Digging beneath the surface: Results from stage one of a qualitative analysis of factors influencing the well-being of trans youth in Quebec

ABSTRACT

Background: The literature on trans youth has been dominated by etiological studies interested in trans experience as a medical phenomenon. An emerging body of literature has begun to document that trans youth are a diverse, vulnerable, yet resilient population, and to investigate the role of various sites of support such as the family, peer groups, institutions, and community spaces in contributing to or impeding trans youth's well-being.

Method: This article presents the results of Stage One of interviews (n = 24) conducted for a Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) qualitative research project based in Quebec. It studies the factors that enhance trans youth's well-being as well as the factors of oppression that negatively affect it. This paper offers a brief overview of the anti-oppressive methodology used for this project, emphasizing how CBPAR was combined with Grounded Theory (GT) methods to encourage the direct involvement of communities and the translation of knowledge into action.

Results: We present preliminary categories emerging through the ongoing axial coding process. These categories address trans youth's experiences in and perceptions of various “sites”: 1) healthcare services both for gender-related and general care, 2) other institutional spaces, 3) the family and other social circles, and 4) community spaces.

Conclusion: While much of this study's results support existing evidence on trans youth's experiences, they also provide a more nuanced portrayal of the complex ways in which recognition, as well as non-, mis-, or mal-recognition, influence trans youth's well-being at different sites. We also argue that recognition itself must be considered through the lens of intersectionality.     

Pouring warm milk on troubled waters

Mad Cows and Mother's Milk, by Douglas Powell and William Leiss, Montreal: McGill‐Queen's University Press, 1997, 308 pp.     

Book reviews

A. A. Long (ed.). Problems in Stoicism. London: The Athlone Press of the University of London, 1971. Pp. 1–257. Indexed. $13.00.

Mario Bunge. Foundations of Physics. Springer Tracts in Natural Philosophy. Volume 10. New York: Springer‐Verlag New York, Inc., 1967. Pp. xii, 311. Indexed. $17.00.

E. D. Klemke (ed.). Essays on Bertrand Russell. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1971. Pp. xi, 458. Indexed. $3.95 (paper).

E. M. Curley. Spinoza's Metaphysics: An Essay in Interpretation Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1969. Pp xv, 174. Indexed. $8.00

Joel J. Kupperman. Ethical Knowledge. New York: Humanities Press, 1971. Pp 1–156. Indexed. $8.50.

Wesley C. Salmon (ed.). Zeno's Paradoxes. Indianapolis, Indiana: Bobbs‐Merrill, 1970. Pp x, 309. Indexed. $3.95 (paper).

Leo Elders. Aristotle's Theology; A Commentary on Book A of the Metaphysics. Van Gorcum (distributed in U.S.A. by Humanities Press, New York), 1972. Pp 1–309. Indexed. $18.50.

Ernest Nagel, Sylvain Bromberger, and Adolf Grunbaum. Observation and Theory in Science. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins Press, 1971. Pp 1–134. Indexed. $6.95.     

Depressive symptoms and use of perspective taking within a communicative context

Objective: The ability to take the perspective of one's conversational partner is essential for successful communication. We assessed whether individuals who report high levels of depressive symptoms have more difficulty with navigating this interpersonal task. Method: Undergraduate students participated in a computerised communication task that, on some trials, required perspective taking (N=125). Results: When participants were grouped according to their self-reported depressive symptoms, the “dysphoric group” (BDI ≥ 16, n=37) showed more errors than a “non-dysphoric group” (BDI ≤ 10, n=56) on trials requiring participants to use the perspective of the speaker, but not on control trials where perspective taking was not required. The dysphoric group demonstrated slower response times overall. Conclusions: Individuals with moderate to high levels of depressive symptoms are more challenged by using a speaker's perspective to interpret statements.     

Increasing calcium intake in young women through gain-framed,targeted messages: A randomised controlled trial

Background: Adequate calcium consumption during early adulthood can help prevent osteoporosis in women.

Purpose: The effects of gain-framed, targeted messaging on calcium intake were examined over 12 months.

Methods: Young women (18–19 years) not consuming sufficient calcium were randomly assigned to receive standard care materials (control) or gain-framed, targeted materials (experimental). Health belief model (HBM) constructs, calcium intake and markers of bone formation, resorption and bone mineral density were assessed at various time points throughout the year.

Results: Calcium intake increased significantly more in the experimental versus the control condition (p?<?0.01). Self-efficacy was the only HBM construct to improve significantly more in the experimental condition versus control (p?=?0.05). The HBM did not mediate changes in calcium intake. Measures of bone health did not differ between conditions by the end of this nonpharmacological intervention (p's?>?0.05).

Conclusions: It is possible to increase young women's calcium consumption through gain-framed, targeted messages.     

Sartre and Bergson: A Disagreement about Nothingness

Abstract

Henri Bergson's philosophy, which Sartre studied as a student, had a profound but largely neglected influence on his thinking. In this paper I focus on the new light that recognition of this influence throws on Sartre's central argument about the relationship between negation and nothingness in his Being and Nothingness. Sartre's argument is in part a response to Bergson's dismissive, eliminativist account of nothingness in Creative Evolution (1907): the objections to the concept of nothingness with which Sartre engages are precisely those raised by Bergson. Even if Sartre's account of nothingness in its entirety is found to be flawed, I argue that the points he makes specifically against Bergson are powerful.

My discussion concludes with a brief examination of the wider philosophical background to Sartre's and Bergson's discussion of nothingness: here I point to some important aspects of Sartre's early philosophy, including some features of his conception of nothingness, that may testify to Bergson's positive influence on his thought.     

Extreme Traumatisation: Strategies for Mental Survival

Sincerity: a Study in the Atmosphere of Human Relations, a previously unpublished book, appearing in D. Meltzer's Collected Papers, explores The Dwarfs, The Birthday Party and The Homecoming by Harold Pinter, both the capacity to communicate genuine emotion and its limitation by the subject's inability to say-what-he-means, because of rigidity and coldness, and to mean-what-he-says, because of an integrated narcissistic structure. That the language of dreams is perhaps the lingua franca of emotionality and the key to aesthetics is the book's conclusion, with a clear indication of the books to come. This article surveys the relevance of the notion of sincerity in Meltzer's further work, in its clinical and metapsychological aspects.     

Jean Piaget,the Child's Conception of Physical Causality (Victoria Hazlitt)

Abstract

Jean Piaget. The Child's Conception of Physical Causality. (Trans. by M. Gabain.) London: Kegan Paul; New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1930. Pp. viii+309.     

A Review of “Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents”

Abstract

The New Hypnosis in Family Therapy, by Daniel L. Araoz&;Esther Negley-Parker. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1988, 304 pages, $30.00

The Family Interpreted, by Deborah Anne Leupnitz. New York: Basic Books, 352 pages, $22.95.

Family Evaluation, by Michael Kerr&;Murray Bowen. New York: W. W. Norton, 416 pages, $29.95

Family Therapy Techniques for Problem Behaviors of Children and Teenagers, by Charles E. Schaefer, James M. Briesmeister&;Maureen E. Fitton. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 482 pages, $28.95

Family of Origin Therapy, edited by Alan J. Hovestadt&;Marshal Fine. Rockville, MD: Aspen Publications, 1987, 106 pages, $29.67

Siblings in Therapy: Life Span and Clinical Issues, edited by Michael D. Kahn&;Karen Gail Lewis. New York: W. W Norton, 1988, 469 pages, $34.95

A Secure Base: Parent-Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development, by John Bowlby. New York: Basic Books, 1988, 205 pages, $16.95

Developing Ericksonian Therapy: State of the Art, edited by Jeffrey K. Zeig&;Stephen R. Lankton. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1988, 523 pages, $50.00

Journey with Grandpa: Our Family's Struggle with Alzheimer's Disease, by Rosalie Walsh Honel. Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press, 243 pages, $16.95

The Divorce Decision: What It Can Mean for Your Children, Your Finances, Your Emotions, Your Relationships, Your Future, by Gary Richmond. Waco, TX: Word Book Publishers, 1988, 215 pages, $8.99     

"Wholly Aflame": Erotic Asceticism in the Work of Sara Maitland

Abstract

The writing of the Christian feminist novelist Sara Maitland has explored the interplay of eroticism, masochism and asceticism in women's spirituality. Maitland's 1984 novel Virgin Territory and 1987 essay "Passionate Prayer: Masochistic Images in Women's Experience" condemns how, in patriarchal Christianity, a model of romantic relationship with God, when compounded by the symbolism of women's sinfulness, results in spiritual masochism for women. In her later work, Maitland's writing takes a more ambivalent attitude, wanting to preserve the "otherness" of historical women mystics and martyrs, also admiring the "purity" of the extremity of their devotion. This reflects Maitland's advocating of an excessive and "unsafe" spirituality, given representation in her fiction and in her pursuit of a solitary lifestyle, as explained in 2008's A Book of Silence.     

Book reviews

GEORGE J. STACK. Berkeley's Analysis of Perception. New York: Humanities Press, 1972. Pp. 1–165. Indexed. $7.50 (paper)     

The paradox of countertransference: you and me,here and now

Abstract

I am moved to write by Stephen Gross's article ‘Revenge of the fathers: incest and the male therapist’, which appeared in the February 1995 issue of Psychodynamic Counselling     

The role of risk perception in explaining parental sunscreen use

Objective: This study assessed: (1) whether risk perceptions about skin cancer were related to parent's use of sunscreen on their children; (2) which combination of assessments susceptibility and severity best explain parental sunscreen protection behaviours and (3) whether risk perceptions influence behaviour directly through intentions or through attitudes, subjective norms and self-efficacy.

Design: Two longitudinal studies assessed sunscreen protection behaviours of parents for their toddlers (N?=?391) and young children (N?=?436).

Main outcome measure: Parent's use of sunscreen on their children.

Results: Risk perceptions correlated with future sunscreen protection behaviours of parents but were lower than those of attitude, social influence and self-efficacy. Treating susceptibility and severity as an additive function resulted in the best model fit. Risk perceptions were related with future intention and future sunscreen protection behaviour, but the effects were mediated through attitude, social influence and self-efficacy.

Conclusions: Our path analyses suggest treating susceptibility and severity as an additive function. A multiplicative model without main effects – although often used – had the poorest fit. Risk perceptions influence behaviour by influencing attitudinal and self-efficacy beliefs. Addressing risk perceptions in health communication programs is relevant when the purpose is to increase awareness and to influence attitudes and self-efficacy.     

Self-concern From Priestley To Hazlitt

This article argues that the Fourth and Fifth of John Toland's Letters to Serena are best understood as a creative confrontation of Spinoza and Leibniz – one in which crucial aspects of Leibniz's thought are extracted from their original context and made to serve a purpose that is ultimately Spinozistic. Accordingly, it suggests that the critique of Spinoza that takes up so much of the fourth Letter, in particular, should be read as a means of `perfecting' Spinoza (via Leibniz), rather than as the outright dismissal it might appear to be. In order to make its case, the article outlines: the supposed problems that Toland finds in Spinoza; what Toland takes from Leibniz, and what he discards, in order to solve these `problems'; and the imprint of Spinoza's naturalism on the eventual `solution' that Toland offers. The article concludes that, whatever the success of this `solution', Toland's speculative labours should still be treated as creative, perspicuous and intrinsically significant.     

Effects of guided imagery with relaxation training on anxiety and quality of life among patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Background: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) impacts quality of life (QoL). Psychological factors influence the course of the disease and should be targeted for intervention.

Methods: Our study was a prospective, randomised control trial. Fifty-six outpatients were randomly chosen and allocated to a treatment group or a waiting-list control group. Treatment group patients attended three relaxation-training sessions and received an audio disc for home practice. Evaluations performed pre and post-treatment: state anxiety was assessed with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, QoL with the IBD Questionnaire. The Visual Analogue Scale assessed pain, depression, stress and mood. Patients completed a symptom monitoring diary. The control group's symptoms were monitored without study-related treatment.

Results: Thirty-nine subjects completed the study and were included in the data analysis. Following the relaxation-training intervention, the treatment group's (n?=?18) measured results showed a statistically significant improvement as compared to the control group (n?=?21) (time by treatment interaction): anxiety levels decreased (p?<?0.01), QoL and mood improved (p?<?0.05), while levels of pain and stress decreased (p?<?0.01).

Conclusions: Findings indicate IBD patients may benefit from relaxation training in their holistic care. New studies as well as further investigation of the subject are warranted.     

Contents of Volume 88 (2007)

Abstract

Molly R. Harrower, Editor Recent Advances in Diagnostic Psychological Testing. New York: 1951, 131 pp. Reviewed by Lawrence Edwin Abt, Ph.D.

Hellersberg, Elisabeth F. The Individual's Relation to Reality in Our Culture. Springfield, Ill. Charles C. Thomas, 1950. Pp X + 130. Reviewed by John N. Buck     

Emotion recognition and emotional theory of mind in chronic fatigue syndrome

Background: Difficulties with social function have been reported in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), but underpinning factors are unknown. Emotion recognition, theory of mind (inference of another's mental state) and ‘emotional’ theory of mind (eToM) (inference of another's emotional state) are important social abilities, facilitating understanding of others. This study examined emotion recognition and eToM in CFS patients and their relationship to self-reported social function.

Methods: CFS patients (n?=?45) and healthy controls (HCs; n?=?50) completed tasks assessing emotion recognition, basic or advanced eToM (for self and other) and a self-report measure of social function.

Results: CFS participants were poorer than HCs at recognising emotion states in the faces of others and at inferring their own emotions. Lower scores on these tasks were associated with poorer self-reported daily and social function. CFS patients demonstrated good eToM and performance on these tasks did not relate to the level of social function.

Conclusions: CFS patients do not have poor eToM, nor does eToM appear to be associated with social functioning in CFS. However, this group of patients experience difficulties in emotion recognition and inferring emotions in themselves and this may impact upon social function.     

‘Mystic Atheism’: Julia Kristeva's Negative Theology

Abstract

This article examines Julia Kristeva's paradoxical concept of a ‘mystic atheism’. It falls into three parts. First, it briefly surveys Kristeva's psychoanalytic account of Christian theology in Au commencement était l'amour (1985). Secondly, it assesses Kristeva's analysis of the Christian mystical tradition from Teresa of Avila to Angela of Foligno in such works as Le féminin et le sacré (1999) and the three volumes on Le génie féminin (1999-2002). For Kristeva, Christian mysticism represents a key moment in the transition from theology to psychoanalysis: what she locates within the work of the female mystics is a so-called ‘mystic atheism’, that is to say, an affirmation of an other within the subject as opposed to the divine other that supposedly lies outside it. Finally, the article offers some critical comments upon Kristeva's own ‘mystic atheism’: I argue that—like much negative theology—Kristeva's psychoanalysis remains ontotheological in form and that this dimension expresses itself in a problematic tendency to anthropomorphize the other within. In conclusion, I will suggest that Kristeva's ‘mystic atheism’ ultimately remains within the theological tradition it seeks to call into question.     

Young Freud's linkage with Persia

Abstract

Sigmund Freud's hands helped to mutilate a volume containing a series of “colored plates” like the one replicated in Figure 1 in the text. As a young adult, his personal library included a fairytale whose German text was entitled Die Träumleiter: Ein Marchen. No one has yet been able to authenticate the author's identity beyond the following imprint: “S. Andreas (1832).” The poetic play centers upon a celestial meeting featuring Shakespeare, Goethe, and Dschami. It has been translated into English (The dream ladder: A fairy tale), but still awaits a psychoanalytically informed exegesis.     

The Accuracy of the Median and Mean of a Group of Judgments

Abstract

(Cantril, H. The “Why” of Man's Experience. New York: Macmillan, 1950. Pp. 198.) Reviewed by Paul F. Secord.

(Sargent, S. S. Social Psychology. New York: Ronald Press, 1950. Pp. 519.) Reviewed by Benjamin Wolman.