Gender stereotypes underlie child custody decisions

Using hypothetical divorce cases we examine the role of gender stereotypes in decisions about child custody. Good mothers received greater custody allocations than did good fathers across a tightly matched pair of vignettes in three culturally distinct samples: Argentina, Brazil, and the United States (Study 1). Two follow-up studies indicated that the warmth dimension of stereotype content partly accounted for the asymmetry in custody awards: The proportion of maternal-primary custody was predicted by the tendency to ascribe warmth-related traits—such as friendliness, generosity, or trustworthiness—to mothers (Study 2) and associate them with female over male nouns (Study 3). We also found that endorsing shared custody mitigated the asymmetry in custody awards documented in our studies. Together, these results highlight the interplay of stereotyped attitudes and egalitarian commitments in the context of judicial decisions about child custody.     

Applied Participatory Ethics: Bridging the Social Justice Chasm Between Counselor and Client

The authors introduce an applied participatory ethics paradigm consistent with the contemporary focus on social justice in the practice of counseling, emphasizing participation of all rightful parties, including the client, in ethical decision‐making processes. The paradigm is an adaptation and expansion of the work of Prilleltensky, Rossiter, and Walsh‐Bowers ( 1996 ) and rests on their conceptualization of restrictive and participatory orientations. The origins of the model's added elements in 4 areas of rehabilitation and counseling literature (i.e., ethical knowledge and practices, the therapeutic alliance or relationship, client involvement, and client empowerment) are described. Finally, interrelationships between the different phases and elements of the model are discussed.     

Sociocultural theories,academic achievement,and African American adolescents in a multicultural context: a review of the cultural incompatibility perspective

Some theories have posited that African American youth are academic underachievers because of sociocultural factors. We label this point of view the cultural incompatibility perspective. Ogbu’s oppositional culture theory and Steele’s stereotype threat theory are selected as popular examples of this viewpoint. A critical review of the literature on these particular theories was conducted. It was concluded that there is limited empirical support for the cultural incompatibility perspective on African American academic achievement. This raises questions about the focus on academic underachievement among African Americans versus high achievement among other ethnic/racial groups. Implications of the empirical findings on the incompatibility perspective for the role of African American culture in Black student achievement are discussed.     

The Relation of Internet Searching to Club Drug Knowledge and Attitudes

The effects of the recent explosion of Internet-based health information are little understood. Past research suggests that Internet information on drugs such as ecstasy and speed could increase knowledge of the drugs' potential danger while at the same time making attitudes towards them more accepting. To examine this question, a laboratory experiment was conducted in which participants were randomly assigned to search the Internet for information on "club drugs" or on an unrelated topic. Among those with no history of drug use, Internet searchers came to know more than nonsearchers about ecstasy and speed, and rated more highly the benefit of club drugs and their social disinhibiting effects. Among participants with a history of drug use, Internet searchers and nonsearchers showed fewer differences. The three main findings of this study were that searching increased knowledge, while normalizing risky behavior, but primarily for novices. This leads to the conclusion that people new to a health behavior may be most porous to new ideas presented on the Internet as they stabilize their mental model of the behavior.     

The effects of accountability on bias in physician decision making: Going from bad to worse

Members of the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians participated in a survey study in which they were asked to make hypothetical decisions in either high- or low-conflict treatment conditions. In the low-conflict treatment condition the options were a common medication with a referral or a referral only. In the high-conflict treatment condition the same two options were given plus another attractive medication. In addition, we manipulated accountability by asking half of the participants to provide a written defense of their treatment options, which they would then agree to discuss at a later time. The results showed that physicians in the high-conflict condition chose the referral-only option significantly more than the physicians in the low-conflict condition, thus violating the normative rule of regularity. Moreover, that pattern was significantly amplified for physicians who were held accountable for their treatment decisions. These findings replicate and extend previous research and are discussed within the framework of reason-based choice.     

Suicide in rural communities

The public image of rural areas being characterized by social stability, integration, and supportive interpersonal networks has been challenged with recent evidence showing a large increase in the suicide rate in these areas. Increases have been reported for a number of European countries, including Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, and Ireland. This paper reviews the evidence relating to those groups at risk of suicide. The group at most risk of committing suicide in rural areas is males between the ages of 25 and 60, who are unemployed and live alone, and who have a history of psychological disturbance. These findings are discussed in relation to the psychological implications of socio-economic changes brought about by changes in the Common Agriculture Policy of the European Community.     

Eliciting children’s and adults’ accounts of road accidents

Psychological knowledge from eye-witness research is applied here to the particular problem of reporting road accidents. Thereby the paper highlights some of the assumptions in eye-witness research. The interface between that research and the reporting of road accidents is examined by reference to existing social psychological notions. These are notions about questioning and about hypothesis testing. The paper makes special reference to the questioning of child witnesses because problems therein are particularly acute.