Addiction to near death in adolescence

This paper takes Betty Joseph's concept of ‘addiction to near death’, which describes a clinical situation in which sadism and masochism dominate the relationships of a particular group of patients, and applies it specifically to the case material of a girl in adolescent psychotherapy treatment. A link is made between the patient's retreat from mature genital sexuality as she approaches adulthood and the use of sadism and masochism towards this aim. The paper concludes with a discussion on the increase in strength and potency of sadism and masochism in adolescence as contributing to the high risk of destructive and self-destructive behaviour present in this age group.     

The Last Shall Be First: Human Potential in Genetic and Theological Perspectives

The notion of “human potential” provides a fruitful window through which to explore the competing conceptual frameworks of contemporary genetics and Christianity. The contemporary cultural frame of genetics conceives of human potential in a broadly positive manner: the source of personal and societal flourishing is located within individual bodies, waiting to be identified and unleashed by genetic science and medicine for the good of persons and society. In the Judeo-Christian narrative, human individual, biological potential is far less relevant—and, in fact, may be construed as an impediment to the achievement of personal and social flourishing. Implications for the dialogue between genetics and religion are discussed.     

A two-wave cross-lagged study of business travel,work–family conflict,emotional exhaustion,and psychological health complaints

By using a two-wave panel design, the present study aimed at studying longitudinally the relation between business travel and work–family conflict (WFC) as well as the reciprocal relationships among WFC, emotional exhaustion, and psychological health complaints. The study was conducted in a large Norwegian oil and gas company (n = 1702), and the company’s business travel database was utilized to examine business travel. The results showed a positive cross-lagged relation between business travel and WFC. In addition, WFC predicted emotional exhaustion over time, whereas emotional exhaustion predicted psychological health complaints over time. Reversed influences also existed, supporting our hypotheses on reciprocal relations. The longitudinal design of the current study makes an important contribution to the research on business travel and employees’ psychological health.     

Priming Risky Choice: Do Risk Preferences Need Inferences?

The notion that subtle influences, often falling outside awareness, can bias behaviour has a strong grip on both theoretical perspectives and the public imagination. We report three experiments that examined this idea in the context of risky choice. Experiment 1 (N = 100) appeared to find evidence for an interaction whereby participants primed but not reminded of the prime showed an assimilation effect (e.g. participants primed to be risk seeking became more risk seeking) whereas those who were primed and reminded showed a contrast effect (e.g. became less risk seeking). However, two further experiments (N = 180, N = 128) failed to find any evidence for this interaction, and none of the experiments found evidence for the asymmetry in awareness predicted by an ‘unconscious’ assimilation but ‘conscious’ contrast account. The data were analysed using both Null Hypothesis Significance Testing and Bayesian methods, and the implications of the conclusions arising from each are discussed. Whatever one's statistical predilection, the results imply a reduction of confidence in the belief that risk preferences need no inferences. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parent‐implemented behavioral skills training of social skills

Impairment in social skills is a primary feature of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Research indicates that social skills are intimately tied to social development and negative social consequences can persist if specific social behaviors are not acquired. The present study evaluated the effects of behavioral skills training (BST) on teaching four parents of children with ASDs to be social skills trainers. A nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across parent–child dyads was employed and direct observation was used to assess parent and child behaviors Results demonstrated substantial improvement in social skills teaching for all participants for trained and untrained skills. Ancillary measures of child performance indicated improvement in skills as well. High levels of correct teaching responses were maintained at a 1 month follow‐up. This study extends current literature on BST while also providing a helpful, low‐effort strategy to modify how parents can work with their children to improve their social skills.     

INTENTIONS AND TROLLEYS

The series of 'trolley' examples issue a challenge to moral principles based on intentions, since it seems that these give the wrong answers in two important cases: 'Fat Man', where they seem to say that it is permissible to push someone in front of a trolley to save others, and 'Loop', where they seem to say that it is wrong to divert a trolley towards a single person whose body will stop it and save others. I reply, first, that there is a parallel between the wrongful intention to mutilate in 'Transplant', where one person's vital organs are removed to save others' lives, and the intention to assault in Fat Man. Secondly, I defend Frances Kamm's view that in Loop one can divert the trolley towards the one without an intention to kill or assault, since good potential side-effects can be taken into account in deciding what to do, without their becoming intentions.     

Race and the Criminal Justice System Response to Sexual Assault: A Systematic Review

Prior research has consistently documented that the vast majority of sexual assault cases do not progress through the criminal justice system. However, there is less agreement in prior work on how race influences case progression, resulting in a literature frequently described as “inconsistent.” This systematic review examines all prior research that has included race as an independent variable in predicting the criminal justice system response to sexual assault (N = 34) in an effort to provide insight into seemingly disparate findings. We assess each study for the degree to which race was a focal point of interest, if and what theory was used to inform the investigation of race, how samples were drawn, and how and whose race was measured. Results illustrate that findings in prior research are not inconsistent, but rather unite to tell a nuanced story of the role of race in the criminal justice system response to sexual assault. The review demonstrates how decisions made by researchers throughout the research process can have significant impacts on reported findings, and how such findings may be used to influence policy and practice.     

Enhancing the National Dialogue on the Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence

Little systematic information exists about how community‐based prevention efforts at the state and local levels contribute to our knowledge of intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) DELTA FOCUS program funds ten state domestic violence coalitions to engage in IPV primary prevention through approaches addressing the outer layers of the social ecology. This paper explored the ways in which DELTA FOCUS recipients have contributed to a national‐level dialogue on IPV prevention. Previously undefined, the authors define national‐level dialogue and retrospectively apply the CDC Science Impact Framework (SIF) to describe contributions DELTA FOCUS recipients made to it. Authors conducted document review and qualitative content analysis of recipient semi‐annual progress reports from 2014 to 2016 (N = 40) using NVivo. A semi‐structured coding scheme was applied across the five SIF domains: Creating Awareness, Catalyzing Action, Effecting Change, Disseminating Science, and Shaping the Future. All recipients sought to promote IPV prevention by communicating and sharing with non‐CDC‐funded state coalitions, national partners, and other IPV stakeholders information and resources accumulated through practice‐based prevention efforts. Through implementing and disseminating their prevention work in myriad ways, DELTA FOCUS recipients are building practice‐based evidence on community‐based IPV prevention.     

Considering the role of early discrimination experiences and the parent–child relationship in the development of disruptive behaviors in adolescence

Discrimination has been shown to be related to diminished psychological adjustment and greater risk for substance use when personally experienced by adolescents and when their caregivers experience discrimination. Our research considers the impact of primary caregiver experiences of racial- and socioeconomic-based discrimination in early (age 3–5 years) and late childhood (age 9½) on adolescent disruptive behaviors (age 14) with a large sample of diverse caregiver–child dyads (N = 634). In addition, we examine the potential protective effects of parent–child relationship quality in early and late childhood in buffering the effects of caregiver discrimination on adolescent disruptive behaviors. We also explore possible gender differences in children's vulnerability to engage in disruptive behaviors in the context of caregiver experiences of discrimination. The findings from this study indicate that at trend level, early childhood experiences of primary caregiver discrimination (ages 3–5) predicted adolescent disruptive behaviors, accounting for the effects of more recent (age 9½) caregiver discrimination. In addition, parent–child relationship quality at age 9½ years was found to buffer the effects of late childhood (age 9½) primary caregiver discrimination on adolescent disruptive behaviors for both male and female youth. The findings highlight the need for prevention and intervention techniques that foster healthy and positive primary caregiver–child relationships.