Pastoral considerations on abortion and sterilization

Concerns over sterlization and abortion typify our current moral dilemma. These matters begin as individual problems but rapidly expand to become pressing social concerns. The ethical, psychological, and physical factors related to sterilization in men and women are examined and a careful scrutiny of the meaning of the decision to the parties is advised. Abortion is an even more complex issue. The counselor's value system is always a part of the counseling process. Rigidity is not helpful in attempts to adjudicate conflicting rights among the child, the mother, and the father. Four alternative approaches to counseling with persons considering abortion are described.     

How to Husserl a Quine — And a Heidegger,too

Is consciousness or the subject part of the natural world or the human world? Can we write intentionality, so central in Husserl's philosophy, into Quine's system of ontological naturalism and naturalized epistemology — or into Heidegger's account of human being and existential phenomenology? The present task is to show how to do so. Anomalous monism provides a key.     

A longitudinal assessment of the impact of health/fitness status and health behavior on perceived quality of life.

This study extended cross-sectional research associating quality of life with health and fitness factors. Longitudinal analyses were performed on data collected from 519 U.S. Navy personnel to assess changes in quality of life with changes in health/fitness status and health behavior dimensions at 1-yr. and 2-yr. intervals. Multiple regression results showed that such changes were positively associated with changes in health/fitness status and behaviors related to accident control and wellness maintenance, with these predictors accounting for 8% of the variance in change in quality of life at the 1-yr. interval. At the 2-yr. interval, such change was associated with health/fitness status and accident control behaviors, accounting for 11% of the variance. Health behavior change made a unique contribution to change in quality of life after controlling for changes in health/fitness status at both intervals. Findings affirm modest yet consistent associations between changes in fitness and health variables and quality of life and suggest that improvements in health behavior influence quality of life independently of one's health/fitness status.     

Consciousness in action

A phenomenology of action is outlined, analyzing the structure of volition, kinesthesis, and perception in the experience of action, and, finally, the experience of embodiment in action. The intentionality of action is contrasted with that of thought and perception in regard to the role of the body, and the relations between an action, the experience of acting, and the context of the action are specified.An early version of this essay was read at the XVIIIth World Congress of Philosophy in Brighton, England, on 25 August 1988. I thank discussants on that occasion, including co-symposiasts Robert Gordon, Helen Lauer, and Jonathon Suzman; I thank Steve DeWitt, Ronald McIntyre, Martin Schwab, Peter Simons, and Peter Woodruff for discussions since; and I thank an anonymous referee for many detailed comments on the penultimate draft. The present edition is much longer than, and quite different from, what was read at Brighton.     

Instructions to authors

Instructions for Authors

Instructions to authors     

The epigenesis of stuttering

This paper examines the data on which the Demands and Capacities Model (DCM) is based with the purpose of identifying areas where future research might determine consilience among genetic influences at the physiological, behavioral, and cultural levels. The determination of consilience across different levels would tend to validate the genetic influence on stuttering, but more importantly it would also sharpen the focus of researchers interested in the various possible expressions that genetic influences might have and the way in which they influence the development of the disorder.

Educational objectives: The reader will (1) learn about the distinction, as outlined in the DCM, between environmental/contextual influences on stuttering development and intrinsic/genetic influences on stuttering development; (2) learn about the concept of consilience and its usefulness in conferring validity on parallel constructs at the physiological, behavioral, and cultural levels of stuttering theory; and (3) be able to identify potential areas for research that might help in refining our understanding of the genetic influences on stuttering development.     

The museum can be visitor-centered: an intern’s reflection

Within a personal narrative reflection method and social constructivism theory, a former intern reflects on their time at The Ringling Museum in Sarasota Florida. The article focuses on the intern’s experience, which consisted of several roadblocks and high points. Much of these situations presented themselves within a context at odds with the intern’s former teaching experiences and learning experiences within his own graduate program. Being placed within the busy museum world proved to be effective only after the intern accepted a collaborative visitor-centered mindset, involving a focus on the visitor and their connection to the object, collaboration across the entire staff, a certain level of risk-taking, and evaluation. The intern urges museum educators and curators willing to accept the visitor-centered approach to collaborate together as they look for new ways for visitors to experience museums.     

First impressions online: The inclusion of transgender and gender nonconforming identities and services in mental healthcare providers' online materials in the USA

Background: When accessing mental healthcare services, transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals face systemic barriers to gender-affirmative care. Initial points of contact, like intake forms, may show limited consideration for the heterogeneity of TGNC identities and can lead to negative consequences prior to face-to-face interaction with providers. Aims: The first aim was to mimic a likely pathway a TGNC individual may follow to seek mental healthcare services in the USA and to describe the extent to which they may encounter enacted stigma or affirmative messages that may impede or facilitate access to care. The second aim was to determine if a positive State legal climate for TGNC people was associated with more affirmative provider materials. Methods: Content analysis was used to examine a national sample of websites and intake forms of mental healthcare providers who advertise online as working with TGNC clients. Intake forms were coded for usage of affirmative language in gender/sex questions and including questions for a client's pronouns and preferred name. Websites were coded for mentioning a variety of services or resources for TGNC clients. Results: While provider websites were found through Google searches for a “gender therapist,” only 56.6% of websites stated a provider specialty to work with TGNC clients and 32.1% of websites had no mention of services or resources for TGNC people. Additionally, a significantly larger proportion of intake forms from States with legal protections for TGNC people used affirmative language in gender/sex questions and asked for a client's pronouns than intake forms from States without legal protections. Discussion: Barriers to affirmative healthcare for TGNC people within patient and provider interactions have been identified in previous research and these data show TGNC individuals may face enacted stigma even in their search for a provider, particularly those TGNC people living in States without legal protections.