Trauma Affect Regulation Psychoeducation Group and Milieu Intervention Outcomes in Juvenile Detention Facilities

This article reports outcomes of Trauma Affect Regulation: Guide for Education and Therapy (TARGET), a group and milieu intervention, in three juvenile detention facilities, controlling for site, length of stay, ethnicity, number of arrests, mental health and traumatic stress problems, and cohort effects. Linear multiple regression results showed that every session of TARGET received in the first seven days of detention was associated with 54% fewer disciplinary incidents and 72 fewer minutes of disciplinary seclusion ( p < .001) for each youth during the modal stay (14 days) in detention. TARGET group participation was unrelated to recidivism, but recidivism declined significantly following implementation of TARGET. Implementing TARGET in juvenile detention facility milieus might improve safety, reduce punitive sanctions, and potentially reduce recidivism.     

Human Capital Models and the Gender Pay Gap

This paper provides a commentary on the article by Lips (2012), “The Gender Pay Gap: Challenging the Rationalizations, Perceived Equity, Discrimination, and the Limits of Human Capital Models.” It provides some economic background for human capital models that try to explain gender pay gaps, and discusses the limitations of the models. It assesses some of Lips’ criticisms of the model. In contrast to Lips, the author believes that human capital theorists are generally aware of the limitations of their models, and she believes that human capital models make a valuable contribution to the literature on the gender pay gap. The author also uses her own research to illustrate how human capital variables can be combined with variables from psychology and other fields to try to understand the salary differences between men and women in specific professions. The Appendix provides a list of some 2011 and 2012 studies that examine gender differences in pay in various countries and the types of data used.     

Psychoanalysis in conjunction with medication: a clinical research opportunity

The increasingly common practice of introducing medication into the analytic relationship is of practical and theoretical concern to analysts. Pharmacological agents and their somatic effects, it is argued, may be seen as a research equivalent to brain lesions, long favored tools in correlating brain with mind function, while psychoanalytic process data may be seen as a fine-tuned instrument for studying the subjective and emotional processes that reflect the underlying brain effect. A method of naturalistic study of psychoanalytic process both with and without a psychopharmacological agent is described and illustrated in two patients. The potential of this method for providing data useful in understanding the mechanism of action of psychoactive medications and of individual variations in response is explored. Both patients, treated with stimulant for ADHD, showed striking differences in self- and object representation, defense, affect, and cognition that correlated with analytic periods on and off the medication. The implications of these observations for understanding both the action of the medication and the fundamental functional disruptions in the condition are explored as well.     

Understanding the Sex Difference in Vulnerability to Adolescent Depression: An Examination of Child and Parent Characteristics

This study examined sex differences in risk factors associated with adolescent depression in a large sample of boys and girls. Moderation and mediation explanatory models of the sex difference in likelihood of depression were examined. Findings indicate that the factors associated with depression in adolescent boys and girls are quite similar. All of the variables considered were associated with depression, but sex did not moderate the impact of vulnerability factors on likelihood of depression diagnosis. However, negative self-perceptions in the domains of achievement, global self-worth, and physical appearance partially mediated the relationship between sex and depression. Further, girls had higher levels of positive self-perceptions in interpersonal domains that acted as suppressors and reduced the likelihood of depression in girls. These findings suggest that girls' higher incidence of depression is due in part to their higher levels of negative self-perceptions, whereas positive interpersonal factors serve to protect them from depressive episodes.     

Sex differences in landmark learning by children aged 5 to 12 years

Previous research has shown that men and boys learn routes faster and with fewer errors than do women and girls. Research with adults suggests that men use Euclidean cues when learning a route, whereas women use landmark-based strategies. The strategies used by children have received little study. In Exp. 1, 50 boys and girls, ages 5 to 12 years, were shown a map that contained only landmarks (no streets or roads) and were asked to learn a route consisting of 23 of the landmarks. The children used a pointer to trace the route on the map to a criterion of two successive trials without errors. The performance of boys and girls did not differ significantly on this route-learning task on three measures (number of trials to reach criterion, total time to reach criterion, and total number of errors). In Exp. 2, 52 boys and girls, ages 5 to 12 years, were shown the same map as in Exp. 1 and were asked to learn a route consisting of 12 landmarks. The children traced the route by picking pictures of landmarks in the correct order from a stack of cards with pictures of landmarks on them. Girls made significantly fewer errors than boys on this route-learning task in Exp. 2, and a significantly larger number of girls than boys completed the task. None of the boys in the 5- to 6-yr.-old age group learned the route. When Euclidean cues were minimized in Exp. 2, boys made more errors and took as much time as girls to reach the criterion of two successive correct trials.     

Self-help efforts in a squatter community: Implications for addressing contemporary homelessness

This analysis addresses the nature of contemporary homelessness in the United States, the historical foundations of the shelter system, and survival strategies utilized by homeless persons in meeting their physical, social, and psychological needs. A framework that examines the degree of publicness/privateness and permanency/temporariness of spaces utilized by homeless persons is applied to a case study of a self-help squatter community living on an empty lot in New York City. By looking at the members of the group, their relationship to their neighbors and the local community, and their approaches in dealing with their needs, an assessment is made of this labor-intensive, self-help effort for providing shelter. Implications of self-help approaches are related to policy development and further research.     

Legal proceedings,reforms, and emerging issues in child sexual abuse cases

Criminal and civil proceedings are outlined for cases of intrafamilial child abuse. Statutory reforms and court decisions in the area of sex abuse are reviewed, citing their potential beneficial and harmful effects on both offenders and victims. Finally, the roles of children and mental health experts in court proceedings are discussed.     

Attractiveness and Income for Men and Women in Management1

It is commonly believed that attractive people are more successful, but the empirical support for this belief is mixed. A number of role-playing, laboratory studies have demonstrated that more attractive men are more often hired, but the laboratory data for women are less consistent. Few studies have explored the effects of attractiveness on actual hiring and starting salaries for men or women. Even less work has been done on the impact of attractiveness once on the job. It was predicted that there would be positive effects for attractiveness and that the effects would be stronger as people worked longer on their jobs. To test this prediction, a sample of 737 male and female MBA graduates from the years between 1973 and 1982 was used to explore how facial attractiveness relates to starting and later salaries. Results indicated that more attractive men had higher starting salaries and they continued to earn more over time. For women, there was no effect of attractiveness for starting salaries, but more attractive women earned more later on in their jobs. By 1983, men were found to earn $2600 more on the average for each unit of attractiveness (on a 5-point scale) and women earned $2150 more. Implications for research in this area are discussed.