Peace and Justice: A Limited Reconciliation

This paper aims to relax the tension between the political requirements of making peace and the moral demands of doing justice, in light of the ‘peace processes’ in South Africa and Northern Ireland. It begins by arguing that criminal justice should be reconceived as consisting primarily in the vindication of victims, both direct and indirect. This is not to deny the retributive punishment of perpetrators any role at all, only to insist that it be largely subservient to the goal of vindication. Why should we take such an account of justice to be true? The paper offers two reasons. First, Christians – and even secularist liberals – have a prima facie reason in the consonance of this account with the Bible's eudaimonistic conception of justice as ordered to the restoration of healthy community. Second, since all concepts of criminal justice share the basic notion of putting right what is wrong, it would be odd if the repair of damage done to victims (i.e., their ‘vindication’) were not prominent among its concerns; and there are reasons to suppose that this vindication should actually predominate in relation to the other principles of justice (the retributive ‘balancing’ of crime and punishment, and the reform of the criminal for his own sake). In its final sections, the paper applies the proposed conception of criminal justice to the ‘peace processes’ in South Africa and Northern Ireland, and concludes that in both cases, notwithstanding concessions to the politics of peace-making, considerable justice has been done.     

Parents who report using illicit drugs: findings and implications from the DRUGNET study

In recent years, a national discussion has emerged concerning what parents should tell their children about their own past drug use. DRUGNET is an ongoing, on-line survey of successful, healthy, adults who occasionally use illicit drugs. This paper reviews data from a subset of this survey, namely, those respondents who were parents with self-reported use of at least one illicit drug. The sample (n = 325) was predominantly white men who reported having above average education and household incomes. Their mental health as measured by the General Well-being Schedule was similar to the national norm. Respondents reported using drugs to manage parental stress and expressed concerns over how to communicate with their children and legal risks related to their own drug use. The limitations and the implications of these data are discussed.     

Ontogenetic Changes in the Neural Mechanisms of Eyeblink Conditioning

The rodent eyeblink conditioning paradigm is an ideal model system for examining the relationship between neural maturation and the ontogeny of associative learning. Elucidation of the neural mechanisms underlying the ontogeny of learning is tractable using eyeblink conditioning because the necessary neural circuitry (cerebellum and interconnected brainstem nuclei) underlying the acquisition and retention of the conditioned response (CR) has been identified in adult organisms. Moreover, the cerebellum exhibits substantial postnatal anatomical and physiological maturation in rats. The eyeblink CR emerges developmentally between postnatal day (PND) 17 and 24 in rats. A series of experiments found that the ontogenetic emergence of eyeblink conditioning is related to the development of associative learning and not related to changes in performance. More recent studies have examined the relationship between the development of eyeblink conditioning and the physiological maturation of the cerebellum, a brain structure that is necessary for eyeblink conditioning in adult organisms. Disrupting cerebellar development with lesions or antimitotic treatments impairs the ontogeny of eyeblink conditioning. Studies of the development of physiological processes within the cerebellum have revealed striking ontogenetic changes in stimulus-elicited and learning-related neuronal activity. Neurons in the interpositus nucleus and Purkinje cells in the cortex exhibit developmental increases in neuronal discharges following the unconditioned stimulus (US) and in neuronal discharges that model the amplitude and time-course of the eyeblink CR. The developmental changes in CR-related neuronal activity in the cerebellum suggest that the ontogeny of eyeblink conditioning depends on the development of mechanisms that establish cerebellar plasticity. Learning and the induction of neural plasticity depend on the magnitude of the US input to the cerebellum. The role of developmental changes in the efficacy of the US pathway has been investigated by monitoring neuronal activity in the inferior olive and with stimulation techniques. The results of these experiments indicate that the development of the conditioned eyeblink response may depend on dynamic interactions between multiple developmental processes within the eyeblink neural circuitry.     

Baring the soul: Paul Bindrim, Abraham Maslow and 'nude psychotherapy'

Nude psychotherapy is one of the most flamboyant therapeutic techniques ever developed in American psychology. Largely forgotten today, the therapy was an academic and popular sensation upon its introduction in 1967. Developed by psychologist Paul Bindrim, the therapy promised to guide clients to their authentic selves through the systematic removal of clothing. This paper explores the intellectual, cultural and ethical context of nude therapy and its significance as a form of unchurched spirituality. Although nude therapy has an indisputable tabloid character, it is also rooted in a long-standing academic search for authenticity and ultimate meaning through science. Bindrim's career demonstrates the historically long-standing interweaving of spirituality and science within American psychology while simultaneously highlighting the field's extraordinary capacity for adaptive reinvention.     

Contribution of imitative suicide to the suicide rate in prisons

Suicide rates in prisons are high. Our aim was to investigate the contribution of imitative suicide to the prison suicide rate. We used Knox tests for space-time clustering in a case register of natural and self-inflicted deaths in prisons in England and Wales and model simulations to estimate the effect size. We found significant space-time clustering among 657 self-inflicted deaths in 90 prisons over 10 years but no space-time clustering among 430 deaths from natural causes in 87 prisons over this period. Model simulations with an imitation rate of 5.8% (CI 1%-11%) reproduced the observed space-time clustering.     

Can Perfectionism Affect Career Development? Exploring Career Thoughts and Self‐Efficacy

This study identified relationships among career‐specific barriers (i.e., perfectionism, negative career thoughts, career decision‐making self‐efficacy) in a sample of 300 college students. The authors found relationships among the constructs of interest, prediction of variance in career decision‐making self‐efficacy, and differences among groups of perfectionists on endorsements of negative career thoughts and career decision‐making self‐efficacy. The findings suggest that interventions addressing maladaptive perfectionism and dysfunctional career thinking may enhance clients’ confidence in decision making.     

Three-dimensional joint kinematics of ACL-deficient and ACL-reconstructed knees during stair ascent and descent

Mechanical environmental changes in the knee are induced by altered joint kinematics under cyclic loading during activities of daily living after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. This is considered a risk factor in progressive cartilage degeneration and the early onset of osteoarthritis following ACL injury and even after reconstructive surgery. The purpose of this study was to examine 3D joint kinematics of ACL-deficient and ACL-reconstructed knees to health controls during stair ascent and descent. A 3D optical video motion capture system was used to record coordinate data from reflective markers positioned on subjects as they ascended and descended a custom-built staircase. Spatiotemporal gait and knee joint kinematic variables were calculated and further analyzed. The ACL-deficient knees exhibited a significant extension deficit compared to the ACL-intact controls. A more varus and internally rotated tibial position was also identified in the ACL-deficient knees during both stair ascent and descent. The ACL-reconstructed knees exhibited less abnormality in both spatiotemporal gait parameters and joint kinematics, but these variables were not fully restored to a normal level. The kinematic profiles of the ACL-reconstructed knees were more similar to those of the ACL-deficient knees when compared to the ACL-intact knees. This suggests that the ACL-reconstructed knees had been "under-corrected" rather than "over-corrected" by the reconstructive surgery procedure. Findings from this study may provide more insight with respect to improving ACL reconstruction surgical techniques, which may aid the early progression of cartilage degeneration in ACL-reconstructed knees.