A Research Inquiry into Some American Women's Sexual Concerns and Problems

Abstract

The New View of Women's Sexual Problems is supported by findings of the 1993-94 Ellison/Zilbergeld sexuality survey of 2,632 mostly white, college-educated women born 1905-1977 (Ellison, 2000; see questionnaire at www.womenssexualities.com). Sexual experiences of women with previous year sexual partners are reported. The most important sexual concerns or problems in the previous year of 1,637 women are categorized: 34% desire/frequency (low sexual desire, desire discrepancy); 28.5% physical responsiveness (female arousal, orgasm; male partners' erectile difficulties, ejaculatory control); 16% lovemaking (sexual technique); 7.5% finding a partner; < 5% sexual relationship, fertility, pregnancy, STDs/safe sex, the woman's body/health, non-monogamy, orientation; 547 others reported none. Exemplary quotes from respondents are included. Sex therapy for low sexual desire is addressed. Recommended solutions emphasize individual differences and the multidimensionality of sexuality.     

Miscarriage:

Miscarriage is the most frequent of all pregnancy losses, yet little is known of its impact on those who experience it. This exploratory study examines the relationship between the impact of miscarriage and nine variables: (a) length of pregnancy; (b) cause of miscarriage; (c) age at time of miscarriage; (d) intentionality of pregnancy; (e) duration of time since miscarriage; (f) other children; (g) other childbearing losses; (h) number of miscarriages; and (i) gender of expectant parent. Statistical analyses of data gathered from 120 participants indicated that gender, length of pregnancy, and one or more prior induced abortions contributed significantly to the prediction of current subjective distress. In a closer examination of the nature of that distress, gender and length of pregnancy were predictive of intrusive distress, while length of pregnancy and prior induced abortion(s) were predictive of predictive of avoidant distress. Implications for therapy with women who miscarry are discussed.     

Sisters of the Heart: How Women's Friendships Heal

In this article we focus on the healing aspects of women's intimate friendships with other women. In particular, we discuss the role of female neurohromone oxytocin “the love hormone” in the promotion of health and wellbeing among women. We assert that the intimate women friendship construct can enhance psychotherapy's healing and empowering functions. In this context, we examine how women's friendships can inform feminist psychotherapy. Moreover, we discuss the feminist therapeutic relationship as an intimate bond, and compare it with women's friendships. We conclude with the introduction of the special issue on “Sisters of the Heart: Women Psychotherapist Reflections on Female Friendships.”     

Developmental and Sex Differences in Types of Conduct Problems

Maternal report of types of conduct problems in a high-risk sample of 228 boys and 80 girls (ages 4–18) were examined, using a version of the Child Behavior Checklist, expanded to include a range of covert and overt antisocial items (stealing, lying, physical aggression, relational aggression, substance use, and impulsivity). Age and sex effects were investigated. Boys were significantly more physically aggressive than girls. There were no sex differences for stealing, lying, relational aggression, and substance use. Lying and substance use increased with age, whereas relational aggression and impulsivity peaked during early adolescence. A small group of girls had pervasive conduct problems across multiple domains. For some domains such as stealing, lying, and relational aggression, girls showed at least as many problems as boys. Girls, in general, tended to have fewer conduct problems. On the other hand, when assessed across multiple domains, conduct problems in high-risk girls were possibly more pervasive than in high-risk boys, suggesting the possibility of a gender paradox.     

The Role of PTSD and Length of Shelter Stay in Battered Women's Severity of Reabuse after Leaving Shelter

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with significant morbidity, including high rates of reabuse even after women have taken steps to achieve safety. This study evaluated the roles of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity and length of shelter stay in the severity of reabuse in 103 IPV victims over a six-month period after leaving a battered women's shelter. Results suggest that the length of shelter stay is inversely related to reabuse severity after leaving shelter. Additionally, more severe PTSD symptoms on shelter exit were associated with greater reabuse severity after leaving shelter. Furthermore, additional study findings support prior research suggesting that the emotional numbing symptoms of PTSD are a significant risk factor for reabuse among IPV victims after leaving shelter.     

Sexual Abuse of Women by Women in Psychotherapy

No abstract available for this article.     

Recognition of workplace bullying: a qualitative study of women targets in the public sector

Workplace bullying is increasingly acknowledged as a major workplace stressor in the UK and Europe. However, identification and recognition of workplace bullying remain problematic, among targets and within organisations. This paper reports a qualitative study which explored experiences of bullying among ten British women targets, all public sector professionals. Data were collected using in‐depth interviews and analysed using grounded theory methods. Findings showed how these targets struggled to identify and cope with bullying. Major themes or processes identified from targets' accounts included: minimising interpersonal difficulties; preserving self; maintaining commitments to professional and organisational values and cultures; sickness explanations; and naming the problem. This research has implications for the development of coping strategies by targets and organisations, and raises questions about the type of support needed to facilitate recognition of workplace bullying. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Catholic Feminist Ethics Reconsidered

Taking Catholic sexual ethics and liberal feminist ethics as points of departure, this essay argues that both frameworks are ill‐prepared to deal with the moral problems raised by sex trafficking: while Catholic sexual ethics is grounded in a normative understanding of sexuality, liberal feminist ethics argues for women's sexual autonomy, resting upon freedom of action and consent. From a perspective that attends both to the phenomenological interpretation of embodied selves and the Kantian normative interpretation of dignity, it becomes possible to critique both the Catholic and the liberal feminist frameworks of ethics. I argue that Catholic sexual ethics requires a reconceptualization as social ethics in order to meet the challenges of our present time, but that the shift is possible without giving up the moral imperatives of both Catholic and feminist ethics to protect human dignity and women's rights.     

The Effectiveness of Therapy with Couples Reporting a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse: An Exploratory Study

The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the impact of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) on couples therapy. Participants were couples seeking therapy who were screened for CSA prior to therapy. Groups were compared using self-report and therapist-rated measures of individual and relational distress. Results indicate that although therapists report significant differences between CSA couples and couples not reporting abuse at the onset of therapy, those differences do not translate into significant differences in the perceived effectiveness of therapy as measured by change scores on therapist rated levels of distress, questions regarding the effectiveness of therapy, dropout, and length of treatment.     

Women's empowerment: the insights of Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai of Kenya has written about empowerment, practiced it in many ways in her own life, and shared her reflections on it with many other women in the Green Belt Movement. Yet to date, no study has been devoted to her ideas on the topic. This paper will highlight Maathai's insights regarding empowerment, tracing several important themes in her approach, namely, empowerment's relationship to self-esteem, teamwork, and political action, its ambivalent relationship to formal education, and the role of cultural traditions in providing alternatives to colonial-era cultural impositions and current exploitative effects of neo-liberal capitalism. After reviewing Maathai's thoughts on each of these topics, I will briefly draw upon other East African thinkers and Africanists' studies of East African communities to present corroborating evidence for Maathai's views or for challenges to her position. Listening to the perspectives of Maathai and other East Africans provides several important correctives to current popular uses of the term ‘empowerment’.     

The Fortieth Anniversary of Women's Ordination in the Lutheran Church

Abstract : This article offers a perspective on the present and future roles of women in the ELCA. It gives some analysis of women's roles in the trend of declining traditional congregations and rising megachurches while imagining the role of clergywomen in the church's next forty years as new models of ministry emerge.     

Working on Gender as a Gender-Nonconformist

No abstract available for this article.     

亲子性话题沟通风格对青少年性行为和性态度的预测： 依恋的调节效应

采用问卷法探讨了亲子间性话题沟通风格与青少年性行为、性态度的关系,并考查了亲子依恋的调节效应。结果发现：（1）两个关于性别、父母职业和受教育程度的多元方差分析表明：男生与女生在与父亲和母亲的性话题沟通开放性上均没有显著差异,与父亲和母亲性话题沟通的舒适感上有显著差异。男生与父亲的性话题沟通风格好于与母亲的,而女生与母亲的性话题沟通风格好于与父亲的。父母的职业和受教育程度以及青少年性别、父母职业、受教育程度的交互作用不显著;（2）进一步的结构方程模型分析表明：青少年与父母性话题沟通开放性对性行为具有显著的负向预测作用,对不赞同同伴性行为的态度具有显著的正向预测作用;而青少年与父母性话题沟通舒适感对不赞同同伴性行为的态度具有显著的负向预测作用;（3）依恋对性话题沟通和青少年的性行为的关系有显著的调节作用,与完全安全依恋的家庭相比,在与父母依恋都不安全的家庭中,青少年与父母性话题沟通的开放性对青少年的性行为有更强的预测力     

Health-related behaviours and their correlates in a general population sample of 45-year old women

Abstract

Preventive strategies for menopausal women to reduce the risks for osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease has been the focus of considerable attention, but understanding of mid-aged women's behavioural risk factors for these diseases is meagre. The current study describes a range of health-related behaviours and their psychosocial correlates, in a sample of 45-year old women, recruited from five general practices and assessed by postal survey (N=106, response rate 60%). Results suggest that health promotion for this group might best focus upon increases in regular exercise, calcium intake and breast awareness, and decreases in cigarette and caffeine consumption. The behaviours assessed were generally not inter-related. However, several associations were identified between behaviours and health and psychosocial variables. The main ones were the association between menopausal status and smoking, and the relationship between body weight, self-esteem and physical exercise. It is argued that the menopause transition can be an opportunity for preventive work.     

An Ecological View of School Satisfaction in Adolescence: Linkages Between Social Support and Behavior Problems

This study investigated the relationships among school satisfaction, social support, and problem behaviors in adolescents. Modest associations were found between school satisfaction and the demographic variables of gender, race, age, and grade level. Support from teachers, parents, and classmates contributed unique variance to ratings of school satisfaction; with teacher support contributing the most unique variance. School satisfaction mediated the relationship between social support and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. School satisfaction did not moderate the relationship between social support and problem behavior; however, it did serve as a protective factor across all levels of social support. Implications are discussed, including suggestions for developing interventions that focus on increasing support for adolescents in efforts to improve school satisfaction and reduce problem behaviors.     

The Abuse of Power: A View of Sexual Misconduct in a Systemic Approach to Pastoral Care

The article explores the dynamics of transference and countertransference in hierarchical relationships which exist between clergy and lay persons, both in the parish setting, as well as in the pastoral counseling relationship. It is of utmost importance that the power differential be consciously acknowledged by pastoral caregivers so that appropriate boundaries can be exercised. All too often it is the negligent, careless, or unconscious disregard for this power dynamic by individuals providing pastoral care that has led to the sexual violations recently surfaced within our religious institutions. Acknowledgement of the imbalance of power, and its consequences for both clergy and parishioner, is essential in a systemic model of pastoral care.     

Conceptualizing Sex Offender Denial From a Multifaceted Framework: Investigating the Psychometric Qualities of a New Instrument

The authors examined the psychometric properties of a clinician‐rated measure of sex offender denial. Convergent and discriminant validity for the measure was supported, and given its relationship to treatment attitudes, the measure demonstrated utility for assessing treatment change and readiness.