The Rorschach Mutuality of Autonomy Scale in the Assessment of Black Father-Absent Male Children

Abstract

This study examined the utility of the Rorschach Mutuality of Autonomy Scale (MOA, Urist, 1977) in the assessment of two groups of 40 father-absent Black male children (aged 6 to 12 years): those whose fathers had left voluntarily versus those whose fathers had left involuntarily. Children who had experienced involuntary father-absence reflected less adaptive object-relations attainment status as measured by the MOA, t(38) = 2.37, p = > .02, when compared to children whose fathers had negotiated their departure. Although the Rorschach MOA can be a useful measure of assessing psychological functioning in Black father-absent male children, a multimethod assessment of object-relations status for ethnic minority children is proposed.

Conceptualization of Children’s Interpersonal Relatedness With the Rorschach: A Qualitative Multiple Case Study

“…This expectation is also consistent with cognitive-behavioral constructs of self-schemas and interpersonal schemas (Burns & Viglione, 1996). The general findings of the Rorschach interpersonal research (Blatt, Tuber, & Auerbach, 1990;Brown-Cheatham, 1993;Burns & Viglione, 1996;Lerner & St. Peter, 1984;Picker, 1984, Ryan, Avery, & Grolnick, 1985Tuber, 1989;Tuber, Frank, & Santostefano, 1989;Urist, 1977) is that form level, affect tone, interactional characteristics, integration and differentiation, benevolence, and other elaborations of human representational components are associated with psychological disturbance, mental health, and interpersonal functioning.…”

Using Rorschach CS Narrative Responses of the MOA Scale to Construct and Share Patient’s Model Scenes

“…The MOAS has been applied in empirical research, through the comparison of diagnostic or clinical groups (Brown-Cheatham, 1993; Goddard & Tuber, 1989; Tuber & Coates, 1989), and in empirical psychotherapy research, to explore changes in object representations and treatment outcomes (Ackerman, Hilsenroth, Clemence, Weatherill, & Fowler, 2000; Blatt & Ford, 1994; Fowler, Ackerman, Speanberg, Bailey, Blagys, & Conklin, 2004; Holaday & Sparks, 2001). However, the main utility of the MOAS remains the idiographic clinical single-case detection of the quality of inner interpersonal relationship representations during the early assessment phase (Fowler et al, 2004; Tuber, 1989).…”

Behavioral Differences Between African American Male Adolescents with Biological Fathers and Those Without Biological Fathers in the Home

“…Forty percent of all children of divorced parents have not seen their fathers in the past year (Horn, 1995). In this regard, Brown-Cheatham (1993) asserted that 50% of today's children will spend at least part of their childhood in a single-parent female-headed household.In 1993, only 51% of all children were still living with both biological parents, and 90% of Black children spent part of their childhood in a single-parent female-headed household (Brown-Cheatham, 1993). Statistics on living arrangements show that African American children are slightly more likely to live in a single-parent family (41%) than they are to live in a dual-parent family (40%).…”

“…Forty percent of all children of divorced parents have not seen their fathers in the past year (Horn, 1995). In this regard, Brown-Cheatham (1993) asserted that 50% of today's children will spend at least part of their childhood in a single-parent female-headed household.…”

“…In 1993, only 51% of all children were still living with both biological parents, and 90% of Black children spent part of their childhood in a single-parent female-headed household (Brown-Cheatham, 1993). Statistics on living arrangements show that African American children are slightly more likely to live in a single-parent family (41%) than they are to live in a dual-parent family (40%).…”