儿童收养研究中的心理学问题

国外关于儿童收养的心理学研究主要集中在收养儿童的心理适应、认知发展及人格发展等方面, 研究呈现了不同收养年龄、不同收养前经历、不同收养背景下的儿童不同的发展态势, 并做了原因探析和干预机制的探索。但国外该领域的心理学研究仍存在样本区分不明确、对原因的探讨相对薄弱等问题。国内儿童收养的心理学研究应更关注未经历剥夺环境的大龄儿童, 从亲属与非亲属收养、保密型与开放型收养的利弊对比等方面有针对性的开展本土化研究。     

Adoption Is a Successful Natural Intervention Enhancing Adopted Children's IQ and School Performance

ABSTRACT— Is the cognitive development of adopted children different from that of (a) children who have remained in institutional care or in their birth families or (b) their current (environmental) nonadopted siblings or peers? We attempt to answer these questions on the basis of a meta-analysis of 62 studies including 17,767 adopted children. Compared to their nonadopted siblings or peers who stayed behind, adopted children scored substantially higher on IQ tests and they performed much better at school. Compared to their current nonadopted environmental peers or siblings, adopted children showed similar IQ scores but their school performance and language abilities lagged somewhat behind. Most importantly, we found a twofold increase in special-education referrals in adopted children compared to their nonadopted peers. Taken together, the findings document the positive impact of adoption on children's cognitive development and adopted children's remarkably normal cognitive competence but somewhat delayed school performance.     

Gender Attitudes Mediate Gender Differences in Attitudes Toward Adoption in Guatemala

Gender differences in gender role attitudes, including machismo, and attitudes toward adoption were studied in Guatemala, a country that provides a large number of children for international adoption. Guatemalan university students (N = 152) completed the machismo subscale of the Multiphasic Assessment of Cultural Constructs–short form (Cuéllar, Arnold, & González, 1995), the attitudes toward women scale for adolescents (Galambos, Peterson, Richards, & Gitelson, 1985), and an adoption beliefs scale developed for the present study. Men endorsed more machismo, more traditional gender role attitudes, and held less favorable attitudes toward adoption than women did. Gender differences in adoption attitudes were mediated by machismo and gender role attitudes. These results suggest that machismo and traditional gender role attitudes may serve as barriers in the promotion of intra-country adoption.     

Buying cars online: the adoption of the web for high‐involvement,high‐cost purchases

This research explores the adoption of the Web throughout the buying process within high‐value, high‐involvement product categories (the car sector). Diffusion of innovations (Rogers, 1983) and innovation resistance Ram and Sheth (1989) theories are utilised and found to be useful. The research is exploratory, based on eight qualitative, semi‐structured individual interviews with potential car buyers. Findings indicate that there is resistance to adopting online car purchase overall, but relative advantage is recognised at the early, information seeking stages. Consumers use the Web to improve the balance of power between themselves and car salespeople. Innovation resistance during later stages, result from the need for personal experience of the product prior to purchase, ie test driving, as well as the uncertainty regarding after‐sales support. Further resistance comes from a reluctance to give up the social aspects of car buying and a perceived inability to negotiate with websites. It is suggested that organisations operating in these markets should focus Web activities on information provision, or opt for a hybrid strategy using both online and offline channels. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications.     

消费者新产品采纳的特征

成功的新产品开发是企业获取竞争优势的重要因素,但创新产品并非总能得到市场的接受,大多数的新产品扩散往往以失败告终。因此,业界和学界对新产品采纳问题进行了诸多探索。新产品采纳过程是指创新产品从被设计制造出来,到最终被消费者或潜在消费者认识和采用的过程。对相关研究综述发现：以Rogers创新扩散模型为依据,按采纳时间和特征的不同,新产品采纳者可以系统分为早期采纳者和晚期采纳者,二者之间主要从创新性、产品理解和易感性三个维度进行区分。具体来说,早期采纳者具有高创新性、高产品理解和低易感性;晚期采纳者具有低创新性、低产品理解和高易感性。在此基础上,我们探究了各维度下影响消费者新产品采纳的具体因素。未来研究可以从这三个维度出发,结合已有研究的不足以及当前环境、消费特点等进行拓展。     

A project to strengthen linkages between genetic centers and child welfare services

Genetic centers are reaching out to underserved populations. One of the most vulnerable underserved populations is children receiving child welfare services. Delivering genetic services to this group is particularly problematic because of multiple barriers. The first step in overcoming barriers is developing linkages between the genetic and adoption service systems with the goal of increasing referrals of child welfare clients to genetic services. This paper presents a model of fostering linkages that was developed under the auspices of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Human Genetics Network with support from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Genetic Services Branch. Although the project was regional and funded, the model can be applied at the local level.     

Some promising dimensions for behavioral community technology

In recent years, the search for effective and replicable approaches to planned change in communities has escalated. Applied behavior analysts have participated in these efforts to remedy existing community problems and to increase the capacities of community residents to meet their goals. Examples of behavioral technologies for community settings are described and their advantages are noted. Criteria for more contextually appropriate community technologies are suggested and strategies for developing behavioral methods according to these criteria are described. This paper outlines some promising dimensions for behavioral community technology and discusses several possible limitations to a behavioral approach to addressing societal problems.     

Defect and Recognition in Sophocles’ <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oedipus Rex</Emphasis>

This paper explores the relationships between experienced defect and the subsequent shame and longing for recognition. A clinical vignette is presented in which a young woman sought treatment for her infidelity to her husband: a behavior she found totally mystifying and deeply troubling. Using Bollas’ concept of “the unthought known,” parallels are drawn between this patient, who was adopted at 2 weeks of age, and Oedipus’ experience of knowing and not knowing his fate. A case is made for the idea that we both avoid and seek to know what is unbearable about ourselves, including our sense of defects. One motivation for this is the longing to be seen, recognized, known, and, finally, know one’s self.     

I Love to Tell the Story: Reshaping the Narrative of Adoption

Abstract : This article argues that a Christian theological understanding of adoption can be a helpful corrective to some of the negative interpretations and assumptions around adoption that continue to circulate in secular culture. The article proceeds as follows: First, I argue that the way in which Christians understand and describe the experience of being adopted into God's family counters the idea that one's birth family is one's “real” family. Second, I argue that a Christian understanding of adoption mitigates the tendency to view adoption as a sort of “Plan B.” Finally, I argue that because of the value Christians place on caring for those in need, and the replacement of kin relationships with relationships of love and faith, the metaphor of adoption can and should be used more widely, to create broader networks of family that encompass far more than mere blood ties.