Changing Directions in the Treatment of Women: a Mental Health Bibliography
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 193 574 CG 014 740 AUTHOR 7.ukerman, Elyse TITLE Changing Directions in the Treatment of Women: A Mental Health Bibliography. PONS AGENCY National Inst. of Mental Health (DHLW), Rockville, Md. - TEPORT NO DHEW-ADM-79-749 PUB DATE 79 CONTRACT 278-76-0018 NOTE 497p. EDRS PRICE MF02/PC20 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Counseling Theories: *Females: Feminism: Interpersonal Competen'ce: *Mental Health: Psychiatry: *Psychotherapy: *Research Problems: *Sex Bias: Sex Role: Social Influences ABSTRACT The theoretical and research literature ca women in treatment baL increased over the past two decades as a result of the growing concern about the appropriateness and adequacy of mental-health services for women. This annotated bibliography, in six sections, is a response to the need to survey, organize, and abstract this new body of literature. The sections, each containing detailed abstracts of articles and books from the early psychoanalytic writings to the theoretical and practical concerns of the present days, cover the following areas:(1) theoretical literature on the psychology and biology of women:(2) criticism of the treatment of womwl:(31 the research response to criticism: 00 modifications of therapeutic practice and new approaches: (5) treatment for specific problems and populations of women: and (6) alternative methods such as assertiveness training and self-help. (Author/CS) *********************************************************************** ''eproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Namonal institute CM memo mann cr. 1.-Changing Directions r in the Treatment of Women: ?,' A mental health bibliography CD Elyse Zukerman U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTN. EDUCATION 6 WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE DF EDUCATION TINS OOCUMENI HASOEEN REPRO- 0 DUCE° CRAM Y AS RECEIVEDFROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN- . -a A IING IT PCHNIS OF VIEWOR OPINIONS )IN. STATED 00 NOt NECESSARILYREPRE. SENT OFFICIAL NATIONALINSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY 0.-1 , t.DU.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare i c)Public Health Service Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration National Institute of Mental Health 5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, Md. 20857 2 OCT 6 1980 Acknowledgments The preparation of this bibliography would not have been possible without the contribution of Ellen Jaffe to the tasks of searching the literature and abstracting. Merry Morash and Christy Wright capably provided additional help with abstracting, and Janet Kelly's assistance with the indexing process proved invalu- able. Irene Elkin Waskow served as Project Officer for the biblio- graphy, which was written under Contract #278-78-0018 from the Clinical Research Branch, Division of Extramural Research Programs, National Institute of Mental Health. DHEW Publication No. (ADM) 79-749 Printed 1979 3 Preface In the past decade there has been considerable criticism of traditional mental health services for women. The women's movement has been the primary source of this criticism as well as the impetus for changing directions in the treatment of women. Traditional mental health institutions and practi- tioners have been accused of sex bias, perpetuating sex-role stereotypes, and harming, rather than helping, women by guiding them to conform and to adjust to unhealthy life situations. Womensome with some without mental health training--have developed alternatives to traditional mental health approaches and services. Their efforts, in addition to their criticism, have challenged traditional theorists and psy- chotherapists to deal with past errors in psychological theory and to modify their therapies to be responsive to women and to promote women's development. The theoretical and research literature focusing on women in treatment has grown as a result of this increasing concern about the appropriateness and adequacy of traditional forms of psychotherapy. In response to the need to survey, organize, and abstract this new body of literature, this bibliography was undertaken with the objective of providing a helpful resource for the research, therapy, and women's communities and for individual women consumer& The bibliography's six sections are based on a conceptual framework that evolved quite naturally from a focal point of criticismcriticism of early psychoanalytic theories and their influence on women and criticism of traditional psycho- therapy with women. The bibliography first takes a step back in time to consider the early psychoanalytic theories before moving on to current critical literature and the response it has evokeda response that is reflected in new theory, re- search, and practice literature. Before the bibliography's conceptual framework and the literature abstracted in the subsequent six sections are elaborated upon, some back- ground information is required about the criteria for the iii I) ij1.; iV PREFACE selection of material, the actual search of the literature, and the literature of the 1960's as distinguished from that of the 1970's. Selection of the Literature All the literature abstracted in this bibliography relates to the treatment of women for the period 1960 through the winter monthsof 1977; the one exception is the early psycho- analytic material, which does not fit this time frame but clearly influenced psychotherapy with women. Ideally, the material selected for inclusion identified a specific concern with women or included sox as a primary or secondary variable in studies 01 both clinical judgment and the process and out- come of treatment. At the very least, women were purposely rather than incidentally the subject. In instances in which the major focus was not on the actual treatment of women, the article was selected because it contained implications for treatment. No claim of inclusiveness is made for this bibliography. Material was selected, however, to provide a comprehensive perspective on the treatment of women for the identified period of time. The amount of literature in a particular section generally reflects the extent of interest or effort Lt that area. For example, the sexuality/sexual dysfunction subsection is large; more literature was available for inclusion because this is a problem area that receives much attention. 1$ contrast, there are only a few articles that deal with battered women and mastectomy patients; concern for women with these problems is just beginning to be expressed, and, consequently, only a few articles were available on these subjects. Regarding the placement of the literature, several articles could have been appropriately included in more than one section. Articles that dealt with the use of assertiveness training for problems relating to sexuality, for example, could have been placed in either the specific problem area section or in the section on assertiveness training; they were grouped with the latter. Other similar decisions were made. In these situations, articles are cross-referenced in the subject index. Much of the literature included in this bibliography rejects a person-centered definition of women's problems. The factor of environmental stress is recognized, women's problems are examined in the context of their social/political situation PREFACE V in our society, and new data concerning the effect of women's social situations on their mental health are considered. Con- sequently, treatment is broadly defined to incorporate this extended concept of the source of women's problems, and the literature selected for inclusion goes beyond psycho- therapy to include all efforts that help women grow and develop; cope with the crises that women experience, and deal with the pain and problems created by their social situation in our culture. In order to fulfill the objective of providing a comprehensive view of women in treatment, neither quality of the material nor agreement with the content was criteria for inclusion. Similarly, identification as a "negative's articleone that revealed a subtle or blatant bias against women-was not a criterion for exclusion. In fact, some negative material was purposely included to assure awareness of the fact that women continue to be subjected to sex-role stereotyping and =1st treatment. Although at times it was difficult not to comment, the literature is abstracted from the point of view of the authors of the individual articles/books. No criticism or comments are offered, and no evaluations are made of conclusions reached by researchers. This writer accepts responsibility and apologizes for any misrepresentation that may have occurred in the abstracting process. Search of the Literature Three information systems were used in the search of the literature:the National Clearinghouse for Mental Health Information, the National Library of Medicine MEDLINE, and POPINFORM, the OnLine Information Retrieval System of the Population Information Program, Science Communica- tions Division, George Washington University. Additionally, thefacilities and resources of the American Psychiatric Association Library, the National Library of Medicine, the Library of Congress, and the George Washington University MedicalHealth Sciences Library were used to locate relevant material and to conduct a hand search of Psychological Abstracts and numerous Journals representing various mental health and social science disciplines for the period 1960 through the winter months of 1977. Other material gathering Vi PREFACE efforts included correspondence