EVERYONE AT THE TABLE: Religious Activism and Health Care Reform in Massachusetts

Using interviews with activists and Lisa Sowle Cahill's concept of participatory discourse, this article examines how the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) built solidarity for the 2006 Massachusetts health care reform law. The analysis explores the morally formative connections between GBIO's activist strategies and its public liturgy for reform. The solidarity generated through this interfaith coalition's activities and religious arguments contrasts with two standard types of policy discourse, economics and liberalism. Arguments for health care reform based on economic efficiency or positive rights are hampered by the lack of solidarity in U.S. political culture. GBIO's congregation‐based organizing offers a performative model of public argumentation for religious groups committed to achieving affordable, quality health care for all Americans.     

儿童最早记忆特征的初步研究

为研究童年期遗忘,本研究采用简单最早记忆法考察了60名中国城镇独生最早记忆特征及各特征之间的关系,并在记忆情绪上加入了道德情绪和混合情绪的测查。结果发现,小学四年级学生和初中二年级学生的最早记忆各特征均不存在差异,性别差异也不显著。道德情绪和混合情绪在最早记忆中出现率分别为53.7%和41.7%。结果表明,中国城镇独生儿童的童年期遗忘在9岁时已变得和成人十分相似;情绪理解对早期记忆的长久保持起着关键作用。     

青少年道德推脱与攻击行为：道德判断调节作用的性别差异

通过对756名青少年的问卷调查,考察了道德判断在青少年道德推脱与攻击行为之间调节作用的性别差异。结果发现:(1)道德推脱会对青少年的攻击行为产生显著的正向影响,道德判断不会对青少年的攻击行为产生显著的影响,但是道德判断可以显著地调节道德推脱与攻击行为之间的关系;(2)道德判断在调节道德推脱与攻击行为之间的关系时存在明显的性别差异,较高的道德判断能力难以削弱道德推脱对男生攻击行为的正向影响,但可以明显地削弱道德推脱对女生攻击行为的正向影响。     

Response to Michael Sells

In an era when lies and misrepresentations about historical events easily become firmly rooted, Michael Sells's discussion illustrates the importance of careful historical research as a moral enterprise. In addition to the skills of the historian, however, there is also room in this enterprise for those of the ethicist. In particular, I warn against confusing the truth or falsity of claims about one narrow historical period with larger questions about the moral meaning and significance of those claims. Illustrating this, I argue one cannot assess the legitimacy of competing nationhood claims solely on the basis of the deeds of specific actors. Nor should the actions of a single individual like the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem be converted into a totalizing claim about the rights of the Palestinian people.     

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF EMOTIONS IN THE BHAGAVAD GĪTĀ

Religious texts and historical narratives are instrumental in defining appropriate emotions and moral reasoning in a culture. In the Bhagavad Gı tā, the warrior Arjuna is faced with a twofold dilemma: are his emotions appropriate and should emotions influence his actions? The Gı tā is thought to be a redacted text with three primary layers: the original verses, the Sāmkhya/Yoga layer, and the devotional bhakti layer. Cross‐cultural psychological theories of emotions are employed to analyze the layers of the Gı tā. It is argued that each of the three layers corresponds with one of three possible moral codes as proposed by R. A. Shweder and his colleagues (1997; 2000) : the Ethic of Autonomy (promoting personal well‐being and avoiding shame); the Ethic of Community (maintaining social order and emotional detachment); and the Ethic of Divinity (upholding cosmic order and endorsing emotional devotion). These three perspectives remain relevant for deciding emotionally laden moral dilemmas today.     

THE PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ON BIOETHICS—REQUIESCAT IN PACE

In mid‐June 2009, the Obama administration dissolved the President's Council on Bioethics (PCBE), a group established by President George W. Bush in August 2001 and whose nearly eight‐year life was marked from beginning to end by controversy. While some will regret the PCBE's passing, others will regard the Council as a failed experiment in doing public bioethics.     

Reliability and validity of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List - Revised

A recent factor analysis of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL) changed the Anxiety, Depression, and Hostility scales from bipolar to unipolar scales and added two new scales: Positive Affect and Sensation Seeking. Internal reliability of the MAACL-R scales, computed for normal and patient samples, was adequate for state and trait forms except for Sensation Seeking. Test-retest reliability in college students was higher for the trait form with retest intervals of from 2 to 8 weeks than for the state form with retest intervals of from 2 to 5 days. The pattern of correlations among self-, peer, and counselor ratings and the MAACL-R scales for normal and patient samples indicates improved discriminant validity and equally good convergent validity as the old scales. The use of standard scores that are indexed to the number of items checked reduced scale intercorrelations by controlling the acquiescence set.The financial support of the Weldon Springs Endowment Fund, University of Missouri at Kansas City, toward the completion of this research project is gratefully acknowledged.     

An empirical investigation of the specificity and sensitivity of the automatic thoughts questionnaire and dysfunctional attitudes scale

Cognitive assessment of depression is not well advanced and the evidence for the validity and reliability of measures is incomplete. This study examined two cognitive assessments of depression-the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ) and the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS). There were two major objectives of this study. The first objective was to examine the ability of these two measures of cognitions to discriminate depressive symptomatology within a variety of sample populations-university undergraduate students, medical and psychiatric outpatients, and acute psychiatric inpatients. The second objective was to examine the ability of the ATQ and DAS succesfully to classify depressed and nondepressed patients. The results of this study suggest that the ATQ is a sensitive and specific measure of depression. Nonspecificity to the ATQ, however, was demonstrated in the substance abuse disorder group and the personality disorder group. In contrast, the DAS, although correlated with depressive symptomatology, was not found to be specific to depression.Part of this project is supported by a Special Project Grant from the University of Queensland to Dr. Oei.     

8—12岁儿童道德判断的从众现象

从众现象的研究内容至今均为感知觉方面的认知,同时儿童道德认知发展的研究只要求被试各别地单独作出判断,故有必要探究群体情境对儿童道德判断的从众的影响。本研究设置四种群体情境,使用三种“后果/意向”式道德故事作刺激材料,被试为8、10、12岁儿童计353名。结果表明,群体情境会使儿童的道德判断发明明显的从众变化,成人权威的群体情境最为有力、小型的和友伴群领袖的群体情境次之、微型的群体情境又次之。     

Psychological and sexual functioning among outpatient sexual offenders against children: A Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) cluster analytic study

Multivariate clustering procedures were used to identify homogeneous subgroups of outpatient sex offenders against children (n=110)on the basis of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Results indicated a five-subgroup solution. Two within-normal-limits and two clinically elevated profile subgroups replicated subtypes found in previous cluster analytic studies of child sex offenders. The fifth subgroup appeared similar in MMPI profile pattern and elevation to a previously identified subtype of rapists. Discriminant analyses showed that subgroups differed along dimensions of cognitive disturbance and sexual functioning. Furthermore, levels of psychopathology corresponded with levels of sexual pathology. Results are discussed with reference to previous MMPI cluster analytic studies of sex offenders and theories of sexual aggression.Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, 1992, Chicago, Illinois.