Observers' reaction to touchers

20 men and 20 women were shown nine photographs in which two people were interacting. The first photograph shown showed a male and a female engaged in a nontouching interaction. The remaining eight photographs showed a touching interaction. Subjects rated their affective reaction to each of the touching interactions relative to their reaction to the first (nontouch) interaction. In the latter 8 photographs, the person facing the camera was either male or female, the person with back to camera was either male or female, and the touch shown was either a hand touch or a hug. All touching interactions were rated more positively than the standard (nontouch interactions). Male and female subjects tended to show identical reactions to the photographs. More positive reactions were shown to cross-sex hugging than to same-sex hugging and interactions showing hand touch.     

Assessing the impact of group treatment for aggressive inpatients

The purpose of this research was to determine if psychodynamic group psychotherapy decreases the occurrence of physical assault by male group members. The design of the study was a randomized clinical trial. Patients assigned to the control group received the customary clinical care. Patients assigned to the Group Therapy attended a psychodynamic psychotherapy group to help them cope with their aggressive impulses. Both quantitative and qualitative measures were used. Group members showed decreased expression of anger at followup, increased effort to control anger at followup, and decline in aggressive behavior. Control subjects demonstrated no change in level of angry feelings, increased expression of anger at follow-up, decrease in effort to control anger at follow-up, and no change in aggressive behavior. A model for conducting a psychodynamic psychotherapy group for assaultive men was developed which describes process and content aspects as well as leader interventions by group phase.     

Reporting observer agreement on stuttering event judgments: A survey and evaluation of current practice

A survey of articles appearing in three national journals over a five-year period was conducted in order to examine current practice in reporting observer agreement on stuttering event judgments. Of 55 articles in which observer agreement was deemed critical, 47 reported at least one observer agreement procedure. A total of eleven agreement procedures were reported and current practice is characterized by five procedures which account for 92% of the articles in which procedures are reported. Problems with using these five indices to represent observer agreement are detailed and several alternatives are discussed.     

Hiring family therapists for a research project via videotaped interviews: A brief report

The authors describe an interview procedure devised for use in hiring therapists for a research and demonstration project in which the employers viewed videotaped interviews of applicants responding to a standard set of questions posed by an on-site researcher/interviewer. The approach is considered potentially useful for agencies to use in hiring therapists with a systemic orientation.     

Distributive justice in marriage: Equality or equity?

Experimental studies of distributive justice suggest that men prefer an equity rule for allocating rewards, whereas women prefer equality. These differences are likely to carry implications for distributive justice in the context of marriage. There is a popular view in Western societies that marriage should be regarded as a partnership of equals, and this is also an implicit assumption in microeconomic accounts of the family. However, inequality between spouses is still commonplace, with the husband more likely to have overall financial control and greater access to money for personal spending (PSM). This paper investigates the issue of sharing in marriage, with particular reference to PSM, using data from an in-depth interview study supplemented by some follow-up questionnaires. The participants were 13 women and nine of their partners, mainly ‘middle class’ and aged between 30 and 50. After classifying each couple's system of financial management, the paper focuses upon eight couples with a philosophy of sharing. The findings show that, despite attempts to equalize outcomes for both partners, a sense of ‘ownership’ associated with having earned the money seemed to render it more salient than other, non-financial contributions to the marriage. As a result, patterns of control and personal spending appeared to be based upon equity rather than equality.     

Film Review

Pastoral Psychology -     

Book reviews

Missing Persons: A Critique of Personhood in the Social Sciences Mary Douglas & Steven Ney, 1998 California: University of California Press 223 pp., US$24.95 ISBN 0–520–20752–1

Re‐forming the Body: Religion, Community and Modernity Philip A. Mellor & Chris Shilling, 1997 London: Sage Publications 234 pp., £40.00 (hb), £13.95 (pb) ISBN 0–8039–7722–0 (hb), ISBN 0–8039–7723–9 (pb)

Transnational Religion and Fading States Susanne Hoeber Rudolph & James Piscatori, eds., 1997 Boulder, Colorado, & Oxford: Westview Press viii + 280 pp., US$69.00/£50.00 (hb), US$24.00/£13.95 (pb) ISBN 0–8133–2767–9 (hb), ISBN 0–8133–2768–7 (pb)

Encyclopaedia of Religion and Society William H. Swatos, Jr., ed., 1998 London: AltaMira Press (SAGE) xiv + 590 pp., £76.00 (hb) ISBN: 0 7619–9956–0

Power and the Church: Ecclesiology in an Age of Transition Martyn Percy, 1998 London: Cassell vii + pp. 239, £35.00 (hb), £14.99 (pb) ISBN 0–304–70107–6 (hb); ISBN 0304 701 05‐X (pb)

Faith and Power, Christianity and Islam in ‘Secular’ Britain Lesslie Newbigin, Lamin Sanneh & Jenny Taylor, 1998 London: SPCK 177 pp., £12.99 ISBN 0–281–05153–4

New Trends and Developments in the World of Islam Peter B. Clarke, ed., 1998 London: Luzac Oriental x + 400 pp., £37.00 ISBN 1–898–942–17‐X

Nihil Obstat: Religion, Politics and Social Change in East‐Central Europe and Russia Sabrina P. Ramet, 1998 Durham & London: Duke University Press 424 pp, £66.50 (hb), £22.95 (pb) ISBN 0–8223–2056–8 (hb), ISBN 0–8223–2070–3 (pb)

New Religious Phenomena in Central and Eastern Europe Irena Borowik & Grzegorz Babinski, eds., 1997 Krakow: Nomos 392 pp., US$25 (+ p&p) ISBN 83–85527–56–7

Like Bread on the Seder Plate: Jewish Lesbians and the Transformation of Tradition Rebecca Alpert, 1997 New York: Columbia University Press 214 pp., £19.95, US$28.00 (hb) ISBN 0–231–09660–7

Jesus is Dread: Black Theology and Black Culture in Britain Robert Beckford, 1998 London: Darton, Longman & Todd 194 pp., £10.95 ISBN: 0–232–52241–3

Nature Religion Today: Paganism in the Modern World Joanne Pearson, Richard H. Roberts & Geoffrey Samuel, eds., 1998 Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press 222 pp., £12.95 (pb) ISBN 0–7486–1057‐X

Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia Lynne Hume, 1997 Carlton South, Australia: Melbourne University Press xiii + 272 pp., $29.95 ISBN 0–522–84782‐X

Ageing and Spirituality Albert Jewell, ed., 1998 London/Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers 191 pp. £14.95 ISBN 1–85302–631‐X

Dying, Death and Bereavement in a British Hindu Community New Religious Identities in the Western World Volume 1 Shirley Firth, 1997 Leuven, Belgium: Peeters 240 pp., BEF 1070 (pb) ISBN 90–6831–976–0

Interpreting Death: Christian Theology and Pastoral Practice Peter C. Jupp & Tony Roger, eds., 1997 London: Cassell 218 pp., £16.99 ISBN 0–304–33784–6

Historical Dictionary of the Bahá'í Faith Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies and Movements, No. 17 Hugh C. Adamson & Philip Hainsworth, 1998 Lanham, Md., & London: The Scarecrow Press ix + 505 pp., US$ 65.00 (hb) ISBN 0–8108–3353–0

Taking With The Left Hand: Enneagram Craze, People of the Bookmark, & The Mouravieff Thenomenon’ William Patrick Patterson, 1998 Fairfax, California: Arete Communications 149 pp., US$12.95 (pb) ISBN 1–879514–10–9     

Teachers Coping with the Stress of Classroom Discipline

Of all of the activities that comprise the role of a teacher, classroom discipline is one of the most significant. In selecting an approach to classroom discipline, some teachers experience, and have to deal with, tensions arising from their desire to use educationally justifiable models while still quickly gaining and maintaining order in the classroom. This paper examines teachers' estimations of the stress that arises when they are unable to discipline students as they would ideally prefer. More importantly, the way teachers cope with any stress which does arise is documented using the Coping Scale for Adults. The results indicate that teachers who report more stress are those most interested in empowering their students in the decision making process. Associated with increased concern is a greater use of Worry, Self-Blame, Tension Reduction, Wishful Thinking and Keep to Self. The most concerned teachers also express a greater tendency to get sick as a result of the stress. These data suggest the need for professional development curricula for teachers to assist them in effectively sharing power with students and in reflecting upon a range of more productive coping strategies.     

Age of acquisition in face categorisation: is there an instance-based account?

An instance-based model of the effects of age of acquisition (AoA) is offered and derived predictions are considered. A face-categorisation experiment is reported which tested these predictions. Nine participants made speeded-categorisation judgements of 185 faces from two TV shows. Ratings were given for the faces' frequency of occurrence in the shows and, for each face, the length of time the character was in the show and the time since they had left was found. Regression analyses were used to find how the factors affected the speed of categorisation. Speed of categorisation was found to follow a negative power function of the frequency and time on the show and a positive power function of the time since they had left. This was supportive of the instance-based account and suggests that effects of AoA with words and objects can be explained in terms of cumulative frequency.