Medical Marijuana and Social Control: Escaping Criminalization and Embracing Medicalization

The medicalization of marijuana represents an evolving trend across the United States, yet researchers have yet to focus on the reasons users obtain cannabis licenses or the changing methods of State control that emerge in the legal-medicalized industry. In this article I draw on 40 in-depth interviews and participant observation with undergraduate cardholders to examine college students' motivations to get medical marijuana cards and the process of social learning and resocialization they undergo in shifting away from an illicit and unregulated market to one that is State-sanctioned and controlled. I analyze the medicalization of cannabis as part of a “new culture of crime control” (Garland 2001 ——— . 2001 . The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society . Chicago , IL : The University of Chicago Press . [Google Scholar]), showing how, in contrast to criminalization, the legal-medical model offers the State potent forms of social control at the structural, cultural, and interactional levels of society. I conclude with a discussion of the benefits gained by the State from this legal-medicalization on both the effects and causes of crime.     

The Night the Raving Died: The Social Construction of a Local Drug Panic

Scholars have recently reformulated the moral panic framework (Goode and Ben-Yehuda 1994 Goode , Erich and Nachman Ben-Yehuda . 1994 . Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance . Oxford : Blackwell Publishing Ltd . [Google Scholar], 2009 ——— . 2009 . Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance , 2nd ed . Oxford : Blackwell Publishing Ltd . [Google Scholar]). We employ this new framework in an evaluation of Gainesville, Florida's adoption of the anti-rave law. Our findings suggest that both individuals and groups were vital in the construction of an interest group model moral panic that led to the adoption of this law. Although researchers have utilized the moral panic framework in analyzing many social and legal changes over the past 40 years, it has also garnered much criticism. In an effort to further advance the framework, we provide several modifications to Goode and Ben-Yehuda's (2009 ——— . 2009 . Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance , 2nd ed . Oxford : Blackwell Publishing Ltd . [Google Scholar]) most recent reconceptualization and recommendations for future moral panic research.     

Project HOPE: Implementing Sensory Experiences for Suicide Prevention in a Native American Community

Suicide remains a significant problem for Native American populations; however, culturally appropriate interventions are lacking (Suicide Prevention Resource Center, 2011 Suicide Prevention Resource Center . ( 2011 ). Suicide Among American Indians/Alaska Natives. Retrieved from http://www.sprc.org/library/ai.an.facts.pdf  [Google Scholar]). Occupational therapy practitioners can aid in suicide prevention and intervention (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2005). This study presents a culturally appropriate program and research project following a community-based participatory research design that explores the impact of a sensory curriculum for suicide prevention on Native American youth. The perceptions of the young peoples' sensory experiences are explored. Evidence from the study demonstrates the value of exploring the use of occupational therapy intervention in Native American communities to address significant health concerns.     

Model of Occupational Empowerment and Gunnarsson’s Tree Theme: Intervention for Mothers in Recovery

In this study the authors investigated Gunnarsson's Tree Theme Method as an occupational therapy intervention program for mothers in recovery from addiction in accordance with Fisher and Hotchkiss's Model of Occupational Empowerment (2008 Fisher , G. , &; Hotchkiss , A. ( 2008 ). A model of occupational empowerment for marginalized populations in community environments . Occupational Therapy in Health Care , 22 , 55 – 71 . Retrieved from EBSCOhost .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Each session of this mixed design study consisted of relaxation exercises, discussions on self-help readings, and participation in the Tree Theme Method. Two participants out of three improved their personal growth initiative. Participant reflection provided insight into the women's inner feelings. Fisher and Hotchkiss's model (2008 Fisher , G. , &; Hotchkiss , A. ( 2008 ). A model of occupational empowerment for marginalized populations in community environments . Occupational Therapy in Health Care , 22 , 55 – 71 . Retrieved from EBSCOhost .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) was supported as the women achieved personal growth. Further research is needed concerning how this may guide occupational therapy practice with disadvantaged populations.     

Growin' Grass: Paradise by the Sodium Light

This qualitative study describes members of a little-known and little-researched subculture: small-time marijuana cultivators in the United States. Couched within a symbolic interaction theoretical framework, extensive ethnographic interviews were conducted with eighteen marijuana growers who cultivate cannabis plants in their homes for small sales and personal use. This study creates a typology of growers based on motivation for growing and techniques of cultivation. The authors also illustrate how marijuana growers in this study used various techniques outlined by Sykes and Matza (1957 Sykes , Gresham M. and David Matza . 1957 . “Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency.” American Sociological Review 22 : 664 – 670 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to neutralize their involvement in a deviant and illegal activity.     

The Development of a Code for Australian Psychologists

Section 35(1)(c) of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act (2009 Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act of 2009. (Queensland).  [Google Scholar]) requires the newly formed Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA) “to develop or approve standards, codes and guidelines.” In 2010 the PsyBA decided to initially adopt the Australian Psychological Society's (APS) Code of Ethics (2007 Australian Psychological Society. 2007. Code of ethics, Melbourne, , Australia: Author.  [Google Scholar]) and develop a new code in the future with the involvement of key stakeholders without deciding what the nature of this code will be. The PsyBA now has to decide exactly how it will proceed in future. My aim in this article is to examine the options available to the PsyBA by exploring the definition and function of codes; presenting a history of the APS Code; and considering approaches that had been followed in Europe, Israel, New Zealand, and South Africa.     

Default Bayes Factors for Model Selection in Regression

In this article, we present a Bayes factor solution for inference in multiple regression. Bayes factors are principled measures of the relative evidence from data for various models or positions, including models that embed null hypotheses. In this regard, they may be used to state positive evidence for a lack of an effect, which is not possible in conventional significance testing. One obstacle to the adoption of Bayes factor in psychological science is a lack of guidance and software. Recently, Liang, Paulo, Molina, Clyde, and Berger (2008) Liang, F., Paulo, R., Molina, G., Clyde, M. A. and Berger, J. O. 2008. Mixtures of g-priors for {B}ayesian variable selection. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 103: 410–423. Retrieved from http://pubs.amstat.org/doi/pdf/10.1198/016214507000001337[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] developed computationally attractive default Bayes factors for multiple regression designs. We provide a web applet for convenient computation and guidance and context for use of these priors. We discuss the interpretation and advantages of the advocated Bayes factor evidence measures.     

Taking counselling and psychotherapy outside: Destruction or enrichment of the therapeutic frame?

This paper will explore emerging issues in the practice of counselling and psychotherapy in the outdoors, which the authors encountered when they took their clients outside of the traditional therapy room. The outdoors is defined as natural areas and spaces, such as woods and parks which have been termed ‘nearby nature’ (Kaplan &; Kaplan, 1989 Kaplan, R. Kaplan, S. (1989). The experience of nature a psychological perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press [Google Scholar]) and also more remote areas such as mountains and moors which are more isolated from civilisation, what some have termed wilderness (Mcfarlane, 2007). Particular emphasis will be given to the ‘frame’ of psychotherapy and how aspects of this are affected by moving outdoors, in particular contracting in relation to confidentiality and timing. The relationship in psychotherapy will be explored in relation to issues of mutuality and asymmetry alongside the role of nature in the therapeutic process. Lastly the challenges and therapeutic potential of psychotherapy in nature will be explored.     

Leveraging Fourth and Sixth Graders’ Experiences to Reveal Understanding of the Forms and Features of Distributed Causality

Research has focused on students’ difficulties understanding phenomena in which agency is distributed across actors whose individual-level behaviors converge to result in collective outcomes. Building on Levy and Wilensky (2008 Levy, S. T., &; Wilensky, U. (2008). Inventing a "mid-level" to make ends meet: Reasoning through the levels of complexity. Cognition &; Instruction, 26(1), 1–47. [Google Scholar]), this study identified features of distributed causality students understand and that may offer affordances for instruction. Students displayed more distributed reasoning than anticipated, used hybrid and flexible reasoning, and reasoned about additive effects of collections of agents and their interactions, even when intent was unaligned.     

Winnicott,Kohut, and the Developmental Context of Well-Being

In this article, qualitative, case-based research findings from the works of D. W. Winnicott and Heinz Kohut, regarding the interpersonal world of the child, are used to show how quantitative data from positive psychology on well-being can be seen as emerging within a highly social developmental context. It was shown that observations concerning the optimal social context for healthy child development embedded within the works of both Winnicott and Kohut can be mutually employed in the service of a productive dialogue with the tradition of quantitative research on well-being within positive psychology. On a more general level, the analysis provides evidence in support of Friedman's (2008 Friedman , H. ( 2008 ). Humanistic and positive psychology: The methodological and epistemological divide . The Humanistic Psychologist , 36 , 113 – 126 .[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) and Mruk's (2008 Mruk , C. J. ( 2008 ). The psychology of self-esteem: A potential common ground for humanistic positive psychology and positivistic positive psychology . The Humanistic Psychologist , 36 , 143 – 158 .[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) calls for an enhanced dialogue between humanistic, qualitatively inclined psychologists and positive, quantitatively inclined psychologists.     

Using MMPI–2–RF Correlates to Elucidate the PCL–R and Its Four Facets in a Sample of Male Forensic Psychiatric Patients

This study documents the associations between the MMPI–2–RF (Ben-Porath &; Tellegen, 2008 Ben-Porath, Y. S., &; Tellegen, A. (2008). MMPI–2–RF (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2–Restructured Form): Manual for administration and scoring. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [Google Scholar]) scale scores and the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL–R; Hare, 2003 Hare, R. D. (2003). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (2nd ed.). Toronto, ON, Canada: Multi-Health Systems. [Google Scholar]) facet scores in a forensic psychiatric sample. Objectives were to determine how the MMPI–2–RF scales might enhance substantive understanding of the nature of the 4 PCL–R facets and to discern possible implications for the treatment of psychopathic patients. A sample of 127 male forensic psychiatric offenders admitted to a Dutch forensic psychiatric hospital completed the PCL–R and the MMPI–2. Exploratory stepwise regression analyses assessed the prediction of the PCL–R total and its facet scores from MMPI–2–RF scales at its 3 hierarchical levels. Conceptually meaningful results emerged at each level of the MMPI–2–RF hierarchy, including several consistent differences between predictor sets across the facets. Interestingly, ideas of persecution (RC6) was a specific predictor of PCL–R Facet 2, a facet noted for its association with treatment failure. Results are compared and contrasted to the extant body of empirical work to date, and some tentative clinical implications are offered.     

Mapping the MMPI–2–RF Specific Problems Scales Onto Extant Psychopathology Structures

A main objective in developing the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2–Restructured Form (MMPI–2–RF; Ben-Porath &; Tellegen, 2008 Ben-Porath, Y. S., &; Tellegen, A. (2008). MMPI–2–RF (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 Restructured Form): Manual for administration, scoring, and interpretation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [Google Scholar]) was to link the hierarchical structure of the instrument's scales to contemporary psychopathology and personality models for greater enhancement of construct validity. Initial evidence published with the Restructured Clinical scales has indicated promising results in that the higher order structure of these measures maps onto those reported in the extant psychopathology literature. This study focused on evaluating the internal structure of the Specific Problems and Interest scales, which have not yet been examined in this manner. Two large, mixed-gender outpatient and correctional samples were used. Exploratory factor analyses revealed consistent evidence for a 4-factor structure representing somatization, negative affect, externalizing, and social detachment. Convergent and discriminant validity analyses in the outpatient sample yielded a pattern of results consistent with expectations. These findings add further evidence to indicate that the MMPI–2–RF hierarchy of scales map onto extant psychopathology literature, and also add support to the notion that somatization and detachment should be considered important higher order domains in the psychopathology literature.     

Contemporary Neuroscience Humanizes: A Look at Cortical Bilateral Asymmetry and How It Got That Way

Exciting research that has surfaced from a host of neuroscience laboratories is presented, and the assumption that they have little to offer human science considered. This includes the sensory substitution work of Bach-y-Rita (1967 Bach-y-Rita , P. ( 1967 ). Sensory plasticity: Applications to a vision substitution system . Acta Neurologica Scandinavia , 43 , 417 – 426 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), as well as the phantom pain hypothesis of Ramachandran (2011 Ramachandran ( 2011 ). The tell-tale brain . New York , NY : Norton . [Google Scholar]). These studies are considered atop the theoretical and meta-analytical work in the field of neuropsychiatry by McGilchrist (2009 McGilchrist , I. ( 2009 ). The master and his emissary . New Haven , CT : Yale University Press . [Google Scholar]). McGilchrist's inquiry into split-brain patients has resuscitated the once-dubious debate regarding hemispheric differences in the brain. By considering the latter in light of the evidence of neuroplasticity, global differences in right- or left-brain preference may be understood as analogous and reciprocally influential to patterns of thinking. This dynamic relationship between experience and the brain requires a reconsideration of the status of neuroscience as an exclusively reductive enterprise. Indeed, the laboratories seem to be producing results that have become increasingly difficult to reconcile with their biologically reductive commitments. While the neuroscientists are busy sorting out their results, those who do not share said commitments are free to enjoy the implications these results suggest.     

Individual Differences in Mediators and Reactions to a Personal Safety Threat Message

Individual differences in processing information about a personal threat message about bisphenol A (BPA) risk were examined using the threat orientation model (Thompson &; Schlehofer, 2008 Thompson , S. C. , &; Schlehofer , M. M. ( 2008 ). Control, denial, and heightened sensitivity reactions to personal threat: Testing the generalizability of the threat orientation approach . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 34 , 1070 – 1083 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Adults (N = 448) read a risk message concerning BPA in plastics. Threat orientations, intentions to protect oneself from BPA risk, and emotional and cognitive reactions to the message were measured. Individuals with different approaches to threat reached different conclusions about the message and used different information in that process. These findings suggest that consideration of individual differences could improve the predictive ability of existing theoretical models and the effectiveness of health and safety messages.     

Reviving and Refining Psychodynamic Interpretation of the Wechsler Intelligence Tests: The Verbal Comprehension Subtests

The Wechsler intelligence tests (currently Wechsler, 2008 Wechsler, D. (2008). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Fourth Edition (WAIS–IV). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation. [Google Scholar], 2014) have traditionally been part of the multimethod test battery favored by psychodynamically oriented assessors. In this tradition, assessors have used Wechsler data to make inferences about personality that transcend cognition. Recent trends in clinical psychology, however, have deemphasized this psychodynamic way of working. In this article, I make a conceptual and clinical case for reviving and refining a psychodynamic approach to inference making about personality using the Wechsler Verbal Comprehension subtests. Specifically, I (a) describe the psychological and environmental conditions sampled by the Wechsler tests, (b) discuss the Wechsler tests conceptually in terms of assessing vulnerability to breakdowns in adaptive defensive functioning, (c) review a general framework for inference making, and (d) offer considerations for and illustrate pragmatic application of the Verbal Comprehension subtests data to make inferences that help answer referral questions and have important treatment implications.     

Cyberbullying Victimization in Adolescents as Related to Body Esteem,Social Support,and Social Self-Efficacy

ABSTRACT

The authors examined cyberbullying victimization in the context of issues of key importance to youth: body esteem, social support, and social self-efficacy. Research has found that traditional peer-bullying victimization is significantly correlated with low body esteem in Western societies, especially pertaining to weight (R. Puhl & J. Luedicke, 2012 Puhl, R., & Luedicke, J. (2012). Weight-based victimization among adolescents in the school setting: Emotional reactions and coping behaviors. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 41, 27–40. [Google Scholar]). Studies have also found a relationship among bullying victimization, appearance-related bullying, low body esteem, and psychosocial difficulties among youth (L. E. Park, R. M. Calogero, A.F. Young, & A. Diraddo, 2010 Park, L. E., Calogero, R. M., Young, A. F., & Diraddo, A. (2010). Appearance-Based Rejection Sensitivity predicts Body Dysmorphic Disorder symptoms and cosmetic surgery acceptance. Journal Of Social & Clinical Psychology, 29, 489–509. [Google Scholar]). However, the emergence of cyberbullying, characterized by its own special features (P. K. Smith et al., 2008 Smith, P. K., Mahdavi, J., Carvalho, M., Fisher, S., Russell, S., & Tippett, N. (2008). Cyberbullying: Its nature and impact in secondary school pupils. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 376–385. [Google Scholar]), has raised a salient need to explore the relationship between cyber victimization and body esteem, no less important with social framework, because both are key components in adolescents' lives that may be associated with cyberbullying victimization. The authors examined these relationships among 204 Israeli adolescents 14–16 years old. The results indicate a noteworthy prevalence (45%) of cyber victims. Cyber victimization is significantly correlated with low body esteem and low social support and social self-efficacy. Low body esteem and low social support predicted the probability of being a cyber victim. The results extend the knowledge about potential personal and social risk factors for cyber victimization during adolescence. Implications for specific intervention programs are discussed.     

Assessment of DSM–5 Section II Personality Disorders With the MMPI–2–RF in a Nonclinical Sample

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2–Restructured Form (MMPI–2–RF; Ben-Porath &; Tellegen, 2008 Kamphuis, J. H., Arbisi, P. A., Ben-Porath, Y. S., &; McNulty, J. L. (2008). Detecting comorbid Axis-II status among inpatients using the MMPI–2 restructured clinical scales. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 24, 157–164. doi:10.1027/1015-5759.24.3.157[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]/2011 Ben-Porath, Y. S., &; Tellegen, A. (2011). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 Restructured Form: Manual for administration, scoring, and interpretation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. (Original work published 2008) [Google Scholar]) is frequently used in clinical practice. However, there has been a dearth of literature on how well this instrument can assess symptoms associated with personality disorders (PDs). This investigation examined a range of hypothesized MMPI–2–RF scales in predicting PD symptoms. We evaluated these associations in a sample of 397 university students who had been administered the MMPI–2–RF and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM–IV Axis II Disorders–Personality Questionnaire (First, Gibbon, Spitzer, Williams, &; Benjamin, 1997 First, M. B., Gibbon, M., Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B. W., &; Benjamin, L. S. (1997). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM–IV Axis II personality disorders (SCID–II). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press. [Google Scholar]). Zero-order correlation analyses and negative binomial regression models indicated that a wide range of MMPI–2–RF scale hypotheses were supported; however, the least support was available for predicting schizoid and obsessive–compulsive PDs. Implications for MMPI–2–RF interpretation and PD diagnosis are discussed.