Prayer spaces in schools: a subversion of policy implementation?

Based on a major evaluation project, this article presents an emerging theme from research on the activities supported by Prayer Spaces in Schools, an organisation supporting ‘pop-up’ prayer spaces in schools across the UK and internationally. Evaluating the activities primarily in terms of their possible contribution to spiritual development, a number of important issues arose relating to policy on education and religion. This article focuses on how some engage with these prayer spaces as a way of reimagining and renegotiating educational policy. Based on data gathered from interviews with staff and students (aged 7–16) across seven schools in England, questionnaire responses from 555 students across 15 schools and feedback from two prayer spaces conferences, a hermeneutic approach is used to compare the interpretations of staff with those of students and the implicit positions of policy documents. This article explores various forms of policy implementation and how staff engagement with prayer spaces can be seen as a form of subversion, with staff tactically subverting policy implementation sometimes in order to promote the very intention of those policies – a form of what we refer to as subversive obedience.     

From Soma to Symbol: Psychosomatic Conditions and Transformative Experience,edited by Phyllis L. Sloate,Routledge, Abingdon and New York, (2018), 288 pp.

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Integrating covariates into circumplex structures: an extension procedure for Browne’s circular stochastic process model

Circumplex structures are elements of various psychological domains. Most work focuses on assessing the circular ordering of circumplex indicators and their relationships with covariates. In this article, an extension procedure for Browne’s circumplex model is presented. Our approach models the relationships among circumplex indicators and the relationships of covariates with a latent circumplex simultaneously without affecting the circumplex indicators’ positions on the circumplex. The approach builds upon Browne’s Fourier series parameterization of a correlation function, which is used to model the latent circumplex correlation structure. It extends the shape of the correlation function to the profile of each covariate’s correlations with the circumplex. The model is specified in the framework of structural equation modeling, thereby making it possible to test various hypotheses. Procedures are presented for deriving interval estimates for the parameters that relate the covariates to the circumplex. The model is compared to other approaches for assessing the relationships of a circumplex with covariates. The results of the exemplary applications and a simulation study were in favor of the suggested model. The approach is furthermore illustrated with a real-data example, focusing on the relationships between the interpersonal circumplex and the rivalry and admiration aspects of narcissism.     

Does resting electroencephalograph asymmetry reflect a trait? an application of latent state-trait theory

Recent research on brain asymmetry and emotion treated measures of resting electroencephalograph (EEG) asymmetry as genuine trait variables, but inconsistency in reported findings and modest retest correlations of baseline asymmetry are not consistent with this practice. The present study examined the alternative hypothesis that resting EEG asymmetry represents a superimposition of a traitlike activation asymmetry with substantial state-dependent fluctuations. Resting EEG was collected from 59 participants on 4 occasions of measurement, and data were analyzed in terms of latent state-trait theory. For most scalp regions, about 60% of the variance of the asymmetry measure was due to individual differences on a temporally stable latent trait, and 40% of the variance was due to occasion-specific fluctuations, but measurement errors were negligible. Further analyses indicated that these fluctuations might be efficiently reduced by aggregation across several occasions.     

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Family Emotional Involvement and Criticism Scale: evidence of the dimensionality of expressed emotion

Using a convenience sample of 152 married couples, the present study tested models that alternately considered family members' perceptions of Expressed Emotion to be a one-, two-, three-, or four-factor construct as measured by the Family Emotional Involvement and Criticism Scale. Results of confirmatory factor analysis procedures indicated that perceptions of Expressed Emotion were best represented by a four-factor model that consisted of involvement, criticism, upset feelings, and approval. The methodological implications of these findings are discussed.     

High-quality work,job satisfaction,and occupational injuries

The authors investigated whether and how 1 element of a high-performance work system, namely high-quality jobs (composed of extensive training, variety, and autonomy), affects occupational injuries. On the basis of data from the Australian WIRS95 database (N = 16,466; Department of Workplace Relations and Small Business, 1997), high-quality jobs exerted a direct effect on injuries and an indirect effect through the mediating influence of job satisfaction. Conceptual, methodological, and practical issues are discussed.