Journal Reviews

B ritten , S. (London). 'Children first.' Criminal Justice
J oseph , S. M. (San Francisco). 'Fetish, sign and symbol through the looking-glass: a Jungian critique of Jacques Lacan's Ecrits'. San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal
L edermann , R. (Brighton). 'Narcissistic disorder: ajungian view of the etiology and treatment'. Brit.J. Psychotherapy
S amuels , A. (London). 'Countertransference, the mundus imaginalis, and a research project'. Jahrboek van de interdisciplinaire vereniging voor analytische psychologie
S amuels , A. (London). 'Oltre il principio femminile: un punto di vista post-junghiano' (Beyond the feminine principle: a post-Jungian point of view). L'Immaginale
S amuels , A. (London). 'Sesso, genere e psiche: un punto di vista postjunghiano' (Sex, gender and psyche: a post-Jungian point of view), in Presenza ed eredità culturale di C. G. Jung
S idoli , M. (London). 'The myth of Cain and Abel and its roots in infancy'. British Journal of Psychotherapy
S idoli , M. (London). 'Vergogna e ombra' (Shame and the shadow). Rivista di psicologia analitica
S iegelman , E llen Y. (Los Angeles). 'The Tower as Artifact and Symbol in Jung and Yeats'. Psychological Perspectives
S teinberg , W arren . 'Idealisation: A Clinical Discrimination. Quadrant     

The transition to parenthood: II. Stability and change in marital structure

At 1 year postpartum, 22 of 38 couples demonstrated the same level of marital competence as they had prenatally, 14 couples demonstrated deterioration in their marital relationship, and 2 couples were improved. At each of four levels of marital competence, there was a trend for the couples to demonstrate the same relationship response to parenthood. Highly competent relationships remained at high levels of competence. Competent but pained relationships were most vulnerable to regressive change in structure. Dominant-submissive, complementary relationships tended to remain stable at that level. Dominant-submissive, conflicted or severely conflicted relationships were most unpredictable and stability, regression, and improvement were seen. These findings are explored for possible correlations and are discussed from the perspective of several current models of family development.     

The transition to parenthood: I. The rating of prenatal marital competence

This article is the first of three that will present data from the Timberlawn Psychiatric Research Foundation Young Family Project, a study of the development over time of competent family systems. The Project is briefly described and findings are presented from the initial data collection period. The operational definitions of marital competence and the Continuum of Marital Competence are presented, and the data are interpreted to suggest that the spouses' levels of individual psychological health, their agreement on values, and their socioeconomic status are related to the level of marital competence. The level of prenatal marital competence at Time 1 is used as an independent variable with which to predict both changes in marital structure and incorporation of the child into the family system at 3 months and 1 year postpartum. The results of these analyses will be presented in two subsequent articles.     

Spatial coding in the processing of anaphor by good and poor readers: Evidence from eye movement analyses

An experiment that examined the way in which young readers deployed eye movements while reading sentences and while answering questions containing either a pronominal or noun anaphor is reported. To evaluate the possible causal role played by differences in inspection strategies between readers of above- and below-average reading skill, a third“age control” group of younger children was also tested. This group was matched on absolute reading ability with the less skilled group of older children, and on relative reading ability (i.e. reading quotient) with the more skilled group. Differences in inspection strategy were apparent between the groups of good and poor readers. Good readers launched more selective reinspections, whereas the poorer readers were more inclined to engage in“backtracking” and appeared to make less use of the displayed text. In every case there was a marked similarity in the behaviour of the good readers and the“age controls”. These results suggest that the ability to code the spatial location of words in a sentence, and, where necessary, to use this information to launch accurately targetted selective reinspections of previously read text, plays a crucial role in the development of skilled reading performance.     

Attempted suicide in youth: Its relationship to school achievement,educational goals,and socioeconomic status

Twenty-six suicide attempters, 9 to 18 years of age, were compared with 725 nonattempters on measures of school achievement, educational goals, socioeconomic status, and depression. As has been found in studies using clinical samples, suicide attempters in our communitybased sample had significantly lower school achievement than nonattempters. The relationship between attempted suicide and low school achievement seemed to be explained by the effects of depression. Lower-SES youth tended to be more likely to attempt suicide than higher-SES youths. However, SES appeared to have little effect on the relationship between attempted suicide and school achievement. Results also suggest that children of mothers with low educational goals for them may be more at risk for attempted suicide than youths whose mothers have higher educational goals for their children.This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, Grant No. MH36971.     

Association between anxiety and depression in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders

The relationship between anxiety and depression was examined in a sample of 106 children and adolescents referred to an outpatient anxiety disorder clinic for children. Twenty-eight percent of patients with DSM-III diagnoses of anxiety disorders displayed a concurrent major depression. Children with anxiety disorders plus major depression were found (1) to be older, (2) to demonstrate more severe anxiety symptomatology, and (3) to be diagnosed with different rates of certain anxiety-disorder subtypes, when compared to anxious patients without major depression. Nondepressed anxious children and adolescents did not differ from a psychopathological control group in severity of either anxiety or depression symptoms.     

Mothers' & fathers' explanations of observed interactions with their children

Mothers and fathers were asked via an open-ended interview technique to explain specific interactions with their children that had been noted during a period of family observation in the home. Explanations were obtained for behavior in five interactional contexts (e.g., interactions involving discipline and interactions encouraging the child to be independent). The explanations were classified first to determine the extent to which they referred to what might have been actual thoughts at the time of the behavior. Second, they were content analysed to determine how much parents perceived themselves as responding to the child, versus how much they presented their behavior as arising from their own dispositions, purposes, and experiences. Results showed that most of the explanations did not contain what could be considered conscious cognitions at the time of the behavior. This suggests parents might have been responding automitically in the situation. Also, parents did not perceive their behavior as being mainly in response to the child. Instead they primarily saw themselves as the agents of their own actions. The latter trend varied in degree according to the interactional context. Mothers seemed more child centered in their explanations than fathers. Implications are examined for future research on links between parental cognition and behavior, and for the methods adopted to study parental cognitions. Questions are raised about the extent to which parents planfully determine their behavior and the extent to which they are aware of the reasons for their behavior.     

Fixing forensic patients: Psychiatric recommendations for treatment in pretrial settings

This article is concerned with psychiatric recommendations for treatment at the Metropolitan Toronto Forensic Service (METFORS), a clinical assessment agency providing both 1-day and 30-day evaluations of criminal defendants in Toronto, Canada. Analysis of both psychiatric reports and quantitative research instruments demonstrated the saliency of treatment as a central forensic issue at METFORS. Among a sample of 592 defendants, 134 were considered in need of outpatient care. Persons recommended for hospitalization were most likely to exhibit histories of mental health rather than criminal justice contacts; to be arrested for nonviolent offenses; to manifest psychotic behavior while at METFORS; to be found unfit for bail, incompetent to stand trial, in need of further assessment and dangerous to self; and to experience higher rates of hospitalization, but lower levels of criminalization during the two years following their initial forensic assessment. Psychiatric reports at METFORS tended to merge recommendations for treatment and assessment; to suggest prison or probation as means for securing clinical treatment; and to provide little written support for judgments about the need for intervention. Along with competency and dangerousness, treatment is a key issue in forensic practice, and warrants further attention in the psycholegal literature.     

Treatment recommendations for mentally disordered offenders: More than roulette?

Clinical judgments on the treatability and prognosis of mentally disordered offeenders (MDO) may strongly influence legal dispositions and the availability of treatment resources. This study examined 1,238 discharge summaries for MDOs referred for court assessments. Psychiatrists evidenced marked variability in how often they recommended treatment and how frequently they judged patients to have a poor prognosis. Two logit analyses suggested that diagnosis and consultation by other clinicians were associated with (a) treatment recommendations (i.e., Axis I diagnosis and social work consultations) and (b) prognosis (i.e., Axis II diagnosis and psychology consultations).