Systemic perspectives on Intimate Partner Violence treatment

This paper reviews changes in the research literature on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) since our earlier review (Stith, Rosen, & McCollum, 2003). A rationale for systemic treatment of IPV has emerged from research that has continued to document the limited effectiveness of single gender treatment approaches for offenders and that has identified sub-types of abusive relationships, including Situational Couple Violence, that often includes the reciprocal use of violence. Consistent findings from the available outcome research have demonstrated that for carefully screened couples who choose to stay together, systemic interventions decrease incidences of IPV and decrease the risk factors for IPV with no increase in risk. Implications for research and treatment are offered

Bibliotherapy and perceptions of death by young children

This study explored the impact of bibliotherapy and parent-child discussion on a child´s understanding of death using a true experimental posttest-only control group design. Study participants included 16 girls and 13 boys aged 4 or 5 and their parents. Participants were randomly assigned to either control or experimental groups. Families in the experimental group read books provided by the experimenter and, while following a curriculum, discussed the issue of death. Fourteen "sessions," lasting from 15 to 20 minutes, took place in participants' homes over a 5-week period. Following this experience, both groups of children were interviewed by the experimenter. A t-test did not show a statistically significant difference between the groups at the .05 level Reasons for this result and recommendations for future studies are given

Pilot process research of reflecting conversations

A psychotherapy process methodology, Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR), was used on a pilot sample of couples to better understand what transpires during Reflecting Team dialogues. Using data collected in an earlier ethnography, a team of researchers performed a constant comparative analysis of transcripts of the dialogues immediately before, during and after Reflecting Team clinical markers (Rice & Greenberg, 1984, 1992). Not surprisingly, the couples' experiences of Reflecting Team differed from therapists' in all three phases of the dialogues. For the period immediately preceding the Reflecting Team dialogues, couples focused on process while therapists focused on expectations. During the dialogues, couples focused on the impact while therapists focused on its purpose. Finally, immediately after the dialogues, couples focused on the value of Reflecting Teams while therapists focused on its impact. Recommendations for future studies are given

Voices within family therapy : the life story of a praticum team

A yearlong ethnography that documented the life story of a practicum team is reported in this paper. The life story included how the team cohered, how inclusion of supervisors-in-training affected the team process, and what team members concluded about their experiences. An audit trail of the ethnography included interviews of the therapists, supervisor, and supervisors-in-training, both individually and in a group. In addition, all informants audiotaped field memos about their experiences throughout the year. A domain analysis of the transcripts yielded four domains: 1) Steps in team building, 2) When the team is least effective, 3) Ways conflict developed on the team, and 4) Ways conflict can be resolved. The role of ethnography in articulating and in resolving tensions around diversity is discussed, particularly surrounding the entrance in the team of supervisors-in-training during the second semester. The paper concludes with a discussion of the broader implications of how ethnography may give voice to conflicts and tensions within family therapy