Attributions About Acquaintance Rape: The Role of Alcohol and Individual Differences1

Reactions to an acquaintance rape scenario were examined for effects of respondent gender and portrayals of different levels of alcohol intoxication on attributions of responsibility and blame. Comparisons of conditions in which both victim and perpetrator were described as experiencing equivalent levels of intoxication revealed that participants rated the victim as more, but the perpetrator as less, responsible and blameworthy after consuming alcohol-particularly when drinking was accompanied by clear signs of behavioral impairment. In contrast, when the victim was more intoxicated and impaired than her assailant, intoxication of the perpetrator did not serve to excuse his behavior, but actually incriminated him more. Women generally assigned more blame to the victim. Individual differences in rape myth acceptance also influenced attributions.     

Intensity effects of the auditory evoked brain response to stimulus onset and cessation

Average evoked brain responses (EBR) to the onset (ON) and cessation (OFF) of 1-kHz pure-tone stimuli were computed from human scalp recordings. Stimuli of 2,000 msec duration were presented binaurally at 10 intensity levels. The waveform of the OFF EBR is similar to the ON EBR. The ON response is in general larger than the OFF response. Comparable ON and OFF amplitude response measures are both sensitive to changes in stimulus intensity which may be fit by a linear function. Significant differences in slope between ON and OFF amplitude intensity functions were demonstrated, which suggests different physiological systems for these responses.     

Scientific neo‐paganism and the extreme right then and today: From Ludendorff ‘s Gotterkenntnis to Sigrid Hunke's Europas Eigene religion

During the Weimar Republic, flourishing new religions were harnessed to usher in the cultural revolution from the right that was soon dominated by the Nazis. J. William Hauer's Deutsche Glaubensbewegung, an umbrella group for numerous new religions whose teachings ranged from versions of Hinduism to Nordic Neo‐Paganism, all collaborated, at some point, with Hitler and his party. This paper shows the continuity of core ideas from Mathilde Ludendorff's Gotterkenntnis to Hauer's Glaubensbewegung and, importantly, Sigrid Hunke's Unitarier. It shows, further, the close connections between these forms of neo‐paganism and the present‐day European New Right. The paradoxical co‐occurrence in fascism of a religious populism and a meta‐political elitism, philosophical vitalism, and dreams of national or European rebirth has its roots in these French and German forms of neo‐paganism.     

Does humor facilitate coping with physical discomfort?

The mediation of superior coping with physical discomfort after humorous stimulation was explored through respondents' exposure to materials varying markedly in their capacity to evoke amusement and joviality. Both male and female respondents were exposed to (a) stand-up comedy, (b) situation comedy, (c) serious drama, (d) instructional material, or (e) tragedy. Discomfort threshold for cuff pressure at the upper arm was ascertained prior to and following exposure. Cognitive and affective responses to the materials were recorded after the postexposure threshold measurement. Compared against exposure to instructional material in the control condition, and compared against pre-exposure threshold measures, exposure to either type of comedy and, unexpectedly, to tragedy significantly elevated the threshold for physical discomfort in both male and female respondents. Serious drama had no such effect. Taken together, the exposure effects on the discomfort threshold could not be attributed to amusement reactions. Nor could they be considered mediated by responses of positive hedonic quality during and after exposure. There was some indication, however, that the capacity of stimuli to evoke humorous reactions (material being deemed funny) and the absorption potential of stimuli (material being deemed captivating) were positively involved in the mediation of postexposure tolerance of physical discomfort.The authors would like to thank Charles Aust, Rahul Biswas, Ted Jones, and John Owens for their assistance in the data collection and in the planning of this investigation.     

A COMPONENT ANALYSIS OF FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING ACROSS THREE TOPOGRAPHIES OF SEVERE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

We evaluated the separate treatment components of a functional communication training program for 3 severely handicapped persons who each displayed different topographies of aberrant behavior. Following a functional analysis of maintaining conditions for inappropriate behavior (self-injury, stereotypy, aggression), each participant was trained to emit a communicative response that functioned to solicit reinforcement. For 2 participants, consequences (time-out or graduated guidance) for inappropriate behavior were also included. Treatment continued until the participants emitted the communicative response independently and no occurrences of inappropriate behavior were observed for at least two sessions. Following treatment, the separate contributions of the treatment components for communicative responding and for inappropriate behavior were evaluated with a reversal design. The results indicated that both sets of treatment components were necessary for maximal control over aberrant behavior. These results are discussed in relation to the efficiency, history, and control over reinforcement of both appropriate and inappropriate responses.     

Total number of MMPI-2 clinical scale elevations predicts premature termination after controlling for intake symptom severity and personality disorder diagnosis

Premature termination of therapy by patients is a common phenomenon that can be deleterious to treatment outcome for patients and also negatively affect therapists, treatment centers, and research programs. Therefore, a method of identifying patients at risk for premature termination could have widespread benefits. This study investigated whether patients’ MMPI-2 profiles, including clinical scale elevations and Negative Treatment Indicator (TRT) scores, could predict premature termination in an outpatient sample, controlling for personality disorder diagnosis and symptom severity at intake. Results indicated that while TRT scores were not incrementally predictive of premature termination, the total number of clinical scale elevations was significantly incrementally predictive of dropout. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Depressed mothers’ infants show less negative affect during non-contingent interactions

Infants of depressed and non-depressed mothers were videotaped interacting with their mothers in the [Nadel, J., Carchon, I., Kervella, C., Marcelli, D., & Reserbat-Plantey, D. (1999). Report: Expectancies for social contingency in 2-month-olds. Developmental Science, 2, 164–173] paradigm which consists of three segments including: (1) a free play, contingent interaction, (2) a non-contingent replay of the mothers’ behavior that had been videotaped during the first segment, and (3) a return to a free play, contingent interaction. As compared to infants of non-depressed mothers, infants of depressed mothers showed less negative change (less increase in frowning) in their behavior during the non-contingent replay segment. This finding was interpreted as the infants of depressed mothers being more accustomed to non-contingent behavior in their mothers, thus experiencing less violation of expectancy in this situation.     

Practitioners’ perspectives on the use of clinical supervision in their therapeutic engagement with asylum seekers and refugee clients

The present study is the first study undertaken in Australia that seeks to explore practitioners’ perspectives on the use of clinical supervision in their therapeutic engagement with asylum seekers and refugees. We used thematic analysis to analyse extracts of interviews that were conducted with nine professionals who worked therapeutically with asylum seekers and refugees and had experience of participating in individual and peer supervision. The findings of the study suggest that supervision encouraged practitioners to develop multicultural awareness and explore therapeutic ways of working that are compatible with their clients’ frame. In addition, supervision provided the context in which practitioners explored the impact of the asylum legislative framework on their clinical work and reflected upon their feelings of powerlessness and political impotence. Implications for practice that derive from supervisory needs of practitioners who work with asylum seekers and refugees are explored.