ROBERT-JAY GREEN, PhD
Biographical information for AFTA 2001

Award for Distinguished Contributions to Family Systems Research

Robert-Jay Green has had an extraordinarily productive career in family systems research. Moreover, he has been a valuable mentor for emerging researchers in our field. Born in Buffalo, New York in 1948, he did his undergraduate studies in psychology at Case Western Reserve University (BA, 1970), graduate studies in clinical psychology at Michigan State University (PhD, 1975), and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in family research and therapy in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine (1975—1977).

Moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1977, he initially worked at the Family Therapy Institute of Marin and taught at the California Graduate School of Marital and Family. He also co-taught with Carlos Sluzki and Jim Coyne at MRI and made the pilgrimage to Phoenix to study with Milton H. Erikson. From 1980—1991, with Karen E. Saeger, he founded and directed Redwood Center Psychology Associates, a family institute that became one of the leading training centers for couples and family therapy in Northern California.

Since 1986, Dr. Green has been Professor and Director of Family/Child Psychology Doctoral Training in the APA-Accredited Clinical Psychology programs at the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP), San Francisco Bay Area campus. In this capacity, he led the development of one of the largest family/child psychology training programs in the US, which now includes seven full-time core faculty members, twenty-nine adjunct faculty members, and over 150 doctoral students. In June, 2000, he also became director of CSPP's Alternative Family Institute, the nation's only family therapy training and research institution exclusively focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals in couples, families, and other significant relationships.

Early in his career, Robert-Jay co-edited (with James L. Framo) a best-selling family therapy textbook that was a collection of the classic articles in our field (Family therapy: Major contributions, 1981). A 1980 visit by Luigi Boscolo and Gianfranco Cecchin galvinized the Redwood Center's interest in Milan systemic family therapy, and led to a three-year, experimental, process and outcome study of the effectiveness of team consultations (Green and Herget, 1989a, 1989b, 1991). This was the first experimental study demonstrating that Milan-style team consultations for "stuck" cases were effective. Cases randomly assigned to one Milan-style team consultation (in addition to regular therapy sessions) showed more improvement in presenting problems at one-month and three-year follow-ups than did similar cases receiving only regular therapy sessions. Moreover, among cases receiving a Milan-style team consultation, ratings of therapist warmth and active-structuring during the consultation strongly predicted therapeutic success in improvement of the presenting problem at both follow-ups, contrary to early assertions by the original Milan team that therapist charisma and other personal style variables had no effect on outcome.

Throughout his career, Robert-Jay has written research articles, theoretical papers, and editorials on many topics including graduate education in couples and family therapy (Green, 1992, 1996a; Green, Ferguson, Framo, Shapiro, and LaPerriere, 1979; Green and Saeger, 1982), cultural diversity issues (Green, 1998b, 1998c), and stepfamilies (Brown, Green, and Druckman, 1990). His major research programs over the years have focused on:

1. The relationship between children's academic achievement and patterns of family interaction. With former graduate students and colleagues, Dr. Green conducted fourteen years of programmatic research studies on family interaction and children's achievement, including studies of average-achieving African-American, European-American, and Mexican-American children; gifted/talented African-American children; and European-American children with learning disabilities (Ditton, Green, and Singer, 1987; Green, 1989, 1995; Shields, Green, Cooper, and Ditton, 1995). One of these studies of children with learning disabilities was fully replicated by independent investigators in Finland and showed results identical to those in California (Rasku Puttonen, Lyytinen, Poikkeus, Laaskso, and Ahonen, 1994). Among other findings, the various studies consistently demonstrated that clarity of parents' communication and their achievement-related practices in the home bore a positive, linear relationship with children's academic achievement regardless of child's age, race, language, or nationality (Green, 1995). Parental communication deviance, in contrast, was associated with children's learning disabilities and general underachievement, both in US and Finnish samples. (For the most recent summary of this research, see Green, 1995.)

2. Assessment of interpersonal perception in families. Since 1989, Paul Werner and Robert-Jay Green have been developing the California Inventory for Family Assessment (CIFA), a questionnaire with high reliability and validity that measures clinically-relevant aspects of closeness-caregiving (cohesion), openness of communication, and intrusiveness (negative aspects of enmeshment) in couples and families (Green and Werner, 1996). This instrument has been translated into Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, French, and Russian, and has been used in over thirty research studies, including projects in Mexico, Taiwan, and France. Contrary to the proposition in structural family therapy and the circumplex model equating high cohesion with enmeshment, the results of research using CIFA show that high closeness-caregiving (cohesion) and intrusiveness (enmeshment) are two completely separate dimensions of family functioning. (For a summary of this research, see Green and Werner, 1996; and Werner and Green, in press. The CIFA Handbook and reference list for studies that have used the CIFA are available at website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pdwerner/cifa1.htm )

3. Lesbian/gay couple and family issues. In 1988, Zacks, Green, and Marrow published the first research article on lesbian couples in the field of family therapy. Then, with Joan Laird, Robert-Jay co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Feminist Family Therapy on lesbian/gay families (Laird and Green, 1995) and a widely acclaimed book, Lesbians and gays in couples and families: A handbook for therapists (Laird and Green, 1996). This book included a research chapter by Green, Bettinger, and Zacks (1996) describing a study comparing lesbian, gay, and married heterosexual couples. This research demonstrated that contrary to assumptions based on gender-role socialization theory and clinical lore: (a) lesbian couples were the most cohesive of the three types of couples and were not negatively "fused"; (b) gay male couples were more cohesive than heterosexual couples and were not disengaged; (c) both lesbian and gay couples were markedly more flexible than were heterosexual couples; and (d) lesbian couples who had not disclosed their sexual orientation to their parents had the same level of relationship quality and stability over a 2-year follow-up period as those who had done so. The latter result implies that being "out" to family of origin members is not essential to lesbian couples' satisfaction or relationship stability. Other seminal articles on lesbian/gay family issues followed (see Green, 1996b, 2000b), as well as a special five-article section in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy for which Robert-Jay served as guest editor (Green, 2000a).

4. Men's gender role conformity, couple/family relations, and mental health. Over the past five years, Robert-Jay has become involved with this new area of research with various students (Miriam Kazansky, Steven McGraw, Kevin Campbell), in a series of studies on topics such as: Masculinity ideology, alcoholism, and couple interaction; Husbands' masculinity attitudes and behavior toward their wives; and Masculinity ideology of gay versus heterosexual men. Project results completed so far are showing that a husband's higher endorsement of more traditional masculinity ideology is associated with his showing less closeness-caregiving, less open communication, and more intrusiveness toward his wife. Also, as predicted, gay men are significantly less endorsing of traditional male role norms than are heterosexual men. Perhaps most significant for research development in this area, Reza Nabavi (a doctoral student) and Robert-Jay Green are now in the process of creating a new questionnaire "Masculinity Ideology and Distress Inventory" (MIDI), which can be used to measure adult and adolescent males' endorsement of traditional male role norms, their behavioral conformity to those norms, and the amount of distress they experience when they deviate from those norms (Green, 1998a). After this questionnaire is tested and refined psychometrically, it will be used to study associations between aspects of masculinity and other domains of men's functioning, such as attitudes toward women, behavior toward spouse/partner, physical health, child-rearing behavior, violence, substance use, sexual behavior, and mental health.

Robert-Jay is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and the American Orthopsychiatric Association. In AFTA, he has served three terms on the board of directors, and previously chaired AFTA's research committee, nominations committee, and history committee. With Constance Ahrons and twelve other family researchers and therapists in the US, he was part of the organizing committee and founding board of the Council on Contemporary Families, an interdisciplinary organization of prominent family scholars to bring family research to the attention of the media and social policy makers. He also served as Vice-President for Public Interest and Diversity in Division 43 (Family Psychology) of the American Psychological Association. In 1998, he received APA Division 43's "Carolyn Attneave Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Study of Family Diversity." For many years, he has served on the editorial advisory boards of Family Process, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, and Journal of Feminist Family Therapy.
Dr. Green also is to be commended for his valuable contribution to the future of family systems-based research through his generous mentoring of the next generation of family researchers and therapists. Many of his former students, such as Eliana Gil, Richard Maisel, Mary Herget, Patricia Ditton, Anne Brown, Ellie Zacks, Stacey Shuster, Kim Paleg, and Michael Riera, have made significant contributions to the field of family therapy through publications and teaching. Over the last fifteen years, students whose dissertations he chaired have won the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) graduate student research proposal grant award four times. Another ten students won dissertation grant awards from the Fahs-Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation, administered by the New York Community Trust. This year, one of his dissertation students (Kevin Pedretti) won the Roy Scrivner lesbian/gay family psychology research award from the American Psychological Association. Also, numerous researchers and teachers in AFTA and throughout our field have benefitted from informal consultation with Robert-Jay. I count myself among them: when I was agonizing over categories and terms for key processes in my family resilience model, I emailed Robert-Jay for feedback and brainstorming, because I so value his perspective on conceptualization and operationalizing of family process variables.

Among his own mentors along the way were George Albee, Jane Kessler, and Frederick Herzberg at Case Western Reserve University; Lucy Rau Ferguson, Gary Stollak, Cyril Worby, Bill Kell, Marcia Worby, and William Mueller at Michigan State University; Lyman C. Wynne and Rodney Shapiro at the University of Rochester; and Margaret T. Singer at the University of California at Berkeley. He regards Lyman Wynne, Margaret Singer, Lucy Rau Ferguson, and Gary Stollak as most influential in his continuing commitment to empirical investigation of clinical issues and family functioning.

Perhaps most remarkable about Robert-Jay is his boundless enthusiasm, curiosity, and openness in pursuing many varied research paths. He has never hesitated to question and challenge widely-held assumptions and biases. Indeed, his studies have often shattered pathologizing stereotypes as they have enriched our understanding of couple and family processes and, especially, the relationships of lesbians and gay men. His collaborative spirit with students and colleagues brings forth the best in all of our research, teaching, and practice, contributing immeasurably to the future of our field. And, with Robert-Jay's passionate engagement in each new project, I won't be surprised if his best is yet to come.

References

Brown, A., Green, R.-J., and Druckman, J. (1990). A comparison of stepfamilies with and without child-focused problems. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 60, 556—566.

Ditton, P., Green, R.-J., and Singer, M.T. (1987). Communication deviances: A comparison between parents of learning disabled and normally achieving students. Family Process, 26, 75—87.

Green, R.-J. (2000a). Guest editor's Introduction to the five-article special section "Lesbian, gay, and bisexual issues in family therapy." Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 26, 407—408.

Green, R.-J. (2000b). Lesbians, gay men, and their parents: A critique of LaSala and the prevailing clinical "wisdom." Family Process, 39, 257—266.

Green, R.-J. (1998a). Traditional norms of masculinity. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 10, 81—83.

Green, R.-J. (1998b). Training programs: Guidelines for multicultural transformation. In M. McGoldrick (Ed.), Revisioning family therapy: Race, culture, and gender in clinical practice (pp. 111—117). New York: Guilford Press.

Green, R.-J. (1998c). Race and the field of family therapy. In M. McGoldrick (Ed.), Revisioning family therapy: Race, culture, and gender in clinical practice (pp. 93—110). New York: Guilford Press.

Green, R.-J. (1996a). Education in family psychology: History, current status, and the future. The Family Psychologist, 12, 10—15.

Green, R.-J. (1996b). Why ask, why tell? Teaching and learning about lesbians and gays in family therapy. Family Process, 35, 389-400.

Green, R.-J. (1995). High achievement, underachievement, and learning disabilities: A family systems model. In B.A. Ryan, G.R. Adams, T.P. Gullotta, R.P. Weissberg, and R.L. Hampton (Eds.), The family-school connection: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 207—249). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Green, R.-J. (1992). Doctoral training in family psychology: A home in the professional schools? Journal of Family Psychology, 5, 403—417.

Green, R.-J. (1989). "Learning to learn" and the family system: New perspectives on underachievement and learning disorders. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 15, 187—203.

Green, R.-J., Bettinger, M.L., and Zacks, E. (1996). Are lesbian couples fused and gay male couples disengaged?: Questioning gender straightjackets. In J. Laird and R.-J. Green (Eds.), Lesbians and gays in couples and families: A handbook for therapists (pp. 185—230). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

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Green, R.-J., Ferguson, L.R., Framo, J.L., Shapiro, R.J., and LaPerriere, K. (1979). A symposium on family therapy training for psychologists. Professional psychology, 10, 859—883

Green, R.-J., and Framo, J.L. (Eds.). (1981). Family therapy: Major contributions. New York: International Universities Press (Now in its sixth printing).

Green, R.-J., and Herget, M. (1989a). Outcomes of systemic/ strategic team consultation: II. Three-year followup and a theory of "emergent design." Family Process, 28, 419—437.

Green, R.-J., and Herget, M. (1989b). Outcomes of systemic/ strategic team consultation: I. Overview and one-month results. Family Process, 28, 37—58.

Green, R.-J., and Herget, M. (1991). Outcomes of systemic/ strategic team consultation: III. The importance of therapist warmth and active structuring. Family Process, 30, 321-336.

Green, R.-J., and Saeger, K.E. (1982). Learning to think systems: Five writing assignments. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 8, 285-294.

Green, R.-J., and Werner, P.D. (1996). Intrusiveness and closeness-caregiving: Rethinking the concept of family "enmeshment." Family Process, 35, 115—136.

Laird, J., and Green, R.-J. (Eds.). (1996). Lesbians and gays in couples and families: A handbook for therapists. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Laird, J., and Green, R.-J. (1995). Guest editors' "Introduction" to special issue "Lesbian and gays in families: The last invisible minority." Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 7, 3—13.

Rasku-Puttonen, H., Lyytinen, P., Poikkeus, A.M., Laakso, M.L., and Ahonen, T. (1994). Communication deviances and clarity among the mothers of normally achieving and learning-disabled boys. Family Process, 33, 71—80.

Shields, J.D., Green, R.-J., Cooper, B.A.B., and Ditton, P. (1995). The impact of adults' communication clarity versus communication deviance on adolescents with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 28, 372—384.

Werner, P.D., Green, R.-J., Greenberg, J., Browne, T.L., and McKenna, T.E. (in press). Beyond "enmeshment": Evidence for the independence of intrusiveness and closeness-caregiving in married couples. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy.

Zacks, E., Green, R.-J., and Marrow, J. (1988). Comparing lesbian and heterosexual couples on the circumplex model: An initial investigation. Family Process, 27, 471—484.

Froma Walsh, Ph.D.

Professor, University of Chicago, and

Co-Director, Chicago Center for Family Health