Security Technologies Versus Citizen Roles?

The idea of securitization holds that perceived threats and the ensuing need for security measures are mobilized in speech acts to legitimate bypassing of normal practices of democratic politics and justification. Citizens, as members of the political community, are thus effectively deprived of their agency. Attempts at securitization gain clout from the severity of the mobilized threat: the more convincingly a threat is argued to cause disruptions in the functioning of society and ultimately the loss of human life, the more acceptable it will become to bypass democratic governance in order to prevent the threat. Accordingly, security technologies can be conceived of as those technologies that are constructed and mobilized in such attempts at securitization and depoliticization. However, security technologies can also be thought of as technologies that are mobilized in face of existential threats more generally, regardless of whether their mobilization has a depoliticizing effect or not. Yet, as case studies on airport security scanners and security in smart grids show, not all implementations of security, even against existential threats, show this tendency of depoliticization as essential in securitization and in technologies of security. This article further demonstrates that the agency of citizens in the governance of these technologies importantly depends on whether or not the threat is perceived as internal or external to the referent object of the security programme.     

Supervising away from home: clinical,cultural and professional challenges

This paper explores some challenges of supervising clinical work of trainees, known as ‘routers’, who live in countries with diverse cultural, social and political traditions, and the analysts who travel to supervise them. It is written as an evolving dialogue between the authors, who explore together the effects of their own culture of origin, and in particular the legacy and values of their own training institutes on the styles and models of analytic supervision. Their dialogue is framed around the meaning of home and experiences of homesickness for analysts working away from home in an interactive field of strangeness in countries where analytical psychology is a relatively new discipline. The authors outline the findings from their own qualitative survey, where other supervisors working abroad, and those they have supervised, describe their experiences and their encounters with difference. The dialogue ends with both authors discussing what they have learned about teaching and supervising abroad, the implications for more flexible use of Jungian concepts, and how such visits have changed their clinical practice in their home countries.     

Attachment theory within clinical supervision: application of the conceptual to the empirical

Attachment theory, which has demonstrated application in caregiver-child, romantic, and psychotherapeutic relationships, also appears to be supervision relevant. But bad blood between attachment theory and psychoanalysis may well have hampered considering the relevance of attachment theory for psychoanalytic supervision. This project sought to investigate the application of attachment theory to the supervision situation, with the potential implications of our findings for psychoanalytic supervision being considered. Attachment styles, leader–follower dynamics, and attachment-based expectations were explored as predictors of supervisor-trainee working alliance using a prospective, longitudinal study design. Findings revealed the importance of measuring supervision-specific attachment, the particularly problematic nature of supervisee avoidant attachment, and the potential contribution of a leader–follower framework for understanding supervisory attachment. These attachment concepts may well be useful in, and additive for, psychoanalytic supervision practice.     

Supervising counsellors and psychotherapists who work with trauma: a Delphi study

In this study the Delphi technique was used to identify the main supervision issues that require attention and consideration when supervising counsellors and psychotherapists working with trauma. A panel of supervisors, who were additionally experienced in working with trauma in adulthood, completed a series of three questionnaires comprising two qualitative and one quantitative round. Themes and key concepts were identified from the data, and the respondents rated the importance of the themes using a visual analogue scale. This iterative process identified areas where there was consensus amongst the respondents and areas where contention was apparent. The results revealed significant issues pertinent to the supervision of trauma therapists, with a particularly strong emphasis around training, experience and organisational issues. Directions for further research emerging from the study are also discussed.     

Clinical supervisor training in Australia: A review of current problems and possible solutions

Clinical supervision cuts to the heart of professional psychology training. It is the most expensive single investment of staff time in the training of the psychology practitioner, and it appears to be the single most important contributor to training effectiveness, repaying that investment. Now there are changes afoot internationally which may change its pivotal role. For example, the Psychology Board of Australia has recently proposed that supervisors undergo approved supervisor training; in the USA, a competence‐based emphasis is gaining ground; while in the UK, supervisors within the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies initiative are receiving unprecedented training and support. It is therefore timely to clarify the need for such training and to consider promising options for its effective delivery. Following a summary of the changes within Australia, we next address these emergent problems and promising solutions by examining the available scientific evidence and by considering professional consensus statements.     

Approaching countertransference in psychoanalytical supervision: A qualitative investigation1

A recent examination of the literature concerning countertransference and its developments reveals its clinical usefulness in different psychoanalytical cultures. Nevertheless, a shortage of publications is apparent with respect to its approach in supervision. The authors aim in this study was to examine the concepts of transference and countertransference and how countertransference is approached in supervision, in the training of candidates, at an institute of psychoanalysis belonging to a society affiliated to the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA). Qualitative research was carried out, interviewing supervisors and supervisees. Through analysis of the material acquired, the authors classifi ed the data into initial, intermediate and fi nal categories. The principal fi ndings were subdivided into three categories: the concepts of transference and countertransference, psychoanalytical listening and the complementarity of the phenomena, and the approach to countertransference. The concepts of transference and countertransference predominantly used by those interviewed are based on the totalistic outlook. Countertransference in supervision has been approached in a more direct and objective way when compared with the previous period, although great care is taken to delimit the boundaries between supervision and personal analysis. The main aim of supervision is to broaden comprehension and to deepen the interpretations directed towards the patient. These fi ndings suggest that the evolution of the concept of countertransference in different psychoanalytical cultures and developments in the analytical fi eld are contributing to this change.     

Spirituality, Gender, and Supervisory Style in Supervision

This study used the following guiding question: Is gender associated with variations in perceptions of supervisory style and the frequency with which spiritual issues are addressed in supervision? Results suggest that spirituality is perceived relevant to numerous aspects of supervision. For example, findings indicate that a relationship exists between two characteristics of supervisory style and the frequency with which spirituality is addressed in supervision. Results also intimate that male therapists viewed male supervisors as addressing spirituality more frequently than female supervisors, and female therapists viewed female supervisors as addressing spirituality more frequently than male supervisors. Overall, these findings highlight the significance of spirituality within the context of supervision and underscore the critical need for attention to gender in the study of spirituality within clinical settings.     

After-School Supervision, Psychosocial Impact, and Adolescent Smoking and Alcohol Use in China

We examined effects of self-care after school hours and psychosocial factors on cigarette smoking and alcohol use among adolescents in China. Survey data were obtained from 4734 7th and 11th grade students from seven cities across China. Students were queried about the frequency and quantity of unsupervised self-care after school in an average week. Tobacco and alcohol usage were also obtained. Odds ratios were calculated to determine the strength of association between unsupervised self-care after school and substance use. Results indicated that the amount of self-care after-school (how many days and how many hours per week) was significantly associated with increased risk for smoking and alcohol use among Chinese adolescents. These associations remained significant even after controlling for anxiety, depressive symptoms, and peer influence. The interaction between unsupervised self-care after school and peer influence indicated that unsupervised self-care after school is a stronger risk factor for smoking among adolescents with pro-smoking friends. The findings suggest that substance use prevention programs for youth in China should try to enhance parental monitoring. As it may not be feasible for families to revert to a lifestyle that includes supervision by relatives, other approaches such as organized after-school care are worthy of consideration.     

适宜技术与诊疗最优化临床应用患者方面的影响因素

从诊疗中的认识论和辩证法的角度,通过实际案例分析医生及患者对选择适宜技术实现诊疗最优化的消极和积极的影响;阐述了患者自身的经济状况在很大程度上影响着适宜技术的应用;患者的心理因素和家人的态度在一定程度上也影响着适宜技术的应用及实现诊疗最优化。医生要提高自己的综合素质,患者要充分发挥自己的主观能动性,消除消极的影响,增强积极的影响,共同促进适宜技术的临床应用及实现诊疗最优化。