Honesty about God: Theological reflections on violence in an evolutionary universe

Theodicy has become problematic in light of scientific theories of evolution, and all theologies are doomed to failure unless and until they are “honest, and ever-vigilant against the temptation … to excise from [nature] … violence and indifference to suffering” simply because it does not suit our theological systems or political goals.1 1 B. Jill Carroll, The Savage Side: Reclaiming Violent Models of God (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001), 116. View all notes In this theological attempt to deal directly with the violence inherent in the evolutionary process, I suggest a cautious retrieval of Martin Luther's God Hidden/God Revealed in order to allow for a more honest appraisal of suffering in this evolutionary universe.     

A Psycho-Educational Intervention for People with a Family History of Depression: Pilot Results

We developed and pilot-tested the first online psycho-educational intervention that specifically targets people with a family history of depression (‘LINKS’). LINKS provides genetic risk information and evidence-rated information on preventive strategies for depression and incorporates a risk assessment tool and several videos using professional actors. LINKS was pilot-tested in the general practitioner (GP) setting. The patient sample included people with a family history of at least one first-degree relative (FDR) with major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar disorder (BD). Patients attending participating GP practices were invited to enroll in the study by letter from their GP. Patients who self-identified as having at least one first-degree relative (FDR) with MDD or BD were eligible. Patients completed questionnaires, pre-post viewing LINKS, with measures assessing satisfaction, relevance, emotional impact and perceived improvement of understanding. Six GP practices participated, and 24 patients completed both questionnaires. Of these, all reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with LINKS, and 74 % reported that LINKS met their expectations, and 21 % that it exceeded their expectations. LINKS was judged highly acceptable by this sample of GP attendees, and results indicate that an assessment of its effectiveness in a larger controlled trial is warranted.     

Husserl on Analyticity and Beyond

Quine’s criticism of the notion of analyticity applies, at best, to Carnap’s notion, not to those of Frege or Husserl. The failure of logicism is also the failure of Frege’s definition of analyticity, but it does not even touch Husserl’s views, which are based on logical form. However, some relatively concrete number-theoretic statements do not admit such a formalization salva veritate. A new definition of analyticity based not on syntactical but on semantical logical form is proposed and argued for.

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Broad versus narrow personality measures and the prediction of behaviour across cultures

Measures of several personality variables, from both within and beyond the domain of the Big Five personality factors, were used to predict a variety of complex behaviour outcomes of some social and cultural significance (e.g. alcohol consumption and grade point average). Analyses focused on replicated predictions across participants in four countries (Canada, England, Germany, and Finland) and on the relative predictive accuracies of narrow trait predictors versus broad factor predictors. The results indicated substantial consistency in those predictions across cultures for several of the criteria. Furthermore, the narrow traits were able to account for more criterion variance than were the broad factors underlying those traits. Our data contraindicate the increasingly common practice of using only a few personality factor measures to predict complex human behaviours. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-Perceptions of Comparative Power and Worth in Three Generational Families

This study focused on the extent to which self-perceptions of power and worth differed across members of three-generational families as they compared themselves with other family members. It was hypothesized that self evaluations of worth would show more stability than self evaluations of power in such comparisons. There was support for this hypothesis. Differences regarding self evaluations of power according to gender and generation were also examined. The rank order, from lowest to highest, of perceived comparative power was: female adolescent grandchildren, grandmothers, mothers, male adolescent grandchildren, grandfathers, and fathers. Implications of findings for family therapists are described.     

Enriching Lives: How Spending Time with Pets is Related to the Experiential Well-Being of Older Americans

Applied Research in Quality of Life - This study examines how caring for pets and walking, exercising, or playing with pets is associated with the experiential well-being of older Americans using...     

Social Support Mobilization and Deterioration after Mexico’s 1999 Flood: Effects of Context, Gender, and Time

Samples of adults representative of Teziutlán, Puebla, and Villahermosa, Tobasco, were interviewed 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after the devastating 1999 flood and mudslides. The interview contained multiple measures of social support that had been normed for Mexico. Comparisons between sample data and population norms suggested minimal mobilization of received support and substantial deterioration of perceived support and social embeddedness. Social support was lowest in Teziutlán, which had experienced mass casualties and displacement, and among women and persons of lower educational attainment. Disparities according to gender, context, and education grew larger as time passed. The results provide compelling evidence that the international health community must be mindful of social as well as psychological functioning when disasters strike the developing world.