Psychological Aspects of Disaster: Issues for the 1990s

In 1987 a series of disasters shocked the UK. For many it was the start oftheir involvement with the traumatic effects of disaster management. In response, the British Psychological Society established a working party to consider issues which might need to be addressed. Six areas were identified for consideration: prevention, planning, training, assessment and provision of services, inter-agency and professional co-operation, and the role of government. In spite of a large and growing literature on trauma and disaster management, satisfactory responses to the needs of those involved are still lacking. Lessons learned from the fire at Bradford were not effectively applied to subsequent disasters, in spite of the valiant efforts of those involved to pass on the results of their experience. This paper addresses some of those critical lessons, and suggests areas that require considered action for disaster planning in the 1990s.     

Back to Basics: Problems and Prospects for Applied Philosophy

ABSTRACT This paper is an account of a response to a well-intentioned and genuinely naive question concerning the nature of 'applied philosophy'. It indicates differing points of view concerning the nature of philosophy and what one might or might not expect from it. It tries to synthesise these points of view into a position that sees philosophy as continuous with that attitude of mind that was epitomised by Socrates, an attitude of mind which is directed to every aspect or dimension of human life. The notion of the enquiring activist is borrowed to encapsulate this attitude as a valuable goal of 'applied philosophy'.     

Overcoming Learned Helplessness: Managerial Strategies for the 1990s

Problems of work force quality in the United States in the 1990s, strategies for managerial response to these problems, and sources of employee resistance to change are discussed.     

Restructuring help: A human services paradigm for the 1990s

Conclusion The new paradigm calls for the restructuring, redistribution, and expansion of helping behavior by those who ordinarily function as consumers of help. Consumers are to become producers of prosumers. By so doing they expand the help-giving resources quantitatively by converting helpees into helpers. The help is also changed qualitatively because the peers and the self-helpers possess an indigenous or inside understanding of the problems and the people to whom they offer help. Heins Kohut, the brilliant psychoanalyst, suggests that the key to therapeutic change may not be insight or understanding, but rather being understood. Who better to understand than those who have been there?Invited address to Division 27 of the American Psychological Association, August 1989.     

The University Counseling Center: An Agenda for the 1990s

Changes in higher education will hold special relevance for university counseling centers in the 1990s. Opportunities will exist for counseling center personnel to help institutions deal with some emerging problems. Research is reviewed that indicates that crisis management services, career development concerns, a changing student population, and issues related to retention all represent areas in which contemporary counseling centers could make significant contributions. Recommendations are made about how counseling centers might prepare themselves for such involvement.     

Psychoeducation and managed care: Clinical issues for the 1990s

Managed care has challenged mental health professionals to develop more efficient ways of addressing patient care needs. Psychoeducational programs, for patients and their families, have emerged as a medium by which relevant education and mutual support can be provided to participants. A review of the literature, a comprehensive model of psychoeducation, and the advantages of such models within the managed care program are offered. Also addressed are issues and import, treatment and research considerations.     

Philosophy,mathematics, science and computation

Attempts to lay a foundation for the sciences based on modern mathematics are questioned. In particular, it is not clear that computer science should be based on set-theoretic mathematics. Set-theoretic mathematics has difficulties with its own foundations, making it reasonable to explore alternative foundations for the sciences. The role of computation within an alternative framework may prove to be of great potential in establishing a direction for the new field of computer science.Whitehead's theory of reality is re-examined as a foundation for the sciences. His theory does not simply attempt to add formal rigor to the sciences, but instead relies on the methods of the biological and social sciences to construct his world-view. Whitehead's theory is a rich source of notions that are intended to explain every element of experience. It is a product of Whitehead's earlier attempt to provide a mathematical foundation for the physical sciences and is still consistent with modern physics.A computer simulation language is, in fact, a theory of reality; one that is often based on extremely simplistic notions. Simulation languages have evolved from the various programming languages and not from the development of their underlying world-view. The use of an established theory of reality, such as Whitehead's, as the basis of a simulation language is proposed as a way of extending the usefulness of computer simulation as an experimental tool for the theory.The simulation language is a first step in this direction. Based on Whitehead's notion of concrescence and a formalization in the typed -calculus, provides a notation and method for the construction and simulation of real-world phenomena. Both philosophy and computer science stand to benefit from such an attempt. Whitehead's theory gains a testing tool, while computer science gains a significantly more advanced simulation language. In philosophical discussion, the merest hint of dogmatic certainty as to the finality of statement is an exhibition of folly. A. N. Whitehead,Process and Reality.     

Chinese Research in Medieval Philosophy: Retrospects and Prospects

The Chinese study of medieval philosophy has undergone an extraordinary historical process, and it has made great advances in the last 40 years. This paper provides a retrospective analysis of the pioneering Chinese scholars, both traditional and modern, who have played significant roles in the establishment and development of this historical field of inquiry. It pays particular attention to the important scholars, their works, methodologies, and findings over the course of the last forty years, and it also looks to the challenges currently facing this area of study and addresses the current state of the field and its future prospects. Although Chinese scholarship on medieval philosophy has already achieved great accomplishments, compared with the level of international research in the field abroad, there is still a huge gap to be remedied and therefore, we must recognize that there are great opportunities for Chinese scholars who will undertake the study of medieval philosophy with all due seriousness.     

中国哲学在俄罗斯 --20世纪90年代俄罗斯的中国哲学研究

在俄罗斯,对中国哲学的研究要追溯到18世纪.俄罗斯第一批汉学家把儒家的早期经典<大学>、<中庸>翻译成俄语出版(<大学>译本在1780年问世,<中庸>译本于1784年问世).俄罗斯现代著名汉学家维·费·费奥克蒂斯托夫甚至认为,俄罗斯的汉学正是从出版这两本哲学著作开始的.[1]到了19～20世纪,俄罗斯汉学大学者И.比丘林、В.П.瓦西里耶夫、П.С.波波夫、В.М.阿列克谢耶夫、Н.И.康拉德、Ю.к.休茨基、А.А.彼得罗夫都对中国哲学倾注了极大的热情,除了坚持不懈地研究中国哲学,更是不遗余力地宣传中国哲学.     

Teaching Taoism in the 1990s

To help non-specialists ensure that their teaching of Taoism is state-of-the-art, the author offers six suggestions: (1) Teach real Chinese Taoism, as it has been revealed by the social, textual, and historical research of Asian and Western specialists since the 1970s. (2) Use textbooks that reflect current scholarship. (3) Cover all phases of the Taoist tradition, not just the long-fetishized Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu. The classical text entitled Nei-yeh helps students understand modern forms of Taoist meditation, such as those in Ch’üan-chen Taoism, which has been neglected in our textbooks. (4) Use reliable translations by responsible scholars. (5) Use real Taoist texts, such as now appear in Livia Kohn’s anthology, The Taoist Experience, and other new sourcebooks. (6) Make responsible choices. The author compares different pedagogical models and explains his own approach, designed to provide accurate knowledge of Taoist history and practices in a form that students will appreciate.     

Breaks and Links. Prospects for Russian Religious Philosophy Today

An analytical review of the current situation of Christian philosophyin Russia is presented, aiming to explain, why so much expectedrenaissance of this philosophy in the post-soviet period did nottake place. Russian philosophy is shown to be structurally a synthesis of the Western conceptual framework and Eastern Christian discourse,the latter being, in turn, the synthesis of patristic and asceticdiscourse, including two basic paradigms, deification (theosis)and sacralisation, and having energy as its dominant category.The key role of ascetic experience in Eastern Christian discourseis stressed. Topical problems related to the study of thisexperience, as well as concepts of energy and theosis, are discussed.     

Child and adolescent psychopathology research: Problems and prospects for the 1990s

In November 1990 the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) convened a special conference of over 100 scientists and leaders to outline specific strategies and research initiatives that should be developed to implement the recently released National Plan for Research on Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders.Participants included journal editors, educators from psychology and psychiatry, representatives from private foundations, and leaders of research program areas in public funding agencies. Critical knowledge gaps were identified in five areas of child and adolescent psychopathology, including depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, the anxiety disorders, and the developmental disorders. For each of these areas, special emphasis was placed on developing new ideas and obtaining critical input from other areas of investigation. This report summarizes the identified research gaps and recommends research initiatives to implement the National Plan, as outlined by the conference participants.     

Mental Health Issues in the 1990s

An overview is presented of issues facing mental health professionals in the 1990s. Issues and problems addressed include: diagnostic dilemmas, civil rights issues, use of plea of innocent by reason of insanity, consequences of deinstitutionalization, growing disparity between the rich and the poor, AIDS, alcohol and other drug abuse, changes in traditional sex roles, increasing number of single-parent families and blended families, changes in abortion statutes, and an increasing number of elderly persons.     

Religious Requirement: The case for Roman Catholic schools in the 1940s and Muslim schools in the 1990s

This article sets out the four principles which underlay Catholic schooling in the 1940s. Similar principles were expressed by Muslim leaders in the 1990s. The origins of Catholic schools in the 19th century are described, as is the 1870 Act which led to a great increase in their number. Twentieth-century Catholic writers set out the rights and duties of parents and the obligation of the state to fund Catholic schools. The stance of the church in the 1940s is examined in detail. Some characteristics of Islam are then described. Religious observance brings conflict for children attending maintained schools. Parents may campaign for change in these schools, or opt for independent Islamic schools. The conclusions of the Swann Report (1985) regarding separate schooling are set out, followed by the change in government policy after 1997. In conclusion, the article asks whether we may expect an increase in Muslim voluntary aided schools parallel to the earlier increase of Catholic schools.