Performativity: Lyotard and Foucault Through Searle and Austin

Lyotard talks of performativity or the subsumption of education to the efficient functioning of the social system. Education is no longer to be concerned with the pursuit of ideals such as that of personal autonomy or emancipation, but with the means, techniques or skills that contribute to the efficient operation of the state in the world market and contribute to maintaining the internal cohesion and legitimation of the state. But this requires individuals of a certain kind -- not Kantian autonomous persons but Foucault's normalized and governable individuals. In constituting such individuals discourse is critically important. But how discourse effects this through the force of language is not fully developed by Foucault. This paper draws upon the performative account of language offered by John Austin to develop more fully comments made by Foucault on the force or effects of language in constituting normalized and governable individuals for the march of performativity.     

Preparing for the 21st Century: Some Goals and Challenges for Studies of Infant Sensory and Perceptual Development

While acknowledging that there has been enormous progress in our understanding of sensory and perceptual development in human infancy over the past three decades, this paper looks toward future directions in preparation for the 21st century. It is argued that investigators should move away from the categorical thinking that dominates the field and focus more on developmental process in studying the acquisition of perceptual skills. Also, more attention should be paid to the functional role of perceptual skills and less to demonstrations of discrimination. In addition, researchers should attempt to bring their work and conceptualizations more in line with that on adults and older children. Future work on sensory and perceptual development in infancy will be heavily influenced by our understanding of how the brain works, especially with refinements in brain imaging and neurophysiology and with developments in computational modeling of perceptual processes. Finally, it is likely that there will be increased application of research findings to such problems as identification of infants at risk.     

Book reviews and notes

GENERAL. A MEDIEVAL MUSLIM SCHOLAR AT WORK:IBN TAWUS AND HIS LIBRARY. By Etan Kohlberg. Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science: Texts and Studies. Edited by H. Daiber and D. Pingree. Vol. XXII. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1992. 470pp. Hb. $120.00. ISBN 90-04-09549-7. AL-FARABI AND HIS SCHOOL. By Ian Richard Netton. London and New York: Routledge, 1992. 128pp. £10.99. Pb. ISBN 0-415-03595-3; Hb. 0-415-03594-5. PROBLEMS OF THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF ALBERT HOURANI. Edited by John P. Spagnolo. Reading: Ithaca Press, 1992. 309pp. Hb. £30.00. ISBN 0-86372-164-8. WOMAN'S BODY, WOMAN'S WORLD: GENDER AND DISCOURSE IN ARAB-ISLAMIC WRITING. By Fedwa Malti-Douglas. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992. 206pp. $12.95. ISBN 0-691-01488-4. AVICENNA. By Lenn E. Goodman. London and New York: Routledge, 1992. 240pp. Pb.£12.99. ISBN: 0-415-07409-6. EURO-ARAB RELATIONS: A STUDY IN COLLECTIVE DIPLOMACY. By Haifaa A. Jawad. Reading: Ithaca Press, 1992. 302pp. Hb.£25.00. ISBN 0-86372-129-X. DER ISLAM: EIN LESEBUCH. Edited by MARIA HAARMANN. Beck'sche Reihe; 479. Munchen: C.H. Beck, 1992. 388pp. Pb. DM12.-. ISBN 3-406-340717. DIE ISLAMISCH WELT UND EUROPA: KULTURELLE VERSTAN-DIGUNG ALS POLITISCHE HERAUSFORDERUNG. By Hans A. Fischer-Barnicol. Stuttgart, Berlin, Koln: Verlag Kohlhammer, 1991. 260pp. Pb. DM34.80. ISBN 3-17-011749-1. DER KORAN: ARABISCH-DEUTSCH: UBERSETZUNG UND WISSENSCHAFTLICHER KOMMENTAR. By Adel Theodor Khoury. Band 3: sure 2,213-2,286. Gutersloh: Gutersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn, 1992. 299pp. Hb. DM175.-. ISBN 3-579-00338-0. SHIISM. By Heinz Halm. Islamic Surveys, 18. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press, 1992. 218pp. Hb. £25.00. ISBN 0-7486-0268-2. ISLAM-LEXIKON A-Z. By Adel Th. Khoury, Ludwig Hagemann and Petet Heine. 3 vols. Freiburg i.Br.: Herder, 1991. 941pp. Pb. DM78.00. ISBN 3-451-04036-0. LEXIKON DER ISLAMISCHEN WELT. By Klaus Kreiser and Rotraud Wielandt. Vollig uberarbeitete Neuausgabe. Stuttgart, Berlin, Koln: W. Kohlhammer, 1992. 289pp. Hb. DM34.00. ISBN 3-17-011770-X. ALLMACHT UND MACHTIGKEIT: RELIGION UND WELT IM ISLAM. By Johann Christoph Burgel. Munchen: C.H. Beck, 1991. 416pp. Hb. DM48.00. ISBN 3-406-35374-6. EXEGESE, LANGUE ET THEOLOGIE EN ISLAM: L'EXEGESE CORANIQUE DE TABARI. By Claude Gilliot. Paris: J. Vrin, 1990 320pp. Pb. 252FF. ISBN 2-7116-1033-0. INTERPRETATION IN RELIGION. Edited by Shlomo Biderman and Benami Scharfstein. Leiden, New York, Koln: E.J. Brill, 1992. 290pp. Hb. DFL.125.00; $71.50. ISBN 90-04-09519-5; ISSN 0924-7904. REGIONAL. Africa. THE SUFI BROTHERHOODS IN SUDAN. By Ali Salih Karrar. London: C. Hurst, 1992. Hb. £30.00. ISBN 1-85065-111-6. THE CALL FOR DEMOCRACY IN SUDAN. By John Garang. Edited and introduced by Mansour Khalid. London: Kegan Paul International, 1992. 292pp. Pb. £12.95. ISBN 0 7103 0401 3. L'ISLAM AU CHAD. Edited by Centre D'Etude D'Afrique Noire. Bordeaux Institute. d'Etudes Politiques de Bordeaux, 1992. Collection 'Etudes et Recherches'. Pb. 150pp. Pb. 110.00FF. ISBN 2-908065-12-6; ISSN 0151-0207-20. Asia. HAUS UND FAMILIE IN ARABISCHEN LANDERN: VOM MIT-TELALTER BIS ZUM GEGENWART. By Annagret Nippa. Munchen: C.H. Beck, 1991. 244pp. Pb. DM44.00. ISBN 3-406-34603-0. NOMAD: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A QASHQA'I TRIBESMAN IN IRAN. By Lois Beck. London: I.B. Tauris, 1991. 489pp. Pb.£14.95. ISBN 1-85043-364-X. THE NORTH CAUCASUS BARRIER: THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE TOWARDS THE MUSLIM WORLD. Edited by Marie Bennigsen Broxup. London: C. Hurst, 1992. 252pp. Hb. £27.50. ISBN 1-85065-069-1. ISLAM IN BANGLADESH. By U.A.B. Razia Akter Banu. International Studies in Sociology and Social Anthropology. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1992. 194pp. $43.00. ISBN 09-04-09497-0. Europe. THE NEW SCOTS: THE STORY OF ASIANS IN SCOTLAND. By Bashir Maan. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers, 1992. 216pp. Pb. £9.50. ISBN 0-85976-357-9. ARABS IN EXILE: YEMENI MIGRANTS IN URBAN BRITAIN. By Fred Halliday. London: I.B. Tauris, 1992. 166pp. Hb. £35.00. ISBN 1-85043-499-9. ISLAM IN SPANISH LITERATURE: FROM THE MIDDLE AGES TO THE PRESENT. By Luce Lopex-Baralt. Leiden, New York, Koln: E.J. Brill; San Juan: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1992. 323pp. Hb. DFL.145.00; $83.00. ISBN 90-94-09460-1. Middle East. PITY THE NATION: LEBANON AT WAR. By Robert Fisk. 2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. 703pp. Pb. £7.99. ISBN 0-19-285284-1. ARMENIA AND KARABAGH: THE STRUGGLE FOR UNITY. Edited by Christopher J. Walker. London: Minority Rights Group, 1991. 162pp. Pb. n.p. ISBN 1-873194-00-5. GENDER IN CRISIS: WOMEN AND THE PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE MOVEMENT. By Julie M. Peteet. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1991. 245pp. Cloth $43.50, pb. $16.00. ISBN 0-231-07446-8 cloth, 0-231-07447-6 pb. POLITICS IN THE MIDDLE EAST. By Elie Kedourie. Oxford, New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992. 366pp. Pb. £8,99. ISBN 0-19-289154-5. PALESTINE REBORN. By Walid Khalidi. London: I.B. Tauris, 1992. 234pp. Hb. £35.00, pb. £14.95. ISBN 1-85043-563-4 hb., 1-85043-559-6 pb. NASSER. By Peter Woodward. Profile in Power Series. London and New York: Longman, 1992. 167pp. Pb. £7.50. ISBN 0-582-03389-6. CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM RELATIONS. LES CHRETIENTES D'ORIENT ENTRE JIHAD ET DHIMMITUDE. By Bat Ye'or. Paris: Cerf, 1991. 529pp. Pb. FF199.00. ISBN 2-204-04347-8. NICOLAS OF CUSA IN SEARCH OF GOD AND WISDOM. Edited by Gerald Christianson and Thomas M. Izbicki. Studies in the History of Christian Thought, XLV. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1991. 298pp. Hb. DFL.140,00; $80.00. ISBN 90-04-09362-1. PRISONERS OF FAITH: A VIEW FROM WITHIN. By Nirmala Srinivasan. New Delhi, Newbury Park, London: Sage Publications, 1989. 219pp. Hb. Indian Rs 220.-. ISBN 81-7036-151 (India), 0-8039-9604-7 (US). NEW PERIODICALS ON FAITH ENCOUNTERS.     

Homemaking-role quality and the psychological well-being and distress of employed women

This paper examines the quality of employed women's experience in the homemaking-role and its relationship to their psychological well-being and distress. The subjects (N=403) were drawn from a random stratified sample of women, ages 25 to 55, who were employed as social workers or licensed practical nurses. Positive homemaking-role experience was associated with increased psychological well-being and lowered psychological distress. These associations were affected by the quality of the subjects' experiences in the paid work-role. Thus the favorable association of positive homemaking-role quality with psychological well-being and distress was enhanced by positive paid work-role quality, suggesting that the relationship of homemaking-role quality to the psychological outcomes is influenced by the effects of paid work-role quality on psychological well-being and distress.Data for this paper were collected as part of a larger project funded by the National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health (1 RO1-OHO-1968). The initial analyses and writing of this paper took place at the Center for Research on Women, Wellesley College, and was supported by NIMH postdoctoral training grant no. MH-17058-053. We would like to express special thanks to the late Grace K. Baruch for her enthusiastic support and encouragement of this paper.     

The treatment of exhibitionists: a focus on sexual deviance versus cognitive and relationship features

Two studies compared treatment of exhibitionists aimed at either: (1) modifying deviant sexual preferences; or (2) changing cognitions, enhancing relationship and interpersonal skills, and improving awareness of relapse prevention issues. Recidivism rates of these two programs were compared with each other and with the rates observed in untreated offenders. Results supported the focus on broader cognitive and social issues. Clearly exhibitionists can be treated effectively.     

Exhibitionists: sexual preferences for exposing

An assessment of the sexual preferences of exhibitionists and matched non-offenders, revealed greater arousal to scenes of exposing among the offenders but the actual degree of deviant preferences was not marked. Closer analyses of the individual response profiles, using various criteria for deviance, indicated that only a small proportion of exhibitionists displayed deviant arousal. We take these results, along with the findings from previous research, to deny the primacy of sexual motivation in exhibiting behavior. We also consider these results to indicate that there is little value in determining the sexual preferences of exhibitionists when planning treatment or estimating their risk to re-offend.     

A computer-automated laboratory for studying complex perception-action skills

In this paper, we describe a computer-based laboratory for collecting and analyzing real-time performance and eye-movement data by using video game-like tasks. These tasks assess skills that require the integration of varying numbers of perception and action components. Customized hardware and software are described for configuring tasks, collecting data, reconstructing performance, and organizing, editing, and reducing data. General design considerations are emphasized for solving several of the problems encountered in constructing a real-time data collection system. The paper concludes with examples of data that illustrate the system’s usefulness for studying complex perception-action skills.     

Development and validation of the Moral Outcomes of Relationship Aggression Scale: A measure of moral distress following intimate partner violence perpetration

Research with military veterans has established that distress may arise in response to perpetrating violent behaviors that violate individuals' moral beliefs. To date, no studies have similarly examined morally-related cognitive and emotional responses specifically among intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators. However, research on moral cognitions and emotions in response to IPV perpetration may inform understanding of the behavior and potential mechanisms for intervention. In the current series of four studies, we used classical test theory to develop a measure of moral distress following IPV perpetration that focuses on thoughts about the actions (assimilated cognitions), thoughts about the self due to one's actions (accommodated cognitions), and emotions experienced due to one's actions (moral emotions). Items were developed and tested among two samples of undergraduate students, and psychometric properties of the final measure were confirmed among two community samples. The final measure consists of three subscales consisting of five items each. Results demonstrate support for internal consistency and test–retest reliability, convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity, and factor structure. This measure can be used in future research designed to examine how individuals respond to their IPV perpetration, and to study the implications this may have for long-term outcomes and behavioral change.