FEMINIST ATTITUDES TOWARD PORNOGRAPHY CONTROL

Feminist attitudes toward legislative control of pornography were investigated. A sample of 119 recipients of the National Organization of Women Newsletter in a Southern California community responded to a questionnaire assessing variables expected to be related to pornography control: demographic variables, and attitudes toward pornography, censorship, free speech, and the harm of pornography. Values were related to attitude toward pornography control, especially the prioritizing of responsibility versus freedom. Attitudes toward pornography were also significant predictors; however, beliefs about importance of protecting free speech and the harm of pornography were the strongest predictors, with the protection of free speech making the largest contribution. In understanding "mainstream" feminists' attitudes toward pornography control, the most important variables appear to be those that assess the consequences of pornography.     

Clinical application of attachment theory in permanency planning for children in foster care: The importance of continuity of care

Permanency planning is a critical issue facing all children in foster care. Foster children frequently suffer from developmental delays and severe behavior problems, often leading to repeated displacements that in turn increase the risk for attachment disorders. To prevent the emergence of such disturbances, an Attachment Clinic was developed in Montreal to offer consultation to Youth Protection workers. A specific problem has frequently been identified in this Clinic: Should a child who has developed a significant attachment to his or her foster parents return to the biological parents or stay in the foster family? The choice between the two families is even more difficult when the parenting competencies of the biological parents seem to have progressed while the child has developed secure attachments in the foster family. Clinical cases will be presented to illustrate such dilemmas. Concepts rooted in attachment theory have been very useful to understand such problems, and have led us to believe that children's best interests lie in the preservation of their attachment ties and that repeated ruptures of such ties constitute a severe trauma. Resistances of the milieu to our position will be discussed as well as the Court's decisions in light of Canadian jurisprudence.     

Environmental,Social, and Psychological Experiences of Asian American Undergraduates: Examining Issues of Academic Persistence

A total of 160 Asian Americans (55 Chinese, 13 Filipino, 27 Japanese, 32 Korean, 15 Pacific Islander, and 18 Vietnamese) completed a series of standardized instruments assessing their environmental, social, and psychological experiences as undergraduates. The purpose of this study was threefold: to provide a composite of student experiences; to investigate the interrelationships of comfort in the university environment, social support, and self‐beliefs; and to examine the influence of these constructs on the academic persistence decisions of Asian American undergraduates. Overall, social support variables were the strongest predictors of academic persistence. Research‐derived implications for university personnel and professional counselors are provided.     

Barking up the wrong tree? Industry funding of academic research

This case raises ethical issues involving conflicts of interest arising from industrial funding of academic research; ethical responsibilities of laboratories to funding agencies; ethical responsibilities in the management of a research lab; ethical considerations in appropriate research design; communication in a research group; communication between advisor and graduate student; responsibilities of researchers for the environment; misrepresentation or withholding of scientific results.     

Effects of Rational Emotive Cognitive Behavioral Coaching on Depression Among Type 2 Diabetic Inpatients

Depression is a human illness that may prevent sustainable goal attainment. People with Type 2 diabetes mellitus have a much higher risk of being depressed than the nonclinical population, which may be due to associations between the neurobiological mechanisms that play a role in the two diseases. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of rational emotive cognitive behavioral coaching (RE-CBC) on depressive thinking in a group of inpatients with Type 2 diabetes in Nigeria. A pretest–posttest control group design was used. Eighty participants were randomly allocated to the treatment and control groups. Outcomes were evaluated using Nigerian language (Igbo) versions of the Beck Depression Inventory-II and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, and the intervention was delivered in Igbo. An Igbo version of the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Manual for Depression was used as the intervention package. Data were analyzed using mean rank, repeated measures ANOVA, and the Mann–Whitney U test. At the end of the intervention, a significant decline in depression was observed among the participants in the group that received RE-CBC, but not in those that received standard counseling (control group). The effects of RE-CBC were maintained at follow-up. The present results suggest that RE-CBC is an effective and time-efficient intervention for managing depression in inpatients living with Type 2 diabetes. Further evaluations are warranted in other countries.     

Lifetime Abuse and Mental Health Among Older Persons: A European Study

This study aimed to investigate the association of lifetime abuse and mental health among older persons, considering associated factors (e.g., demographics) through a cross-sectional design. We recruited 4,467 women and men ages 60–84 years from 7 European cities. Mental health was measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial, and physical injuries) based on the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale and the UK survey of abuse/neglect of older people. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that country of residence, low educational level, and experienced financial strain increased the odds of probable cases of anxiety and depression. Female sex, white-collar profession, and financial support by social/other benefits/or partner income were associated with higher odds of anxiety, while older age and experience of lifetime injury were associated with increased odds of depressive symptoms. The findings of this study indicate that socioeconomic factors, as well as experienced lifetime severe physical abuse leading to injuries, are significant in perceived mental health of adults in later life.     

Translating Career Theory to Practice: The Risk of Unintentional Social Injustice

An important aspect of social justice involves ensuring that effective career guidance is readily accessible to all citizens. The career theory used to guide the delivery of career services can contribute to or detract from social justice. This article examines the translation of career theory to practice, the effectiveness of career interventions, and access to career guidance. Collaborative career counseling is presented as an intervention to improve access to career services.     

Effects of age, speed of processing, and working memory on comprehension of sentences with relative clauses

Two hundred participants, 50 in each of four age ranges (19-29, 30-49, 50-69, 70-90) were tested for working memory, speed of processing, and the processing of sentences with relative clauses. In Experiment 1, participants read four sentence types (cleft subject, cleft object, subject-subject, subject-object) in a word-by-word, non-cumulative, self-paced reading task and made speeded plausibility judgments about them. In Experiment 2, participants read two types of sentences, one of which contained a doubly center embedded relative clause. Older participants' comprehension was less accurate and there was age-related slowing of online processing times in all but the simplest sentences, which increased in syntactically complex sentences in Experiment 1. This pattern suggests an age-related decrease in the efficiency of parsing and interpretation. Slower speed of processing and lower working memory were associated with longer online processing times only in Experiment 2, suggesting that task-related operations are related to general speed of processing and working memory. Lower working memory was not associated with longer reading times in more complex sentences, consistent with the view that general working memory is not critically involved in online syntactic processing. Longer online processing at the most demanding point in the most demanding sentence was associated with better comprehension, indicating that it reflects effective processing under some certain circumstances. However, the poorer comprehension performance of older individuals indicates that their slower online processing reflects inefficient processing even at these points.     

Effects of Sex and Race of Perpetrator and Method of Killing on Outcome Judgments in a Mock Filicide Case

The present study examined college student mock jurors' judgments of legal insanity, outcome severity, and death-penalty decisions in a filicide case. The sex and race of perpetrator (Black or White) and method of killing (shooting or smothering) were varied in a between-subjects design. A 3-way interaction was found for outcome severity, supporting Jones & Davis' (1965) attributional principle of stronger dispositional attributions for unexpected behaviors. As predicted, White women were judged more severely when they used a gun compared to when they smothered, whereas White men were judged more severely when they smothered compared to when they used a gun. The most severe judgments were made for Black male perpetrators who used a gun. Results are discussed in terms of sex and racial stereotypes.     

The effects of Target Variables and Settting on Perceptions of Hate Speech1

Traditional leader–member exchange (LMX) research typically measures quality of exchange from the subordinate's or member's perspective—LMX(m). In this research, we propose a new construct, LMX(l), which reflects a supervisor's or leader's perception of the value delivered by his or her subordinate in the exchange relationship. Together, LMX(m) and LMX(l) are expected to provide a more complete picture of dyadic exchange quality. Our results indicate relatively modest convergence between the 2 perspectives on LMX. Both LMX(m) and LMX(l) were found to relate to specific currencies of exchange provided by each dyad partner, and agreement between the 2 was negatively associated with the frequency of supervisor–employee conflict. Implications for LMX theory and future research are discussed.