Enfleshing the Erotic

Abstract

An embodied theological ethic of human sexuality must engage two specific tasks: (1) articulate a theological explanation of the body that can frame critical reflection on the right ordering of relationships at the macro, social-relational level and (2) celebrate the erotic as an essential, creative contour of human sexual experience at the micro, interpersonal level. This essay is divided into two sections. In the first section, I explore the significance of the body in theological and ethical reflection in an attempt to distill an embodied theological ethic of human sexuality that can level a critique against the sinful social realities of heterosexism and sexism. In the second part, I develop the ethic further so as to carry moral weight within sexual practices. I celebrate the erotic as the creative dimension of human sexuality that encompasses desire and pleasure. I reflect on desire and pleasure individually in light of embodied experience and ground each within an ethic of mutuality to ensure goodness, rightness, and the doing of justice in all sexual relationships.     

The Good-in-Bed Effect: College Students’ Tendency to See Themselves as Better Than Others as a Sex Partner

Self-enhancement refers to the finding that people tend to see themselves as better than others. The present research tested whether people display self-enhancement with regard to beliefs about their competency as sexual partners (the good-in-bed effect). Participants were asked to list good and bad sexually related behaviors more frequently performed by the self or by others. Study 1 demonstrated that people selectively associate themselves with good and others with bad sexual behaviors. In Study 2, independent raters judged bad behaviors associated with the self as less negative than bad behaviors associated with others. Study 3 replicated the good-in-bed effect and also found that when the salience of the comparison between good and bad traits is increased, men are more likely than women to demonstrate the effect. Implications of the results for relationship satisfaction are considered.     

Research With the Draw-A-Person Test: Conceptual and Methodological Issues

A number of methodological, statistical, and conceptual problems are inherent in research with the Draw-A-Person Test (DAP). These difficulties invalidate the theoretical position that an individual's gender-role identification is reflected in the sex of the figure drawn. The complexity of these problems affects the evaluation of the DAP and illustrates the need for multiple approaches to its interpretation.     

The Relationship Between Understanding of Self and Others in Children's Friendships

This study examined the relationship between Australian children's acceptance of self and their stage of friendship expectations. Subjects, 116 boys and 92 girls (8 to 13 years old), completed the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale and a Picture Sequence Task. The results showed that children who were at the evaluation, admiration, and common activities stages of friendship expectations reported comparatively lower self-acceptance feelings for the global self and for a number of minor self-concept areas than did those who were at higher developmental levels.     

Trauma and the transference‐countertransference: working with the bad object and the wounded self

This paper focuses on the transference‐countertransference dynamics that manifest in work with those individuals who experienced severe early relational trauma and, in particular, childhood sexual abuse. The literature is surveyed from Davies and Frawley's (1992a) seminal paper through to more current trauma‐related and sensorimotor approaches, which deepen our understanding greatly. The rapidly shifting, powerful, conflicting and kaleidoscopic transference‐countertransference dynamics are explored in the light of these views and in relation to a lengthy clinical example. The author elucidates the dual‐aspect of the traumatic complex, whereby the abuser figure, which is disavowed by the patient, becomes manifest in prosecuting the analyst for the ‘wounds’ that the analysis evokes. The paper also explores the particular nature of the splitting processes, whereby pressure is put on the analyst to adopt an idealized role, in particular to act as a self‐object, in order to enable the patient to safely express and ‘be’ themselves in an attempt to make up for what was not possible in childhood; the analyst will necessarily fail in this task. In the context of powerful masochisto‐sadistic dynamics, the analyst's masochism is likely to be called up in the spirit of caring ‘humanity’ (another inevitable enactment), which can impede the progress of the analysis if not addressed. The extreme woundedness, intense affect and moral outrage associated with these dynamics are characteristic and compelling. Issues relating to disclosure, enactment and analytic attitude are also discussed.     

Jealousy in response to online and offline infidelity: the role of sex and sexual orientation

The goal of the present study was to examine the emotional content and intensity of jealousy in response to different types of infidelity (both online and offline unfaithful partner behaviors) among Dutch heterosexuals (n = 191) and homosexuals (n = 121). Based on previous research (Dijkstra, Barelds & Groothof, 2010), participants were presented with ten jealousy‐evoking situations following which the intensity of two different emotional aspects of jealousy was assessed (betrayal/anger and threat). Results showed that scenarios describing a partner having sex with someone else or falling in love with someone else primarily evoked betrayal/anger‐related jealousy, whereas scenarios describing an emotional connection between a partner and someone else primarily evoked threat‐related jealousy. In addition, women experienced more jealousy than men in response to scenarios in which a partner engaged in potentially extra‐dyadic online (but not offline) behaviors. Finally, compared to same‐sex heterosexuals, homosexuals, both male and female, responded with less intense jealousy to scenarios describing a partner having sex with someone else. Implications for the treatment of (internet) infidelity are discussed.     

Spirituality and Substance Abuse Recovery

Researchers explored patient and staff perceptions of spiritual well-being and the spiritual needs of patients enrolled in a residential substance abuse treatment program. The Spiritual Well-Being Scale was used to gather quantitative data. Additionally, a brief questionnaire containing one qualitative and two quantitative questions was completed by both clients and staff. A statistically significant difference was found, indicating a more positive sense of spiritual well-being among patients upon discharge. Although the staff and clients of the residential program have similar perceptions regarding the concept of spiritual well-being, their definitions do not appear identical.     

Domestic Abuse Across the Lifespan

ABSTRACT

Domestic abuse has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Occupational therapists working in many different settings will encounter children, adults, elders and individuals with disabilities who have experienced intimate violence and abuse. This article presents common definitions and illustrative examples of each type of violence. Issues related to the difficulty inherent in identifying victims of abuse are discussed with an elaboration of indicators that are likely to be seen by an occupational therapist in the clinical setting. Risk factors for becoming a victim or an abuser for each population group and the effects of violence on victims are presented. A brief discussion of the legal and ethical implications of identifying and treating abuse victims concludes the article.     

A Review of “Play Therapy with Children in Crisis: Individual,Group and Family Treatment, 3rd Edition”

Abstract

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) emerging adults face additional stressors due to discrimination. Emerging adults (n?=?667) drawn from Waves I and III of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) were used to assess how parent-child relationships moderated marijuana and illicit drug use. Sexual minorities with strong relationships with mothers had significantly lower odds of using marijuana, but significantly higher odds of using marijuana (but lower odds of using illicit drugs) when they had a stronger relationship with their father. Implications include improving parent-child relationships and identifying additional coping methods for LGB youth.     

Don’t be afraid of the General Factor of Personality (GFP): Its relationship with behavioral inhibition and anxiety symptoms in children

Two studies examined the relationship between the General Factor of Personality (GFP) and behavioral inhibition and anxiety symptoms in primary school children. The GFP is assumed to reflect effectiveness in interaction with others. In Study 1, using self-reports and parent ratings of 226 non-clinical children, we found GFP scores to be negatively related to behavioral inhibition and anxiety symptoms. In Study 2 we compared non-clinical children (N = 81) with children with anxiety disorders (N = 45). In both groups we obtained child and parent ratings. The clinically referred children scored significantly lower on the GFP than the non-clinical children. Moreover, as in Study 1, higher GFP scores were associated with lower levels of behavioral inhibition and anxiety symptoms. The two studies support the view that the GFP is a relevant construct in anxiety proneness and anxiety problems.