Health Care Chaplains and their Role on Institutional Ethics Committees: An Australia Study

This paper presents the results of the largest Australian pastoral study concerning the perceptions of health care chaplains about their involvement on hospital research ethics committees (also known in some contexts as institutional ethics committees). Survey results from over 300 Australian health care chaplains indicated that nearly 90% of chaplains believed there was merit in chaplains serving on hospital research ethics committees, yet only a minority (22.7%) had ever participated on such committees. Data from in-depth interviews is also presented exploring the reasons for the lack of participation and the varying opinions regarding the role, appropriateness, and value of chaplains on ethics committees. Some implications of this study with respect to chaplaincy, hospital research ethics committees, health care institutions, ecclesiastical institutions, and government responsibilities are discussed.     

人与自然和谐的道德基础——古代"天人合一"思想的现代生态伦理启示

人与自然的和谐有着道德基础。古代的“天人合一”思想为我们从道德的视角研究人与自然的和谐,以及建构现代生态伦理观提供了一定的帮助。从道德的意义上,人与自然的和谐中人是道德主体,承担着全部道德责任,其行为是道德评价的对象。人对自然的适应与改造、尊重与利用是辩证的统一。     

慢性心力衰竭患者临床管理与评估

尽管近年来在慢性心力衰竭(CHF)的治疗方面取得了较大的进展,但CHF患者仍有较高的住院率及病死率.CHF临床实践指南的发布促进了规范化治疗.为了取得良好的医疗效果,临床医生必须对心力衰竭患者提供一系列复杂的药物治疗及严格的自我控制措施.随着医学的不断发展,出现了包括心脏再同步化起搏、左心室辅助装置或心脏移植等治疗,而这些手段常需要在对患者进行危险性评估的基础上进行.严格遵循指南并使CHF患者出院后的教育与各种支持项目相结合才能够在一定程度上减低患者的再住院率及病死率.     

Projective identification as a communication its grammar in borderline psychotic children

This paper distinguishes between the grammar of wishes in neurotic patients and the grammar of imperative needs in borderline patients. The treatment of a borderline psychotic boy 30 years ago was uninformed by subsequent developments in technique arising from the theory of projective identification as a communication rather than as an attack or a defense. Issues that need addressing in borderline patients, especially those who are children, include (a) developmental delay, (b) the distinction between defenses and overcomings in the paranoid position, (c) rectification fantasies of vengeance, and (d) rectification fantasies of justice and other moral imperatives.     

Existential Beliefs,Social Satisfaction,and Well-Being Among Catholic,Jewish, and Protestant Older Adults

Religiousness, spirituality, and existential beliefs are important sources of well-being yet neither their specific effects nor group variation in them is well understood. In a sample of more than 1,000 older adults, we found that certain existential beliefs or concerns (fear of God, death anxiety, belief in life after death, concerns about being mourned) are correlates of well-being in older adults and differed across religious groups. Protestants reported better well-being than Catholics and Jews. Differences in social satisfaction and existential concerns partially explained these differences, which were not explained by demographics. These results suggest the importance of studying well-being and religion in a way that appreciates the differences among religious groups and further of looking at the specific beliefs of different groups.     

Right‐wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation differentially predict biased evaluations of media reports

This study tested the dual‐process motivational (DPM) model, which posits that right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) differentially predict attitudes toward socially threatening or subordinate groups, respectively. Participants read articles on same‐sex relationships and affirmative action and evaluated the article content and the biases of the article authors. The article conclusions (i.e., pro‐ or anti‐same‐sex relationships and affirmative action) were varied between subjects. As expected, only RWA predicted evaluations of the same‐sex relationships articles and authors, whereas only SDO predicted evaluations of the affirmative action articles and authors. These results extend applications of the dual‐process model by demonstrating that RWA and SDO differentially predict evaluations of political information that pertains to socially threatening or subordinate groups, respectively.     

The Effects of Subject-and Experimenter-Induced Defensive Response Sets on Picture-Frustration Test Reactions

Thirty male college students, half scoring high and half low on the MMPI K-scale, were administered a multiple-choice (M-C) modification of the Rosenzweig P-F Study under three instructional sets. Two of these sets were induced by E and compared with the third which represented S's normal test-taking set. The two induced sets included (1) a “should” set in which concern for the social consequences of behavior was accentuated, and (2) a “wish” set in which concern for social consequences was minimized, and freedom of self-expression was accentuated.

It was hypothesized that Ss making extremely high or low scores on the K-scale would likewise score differently on the M-C, P-F test. High K, defined by its authors as a measure of test defensiveness, and low K, as test-taking candidness, would be associated with P-F score patterns reflecting these test-taking attitudes: High K Ss showing Impunitive (M) dominant reaction patterns and low K showing Extrapunitive (E) or Intropunitive (I) dominant patterns. These hypothèses were confirmed except that intropunitive responses were extremely rare in the entire subject sample.

It was further hypothesized that the typical high K pattern would be induced in low K Ss under the “should” instructional set and the low K pattern would be elicited from high K Ss under “wish” instructions. This expectation was confirmed. It was suggested that the technique of manipulating responses via test taking instructions can generate correction factors useful in projective as well as structured personality tests.     

The Role of Defense Mechanisms in Borderline and Antisocial Personalities

Fifty-eight adult male felons were given the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI), and the Draw-a-Person Test (DAP) to test the relative sensitivity of subtlety or obviousness of items to response Sets. The inmates were randomly assigned to three response set groups: a fake-aggressive group, a fake-nonaggressive group, and a standard-instruction control group. The MMPIs were scored for five obvious and five subtle aggression or hostility research scales. The BDHI is a totally obvious test, whereas the DAP is a very subtle measure. A paradoxical relationship between response set and subtlety of the scales was hypothesized, such that the obvious scales could be successfully faked, hut the subtle scales would show scores in the opposite from the intended direction. It was found that the inmates did correctly manipulate the obvious scales, but the subtle scales did not consistently show the hypothesized trend. Possible reasons for this are discussed, including the nature of the scales used and characteristics of the population.     

Sensuality and venality in Bangkok: The dynamics of cross‐cultural mapping of prostitution

The dynamics of cross‐cultural cognitive mapping is examined, from a Schuetzian perspective, on the example of the changing images formed by farangs (white foreigners) of Thai girls engaged in “open‐ended” tourist‐oriented prostitution, a vaguely‐defined, gray area lying between “full‐fledged prostitution” and “straight” sexuality. The newcomer farang, unable to grasp this culture‐specific category, initially tends to refuse to label the girls as “prostitutes,” but, with growing experience, tends to apply that label to them, without, however, thereby resetting the boundaries of his cognitive map. He thus fails to make the transition from strangeness to familiarity with the host culture, as conceived by Schuetz—since he continues to impose the crisp categorizations prevalent in his culture of origin, on a situation which is fuzzily conceived in different categories by the hosts. The case study exemplifies the difficulties of a cross‐cultural definition and identification of prostitution.