The violent matrix: a study of structural,interpersonal, and intrapersonal violence among a sample of poor women

One goal of this paper is to present an integrated tripartite model of violence, with a focus on structural violence within an oppression paradigm. Using qualitative and quantitative data from 27 women (70% African American and 30% European American) who participated in a national substance abuse treatment demonstration program, we describe a model of violence in which structural violence is presented within a transactional relationship with interpersonal, and intrapersonal violence. We suggest that the effects of structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal violence are magnified when race and poverty are considered. The second goal of the paper is to present a preliminary test of the new model of violence. Results indicated that different levels and types of violence are interrelated. Implications of these findings for empowering solutions are suggested.     

On Selective Left Neglect during Walking in a Child

In this article we describe a child affected by right parieto-occipital lesion due to head injury. The patient showed left hemianopia, but not unilateral spatial neglect on traditional paper-and-pencil tests and on "ecological" tests. However, his parents reported frequent collisions with obstacles on the left side. A specific test was set up: The patient had to kick down skittles put on both sides of a route traced on the floor. He kicked down 89% of skittles on the right, but only 38% on the left side. These findings are discussed in light of recent theories on unilateral neglect.     

Emotion in Childbirth

This paper looks at the emotions of bringing a child into the world. It addresses the psychological observations that childbearing can involve notable emotional upheaval for both a woman and her partner. It shows that Jews have long accepted the heightened emotions of childbearing as normal; moreover, they have found ways of expressing and channeling their anxieties and happiness, giving them a constructive spirituality.     

Culture and Negotiator Cognition: Judgment Accuracy and Negotiation Processes in Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures

In this paper, we argue that judgment biases in negotiation are perpetuated by underlying cultural values and ideals, and therefore, certain judgment biases will be more prevalent in certain cultural contexts. Based on theory in cultural psychology (Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Triandis, 1989), we considered the notion that fixed pie error, a judgment bias in which negotiators fail to accurately understand their counterparts' interests (Pruitt & Lewis, 1975; Thompson & Hastie, 1990), would be more prevalent at the end of negotiations in the United States, an individualistic culture, than Greece, a collectivistic culture. The results of a 2-week computer-mediated intercultural negotiation experiment, which took place between American students in Illinois and Greek students in Athens, supported this view. Theoretical implications of culture and cognition in negotiation are also discussed.     

The Association of Group Self-Identification and Adolescent Drug Use in Three Samples Varying in Risk1

This study provides a cross-sectional analysis of the relations between group self-identification and adolescent drug use in 3 samples of youth: comprehensive high-school, continuation high-school, and runaway/street youth. Youth identified with discrete groups in all 3 samples, and similar general groups were formed. In most comparisons, a high-risk group showed greater levels of drug use than did other groups. This is the first study to demonstrate that group self-identification (a) is a generalizable construct across different types of adolescent samples, (b) is related to use of drugs other than tobacco, and (c) remains a significant correlate of drug use controlling for its relations with demographic variables and several other psychosocial variables.     

Using high-probability foods to increase the acceptance of low-probability foods

Studies have evaluated a range of interventions to treat food selectivity in children with autism and related developmental disabilities. The high-probability instructional sequence is one intervention with variable results in this area. We evaluated the effectiveness of a high-probability sequence using 3 presentations of a preferred food on increasing acceptance in a child with autism who refused a few specific foods. The high-probability sequence increased acceptance of 3 foods. We then systematically faded the intervention for 2 foods.     

Impact of treatment integrity on intervention effectiveness

Treatment integrity has cogent implications for intervention effectiveness. Understanding these implications is an important, but often neglected, undertaking in behavior analysis. This paper reviews current research on treatment integrity in applied behavior analysis. Specifically, we review research evaluating the relation between integrity failures and the efficacy of behavioral interventions. Avenues for future research are provided.     

On the relationship between implicit and explicit self-esteem: The moderating role of dismissing attachment

Recently, dual models of social cognition have distinguished the implicit (affective) and the explicit (propositional) levels of self-esteem. Many studies have found that implicit and explicit self-esteem are weakly or even not correlated. Concerning the moderating factors of such a relationship, other studies stressed the importance of emotional awareness in the translation of implicit self-evaluations into a propositional format. If so, the defensive strategy which characterizes dismissing attachment should determine a fictitious explicit self-image, by impairing the awareness of self-related emotional experiences. At the implicit level, instead, such defensive processes should not operate. We therefore hypothesized that dismissing attachment would increase the implicit-explicit self-esteem discordance. Participants were 145 university students with a mean age of 20.4 (SD = 2.75). Moderated multiple regression analyses were conducted to test for the interactive effects of the Self-Esteem Implicit Association Test and the Attachment Style Questionnaire scales on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Findings revealed an interaction effect only for the relationships as secondary scale, confirming that dismissing style, but not other attachment dimensions, increases implicit-explicit self-esteem discordance.     

Judaism and Health: Reflections on an Emerging Scholarly Field

This paper surveys the field of Judaism and health. The authors trace the history of discourse on health and healing within Judaism, from the biblical and rabbinic eras to contemporary research and writing on Jewish bioethics, pastoral care, communal services, and aging, including congregational and community programming related to health and illness and the emergence of the Jewish healing movement. The work of the Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health is described, focusing on efforts to unite these various threads into a scholarly field emphasizing basic and applied research on the instrumental functions of Jewish religious life for health and well-being.     

X-rated material and perpetration of sexually aggressive behavior among children and adolescents: is there a link?

Longitudinal linkages between intentional exposure to x-rated material and sexually aggressive behavior were examined among youth 10-15 year olds surveyed nationally in the United States. At Wave 1 in 2006, participants (n = 1,588) were queried about these exposures and outcomes in the preceding 12 months. Wave 2 data (n = 1,206) were collected approximately 12 months after Wave 1 and Wave 3 data (n = 1,159) were collected approximately 24 months after Wave 1. Thus, data for this project represent a 36-month time frame. A marginal model with generalized estimating equations was used to represent the population-average odds of sexually aggressive behavior over the 36 months as a function of exposure to x-rated material over the same time and to account for clustering in the data within person over time. An average of 5% of youth reported perpetrating sexually aggressive behavior and 23% of youth reported intentional exposure to x-rated material. After adjusting for other potentially influential proximal (i.e., sexual aggression victimization) and distal characteristics (e.g., substance use), we found that intentional exposure to violent x-rated material over time predicted an almost 6-fold increase in the odds of self-reported sexually aggressive behavior (aOR: 5.8, 95% CI: 3.2, 10.5), whereas exposure to nonviolent x-rated material was not statistically significantly related (aOR: 1.7, 95% CI: 0.94, 2.9). Associations were similar for boys and girls (boys nonviolent x-rated material aOR = 2.0, 95% CI: 0.8, 4.7; violent x-rated material aOR = 6.5, 95% CI: 2.7, 15.3; girls nonviolent x-rated material aOR = 1.2, 95% CI: 0.5, 3.2; violet x-rated material aOR = 6.1, 95% CI: 2.5, 14.8).