Frames of Homosexuality: Comparing Los Angeles Times’ Coverage of California’s Proposition 6 (1978) and Proposition 8 (2008)

In this essay, I use qualitative framing analysis to discern frames of homosexuality, lesbian and gay identity, and same-sex attraction present in the Los Angeles Times’ coverage of Proposition 6 (1978) and Proposition 8 (2008)—propositions aimed to regulate the rights of lesbian and gay persons. I specifically describe differences between the coverage of each proposition, and I illustrate how the news coverage of homosexuality, lesbian and gay identity, and same-sex attraction, at least by one source, has changed over the span of 30 years.     

Addressing the dual relationship problem in forensic and correctional practice

The dual relationship problem in forensic and correctional practice emerges from conflict between two sets of ethical norms: those associated with community protection and justice versus norms related to offender/defendant well-being and autonomy. The problem occurs because forensic practitioners typically have their professional roots in mental health or allied disciplines such as psychiatry, clinical psychology, social work, or law, and as such, often struggle to ethically justify aspects of forensic and/or correctional work. First, the problem of dual relationships will be described and its nuances explored. As will become apparent, the problem extends beyond the straightforward conflict of roles and resides at the very heart of professional practice. It is a core normative conflict created by practitioners varying ethical allegiances. Second, contemporary ways of resolving the dual relationship problem will be briefly outlined, that is, approaches that assert the primary of one set of codes over the other or involve the construction of hybrid ethical codes. Third, after briefly reviewing the shortcomings of these approaches I present a possible way forward drawing from relational ethics and the concept of moral acquaintances.     

Face engagement during infancy predicts later face recognition ability in younger siblings of children with autism

Face recognition difficulties are frequently documented in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It has been hypothesized that these difficulties result from a reduced interest in faces early in life, leading to decreased cortical specialization and atypical development of the neural circuitry for face processing. However, a recent study by our lab demonstrated that infants at increased familial risk for ASD, irrespective of their diagnostic status at 3 years, exhibit a clear orienting response to faces. The present study was conducted as a follow‐up on the same cohort to investigate how measures of early engagement with faces relate to face‐processing abilities later in life. We also investigated whether face recognition difficulties are specifically related to an ASD diagnosis, or whether they are present at a higher rate in all those at familial risk. At 3 years we found a reduced ability to recognize unfamiliar faces in the high‐risk group that was not specific to those children who received an ASD diagnosis, consistent with face recognition difficulties being an endophenotype of the disorder. Furthermore, we found that longer looking at faces at 7 months was associated with poorer performance on the face recognition task at 3 years in the high‐risk group. These findings suggest that longer looking at faces in infants at risk for ASD might reflect early face‐processing difficulties and predicts difficulties with recognizing faces later in life.     

Creating hospitable space to nurture children’s spirituality-possibilities and dilemmas associated with power

This article considers the idea of hospitable space and raises questions about what this entails in nurturing children’s spirituality in both religious and non-religious contexts. In particular, dilemmas associated with the use and abuse of adult power and authority and systemic forms of power are explored. It is argued that hospitable space is open, inclusive and reciprocal, with mutual learning. Adults must help to set the boundaries within which open exploration can take place, empowering children without overcontrolling activities or outcomes or coercing children into particular responses. The difficulty of creating hospitable space and the dangers related to power and control, even in activities intended and widely perceived as benign, are illustrated in relation to play and school classrooms. Structural issues such as a demand for conformity and a culture of competition and pace militate against creating and sustaining hospitable space to nurture children’s spirituality. High-stakes assessment and accountability mechanisms make this especially difficult in formal school settings.     

5-HTTLPR,HTR1A,and HTR2A cumulative genetic score interacts with mood reactivity to predict mood-congruent gaze bias

Genetic variation within the serotonin system has been associated with biased attention for affective stimuli and, less consistently, with vulnerability for major depressive disorder. In particular, 5-HTTLPR, HTR1A (rs6295), and HTR2A (rs6311) polymorphisms have been linked with biased cognition. The present study developed a serotonergic cumulative genetic score (CGS) that quantified the number of risk alleles associated with these candidate polymorphisms to yield a single CGS. The CGS was then used to model genetic influence on the relationship between reactivity to a negative mood induction and negatively biased cognition. A passive-viewing eye-tracking task was administered to 170 healthy volunteers to assess sustained attention for positive, dysphoric, neutral, and threatening scenes. Participants were then induced into a sad mood and readministered the passive-viewing task. Change in gaze bias, as a function of reactivity to mood induction, was the primary measure of cognitive vulnerability. Results suggest that, although none of the individual genes interacted with mood reactivity to predict change in gaze bias, individuals with higher serotonin CGS were significantly more likely to look toward dysphoric images and away from positive images as mood reactivity increased. These findings suggest that a CGS approach may better capture genetic influences on cognitive vulnerability and reaffirm the need to examine multilocus approaches in genomic research.