Genes and human behavior: the emerging paradigm

The physical properties of human beings and other organisms as well as their social behavioral traits are manifestations of both genetic inheritance and environment. Recent behavioral research has indicated that certain characteristics or behaviors—such as schizophrenia, divorce, and homosexuality—are highly heritable and are not governed exclusively by social environment. A balanced view of human behavior includes the effects of social learning as well as of genetically determined behavior. A new paradigm promotes enhanced understanding and acceptance of human diversity, be it cultural, racial, or sexual, and has the potential to unite scientists and theologians by creating common grounds of understanding.     

Is there a Relationship between Family Structure and Substance Use among Public Middle School Students?

We investigated the relationship between family structure and substance use in a sample of 2,138 public middle school students in a southern state. The CDC Middle School Youth Risk Behavior Survey was utilized and adjusted logistic regression models were created separately for four race/gender categories (African American females/males, and Caucasian females/males) to examine associations among selected drug use variables (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and inhalants). Analyses were adjusted for social economic status. Results suggested differences (p ≤ .05) among race/gender groups for the protective effect of living in an intact family (both mother and father, real or adoptive) regarding substance use among middle school students. In addition, family structure appeared to have a stronger relationship with substance use for Caucasians as opposed to African American adolescents. Caucasian adolescents living in cohabitated family households were more likely to report substance use, when compared to those living in intact two-parent households. Adolescents who are undergoing parental divorce may need special attention as they transition into new family structures.     

Halos vs. stigmas: long-term effects of parent's death or divorce on college students' concepts of the family

College students from families of divorce, of death of a parent, and of intact families rated the meaning of six concepts of the family: mother, father, I myself, marriage, family, and divorce. The Semantic Differential was used to assess four dimensions of meaning of family concepts: evaluation, potency, activity, and general cultural favorability. Children of divorce rated father less favorably than did children of death of a parent or of intact families; however, children of divorce rated divorce more favorably than the remaining two groups. Also, children of divorce evaluated the family concepts that were rated here more negatively than, but equally as potent and active as, children of death of a parent and of intact families. Thus, several long-term stigmas attach to family among children of divorce, but no evidence was found of a halo effect for children of death of a parent.     

Parishioner Attitudes Toward the Divorced/Separated: Awareness Seminars As Counseling Interventions

In an effort to create a greater awareness among parishioners regarding problems associated with divorce/separation, this study used a 6‐stage social construction approach to counseling: (1) the family meaning system, (2) proposing the notion of a socially constructed family meaning system, (3) learning the family meaning system, (4) challenging the family meaning system, (5) amplifying the family meaning system, and (6) stabilizing the new family meaning system. The goal of this article is to sensitize readers to the needs and dynamics of the population represented in this study; to further understand spiritual, ethical, and religious implications of parishioners' attitudes toward the divorced and separated; and to discuss implications for counseling.     

RECONSIDERING RESEARCH ON DIVORCE, FAMILY LIFE CYCLE, AND THE MEANING OF FAMILY

This article analyzes functionalist and normative assumptions about marriage, divorce, family, and gender in developmental models of family life cycle. An interdisciplinary review of the literature in family development, family sociology, and family therapy reveals how a deficit comparison model implicitly informs the discourse in the study of single-parent families, women who are alone, and the adjustment of women and children to divorce. A feminist critique of family life cycle as the prevailing conceptual model in family development and therapy is presented, and postmodern definitions that deconstruct the concept of family are discussed. Future perspectives for research on family life and form are considered in terms of new action theory that considers divorce as a mode of resistance and change for women and families.     

Family Therapy After the Divorce: Developing a Strategy

Family therapy with the whole family after a divorce has taken place provides a unique opportunity for intervention. Though the spouses have legally terminated their relationship, their parenting function remains. However, this reality is often clouded by the emotional conflicts generated by the divorce. Family therapy can be useful in facilitating life in the post-divorce period. A four-part model for intervention is described. The first task is to redefine the family as existentially including all members. Next, generational boundaries are firmed in order to reduce the parentification process, often intensified by the parent's physical absence. Third, the family needs to have a replay of the history of the marriage to correct developmental distortions and offer a changce to mourn the loss of the intact family. Finally, the therapists attempt to facilitate an emotional divorce. A case study is presented to elucidate the manner in which these steps unfold in treatment.     

吉登斯对历史唯物主义的反思与"重建"

在吉登斯看来,历史唯物主义存在“化约论”、“进化论”和“功能论”三大缺陷。“化约论”表现在历史唯物主义把复杂的人类历史和社会关系化约为生产力、经济关系和阶级斗争等方面,作为对它的重建,吉登斯提出以“时空伸延水平”作为划分社会类型的新标准;“进化论”表现在历史唯物主义把人类历史看作是一个由低级阶段向高级阶段不断进化的过程,作为对它的重建,吉登斯提出从“片断”和“时空边缘”的角度分析世界历史的演化轮廓;“功能论”表现在历史唯物主义从“需要”和“功能”的角度解释社会再生产和社会变迁的过程,作为对它的重建,吉登斯提出了“随机性社会变迁”模式的新观点。吉登斯对历史唯物主义的反思和“重建”具有一定的启发意义,但也存在明显的缺陷。     

The effects of different forms of two- and single-parent families on the well-being of their children in Dutch secondary education

The aim of this article is to compare the well-being of Dutch children living in different forms of single-parent families and different forms of two-parent families. We found that living in a mother-headed family caused by divorce has a negative influence on children's well-being. However, the effects we found were very small compared to the much larger effects of some other control variables, like parental education. Living in single-parent families or step-families caused by death have less negative effects on children than living in single-parent families or step-families caused by divorce. Our results give some support to the weak social position of the mother as an explanation for the negative effect of single parenthood, while the negative effects of living in a mother-headed family caused by death are larger than those of living in a father-headed family caused by death. Living in a single-parent family does not harm the well-being of boys more or less than that of girls living in the same family form. The negative effects of living in a single-mother family are not strengthened by the low educational level of the mother, nor are they neutralized by the high educational level of the mother. The effects we found in this continental European study are substantially smaller than those found in studies in the U.S.A.     

Social Constructionist Approach to Suffering and Healing: Juxtaposing Cassell, Gergen and Kleinman

To understand the experiences of suffering (overwhelming somatic pain or illness and its anticipation and other forms of severe distress arising in the socio-moral context) and facilitate healing (developing an enabling meaning and value for one??s experiences when faced with suffering) have been the focus of medicine as a social institution throughout human history. However, the goals of Western biomedicine in the last few centuries shifted from taking care of these experiential concerns of the sufferers to predominantly the diagnosis and treatment of the symptoms of a disease. This article attempts to illustrate how the assumptions of the social constructionist paradigm (with its deconstructionist and reconstructionist facets highlighted in the writings of Kenneth J. Gergen) serve as a suitable metatheoretical framework to understand human experiences of suffering and healing. A critical review of the writings of Eric J. Cassell and Arthur Kleinman on endorsing and researching such experiences resulted in four themes that reaffirmed the utility of this new paradigm. These themes help comprehend that biomedicine??s ontological claims may enhance human suffering, suffering and healing experiences are socio-historically contextualized, such experiences are performances within human interaction and dialogic partnership between the researcher and the participant becomes a meaningful medium to study such experiences.     

Parenting as Mediator Between Post-divorce Family Structure and Children’s Well-being

Divorce and its subsequent transitions can be stressful for children and therefore, affect their well-being in a negative manner. Effective parenting (with high support and high control) can, however, function as a protective factor. While previous studies have indicated that effective parenting does indeed improve children’s well-being after divorce, these studies tended to concentrate on maternal family structures and transitions as well as maternal parenting. With this study, we investigate the mediating role of both maternal and paternal parenting between various family structures after divorce (including the custodial arrangement as well as the repartnering of both parents) and children’s well-being. Therefore, we analyzed 618 parent–child dyads from the multi-actor dataset “Divorce in Flanders—DiF” using a mediated structural equation model. Results revealed that both maternal and paternal parenting can mediate between family structure after divorce and children’s well-being. Depending on the type of post divorce family constellation, parenting can be considered as a risk or a protective factor, for both maternal and paternal parenting.     

The erosion of sexual dimorphism: challenges to religion and religious ethics

Late modernity has been witnessing the erosion of the dimorphic sexual paradigm that, in both strong and weak forms, has characterized human history as we know it. Recent discoveries in biology and the social sciences have combined with altered patterns in human sexual behavior to raise critical new questions about the inherited paradigm. Religions of the West whose sacred texts, mythologies, and codes of behavior assume that maleness and femaleness are exclusive and complementary types of sexuality-each of which determines sexual identity, reproductive role, social role, and the sex of one's partner-increasingly must grapple with both theoretical evidence for and experiential evidence of polymorphous human sexuality. Inherited categories of dimorphic sexuality not only are challenged but become less and less intelligible.     

Child custody in historical perspective: A study of changing social perceptions of divorce and child custody in Anglo-American law

The history of divorce law in England and America shows that child custody decisions have tended to be made on the basis of social biases about the nature of men and women, rather than on the basis of the competence of the individual parents or of the best interests of the children. This article traces the history of divorce law with particular attention to child custody from twelfth century England to modern America. The historical flipflop from paternal custody to maternal custody is documented, and the assumptions underlying the prejudices toward paternal and maternal custody are reviewed and compared. Joint custody, when possible, provides a solution to the custody problem. However, sexual stereotypes provide no substitute for meticulous fact-finding when parents cannot agree.     

The right of women to no-fault divorce in Islam and its application by British Muslims

One of the forms of divorce mentioned in the original sources of Islam, the Qur'an and the Sunna, is no-fault divorce initiated by women, called in Arabic khul^c . This article discusses its validity in Islamic law, the degree of entitlement women have to it and its effects in dissolving the marriage. The discussion will include the attitudes towards khul^c in the modern reforms in the family laws of Muslim countries. Most of this modern legislation has been associated with furious debates and objections from both traditionalists and liberals. The article will attempt to assess the social impact of these new regulations of khul^c . It then turns to discuss the application of no-fault divorce among Muslim minorities in the West with special reference to British Muslims. It seems to be widely used unofficially to ease the problem of ‘limping marriage’ experienced by Muslim women as a result of subjection to two jurisdictions, i.e. English and Islamic laws.     

Using a threat of divorce for maintaining family homeostasis within families in extreme distress (FED)

This paper describes a phenomenon of using a threat to divorce by families in extreme distress (FED) as a way of maintaining family homeostasis; that is, using a threat to divorce but never really implementing it. By relating to processes, such as social exchange and attachment, that often take place in the decision-making of divorce, we try to understand why those families choose to use the threat, thereby explaining this phenomenon. Using components of defining family boundaries, excitement and power struggle, we are thus able to better understand the existence of the phenomenon among FED.     

Parental Divorce and the “Switching” of Religious Identity

This article examines the impact of parental divorce on the likelihood that an individual has changed their religious identify. Using data from the National Survey of Family and Households, we use a theoretical framework of family structure and community ties to test the hypothesis that religious mobility is more likely among children of divorce compared to those from intact families. Distinguishing between parental divorce in childhood and parental divorce in adulthood allows us to assess the impact of parental divorce on religious socialization. For individuals raised as either moderate Protestant, conservative Protestant or Catholic, parental divorce increases the likelihood of both switching to another religion and apostasy. The impact of divorce is particularly strong for Catholics and conservative Protestants, who are, in general, less likely to be religious mobile. These findings add religious disaffiliation to the set of likely sequelae of parental divorce. In addition, the results of the study highlight the need to consider the relationship between family structure and religious processes in a community context.     

Long-term influence of divorce and single parenting on adolescent family- and work-related values, behaviors, and aspirations.

Following a summary of the relevant divorce research, this article examines possible long-term influences of both divorce and living with a single mother on the development of adolescents' values and plans. We examine how divorce affects children both directly and indirectly through its impact on the mother's resources, attitudes, and socialization goals. Particular focus is placed on those aspects of family interaction that impact on identity formation as it is linked to educational and occupational goals and to gender-role related behaviors associated with marriage, family, and job plans. Possible benefits as well as potential costs of living with a single mother are discussed.     

Divorce Stress,Stepfamily Stress,and Depression among Emerging Adult Stepchildren

Several decades of research have shown that parental divorce can be a stressful experience for children and may lead to depression and other negative outcomes. Similarly, research has highlighted the stressors often induced by stepfamily formation and their effects on children. Although singular family transitions can exert influence, few studies explore how the combined stress from two family transitions may interact to influence long-term outcomes. Our study addresses this gap by using national data from 1142 respondents who experienced parental divorce and a subsequent transition to stepfamily life. Congruent with prior research, we find that retrospective reports of divorce and stepfamily stress is associated with higher depressive symptoms in emerging adults (18–30 years of age). We also find that stress induced by parental divorce and subsequent stepfamily formation significantly interact to increase depressive symptoms in this population. The research and clinical implications of our findings are discussed.     

Psychosocial factors affecting custodial and visitation arrangements

This article reviews psychosocial factors that may influence the custodial and access arrangements for children during separation, divorce and remarriage. Custodial arrangements for children following the divorce of their parents are discussed. Elements to consider in determining the custodial arrangement that provides for the best interests of children include child, adult, interpersonal and social environmental factors. It is recommended that all of these factors be considered in drafting a custodial agreement that will serve the best interest of children following a marital and family breakup or remarriage.     

To Think Human out of the Machine Paradigm: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Homo Ex Machina</Emphasis>

This article attempts to show that the metaphorical conception of human being as a machine takes a very specific epistemological standpoint. To make short the complex task of considering the implication of this paradigm for psychological and behavioral sciences, three important mismatches between the machine and the living human will be considered. Experience, agency and plasticity of human being are excluded in the scientific models and research activities when they are situated in the machine paradigm. For this reason, I claim that the machine paradigm does not offer the relevant frame for integrating results from various domains or approaches within human sciences, even if it can sometimes produce relevant scientific knowledge in certain domain at the scale of detailed investigation. Due to the importance of overcoming the fragmentation of scientific knowledge to solve the crisis in psychology, an “organic paradigm” should be elaborated which provides a new epistemological framework.     

Criticism of "brain death" policy in Japan

The 1997 Japanese organ transplantation law is the fruit of a long debate on "brain death" and organ transplantation, which involved the general public and experts in the relevant fields. The aim of this paper is to trace the history of the implementation of the law and to critique the law in terms of its consistency and fairness. The paper argues that the legislation adopts a double standard regarding the role of the family. On the one hand, the legislation over-emphasizes the family's authority by granting the family a veto on the matter of organ transplantation, while, on the other hand, not allowing the family to make surrogate decisions. In addition, the role of law in cases involving minor or incompetent patients is shown to be similarly misguided. The paper argues that accepting a decisive role for the family in current law is compatible with Japanese culture.