Sources of Psychological Pain and Suicidal Thoughts Among Homeless Adults

Homeless adults experience problems in multiple areas of their lives. It was hypothesized that adults who were troubled by problems in more areas of their lives would be more likely to report suicidal thoughts. The sample included 457 homeless men and women who resided in three emergency shelters. The number of sources of psychological pain, past suicide attempts, and being a man predicted current suicidal thoughts, but being diagnosed with a depressive disorder did not. Shelter workers should ask adults whether they have attempted suicide in the past and how troubled they are by each area of their lives.     

Research on Teaching the Psychology of Women

Research into the impact of psychology of women courses (and women's studies, generally) has been conducted only infrequently. The literature consists largely of anecdotal reports of changes in attitudes toward women as a function of participating in such courses. Existing quantitative studies are usually limited to measures of pre-course to post-course attitude changes, and occasionally such changes are related to demographic factors. The purpose of this article is to review current studies and to suggest additional research approaches in this area. At least three methods are recommended for studying the effect of psychology of women courses. First, there is a need for comparative studies of two types: psychology of women course vs. other course comparisons, and psychology of women course vs. other related experiences (consciousness-raising groups, feminist therapy, etc.). Second, there is a need for follow-up assessment of students in these courses. Finally, in both the comparative and follow-up studies, behavioral measures should be used.