Do Unto Others?

Despite a widespread acknowledgement of the relationship between account offerings and facework, little research has provided evidence showing that different types of accounting moves actually foster diverse assessments of attentiveness to face. Following Goffman (1955, 1967), we coded the primary types of challenges, offerings, and evaluations from interactions between friends who discussed a previous failure event by the speaker. We analyzed the codes—and the complexity of the sequences—for differences in participants’ judgments of attentiveness toward other‐face. Not every accounting form resulted in significant differences; nevertheless, either the speakers or their partners perceived most forms differently in some way. Additionally, elicitors viewed more complex (i.e., longer) account sequences as less attentive to their own negative face, but accounters viewed more complex (i.e., more varied) offerings as more attentive to others’ negative face. Qualitative analyses revealed additional discourse forms that may count as offerings and evaluations, including a more direct form of self‐oriented facework, requests for advice from the accounter, rejections of account suggestions, and requests for information and acceptance.     

Children's Critical Thinking When Learning From Others

A key component of critical thinking is the ability to evaluate the statements of other people. Because information that is obtained from others is not always accurate, it is important that children learn to reason about it critically. By as early as age 3, children understand that people sometimes communicate inaccurate information and that some individuals are more reliable sources than others. However, in many contexts, even older children fail to evaluate sources critically. Recent research points to the role of social experience in explaining why children often fail to engage in critical reasoning.     

Unto the Third Generation

Abstract

It is possible to significantly reduce, even eliminate child abuse if we address five obstacles: (1) many mandated reporters fail to comply with the law; (2) most child abuse reports are not investigated; (3) frontline child protection professionals are inadequately trained; (4) we do not address child abuse at the youngest ages; and (5) maltreated children receive an inadequate share of financial resources. Accordingly, we must reform our higher education system to ensure that all child protection professionals have the skills necessary to recognize and respond to abuse. We must provide ongoing training to professionals in the field, have at least one forensic interview-training program in each state, develop prevention programs at the local level, and teach frontline professionals to advocate for children. Finally, we must recruit a second generation that will build on these successes and continue to improve our response until child abuse no longer exists.     

The Influence of Social Critical Theory on Edward Schillebeeckx's Theology of Suffering for Others

Edward Schillebeeckx has consolidated the theoretical and practical dimensions of the Christian approach to human suffering in his theological method, specifically his theology of suffering for others. The various elements and sources of his method can be gleaned from his later writings, especially those published during the 1970s and 1980s. Schillebeeckx's theology is anchored in (1) the Thomist-phenomenological approach of Flemish philosopher Dominic De Petter; (2) the historical-experiential theology of Marie-Dominique Chenu; and (3) the social theory of the Frankfurt School. De Petter's perspective on Aquinas integrated a Thomist epistemology with the phenomenological notion that concepts cannot ultimately capture the reality of human experience. From Chenu, Schillebeeckx acquired his commitment to both solid historical research and engagement with socio-political problems facing church and world.
The problem of suffering, which constitutes an essential dimension of Schillebeeckx's theological ethics with its dual emphasis on theory and praxis, raises the question of human responsibility in the face of unjust and needless suffering. His theoretical-practical approach to the alleviation of human suffering evolved within the framework of social critical theory, specifically: (a) Schillebeeckx's theological integration of Theodor Adorno's negative dialectics into his own method of correlation, which promotes various forms of critical resistance to socio-political injustice rather than a single program; and (b) the unification of theory and praxis, a priority of Jürgen Habermas's 'new' critical theory that Schillebeeckx endorses. Both principles of critical theory — negative dialectics and the union of theory and praxis — inform Schillebeeckx's eschatological orientation and his conception of liturgy as a form of social ethics.     

Commentary: Critical Reflections on the Ethical and Professional Considerations in Writing About Clients

From the standpoint of a journal editor and researcher, this commentary critically reflects on some of the primary notions addressed in the 4 featured articles of the special section, discussing areas of agreement and divergence. As a way of further exploring these ethical and professional concerns, the contentious issue of using school children as case studies in publications and in graduate counseling courses is briefly examined.     

Death Unto Life: The Power of the Incarnation

Black families traditionally print photographs, poems, songs and sayings in funeral programs as a tribute to the deceased. These artistic expressions, which are part of the black funeral tradition, communicate a theology of death and the afterlife. Yet, the contributions of black, feminist, womanist and pastoral theologies are conventionally ignored in the development of theologies of death. This essay explores the practical implications of using elements of these theologies—black, feminist, womanist and pastoral—to effectively minister to a person with fears, doubts, and questions, and who is facing death. These theologies reveal that death is not the enemy of the dying person who taps into the power of the Incarnation—the “erotic power” housed in human flesh that overcomes and triumphs over death.     

Render Unto Caesar: Pastoral Care and the American Empire

This article addresses the relation between the American Empire and the intriguing contradictions and problems that arise for pastoral ministers who live in and are citizens of the empire. Sources and characteristics of the American Empire are described, which serves as a foundation for identifying four key features of an empire psyche. The attributes of the empire psyche, which are yoked to pastoral identity and practice, contradict central Christian claims. Given the reality of the American Empire and an empire psyche, I identify and describe some pastoral struggles and possible responses.

A Tower Unto Heaven: Toward an Expanded Framework for Psychopathology

I respond to commentaries on my target article “An Evolutionary Life History Framework for Psychopathology.” I start by addressing criticism of my basic assumptions about life history strategies and their implications for individual differences in human behavior. Next, I examine the theoretical structure of the proposed framework and respond to the commentators’ challenges to its generality and flexibility. I show how the framework can be expanded to include multiple levels of analysis and to integrate behavioral control with neurological functionality; I also reinterpret the recent finding of a general factor of psychopathology in the context of the expanded framework. In the last section I discuss specific psychopathological conditions, namely attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, borderline personality disorder, substance abuse, autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and depression. For each condition, I reply to the commentators’ criticism of my life history analysis, integrate their suggestions and insights, highlight the present weaknesses of the theory, and indicate promising directions for future research.     

Unto the Third Generation: Dimensions of Reality and Career Development

To illustrate how external realities may impinge on career development, three generations of one hypothetical family are looked at within the context of the first eight decades of this century. Selected realities are presented, with the reader left to consider how the individuals might react to them.     

Moral Emotions Toward Others at Work and Implications for Employee Behavior: a Qualitative Analysis Using Critical Incidents

We propose a theoretical framework for and, via critical incidents, inductively investigate (a) the situations that trigger moral emotions toward others at work and (b) worker responses to these situations. Critical incidents were collected from a heterogeneous sample of 423 workers. Participants described an incident that caused each of four moral emotions (gratitude, anger, admiration, and contempt) and their response. Incidents and responses were coded, and frequencies, differences across the moral emotions, and associations between incidents and responses were analyzed. Several morally relevant situations at work were found to trigger the moral emotions. Participants responded in ways that had implications for their performance and their own well-being. The incidents largely align with moral foundations theory (Haidt and Graham in Social Justice Research, 20, 98–116, 2007). Responses also show evidence for social exchange, social learning, and rational expectancy-based processes and behavior. The incidents specify several practices for managers and organizations to encourage and avoid. This was the first qualitative study of moral emotions at work and one of the few workplace studies to examine these emotions empirically. Several understudied factors and behavioral responses emerged.     

Once More Unto the Breach,My Dear Friends,Once More

Philosophical Studies -