Belief, hope and faith

A case of hysteria is presented in order to create a frame of reference for the author's approach to the concepts of hope, belief and faith. A difference between hope as a 'sad passion' (which is here called regressive hope) and hope as a principle of mental functioning is established. The concept of hope will at fi rst always be based on beliefs-either beliefs organised in the paranoid-schizoid position (called here fragmented and delusional beliefs)-or those organised from the depressive position (complex systems of beliefs, which end up being dogmatic); the latter typically occur in neurotics. It is suggested here that there is another possibility for hope, which is based on faith. The meaning of faith is considered here externally to the religious sense. The solid establishment of hope as a principle-based on faith-can be viewed as responsible for the opening up of creative potentials and as one of the main aims of analysis. Such an aim, however, requires the establishment of a deep relationship, both in theory and in clinical practice, between the Kleinian question of the depressive position and the Freudian question of the Oedipus complex.     

Issues of hope and faith in the cancer patient

Akira Kurosawa's 1952 film about a man with a terminal gastric cancer introduces a discussion of hope and faith in the oncology patient. A psychodynamic relationship between hope and faith is explored, using Lawrence LeShan's research in cancer psychotherapy and Erik Erikson's lifespan developmental theory. LeShan describes a cancer personality characterized by hopeless despair, while Erikson formulates a psychogenetic framework for the development of hope and despair. Hope and faith are linked through the individual's earliest strivings toward basic trust in the world and his or her own self-efficacy. Accordingly, cancer psychotherapy may aim at restoring adult patients' faith in life and inner creative resources.     

Behavior modification in the home: Siblings as behavior modifiers,parents as observers

It was hypothesized that siblings could function as effective behavior change agents for their behaviorally disturbed brothers and sisters within the home environment. Further, it was predicted that parents could be trained to be reliable observers of their children's performance under these circumstances. The results of the study supported both predictions with siblings in two separate families demonstrating their ability to work with their brother or sister within the context of an ABAB reversal design. Parents were also shown to obtain consistently high reliability ratings when compared to outside observers. The judicious use of siblings as behavior modification aides is recommended as a treatment procedure.     

Holding hope and hopelessness: therapeutic engagements with the balance of hope

Hope and hopelessness are coexisting and powerful experiences in the human condition. The dynamics of hope and hopelessness within intimate relationships are complex, and individual and family experiences of hope and hopelessness are embedded within historical contexts and wider social processes. This article rests on a relational set of understandings about hope and hopelessness, and offers a dual exploration. It focuses first on the complexities of the patterns of hope and hopelessness within families, and then on the complexities of the therapist's relationship to hope and hopelessness and the family's experience. Orienting to the balance of hope in constellations of hope and hopelessness provides one compass point of therapeutic practice. Reflective practice enables the use of the therapist's involvement in the therapeutic relationship, and helps the therapist to witness the coexistence of hope and hopelessness in a way that nurtures hope and emotionally holds both hope and hopelessness.     

Drug-behavior interaction history: modification of the effects of morphine on punished behavior.

Squirrel monkeys were trained to respond under a multiple fixed-interval, fixed-interval schedule in which the first response after 5 min terminated a visual stimulus in the presence of which electric shocks could occur. During one component of the schedule, correlated with one color of stimulus lights, every 30th response also produced electric shock; responding was suppressed during this component to approximately 10 to 12% of that occurring in the alternate component in which responding was not punished. In contrast to previous research, morphine (0.03 to 1.0 mg/kg) increased punished responding. Unpunished responding, however, was either not affected or decreased at doses of morphine that increased punished responding. Increases in rate of punished responding also occurred when the single-schedule punishment condition was studied alone in these animals. Subsequent experimentation, which systematically analyzed the development of the rate-enhancing effects of morphine on punished responding, involved the study of drug effects in additional monkeys trained initially under a single-schedule punishment condition. The effects of morphine on punished responding were studied before, after, and then during exposure to the multiple schedule that included a component in which responding was not punished. Increases in response rate with morphine did not occur until it was administered during exposure to the multiple schedule that included a component in which responding was not punished. As with the other monkeys, once the rate increases in punished responding occurred under the multiple schedule, these effects of morphine persisted, even when the multiple schedule was removed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The placebo and the therapeutic uses of faith

The holistic movement in modern medicine has raised questions concerning the very character of the religion-medicine dialogue. A truly mutual interaction between theology and medicine must require of the theologian a serious interest in and understanding of medicine if the notion of the body-mind unity is to be taken seriously from the point of view of pastoral care. This paper suggests that this discussion may be enriched by a theological analysis of the placebo, which has lately been the subject of controversy within medical circles. Finally, it is suggested that the value of the placebo reposes in its serving as a symbol of the dynamics of faith in medical care.     

Food,faith, social service and institution building: the Annamrita programme of the Hare Krishna movement in India

Based on fieldwork with the Annamrita programme, a food-based social service of ISKCON or the Hare Krishna movement in India, I look at the intricate connection between food, faith, social service and institution building. Formally known as the ISKCON Food Relief Foundation, the Annamrita programme has partnered with the government’s midday meal scheme for school children. From the point of view of sociology of food and sociology of religion, I propose that food is a cultural, moral and emotional investment for ISKCON. I describe how a faith-based social service through the instrument of food becomes a mode of bridging and institution building. The governmentality of this food service and the sacred public–private partnership is a specific kind of cultural and macroeconomic intervention in a resource-limited setting such as India. Camouflaged and embedded in this programme is an element of cultural hegemony and a Krishna consciousness-governed nationalism, with the ideas of the nation as a sacred land. Krishna is considered as the vanguard of sacralisation and the faith messages of ISKCON inevitably accompany the service package.     

Neocortical and hippocampal activation relation to behavior: effects of atropine, eserine, phenothiazines, and amphetamine.

Evidence is presented to suggest that the hippocampus receives 2 nonspecific inputs from the brainstem, each capable of producing rhythmical slow activity. The neocortex appears to receive 2 similar inputs, each capable of producing low voltage fast activity. One input to both hippocampus and neocortex is blocked by atropine and stimulated by eserine, and is essentially unrelated to concurrent motor activity. A second input to both hippocampus and neocortex is resistant to atropine, is depressed by phenothiazines, and is activated by d-amphetamine. Activity in this system is closely related to concurrent "voluntary" movement.     

The effects of behavior modification on the attitudes of delinquents

This study investigates whether exposure to the rehabilitation techniques of behavior modification changes the attitudes of delinquents so that they more closely approximate the norms of the community. The attitudes of delinquent boys in a community based home that uses behavior modification principles are contrasted over time with a control group of eighth grade boys from the same community. The results suggest that the delinquent boys tend to improve dramatically in self-esteem and from externality to internality, actually scoring more favorably in each case than the control group at post-test. They improve also in achievement orientation but they remain below the control group. Finally, the delinquent boys are slightly less Machiavellian than the control group and this did not change across time.     

Transfer of treatment effects from combined to isolated conditions during functional communication training for multiply controlled problem behavior

Functional communication training (FCT) is highly effective for treating socially maintained problem behavior when based on the results of functional analyses (FA). Research suggests that combining relevant antecedents and consequences of problem behavior during FCT can be an efficient approach to treatment for behavior that is multiply controlled. However, no studies have evaluated whether treatment effects under combined conditions would transfer to single, or isolated, conditions. Participants were 5 children with autism, aged 3 years to 6 years, who engaged in problem behavior maintained by both escape from demands and access to tangibles. An experimenter coached their caregivers via video conferencing to implement FA and FCT in their homes. All participants received FCT under a combined condition, followed by brief exposure to sessions with isolated antecedents and consequences. Treatment effects for just 1 of the 5 participants immediately persisted under isolated conditions. These results suggest that, when caregivers combine variables relevant to multiple functions during FCT, exposure to isolated conditions may at least temporarily produce treatment failures.