Containment theory and juvenile delinquency: a reevaluation through factor analysis

All seven variables of containment theory were operationalized for questionnaires. Data were collected from 677 adolescents in a variety of high schools and correctional institutions, and divided into categories by race and sex. Factor analysis indicated that the structure of the relationships among the seven containment variables and delinquency was substantially different among black females.     

Projective-cognitive assessment of thoughts and feelings and their relationship to adaptive behavior in a dental situation

The purpose of this study is to examine the interrelationships among coping statements, a self-report measure of anxiety and maladaptive overt behavior in a real-life stressful situation. Measures of these variables (interviews using TAT-like cards, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, Behavior Profile Rating Scale) were taken from 23 adolescents prior to and during their dental visit. Results indicated that as disruptive "in-chair" overt behavior increased, so did the percentage of coping statements. In addition, as self-report levels of anxiety increased, the percentage of coping statements significantly decreased. Interestingly, there was no significant relationship between self-report levels of anxiety and disruptive in-chair behavior. It was also noted that the subjects' self-report levels of anxiety significantly decreased following their opportunity to verbalize their coping/noncoping statements via the TAT-like procedure. The implications of these interrelationships to cognitive-behavioral theory are discussed.     

Shyness, group dependence and self-concept: attributes of the imaginary audience

The imaginary audience of 328 early and late adolescents was studied from the viewpoint of providing educators and clinicians with insight into its attributes--those which both facilitate and hinder youths' development. Early adolescents (about 14 or 15 years of age) displayed a greater awareness of an imaginary audience which probably contributed to their observed, elevated group dependence. Unexpectedly, the shyness of adolescents highly sensitive to an imaginary audience increased with age, possibly because they are unwilling to provide themselves with the social experiences necessary for decentering. Likewise, those highly sensitive to an imaginary audience projected low self-concepts and thus imply that their audience is relatively critical; thus, they probably validate a self-fulfilling prophecy, oblivious to a possible contradictory external reality. The anticipated fact that females appeared to be less socially bold and more group dependent than males might account, in part, for females' greater responsiveness to an imaginary audience. It is suggested that educators and clinicians encourage youth to validate social hypotheses in order to promote the dissolution of the imaginary audience, especially of those who are shy and display self-deprecatory tendencies.     

Students' attitudes toward university health services

This study measured students' attitudes toward a university's student health services (SHS) and identified factors that were related to their attitudes. A questionnaire surveying students' attitudes was administered to a sample of 150 students at the Oxford Campus of the University of Mississippi. Analysis of the data revealed that students' attitudes had a statistically significant correlation with the following variables: perceived medical care cost, amount of health information/education received during medical encounters, time spent in the waiting room of the SHS, sex of the student, and income of the student. There was no significant relationship between attitude and age.     

Health needs and concerns of male adolescents

Lifestyle factors established within the family help determine health-care functioning. Adolescents first may be challenged to meet their own health needs as freshmen in college. A 153-item questionnaire was utilized to examine concerns in the areas of alcohol and other drug use, auto safety, weight and dieting, smoking, sexuality, coping and stress, and selection and utilization of health-care services. One hundred fifty-nine male college students responded. Major problems with alcohol use, auto safety, weight control, stress and sexuality were identified. Positive lifestyle factors that were strongly supported included regular exercise, nonsmoking, regular medical and dental checkups, and the development of some support systems to cope with stress. Health-care services designated by respondents to meet their own needs were significantly different from those services they pointed out as needed for their peers.     

Perceiving, imaging, and preferring physiognomic stimuli

Physiognomic color responses in perception, imagery, and affect were investigated. Maluma and taketa, nonsense stimuli defined by many investigators as physiognomic, were utilized as prototypical physiognomic stimuli, along with eight other stimuli of various sorts. In Experiment 1, 22 subjects matched the colors of the stimuli; in Experiment 2, 27 subjects reported their imagery to the stimuli; and in Experiment 3, 16 subjects gave their color preferences for the stimuli. The Munsell sets of colors were employed throughout. Significant differences between the physiognomic and other stimuli were found on the brightness and saturation of color matches, images, and preferences. Other differences (e.g., the latency of color images) were also present. Distinctions were also noted between the two physiognomic stimuli. These results support the priority of innate and perceptual processes in physiognomy over those of learning and memory, although some ambiguities still remain.     

Recognizing people seen in events via dynamic "mug shots"

This study examined effects of an event and dynamic mug shots on facial recognition. Witnesses saw either a film of a liquor store holdup staged by six perpetrators, slides of the same targets, or freeze-framed views from the filmed event. Slides of different facial views of targets among 12 foils, or dynamic 180 degrees mug shots of the same men, or multiple static views were administered 24 hr later in yes-no recognition tests. Recognition (d') was poorer for the same men seen in the event than in slides, but better for dynamic than for static mug shots. Nondynamic event characteristics were responsible for poor recognition of people seen in events, whereas dynamic aspects of facial transformations, not multiple views, seemed responsible for the superiority of dynamic mug shots. The implications of these results for issues of ecological validity of traditional face recognition methodology and for static feature models vs. dynamic transformation models of face recognition are discussed.     

Three visits to eternity: Freud, Wiesel, and Patient X

Freud's experience on the Acropolis is reviewed and reappraised. Also, the experience of Elie Wiesel at the Wall in Jerusalem and Patient X's reaction visiting an Egyptian temple are examined. Carl Jung's wish to go to Rome and his inability to do so are noted. The aim of the paper is to offer deeper understanding about intense reactions many sensitive and creative people experience over travel to special places. These places are treated as idealized and ambivalently loved transference objects. Normal anticipatory pleasure prior to the trip is impaired and reality pleasure at the site cannot be enjoyed. When these spots are reached, ego regression is initiated by the intolerably intense narcissistic pleasure mobilized by the gratification of fantasies that were felt to be unrealizable. The fantasies can be conscious or unconscious and from oedipal as well as preoedipal and postoedipal developmental levels; however, they always involve the fulfillment of overwhelmingly powerful wishes. The deep ego regression, archaic fantasies, and the complex defenses mobilized are frightening since there may also be concern about ego dissolution or irreversible transformation. One highly adaptive solution which helps master these conflictual and developmental experiences is creative ego activity. While maintaining integrity for the individual ego and enhancing the self, creative work and accomplishment also enrich and advance the cultural process.