Violent behavior of the psychologically handicapped individual and its effect on the family was studied using a large national sample (N = 1,156). Subjects answered a questionnaire concerning their relatives' behavior and their own reactions to aggressive and destructive acts. Approximately 38% of the sample was classified as violent. The variables that best discriminated between violent and nonviolent individuals were education, compliance with medication, alcohol abuse, employment, number of hospitalizations, income, and age. Resources and violence were inversely related. It was found that the higher the income, the better the self-reported level of family adjustment. Living in or out of the family home had no effect on adjustment. Families of nonviolent relatives reported a higher level of adjustment both in the first year of illness and at present. When families were asked how they altered their behavior in response to violence, five categories of response were reported: no alteration, self-restriction, distancing from relative, assertion of limits, and calming the patient. A significant difference in adjustment was found between the families using distancing and calming with the latter perceiving the best degree of adjustment.

Parents of pre-school children with effective learning patterns in low socio-economic areas were studied in relation to four dimensions: parental philosophy and values, perception of the child, feelings of competence, and verbal interaction. In these families, parents maintained a helpful and encouraging attitude toward their children as curious adventurers, creative and independent learners, and often interacted with them in situations which were non-conflictual, thus providing a rich verbal environment This research adds to our knowledge about atypical parent-child interaction in low socio-economic areas which leads to effective learning, and may be helpful in planning optimal care for disadvantaged children.

This study measured the outcome of Parent Effectiveness Training using parents who were trained and a matched control group. The responses of the trained parents were contrasted with the perceptions of their adolescent children in the use of P.E.T. techniques. Responses from the Parent Effectiveness Training test were used as a basis for comparison. Analysis of the data did not support the claim that trained parents were any better equipped to use P.E.T. techniques than parents who had no training. The reports of adolescents of parents trained in P.E.T. confirmed that their parents did not use P.E.T. techniques with high frequency in the home.

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