Interactionist concepts and explanations of human behavior prevalent among major psychological theory groups are traced in relationship to the symbolic interactionist principles of emergence, voluntarism, and process. I argue that most theory central to psychology is interactionist in nature; that central tenets of symbolic interactionism are woven throughout psychological theory; and that the same interactionist premises can equally form the foundation for clinical sociology as a form of sociological practice. I saw sociology giving up by default a role in change efforts that necessitate the consideration of social systems. Social workers, psychologists, political scientists, gerontologists, criminologists, marriage and family counselors, to name a few, have eagerly gone where we have failed to tread. Practitioners in these fields, as social systems change agents, have carved a niche, often protecting themselves with licensing laws and other restrictions that make entry by sociologists difficult (Glass 1991, p.ix). Since the late 1970s there has been a resurgence of clinical sociology, which emerged initially in the 1920s (Wirth 1931; Lennard and Bernstein 1969; Glassner and Freedman 1979; Bruhn and Rebach 1991), and an expansion of applied sociology (Olsen and Micklin 1981; Freeman et al. 1983; T. Sullivan

/pdf/society-and-self-a-symbolic-interactionist-framework-for-2yjuk89kyq.pdf

Society and Self: A Symbolic Interactionist Framework for Sociological Practice

WEST AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS‘ ATTITUDES TOWARD SEEKING PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP by Damafing Keita Thomas Research is needed to better understand the impact of migration on West African immigrants‘ mental health and their ability and willingness to seek traditional Western care. Therefore, the present quantitative study investigated the variance in attitudes toward seeking psychological help as predicted by degree of acculturation, severity of self-reported problems, and beliefs about the cause of mental health problems among West African immigrants in the U.S. The following research questions and hypothesis were addressed: What are the specific mental and physical health concerns of West African immigrants in the U.S.? Where do West African immigrants with mental health problems seek help? The hypothesis was that higher acculturation into the U.S. society, severity of self-reported problems, and interactional attribution beliefs about mental health problems would be significant predictors of attitudes toward seeking psychological help. Approximately 600 questionnaires were mailed to first generation West African immigrants. A total of 126 surveys were received representing a return rate of 21%. Of this number 15 were not usable. Analyses were based on the remaining 111 surveys. Each survey packet included a demographic questionnaire, a referral list for national mental health, counseling and crisis services, a business reply envelope, and a battery of 4 instruments including the Attitude Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPH), Behavioral Acculturation Scale (BAS), Brief Symptoms Inventory (BSI), and the Mental Health Locus of Origin Scale (MHLO). Descriptive statistics were computed (percentages & frequencies) to answer the first and second research questions. In addition, one multiple regression, using forced entry method was performed to predict West African immigrants‘ attitudes toward seeking psychological help as measured by the total scores on the ATSPPH, using the BAS, BSI, and MHLO scores as predictors. Finally, Pearson product moment correlation analyses were performed among the variables in examining the regression results. The results identified interactional attribution beliefs about mental health problems as the only significant predictor. West African immigrants reported various concerns with their mental and physical health. In general, they reported preference for the use of informal systems of support to resolve their emotional concerns and the use of medical doctors for physical concerns. WEST AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS‘ ATTITUDES TOWARD SEEKING PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP by Damafing Keita Thomas

/pdf/west-african-immigrants-attitudes-toward-seeking-vsabat53tx.pdf

West African immigrants' attitudes toward seeking psychological help

This chapter covers the development of clinical sociology in the United States beginning with the late 1800s. The contributions of four prominent scholar-practitioners—Jane Addams, W.E.B. Du Bois, Charles G. Gomillion and James Laue—are featured. A brief overview is provided of the first use of the term clinical sociology and the first clinical sociology courses. Some contemporary contributions are then mentioned including information about individual certification and program accreditation.

The History of Clinical Sociology in the United States

The most basic attribute that sets the subdiscipline of clinical sociology apart is that of intervention; the clinical sociologist is an active change agent. It is not possible, at this stage of development, to present a concise and comprehensive model of clinical sociological intervention. Intervention in clinical sociology is not just the mechanistic application of a set of techniques that automatically follow from a problem label. The problem of trying to characterize intervention in clinical sociology is also exacerbated by the diversity of clinical sociology. Therefore, rather than offer specific interventions for specific problems, this brief chapter will outline general considerations for developing interventions: First this chapter will briefly consider the nature of intervention in clinical sociology, then turn to several “guiding themes” of intervention, and close with some consideration of intervention targets.

Intervention in Clinical Sociology

This article recounts one version of the attempt to create a department of clinical sociology in the Medical School of Yale University in the late 1920s. The theoretical perspective of Alfred Schutz is used to turn attention to the linkages of generations of sociologists reflected in the construction of our history as told to young sociologists by their elders. Historical documents and the recollections of John Dollard are used to recount the history of attempts to develop support for the Institute of Human Relations, including a department of clinical sociology at Yale Medical School. The idea was supported by Dean Winternitz of the School of Medicine, but drew powerful opposition from other Departments at Yale and from Abraham Flexner, whose report on American medical schools set the course of medical education in America. The science of history has the momentous task of deciding which events, actions, communicative acts to select for interpretations of "history" from the total social reality of the past. (Schutz, 1984:61) A recognition of the tentative nature of our past is necessary when we attempt to reconstruct the history of clinical sociology. Understanding this history requires information about a complex intertwining of lives, organizations, politics, and science that has never been completely passed on from preceding to current generations. The history of clinical sociology at Yale is a case in point. This work on the history of clinical sociology has been guided by Alfred Schutz's thoughts about the sociology of knowledge (Gordon, 1981). As Schutz (1962) points out, people use the knowledge of the past to deal with their situation in the present. For instance, when Glass again turned attention to the practice of clinical sociology at the 1978 meeting of the American Sociological

Notes on the History of Clinical Sociology at Yale

/pdf/clinical-sociology-what-it-is-and-what-it-isn-t-a-1asogpx9kq.pdf

Clinical Sociology: What It Is and What It Isn't - A Perspective

One aspect of my work as Director of Education and Training at Hutchings Psychiatric Center is to consult on cases that are difficult for clinical staff. It is in these situations that my clinical sociological skills are used extensively. I wish to present an unusual case on which I was asked to consult in the Fall of 1986. I present this case with the permission of the client whom we shall call Sophie Koslowski. I first met Ms. Koslowski in my office where I was to interview her as a prelude to suggesting a treatment plan to her treatment team. The team included a therapist, a social worker, a psychiatrist, and the interdisciplinary staff of the Hutchings Day Treatment Unit. This was the first admission for Ms. Koslowski, a colorfully dressed woman in her forties. I had been told the problem in advance. Ms. Koslowski believed that she had been hexed by her next door neighbor, a woman of Ukrainian descent. The hex took place eleven years previously and took the form of her (Ms. Koslowski) being unable to cut her own hair. Many practitioners have difficulty with cross cultural issues. As a clinical sociologist, I get consulted when some unusual aspect of culture is part of a presenting problem. I am asked to judge whether the belief is delusional or is related to a legitimate cultural phenomenon. Ms. Koslowski was quite different from the picture that had formed in my mind when her condition was described to me before our first meeting. I had expected her hair to be wildly tangled and to be flagrantly displayed, a badge of her condition. Instead the hair that was displayed was waist-length, wellcombed, and a stylish addition to an outgoing presentation of self. This was again unexpected. I assumed I would be dealing with a slovenly, sorrow-filled, self pitying woman. I noted these differences as I established rapport. I shared

Cross Cultural Intervention: The Case of the Hexed Hair

/pdf/saul-alinsky-a-recollection-22n8kxiiq7.pdf

Saul Alinsky: A Recollection

The last volume of the Clinical Sociology Review contained an article that presented a planned intervention for an unusual circumstance—the removal of a longlasting hex This article provides additional information from the client, an update, and some further reflections from the clinical sociological perspective The case of Sophie Koslowski, a woman of Polish and Catholic heritage whose behavior was oriented around a hex placed on her hair, was presented in Volume 6 of the Clinical Sociology Review (Freedman, 1988). That article discussed the hexing of her hair by a neighbor, her fear that cutting it would lead to her death, her refusal to cut it for eleven years, and the search for an appropriate healer. The healer, a black minister named Doc Jones, was found and, with appropriate ritual, he cut her hair and buried it in several different places. The treatment approach which removed the hair in a ritual acceptable to the client was successful. Sophie Koslowski was moved to outpatient services designed for higher functioning clients and began to do piecework at Cedar Industries, the sheltered workshop affiliated with Hutchings Psychiatric Center. She continues to improve and to feel better. She states that she is no longer nervous and \"as the buried hexed hair rots, I will continue to get better.\" Her hair is now growing at a normal rate as compared with the rapid growth when it was hexed. It is now just shoulder length. Where she previously had worn a waist-length wig to cover her uncut hair, she now seldom wears it—\"only for dressing up and not for camouflage.\" She wants to be the first Polish blues singer and is studying voice

/pdf/the-case-of-the-hexed-hair-revisited-a-cross-cultural-30ptsrttn8.pdf

Jonathan A. Freedman

Papers

Clinical Sociology: What It Is and What It Isn't - A Perspective

Cross Cultural Intervention: The Case of the Hexed Hair

Saul Alinsky: A Recollection

The Case of the Hexed Hair Revisited: A Cross Cultural Intervention One Year Later

Flirtation with Autobiography