Developed in Holland and based on short-term, home-centered, filmed video feedback of family interactions, an experimental Orion project was conducted in Israel to determine whether it could be provided through local welfare departments as a routine treatment alternative. This article summarizes an evaluation of 52 families (with problems in parent-child interaction) and 64 control families that participated in the Orion Video Home-Training Project. Only the Orion families showed significant gains in all the eight areas of positive parent-child communication that are the focus of the program, which is based on reinforcing potential family strengths. These gains were generally sustained 6 months after program completion. There were several background variables, such as family status, income, health, education, and employment, that influenced the extent of family gains.

The nature of surviving parent-child communication in bereaved Israeli families is examined in terms of the culture of Israeli society. Concern is with the way the culture frames the parent-child relationship in the period shortly after the death. Twenty-three surviving parents and their forty-three children between ages of six and sixteen were interviewed four months after the death. Both parents and children seemed concerned with protecting each other from the pain and sadness associated with the loss. Two types of families were identified. In the open family, language is used to console and inform. Parents see themselves as able to respond to their child(ren)'s needs. Less open families used language to influence the child to avoid their feelings and confronting the death. These surviving parents often saw the deceased as the competent family caregiver.

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