Legal ethics and the use of mental health experts in criminal cases

The ethical norms of attorneys in mental health law practice are guided by regulatory codes, professional standards, constitutional, evidentiary, and procedural laws, and personal moral values. This article addresses the contours of ethical practice for attorneys in their relationship with mental health experts. In particular, it examines the attorney's responsibility to zealously represent their clients and the ethical limits on such advocacy.     

Student recognition of and response to suicidal peers

ABSTRACT: A survey of 1,131 university freshmen revealed that they were able to recognize suicidal behavior in their peers, but were unsure of a helpful response to make to them. A model of self-efficacy, emotional comfort, knowledge of a helpful response, and knowledge of suicidal behavior predicted a student's intention to ask a suicidal peer directly, “Are you thinking about killing yourself?” (R² = .38). Results of the study suggest that suicide prevention programs for adolescents should include educational experiences such as modeling, skill training, and role playing to increase self-efficacy and emotional comfort in affect-laden situations.     

The relationship of gender,sex role,and law-and-order attitudes to nuclear opinions

Australian students' attitudes to nuclear weapons were considered in relation to sex-role identification and political orientations. By including a measure of sex-role orientation, we hoped to clarify earlier confusion surrounding gender as a predictor of nuclear views. Our hypothesis was that men and women with feminine sex-role orientations would display the strongest antinuclear feelings. Also, we predicted that an authoritarian political stance advocating strict law-and-order on the domestic front would predict support for nuclear weapons in international defense. The subjects were 46 male and 62 female first-year university students. The measure of nuclear attitudes was a 23-item inventory (NARQ) which had previously been extensively refined and validated for Australian populations (Jennings & Lawrence, 1986). The BSRI (Bem, 1974) measured sex-role orientation. An Australian law-and-order scale was also developed for this research. Latent trait models for rating data were applied to NARQ and law-and-order scales. The results revealed sex differences on approximately one-third of the nuclear opinion items, with men expressing stronger support for nuclear weapons in every case. Authoritarian law-and-order attitudes likewise predicted support for nuclear weapons in both men and women. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that BSRI masculinity and law-and order made separate, statistically significant, contributions to overall variation in nuclear views. These results were considered in relation both to previous research and to practical implications for political behavior.     

A comparative analysis of the empirical validity of past- and present-oriented biographical items

This study sought to determine whether changing the time orientation or biodata items from past to present would result in a reduction of the items' validity. It was predicated on the notion that the traditionally employed measures of past performance were potentially unfair, especially to minority applicants. Administered to 192 members of the Air National Guard, the set of biodata items measuring present behavior was found to have validity coefficients which are at least comparable, if not superior, to the set measuring past behavior.     

Hard andsoft interacting dimensions: Differential effects of dual context on classification

In this article, we extend Garner’s speeded classification procedure to investigate processes underlying the interaction of the auditory dimensions pitch, loudness, and timbre. In the experiments reported here, subjects classified attributes on these three auditory dimensions. Our extended procedure, calledmulticlass, is based conceptually on our model of how such dimensions interact; the model explains the perception of attributes from an attended dimension through the action of contextual constraints created by variation along an unattended dimension. Two forms of context are present simultaneously in each multiclass task:intraclass context, variation along the unattended dimension that interferes with the classification of attributes, andredundant context, variation along the unattended dimension that enhances classification. We find that such dual-context situations reliably distinguish two kinds of interacting dimensions. Subjects classifying HARD dimensions, here pitch and timbre, resist the ill effects of intraclass.context and reap gains from redundant context. Subjects classifying SOFT dimensions, here loudness, show interference because the attributes are veiled perceptually in dual context, These findings, we argue, demonstrate the power of the multiclass procedure and fit well our view-that dimensional interaction entails processing both at the level of the stimulus whale and at the level of stimulus attributes.     

A Taoist Paradigm of EAP Consultation

Recently, professionals of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) have offered consultation services to a diverse clientele, thus necessitating an understanding of the complexity of problems and structures of various organizational systems and subsystems. In this article the authors describe a new Taoist paradigm as an alternative approach to conceptualizing the consultation process and to formulating successful, isomorphic interventions constructed to facilitate four change processes. The paradigm presented stresses the following: the importance of interrelationships between individuals and groups; integrating repulsion and assimilation forces; balancing human and economic factors: cooperation; reinforcing strengths rather than weaknesses; encouraging solutions instead of problems; and respecting the consultee's structure and behavior.     

Further evidence for veridical perception during near-death experiences

We briefly survey research designed to validate alleged out-of-body perceptions during near-death experiences. Most accounts of this kind that have surfaced since Michael Sabom's work are unsubstantiated self-reports or, as in claims of visual perception of blind persons, completely undocumented or fictional, but there have been some reports that were corroborated by witnesses. We briefly present and discuss three new cases of this kind.