Heft 1
Aponte, Harry J. & Lynn Hoffman (1973): The open door: A structural approach to a family with an anorectic child. In: Family Process, 12 (1), S. 1–44.
Abstract: This commentary on a videotape of an initial interview with a family of an anorectic girl demonstrates a set of therapeutic techniques based on a structural view of family organization and dysfunction. In the commentary, the interventions of the therapists are analyzed move by move throughout the session. The goal of the therapists is to assist the family to reorganize itself so that its dysfunctional structure will not support the symptom in the child. During the interview, they probe the characteristic interaction patterns of the family and engage with the family subsystems, making changes in the husband-wife relationship, the parent-child relationships, and the sibling relationships. The connection between the anorectic symptom and the structural organization of the family becomes clearer as the interview unfolds, with the result that the child’s eating at the end seems incidental compared to the many changes in family relationships that precede it.
Gurman, Alan S. (1973): Marital Therapy: Emerging Trends in Research and Practice. In: Family Process, 12 (1), S. 45–54.
Abstract: The marital therapy literature through August, 1972, was content-analyzed to examine trends in the research and clinical practice of marital therapists. Analyses of a 415-item Marital Therapy Bibliography revealed that: (a) The literature experienced the beginning of its major growth spurt after 1960, with about half of the marital therapy publications appearing since 1967; (b) Journals contributing the most to the development of marital therapy form a heterogeneous mixture of professional disciplines, with multidisciplinary journals demonstrating the greatest impact; (c) The nature of much of marital therapy research and practice is rapidly changing, with a growing interest in empirical and methodological issues. Implications of these emerging trends in research and practice are discussed in terms of the future of marital therapy.
Shapiro, Rodney J. & Simon H. Budman (1973): Defection, Termination, and Continuation in Family and Individual Therapy. In: Family Process, 12 (1), S. 55–67.
Abstract: Patients applying to a child study center over a period of one year were referred for either individual or family evaluation and therapy. The present study focused on comparative rates of defection (failure to appear for first session), premature termination (one to three sessions), and continuation (more than three sessions) of treatment. Structured interviews were conducted on the telephone to explore the reasons for termination or continued treatment. Three main findings emerged: (a) Drop-out rates for family therapy are significantly different than for individual treatment; (b) Major reasons for terminating or continuing treatment, in either modality, seem related to patients evaluations of their therapists; (c) Fathers of patients play a pivotal role in determining whether families terminate or continue in treatment.
Stein, Howard F. (1973): Cultural Specificity in Patterns of Mental Illness and Health: A Slovak-American Case Study. In: Family Process, 12 (1), S. 69–82.
Abstract: Mental illness and mental health are conceptualized as dynamic opposites o/a single, underlying psycho-cultural process. An illustrative case history of a Slovak-American family with a schizophrenic member is presented.
Winter, William D., Antonio J. Ferreira & Norman Bowers (1973): Decision-Making in Married and Unrelated Couples. In: Family Process, 12 (1), S. 83–94.
Abstract: The decision-making performance of 20 married and 20 synthetic couples, all college students, was compared using the Ferreira-Winter Questionnaire technique. Married couples showed (a) greater spontaneous agreement with each other prior to conjoint discussion, (b) less politeness, (c) more intrusive interruptions, and (d) a lesser exchange of explicit information between husband and wife. Although married couples arrived at more ‚democratic‘ or representative decisions in a faster time, this was due to their greater degree of prior shared values and interests. The effects of the history and context of the relationship between subjects upon their pattern of communication and possible contrasts between normal and abnormal couples are discussed.
Rabkin, Richard (1973): Rabkin on Books. In: Family Process, 12 (1), S. 97–100.
Whitaker, Carl A. & Charles T. Meyer (1973): Review – Morton Schatzman (1973): Soul Murder: Persecution in the Family. New York (Random House). In: Family Process, 12 (1), S. 101–102.
Sluzki, Carlos & Victor Korman (1973): From Argentina With Love. A Bibliography on Family in Spanish. In: Family Process, 12 (1), S. 102–104.
Abstract: The following is a complete inventory of original articles and books related to the subject of family processes, family treatment and family research, published in Argentina up to mid-1972. They constitute, we may add, the vast majority of the bibliography on the subject published in Spanish (in addition to those books originally published in English and translated subsequently into Spanish).
Glick, Ira (1973): Abstracts of Literature. In: Family Process, 12 (1), S. 107–109.
Heft 2
Stierlin, Helm (1973): Group Fantasies and Family Myths-Some Theoretical and Practical Aspects. In: Family Process, 12 (2), S. 111–125.
Abstract: Fantasies, when shared in groups, have special meaning and functions. These meaning and functions vary with the types of groups under study. In this paper, I consider families to be groups in which fantasies are typically shared and utilized. These family groups can. Be compared with other groups. Such comparison, I shall try to show, casts into relief the differing theoretical and therapeutic implications of different types of shared group fantasies.
Wells, Carl F. & Edwin L. Rabiner (1973): The Conjoint Family Diagnostic Interview and the Family Index of Tension. In: Family Process, 12 (2), S. 127–144.
Abstract: The present paper is written in response to the, as yet, unmet need for a broadly applicable, clinical rubric for assessing the psychiatric patient’s situation in his family. It describes a conjoint family diagnostic interview procedure (CFDI) which enables a clinical interviewer, within a single ninety-minute, problem-focused, conjoint interview, to describe or rate the verbal and nonverbal behavior of a Ten family unit along dimensions relevant to clinical decision-making for the psychiatric patient. A rating instrument, the Family Index of Tension (FIT) will also be described. It provides a convenient format for quantifying the information obtained at the CFDI, facilitating comparisons within and across family systems. Though initially developed and protested on 350 families of hospitalized psychiatric patients, the procedure described appears applicable to all clinical situations in which families, regardless of their composition and background, are seen together with an ‚identified patient‘ for purposes of evaluation and treatment planning.
Gurman, Alan S. (1973): The Effects and Effectiveness of Marital Therapy A Review of Outcome Research. In: Family Process, 12 (2), S. 145–170.
Abstract: The literature on outcome research in marital therapy is reviewed. Issues considered include the nature of outcome criteria, the need to establish a base line against which to measure improvement, and therapeutic effectiveness as a function of treatment type and time-in-therapy. The overall improvement rate across a heterogeneous collection of patients, therapists, and treatment modalities was 66 per cent, suggesting, conservatively, at least a moderately positive therapeutic effect in light of the judgment that ’spontaneous‘ rates appear to be much lower in marital than in individual therapy. Evidence of deterioration in marital therapy also was discovered. No support was found for the contention that co-therapy is more effective than treatment of the couple by a single therapist. The needs of future research in the outcome of marital therapy are discussed and possible fruitful directions for such investigations suggested.
Frances, Allen & Leonard Gale (1973): Family Structure and Treatment in the Military. In: Family Process, 12 (2), S. 171–178.
Abstract: This paper elucidates the special stresses and supports experienced by military families and their relation to individual decompensation, which is viewed as an expression of family disequilibrium and is often best treated in the family. Periodic separations, frequent moves, and rigid hierarchy present difficult problems that tax the resourcefulness of the military and its families. Healthy and maladaptive patterns are discussed.
Solomon, Michael A. (1973): A Developmental, Conceptual Premise for Family Therapy. In: Family Process, 12 (2), S. 179–188.
Abstract: The article describes an hypothesis about the staging of the development of the family system for use in diagnostic understanding and treatment planning with families.
Chatterjee, Pranab (1973): The Deserving Underclass: a Focus for Social Work Policy in the Year 2001. In: Family Process, 12 (2), S. 189–196.
Abstract: The Supreme Court decision in the case of Jane Lib vs. the State of Connecticut (1999) held that the institution of matrimony is unconstitutional because it violates the Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. This decision, while freeing some people from bondage, has generated a new type of sexual underclass. The social work profession needs to develop policy guidelines to serve this new underclass.
Papp, Peggy, Olga Silverstein & Elizabeth Carter (1973): Family Sculpting in Preventive Work with ‚Well Families‘. In: Family Process, 12 (2), S. 197–212.
Abstract: This paper will describe an experimental community project aimed at ‚well families‘. The program was designed to be preventive by providing service to families before their problems escalated into crisis proportions. It emphasized an educational rather than treatment bias; this orientation forced us to expand concepts, experiment with new techniques, and re-evaluate our ideas on how families change. Of particular importance to us was the emphasis on behavioral change rather than intellectual insight. In the course of this work, family sculpting came to be an increasingly valuable tool.
Meltzer, Rae (1973): Family Affairs. Family Treatment in the Curriculum of the Graduate School of Social Work. In: Family Process, 12 (2), S. 213–216.
Abstract: This department solicits reports of work-in-progress; applications of family therapy techniques and principles to new areas; reports of innovative programs of research, training, and therapy in the family field; accounts of relevant, personal experience. Material for consideration should be sent to The Editor.
Richards, Elizabeth (1973): Review – Virginia Satir (1972): Because You want to be a Better Parent. Cupertino, CA (Science and Behavior Books). In: Family Process, 12 (2), S. 217–218.
Wortman, Dorothy F. (1973): Review – Virginia Satir (1972): Because You want to be a Better Parent. Cupertino, CA (Science and Behavior Books). In: Family Process, 12 (2), S. 218–219.
Rubinstein, David (1973): Review – Israel W. Charny (1969): Individual and Family Development Review. Los Angeles, CA. (Western Psychological Services). In: Family Process, 12 (2), S. 219–219.
Rabkin, Richard (1973): Rabkin on Books. In: Family Process, 12 (2), S. 220–221.
Heft 3
Montalvo, Braulio & Jay Haley (1973): In Defense of Child Therapy. In: Family Process, 12 (3), S. 227–244.
Abstract: Traditional child dyadic psychotherapy can be viewed from a family systems point of view. Seen in this light it shows itself to have powerful family systems effects. These are often therapeutically effective, although unintended. The deliberate identification of the child as ’sick‘ and the choice of an intervention format that avoids direct dealing with the rest of the family may make change possible where it might otherwise not have occurred. Child psychotherapy is shown to have important elements in common with recently developed symptom oriented treatment methods.
Ericson, Philip M. & L. Edna Rogers (1973): New Procedures for Analyzing Relational Communication. In: Family Process, 12 (3), S. 245–267.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present a system for describing and indexing patterns of communication at the relational level, primarily in dyadic systems. Relational communication refers to the control aspects of message exchanges that define an interactor’s relationships with others. The reciprocal definition of each individual’s role at a given moment in the interaction is reflected in the relative control each individual has and/or is given by the other individual. The control-defining aspects of communication, rather than other information such communication may convey, is the focus of the coding system to be described. Further, the analysis deals with sequences of messages rather than individual messages, and attempts to index the control dimensions of those messages according to their similarity or difference. While previous interaction analysis techniques have been predominantly monadic in nature, i.e., single-message coding schemes, the present approach is based on a systems level of analysis.1
Camp, Howard (1973): Structural Family Therapy: An Outsider’s Perspective. In: Family Process, 12 (3), S. 269–277.
Abstract: This subjective viewpoint outlines a plan of attack for those who, like the present writer, would like to pirate some of the useful models and orientation developed at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic. Specifically focused publications abound from the talented people at the Philadelphia Clinic, but, to date, no unifying work has appeared in the literature to define just what is meant when they use the rubric ’structural family therapy.‘ The present article defines one person’s understanding of the components included under that rubric. As a definition and overview, no effort is made to be comprehensive, and few illustrations show how specific strategies would be implemented. Rather, this is an effort to draw from the literature, discussions, talks, and videotapes originating at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic, a central kernel that could be adapted by other agencies desiring to utilize this orientation.
Cole, Charles L. & Graham B. Spanier (1973): Induction into Mate-Swapping: A Review. In: Family Process, 12 (3), S. 279–290.
Abstract: The question of how and why people become involved in co-marital sexual mate-swapping is examined in the larger context of familial behavior. The literature on other areas of sexuality are tapped for possible explanations of the mate-swapper phenomenon.
Dreyer, Cecily A. & Albert S. Dreyer (1973): Family Dinner Time as a Unique Behavior Habitat. In: Family Process, 12 (3), S. 291–301.
Abstract: Descriptive data on the dinner ritual in a sample of 40 white, middle-class families are presented. The families show a similarity of pattern in the structure of the situation as, for example, in the division of labor. The data are discussed with respect to the implications for socialization.
Hufferi, Virginia (1973): Australian Aborigine: Transition in Family Grouping. In: Family Process, 12 (3), S. 303–315.
Abstract: In the brief period of fifty years, under the tutelage of the missionaries, there has been a marked transition of family structure in one group of Australian Aborigines from polygynous to monogamous. Those who are now middle-aged have lived as man and wife in Western-style nuclear families. Presently, however, there is a tendency for the youth not to marry but for the young women to incorporate their offspring into the household of their monogamous parents. A matrilocal pattern is developing that has the potential for matriarchal dominance. Some of the forces contributing to these changes are discussed. Several parallels with transitions in American minority family groupings are presented.
Murphy, Donald C. & Lloyd A. Mendelson (1973): Communication and Adjustment in Marriage: Investigating the Relationship. In: Family Process, 12 (3), S. 317–326.
Abstract: The relationship between marital communication and adjustment is assumed to be a strong one, although little research has been done to verify the assumption. This article reports a study in which the relationship was shown to be positive; it also describes some clinical observations of the sample couples in a related research task. It suggests that those scoring low on marital adjustment tended to either communicate more about their relationship than about the content of the task or to ignore each other in favor of working on the task independently.
Winter, William D. (1973): Review – Andrew Ferber, Marilyn Mendelsohn & Augustus Napier (Ed.)(1972): The Book of Family Therapy (Science House). In: Family Process, 12 (3), S. 329–330.
Kadis, Leslie B. (1973): Review – Andrew Ferber, Marilyn Mendelsohn & Augustus Napier (Ed.)(1972): The Book of Family Therapy (Science House). In: Family Process, 12 (3), S. 330–331.
Lowe, R. C. (1973): Review – Gerald H. Zuk (1971): Family TherapyA Triadic-Based Approach. New York (Behavioral Publications). In: Family Process, 12 (3), S. 331–332.
Rabkin, Richard (1973): Rabkin on Books. In: Family Process, 12 (3), S. 332–334.
Glick, Ira (1973): Abstracts of Literature. In: Family Process, 12 (3), S. 339–342.
Heft 4
Montalvo, Braulio (1973): Aspects of Live Supervision. In: Family Process, 12 (4), S. 343–359.
Abstract: Live supervision is a term describing the process by which someone guides the therapist while he works. The person supervising watches the session, usually behind a one-way mirror, and intrudes upon it to guide the therapist’s behavior at the moment the action is happening. Goals and methods used are described.
Wertheim, Eleanor S. (1973): Family Unit Therapy and the Science and Typology of Family Systems. In: Family Process, 12 (4), S. 361–376.
Abstract: This paper attempts to review and evaluate the theoretical models used in family therapy. Speer’s (20) critique is given special attention. This critique provides a starting point for a theoretical reformulation, supported by the author’s (20, 21) and other workers‘ (5) experimental findings. A theoretically derived, three-dimensional typology of family systems is described. This is based on the notion of a balance between morphostatic and morphogenic properties of the family system, as defined. Using a high and low value for each of the three dimensions, eight family types are isolated and each type is tied to therapeutic predictions. The proposed typology is discussed in relation to an inductively derived typology recently reported by Reiss (16) The need for further validation of the typological scheme is stressed, and its possible clinical applications are outlined.
Slipp, Samuel (1973): The Symbiotic Survival Pattern: A Relational Theory of Schizophrenia. In: Family Process, 12 (4), S. 377–398.
Abstract: A theoretical formulation regarding schizophrenia and family functioning is presented that attempts to integrate individual and systems approaches. Despite these approaches dealing with phenomena at different levels, they interact, modify, and determine each other. A review of the literature in both psychoanalytic and family theory served as background and foundation. The symbiotic survival pattern found in families with a schizophrenic member is a mutually controlling system of interaction in which each individual feels responsible for the self-esteem and survival of the other. This involves at least three people, two of whom are expected to act out introjected images for the third. A paradigm of intrapsychic introjects, as well as an illustrative method of describing their use in family transactions, is developed.
Sonne, John C. (1973): Insurance and Family Therapy. In: Family Process, 12 (4), S. 399–414.
Abstract: The advent of recent theories of family structure and socially shared psychopathology that have found expression in the practice of family therapy are forcing a re-examination of concepts of individual diagnoses in which the symptoms of an individual family member are viewed as a possible communication from a disturbed family system. In seeking reimbursement for family therapy through health and accident insurance, a problem is occurring because the traditional method of payment is based on the establishment of individual psychiatric diagnoses, and very few companies will insure a family for family therapy. This paper examines the three-part system: insurers, family, and helping professions in relation to the significance of the conflict between traditional concepts of individual psychopathology and recent concepts of socially shared family psychopathology.
Jacob, Theodore & John Davis (1973): Family Interaction as a Function of Experimental Task. In: Family Process, 12 (4), S. 415–427.
Abstract: To assess consistency family interaction across different experimental tasks, the present study evaluated family patterns of talking and interrupting, as elicited from discussions of a Plan Something Together Task, a set of TAT cards, and an Unrevealed Difference Questionnaire. With few exceptions, data analyses indicated that such family patterns are not altered significantly as a function of experimental tasks and, therefore, suggest considerable interactional stability across differing contexts. Characteristics of the present study (as well as related investigations of task effects) are discussed in terms of implications for future research efforts.
Colón, Fernando (1973): In Search of One’s Past: An Identity Trip. In: Family Process, 12 (4), S. 429–438.
Abstract: The experience of being ‚cut off,‘ either emotionally or physically, from one’s family of origin and extended families is an experience that at times confronts us all, be we the children of natural, adoptive, foster or divorced parents. The goal of this paper is to show that a person’s identity is profoundly related to, and affected by, his sense of connection to his family of origin. This paper will take as its point of departure the author’s story as a foster child and will describe his successful effort to get himself reconnected to his natural family. The story raises questions about the policies of foster-care agencies and, by implication, questions about adoptive agency policy. Finally, the paper may have something to say not only to family therapists and researchers but to all of us who wish to more fully ‚know‘ our parents and our extended families.
Sherr, Claire & Henry Hicks (1973): Family Drawings as a Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technique. In: Family Process, 12 (4), S. 439–460.
Abstract: This article concerns a family whose son was treated for two years by chemotherapy, the parents participating for part of that time in a parents‘ group, without any significant changes in behavior. Family therapy was initiated, with the inclusion of family art therapy, which immediately provided highly significant diagnostic data not otherwise observable. It also served as a dramatic catalytic agent for constructive change as evidenced by other family sessions.
Walters, Marianne (1973): Obituary: Rae Weiner. In: Family Process, 12 (4), S. 461–462.
Abstract: Rae Weiner, a pioneer of the concept of family therapy with the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic and the Family Institute of Philadelphia, died Monday, August 13th at the age of 46. Mrs. Weiner received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master of social studies from Bryn Mawr College. Mrs. Weiner joined the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic in 1968 where she was instrumental in creating and overseeing family counseling programs. She was also closely affiliated with the Family Institute of Philadelphia, an organization of family therapists and social workers. Mrs. Weiner was president-elect of the Family Institute and served on its executive council. She is survived by her husband, Oscar R. Weiner, M.D., two sons and a daughter.
Minuchin, Salvador (1973): Obituary: Jerry Ford. In: Family Process, 12 (4), S. 463–464.
Abstract: Jerry (Jerome) Ford, Director of the Institute of Family Counseling at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic, died Wednesday, September 5th at the age of 41. Mr. Ford spent his entire professional career teaching, guiding and counseling inner city youth and their families, and training others to do the same. He graduated from the University of Maryland and earned a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Temple University. Mr. Ford joined the Clinic in 1969 while serving as a guidance counselor at Bok Technical High School, Philadelphia. He had earlier been a teacher in the public school system. Mr. Ford was a member of the Family Institute of Philadelphia, Family Service of Philadelphia, the Women’s Christian Alliance and the Crime Prevention Association. He is survived by his wife, Clarice Bailey Ford, a son and a daughter.
Fisch, Richard (1973): Review – Jay Haley (1973): Uncommon Therapy: The Psychiatric Techniques of Milton H. Erickson. New York (, W.W. Norton and Company). In: Family Process, 12 (4), S. 467–467.
Selcer, Bobbi (1973): Review – Raven Lang (1972): Birth Book. Ben Lomond, CA (Genesis Press). In: Family Process, 12 (4), S. 467–469.
Kadis, Leslie B. (1973): Review – Albert Cain (Ed.)(1972): Survivors of Suicide. Springfield, Ill. (Charles C. Thomas). In: Family Process, 12 (4), S. 469–470.
Rodman, Hyman (1973): Comment on Katherine W. Ellison’s review of my book (Teaching About Families: Textbook Evaluations and Recommendations for Secondary Schools, reviewed in Family Process 10:3, 363-364). In: Family Process, 12 (4), S. 470–470.
