Agency on the Move: Revisioning the Route to Social Change

Throughout the course of everyday life individuals enter into interactions in which an intricate relationship between agency and subordination can be observed: they sometimes act agentively and at other times—via discursive and/or interpersonal processes—their agency is reduced to objectness. Thus, theoretically we can think of constant dynamics of transfer of agency. It is argued that the transfer of agency between persons (or groups) is a fundamental quality of the societal discourses in which all persons are constituted. This transfer of agency occurs constantly throughout social interaction and at different levels of social functioning as individuals live and make meaning of their experiences. In light of this perspective, it is suggested that social change movements that aim to interrupt the transfer of agency and instead fix agency with one person (or one group of people) are inadequate. Rather, these movements can actually subvert their own agenda by producing problematic tensions in discourse and subjectivity. The self-defense movement, a component of the movement to end violence against women, is presented as a case study. The problematic and tension-filled positions and meanings the movement (re)produces for women are explored as an effect of denying any transfer of agency between women and men around issues of violence and gender oppression.     

Cognitive and Social Factors Associated with NSSI and Suicide Attempts in Psychiatrically Hospitalized Adolescents

Although non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts (SA) frequently co-occur among youth, there is increasing evidence that both the risk factors and the phenomenology of the behaviors are distinct. This study examined how individuals who engage in NSSI only, individuals who attempt suicide only, and those who have histories of both NSSI and at least one suicide attempt may differ in terms of cognitions and perceived social support. Participants were 185 adolescents (78.1 % female) between the ages of 13 and 18 recruited from a psychiatric inpatient facility in the northeastern United States. One hundred forty-eight teens were identified with a history of self-injurious behavior and divided into three groups: NSSI only (n?=?45), SA only (n?=?24) or both NSSI and SA (NSSI+SA; n?=?79). Analyses showed that the NSSI+SA group exhibited more cognitive errors, negative self-statements, and negative views of self, world, and future, as well as less perceived familial support than either the NSSI or SA only groups. There were no differences between groups on perceived support from teachers or peers. No significant demographic or diagnostic differences were found between the NSSI and SA groups. Limitations and clinical implications of the current research are discussed.     

Workforce Support for Urban After‐School Programs: Turning Obstacles into Opportunities

Organized after‐school programs can mitigate risk and build resilience for youth in urban communities. Benefits rely on high‐quality developmental experiences characterized by a supportive environment, structured youth–adult interactions, and opportunities for reflective engagement. Programs in historically disenfranchised communities are underfunded; staff are transient, underpaid, and undertrained; and youth exhibit significant mental health problems which staff are variably equipped to address. Historically, after‐school research has focused on behavior management and social‐emotional learning, relying on traditional evidence‐based interventions designed for and tested in schools. However, after‐school workforce and resource limitations interfere with adoption of empirically supported strategies and youth health promotion. We have engaged in practice‐based research with urban after‐school programs in economically vulnerable communities for nearly two decades, toward building a resource‐efficient, empirically informed multitiered model of workforce support. In this paper, we offer first‐person accounts of four academic–community partnerships to illustrate common challenges, variability across programs, and recommendations that prioritize core skills underlying risk and resilience, align with individual program goals, and leverage without overextending natural routines and resources. Reframing obstacles as opportunities has revealed the application of mental health kernels to the after‐school program workforce support and inspired lessons regarding sustainability of partnerships and practice.     

Teacher Job Stress and Satisfaction in Urban Schools: Disentangling Individual-, Classroom-, and Organizational-Level Influences

Schools remain among the most frequent providers of children’s mental health services, particularly in low-income urban settings. Several decades of research have focused on training teachers to implement evidence-based interventions for minimizing disruptive behavior. Studies consistently demonstrate robust improvements in student behavior and learning; however, the impact on teachers’ work-related stress or satisfaction is not well understood. Six urban, high-poverty elementary schools were randomly assigned to a school mental health services model (Links to Learning; L2L) for referred, disruptive students or to services and professional development as usual (SAU). Teachers (n = 71, K-4 general education teachers) in L2L schools participated in professional development and consultation in two universal and two targeted interventions to reduce disruptive behaviors and promote learning. Teachers (n = 65) in SAU schools participated in professional development as usual. Multiple regression models examined teacher reports of individual-level self-efficacy, classroom-level student functioning, and school-level organizational health as predictors of stress and satisfaction. Findings revealed no significant difference between conditions on teacher work-related stress or satisfaction. Organizational health was the strongest predictor of stress and satisfaction. Training on and implementation of evidence-based classroom interventions did not appear to significantly impact teachers’ work-related stress or satisfaction. Instead, findings point to organizational climate and teacher connectedness as potential levers for change, supporting prior work on teacher stress and satisfaction in schools. The significance of targeting organizational factors may be particularly significant in urban school districts.     

Does Self-Reported Posttraumatic Growth Reflect Genuine Positive Change?

ABSTRACT— In this study, we evaluated the validity of self-reported posttraumatic growth (PTG) by assessing the relation between perceived growth and actual growth from pre- to posttrauma. Undergraduate students completed measures tapping typical PTG domains at Time 1 and Time 2 (2 months later). We compared change in those measures with scores on the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996 ) for those participants who reported a traumatic event between Time 1 and Time 2 ( n = 122). PTGI scores generally were unrelated to actual growth in PTG-related domains. Moreover, perceived growth was associated with increased distress from pre- to posttrauma, whereas actual growth was related to decreased distress, a pattern suggesting that perceived and actual growth reflect different processes. Finally, perceived (but not actual) growth was related to positive reinterpretation coping. Thus, the PTGI, and perhaps other retrospective measures, does not appear to measure actual pre- to posttrauma change.     

What Are Nervous Systems For?

Abstract

An underlying bias of contemporary cognitive science is that the brain and nervous system are in the business of carrying out computations and building representations. Gibson’s ecological approach, in contrast, is decidedly noncomputational and nonrepresentational. How, then, are we to construe the role of brain and nervous system? We consider this question against the backdrop of evidence for rich achievements in perception and action by agents without brains or nervous systems. If fundamental coordination of perception and action does not require a neural substrate, then what value is added in having one? And if the neural substrate is not in the representational–computational business, then what business is it in? We pursue answers grounded in the constraints of macroscopic, multicellular life and thermodynamics.