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The application of marketing is no longer confined to private business, but is becoming increasingly popular in the social services area. The application of marketing principles to the marriage and family therapy field is also promising. Yet many therapists are hesitant or resistant to a marketing approach because of the misconceptions that abound about marketing. This paper describes what marketing is and is not, and applies a marketing perspective to relevant issues within the marriage and family therapy field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people are adversely affected by negative family experiences, but there is a gap in knowledge when the commonly co-existing issues of parental alcohol misuse and parental domestic abuse are considered. Research which talks directly to the young people living in such circumstances is therefore needed. As part of a Europe-wide research study, eight young people aged 12-18 years from five families in England were interviewed about their experiences of living with parental alcohol misuse and violence. Strong links emerged between parental drinking and domestic abuse, with verbal aggression common, and frequent and physical violence less frequent, but of equal concern. The young people had tried and were trying a range of strategies to try and cope with their home environments, and faced an ongoing battle in working out what to do for the best. Support from family, friends, and professionals was discussed, but the young people generally had mixed views about what help they had received and the support that they would have liked. The paper discusses what the findings might mean in terms of the practice and policy response to children living in risky family environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family therapy models often do not reflect the realities and desires of many gay and lesbian couples. Therapists working with this population are left to decide whether to apply these models as they are, to discard them, or to attempt to modify them as they assist their clients. Using research findings and case examples that describe the intergenerational boundaries for gay and lesbian couples as well as the nonmonogamous relationships of gay men, this paper illustrates how therapists can adapt family therapy models to suit the needs and preferences of this client population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A literature review revealed few papers discussing the process of teaching family therapy. Described are some alternative teaching methods for a beginning level course. A film about a troubled family stimulated discussion and construction of a series of hypothetical therapy sessions. Course evaluations improved and students were encouraged about applying specific theories to practice. Innovative teaching provides protection against instructor burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Families of young children with disabilities are faced with ongoing challenges that impact various aspects of family life. Given the increasing emphasis on promoting positive outcomes in these families, the overall aim of the current study was to examine the contribution of child, family, and support characteristics to the quality of life in families of young children with disabilities. Method The sample was recruited from several early childhood intervention programs within metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, and consisted of 64 families of children aged between 3 and 5 years with a developmental delay or disability. Results As a whole, parental perceptions and experiences of family-centred professional support was one of the strongest predictors of family quality of life. The perceived intensity of child behavioural problems as well as support from extended family members also accounted for a significant proportion of unique variance in predicting quality of family life. Conclusion The current findings provide further evidence for the importance of a family-focused approach to intervention that acknowledges and provides support that is tailored to the unique needs of each individual family. The practical implications of these results as well as directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory and research suggest that the transition to parenthood is a major life transition, and that adaptation to the parenting role is influenced by a complex set of factors, including the relationship with the child's mother, family of origin, and how the father is situated within sociocultural contexts. The father–]mother relationship is particularly important for men making the transition to fatherhood. This study examined patterns of fathering among young fathers (15–24 years) and investigated how fathers' relationships with the mothers of their young children (infants and toddlers) were related to fathering. In general, higher quality father–mother relationships were related to greater father involvement with children; when mothers were perceived as barriers to involved fathering fathers also had less accurate and adaptive parenting knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Person-centered analyses revealed quite complex relations between father–mother relationships and father–child interaction. One pattern showed strong positive father–mother relationships associated with a disengaged pattern of father–child interaction, while another pattern showed sensitive and positive father–child engagement in the context of negative or distant father–mother relationships. Four patterns of association between fathering and mother–father relationships were demonstrated. Results highlight the complexity of understanding fathering and family relationships among young fathers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a series of sociological studies conducted in Poland since the 1970s researchers have concluded that family is the most widely accepted social frame of reference and the nation occupies second place. The contemporary Polish family continues to straddle the boundary between private and public spheres in a manner that permits it to take on certain public functions of other institutions. Given its historical role, the family possesses a legacy of norms that have placed the family in the space belonging to national society, which since 1989 has operated within the structures of a sovereign state. The stock of memories in certain families "pushes" members of those families into life in local communities even as other families limit, block, or withdraw their members from participation in the worlds beyond the family. Using the results of field research this article analyzes the family in terms of how its members remember the family's past: first, by taking into account the two ways of interpreting family memory, that is, object-oriented (focused on material memorabilia from the past) and subject-oriented (focused on the orientations and attitude of the family's members toward its past); second, by concentrating on those elements of memory that pertain to the family's broader social environment, that is, local and regional community as well as national setting. We then conclude this review of local variations of family memory in Poland actively rooted in a local setting with a brief discussion of the phenomenon of collective memory deficit. Individuals characterized by such a deficit long for the era of the communist system, demand welfare guarantees from national and local authorities, objectify themselves, and ultimately exclude themselves from local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reviews Family & Society Studies Worldwide (FSSW), which describes itself as “an international perspective on the family and society.” This database is an increasingly important resource for students, faculty and practitioners researching and providing services to families. FSSW has recently expanded its topical and format coverage and added new features to highlight its uniqueness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article examines whether adult male and female children of alcoholic and nonalcoholic parents differentially exhibit generational boundary distortions. Individual needs that remain unmet in one generation are experienced as accounts due, leading later in development to the subjective distortion of a relationship as if one's partner or even one's children were his parent. In these systems, parentification thus serves to help stabilize the family and to gratify the needs of fragile and undifferentiated adult figures. Only recently have researchers begun systematically to study parentification, spousification, and parental children. One line of investigation has explored the effects of these processes on the younger generation. In a study descriptive data were used from family therapy sessions with five families and naturalistic observations of a sixth family, in which at least one child was part of a pathological parentification process. It was found that these youngsters had an increased capacity to care for others and a strong sense of accountability within the family. Pathological effects, however, were also found, the most important of which involved impairment of individuation and autonomy.

This study was an attempt to evaluate two methods of training family therapists (n = 26). Specifically, this research evaluated the relative effectiveness of observation-feedback (OF) and skill-based (SB) training methods, as well as OF-SB and SB-OF sequences of training on the acquisition of structuring and relationship skills. The only significant finding was that the OF-SB sequence resulted in significant gains in the acquisition of relationship skills. Implications are discussed for the training of family therapists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiential technique for teaching the Family Life Cycle is presented. Participants are asked to create simulated families and are assigned a series of structured exercises that focus the emotional, developmental, and systemic issues of each Family Cycle stage. Directions for each exercise, questions designed to develop observation skills, and discussion of specific workshop issues are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents two studies which were conducted to examine the relation of age, gender, and family structure to the understanding of children of the concept of family. Discussion of the implications of the findings for understanding children's reactions to family disruption.