Mirror neurons: their implications for group psychotherapy

Recently discovered mirror neurons in the motor cortex of the brain register the actions and intentions of both the organism and others in the environment. As such, they may play a significant role in social behavior and groups. This paper considers the potential implications of mirror neurons and related neural networks for group therapists, proposing that mirror neurons and mirror systems provide "hard-wired" support for the group therapist's belief in the centrality of relationships in the treatment process and exploring their value in accounting for group-as-a-whole phenomena. Mirror neurons further confirm the holistic, social nature of perception, action, and intention as distinct from a stimulus-response behaviorism. The implications of mirror neurons and mirroring processes for the group therapist role, interventions, and training are also discussed.     

The effects of traumatic experiences on the infant–mother relationship in the former war zones of central Mozambique: The case of madzawde in Gorongosa

This article addresses the ways in which years of war and periods of serious drought have affected the cultural representations of the populations in Gorongosa District, Mozambique. In the wake of these events different cultural and historical representations have been disrupted, leaving the members of these communities with fragmented protective and resilience factors to cope effectively. Emphasis is placed on the disruption of madzawde, a mechanism that regulates the relationship between the child (one to two years of life) and the mother, and the family in general. The war, aggravated by famine, prevented the populations from performing this child‐rearing practice. Nearly a decade after the war ended, the posttraumatic effects of this disruption are still being observed both by traditional healers and health‐care workers at the district hospital. The results suggest that this disruption is affecting and compromising the development of the child and the physical and psychological health of the mother. An in‐depth understanding of this level of trauma and posttraumatic effects is instrumental in making a culturally sensitive diagnosis and in developing effective intervention strategies based on local knowledge that has not been entirely lost but is nonetheless being questioned. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Assessment Clear and Simple: A Practical Guide for Institutions,Departments, and General Education – Barbara E. Walvoord

Books reviewed: Assessment Clear and Simple: A Practical Guide for Institutions, Departments, and General Education. By Barbara E. Walvoord. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey‐Bass Publishers, 2004. xiii + 144 pages. ISBN 0‐7879‐7311‐4.     

Retention of Hispanic/Latino students in first grade: Child, parent, teacher, school, and peer predictors

A sample of 283 Hispanic children with literacy performance at entrance to first grade below the median for their school district was studied as part of a larger research project on the predictors of grade retention in grade 1. Following retention decisions, 51 Hispanic students were retained in first grade. Low literacy skills, being young at entrance to first grade, low ego resilience, low support in the teacher-student relationship, and parents' low sense of responsibility for their children's educational outcomes predicted retention decisions. Hierarchical logistics regression investigated the contribution of six categories of variables (academic competencies; socio-demographic characteristics; social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment; resiliency, school context; and home environment) to retention. Controlling for literacy, only being young for grade and parents' low sense of responsibility for their children's adjustment to school made a direct contribution to retention. Early literacy skills were higher for children enrolled in bilingual classrooms than for children in non-bilingual classrooms. Implications for educational policy are discussed.     

Religion and the Paradox of Racial Inequality Attitudes

There appears to be an interesting paradox in American attitudes toward racial inequality: while Americans almost universally see inequality as a social evil, they also consistently oppose government programs to remedy it. This discrepancy appears to result from accounts for the causes of inequality: if inequality is caused by individual failures, rather than structural conditions, then government solutions to racial inequality are unlikely. We examine the role of religion in the formation of attitudes concerning racial inequality for both blacks and whites. Using logistic regression on data from the 1996 General Social Survey, we find that the inclusion of African Americans and multiple religious traditions further complicates the story behind contemporary debates over attitudes pertaining to racial inequality.     

Employer Treatment of Employees During a Community Crisis: The Role of Procedural and Distributive Justice

This study applies organizational justice principles to human resource decisions made during a crisis situation. Three-hundred and sixty-six working individuals of ice storm affected households responded to a telephone survey that included measures of interactional, procedural and distributive justice, organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Confirmatory Factor Analysis suggested collapsing the interactional and procedural justice measures into one measure of procedural treatment. Overall, there was considerable support for the relevance of procedural justice and its interaction with distributive justice in predicting the work attitudes of employee following a disaster. Multiple regression analyses revealed that perceptions of procedural justice most strongly predicted job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Consistent with existing theory, an interaction between distributive and procedural was found to predict job satisfaction. The predicted interaction was not detected for organizational commitment.We would like to acknowledge the capable research assistance of Paula Warnholtz and the financial assistance from the Senate Research Committee at Bishop’s University.     

A computer analysis of serial interactions in spaced responding

Serial dependencies in interresponse times were studied by means of a digital computer. In monkeys exposed to a DRL 20-sec schedule of reinforcement, serial interactions appeared at all stages of training. Early in training the serial effects consisted of trains of relatively long interresponse times interspersed among trains of relatively short ones. Later on, the serial effects appeared to be characterized by a tendency to drift up and down in long wavelength periods around the minimum interval required for reinforcement. After training to a point at which most interresponse times produced reinforcement, serial effects of a still more subtle nature appeared. These effects were made apparent by autocorrelation and power spectrum methods and consisted of both long-term and extremely short-term fluctuations in interresponse times.     

Parenting contributors to early emerging problem behaviour in children of mothers in methadone maintenance treatment

This study explored whether variations in parenting provided by mothers with substance‐abuse disorders are related to behaviour problems in their young children and whether specific parenting practices are associated with specific types of behaviour problems. Mother‐reported and observational assessments were used to examine contributions of parenting behaviour and home environment to internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems in 150 preschool children of mothers receiving methadone‐maintenance treatment for heroin addiction. In multivariate analyses, mother‐reported child externalizing behaviour was related to greater maternal harshness and to mother history of illicit drug use during pregnancy but not other features of substance use and treatment history. Observer‐coded child internalizing behaviour was related to less maternal sensitivity and less provision of learning activities in the home. Additionally, mother report of her own psychopathology symptoms was related to mother‐reported, but not observer‐coded, child internalizing and externalizing problems. Findings suggest that women in substance abuse treatment should receive parenting interventions and that interventions should focus on increasing maternal sensitivity, reducing harshness, and providing children with cognitively stimulating environments. Findings also suggest that the need for attention to ongoing mental health problems of women in substance abuse treatment—both for their own well‐being and the well‐being of their children.

Highlights

• This study explored whether variations in parenting provided by mothers with substance‐abuse disorders are related to behavior problems in their young children.
• Maternal harshness was related to child externalizing behavior, low sensitivity, and low provision of learning opportunities to child internalizing problems.
• Findings suggest that women in substance abuse treatment should be provided access to parenting interventions.

     

Mental Health Collaboration: A Survey of Practicing School Psychologists

Schools have become the primary setting for mental health service among youth. However, school-based providers are sometimes limited by lack of time, training, and other resources. Furthermore, problem-solving models emphasize the importance of developing partnerships with other professionals and agencies. Thus, it is critical to engage in collaborative practice with non–school-based, community mental health providers (CMHPs). The purpose of this study was to survey practicing school psychologists about their experiences in communicating and collaborating with CMHPs. Participants (n = 194) indicated their frequency of communication and collaboration with CMHPs; although communication (i.e., release and receipt of information) was typical, fewer school psychologists reported engaging in ongoing collaboration. Benefits and barriers to collaboration were identified, and implications for practice are discussed.