Education as ethics: Emmanuel Levinas on Jewish schooling

For Levinas, the moment of real meaning is in the relation sustained with alterity. This relation is difficult or impossible to characterize philosophically, however, because to render it in comprehensive or objective terms would reduce the relation to one of comprehension and make it commensurate with the ego. Thus philosophy has an ambivalent status with respect to transcendence and ethics; but Levinas is convinced of the essentially transcendent or ethical meaning of Judaic practice: Talmudic exegesis, but also Jewish ritual and the keeping of the sabbath; and these elements are included within a conception of Jewish educational practices. Thus to what extent transcendent meaning can be discussed in philosophical terms and evinced in philosophical work (theoretical and practical)—or rather, to what extent transcendent meaning is possible at all—may be clarified by a sketch of Levinas’ broad approach to Jewish practice, particularly in terms of education. This essay shows how Jewish education is essential for transcendence and ethics for Levinas. Reference is made to several untranslated texts that Levinas published for intellectual but nonacademic French-Jewish journals, in which he explains his own pedagogical vocation. This offers an invaluable perspective on his philosophical and Judaic writings; and above all it gives an indication of his vision of the quotidian and life-long educational practices through which ethics and the transcendent relation between human beings are possible. Finally it raises the question of whether a secular or philosophical education could offer this as well.     

A Mother,A Baby,and Two Treatment Approaches: Discussing A Switch Case from CBT and Mentalization Perspectives

ABSTRACT

As the literature on perinatal depression and anxiety grows, there is an increased need for dialogue among theoretical approaches for mother-infant mental health. This article describes a community mental health program incorporating a range of treatment models for pregnant and postpartum women experiencing issues during the transition to parenthood. Perinatal distress can affect parenting practices, from breastfeeding to health care access, creating the need for targeted, practical, and concrete interventions. Interventions that aim to foster secure attachment relationships and mentalization capacities can also help increase maternal sensitivity and attunement and joy in caregiving, and reduce withdrawn/hostile behaviors that may be associated with perinatal distress. The article describes psychotherapy with a mother and her newborn that began from a cognitive-behavioral approach and transitioned to a psychodynamic mentalization-focused treatment. Working principles and examples of two additional components of treatment, a group psychotherapy and research measures, are discussed. The case helps demonstrate how attachment theory can inform treatment and build a bridge between alternative approaches.     

Peer victimization and social‐emotional outcomes: The role of teacher and peer support

The relation between peer victimization, risk of social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties, and school‐based sources of social support for students in elementary and middle school were examined. Participants included 656 students in third to eighth grade from one school district. Results indicated that peer support mediated the relation between peer victimization and risk of social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties, but teacher support did not mediate this relation. Conditional indirect effects analyses revealed that the indirect effect of peer support varied as a function of school level (i.e., intermediate and middle school). The implications and limitations of the current study are discussed, as well as directions for future research.

     

Effects of homophobic name‐calling and verbal sexual harassment on substance use among young adults

Verbal aggression victimization, such as homophobic name‐calling, has been linked to heavier substance use among young people, but little longitudinal research has examined how different types of victimization may affect substance use or whether certain psychosocial factors moderate these risks. In a diverse cohort (N = 2,663), latent transition analysis was used to model heterogeneity in victimization (age 19) and substance use (age 20). Four victimization (high victimization, homophobic name‐calling only, verbal sexual harassment only, and low victimization) and three substance use (poly‐substance use, alcohol, and cannabis only, low all) classes were identified. The high victimization and homophobic name‐calling only classes had the highest probabilities of transitioning into the poly‐substance use class, and the high victimization class had the highest probability of transitioning into the alcohol and cannabis only class. The probability of transitioning into the low all substance use class was highest in the low victimization class and lowest in the high victimization class. For the high victimization class, greater depressive symptoms increased the odds, and better peer relationship quality decreased the odds, of transitioning into the poly‐substance use and alcohol and cannabis only classes. For the homophobic name‐calling only class, greater depressive symptoms increased the odds of transitioning into the poly‐substance use class. Homophobic name‐calling, alone or in combination with verbal sexual harassment, is a risk factor for escalating substance use in young adulthood, especially among victims with depressive symptoms.     

On the Efficiency Objection to Workplace Democracy

Ethical Theory and Moral Practice - Are workers dominated? A recent suite of neo-republican and relational egalitarian philosophers think they are. Suppose they are right; that is, suppose that...     

When unfair treatment helps performance

Human beings are responsive to fairness violations. People reject unfair offers and go out of their way to punish those who behave unfairly. However, little is known regarding when unfair treatment can either help or harm performance. We found that basketball players were more likely to make free throws after being awarded a foul specific to unfair treatment (Study 1). Similarly, hockey players were more likely to score during a penalty shot compared to a shootout (Study 2). A laboratory experiment showed that participants were more accurate at golf putting after a previous attempt had been unfairly nullified (Study 3). However, a final experiment revealed that when the task was more demanding, unfair treatment resulted in worse performance (Study 4). Moreover, this effect was mediated by feelings of anger and frustration. These results suggest that performance is sensitive to perceptions of fairness and justice.     

Microaggressions and Perceptions of Cultural Humility in Counseling

The purpose of this study was to explore how microaggressions affect counseling outcomes. Participants were 128 racial/ethnic minority individuals who had been in counseling within the past year. Results indicated that identity attributions were associated with counseling outcomes (i.e., working alliance and perceived improvement in counseling). Furthermore, perceptions of cultural humility mediated the relationship between negative emotion due to rupture and counseling outcomes (i.e., working alliance and perceived improvement in counseling).     

Competition Anxiety,Motivation, and Mental Toughness in Golf

The purpose of this study was to examine whether one's profile of motivation was associated with competition anxiety through mental toughness among 173 competitive golfers (164 men, 9 women). Latent profile analysis identified three distinct motivation profiles (high, moderate, and low motivation). Multicategorical mediation models demonstrated that athletes reporting low or moderate levels of motivation had higher levels of competition anxiety, with these associations partially mediated by lower levels of mental toughness. These findings would permit practitioners to better understand motivation, mental toughness, and competition anxiety symptoms, and their associations.