Risk Factors,Self-Attributions,and Adjustment Problems Among Victims of Sexual Coercion1

College women (N= 125) were surveyed about their experiences with sexual coercion. Forty-two percent of the sample reported one or more coercive incidents involving completed intercourse (26%) or attempted intercourse (16%). Only 6% of these incidents were reported to police or campus authorities. Of the victims, 92% knew their assailants, at least casually. A combination of demographic, sexual history, and personality characteristics predicted 21 % of the variance in experience with sexual coercion. The variables most highly associated with reported victimization were frequency of sexual activity and religiosity; women who were more sexually active and who attended religious services less often were more likely to report experiencing sexual coercion than were women who were less sexually active and who attended religious services more often. A combination of situational and attitudinal variables predicted 52% of the variance in victim attributions. The variables most highly correlated with attributions were degree of victim assertiveness and the type of force used by the assailant; less assertive women and women who had been coerced by the use of economic or psychological force made relatively more internal attributions about the coercion incidents they had been involved in than did women who were more assertive and women who had been coerced by means of physical force. Finally, a combination of situational and attitudinal variables predicted 34% of the variance in victim-reported adjustment problems following the coercion incident. The use of economic or psychological force, greater physical injury, and relative acceptance of interpersonal violence were associated with more severe adjustment problems, whereas the use of physical force, less physical injury, and relative rejection of interpersonal violence were associated with less severe adjustment problems. The implications of these results for the reduction of acquaintance assault and for the counseling of victims are discussed.     

Critical individualism: Whitehead's metaphysics and critique of liberalism

Conclusion Whitehead's metaphysics contains an accurate portrayal of concrete human existence - one which can serve as a ground for criticizing the abstractions into which liberalism has fallen. His critical individualism, his insistence both on the individual as the seat of all value and on our essential connectedness to one another in modern society, is a call for liberalism to restore concrete meaning to its fundamental notions of individuality and freedom. However, his suggestions that the core values of liberalism can be actualized if we but reaffirm Plato's ancient equation of knowledge with virtue rests on an optimism that is difficult to sustain apart from a compensatory metaphysical dogma. We can appropriate Whitehead's criticism of liberalism, but if we can no longer convince ourselves of a metaphysical vision that supports faith in Plato's equation, we must look elsewhere for suggestions as to how liberalism can be revitalized.     

On Targeting Emotion Regulation Deficits in Eating Disorders through Defense Analysis

ABSTRACT

Psychodynamic approaches to the treatment of individuals with eating disorders are underrepresented in research and in academia. This will increasingly deprive patients of a viable therapeutic alternate to the dominant behavioral family-based models. As psychodynamic approaches may have unique benefits, there is value in resolving this loss. Recent models of dynamic therapies for eating disorders within modern, empirically derived theory show promise for future psychodynamic viability. An attachment-focused approach targeting disordered attachment patterns that are common in individuals with eating disorders has recently been introduced. To complement this model, this article proposes an approach for individuals with eating disorders that is hypothesized to target emotion regulation deficits that are also commonly found in individuals with eating disorders. Observed parallels between the implicit branch of the emotion regulation system and that of contemporary constructs of defense mechanisms guide this proposal. Developmental considerations reveal important connections between this biologically based model and a two-person model based in attachment theory. In this way, this proposal offers a flexible psychodynamic approach that integrates with the existing literature. Further development of this approach could one day help patients to have a greater range of therapeutic options for recovery from eating disorders.     

Characterization of the discriminative stimulus effects of lorcaserin in rats

Lorcaserin is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating obesity and is under consideration for treating substance use disorders; it has agonist properties at serotonin (5‐HT)_2C receptors and might also have agonist properties at other 5‐HT receptor subtypes. This study used drug discrimination to investigate the mechanism(s) of action of lorcaserin. Male Sprague–Dawley rats discriminated 0.56 mg/kg i.p. lorcaserin from saline while responding under a fixed‐ratio 5 schedule for food. Lorcaserin (0.178‐1.0 mg/kg) dose‐dependently increased lorcaserin‐lever responding. The 5‐HT_2C receptor agonist mCPP and the 5‐HT_2A receptor agonist DOM each occasioned greater than 90% lorcaserin‐lever responding in seven of eight rats. The 5‐HT_1A receptor agonist 8‐OH‐DPAT occasioned greater than 90% lorcaserin‐lever responding in four of seven rats. The 5‐HT_2C receptor selective antagonist SB 242084 attenuated lorcaserin‐lever responding in all eight rats and the 5‐HT_2A receptor selective antagonist MDL 100907 attenuated lorcaserin‐lever responding in six of seven rats. These results suggest that, in addition to agonist properties at 5‐HT_2C receptors, lorcaserin also has agonist properties at 5‐HT_2A and 5‐HT_1A receptors. Because some drugs with 5‐HT_2A receptor agonist properties are abused, it is important to fully characterize the behavioral effects of lorcaserin while considering its potential for treating substance use disorders.     

Gendered Patterns of Interaction: A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis of Couple Therapy

In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in attention to gender and gender-based inequalities in family therapy. Despite this, there is a dearth of empirical work that examines how gendered inequalities intersecting with other axes of privilege/oppression are maintained within families, including in the therapeutic context. In this study, we used Foucauldian discourse analysis to examine how gendered power is produced and reproduced circularly or through recurrent patterns of interaction in couple therapy. We identified gendered discourses and assumptions informing partners’ constructions of their gendered selves and relationships. We highlight the complexity and intersectionality of gendered subjectivities and relations in contemporary Canadian couples involved in heterosexual relationships. Although women in this study contest their oppression and exhibit agency to negotiate who they are in general and in relation to men, they simultaneously continue to occupy subordinate positions in a gender order that is culturally and interactionally allocated to them. We discuss implications for family therapy practice.     

Behind the Pencil/Paper Measurement of Sexual Coercion: Interview-Based Clarification of Men's Interpretations of Sexual Experiences Survey Items1

The ubiquity of self-report pencil and paper surveys in sexual coercion research is matched only by the lack of attention to respondents' individual interpretations of survey items. Our purpose in this study was to examine men's interpretations of four apparently ambiguous items from a commonly used sexual coercion research instrument, the original Sexual Experiences Survey (SES; Koss & Oros, 1982). After completing the SES, college men (N = 102) were immediately interviewed about their interpretations of 4 of the SES items. Across the interviews, the men reported a variety of interpretations of each item. Ignoring SES item interpretations when forming research conclusions has significant implications for sexual coercion research. Based on the results of this investigation, we urge caution in interpreting results of studies based on self-administered measures of coercive sexual behavior.     

The Impact of Participant Characteristics,Perceived Motives,and Job Behaviors on Co-Workers' Evaluations of Workplace Romances1

Using a policy capturing approach, we examined the importance that observers placed on 7 different factors when evaluating workplace romances. Nearly half the explained variation in observers' evaluations of workplace romances was accounted for by participants' marital status. Participants' organizational status relative to one another was also important in explaining the variation. A series of nomothetic analyses indicated that workplace romance participants' marital status, academic status, motive for entry into the relationship, and job performance affected observers' evaluations of these relationships. Observers' level of prior involvement in a workplace romance was also significantly related to a number of variables. Results suggest that when evaluating workplace romances, observers place the greatest importance on the personal characteristics of participants. Ramifications for policy formation are discussed.     

Beyond Sowing and Growing: The Relationship of Sex Typing To Socialization,Family Plans,and Future Orientation1

The speculation, appearing frequently in the birth-planning and population literature, that family-size desires are associated with sex-role norms, was empirically investigated with the Bem (1974) Sex Role Inventory. Forty college students in a 2 (sex-typed vs. androgynous) × 2 (male or female) design responded to a demographic and future-plans inventory. Results indicated that androgynous females, as compared with sex-typed females, (a) moved frequently during childhood (p < .02); (b) were raised in larger communities (p < .02); (c) had fathers (p < .03) and mothers (p < .003) of higher occupational status; (d) tended toward higher educational aspiration (p < .09); (e) desired fewer children (p < .05); and (f) placed more importance on competence at work (p < .004). Male responses were not generally related to the sex-typing variable. Results were discussed in terms of implications of sex-role socialization for the problem of overpopulation.