations for those considering international adoptions, and an adjective that would describe their journey. The outcome illuminates the success of international adoptions and the life-changing bond that is formed when parents and children transcend all boundaries to form a family to call their own.     

Victim's Response Cycle: A Model for Understanding the Incestuous Victim-Offender Relationship

ABSTRACT

The victim-response cycle is a theoretical and clinical model that can be utilized to assist victims in their healing from the trauma of sexual abuse. This model focuses on the specific aspects of the relationship that victims have with their offenders, particularly in incest cases, which contribute to the degree of trauma that victims experience. This relationship can also become the model for other relationships as the victim matures, and the victim-response cycle can be used to assist these adult survivors in understanding their difficulties with adult intimate relationships. This model addresses aspects of attachment and learned coping responses to assist clinicians in treating symptomatic behavior. While severe trauma is rarely treatable with a short-term approach, this model can assist in providing clients and clinicians with tools for symptomatic relief, which may be achievable in a short-term setting. This model has not been examined empirically, but it has been utilized in several outpatient practices in the Midwest with positive clinical results. A case example demonstrating the use of this model is also presented.     

Mothers’ ideals and experiences of raising children in inner and outer suburban Melbourne,Australia

Parents’ perceptions of their neighbourhoods are important for child health outcomes. This study compared views among mothers in inner versus outer suburbs of Melbourne, Australia using a mixed methods approach. Mothers of preschool-aged children were recruited via playgroups, mother’s groups and preschools and interviewed face-to-face regarding their local area as a good place to raise a family, with a second open-ended interview focussing on mothers’ ideals and experiences of raising children in their current location. Findings demonstrated that mothers had different ideals for, and experiences of, raising their children in their neighbourhoods. Inner suburban mothers valued a manageable work/family balance and access to public transport over the size of their homes. However, access to childcare, secondary schooling and heavy traffic were issues, with the latter two being reasons for moving from the municipality. In contrast, outer suburban mothers preferred a larger home in neighbourhoods that they perceived as low crime, over accessibility to work. Access to a car and activities for their children were also important. Findings suggest no ‘one size fits all’ in respect to what features mothers expect from a good place to raise a family, or how they experience these features. This has implications for service delivery and social planning of suburbs.     

神秘数字“七”再发微

本文以数字"七"在中国民俗中的广泛应用为表象,依据我国古代先哲对宇宙天体运动节律(即"天道唯七")和人体生命节律(7—8年)的认识,以及现代医学对人的生物节律的进一步确认,指出数字"七"之所以具有宇宙数字的性质及巫术的、神话的意义,"获得模式数字的资格",根本原因在于它体现了以上两个节律。     

《论语》"孝"字的文化阐释

<论语>是儒学文化的源头.本文就<论语>中孔子言"孝"的文化内涵及历史和现实意义进行了阐释.笔者认为"孝"的文化内涵除了"善事父母"外,还应包括统治者的"慈惠爱民",从而体现了孔子所倡导的一种为政之道与成己之方.并且,"孝"的实践意义,致力于唤醒人们的道德自觉与对社会及家庭的责任感,无论古今,皆归于此.     

影响儿童心理健康的家庭因素

学龄前和小学阶段儿童心理健康主要受家庭和学校环境影响 ,他们的心理问题最突出地反映在学习困难和性格问题两方面 ,而这些问题又是家长、老师和长辈不良教育方式的结果。教育者应给予儿童积极、鼓励的教育     

儒家“孝”文化的现代诠释

“孝”的基础性含义是指敬、养父母,它对当代从物质和精神两个方面去养老、尊老有激活意义。“孝”的展开即是家庭伦理,用“父慈子孝”、“兄友弟悌”、“夫敬妇听”去规范家庭成员各自的行为,有利于发展当代家庭文明。“孝”也是一个政治学和社会学范畴,它为当代由家庭稳定而推动社会稳定,提供了一种可资利用的管理模式和运作机制。     

The Development and Initial Validation of the COPLAG Scale: Measuring the Concerns of Parents of Lesbians and Gays

This article discusses the development and initial validation of a scale designed to assess parents’ concerns upon their learning about their children's gay or lesbian sexual orientations. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the scale's items resulted in a three-factor solution distinguishing among parental concerns about (1) their children's physical, psychological, and social well-being, (2) themselves as parents of gay or lesbian children, and (3) being rejected by loved ones.     

DEPENDENCE AND INDEPENDENCE

The contributions that adult men and women make to households in terms of paid and unpaid work have undergone substantial change, particularly in respect of women's responsibility for income generation, and have been seen as part of the processes of individualization. Recent contributions to the literature have suggested that children are now acquiring independence earlier as part of those same processes. The paper uses qualitative methods to explore the way in which parents in two-parent families, where both are employed, perceive the risks attached to children's exercise of greater independence, how they seek to ‘manage’ those risks and how far the perceptions of parents accord with those of children. We find parents’ perceptions of risk to be strong, but to have little to do with working patterns. In addition, they are often at odds with the actual behaviour of the child. Risks are managed by negotiation, in which children played an active part. We are also able to make some preliminary comments on the difficulties of interpreting scale measures in relation to interview evidence.