The Family Journal

Contextual and essentialist explanations of how couples 'interactions are gendered were compared by examining the relationship between demanding and withdrawing within couples and the partners'involvements outside the couple. Data consisted of questionnaire reports completed independently by partners in 62 heterosexual couples. Results showed that wives were more often in the demanding/pursuing role than were their husbands, but that this pattern also was significantly correlated with the partners' outside involvements. The magnitude of demanding-and-withdrawing and pursuing-and-distancing was higher in couples in which one partner was more involved than the other in his or her career In addition, gender differences in who demands and who withdraws were more pronounced when wives had greater involvement with their families of origin than husbands had with theirs. Results are discussed in terms of relevance to the debate on gender stereotypes and implications for couples therapy.

How much attention do males andfemales pay to positive and negative information about their marriages as afunction of their belief that the marriage is either in trouble or basically satisfactory? In an analog experiment, videotapes of six couples talking about problems in their marriages were presented to 121 participants. Participants were asked to put themselves in the place of either the husband or the wife and to assume that the marriage was either in trouble or generally fine. They then responded to 10 generalizations or events by rating the amount of attention the assigned spouse would give to each piece of information. Female participants attended more than male participants to negative events only when the marriage was believed to be in trouble. Those assuming the wife 's role were generally more likely than those assuming the husband ' role to attend to negative information.

This article examines the theoretical constructs about the effects of coalitions in the father-mother-child triad from a family systems perspective. How this triadic view interacts with the historical patriarchal zeitgeist and with issues of power is addressedfrom afeminist perspective.

When counseling the single-child family, structural family therapy provides a viable clinical model that defines and strengthens the family's structure, subsystems, and boundaries while supporting the mastery of each individual's age-appropriate developmental tasks. Along with an illustrative case example, strategies developed by the author for counseling this specialized family system provide professionals with creative alternatives to achieve a healthy balance within this family system.

This review explores recent use of qualitative methodology in research relating to marriage and family counseling. Qualitative research methodology is experiencing increased interest by the human disciplines as the influence of postmodern philosophy expands. The seven research articles described herein highlight the potential benefits and challenges qualitative methodology can have for the field of marriage andfamily counseling.

Family counselors working with individuals suffering the effects of trauma are encouraged to consider the "active ingredients" found by Charles Figley and Joyce Carbonell at Florida State University and reported in the two articles reviewed here.

Recent research reports that marriage andfamily clinicians describe the use of standardized assessment as "of little importance." However these results contradict the potential advantages of the use of standardized measures for clients, clinicians, and the therapeutic process. This contrast may be explained by the hypothesis that students use what they are taught, prompting a review of assessment course curricula.

This column provides a forum within which readers can share with their colleagues some of the creative techniques that they have developed or adapted and find successful in their work with couples and families. Others might be able to adapt the techniques for their own uses or might be stimulated to invent new techniques. Please submit manuscripts to Robert Sherman, 12 Berkshire Drive, Cranbury, NJ 08512, or send them to the Editor; indicating that they are intended for this column.