Toward professionalism or voluntarism in pastoral care

In its modern evolution as a subprofession, pastoral counseling has increasingly developed professional criteria to determine who can and who cannot legitimately do pastoral counseling. This trend moves pastoral counseling toward the medical profession and away from the life and mission of the institutional church. As pastoral counseling seeks a legitimacy in close association with the medical profession it runs the risk of losing touch with the institutional church—the voluntary associations of Christians that have always been the ultimate source of legitimacy for the ministry in America. The present challenge facing the field of pastoral care is to shift attention from professional specialization outside the church to an effort within the church to train the laity to be effective agents of pastoral care.This article was first presented in the Seminary Series Lectures, The Graduate Seminary of Phillips University, Enid, Oklahoma, during the spring of 1975.     

The homosexual subculture at worship: A participant observation study

The author worked for ten months as Director of Christian Education at a church serving the homophile community of a large metropolitan area. Using the method of participant observation, he concluded that the group is attempting to solve two problems centering on their sexual orientation and their religious needs. Past social conditioning has told the group that they cannot be bothChristian andhomosexual. The group resolves this cognitive dissonance by emphasizing the message that God loves all men, including homosexuals. This religious message is, contrary to expectations, expressed in theologically conservative language.     

On multiple verbal codability of objects

Summary The speaker can encode one and the same object S in variable ways in order to enable a listener to identify this particular object. It can be demonstrated that, among other things, the labeling of S depends on the context objects S_C that are presented with S, and with which S may be confused. Generally, speakers label the one feature of S which, within a given context, exclusively refers to S and not to any other object S_C. If there are several features coinciding with this condition (multiple codability), (1) the labeling covaries with the discriminability of S: the feature which is labeled is that which permits the best subjective discrimination of S as opposed to S_C; (2) the labeling covaries with the dimensional preference of the speaker in case the best discrimination proves impossible: the feature of S which is labeled is that which the speaker prefers as a result of his learning history. These theoretical assumptions listed above are investigated in two independent experiments (subjects: N=110 children; experimental material: geometric figures). The results largely confirm the theoretical considerations.This research was carried out with the help of a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.     

Perceived distance and the perceived speed of self-motion: Linear vs. angular velocity?

Experiments are reported in which it was found that, with the angular speed of a visual surround held constant, the perceived speed of rotary self-motion increased linearly with increasing perceived distance of this surround. This finding was in agreement with a motion constancy equation derived from a consideration of object-referred motion perception. Since information concerning distance is necessary for the perception of linear but not angular speed, this finding supports the conclusion that visually perceived rotary self-motion perception is dependent upon perceived linear surround motion at least in the horizontal plane. The visual motion constancy mechanism which operates for object-referred motion can apparently not be switched off for the special case of self-motion perception.     

The value of confession and forgiveness according to Jung

This article represents a broad survey of the views of C. G. Jung regarding confession and for giveness. Man, a naturally religious being, has a need to confess his wrong and to gain forgiveness of one sanctioned to absolve. The curative effect of confession has been known for centuries. Without confession, man remains in moral isolation. Priests, ministers, and rabbis, as well as psychotherapists, attest to the universality of this human phenomenon. Confession is located in that place where psychology and religion meet-guilt. Jung's views on confession bridge the chasm between psychology and religion.     

Psychoanalytic approaches to biblical religion

A brief look at four studies of biblical religion from a psychoanalytic point of view (spanning the time from Freud'sMoses and Monotheism to the present) alerts us to the many ways biblical religion both reflects and mediates the dawning realization that for the well-being of humanity it is of decisive importance that sons do (in spite of all emotional obstacles) identify with their fathers and fathers do find ways of loving and caring for their sons (the eldest son in particular).     

Personality traits and job characteristics as predictors of job experiences

This study investigates the relationships of personality traits and job characteristics (predictors) with job experiences (criteria) in a sample of job incumbents working in a broad variety of occupations. Subjects were 181 job applicants, who participated in a personnel selection procedure carried out by a Dutch staffing organization. As a part of this procedure, subjects completed a number of personality questionnaires. Personality scale scores were factor-analysed, and four orthogonal trait dimensions were identified: Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Sensation Seeking, and Achievement Motivation. Between l½ and 2 years after the selection, subjects rated their current jobs on four job characteristics dimensions, namely dynamicity, autonomy, external–internal, and structure. At the same time, they completed a questionnaire measuring job experiences, namely job satisfaction, job-induced tension, propensity to leave the job, and self-appraised performance. The results indicated that personality traits had several significant and hypothesized longitudinal effects on the job experience criteria. Personality contributed to the prediction of the criteria even when the effects of job characteristics were taken into account. No significant Personality X Job Characteristics interactions were found, although subgroup analysis revealed a number of interesting differences among the various categories of occupations. For example, Sensation Seeking predicted job strain and propensity to leave, especially in highly structured and not very autonomous jobs. It is concluded that work experiences are clearly determined by person and job characteristics, although in an additive rather than in an interactional way.     

Self-motion sensation influenced by visual fixation

Subjects were exposed to angular decelerations of between 1 and 50 deg/sec’ (1) in total darkness, (2) in view of a dim subject-stationary fixation light, or (3) inside an illuminated subject-stationary striped cylinder (conflict stimulation). Vestibularly induced eye movements led to the oculogyral illusion of object motion. This phenomenon can be distinguished from that of the sensation of self-rotation. At the end of deceleration, the initial velocity of self-rotation sensation is similar during all three stimulus conditions, but is reduced in duration with the conflict stimulus. Differences of interpretation in the literature concerning these phenomena can be explained on the basis of the failure to distinguish between the oculogyral illusion and sensation of self-motion and the inability to fully suppress vestibular eye movements.     

Personal reflections on participant observation as a methodology in the social sciences

The author discusses the value of participant observation as a methodology in the social sciences. From ten years of experience he has culled both academic and personal reflections. The author discusses participant observation as anthropological fieldwork, alterations in perceptions and internalization of methodology, increased self awareness and an increased sense of finiteness.Dr. Paul F. Bauer is Dean of Student Services and Professor of Philosophy at Cecil Community College North East, MD 21901. This article is revised from a guest lecture at the Iliff School of Theology, March 11, 1982.