Assessing “Clutter” and Related Constructs with a Non-White,Urban Sample

How does the clutter in people’s lives affect their sense of home and well-being? Why do some people (specifically non-white individuals) have too much clutter, and too many possessions, and is clutter related to procrastination? We examined the relation of clutter to psychological sense of home, subjective well-being, procrastination (both decisional and routine), and the need for cognition. Our participants (n = 192) were predominantly non-White, urban college students. Results confirmed prior research indicting negative relations between clutter and both the psychological sense of home and subjective well-being, plus a negative relation between clutter and need for cognition. Clutter was positively related to both forms of procrastination examined. The two forms of procrastination differed in their relation to need for cognition, supporting the view of decisional and routine procrastination as two distinct sub-types of procrastination.     

“Das Ding”: Excessive Existence: Discussion of “Melancholic Psychosis”

Derek Hook’s (this issue) excellent paper provides illustrations of complex Lacanian concepts through the relatively rare presentation of Lacanian case material. His paper lends itself to reading Freud with Lacan. This reply to his paper engages such a reading to show that the idea of the over present object emphasised by Lacan is prefigured in Freud in his 1917 paper on Mourning and Melancholia. My reply to Hook affirms the additional clinical themes he introduces and indicates that these themes would be anticipated if, as Lacan argues, melancholia is seen to be underpinned by a psychotic structure. Finally, the reply argues for a resurrection of the Lacanian notion of Das Ding, as it connotes differently to objet a despite overlaps in meaning and the fact that in later Lacan the term Das Ding was dropped.     

Free Energy and the Self: An Ecological–Enactive Interpretation

According to the free energy principle all living systems aim to minimise free energy in their sensory exchanges with the environment. Processes of free energy minimisation are thus ubiquitous in the biological world. Indeed it has been argued that even plants engage in free energy minimisation. Not all living things however feel alive. How then did the feeling of being alive get started? In line with the arguments of the phenomenologists, I will claim that every feeling must be felt by someone. It must have mineness built into it if it is to feel a particular way. The question I take up in this paper asks how mineness might have arisen out of processes of free energy minimisation, given that many systems that keep themselves alive lack mineness. The hypothesis I develop in this paper is that the life of an organism can be seen as an inferential process. Every living system embodies a probability distribution conditioned on a model of the sensory, physiological, and morphological states that are highly probably given the life it leads and the niche it inhabits. I argue for an ecological and enactive interpretation of free energy. I show how once the life of an organism reaches a certain level of complexity mineness emerges as an intrinsic part of the process of life itself.

     

Students’ Perceptions of Unsafe Schools: An Ecological Systems Analysis

In the aftermath of several school shooting incidents in recent years, students’ perceptions of unsafe schools has been a major concern for parents, teachers, school officials, school practitioners, and policy-makers. Using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems framework, we examined the micro-, meso-, and exosystem level factors associated with perceptions of unsafe school environments in a nationally representative sample of 10- to 15-year-old youth in the United States. We found that for the socio-demographic characteristics, students who were older, male, and poor had increased risks of perceiving higher levels of unsafe school environments. Within the microsystem of the family, our results indicate that parent-youth discussions of school activities/events decreased the risk of students perceiving unsafe schools. All of the school environment variables—ease of making friends, teachers’ involvement, observed weapon carrying, and school rule enforcement—were related in the expected direction to students’ perceiving their schools as unsafe. At the mesosystem level, findings from our study demonstrate that variables measuring parental school involvement were unrelated to perceptions of school safety. Finally, at the exosystem level, we found that students’ perceptions of residing in a safer neighborhood and residence in a non-central city metropolitan area, compared with a central city, decreased the odds of perceiving school environments as unsafe. School policy and practice implications are discussed.     

“Living Memory”: Discussion of Avishai Margalit's “Nostalgia”

Avishai Margalit raises questions about how memory can be a moral and an ethical concern, and in this commentary on “Nostalgia,” Aron expands on these themes and examines the place of memory in psychoanalysis and in Judaism. The study of memory and of mind are inseparable. At its best, psychoanalysis does not contrast thoughts and actions, inner and outer, memory and motor action, intrapsychic mental life and interpersonal external behavior as simple dichotomous terms but rather views these as mutually defining transformations, different views of a single complex reality. Conceived in this way, memory is not a static internal picture, but rather is continually constructed, embedded in our interpersonal context. It is living memory.     

MEGA♪: An Ecological Risk Assessment Tool of Risk and Protective Factors for Assessing Sexually Abusive Children and Adolescents

MEGA^? is a comprehensive, ecologically framed, structured risk assessment tool for assessing sexually abusive behavior, coarse sexual improprieties, or both in all youth under 19 years, including male and female adjudicated and nonadjudicated youth, children under 12, and youth with low intellectual functioning. MEGA^?, or Multiplex Empirically Guided Inventory of Ecological Aggregates for Assessing Sexually Abusive Adolescents and Children (Ages 19 and Under; Miccio-Fonseca, 2006b Miccio-Fonseca, L. C. 2006b. Multiplex Empirically Guided Inventory of Ecological Aggregates for Assessing Sexually Abusive Children and Adolescents (Ages 19 and Under)—MEGA^?, San Diego, CA: Author.  [Google Scholar]) is composed of 7 aggregates and 4 distinct risk scales: (a) Risk Scale, (b) Protective Risk Scale, (c) Estrangement Risk Scale, and (d) Persistent Sexual Deviancy Scale. Discussed are the internal consistency findings on a sample of 1,184 (979 males and 205 females). MEGA^?'s Risk and Protective Risk Scales are discussed in depth.     

A Review of: “Pamela J. Burry's Living with “The Gloria Films”: A daughter's memory.”

Abstract

This article examines alternatives for using language and discourse in clinical practice. The goal is to deconstruct deficit language and move toward a competency based psychological service. Deficit and pathology, the native tongue of psychotherapy, tend to initiate permanent stigmatizing patterns of social interaction which further marginalizes clients. This article deconstructs the taken‐for‐granted assumptions and discourses that underpin deficit‐based practice. Through the process of rediscoursing and re‐inventing therapeutic languages, therapists can reverse the self‐sustaining feedback loop initiated by deficit focus. These changes transport possibilities and personal agency into postmodern practice.     

“The Archetypes Are Alive and Well”: An Interview with Susan Olson

In this interview Jungian analyst Susan Olson discusses how she became interested in Jung and his concepts of introversion and extraversion, femininity and masculinity, and grief and mourning. She also explores how she intends to live the rest of her life and how she views the future of Jungian psychology.     

Initiating and Sustaining Emotional Abuse in the Coach–Athlete Relationship: An Ecological Transactional Model of Vulnerability

The purpose of this study was to explore the process by which emotional abuse occurs and is often sustained in sport. Methods were established in congruence with the iterative nature of grounded theory. In total, 18 retired elite athletes participated in the study. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with each participant, and data were coded using open, axial, and selective coding techniques. Data were interpreted to suggest that the perpetration of emotional abuse in the coach–athlete relationship is closely tied to ambitions and philosophies of athlete development. Based on the findings, an ecological transactional model of vulnerability to emotional abuse in the coach–athlete relationship is proposed. Recommendations are made for future prevention and intervention initiatives.     

Virginia Satir's Concepts of “Styles of Living”

SUMMARY

Any primary style of living is a self constructed cage. It is both isolating and alienating in its impact on relationships. It becomes a barrier against intimacy in a wanted togetherness. It limits personal growth. When growth in intimacy is a wanted goal in a relationship, change becomes a necessity. To create a bridge to another (a bonding process) involves risking vulnerability (a process of breaking through one's defenses). It also involves clear communication, confrontation of differences, learning negotiation skills, and establishing person specific ground rules of living in intimacy. This allows the freedom of being different and the discipline of compromise and mutual caring.     

A Broader View of “Self” in Egocentric Social Judgment: Current and Possible Selves

Virtually all previous research addressing the self as a standard of comparison in social judgment defined the self to be one's current-held characteristics. We extended research on egocentric definitions of social categories (Dunning, Perie, & Story, 1991 Dunning, D, Perie, M and Story, AL. 1991. Self-serving prototypes of social categories. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61: 1–12. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and the self-image bias (Lewicki, 1983 Lewicki, P. 1983. Self-image bias in person perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45: 384–393. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) by measuring a broader definition of “self” which includes possible selves. In two studies, measures of college students' self-systems (current and possible selves together) accounted for three times as much variance in social judgments (M?=?12.9%) than did measures of their current selves alone (M?=?4.2%). We argue for the theoretical and empirical benefits of using a broader definition of self in social judgment research.     

Self-constitution and “Infrastructural” Change: An Interdisciplinary Account of Psychoanalytic Action

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis - Beyond revealing unconscious pathological identifications and traits—including their past usefulness but current toxicity—what techniques in our...     

Homelessness Among Families, Children, and Adolescents: An Ecological–Developmental Perspective

This paper reviews and evaluates the literatures on children in families that are homeless and on adolescents who are homeless on their own. After presenting several emerging theoretical approaches, we propose a broad ecological-developmental perspective that recognizes that, although persons in these groups often lack resources and experience negative events that can amplify the risk for poor outcomes, they also have resources and adaptive potential. The perspective also recognizes that homelessness may have different meanings and outcomes at different points in development and that we need to consider interactions between individual development and multiple levels of social organization in order to foster new solutions to homelessness. On the basis of this perspective, we discuss directions for treatment and preventive interventions as well as social policy.     

“It's the Day-to-Day Living That Matters”: The Meaning and Process of Community in the Lives of a Couple with Significant Psychiatric Disabilities

This study attempts to define and describe the experience and process of community and community participation using a qualitative case study of a couple labeled with significant psychiatric disabilities. Findings indicate that important influences on perceptions and the process of community belonging include (a) the opportunity to personally define the meaning, limitations, and level of care associated with receiving a psychiatric label; (b) a reciprocal, central relationship; and (c) recognized opportunities for intentional participation in and access to meaningful relationships with other community members, including in the role of coworker or colleague.     

Hoping to Live a “Normal” Life Whilst Living with Unpredictable Health and Fear of Death: Impact of Cystic Fibrosis on Young Adults

This study aimed to explore the hopes and fears of young adults with cystic fibrosis (CF). Fifteen young adults with CF, aged 18–29, were interviewed about their hopes and fears using a grounded theory approach. Five themes were identified during the analysis: perceptions of living with unpredictable health and fear of death and dying; hopes for normality; hopes for a normal relationship and/or marriage; hopes for having children; and hopes for a normal work life. Participants feared the unpredictable nature of CF and the suffering that they believed they would have to endure due to ill health before premature death. Despite their fears, participants hoped to live a “normal” life by achieving their hopes of having long-lasting relationships, having children and pursuing a career. The findings highlight the need to help alleviate the fears of young adults with CF and to enable them to plan to achieve their hopes, hence giving them a sense of control over their condition.