Unsatisfactory Supervisory Experiences Reported by South Korean Supervisors: Types,Responses, and Cultural Context

Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy - Eleven Korean supervisors were interviewed about their unsatisfactory supervisory experiences (USEs) and the interview data were analyzed using a grounded...     

Fatherhood in the Canadian Context: Perceptions and Experiences of Sudanese Refugee Men

As they attempt to settle and adapt into Canadian society, new immigrants and/or refugees fathers face multiple stressors, some of which include underemployment or unemployment, social isolation, and changing roles within the family. Through a qualitative research involving in-depth interviews with 20 Sudanese refugee men recruited through a criterion sampling process based primarily on length of residency and age of children in Canada, this paper examines their perceptions and experiences as fathers in a large urban centre in Canada. Insights on the meaning of fatherhood, the values that guide their behaviour as fathers, their interactions with and aspirations for their children, and the challenges these men encounter as fathers in Canadian society are also provided.     

Exploring Positive Learning Experiences in the Context of Practical Theological Education

Abstract. This article presents findings from an empirical study exploring student and teacher perspectives on positive learning experiences in practical theological education. Forty‐five students and twenty teachers were interviewed in focus groups in four educational institutions delivering programs in practical theology. The findings indicated that students valued practical theological education when it enabled them to think critically in relation to their personal or professional experience, and that students valued tutors, their peers and a flexible curriculum design in promoting this kind of learning. There was a high correlation between students’ views of positive learning experiences and what tutors perceived as important qualities that they hoped their students would develop. Difficulties associated with the students’ lack of clarity about the learning process and the tensions between academic and professional contexts are also discussed.     

Adolescent Girls and Their Mothers Talk About Experiences of Binge and Loss of Control Eating

Evidence suggests that adolescents’ experience of binge eating (BE) might differ in important ways from that of adults. Moreover, although BE appears more common in African American women than other disordered eating behaviors, little is known about the influence of cultural factors on this behavior in adolescents. The current investigation used qualitative methodology to examine the perceptions of White and African American adolescent girls and their mothers regarding experiences of binge and loss of control eating. Five focus groups were completed with 19 adolescent girls (aged 13–17, 58 % African American, 41 % White) who endorsed loss of control eating behaviors. Their mothers (N = 19) also completed separate, concurrent focus groups addressing food and eating behaviors. Responses to focus group questions were analyzed using thematic qualitative analysis. Adolescents’ awareness of their eating behaviors varied greatly. Girls reported some awareness of how emotions influence their eating behaviors, and described using food to achieve autonomy. Mothers evidenced awareness of their daughters’ problematic eating behaviors, the effects of emotions on eating for both their daughters and themselves, and sociocultural factors influencing diet. Data from these focus groups can inform the development of innovative interventions for adolescent girls engaging in loss of control eating.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Positive Work Experiences and Women's Sense of Self in the Context of Partner Abuse

In this study we examined the relationships among partner abuse, work quality, and women's sense of self. In particular, we explored the potential for women's work to serve as an alternative source of feedback for the self in the context of partner abuse. The sample consisted of 100 working women who reported experiencing a range of partner abuse. Relationships among partner abuse, work quality, and three self constructs were tested using multivariate multiple regression. Work quality was significantly and positively associated with self at work and general self-esteem and approached significance for self at home. There were no significant associations between partner abuse and self at work. Partner abuse was negatively and significantly associated with self at home and approached significance for self-esteem. These varied results support the importance of assessing multiple aspects of the self and the potential of women's work to be a resource in the context of partner abuse.     

Supervisory styles index: Examining supervisees' perceptions of Supervisory Style

The goal of this research was to develop an instrument, the Supervisory Styles Index (SSI), that would examine supervisory style. Style has been described as the way in which the personality and convictions of the supervisor are demonstrated in the supervisory relationship (Leighton, 1991). This study focuses on the interplay between supervisory style and the influence of sex and gender. The findings of this study reveal that female supervisees discern their supervisors to be more self-disclosing than do male supervisees. Implications of the findings and utilization of the index are discussed.Portions of this paper were presented at the 52nd annual conference of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, Chicago, Illinois, November, 1994.     

Adolescent Males' Knowledge and Attitudes About AIDS in The Context of Their Social World1

This study sought to find out how much total knowledge adolescents had concerning AIDS, what particular areas of knowledge were deficient, and how those areas might be related to attitudes and experiences in their social world. Seventy-eight adolescent males from one suburban and three urban high schools were interviewed. A 101-item questionnaire was used to assess: a) overall knowledge about AIDS; b) attitudes about sexuality, drugs, death, and AIDS and; c) related aspects of their social world, i.e., number of IV drug users known, and sources of information about AIDS. Analyses of variance were performed on overall knowledge of AIDS and on five content areas of knowledge. Race was shown to relate to significant differences in the knowledge scores. The social world associated with the urban samples were discussed as risk factors for minority youth. Different attitudes related to strengths and weaknesses in different areas of knowledge. Attitudes associated with deficiencies in different subareas of knowledge were discussed as additional risk factors and as presenting target areas for AIDS education efforts.     

The Personal/Group Discrimination Discrepancy: Women Talk About Their Experiences1

Participants in research on discrimination consistently rate discrimination directed at their group higher than at themselves personally as a member of that group. In order to examine this personal/group discrimination discrepancy, women were asked to spontaneously verbalize their thoughts as they made ratings for personal and group discrimination on 11-point scales. In Study 1, university women who raised a greater number of life domains for group discrimination than for personal discrimination showed a larger personal/group discrimination discrepancy because of lower ratings for personal discrimination. An analysis of participants' protocols revealed that many attended to different domains when rating personal and group discrimination, and that these participants showed a larger personal/group discrimination discrepancy because of lower ratings for personal discrimination. Participants' ratings for group discrimination did not differ as a function of the number or content of the domains. The findings were replicated in Study 2 with working women, and are identified as two contributing factors to the personal/group discrimination discrepancy. The societal implications of the results are discussed in terms of the tendency for disadvantaged group members to downplay their personal experience with discrimination because it does not fit the stereotype of what is being experienced by the group.     

The Amplification and Integration of Near-Death and Other Exceptional Human Experiences by the Larger Cultural Context: An Autobiographical Case

Although I became a parapsychologist in part to help me understand the near-death experience (NDE) I had in 1952 as an undergraduate, it was not until 1990 that I began to integrate my NDE into my life. Doing so alerted me to the role the larger cultural context plays in regard to NDEs and other exceptional human experiences (EHEs). I propose not only that we need to draw on cultural resources to amplify the meaning of our exceptional human experiences, but that EHEs themselves carry the seeds of cultural change.     

Eliciting and Measuring Children's Anger in the Context of Their Peer Interactions: Ethical Considerations and Practical Guidelines

Ecologically valid procedures for eliciting and measuring children's anger are needed to enhance researchers' theories of children's emotional competence and to guide intervention efforts aimed at reactive aggression. The purpose of this article is to describe a laboratory-based game-playing procedure that has been used successfully to elicit and measure children's anger across observational, physiological, and self-report channels. Steps taken to ensure that participants are treated ethically and fairly are discussed. The article highlights recently published data that emphasize the importance of provoking and assessing children's anger across multiple channels using laboratory-based procedures. Finally, it presents preliminary data that suggest that the safeguards taken to protect children were successful in making both children and their parents feel well treated and comfortable.     

Organizational Structure,Context, and Climate: Their Relationships to Job Satisfaction at Three Managerial Levels

Managers from 120 organizations (183 men and 27 women) from four major Canadian urban centers were surveyed about their job satisfaction. Seven aspects of job satisfaction were evaluated: satisfaction with the firm, pay, promotional opportunities, the job itself, other managers at the same level, immediate supervisor, and subordinates. Overall, managers at the highest level reported the most job satisfaction. For presidents, satisfaction was related to the organization's structure and context, as well as to its climate, whereas for middle managers and vice presidents, job satisfaction was related more frequently to the organization's climate and less frequently to its structure and context.     

Contribution of Religiousness in the Prediction and Interpretation of Mystical Experiences in a Sensory Deprivation Context: Activation of Religious Schemas

M. A. Persinger (2002) claimed that transcranial magnetic stimulation with weak, complex magnetic fields evokes mystical experiences. However, in a double-blind experiment, P. Granqvist, M. Fredrikson, P. Unge, A. Hagenfeldt, S. Valind., et al. (2005) found no effects of field exposure on mystical experiences (N = 89), though a minority of participants reported spontaneous mystical experiences. Following the conclusion of null effects from magnetic field exposure, the setup of this experiment, including pre-experimental assessments of religiousness and sensory deprivation, can be viewed as a prime/setting for such experiences. The authors analyzed subsets of experimental data from P. Granqvist and colleagues with emphasis on the contribution of religiousness in the prediction and interpretation of mystical experiences. They found that a higher degree of religiousness predicted a higher occurrence of mystical experiences with a religious quality, but not of mystical experiences without such a quality. The authors discuss findings in terms of the experimental setup serving as a prime/setting activating the religious schemas of religious participants.     

Cogency and Context

Topoi - The problem I address is: how are cogent inferences possible? In § 1 I distinguish three senses in which we say that one is “compelled” by an inference: automatic,...     

Mutually Responsive Orientation Between Mothers and Their Young Children: A Context for the Early Development of Conscience

Some parent–child dyads establish a mutually responsive orientation (MRO), a relationship that is close, mutually binding, cooperative, and affectively positive. Such relationships have two main characteristics—mutual responsiveness and shared positive affect—and they foster the development of conscience in young children. Children growing up with parents who are responsive to their needs and whose interactions are infused with happy emotions adopt a willing, responsive stance toward parental influence and become eager to embrace parental values and standards for behavior. The concurrent and longitudinal beneficial effects of MRO for early development of conscience have been replicated across studies, for a broad range of developmental periods from infancy through early school age, and using a wide variety of behavioral, emotional, and cognitive measures of conscience in the laboratory, at home, and in school. These findings highlight the importance of the early parent–child relationship for subsequent moral development.     

Sex and Gender in the 1980s Heavy Metal Scene: Groupies,Musicians, and Fans Recall Their Experiences

Groupies, heavy metal musicians, and highly devoted fans (metalheads) were some of the most salient identity groups for teenagers and emerging adults in the 1980s—the tail end of the Baby Boom and the beginning of the newly emerging Generation X. Met with appalled reactions from conventional society, the heavy metal scene nevertheless appeared to help at least some disenchanted youth negotiate turbulent times. The present study of 144 middle-aged 1980s groupies, metal fans, and professional musicians used both quantitative and qualitative data to develop insights into the developmental processes of these emerging adults of the 1980s. Metalheads described their childhood experiences, including maltreatment, their sexual and substance use activities in the 1980s, identity issues, and reported on current indicators of adjustment, such as education, mental health, and happiness. The results confirm that youth involved in the metal scene had high rates of substance use, risky sexual behaviors, and especially for groupies, traumatic childhood experiences, as well as drug dependence and sexual violence during their groupie days. However, despite their trauma and risky behaviors, participants were able to thrive and develop healthy adult lives, from which they look back fondly on those 1980s experiences. The richness of these data provide insights into the search for identity for marginalized youth, and provide hypotheses for future research on the understudied developmental processes of such adolescent style cultures.