Mapping Variables Related to Social Identity,Distress and Perceived Health in an Undergraduate Student Population

The relationship between students levels of self-categorisation or identification with their university, their problem-solving style, perceived social support, psychological distress and self-reported illness was investigated in a sample of 269 students (181 females and 88 males). Structural equation modelling shows that problem-solving style, perceived social support, and strength of identity, are the best predictors of both distress and illness, while sex, sex-type, age and year of study also account for small, but significant percentages of the variance.     

An integrative theory of desistance from sex offending

Despite the fact that most offenders eventually desist from committing further crimes, there is an absence of comprehensive psychological and social accounts of the desistance process, beginning at the point when an individual decides to stop further offending, and finishing at the point of successful reentry and social reintegration. Building on previous work, the Integrated Theory of Desistance from Sex Offending represents an attempt to advance our understanding of desistance. The theory describes the desistance process in four phases: (1) decisive momentum (initial desistance), (2) rehabilitation (promoting desistance), (3) re-entry (maintaining desistance), and (4) normalcy (successful maintenance of desistance over a long period of time). The theory has significant implications for further theorizing, empirical research, clinical practice, and policy making.     

A Critique of Information Ethics

Luciano Floridi presents Information Ethics (IE) as an alternative to traditional moral theories. IE consists of two tenets. First, reality can be interpreted at numerous, mutually consistent levels of abstraction, the highest of which is information. This level, unlike the others, applies to all of reality. Second, everything, insofar as it is an information object, has some degree of intrinsic value and hence moral dignity. I criticize IE, arguing that Floridi fails to show that the moral community should be expanded beyond beings capable of suffering or having preferences. Next, I look at Floridi’s extended case against consequentialism generally and utilitarianism in particular. I try to show that his criticisms are flawed. Third, I argue that, for the most part, it is not clear what IE’s practical implications are. I conclude with a critical discussion of the one area of information ethics, traditionally conceived, that Floridi has written about at length, privacy.     

Gaze behavior predicts memory bias for angry facial expressions in stable dysphoria

Interpersonal theories suggest that depressed individuals are sensitive to signs of interpersonal rejection, such as angry facial expressions. The present study examined memory bias for happy, sad, angry, and neutral facial expressions in stably dysphoric and stably nondysphoric young adults. Participants' gaze behavior (i.e., fixation duration, number of fixations, and distance between fixations) while viewing these facial expressions was also assessed. Using signal detection analyses, the dysphoric group had better accuracy on a surprise recognition task for angry faces than the nondysphoric group. Further, mediation analyses indicated that greater breadth of attentional focus (i.e., distance between fixations) accounted for enhanced recall of angry faces among the dysphoric group. There were no differences between dysphoria groups in gaze behavior or memory for sad, happy, or neutral facial expressions. Findings from this study identify a specific cognitive mechanism (i.e., breadth of attentional focus) that accounts for biased recall of angry facial expressions in dysphoria. This work also highlights the potential for integrating cognitive and interpersonal theories of depression.     

Case vignette: child abuse or acceptable cultural norms -- child psychiatrist's response; ethical issues in culturally relevant interventions; cultural contexts

Three families from the nation of the Gambia have become socially acquainted in the greater Metropolis area where they have relocated from their native country. All three families have preadolescent daughters. None of the girls has as yet undergone the ritual "female circumcision" commonly practiced in their native country. Five of the six parents think it would be a good idea to hold such a ritual ceremony in Metropolis next month. The sixth parent is uneasy about the procedure and wonders if it is appropriate anyway. The parent comes to talk with you, a physician or mental health professional, about this. The parent describes concerns about the procedure and the practice in general, but notes that some groups in the United States do "similar things," referring to the ritual circumcision of Jewish boys at 8 days of age. The parent adds that if the procedure is not possible in the United States, it could be done in the Gambia when the family returns there on holiday. Discussants were asked for their opinions regarding advice to the parent's ethical obligations (especially in the case of mandated reporting of suspected child abuse).     

Iris Murdoch's Mortal Asymmetry

Iris Murdoch holds that the best sort of life is a figurative death of the self. This figurative death is informed by an acceptance of real mortality. A recognition of mortality is supposed to help redirect our attention away from self and towards others. Yet these others are also mortal but (unlike the self) remain worthy of love, care and consideration. That is to say, the significance of mortality for Murdoch depends on whose mortality is at issue, whether it is the mortality of the self or of the other that is in question. My rejection of two ways of making sense of this self/other asymmetry is used to motivate the view that her attitude towards death requires a prior commitment to unselfing. And this is a problematic moral project.