Practice Notes

Abstract

The seven constraints (outlined in Furlong, 2001a) described some of the persistent challenges to family-sensitive practice in the treatment of mental illness. Yet, with the partial exception of the last constraint which is concerned with the course and nature of schizophrenia as a particular cause of problematic dependence, these factors can be expected to be present across the broad span of the human services given that the mental health field shares a cultural and historical context with all other forms of modern service delivery based on experts treating individual service users.

Abstract

The idea that one’s role or standpoint tends to shape one’s perspective is familiar to all of us. Perhaps unaware that he was summarising a reputable academic theory (Hartsock, 1987) as well as speaking from common sense, Yes Minister’s Sir Humphrey Appleby put this idea pithily when he observed, “Where you stand depends on where you sit”. For example, given the nature of their role, managers tend to frame their opinions within the constraints and reference points that regularly align with, and act to define, their position; parents and teenagers tend to encounter differences in perception based on experiencing matters from distinct points of view. We encounter another example if we consider practitioners and researchers, as each of these groups tend to look out from differing vantage points. How else is it possible to understand why there is so little cross-citation between texts concerned with family research and those texts written for practitioners who work with families?

Abstract

Hey Dad!, a parent education program for fathers, was offered at 12 venues in Western Sydney, in 1998. Community organisations were provided with financial and practical assistance to set up and run the groups. Participants broadly reflected the demography of the local population, although they tended to have larger than average familes and to come predominantly from Anglo-Australian backgrounds. Fathers who participated in the program (n = 100) indicated that: (a) they had enjoyed the opportunity to share their experiences with other fathers in an accepting environment; (b) they believed it had helped them to establish better relationships with their children; and (c) a large number (81%) indicated that they would seek help in the future if they experienced problems with their children. Results of the study confirmed the usefulness of parent education as an effective way to help men to establish better relationships with their children.