Perfecting not Perfect: Christology and Pneumatology within an Imperfect Yet Purposeful Creation

Abstract

The issue of evolutionary theodicy remains an area of difficulty within the science–theology dialogue. The evolutionary understanding of life identifies a process where suffering and extinction are intrinsic; however, theology seeks to articulate God's loving goodness towards creation. Therefore the central question of evolutionary theodicy becomes: “How can a loving God act by such a process?” Within the view of theistic evolution, evolutionary theodicy has resulted in a deeper understanding of Christology and Pneumatology, as the whole of creation is understood to be moving towards its eschatological perfection in Christ.     

“This Bird Can't Do It ‘Cause this Bird Doesn't Swim in Water”: Sibling Teaching During Naturalistic Home Observations in Early Childhood

Social-constructivist models of learning highlight that cognitive development is embedded within the context of social relationships characterized by closeness and intimacy (Vygotsky, 1978 Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. [Google Scholar]). Therefore, in contrast to prior research employing semistructured paradigms, naturalistic sibling-directed teaching was examined during ongoing interactions at home. Thirty-nine middle-class, two-parent families (older sibling, M_age = 6;3; younger sibling, M_age = 4;4) were studied. Intentional sequences of sibling-directed teaching were coded for: a) frequency; b) type of knowledge taught (i.e., conceptual or procedural); c) initiation of teaching by the teacher or following a request by the learner; d) teaching strategies (e.g., direct instruction, demonstration); and e) learner responses (e.g., active involvement, rejection). Findings indicated that teachers were most likely to initiate teaching spontaneously rather than respond to direct requests by learners. Teachers were most likely to initiate teaching of procedural knowledge, while learners were most likely to request the teaching of conceptual knowledge. The type of teaching strategy employed depended on who initiated the teaching and the type of knowledge taught. The response of the learner was associated with who initiated the teaching and the teaching strategies employed. These findings reveal the nuances and sophistication of young children's attempts to teach one another naturally in their homes. Findings are discussed in light of recent empirical and theoretical work.     

Distributive Justice Beliefs are Guided by Whether People Think the Ultimate Goal of Society is Well-Being or Power

Abstract

Disagreements about how resources should be distributed are often heated, perhaps because people suspect that distributive justice beliefs that clash with their own derive from nefarious motives. In this paper, we consider a less pessimistic explanation for diversity in distributive justice beliefs: such beliefs are influenced by what one considers the primary utility or value of their society in the first place. In five studies (N?=?21,515), we demonstrate the existence of two separable types of distributive justice beliefs, one (Equality/need) influenced by a focus on societal well-being, and the other (Equity/merit) by a focus on societal power. These findings lend insight into how growing tensions rooted in resource allocation might be defuzed.     

The perception of digital objects and their impact on development

Clinical work with adolescents and young people over the last decade has indicated that an intense relationship to digital objects was a major aspect of their mental lives. Digital objects have become embedded, inextricably, within our psychology, emphasising the earliest drives and phantasies at some moments, yet giving rise to less familiar phenomena at other times. The aim of this paper is to consider how the rise in digital media and social networking is impacting upon the lives of young people and influencing the course of their development, with particular reference to the impact of visual media within social networks and how this has a distinct influence on mental functioning. In attempting to describe these processes, it is hoped that we can become more able to accompany younger or older people in their exploration of the digital world, which will be as important to them in their future adult lives as their mastery of the physical, external world was in early childhood. The need is pressing, since access to the digital world has significantly increased through the use of mobile, connected devices, and the further evolution of new technologies, such as ‘the internet of everything’ and ‘wearable tech’, are almost upon us.     

Childhood depression: A place for psychotherapy

Pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy are the two dominant mental health treatment modalities, but they are often taught and practised very separately leading to polarisation which may fragment treatment delivery. This paper presents results from a small qualitative study of interfaces between these modalities as described by medical and non-medical professionals practising in the National Health Service (NHS) and explores whether this polarisation maps to the Kleinian ‘P/S’ (paranoid/schizoid) and ‘D’ (depressive) positions, the ‘P/S’ position of omnipotence and dominance of one model over the other shifting the attention away from a more realistic ‘D’ position of integration and concern for the patient. The challenges to the integration of pharmacology and psychotherapy are examined in reference to cultural, organisational, relational and intrapsychic issues. Finally, clinical implications of an integrative approach are considered.     

‘Beyond forgetfulness’: How psychoanalytic ideas can help us to understand the experience of patients with dementia

We must cast ourselves forwards to a time when words must fail (Samuel Beckett, Happy days, 1961 Beckett, S. 1961. Happy days, London: Faber & Faber.  [Google Scholar]).

This paper approaches dementia and its care from a psychoanalytic perspective. It recognizes both the psychoanalytic literature on dementia and a biological understanding of neuro‐degenerative processes. Using neuro‐psychoanalysis to synthesize the two views, meeting points are found that may take the theoretical understanding of dementia processes a small step further, introducing the death instinct as one example. The mind and the brain are distinct entities which are also intimately related. A mind/brain model was proposed by Freud in his ‘project’ (1895). It pre‐dated his psychoanalytic work but was abandoned. None the less it runs as a rich vein throughout his work.

Although other causes exist there are two main types of dementia. Alzheimer's and vascular dementia have distinct differences and similarities in their respective clinical presentations. This paper explores the complex deterioration of brain and mind in both diseases and explains these in psychoanalytic terms. Developmental models of the mind are helpful, however dementia patients are adults, and are losing their minds in a non‐linear fashion. Dementia is not infant/child development in reverse order.

Three broad stages of dementia are proposed and psychoanalytic models of patient experience are suggested, as well as potentially offering ameliorating interventions. The first stage of dementia is dominated by anxiety and depression; also repression and denial and behavioural problems that may be akin to hysterical states. These seem to be amenable to analysis and psychoanalytically informed therapy. In the intermediate stages reality principle versus pleasure principle issues are patent, as are shame and humiliation (particularly around sexuality). Art and music therapies informed by psychoanalysis can be helpful as they depend less on words. In the final stages of extreme dependency, projective identification may be the most common method of communication. Understanding this phenomenon can assist sufferers and help carers to cope with unbearable states of mind. Some psychoanalytic ideas are already in use in some enlightened dementia services; there is room for more.     

Factors influencing self-rated fear to a novel animal

Abstract

This study attempted to assess some of the factors that influence self-rated fear of a novel animal. Subjects were: (1) shown a picture of an animal that was novel to them; (2) given a brief snippet of information about it; and then (3) asked to make a variety of assessments about their likely reaction to the animal. Self-reported levels of fear to the novel animal were significantly higher if subjects were told that people were generally frightened of the animal. However, the extent to which individual levels of disgust sensitivity informed fear to the novel animal was dependent on: (1) the information that subjects were given about the reasons why other people might fear the animal; and (2) the interaction between disgust sensitivity levels and other beliefs about the animal (such as beliefs about being attacked by the animal or being made ill by the animal). Although disgust sensitivity has been found to be a factor important in generating fear to fear-relevant animals, the present study suggests that it also plays an important role in informing fear to a novel animal.     

Does the Use of Connective Words in Written Assessments Predict High School Students’ Reading and Writing Achievement?

This study examined the relationship between ninth-grade students’ use of connectives (temporal, causal, adversative, and additive) in functional writing and performance on standards-based/criterion-referenced measures of reading and writing. Specifically, structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques were used to examine the relationship between students’ use of connectives in their functional writing and their reading and writing proficiency. Results indicated that the number of connectives used in functional writing was significantly correlated to writing test scores and reading comprehension test scores, no matter whether the effect of the common predictor was removed or not. The results provide support for future research in the study of connective words in relation to functional writing skills and reading comprehension.     

Intact emotion–cognition interaction in schizophrenia patients and first-degree relatives: Evidence from an emotional antisaccade task

Schizophrenia patients have deficits in cognitive control as well as in a number of emotional domains. The antisaccade task is a measure of cognitive control that requires the inhibition of a reflex-like eye movement to a peripheral stimulus. Antisaccade performance has been shown to be modulated by the emotional content of the peripheral stimuli, with emotional stimuli leading to higher error rates than neutral stimuli, reflecting an implicit emotion processing effect. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact on antisaccade performance of threat-related emotional facial stimuli in schizophrenia patients, first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. Fifteen patients, 22 relatives and 26 controls, matched for gender, age and verbal intelligence, carried out an antisaccade task with pictures of faces displaying disgusted, fearful and neutral expressions as peripheral stimuli. We observed higher antisaccade error rates in schizophrenia patients compared to first-degree relatives and controls. Relatives and controls did not differ significantly from each other. Antisaccade error rate was influenced by the emotional nature of the stimuli: participants had higher antisaccade error rates in response to fearful faces compared to neutral and disgusted faces. As this emotional influence on cognitive control did not differ between groups we conclude that implicit processing of emotional faces is intact in patients with schizophrenia and those at risk for the illness.     

Pathways of Growth in the Mother–Daughter Relationship

I focus on two central pathways of growth and change in the mother–daughter relationship—empathic attunement, which promotes a secure and cohesive sense of self, and mutual recognition of separate subjectivities, which advances differentiation of mother and daughter. A continually fluctuating balance between these two pathways of relating provides opportunities for self and mutual enhancement or possibly compromise of the relationship. Two nodal points during the life cycle, that of the daughter's adolescence and the mother's old age, are taken up through the use of film and a clinical vignette to illustrate, from a nonlinear dynamic systems theoretical perspective, movement toward maturity and transformation.