No Sissy Boys Here: A Content Analysis of the Representation of Masculinity in Elementary School Reading Textbooks

In this study, we investigate the portrayal of gender characteristics in elementary school reading textbooks. Over the past 25 years, most of the research on textbooks has focused on female roles and characteristics. In this research, we focus particularly on how males are portrayed. Using an evaluative instrument based on the Bem Sex Role Inventory, we examine first, third, and fifth grade literature textbooks. In particular, we analyze traits pertaining to masculine and feminine stereotypes. Our results show that despite publisher's guidelines and Title IX, males are still primarily portrayed in a stereotypical light. Males are overwhelming shown to be aggressive, argumentative, and competitive.     

A Working Definition of Moral Progress

Essentially everyone agrees that the outlawing of slavery, or the beginning of women’s suffrage, or the defeat of Nazism constitute paradigmatic examples of moral progress in human history. But this consensus belies a deep division about the nature of moral progress more generally, a consequence of the foundational differences among and within normative traditions regarding the nature and scope of the ‘moral’ in moral progress. This essay proposes that philosophers might nonetheless converge on a working definition of moral progress by identifying a proxy property that reliably tracks moral progress, but which does not purport to be coextensive with the philosophically-relevant property. The aim of this essay is to identify this proxy property with emerging empirical measures of population welfare, and to show why this indicator of moral progress can garner overlapping consensus from a variety of normative traditions.     

Training and Consultation in Psychological Assessment With Professional Psychologists: Suggestions for Enhancing the Profession and Individual Practices

Once central to the identity and practice of clinical psychology, psychological assessment (PA) is currently more limited in professional practice and generally less emphasized in graduate training programs than in the past. Performance-based personality tests especially are taught and used less, even though scientific evidence of their utility and validity has never been stronger. We review research on training in PA and discuss challenges that contributed to its decreased popularity. We then review continuing education requirements for ethical practice in PA and recommend that PA should be reconceptualized as a specialty best practiced by psychologists who have the resources and time to maintain competency. We offer recommendations about how professional organizations concerned with PA can promote its practice and how individual expert clinicians can assist. We conclude by describing a collaborative model for providing group consultation in PA to practicing psychologists. If implemented widely, this model could help promote PA and raise its standard of practice.     

Fight,Flight, or Remain Silent? Juggling Multiple Accountabilities throughout the Formative Stage of a Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative

This paper describes the experiences of a research team as they navigated uncertain ethical and political terrain throughout the formative stage of a public housing redevelopment project. Specifically, we discuss the challenges related to balancing multiple accountabilities and the tensions among the various roles and responsibilities that emanated from different accountabilities. Due to contractual obligations to our funding source, established relations with community partners, and an ethical imperative to align with those holding the least power, we grappled with embodying multiple and often conflicting roles. Without oversight provided by our university institutional review board or a clear ethical framework for community psychology research and action, our team was left to negotiate the challenges that emerged through critical reflection and financial considerations. Throughout the case example presented in this paper, we highlight our difficulty in ethical decision‐making with respect to the principles of obligation, disclosure, consent, commitment, and professionalism. Community psychologists often straddle the realms of academia, community partnerships, and conscious engagement with little guidance in navigating often conflicting roles and value systems. We present our narrative to highlight the complexity of scholar‐activism in the context of community psychology and the necessity for developing ethical standards and guidelines tailored to meet the unique needs of community psychologists.     

Feminism and Feminist Therapy: Lessons From the Past and Hopes for the Future

Feminist therapy incorporates the psychology of women (e.g., J. B. Miller, 1976), developmental research (e.g., C. Gilligan, 1982), cognitive‐behavioral techniques (J. Worell & P. Remer, 1992), multicultural awareness (L. Comas‐Diaz & B. Greene, 1994), and social activism (L. S. Brown, 1994) in a coherent theoretical and therapeutic package. It is an orientation that is effective in various venues and with diverse populations. In this article, the authors trace the relevant historical aspects of the orientation along with implications for practice, critiques, and trends.     

A preliminary study of emotional intelligence, empathy and exam performance in first year medical students

A group of 156 first year medical students completed measures of emotional intelligence (EI) and physician empathy, and a scale assessing their feelings about a communications skills course component. Females scored significantly higher than males on EI. Exam performance in the autumn term on a course component (Health and Society) covering general issues in medicine was positively and significantly related to EI score but there was no association between EI and exam performance later in the year. High EI students reported more positive feelings about the communication skills exercise. Females scored higher than males on the Health and Society component in autumn, spring and summer exams. Structural equation modelling showed direct effects of gender and EI on autumn term exam performance, but no direct effects other than previous exam performance on spring and summer term performance. EI also partially mediated the effect of gender on autumn term exam performance. These findings provide limited evidence for a link between EI and academic performance for this student group. More extensive work on associations between EI, academic success and adjustment throughout medical training would clearly be of interest.     

An innovative cognitive strategy to assist problem gamblers

The clinical and research literature suggests that cognitive and behavioural therapies are particularly helpful in assisting clients overcome problem gambling behaviour. Several articles have described the efficacy of a range of cognitive interventions, especially provision of information regarding rates of return and the odds of games and the exploration of irrational beliefs and myths and misconceptions regarding gambling activity. This paper describes in detail an innovative cognitive strategy which focuses on problem gambling clients' financial status. The strategy incorporates the use of illustrations, generally using a whiteboard, to highlight how problem gambling behaviour negatively impacts on financial wealth over time. Step by step instructions are provided, together with illustrations, to allow clinicians to incorporate the strategy in treatment with their own clients.