Anger of women incest survivors

Adult women survivors of incest (n = 68) were compared to other women (n = 93) with respect to several questionnaire measures of manifest anger. The vast majority of the research participants were white, middle class, heterosexual, and Michigan residents. Incest survivors were angrier than other women, both in general and at their parents. Anger toward mother and anger toward father were comparable. Few incest survivors blamed either parent for the incest, except in those speciflc cases where the parent was a perpetrator. Not surprisingly, incest survivors were particularly angry at parent perpetrators when they were held responsible for the abuse. Incest occurred in families where other traumas were present, and the extent of these other traumas was also associated with increased anger at parents. Women who identified with feminism and who had participated in therapy were angrier at their parents than were other women. Therapy implications of these results were discussed.This paper is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of Michigan by the first author, under the supervision of the second author. The help and encouragement of committee members Margaret Buttenheim, Kathleen Faller, and Sheryl Olson are gratefully acknowledged. Howard Gottlieb, Judith Ballou, Donna Silbert, and Robert Daniels also contributed substantially to this research.Financial support was provided by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, the Horace D. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, and the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan.     

The influence of parents and family context on children's involvement in household tasks

To determine the relative impact of a number of family variables on children's performance of gender-typed household tasks, this study took account of the gender of the child, the gender of a sibling within the same age range (8–14 years), whether a first or second child and three parental variables: the degree of encouragement given to perform masculineand femininetasks, parental involvement in the same tasks, and parents' general egalitarianism. The sample consisted of 191 white, mainly Anglo Australian two-parent families, with the two oldest children in a boy—boy, girl—girl, boy—girl, or girl—boy sequence. To check on the robustness of effects, measures were taken on two occasions, on average 16 months apart. Among the family context variables, the gender of the child was the strongest contributing variable, with girls doing more feminine tasks than boys and boys doing more masculine tasks than girls. There was limited support for the proposition that first children do more housework than second children of the same gender, while the results for gender of sibling were small and inconsistent. Among the parental variables, encouragement had strong positive effects for feminine tasks (i.e., more encouragement by parents corresponded to more involvement by children). In contrast, parental involvement in the same tasks (modeling) and parental egalitarianism predicted only the performance of masculine tasks, and the direction of the effects was mostly negative (e.g., the more a father was involved in masculine tasks, the less a child did of those tasks). The results point to involvement in gender-typed activities being influenced by multiple factors, with parental encouragement and gender of child being most prominent among these. They also point to the value of sampling on more than one occasion and of considering separately the performance of feminine and masculine tasks. This research was financially supported by the Australian Research Council. We are happy to acknowledge that support, together with the essential assistance of the Department of Education and the many parents and children who participated in the study.     

Measuring intrinsic and extrinsic orientation toward religion: Amendments for its use among religious and non-religious samples

Amendments to the Age-Universal I-E scale, used to measure intrinsic and extrinsic orientations toward religion, are proposed to facilitate the scales' use among both religious and non-religious samples. The original and revised versions of the intrinsic and extrinsic scales were administered to six adult samples from the U.S.A. (N = 156; N = 144), England (N = 135; N = 149) and Norhern Ireland and Republic of Ireland (N = 189; N = 167). Data show in all six samples the percentage of I-E scales completed was greater for the revised version than the original version. In addition, the revised version of the scales demonstrates more satisfactory reliability estimates than the original version. It is suggested that researchers examining intrinsic and extrinsic orientation towards religion may benefit from using the revised version.     

Correction of errors in scientific research

Four ways to reduce scientific errors are by tests of equipment and programs, examination of results, peer review, and replication. This article describes various types of errors that may occur and procedures available for the prevention and correction of both unintentional and intentional errors in experiments that use computer programs to generate the stimuli, record the responses, or analyze the data. We describe a case study of a particular experiment that produced a result that has been found to be erroneous. The case study provides additional evidence of the essential importance of replication for the identification and elimination of scientific error.     

Prepulse effects on magnitude estimation of startle-eliciting stimuli and startle responses

The present studies investigated the relationship between prepulse effects on the modification of the brainstem startle reflex and magnitude estimates of startle-eliciting stimuli. In Experiment 1, startle eyeblink responses were elicited in 24 students, half of whom were instructed to estimate the loudness of the startle stimulus (actual intensities of 80, 90, and 100 dB) and half of whom were instructed to estimate the magnitude of their eyeblink. When weak acoustic prepulses preceded the startle-eliciting stimulus, eyeblink amplitude was inhibited, and estimates of response magnitude decreased, but estimates of startle stimulus magnitude decreased only when 100-dB startle stimuli were presented. In Experiment 2, the same startle stimuli were preceded on some trials by a vibrotactile prepulse to the hand. In conditions in which startle amplitude was inhibited, startle stimulus magnitude estimates were not affected. This suggests that the effect of acoustic prepulses on 100-dB startle stimuli in Experiment 1 may have been due to loudness assimilation, an effect independent of the prepulse inhibition of startle responding.     

What is to be done? future research on the assessment and behavioral treatment of sex offenders

Much progress has been made in the assessment and treatment of sexually aggressive men. There remains, however, a great deal of work to be done. Future research should move on three fronts simultaneously: the extension and refinement of assessment methods which will serve to discriminate sex offenders from other persons and different sorts of sex offenders from each other, the further development of, and comparison among, treatment techniques designed to change sex offenders on relevant dimensions, and long-term followups of sex offenders who have been treated with different methods. Basic research concerning not only sex offenders but also the development of human sexuality is also required for the formulation of a theory which will guide future research.     

THE PHYSICS OF DAVID BOHM AND ITS RELEVANCE TO PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY

Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to analyze David Bohm's work in terms of physics, philosophy, and theology. First, I discuss the development of Bohm's thought since 1951. Then, using the methodology of Imre Lakatos, I evaluate the scientific status of his research program. Next, I explore the philosophical dimensions of Bohm's views in which realist and idealist, monist and dualist, contingent and determinist outlooks occur in creative tension. Finally, I suggest ways in which Bohm's ideas are relevant to theology through concepts of God and cosmos, beauty and purpose, grace and free will, church, self and evil.

The entire universe is basically a single, indivisible…but flexible and ever changing, unit (Bohm 1951, 140).

     

Book reviews

Sun at Midnight. The Rudolf Steiner Movement and the Western Esoteric Tradition by Geoffrey Ahern The Aquarian Press, Wellingborough 1984 ISBN 0–85030–338–9 (H/B) £7.95

Religion and Medicine World Religions and Medicine (4th Volume of Essays in the IRM Religious and Medicine Series) (ed) D. Goodacre. Institute of Religion and Medicine, St Giles Oxford. £1.95

Believing and Belonging: The Practice of Believing in The Church by Anthony E. Harvey SPCK £2.50 pp.136 p/b

E. Milingo: The World In Between: Christian healing and the Struggle for Spiritual Survival Edited, with introduction, Commentary and Epilogue by Mona Macmillan London: C Hurst & Co, 1984. pp vi+138. Price: hard covers ‐ £7.95; soft covers ‐ £3.95

Hinduism in England edited by David G. Bowen The faculty of Contemporary Studies, Bradford College, 1981