Views of Feminist Family Therapy: A Q-Methodological Inquiry

<p>The feminist critique of family therapy has had a growing impact on theory and practice for almost two decades (Hare-Mustin, 1978; Bograd, 1990). Writings on feminist family therapy (FFT) reveal both common and diverse opinions about what FFT is. The present study examined how views of FFT are segmented using Q-methodology (Stephenson, 1953; Brown, 1980; McKeown & Thomas, 1988), a small-sample empirical technique for identifying emergent viewpoints and studying their similarities and differences. A Q-sort instrument of 60 statements was constructed to sample diverse discourse on FFT. Magraw's (1992) interviews with leading experts in FFT served as a primary source for loosely structuring the Q-sort instrument into hypothesized areas of consensus and divergence in FFT; a smaller set of items sampled critiques of both FFT and feminism in the broader culture. A convenience sample of 29 experienced and novice family therapists, 12 of whom were experts in FFT, ranked the statements by sorting them into 10 categories along a continuum from "least agree" (category 1) to "most agree" (category 10). Factor analysis of correlations among the Q-sorts produced six emergent factors or viewpoints accounting for 69% of the variance. Two factors represented distinctly feminist viewpoints; all the FFT experts loaded on one of these two factors. The remaining participants were scattered across four other factors, representing various views of FFT. The two feminist views were interpreted in the context of schools of feminism. Three issues in particular distinguished the two views of FFT: whether feminist energy should be directed toward both sexes or more toward women; whether racial inequities override gender inequities; and the place of hierarchy between therapist and clients. Respondents on the two feminist viewpoints shared some common ground: they rejected therapeutic neutrality; viewed therapy as a political act; and endorsed challenging power arrangements in the family. The results suggest that views of FFT can be understood in a broader intellectual context: diverse views of FFT appear to parallel divisions of opinion in feminist theories and in cultural perceptions of the women's movement.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

1995

Author dc:creator

• Cheek, Bronwen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Michael J. Rohrbaugh
• Ellen Rosen
• Joy Kannarkat
• Laura Giat Roberto
• Michael Nichols

• Feminist
• Family therapy
• Clinical Psychology
• Family, Life Course, and Society
• Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy
• Social Psychology
• Women's Studies

Statement dc:rights

• <p>In Copyright. URI: <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).</p>

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_etds/184

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.odu.edu:psychology_etds-1188