The first volume of a six-volume final report describes the activities and findings of a research project to identify the policy-related aspects and technology involved in efforts to aid disabled individuals in the United States. In Chapter 1, various types of technology assessments are explained, and general results of the technology assessment…

Social inadequacy and lack of social cooperation is one of the defining characteristics of mental deficiency, yet there have been comparatively few investigations into how such children respond to each other. Of even greater significance is the finding that among the reported studies investigating social cooperation between mentally deficient…

The author conducted two studies of disturbed adolescents in an effort to specify the precursors of severe psychopathology in adulthood, particularly the schizophrenic spectrum of disorders. In the prospective study 35 disturbed adolescents were followed for a five-year period from age 16 to 21. Numerous measures were taken on the target…

Presented at a conference at which authors represented major theoretical positions in the field, most of the papers use family therapy as an important source of observations or ideas, or as a means to pinpoint methodological problems. Papers are grouped in sections as follows: four which introduce the reader to the field of specialization, provide…

The basic purpose of this study was to measure cognitive similarity, and to test the hypothesis that the cognitive organization of a child (normal or schizophrenic) is more like that of his own parents than it is like that of randomly chosen, unrelated adults. Thirty-six matched family triads, half with sons hospitalized for a schizophrenic…

Research in the area of language skill attrition encompasses such areas as first-language loss, second-language loss, dying languages, and effects of age or disease on language loss. Research has so far focused on maintenance of language skills and interventions to stop language skill attrition. (CB)

Data on discharge process and caregiver satisfaction were collected from 179 caregivers of hospitalized dementia patients. Findings indicate that social workers are important influences in discharge decisions especially when discharge is to a nursing home. Findings from regression analyses indicate that caregiver satisfaction is dependent on the…

Canada's deinstitutionalization and decentralization of mental health services has confronted communities with many problems. Families of the mentally ill are being required to do major caregiving without being provided with the necessary resources, as this case study illustrates. Counselors and health care professionals involved with families…

Describes the biological basis of learning and individuality. Presents an overview of recent discoveries that suggest learning engages a simple set of rules that modify the strength of connection between neurons in the brain. The changes are cited as playing an important role in making each individual unique. (MCO)

Reports on a patient of Japanese background with suspected dementia in an English-speaking geriatric unit. The subject was tested in Japanese using tasks such as naming, story recall, and processing by semantic category. Results demonstrate the potential contribution of information from language-based tasks in the person's preferred language to…

Childhood traumas are associated with suicidal behavior but this aspect has not been examined in relation to schizophrenia. In this study, 50 chronic schizophrenic patients who had attempted suicide were compared with 50 chronic schizophrenic patients who had never attempted suicide for their scores on the 34-item Childhood Trauma Questionnaire…

An academic course in family life-sex education is described in the context of a unique treatment setting for those diagnosed as schizophrenic. Asserts that this population is intellectually and academically able to profit from a cognitive experience. The course also offers positive value as an adjunct therapeutic modality. (Author)

Research supported in part by General Research Support Award No. FR-05406 from the United States Public Health Service.

This paper describes the family-theme group, a group approach to working with schizophrenics based on the assumptions that: (1) family dynamics are important variables in the development and maintenance of schizophrenia; (2) schizophrenic families have numerous maladaptive qualities not present in normal families; and (3) hospitalization of…