Sexual harassment in the workplace: An ethical dilemma for career guidance practice?

Sexual harassment in the workplace poses something of an ethical dilemma for career guidance practice. This is because it is now known that about half of all working women in the UK are likely to be victims at some stage of their employment and that the effects on individuals are invariably negative and can be positively harmful. What, therefore, is the role for career guidance—if any—in preparing and/or supporting girls and women who might face, or who are suffering from, sexual harassment in the labour market? This issue is thrown into particularly sharp focus by recommendations from recent studies into gender inequality in the workplace which exhort practitioners to combat stereotyping by encouraging girls and women into non-traditional vocational education, training and jobs. Yet research into non-traditional occupational areas reveals that there are particularly high levels of reporting of sexual harassment by victims. This article examines some of the research evidence on workplace sexual harassment and begins to explore implications for guidance practice.     

What is the ethical in fear and trembling?

James Bogen misinterprets what Kierkegaard (or more accurately, Johannes de Silentio) meant by the ethical in Fear and Trembling (see Inquiry, 5 [1962], pp. 305–17). Kierkegaard did not intend to depict morality as a system of duties where moral duties derive from the particular position(s) one holds in society. Kierkegaard thought that moral duties were based on universal principles that were divine commands. Although Kierkegaard thought that it was necessary for an action to be moral that it be done in accord with such universal principles, he did not think that this was sufficient. In order to be a moral action, the action must be done not only in accord with certain universal principles but in a certain way. Kierkegaard notes the appropriate way by saying the agent must reveal himself in his action. Thus revelation by the agent and acting in accordance with certain principles are jointly sufficient and singly necessary conditions for an action to be moral.     

Can practice overcome age-related differences in the psychological refractory period effect?

Can dual-task practice remove age-related differences in the psychological refractory period (PRP) effect? To answer this question, younger and older individuals practiced 7 blocks of a PRP design, in which Task 1 (T1) required a vocal response to an auditory stimulus and Task 2 (T2) required a manual response to a visual stimulus (Experiment 1). The results showed that practice did not reduce, but rather increased, age-related differences in PRP interference. Using the trained individuals, the introduction of a less complex new T1 (Experiment 2) or a less complex new T2 (Experiment 3) with the task previously practiced reduced the PRP interference but only in older adults. The authors propose that older adults suffer from a large task-switch cost that is more sensitive to task complexity than to the amount of practice.     

What Creates the Dilemma in Ethical Dilemmas? Examples From Psychological Practice

Twenty psychologists were interviewed about an ethical dilemma that they had found to be particularly difficult to resolve. In just under half of the cases the dilemma involved a perceived conflict of ethical principles (e.g., the welfare of the consumer vs. the right to privacy). In the other cases, the psychologists were prevented from following an ethically prescribed course of action by some nonethical consideration such as contractural obligation, legal requirement, or the demands of an employer. We discuss the implications of these two sorts of dilemmas for psychological practice and make some suggestions for proactive approaches to ethical problem solving.     

Can practice eliminate the psychological refractory period effect?

Can people learn to perform two tasks at the same time without interference? To answer this question, the authors trained 6 participants for 36 sessions in a Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) experiment, where Task 1 required a speeded vocal response to an auditory stimulus and Task 2 required a speeded manual response to a visual stimulus. The large PRP effect found initially (353 ms in Session 1) shrank to only about 40 ms over the course of practice, disappearing entirely for 1 of the 6 participants. This reduction in the PRP effect with practice is considerably larger than has been previously reported. The obtained pattern of factor interactions between stimulus onset asynchrony and each of three task difficulty manipulations (Task 1 judgment difficulty, Task 2 stimulus contrast, and Task 2 mapping compatibility) supports a postponement (bottleneck) account of dual-task interference, both before and after practice.     

Confidentiality in psychological practice: a decrepit concept?

Although the principle of confidentiality in the relationship between psychologists and client has been vaunted, and is emphasised in the Australian Psychological Society's Code of Professional Conduct (the APS code; 1994), the confidentiality of this relationship is circumscribed by the absence of legal protections, the ethical beliefs of psychologists, institutional practices, and the provisions of the APS code itself. Lack of privilege in judicial proceedings, and statutory obligations to report certain types of behaviour, mandate breaches of confidentiality in some circumstances. Ethical beliefs of psychologists may support disclosure, especially where it is believed that there is danger of serious physical harm to the client or others. Multidisciplinary teams and institutional settings require the exchange of information for optimal delivery of services. Recent amendments to the APS code may require disclosure without the client's consent when a client is believed to be suicidal. Such developments, when considered at all, are typically regarded as exceptions to a general obligation of confidentiality. However, discussion of exceptions presupposes agreement on fundamental principle: the significance of, and rationale for, confidentiality in the psychologist-client relationship. It is argued in this paper that the obligation of confidentiality has been assumed rather than vigorously analysed and empirically explored. A critical examination of this obligation is the most appropriate starting point for the rehabilitation of contemporary principles of confidentiality in the psychologist-client relationship.     

What if there is an ethical dimension in psychoanalysis?

The implications of an ethical dimension in psychoanalysis are explored, together with the questions whether and in what sense analysis has anything to contribute to ethical reflection, and whether and in what sense ethical considerations can play a role in analytic theory and process. As regards theory, analytic construction of an ethical agent would require a refocusing of structural and dynamic considerations in order to provide an integrative source of decision-making capacity to serve as the responsible agent in ethical deliberation, choice, and action. Suggestions are made for formulating the nature of the ethical agent in terms of a theory of motivation rather than of drive, and in terms of an integrative theory of the self. To the extent that analysis involves ethical considerations, the way lies open for dialogue and mutually enriching contributions of analysis to ethics and vice versa. Various aspects of the analytic perspective are explored that in themselves carry ethical implications or can be enriched by ethical reflection. Beyond theoretical considerations, the interaction between ethical factors and genetic, structural, and dynamic issues in clinical psychoanalysis loom as matters for future exploration.     

What place does religion have in the ethical thinking of scientists and engineers?

Religion, defined as ‘the idea of a state that transcends ourselves and our world and the working out of the consequences of that idea’, may influence the ethical thinking of scientists and engineers in two ways. The first is at the level of the individual and how personal beliefs affect the choice of research, design or development projects, relationships with other researchers and the understandings of the consequences of research on other aspects of life. The second level is that of the social and cultural setting in which scientists and engineers work; how society decides which research to sponsor, how to apply the results of scientific discovery and which technology it chooses to develop and for what purposes. In neither of these areas is religious belief a necessary condition for scientists and engineers to pursue one course of action rather than another. The existence of religious belief within the individual and society is, though, part of the ethical framework in which scientist and engineers work and therefore something to which attention should be paid. Religion provides a particular perspective on what should be. Conversely science and technology provide information on the nature of the person and the universe in which we live, which must be taken into account when theologians and religious moralists apply their ethical norms and principles.     

How similar are the changes in neural activity resulting from mindfulness practice in contrast to spiritual practice?

Meditation and spiritual practices are conceptually similar, eliciting similar subjective experiences, and both appear to provide similar benefits to the practicing individuals. However, no research has examined whether the mechanism of action leading to the beneficial effects is similar in both practices. This review examines the neuroimaging research that has focused on groups of meditating individuals, groups who engage in religious/spiritual practices, and research that has examined groups who perform both practices together, in an attempt to assess whether this may be the case. Differences in the balance of activity between the parietal and prefrontal cortical activation were found between the three groups. A relative prefrontal increase was reflective of mindfulness, which related to decreased anxiety and improved well-being. A relative decrease in activation of the parietal cortex, specifically the inferior parietal cortex, appears to be reflective of spiritual belief, whether within the context of meditation or not. Because mindful and spiritual practices differ in focus regarding the ‘self’ or ‘other’ (higher being), these observations about neurological components that reflect spirituality may continue work towards understanding how the definition of ‘self’ and ‘other’ is represented in the brain, and how this may be reflected in behaviour. Future research can begin to use cohorts of participants in mindfulness studies which are controlled for using the variable of spirituality to explicitly examine how functional and structural similarities and differences may arise.     

What is Equity in Education? Reflections from the Capability Approach

While there is a substantial conceptual literature on equality in education, there has been little clarificatory discussion on the term equity, despite its frequent use in policy and planning documents. The article draws out some different ways in which equity can be understood in education. It distinguishes three forms of equity, looking at the social context when major shifts in the meaning of the term took place in English—the fourteenth century, the sixteenth century and the eighteenth century. Terming these equity from below, equity from above, and equity from the middle, the analysis highlights how each helps clarify aspects of the concern with diversity within the capability approach. The conclusion drawn is that all three forms of equity need to be placed in articulation to expand capabilities in education.     

How does evidence-based practice in psychology work? – As an ethical demarcation

Evidence-based practice in psychology (EBPP) is ordinarily understood to demarcate between legitimate and illegitimate psychotherapy practice, based upon the epistemic demarcation distinguishing scientific from non-scientific knowledge. EBPP emphasizes the value of effective and efficient interventions identified through randomized controlled trials and cost-benefit analyses. Basing the template for choice of action or strategy on randomized controlled trials and cost-benefit analyses create a deceptive appearance of ethical neutrality. However, there is an implicit ethical demarcation at work in EBPP, which favors a non-articulated specific position in normative ethics. More particularly, evidence-based practice in psychology is structured according to a utilitarian framework, severely limiting the kinds of ethical perspectives available to assess psychotherapy practice. The latter point is illustrated through a new mode of delivering psychotherapy services called “Internet-based guided self-help” (IBGSH). In EBPP the only relevant ethical question is to what extent any intervention, such as IBGSH, is effective and efficient. Some of the limiting effects of the ethical, utilitarian, demarcation are showcased by presenting three alternative ethical perspectives by which psychotherapy practice in general and IBGSH in particular can be analyzed. The analysis concludes that EBPP is not suited to ethically regulate the practice of psychotherapy.     

What makes distributed practice effective?

The advantages provided to memory by the distribution of multiple practice or study opportunities are among the most powerful effects in memory research. In this paper, we critically review the class of theories that presume contextual or encoding variability as the sole basis for the advantages of distributed practice, and recommend an alternative approach based on the idea that some study events remind learners of other study events. Encoding variability theory encounters serious challenges in two important phenomena that we review here: superadditivity and nonmonotonicity. The bottleneck in such theories lies in the assumption that mnemonic benefits arise from the increasing independence, rather than interdependence, of study opportunities. The reminding model accounts for many basic results in the literature on distributed practice, readily handles data that are problematic for encoding variability theories, including superadditivity and nonmonotonicity, and provides a unified theoretical framework for understanding the effects of repetition and the effects of associative relationships on memory.     

What is primed in priming from imagery?

Priming from imagery is typically weaker than that from perception. This has been interpreted as resulting from weaker activation of perceptual processes. However, for imagery and perception, commonality is only half the story: Each is also characterized by specific processes. If priming can be due to both unshared and shared components of imagery and perception, then it should be possible to observe greater priming from imagery than from perception. Two new priming experiments were designed to test this hypothesis, while controlling incidental task differences. In both experiments, participants studied objects by counting their parts (from a mental image or a picture). Experiment 1 used a word-picture matching test task, which was hypothesized to depend on stimulus processing specific to perception, and Experiment 2 a size judgment test task, which was hypothesized to depend on retrieval and generation processes specific to imagery. As predicted, priming for perceived objects was greater than priming for imagined objects in the word-picture matching task. Conversely, in the size judgment task, more priming from imagery than from perception was observed. These results support the conclusions that (a) imagery and perception have substantial unshared processes, and (b) these processes contribute to priming.     

Where has all the psychology gone?: A critical review of evidence-based psychological practice in correctional settings

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) represents the gold standard for effective clinical psychological practice. In this review, we examine ways in which EBP tenets are being neglected by correctional psychologists worldwide. We examine three key aspects of EBP currently being neglected: (a) individualized and flexible client focus, (b) the therapeutic alliance, and (c) psychological expertise. We also highlight two highly related issues responsible for correctional psychologists' neglect of EBP. The first relates to policy makers' and correctional psychologists' overreliance on the Risk–Need–Responsivity Model to guide correctional practice. We argue that the narrow focus and implementation of this model has resulted in a severe identity problem for correctional psychologists that has severely exacerbated the dual relationship problem. That is, the tension psychologists experience as a result of engaging in psychological practice while also obliging the risk and security policies of correctional systems. The second issue concerns psychologists' response to the dual relationship problem. In short, psychology, as a discipline appears to have acquiesced to the dual-relationship problem. In our view, this constitutes a ‘crisis’ for the discipline of correctional psychology. We offer several recommendations for injecting EBP back into correctional psychology for the individual, psychology as a discipline, and correctional policy makers.