Gender and Diagnosis: Struggles and Suggestions for Counselors

Concerns have been raised related to the intersection of gender and diagnosis, particularly with respect to biases in diagnoses made according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The authors review the literature on the prevalence of diagnoses by gender, sex bias in diagnosis, the problematic impact of particular diagnoses on women, and the relationship of diagnosis to socialization and social conditions. Alternative diagnoses, diagnostic procedures, and diagnostic foci that can help counselors to most effectively avoid gender bias are offered.     

Family Disruption and Social,Emotional and Behavioral Functioning in Middle Childhood

The association between family disruption and child socio-emotional and behavioral development is a relatively well-examined but as yet unresolved issue, and the conclusions of previous research have been ambiguous. Further, some studies have indicated that associations may depend on other risk factors, yet the question of heterogeneity has been relatively little discussed. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to assess associations between family disruption on the one hand and teacher-rated and self-reported outcomes on subscales from the Behavior Assessment System for Children, 2nd edition (BASC-2) and the Behavior and Emotional Screening System (BESS) on the other, among a Danish sample of 817 normally developing schoolchildren. Specifically, we assessed (a) the extent to which background factors explained unadjusted associations and (b) whether associations were heterogeneous across the distribution of outcome measures. Results from ordinary least squares (OLS) models showed that relative to children from intact families, children from disrupted families had higher problem scores on BASC-2 subscales Externalizing Problems, Study Skills and School Problems even after controlling for a wide range of background factors. Quantile regression (QR) models showed that associations with Externalizing Problems and Study Skills were stronger among children with higher problem scores. Certain behavioral problems may therefore indicate increased vulnerability towards adverse events, such as family disruption. General screening for such problems could provide an opportunity to identify children in need of special attention and support against the potentially negative outcomes of family disruption for their school experience.     

Upper‐Body Strength and Political Egalitarianism: Twelve Conceptual Replications

Animal models of conflict behavior predict that an organism's behavior in a conflict situation is influenced by physical characteristics related to abilities to impose costs on adversaries. Stronger and larger organisms should be more motivated to seek larger shares of resources and higher places in hierarchies. Previous studies of human males have suggested that measures of upper‐body strength are associated with measures of support for inequality including Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), a measure of individual differences in support for group‐based hierarchies. However, other studies have failed to replicate this association. In this article, we reexamine the link between upper‐body strength and support for inequality using 12 different samples from multiple countries in which relevant measures were available. These samples include student and locally representative samples with direct measures of physical strength and nationally representative samples with self‐reported measures related to muscularity. While the predicted correlation does not replicate for every single available measure of support for inequality, the overall data pattern strongly suggests that for males, but not females, upper‐body strength correlates positively with support for inequality.     

The unique effects of blatant dehumanization on attitudes and behavior towards Muslim refugees during the European ‘refugee crisis’ across four countries

Blatant dehumanization has recently been demonstrated to predict negative outgroup attitudes and behaviors. Here, we examined blatant dehumanization of Muslim refugees during the ‘Refugee Crisis’ among large samples in four European countries: the Czech Republic (N = 1307), Hungary (N = 502), Spain (N = 1049), and Greece (N = 934). Our results suggest that blatant dehumanization of Muslim refugees is (a) prevalent among Europeans, and (b) uniquely associated with anti‐refugee attitudes and behavior, beyond political ideology, prejudice, and—of particular relevance to the refugee crisis—empathy. We also find that blatant dehumanization of Muslim refugees is significantly higher and more strongly associated with intergroup behavior in the Eastern European countries (especially the Czech Republic) than in Spain and Greece. Examining a range of outgroup targets beyond refugees, our results further illustrate that blatant dehumanization is not purely an ethnocentric bias: while individuals across contexts feel warmer towards their group than all others, they rate several high‐status outgroups as equally or more fully ‘evolved and civilized’ than the ingroup. Our research extends theoretical understanding of blatant dehumanization, and suggests that blatant dehumanization plays an important and independent role in the rejection of Muslim refugees throughout Europe.     

At the borders of medical reasoning: aetiological and ontological challenges of medically unexplained symptoms

Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) remain recalcitrant to the medical profession, proving less suitable for homogenic treatment with respect to their aetiology, taxonomy and diagnosis. While the majority of existing medical research methods are designed for large scale population data and sufficiently homogenous groups, MUS are characterised by their heterogenic and complex nature. As a result, MUS seem to resist medical scrutiny in a way that other conditions do not. This paper approaches the problem of MUS from a philosophical point of view. The aim is to first consider the epistemological problem of MUS in a wider ontological and phenomenological context, particularly in relation to causation. Second, the paper links current medical practice to certain ontological assumptions. Finally, the outlines of an alternative ontology of causation are offered which place characteristic features of MUS, such as genuine complexity, context-sensitivity, holism and medical uniqueness at the centre of any causal set-up, and not only for MUS. This alternative ontology provides a framework in which to better understand complex medical conditions in relation to both their nature and their associated research activity.     

Why Not Community? An Exploration of the Value of Community in Cohen's Socialism

Res Publica - The work of prominent analytical Marxist G. A. Cohen provides a vision of socialism which has distributive justice and community at its core. While Cohen's view of distributive...     

Science-Based Neurorehabilitation: Recommendations for Neurorehabilitation From Basic Science

ABSTRACT

Neuroscience has fundamentally changed the understanding of learning and memory within recent years. Here, the authors discuss a number of specific areas where they believe new understanding of the CNS from basic science is having a fundamental impact on neurorehabilitation and is leading to new therapeutic approaches. These areas have constituted a basis for development of some basic principles for neurorehabilitation: Optimal rehabilitation should involve (a) active (patient) participation in the training, (b) training that does not only involve many repetitions, but also continues to challenge the skill of the training person, (c) motivation and reward, (d) intensive training and practice over a long time, (e) careful organization of the training in relation to other activities, and (f) incorporation of other potentially beneficial parameters such as sleep and diet. It should in this relation also be pointed out that albeit neurorehabilitation may be predicted to have the most optimal effect early in life and as soon after injury as possible, there is no reason to believe that beneficial effects of training may not be obtained late in life or several years after injury.