Joseph Guttmann

The Phenomenological Approach to Art Therapy

The present paper discusses the phenomenological approach to art-therapy and suggests an operational terminology for its main theoretical concepts. First we present the general assumptions that underline art therapy. Definitions, leading approaches, and the therapeutic effect of artwork are considered. Next we indicate the need for relevant and particular theories of art therapy. Phenomenological theory is examined as a case in point because of its popularity among art therapists. Despite its philosophical appeal, however, we find phenomenological theory lacking the operational terminology that is essential to form a coherent and distinct school of therapy. In the present paper, we extract from phenomenological theory operational principles, which can be followed and applied by art therapists. In this analysis, we take into consideration Betenskys pioneer attempt to create the bridge between phenomenological theory as applied in verbal psychotherapy and art therapy. We end by discussing the urgent need to operationalize other verbal psychotherapeutic theories so they are relevant for art-therapy practice and may help create greater similarities among art therapists of the same school of psychotherapy.

Teachers’ and School Children’s Stereotypic Perception of “The Child of Divorce”

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate how teachers’ and schoolmates’ judgments of a child’s academic, emotional, and social functioning are influenced by the knowledge that his or her parents are divorced. One hundred four teachers and 120 seventh- and eighth-grade students were shown the same film of a child engaging in a variety of activities. The target child was introduced as either a boy or a girl and as living either with both parents or with a divorced mother. The results showed a more negative evaluation of the child of divorced parents by both teachers and students on all three judgment dimensions. The results also showed meaningful patterns of selective and inferential memory of the facts, which varied according to the subject’s beliefs as to the marital status of the target child’s parents.

Test anxiety and performance of adolescent children of divorced parents.

Abstract Many studies have indicated that children of divorced parents perform less well in school than children of intact families. A variety of reasons have been put forward for these findings. The chief purpose of the present study was to examine the level of test anxiety that is characteristic of adolescent children of divorced parents and to suggest this as a possible explanation of the lower scholastic achievements of such children. A sample of 30 tenth‐grade adolescents boys (15 of whom were children of divorced parents and 15 from intact families) were given Spielbergers Test Anxiety Inventory and their school achievement over a period of two semesters was calculated. The results showed that the children of divorced parents had significantly higher Test Anxiety scores than did the children of intact families. These results are discussed in terms of the appropriate school environment and the exerted pressure on children of divorced parents to succeed in their studies.

Positive Consequences of Parental Divorce Among Israeli Young Adults: A Long-Term Effect Model

Abstract Within the framework of cognitive theories that define crisis as a challenge to self-development, this study explored the positive long-term outcomes of coping with parental divorce in young adults. Data were collected from self-reports of 158 Israeli young adults whose parents divorced when they were adolescents. Together with painful feelings, almost half the participants reported “more positive than negative outcomes” and less than a quarter thought that the divorce had “more negative than positive outcomes.” The various positive outcomes were found to form three constructs reflecting maturity and growth: empowerment, empathy, and relationship-savvy. Coping styles used by the participants proved strongly connected to long-term outcomes. Reciprocal support was the main coping style used by the young adults and their significant others, and was connected to positive long-term outcomes. Based on multiple regression analyses, the study proposes a sequential model that charts a developmental sequence that enhances long-term positive outcomes. These and other results are discussed within the framework of posttraumatic growth perspective.

Mother's or Father's Custody: does it matter for social adjustment?

Abstract The present study examines the same‐sex parent‐child hypothesis within the context of mothers versus fathers custody. More specifically, it tests the degree to which autonomy, school adjustment and sociability of adolescents of divorced parents are a function of the interaction of the match between the custodial parents and the childrens gender. The study sample consisted of 59 junior high school students of three family types: Fathers Custody (N = 16), Mothers Custody (N = 23) and Intact Family (N = 20). The main findings show that the gender of the custodial parent matters very little for the social functioning of their children. It was also demonstrated that the social adjustment of adolescents of divorced parents is somewhat poorer than that of adolescents from intact families. No differences in the degree of autonomy were found between the adolescents of the three family types. These results are discussed in light of the same‐sex and gender‐differential parenting hypotheses.

Withdrawal Threshold in Interpersonal Conflict Among Adolescents of Divorced Parents

ABSTRACT The present study examines one possible explanation for the intergenerational transmission of divorce: a long‐term effect of learned lower withdrawal threshold. The underlying assumption here is that people differ in their readiness to struggle in a relationship before reaching the point at which they withdraw and that this withdrawal threshold is modelled and learned in the family. More specifically, the study tests the hypothesis that adolescents of divorced parents exhibit a lower withdrawal threshold in various depicted interpersonal conflict situations. The studys sample consisted 215 adolescents, including 58 (25 boys and 33 girls) of divorced parents and 157 (74 boys and 83 girls) of married parents. Two questionnaires were specially constructed to test the present studys research question: the Adolescents’ Withdrawal Threshold in Interpersonal Conflicts Questionnaire, which depicted 30 different interpersonal conflict situations, and the Adolescents’ Perception of Divorce as Indicator o...

Teachers’ Evaluations of Pupils’ Performance as a Function of Pupils’ Sex, Family Type and Past School Performance

The purpose of the present study was to investigate how teachers’ evaluations of the performance of pupils in school are influenced by knowledge of the pupils’ family background, sex, and past performance. The subjects of the study consisted of 241 Israeli teachers who were divided into three groups and asked to grade an essay written by a fourth grade pupil. The pupil was described to them as either a boy or girl, and as living either with both parents or with a divorced mother. One group of teachers was given no additional information about the pupil; another group was provided with the pupils report card, which included no numerical grades but contained teachers’ comments about the childs achievement at school; the third group received a full report card containing numerical grades as well as teachers’ comments. The results showed a significant Sex main effect and significant Sex x Family Type interaction. Boys from intact families were graded higher than girls from intact families. The studys stati...

Parental Authority in Divorced Families

This work examines the possible differences between divorced mothers and mothers of intact families in their inclinations to exert parental authority, and the possible relationship between the degree of parental authority and childrens personal and social adjustment. For the purposes of the study, we developed the Haifa Parental Authority Questionnaire, which is a situation-depicted test based on a conceptual analysis of the construct of authority. The participants were 88 mother–child dyads, 56 from single (divorced) families and 32 from two-parent families. The results show that married mothers are more disposed than are divorced mothers to use their authority. Although adding family status and parental authority scores to the regression analysis yielded insignificant models for the two childrens adjustment variables, the interaction between the variables was found to be significant. In the divorced family the more authoritarian the mother is, the worse is the childs personal adjustment, whereas in the intact family the more authoritarian the mother is, the better is the childs social adjustment. The results are discussed in the wider context of the mother–child relationship, the breakdown of the familys hierarchical structure following divorce, and the relationship of these factors with the exertion of parental authority.

Threshold of Withdrawal from Schoolwork among Children of Divorced Parents

Abstract The principal aim of the present study was to examine whether there is a difference of withdrawal threshold between children of divorced parents and children from intact families as regards schoolwork. Three different school‐type tests, designed to be long and frustrating, were administered to two groups of children. One group consisted of 31 children of divorced parents (15 boys and 16 girls); the second consisted of children from intact families and was of equal size and had a matching number of children of both sexes. There were three dependent variables: level of achievement, level of determination and the time spent on the test. The main results show that children of divorced parents have lower levels of achievement and lower withdrawal thresholds than do children from intact families. These findings are presented in the context of a consideration both of the childrens experience and interpretation of their parents’ divorce and of the generalisability of the concept of withdrawal threshold.

The Effect of Various Reward Situations on Children's Helping Behaviour

Abstract The present study examines the differential effect of three reward situations on childrens helping behaviour. Ninety‐six boys front kindergarten and second grade were put in one of four experimental conditions: (a) a tangible reward was promised for helping; (b) a social reward was promised for helping; (c) undefined reward was mentioned and (d) no reward was offered. The results indicated that more second‐grade than kindergarten children helped and that the more concrete and tangible the reward offered, the more children helped. These results are discussed in the framework of the development of helping behaviour.