Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Mixing Apples And Oranges: Sociological Issues In The Process Of An Academic Manager, John G. Bruhn

Clinical Sociology Review

This paper describes and analyzes key sociological issues that arise during the merger of a campus with a college within a large university. The issues arising in this case study are analyzed within the framework of a model for reframing organizations. The skills that a clinical sociologist can bring to a merger situation to help minimize delay and failure are discussed

Perspectives On Video Self-Confrontation, Linda P. Rouse

Clinical Sociology Review

Video self-confrontation has been widely used for training and therapeutic interventions. Clients are videotaped then given an opportunity to view themselves via playback Early reviews of video self-confrontation studies noted the absence of an explicit, well developed theoretical rationale for application and evaluation of video playback techniques. This article discusses five theoretical perspectives on video self-confrontation, information processing; causal attribution, psychodynamic; objective self-awareness/self-discrepancies; and Mead's notion of self. Each calls attention to unique elements of video self-confrontation, with implications for clinical practice. Additionally, new questions raised by symbolic interactionism about the social nature of the experience of self-confrontation by video …

Providing Culturally Sensitive Services To Latino Clients: A Case Study Of A Non-Profit Organization, Darlene L. Piña

Clinical Sociology Review

This paper describes an evaluation of a non-profit human service organization's attempts to provide culturally sensitive services. Systems and constructivist theoretical perspectives are used to examine the problematic of providing effective and meaningful counseling and educational services to Spanish-speaking, Latino immigrant clients The two models of achieving cultural sensitivity—cultural compatibility and cultural competency—are assessed. Findings reveal that service was hindered by the ghettoization of Latino providers, external constraints on service delivery, role conflicts among Latino providers, and institutional silence and uncertainty about multicultural issues. These problems indicate that culturally sensitive service requires that culturally compatible services be incorporated in an …

"Mental Pictures And Emotional Intimacy: A Theoretical Explanation For The Sexual Sadistic Serial Murder's Heterosexual Lifestyle", John E. Holman

Clinical Sociology Review

This paper develops a theoretical explanation for the sexual sadistic serial murderer's heterosexual lifestyle. The theoretical formulation developed draws upon Glasser's (1984) control theory and Marshal's (1989) general theory of sexual offending. It synthesizes Glasser's propositions around idealized life style and mental pictures and Marshal's propositions on intimacy. The theoretical formulation developed focuses on the mental and behavioral contradictions implicit in the life of this type of offender. The paper concludes by comparing these lifestyles to those of homosexuals in similar heterosexual lifestyles.

The Unintended Consequences Of The Restructuring Of The Division Of Aids Services In New York City, Mitchell A. Kaplan, Arthur J. Sturm, Alexandra J. Vela, Ana Cruz, Barbara Wilson, Marian Inguanzo, Jerry Jaboin

Clinical Sociology Review

The purpose of this study was to assess perceptions of the quality of services of consumers of the New York City Division of AIDS Services in restructured and pre-restructured agency settings A total of 447 consumers participated in the study. Data were collected through interviews conducted at DAS field sites around New York City between July and November of 1996, using a 77 item evaluation instrument developed by the researcher and staff from the Mayor's Office on AIDS Policy Coordination On the three quality indicators, satisfaction with services, perception of the effectiveness of the caseworker, and perception of the helpfulness …

From Research To Policy: Roles For Sociologists, Mildred A. Morton

Clinical Sociology Review

No abstract provided.

The Social Reconstruction Of Emotions: Insights From Members Of A 12-Step Community, Sandra Coyle

Clinical Sociology Review

Common among many approaches to the study of emotions that are emerging across disciplines is the fundamental proposition that emotions "are emergent properties of social relations and sociocultural processes" (McCarthy 1994: 269). Consistent with Berger's (1977) assessment of ideas, emotions–their meanings and associated behavioral counterparts–are believed to succeed in history by virtue of their relationship to specific social processes. Hence, as Steams and Steams (1994) observed, emotions have histories that are a part of every individual's socializing environment Emotions, then, are social things that are learned and can be relearned (McCarthy 1989).

As in Power (1984), this paper positions the …

Humanizing Sociological Thought And Practice, Lynn M. Mulkey

Clinical Sociology Review

This paper introduces a practical application of sociology. It attempts to do so as a modest effort in perceiving varied images of the human and of society. It makes available, as interventions for the treatment of individual crises and for empirical verification, a set of presuppositions about the features and consequences of human social nature. The preponderance of social scientific theories and practices found in the literature have a commonality germane to the definition and resolution of social problems - horizontal change. An optional theory and corresponding set of practices espousing vertical change focus less on the maintenance and content …

Hearts On Fire: An Exploration Of The Emotional World Of Firefighters, S. Joseph Woodall

Clinical Sociology Review

Firefighting ranks among the nation's most hazardous and stressful occupations. As emergency rescue workers, firefighters are often called on to intervene and mitigate tragic and traumatic emergencies. In an effort to assist these emergency workers, several stress intervention models are currently employed in the contemporary fire service. However, most work from an individual perspective rather man employing sociological systems perspectives.

This essay introduces insights into the emotional world of firefighters, the types of incidents that elicit the most intense emotions in them, and how they cope with and manage these emotions through the utilization of personal, experiential, social, and work …

Flirtation With Autobiography, Jonathan A. Freedman

Clinical Sociology Review

No abstract provided.

Résumés En Français, Csr Editors

Clinical Sociology Review

No abstract provided.

Clinical Sociology And The Individual Client, Melvyn L. Fein

Clinical Sociology Review

Clinical sociology has a large, albeit under-appreciated, role to play in helping individual clients. The types of problems addressed by helping professionals can be classified in four major areas, namely physiological problems, moral problems, problems in living, and role problems. These are respectively best dealt with by medical, social control, problemsolving, and resocialization solutions. Clinical sociology can contribute to each of these owing to its expertise in social support, socialization, resocialization, emotional competence, and moral competence.

On Reconstructing Trust: Time, Intention, And Forgiveness, Linda R. Weber, Allison I. Carter

Clinical Sociology Review

The central focus of this paper is the mechanisms that ordinary people use in their everyday lives to manage relations that have included trust violations. Trust violations provide the impetus for strong emotional experiences. Many relationships recuperate from significant violations of trust, although in a changed form. Our data, gathered from ten in-depth interviews, indicated that on those occasions where individuals deemed the relationship worth salvaging, our respondents and their violators participated in a negotiation process that included the following components: the passing of time, an assessment of the seriousness of the violation and the intent of the other, the …

The Organization As A Person: Analogues For Intervention, John G. Bruhn

Clinical Sociology Review

Attempting to understand an organization as though it were a person can offer insights into how organizations grow, develop, prosper, falter, and regenerate or decline. Several analogues are offered to be used as an addition to a consultant's approach in determining what is right and wrong with an organization in planning an appropriate intervention, if needed. The author suggests that a clinical sociologist has a role in promoting the health of organizations and in preventing problems, as well as in intervening to solve problems.

Intervention In The Classroom: A Cautionary Tale, Melodye Lehnerer

Clinical Sociology Review

"A careful analysis of the teacher-student relationship at any level, inside or outside the school, reveals its fundamentally narrative character... The teacher talks about reality as if it were motionless, static, compartmentalized, and predictable. . . The outstanding characteristic of the narrative education, then, is the sonority of words, not their transforming power" (Freire 1984: 57). Guided by a commitment to the accuracy of Freire's appraisal of the student-teacher relationship, I decided to practice a "liberating pedagogy" in my classroom. My report on this action shows that students are often less than receptive to such pedagogical strategies. Their lack of …

Teaching Across Boundaries: American Educators And Ultra-Orthodox Women In Jerusalem, David W. Hartman, Betty J. Feir, Avraham Schwartzbaum

Clinical Sociology Review

This article describes the efforts involved in developing and establishing a Master's in Clinical Sociology program, in Jerusalem, for Haredi women. The development of this educational program evolved over a period of one year and was implemented in the tall of 1994. The difficulties in developing a program for a cultural group unlike your own, over 10,000 miles away, and for very specific purposes presents special challenges. The reasons why there is a need for Haredi women, trained in counseling techniques, is also explored. In addition, there is a discussion of the students themselves and the problems they experience as …

Disseminating The Administrative Version And Explaining The Administrative And Statistical Versions Of The Federal Poverty Measure, Gordon M. Fisher

Clinical Sociology Review

This article describes how the author, a federal employee, disseminates and explains the poverty guidelines (the administrative version of the federal poverty measure, used in determining eligibility for certain programs) and other povertyrelated information, responding to 1312 public inquiries in 1996. The article reviews federal programs and some non-federal activities using the poverty guidelines; the principal categories of people who make poverty inquiries; and some of the questions most commonly asked.

One common question is "How was the poverty line developed?" The author has prepared a detailed account of the development and history of the poverty thresholds (the original version …

Sociological Variables Affecting Clinical Issues: A Comparison Of Graduate Distance Education Sites, Billy P. Blodgett, Ellen E. Whipple

Clinical Sociology Review

This study examined the differences between students residing in urban and rural areas while enrolled in a graduate practice methods course taught via two-way interactive television. A questionnaire was administered to sixty-six students which assessed sociodemographic characteristics, current practice topics, practice approaches, and diversity issues. Rural offcampus students were found to reside in significantly smaller communities than the urban-based university campus students, and viewed several clinical issues as having more relevance to their future practice. Further, on-campus students were significantly younger than their rural counterparts, were more ethnically diverse, and placed more emphasis on the relevance of course material to …

A Crucial Event In The Development Of The Rules Of Socioanalysis: The Printing Shop Intervention, Jacques Van Bockstaele, Maria Van Bockstaele, Pierrette Schein, Martine Godard-Plasman

Clinical Sociology Review

According to the authors, clinical intervention cannot be properly conducted without an appropriate technical tool. Socioanalysis has been founded on the need for clinical intervention: the satisfactory integration of diagnosis, change and evaluation. The present article returns to an early case of intervention (1958), where the elements of this integration in Socioanalysis were technically marked out for the first time. This occured in two stages. A round of interviews, completed by a survey questionnaire, was conducted at a printing shop. The results were made available and discussed with the participants. A co-investigation was undertaken by the members of the shop …

Older Women, Younger Men: Self And Stigma In Age-Discrepant Relationships, Carol A. B. Warren

Clinical Sociology Review

This study, based on intensive interviews with married, cohabiting and divorced older women and younger men, explores the impact of this type of age discrepancy on relationships and selves. Both the women and the men were aware of the stigmatizing potential of their relationships, in particular that the woman might be mistaken for the man's mother (which indeed sometimes happened). Although the couples' fear of audience response lessened over time, the impact of stigma on their sense of self remained. For the woman, her embodied self—body and face—was most problematic, and increasingly so as she aged. For the man, it …

Socioemotional Understanding And Recreation, Beverley Cuthbertson Johnson

Clinical Sociology Review

A socioemotional framework for conducting clinical sociology is introduced. Case studies are presented as examples of two essential clinical sociological processes: socioemotional understanding and recreation. Special emphasis is placed upon the role that specific and general sociocultural contexts have upon the emotional profiles of individuals and society as a whole. Discussed is how clinical sociologists are especially skilled at facilitating individuals developing responsible emotionality and emotional responsibility as they singly and jointly explore, reflect upon, understand, and choose to recreate particular self and other destructive emotional patterns and processes as well as the sociocultural contexts that contribute to those patterns …

Local Solidarity And Low-Income Families: Can A Clinical Approach Be Empowering?, Néréé St-Amand

Clinical Sociology Review

This article seeks to determine whether a clinical approach can break down some of the barriers that exist between researchers and lowincome families and individuals, and whether such an approach can be empowering and raise awareness. Research conducted in Canada on alternative resources for low-income families highlights some of the characteristics and limitations of the clinical approach. While the clinical approach can foster closer links between researchers and disadvantaged people, it does not necessarily challenge structural inequalities or promote empowering practices. A definition of the clinical approach is compared and contrasted with the approach discussed in this paper.

Reconstructing Self: Using Deep Learning Groups Among Adult Children Of Alcoholics, Sandra Coyle

Clinical Sociology Review

This paper explores the use of the deep learning group model in affirming the self-transformative effects often experienced among members of self-help groups for Adult Children of Alcoholics (AGOAs). A theoretical discussion of the construction and reconstruction of self is derived from the tenets of symbolic interaction, social construction and narrative theory. The deep learning group (DLG) is presented as a social context in which members' life stories can attain enhanced meaning when viewed from intellectual and emotional standpoints. Benefits from incorporating additional tenets of emotion theory, specific to emotional resocialization, in the DLG model are also proposed. The stories …

Mitigation Evaluation: Preparation For A Death Penalty Trial, Ann Charvat

Clinical Sociology Review

The purpose of this article is to begin to sociologically define a legal standard for the courts of mitigating factors that should influence the sentence of death. The article also describes a method of inquiry that makes this definition reasonable. The material presented is intended to serve as a guide for the investigation of mitigating circumstances for the sentencing phase of a death penalty trial. This paper outlines a method of historical investigation that has proven effective in development of evidence at the sentencing phase of the trial. It is useful both as a foundation for expert sociological testimony, as …

Clinical Sociology In Service-Learning, C. Margaret Hall

Clinical Sociology Review

Experiences in teaching internship courses illustrate some of the advantages of teaching sociological practice through community service. For example, a course requirement to spend nine hours of each week of a semester in an advocacy group provides a richer variety of opportunities for students to learn about themselves, society, sociological theory, and research methodologies than is possible in conventional lecture-discussion classes. Furthermore, becoming participants in sociological interventions heightens students' awareness of related ethical concerns, as well as of the complexity of social problems, and of how to define viable individual and collective solutions.

Lessons Learned From Evaluating A Five-Year Community Partnership Project, Ann Marie Ellis

Clinical Sociology Review

Looking back over a five-year Community Partnership grant, the practicing sociologists who evaluated the project note some important lessons learned from the experience. Problems discussed in this paper include difficulties with the collection of timely baseline data, transition in evaluation teams and its effects on the research design, data collection strategies that produce varied pictures of program effects, problems in using extant data, and other issues in evaluating a community-wide intervention. Recommendations are made to address these issues and a case is made for using qualitative as well as quantitative methods in community evaluation projects.

On Backtracking My Path To Applied Sociology: An Exercise In Lesson-Seeking Autobiography, Arthur B. Shostak

Clinical Sociology Review

No abstract provided.

Mediating Conflicting Constructions Of Childhood Sexual Experience: A Case Study, Lynnell J. Simonson

Clinical Sociology Review

This paper describes a case study involving two primary school age children and their sexual experience together. The young girl interpreted the experience as abuse, and the young boy defined the experience as exploration. The cultural, environmental and structural factors which may have contributed to this difference of interpretation are presented. The author discusses the criterion used to distinguish between sexual exploration and sexual abuse between two children and addresses the difficulty in applying these standards to the normal sexual behavior of children. A case study is presented using the constructionist paradigm to mediate the conflicting interpretation of events, so …

Femenism, God's Will, And Women's Empowerment, C. Margaret Hall

Clinical Sociology Review

This study is based on clinical sociological principles derived from Durkheim's and Weber's theories, as well as from contemporary research findings which suggest that religion and feminism can be social sources of empowerment for women. The theoretical orientation therefore incorporates social and cultural influences on behavior, as well as the intrapsychic and interpersonal decision-making processes characteristic of other therapeutic modalities.

Two life histories show ways in which feminism and religion reinforce women's personal growth, and expand the scope of their contributions to society. Influences of feminism and religion on these women's beliefs are examined, as well as how redefining responsibilities …

Structural, Normative, And Communal Integration In Organizations, Clovis R. Shepherd

Clinical Sociology Review

The concepts of structural, normative, and communal dimensions of organizational behavior are defined and described, and aspects of the integration of these dimensions are discussed. Some of the dynamics of consultation utilizing these dimensions are described, and some issues and problems are delineated. The behavioral descriptions come from the author's experiences as a consultant to a variety of organizations.