Questioned 80 grandmothers about interaction with grandchildren before and after the divorce of a child. Found that following divorce, grandmothers thought that their contact with grandchildren increased, as did time spent babysitting, teaching family history, and offering advice on personal problems. Geographic proximity and custodial status of…

Discusses the need for the development of specific instructional practices to teach relevant concepts and issues on communication in the family setting. Provides guidelines for an exercise using E. Goffman's concepts of markers and tie-in signs to determine, observationally yet unobtrusively, whether individuals in public places have a familial…

Discusses the grandparent-grandchild relationship and its implications for counseling activities. Reviews the historical and contemporary role expectations of grandparents and grandchildren, the reciprocal significance of this relationship, and ways to use the relationship in counseling services and programming in various settings. (Author)

Examined effectiveness of teaching communication skills to 22 married couples. Experimental group was taught by means of a structured videotape; control group was taught without videotape. Findings revealed significant improvement for both groups in the use of the skills taught. Follow-up data showed videotape to have more lasting effect over…

Describes a different type of continuing attachment between former spouses by extending Bowen's (1978) ideas about emotional cut-off to the relationship between former spouses. Guidelines are offered concerning clinical interventions in emotionally cut-off divorce cases and a case example is provided. (NRB)

Evaluates the efficacy of a multisystemic approach to treatment of juvenile offenders and their families. One group of delinquent adolescents received family-ecological treatment, another group of delinquent adolescents received an alternative treatment, and normal adolescents served as developmental controls. Findings support a multisystemic…

Identified factors related to eating disorders in young adolescent girls. Findings revealed significant differences among the girls based on intact versus broken family; subjects' actual and preferred weight; whether the family ate meals together; average grades; age and grade in school; fathers' occupation; future career plans; place of…

Argues that a major flaw in most family therapies is their overemphasis on interpersonal familial process, with insufficient attention to the role of genuine deficit in the so-called identified patient and to the influence of external forces generating conflicts. Reviews literature that highlights limitations inherent in family therapy.…

Reports the results of an examination of the impact of a first child on three groups of women: voluntarily childless wives and single women wanting to remain childless; mothers of one child by choice and single women who want an only child; and two-child mothers and single women who want to have two children. (Author/BL)

Acquaints counselors with systemic family triangles and suggests that cross-generational coalitions influence satisfaction with sexual, emotional, and intellectual intimacy. (Author/ABB)

Studied recent changes in the organization of men's lives using census (1960,1970) and Current Population Survey (1980) data. Found considerable changes, with men spending less time in families with children and more time outside of marriage. Changes were pervasive across educational levels, racial categories, and geographic areas. (NRB)

Examined availability of children and siblings to a judgement sample of persons 45 and older drawn from a newspaper obituary section. Although 76.6 percent of the total were survived by nearby children or siblings, 24.7 percent of descendants 65 and over had no surviving children or siblings residing nearby. (JAC)

The case study focuses on reluctance of parents of a disabled young adult to allow her to move into her own apartment. Noted are the daughter's need to take risks and the importance of viewing such moves as trial efforts. (CL)

The article reviews the origins and growth of Lekoteks play libraries that serve as resource centers for children with handicaps and their families. The Lekotek program uses toys and play to stimulate developmental progress and promote positive interaction between parent and child. The program at the Evanston (Illinois) Center is described.…

A mother describes how her family reached the decision to place their mentally retarded adolescent in a group home. (CL)