The bit in the middle and why it’s important: a computational analysis of the linguistic features of body paragraphs

This study examines the relationship between the linguistic characteristics of body paragraphs of student essays and the total number of paragraphs in the essays. Results indicate a significant relationship between the total number of paragraphs and a variety of linguistic characteristics known to affect student essay scores. These linguistic characteristics (e.g., semantic overlap, syntactic complexity) contribute to two underlying factors (i.e., textual cohesion and difficulty) that are used as dependent variables in mixed-effect models. Results suggest that student essays with 5-8 paragraphs tend to be more linguistically consistent than student essays with 3, 4, and 9 paragraphs. Essays with totals of 5-8 paragraphs, considered by many educators to contain an optimal number of paragraphs, may include functionally and structurally similar paragraphs. These findings could aid writing researchers and educators in obtaining a clearer view of the relationship between the total number of paragraphs comprising an essay and the linguistic characteristics that affect essay evaluation. Consequently, writing interventions may become better equipped to pinpoint student difficulties and facilitate student writing skills by providing more detailed and informed feedback.     

Identifying faking bad on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent with Mexican adolescents

This study examined the extent to which the validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent identified Mexican adolescents who were instructed to fake bad. Validity scales data were used to differentiate between nonclinical adolescents instructed to fake bad and both clinical and nonclinical adolescents who received standard instructions. Participants were 59 male and 87 female Mexican high school students and 59 male and 87 female Mexican adolescents from clinical settings. This is the first study onfaking with adolescents in Mexico. The F, Fl, and F2 Scales and the F-K index discriminated adequately between the three different groups. Results were similar to those previously reportedfor adults and adolescents in Mexico and the United States. High positive and negative predictive powers and overall hit rates were obtained in this study. Higher cut scores were needed to discriminate between the groups of girls than between the groups of boys.     

Julian of Norwich: Mysticism and Philosophy

Parts of Julian's Showings are examined for their didactic quality, and her work is briefly compared to that of Mechthild and Hildegard. The commentary of Tobin, Chervin and others is alluded to, and it is concluded that Julian is an exemplary teacher.     

Sexual Prejudice Among Heterosexual College Men as a Predictor of Condom Attitudes

Heterosexual male college students (N?=?100) (average age?=?19.7; 43% European American; 39% Christian) from the southwestern U.S. completed surveys in order to test a model predicting condom attitudes from religiosity, gender role attitudes, sexual prejudice, and the belief that “AIDS is a gay disease.” In the final model, those who reported more religiosity, more traditional gender role attitudes, and greater anxiety about interacting with gay men also reported feeling their core values and beliefs were threatened by gay men. In turn, men who felt strongly threatened in this way more strongly endorsed the belief that “AIDS is a gay disease,” and stronger endorsement of this belief was associated with more negative attitudes about condoms and condom use.     

The Meaning and Role of Spirituality for Older Adults: A Qualitative Study

Journal of Religion and Health - This study is designed to identify the meaning and effects perceived by a person concerning religion and spirituality as that person grows old. A total of nineteen...     

A Holistically Deweyan Feminism

The argument that a holistic analysis of Dewey's work, drawing not only on the major portions subject to extensive commentary (such as Experience and Nature ) but also on his aesthetics, provides fuel for feminist theorizing is sustained by advertence to the standard commentary and also to new work in aesthetic feminism itself. Sleeper, Rorty, Hickman and Russell are cited, and the recent resurgence of interest in developing the intersection between analytic aesthetics and feminist aesthetics is alluded to. It is concluded that the enterprising feminist theorist may suffer from an embarrassment of riches in attempting to approach Dewey but that such an approach is well worth the effort.     

Promotion of social change: a conceptual framework

This paper argues for the need to advance promotion efforts and proposes a conceptual framework for promotion of social change. A brief review is presented of traditional frameworks for the prevention of mental and social disorders and the promotion of wellness and social competencies, with attention to the ways in which promotion of social change extends and departs from these frameworks. In a framework for promoting social change, we advocate for promoting dynamic processes within systems, rather than outcomes within individuals. Systems are viewed as flexible and capable of facilitating multiple adaptive pathways for individuals and groups. Promoting social change also involves careful attention to critical analysis, values, language, and contextual processes. Examples are discussed throughout to illustrate how these principles have been used in the past and can be implemented in future efforts to promote social change.     

Barriers to condom use in primary and nonprimary relationships among Hispanic STD clinic patients

Some programs designed to reduce the spread of AIDS and other STDs encourage consistent condom use among sexually active, at-risk individuals. A random sample of 283 Hispanic men and women seeking services at a public STD clinic in New York City were surveyed in an examination of differences in their attitudinal patterns, normative beliefs, and practices related to condom use with primary and nonprimary sex partners. 60% of the participants were male. The group was of mean age 30.9 years, with 46% having graduated from high school. 44.5% were born in the US, although 73.8% had lived in mainland US for the previous ten years or longer. 52.7% were single, 19.8% married, and the remaining 27.5% were either divorced, separated, or widowed. Only 3.2% of men and women reported having same-sex relationships, although the authors suggest that the respondents may have underreported the extent of their bisexual and homosexual behavior. 58.3% of men and 53.3% of women reported having had a prior STD, 82.2% of men and 74.8% of women had experience using a condom, and 31.3% of men and 13.3% of women reported having nonprimary partners. Both the men and women report that they are more likely to use condoms in nonprimary than primary relationships and that they perceive fewer barriers to doing so. Issues related to trust and social acceptability are more salient in primary relationships. Interventions to promote condom use among Hispanics must acknowledge the different psychosocial influences upon condom use in different relationships and target the specific attitudinal and behavioral changes desired.     

The Two Simones

The work of Simone Weil and Simone de Beauvoir is compared along various lines of analysis. Simone Weil's Gravity and Grace is examined, and her penchant for the use of the concept of the void as a point of departure for metaphysical speculation, while Simone de Beauvoir's work Old Age is analyzed, with a view toward setting out her use of the Sartrean concept of project. A brief comparison of the work of Weil and Kierkegaard is made, and some reference is given to sections of Simone de Beauvoir's Second Sex . It is concluded that, from a similar point of departure, the thinkers move in different directions