The ethic of “responsible drinking”

Age‐specific prohibition of drinking has made possible the study of the conditions under which agents of control enforce an unpopular rule. This study examined enforcement of drinking rules at a large urban university. Research in three freshman residence halls over 3 academic years revealed a situational ethic of “responsible drinking.” Residential assistants (RAs) initially enforced the rule against drinking in the residence halls strictly. Then, in time, RAs devised three personal styles of enforcement of the ethic of responsible drinking. They were either “by‐the‐book,” “laid‐back,” or “in‐between.” RAs were less apt to report freshman residents who did not come to their attention, who drank quietly behind closed doors. Periodically, RAs patrolled all floors in the building. RAs were more apt to write up residents of floors other than their own for violation of the no‐drinking rule. Thus, “patterned evasion” outside residence halls recurred inside. The extent to which RAs evaded the norms of their position varied with their interests in enforcement and the degree to which they were able to manage the “friend‐RA” role conflict.     

Specifying General Strain Theory: An Ethnically Relevant Approach

The current study incorporated principles from the acculturation literature to specify an ethnically relevant general strain theory (GST). This study argues that the acculturation process exposes Hispanics to unique types of strain (e.g., prejudice and discrimination) that may increase the likelihood of delinquency. Further varying levels of Hispanic concentration can moderate the effect of acculturative strain on delinquency, whereby the effect of ethnic-specific strains may be more pronounced where ethnic concentration is low. Responses from self-administered questionnaires of 1,729 Hispanic adolescents were analyzed to test various hypotheses regarding the effects of traditional and acculturation-related strains on violent delinquency. The findings indicated that GST is generalizable to Hispanic adolescents. The analyses also found support for the prediction that, conditional on the level of Hispanic concentration, ethnic-specific strain measures increased the likelihood of violent delinquency among Hispanic adolescents. This study provided a foundation for future empirical analyses of criminological theories among Hispanic populations.     

Instituting heteronormative belief in the law: the case of California's Proposition 22

This paper is based on ethnography of the ‘worship time’ at ‘Breakfree’ Church, a Pentecostal congregation in suburban Perth. I begin by exploring the ritualistic ways in which music is used to catalyse an ecstatic experience. Making use of the metaphor of ‘break free’, borrowed from a popular worship song, I demonstrate that music is used in deliberate ways to assist people in leaving behind the profane and encountering the sacred. Drawing on the thought of theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher and philosopher Paul Ricoeur, I explore the ways music facilitates and symbolises this experience. I demonstrate that for church members, the ecstatic divine-human encounter is the centre of their church worship and the antidote to difficult experiences such as grief or illness.     

Journal of Counseling & Development (JCD) and Counseling's Interwoven Nature: Achieving a More Complete Understanding of the Present Through “Historization” (Musings of an Exiting Editor—An Editorial Postscript)

In this brief opinion piece, the author retraces the relationship of JCD and the history of counseling to isolate essential elements of counseling's unique approach. The author contends that to overlook the role of past events and past contributors deprives one of a more complete professional understanding of counseling, because each passing moment is largely a creation of those past events that possess a dynamic, systemic nature that has become actualized in present time.     

Putting the pieces together: Maternal depression,maternal behavior,and toddler helplessness

This study assessed relations between maternal depression, maternal behavior, and helplessness in toddlers. Helplessness was assessed behaviorally in 25‐ and 32‐month‐old toddlers while the toddlers were engaged with an impossible task. Maternal behavior (warmth, negativity, control, intrusiveness) was assessed during a mother–child teaching task when toddlers were 18 and 25 months of age. Mothers who reported more depressive symptoms on the BDI had 32‐month‐old toddlers who displayed more affect‐related helplessness. No direct relations were found between maternal diagnosis of depression and helplessness in toddlers. Few differences emerged in the behavior of depressed and nondepressed mothers while interacting with their toddlers, and few relations were found between maternal behavior alone and toddlers' helplessness. However, results suggest that maternal behavior moderates the relation between maternal depression (diagnosis, recency, and symptoms) and helplessness. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Applicant Perceptions of Test Fairness: Integrating Justice and Self-Serving Bias Perspectives

The justice perspective is the current dominant framework for research on applicant perceptions of test fairness. Recently, an emerging perspective suggests that self-serving bias mechanisms may be operative in the development of test fairness perceptions. Using data from 494 actual applicants to an entry-level State Police Trooper position, this study integrates both the justice and self-serving bias perspectives to achieve a better understanding of test fairness perceptions. Results from structural equation modeling show that perceived job-relevance affects perceived fairness. In addition, test performance affects both perceptions indirectly through perceived performance.     

Thresholds for the perception of angular acceleration as indicated by the oculogyral illusion

A motorized chair (with precise servo controls) accelerated the observer in a clockwise (CW) or counterclockwise (CCW) direction at rates that ranged in logarithmic progression from 0.02 to 6.00 deg/sec². The target, a narrow collimated Line of light, was contained within a goggle device worn by the observer and therefore fixed in relative position to him. The illusion, appearing as rightward or leftward movement of the visual target in the direction of acceleration, was determined by a double staircase procedure among 300 normal and 4 labyrinthine-defective observers. None of the latter perceived the illusion. The majority of normal observers revealed no substantial directional difference (CW vs. CCW threshold). Threshold frequency distributions ranged in rate (deg/sec²) from 0.020 to 0.950; the threshold of response in more than half the normal observers was less than 0.10, in over three-fourths was less than 0.20, in over 90% less than 0.30, and 100% less than 1.00.