This research explored the processes of relational healing in couples with one partner recovering from alcoholism or other psychoactive substance dependence. The participants were successfully recovering married couples, defined as couples (a) with one or both partners having been substance dependent while in the current marriage; (b) with the formerly substance dependent partner having attained at least two years of sobriety; and (c) with both indicating their desire and intention to continue their marriage. Focused joint interviews of six couples were conducted, videotaped, and transcribed to written text. Social constructionism and narrative psychotherapy provided the philosophical and practical bases for the questions. Couples were invited to be co-investigators offering their theories about their own and others' ideas and practices that had contributed to their relational resilience, and commenting on the researcher's interpretations of their stories. Norman Denzin's method of interpretive interactionism provided a framework for the research design and analysis of data, which included deconstruction of prior understandings of the phenomenon in the literature and of experiences in the cultural context of the interviews, the bracketing of key words and themes, and a search for epiphanies, or the moments and experiences that had been particularly salient in shaping the meanings the co-investigators attributed to their lives or relationships. Key words found included fear, love, work, honesty , synonyms for gratitude, loss of control or detachment, Twelve-Step language, and the language of spirituality. A narrative analysis explored the co-investigators' uses of contrastive rhetoric. Questions for further research are raised, and implications for social work education, practice, and policy are suggested / acase@tulane.edu

A study was conducted comparing an Educational Support Group (N = 5) with a Waiting-List Control Group (N = 5) in the treatment of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). Subjects met diagnostic criteria for PMDD as outlined by the DSM-IV (1994). It was hypothesized that the educational support group would exhibit less severe symptoms of PMDD than the control group as a function of exposure to educational support. To measure changes between the groups, (across the one month pre-treatment, two month treatment, and one month post treatment phase) the Premenstrual Assessment Form, the Daily Record of Severity of Problems (content specific to the DSM-IV criteria for PMDD), and a Daily Monitoring Form were utilized The hypothesis that educational support would decrease PMDD symptoms was not supported by the results of this study. However, there appeared to be an advantage to participating in an educational support group as was determined by responses to a Final Questionnaire / acase@tulane.edu

The opposing cultural mandates to enact both affiliative female-role and dominant therapist-role nonverbal behaviors is examined through initial impressions of a female therapist. Client perception is assessed through therapist evaluations for the social meaning and influence of feminine smiling, masculine visual dominance, and an exploratory, combination, asymmetrical arm posture/hand gesture. Subject gender and analogue type (videotape versus role-play) were also hypothesized to be pertinent mitigators of perception. After 10-minute counseling sessions in a therapy setting, 125 male and female students evaluated the therapist highest with traditional female smiling, but subject gender interacted with other behaviors. Females showed an aversion to the nonresponsive visual dominance that males rated high, whereas males disliked the expansive arm posture/thinker gesture that females rated high. Therapist expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness ratings were also highly dependent on the medium of the message, with unique differences exhibited between observer and participant judgments / acase@tulane.edu

This research explores the relationships between work experience and self-esteem, delinquency, educational attainment, and future income among youths of Mexican descent. Social scientists have addressed the concern that teenage work experience might undermine the emotional well-being of adolescents as well as their investment in education. Despite what appears to be a propensity for early labor market participation among adolescents of Mexican-origin, investigators have focused little attention on the effects of employment vis-a-vis this segment of the population. But the question remains an important one in light of demographic projections for population growth among Hispanics, the majority of whom claim Mexican ancestry, as well as their relatively low rate of high school completion. Using multivariate regression techniques and data from two distinct national surveys, I find that for U.S.-born youths of Mexican descent early work experience lowers self-esteem, increases delinquency, stymies educational attainment, but increases income gains over the long-run. In contrast, among Mexican immigrant adolescents, employment increases self-esteem, reduces delinquency, and enhances high school completion as well as future earnings. That outcomes for the former group more closely resemble those for non-Hispanic White adolescents than Mexican immigrants, suggests that U.S.-born youths of Mexican descent may suffer adverse effects from assimilation processes that Mexican culture appears to nullify / acase@tulane.edu

Little is known about the effectiveness of HIV testing and counseling programs to inspire behavior change among patients seen at US clinics for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). We studied changes in gonorrhea incidence from 1989 through 1993 in a historical cohort of 4,031 patients seen at a public STD clinic in New Orleans, Louisiana. To determine if HIV testing and counseling promote risky behaviors, we designed a pretest-posttest observational study which included a treatment group and an untreated comparison group. The frequency, timing, and results of the HIV tests performed during follow-up were taken into account in the analysis. We used Cox's proportional hazard regression techniques for multivariate failure time data to model the occurrence of gonorrhea infections over time. The models adjusted the comparisons for history of gonorrhea, and HIV testing and counseling, as well as important confounding factors. We found that being tested and learning about a negative test result may have prevented up to 1,318 gonorrhea infections (34.7 percent of the expected total number of infections) among individuals who never tested HIV positive. The risk of gonorrhea remained constant at a low level among 911 individuals who were not tested during follow-up (22.6 percent of all patients). The risk of gonorrhea decreased markedly after HIV testing among 2,041 individuals at low baseline risk (50.6 percent of all patients), decreased moderately after each of the first two HIV tests among 672 subjects at intermediate baseline risk (16.7 percent of all patients), but increased after the first test among 358 subjects at high baseline risk (8.9 percent of all patients). Posttest counseling was associated with a marginally significant decline in risk of gonorrhea among subjects at low baseline risk, but had no apparent effect on the other patients. No disinhibition effect was observed after posttest counseling. Our study suggests that HIV testing and counseling promote safer behaviors in most patients diagnosed with gonorrhea in a public clinic for sexually transmitted diseases. Nevertheless, a possible rebound effect was observed after HIV testing among patients who had the highest baseline risk of gonorrhea / acase@tulane.edu

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive and content validity of the Portraits Questionnaire (PQ), a universal values survey, for use with consumers of state-federal rehabilitation services. Convenience samples of Native American and Non-Native American consumers receiving services from Arizona Rehabilitation Services Administration were selected to represent the range of value priorities found in the diverse national population of rehabilitation consumers. A test for predictive validity was established by proposing a null hypothesis that the responses to the PQ by the study groups would not predict group membership. An examination of content validity was based on the logical relationship between the responses to the PQ by the two study groups and the values attributed to the two study groups in the literature. Two null hypotheses were established to test content validity. The first null hypothesis predicted that the Native American group would not assign a higher priority to PQ value types, Benevolence, Tradition, Conformity, and Security, than the Non-Native American group would. The second null hypothesis predicted that the Non-Native American group would not assign a higher priority to value types, Self-Direction, Stimulation, Hedonism, Achievement, Power, and Universalism, than the Native American group would. Copies of the PQ were mailed to 259 Native American and 263 Non-Native American consumers. Usable responses were received from 96 members of the Native American group and 97 members of the Non-Native American group. Discriminant Analysis of the data produced a significant discriminant function (Wilks' Lambda = .856, p = .001) that predicted correct group membership for 65.8% of the cases. The null hypothesis was rejected and predictive validity of the Portraits Questionnaire for the study groups accepted. Univariate analysis of the data revealed two significant (p ≤ .05) discriminant variables, Tradition and Stimulation. The standardized canonical discriminant function coefficients indicated that both variables were predictors of Native American membership. Therefore, both null hypotheses for content validity were retained. Tradition was the only value type that predicted group membership as expected. Interpretations of the results are offered and implications presented. The need for further research is discussed.

This research describes the development and the content validation of the Counselor's Theoretical Orientation Inventory (CTOI). The purpose for developing the CTOI is to: (1) stimulate the critical thinking skills that drive academia and counseling therapy, (2) help rehabilitation counseling students to assess their theoretical orientation, (3) use as an educational instrument for teaching counseling theories, (4) use as an appropriate instrument for practica and internship placement, and (5) use as an ongoing self-evaluation to enhance continuing education. Ten hypothetical case scenarios about individuals with differing disabilities were written by the researcher. Seven expert professional counselors, each representing seven different counseling theoretical orientations, provided rejoinders for each case scenario. The counseling theories represented in the CTOI are: Adlerian, behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, existential, gestalt, person-centered, and reality. Seven rehabilitation counselor educators assessed the CTOI for content validity. Of the theories, the rehabilitation counselor educators identified the person-centered rejoinders at the rate of 97%. The rehabilitation counselor educators identified the remaining theories above the acceptable 70% criterion except for existential theory which received only 69% correct identification. The CTOI was found to have content validity as the overall theory recognition score was 79%. Recognition of counseling theoretical orientations can help rehabilitation counselors to recognize incongruencies between personal and theory-driven beliefs and values and enable them to articulate a personal theoretical approach.

The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of the domestic violence abuser in Pima County during the year 1990. The population for this study consisted of 160 abusers who had been arrested for domestic violence and referred to the Pima County Attorney's Domestic Violence Diversion Program. The profile information was gathered from law enforcement reports, assessment forms, and domestic violence questionnaires. Also presented are conclusions, discussions, and implications. The profile areas of this study include the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator, the length of the relationship between the victim and the abuser, the number of children living in the home, the perpetrator's level of education, the ethnicity of the abuser, the age of the abuser, the employment status of the perpetrator, the income level of the perpetrator, the number of prior arrests and convictions, the abuser's alcohol and drug using behaviors, prior domestic violence events and frequency, the likelihood of repeated domestic violence, the abuser's support system, prior counseling experience, and present counseling received.

<p>This mixed methods, phenomenological study examined how cultural tension influences career development for Asian American community college students. Students initially completed Phinney's (1992) Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) and an instrument developed for this study called the Cultural Identification Survey. The mean for ethnic identity search was 3.49 and the mean for the ethnic identity commitment was 3.97. High exploration with high commitment corresponds to Phinney's third stage of ethnic identity development, ethnic identity achievement. On the Cultural Identification survey, the mean for "I identify more with my parents' culture" was 3.55, the mean for "I identify more with White culture than my parents' culture" was 2.80, the mean for "I identify with both White culture and my parents' culture" was 3.45, and the mean for "I feel caught between White culture and my parents' culture" was 2.62. Fourteen students who indicated either "often" or "all the time" to the statement "I feel caught between White culture and my parents' culture" participated in the interview portion of the study. The 14 participants received a mean of 3.30 for ethnic identity search and a mean of 3.56 for ethnic identity commitment on the MEIM corresponding with the ethnic achievement stage. Participants described how they experienced cultural tension through their relationships with their parents. The results indicated that through cultural tension, participants were able to move through the stages of ethnic identity development as described by Phinney (1990), Parental influence on career development, including their support, their understanding of careers, and their exposure to careers, was also found to be part of the participants' experiences. Cultural tension and their parental involvement created learning experiences that had an impact on the career decision-making process. </p>

<p> This study utilizes Allan Guggenbuhl's seven-step Mythodrama method of resolving conflict and bullying in a school setting which has proven successful in Europe, applies this to a school setting in the United States, and measure that application to see if this intervention for addressing conflict and bullying is successful in a setting in the United States. Pre- and post-testing was conducted and some statistically significant improvement post-intervention was found. Study results suggest this methodology would have efficacy when applied broadly in US schools.</p>