Harris B. Peck

Community stressors, mediating conditions and wellbeing in urban neighborhoods.

Individual and community measures of stress are related to the presence of depression/demoralization symptoms (Feeling Bad), to positive Wellbeing (Feeling Good) and to the combination of these two (Wellbeing), in an urban sample of 549 adults. The mediation and moderation of these effects by indicators of social support, evaluation of status, and belief variables intended to measure aspects of individual coping tendencies are examined and tested. The findings suggest the absence of moderating effects of any of the support and coping variables on each stressor or on the effects of stressors on Feeling Bad, Feeling Good, and Wellbeing. A number of the variables do, however, have significant main effects, and thus appear to operate directly on the dependent variables, regardless of the presence or level of stress. Differences between apparent effects on Feeling Good and Feeling Bad and the increase in effects for the combination measure are discussed.

Migration and Ethnic Membership in Relation to Social Problems

Despite the variety of studies designed to investigate the relationship between migration and mental illness, emergence of consistent and clearcut results were long impeded by a variety of methodological problems. Gradually, however, investigators have come to agree on common definitions and measures of the concepts of migration and mental illness so that the more recent studies can be compared, samples can be combined, and some general conclusions can be tentatively drawn. Before summarizing the findings available to date, some of the methodological and procedural difficulties will be reviewed to facilitate evaluation of the studies conducted in this field. The most common methods of approaching the study of migration and mental illness are those of case-finding in the general community (e.g. Tietzse, 1942; Srole et al., 1962) and analysis of residence records of hospitalized mental patients (e.g. Malzberg and Lee, 1956; Lazarus et al., 1963). The former method seeks to estimate the rates of illness in a given community regardless of the number of people seeking treatment. As Hammer and Leacock (1961) point out, community surveys circumvent some of the problems involved in the use of treatment figures, but provide questionable data since the more intensive the survey, the

The small group: Core of the community mental health center.

Small group theory and the application of a variety of therapeutic group techniques are essential components to the planning and operation of a comprehensive community mental health center. Particularly relevant is the small groups potential for studying and facilitating those aspects of individual and group behavior that pertain to mental health. The group gives the clinician access to pertinent aspects of the patients social milieu in a way that can he integrated with a view of the individuals functioning within the social system. These characteristics of small groups may be utilized in assisting a community mental health program to provide services, training, research and to participate in the overall development of the community.

Behavioral epidemiology and social area analysis: The study of blackout looting

This article describes the use of social area analytic techniques in the study of the looting which occurred during the Con Edison power failure of July 13 and 14, 1977. Detailed procedures are outlined of the systematic collection and analysis of data which were developed from available data. Analyses contrasting competing explanatory theoretical models for blackout looting are presented. The central dependent variable is ratio of looted to retail stores. Both the numerator and denominator are aggregated to the census tract level.

An Integrated Large- and Small-Group Approach for Conducting Meetings That Lead to Social Action

Large meetings and small-group sessions each have advantages and deficiencies in dealing with social issues. The goals of conveying information, effectively changing attitudes, and encouraging action are often best achieved by integrating small-group sessions within the context of a large meeting. An approach involving three phases for a 2-hour meeting is described: (1) and initial plenary of all participants; (2) small-group sessions conducted by previously trained group facilitators drawn from the host organization; (3) a concluding plenary session centering around brief reports from the small groups. The application of some concepts of positive mental health, contracting, and empowerment to facilitate social action are discussed.

Reflections on 25 Years of the International Journal of Group Psychotherapy

If the Editor had chosen to disguise the three articles from the first issue of the journal as newly submitted papers, I believe he might have gotten away with it. The authors of the 1951 papers certainly had a substantial grasp of many of the central issues which continue to confront the field. That we have not carried these matters to further resolution than we have may in part be due to deficiencies in our own work in the field, but it is also a reflection of the difficulties, limitations, and challenges inherent in the very essence of group psychotherapy. The plaintive and continuing call for a more definitive conceptual framework for group psychotherapy is related to at least several unresolved conflicts. In Mr. Slavson’s 1951 paper he refers to the “very strong trend” in group psychotherapy toward a psychoanalytic orientation and the utilization of techniques which resemble analytic procedures. There is currently a very substantial number of group therapists who do indeed approach the group from a psychoanalytic orientation and who tend to view the patient in terms derived primarily from observations of the one-to-one therapeutic situation. Such workers are likely to focus primarily on “intrapsychic” phenomena and to deal more extensively with manifestations of unconscious processes. On the other hand, we have also seen the emergence of a point of view which insists that the group itself may serve as a source of data for the understanding of man, whose very essence is intimately related to the character of his social interactions. As Mr. Slavson points out, “Culture and