Case Problems
A clinical psychologist at a university feels that interviews with a client should be recorded on tape and that the benefits to be derived from such recordings would be impaired if the client knew in advance that the recording was to be made. The psychologist sometimes uses these recordings in the classroom to illustrate lectures, always without the knowledge of the client, though the client's name is not revealed to the class.
Question: Should the psychologist use these tape recordings as class demonstrations without the permission of the client?
Jan Dorn is an attractive twenty-year-old college student majoring in an. She is a student in Dr. Thompson's small-group communication class. Jan and her husband, Jim, rent a home on the same block where Dr. Thompson lives. Jim and Dr. Thompson have met and become friends as well as neighbors. Jim is currently serving six months' duty in the army. With comfortable financial support from her parents, Jan is able to continue her education. The first day of class Jan appears without her wedding ring, and in her self-introduction she does not reveal the fact that she is married. As the term progresses, Dr. Thompson learns that Jan has had a number of male members of the class spend the night at her house. On Easter Sunday Jan and Jim (home on leave) unexpectedly visit Dr. Thompson and his wife at their home.
Question: How should Dr. Thompson react in this situation?
Two years ago Sandy (now twenty) became engaged to Thad against the wishes of her parents and the rest of her family. None of them liked him, especially Sandy's mother. However, since the engagement was what Sandy wanted they all went along with it. Her parents never said she couldn't get married, and they were willing to pay for the wedding. After two years, Thad called Sandy and broke the engagement. Her whole family was angry and thought that Sandy had seen the light as well. She acted as if she had; in fact, she went out with some other boys and seemed to have a good time. Unknown to her family, though, she still loved Thad and, despite what he had done, still wanted to marry him. A few months later Thad met Sandy where she worked. She hadn't seen him for four weeks. Unexpectedly, they eloped. Her family had no idea he had come into town and didn't know what had happened until after the fact.
Question: How can this couple improve their relationship with her family?
The problem lies with my communication. I don't say much in class or give much feedback. Whenever I am pan of a group, whether in a class or in the fraternity, I don't feel a strong attraction toward the group. I am always putting myself in the background to observe. I feel firmly convinced that any communication on my part will not help the situation and that by participating in the group I will lose some of my concentration on the conversation. I very rarely feel any rewards from being in a group. I can associate with a group and understand their beliefs and feelings, but I can't really become a part of it. If forced to participate or be a part of the group, I generally do a poor job and don't get much out of it. I don't like conforming with rules or goals that other people have set. There are many things that I don't wish to share with others.
Question: How might this person overcome this difficulty?
My difficulty in communication isn't unusual in today's society. It is the communication gap between the young and old generations. That difficulty of communication happened between me and my parents, mainly my father.
Compared with other families we have more difficulties than usual because of his Japanese and my Latin traditions.
When I was twelve years old I left my farm home in Brazil and went to attend high school; until then I had just a Japanese education due to the influences of my family and the Japanese colony I lived in. So, at twelve I started a completely new life far from home. I don't know if it is the peculiarity of this age, but I had no trouble in accepting changes — after one year I was completely absorbed by the Latin customs and education (that's why I don't act like a Japanese but like a Brazilian). Since then there has been a conflict between my father and me which is both a generation gap and a culture gap.
Question: How might this person and the father improve their relationship?
A waitress is serving water to a customer in a crowded airport coffee shop at 7:30 a.m. The cashier, a woman about fifty years old, calls over to the waitress (she looks about eighteen years old) and says: "Don't let one person take a table for four. Use a table for two. You're taking up four spaces for one person. Don't ever do it again!" The waitress says nothing but goes away from the scene.
The customer, a man in a three-piece suit, responds to the cashier (who is seated off to his right and behind him), "When you get a nonsmoking section, I'll go to a different spot." The cashier responds, "You'll have a long wait, because we're not getting any nonsmoking section." The man continues to talk out loud to no one in particular—so that the cashier and others can hear. "I can't stand sitting with smoke blowing in my face." Later, he pays his bill without looking at the cashier or saying anything to her. She hands him his change without saying anything to him.
Question: How might this situation have been handled differently?