Acculturative Hassles and Immigrant Adolescents: A Life-Domain Assessment for Soviet Jewish Refugees

Abstract

In a sample of 146 adolescents, the authors developed and validated a measure of acculturative hassles for Soviet Jewish refugees. They based the measure on an ecological perspective, which focuses on hassles involving person-environment transactions occurring in life domains of school, family, peers, and language. The authors reviewed conceptual and methodological issues in existing instruments and incorporated efforts to address current limitations into instrument development. The measure was correlated with psychological distress, level of acculturation to Russian and U.S. cultures, and outcomes in life domains; it contributed to outcomes over and above effects of nonacculturative hassles. Implications for measurement of acculturative hassles are discussed.     

Adding the Voices of Jewish Girls to Developmental Theory

Abstract

Feminist psychologists do not often include Jewish representation when they discuss issues of difference and diversity. Jewish female adolescents have not been included in the current research on teen-age girls and voice. The author finds that Jewish female adolescents do experience themselves as different from the majority culture. This difference is associated with respondents emerging from early adolescence while maintaining relational competence.     

Shaftesbury on life as a work of art

ABSTRACT

This paper explicates Shaftesbury’s idea that we ought to live our lives as though they are works of art. I show that this idea is central to many of Shaftesbury’s most important claims, and that an understanding of this idea enables us to answer some of the most contested questions in the scholarship on Characteristics.     

Inheritance,Originality and the Will: Bergson and Heidegger on Creation

Abstract

In the work of Henri Bergson and Martin Heidegger we find different responses to traditional ideas of ‘creation’. Bergson advances a philosophy of creation, wherein ‘creation’ is presented as the production of a ‘radical’ or ‘absolute’ novelty, not only in art, but in all forms of human experience and biological life. Heidegger, in contrast, comes to criticise ideas of ‘creation’ in art as the expression of an alienated ‘humanism’ and ‘subjectivism’ essential to the modern age. This paper illuminates this divergence by showing how Bergson and Heidegger, despite appearances, grapple with the question of art-production – and with the attendant issues of inheritance and originality – in similar ways. It is only in recognising this proximity, I argue, that it is possible to perceive adequately what essentially distinguishes their approaches: Bergson’s conception of creation as a function of the will.     

Transformations of the Sacred in Contemporary Chicana Culture

Abstract

Focusing on the transformation of the sacred icon La Virgen de Guadalupe into a secularized and sexualized modern woman in illustrations by Yolanda M. López and Ester Hernández, the rearticulation of ex-votos in Sandra Cisneros's short story ‘Little Miracles, Kept Promises’, and the development of a lesbian form of spirituality in Ana Castillo's Massacre of the Dreamers, this essay argues that it is the tradition of syncretism and cultural hybridization within the folk version of Mexican Catholicism and its concomitant propensity toward the deconstruction of binary oppositions (such as colonizer versus colonized; male versus female; body versus soul; sexuality versus spirituality) that forms the basis for many of the feminist revisions, reinterpretations, and transformations of Catholic figures, motifs and texts in contemporary Chicana art.     

Freud's Jewish identity,circumcision, and the theory of castration anxiety: problem or pride?

In this work the author reflects on the Jewish identity of Sigmund Freud. It is acknowledged that Freud, even though he seemed ambivalent towards Jewishness and even though anti-Semitism was omnipresent, not necessarily perceived his Jewish identity as problematic. Rather, it seems as if Freud had a positive Jewish identity, which was connected to profound knowledge in Jewish religion and tradition, even though he declared himself as a Godless Jew. Both his Jewish identity and his knowledge in Judaism seemed to have contributed to some of his insights into the human psyche. The impact of the traditional Jewish circumcision and the insights connected to the theory of castration anxiety are specifically discussed. The author suggests that Freud's positive Jewish identity, and the significance of circumcision, contributed to his insights into the prerequisites of human development and how we as individuals are shaped both by our interpersonal relationships and by the cultural context.     

The impact of religious conflict within orthodox Jewish families in Israel

While prior research suggests that religion influences relationships positively, it may also be a source of conflict. This may be particularly relevant in religion-centric cultures and in families with individuating adolescent children. The current research analysed data from 789 orthodox Jewish couples residing throughout Israel and we hypothesised that religious conflict is related to lower family functioning and higher parenting stress, and that it is more frequent among couples with insecure attachment. Results of a structural equation model indicated that religious conflict was significantly associated with outcome variables within various religious subgroups, and that attachment insecurity was related to higher levels of conflict and was fully or partially mediated by religious conflict. This suggests that within the orthodox community, religious conflict is an important correlate, and perhaps cause, of family dysfunction. Future research exploring causality, cross-cultural relevance, comparability to other forms of conflict, and effective treatment appears warranted.     

The relationship between religiosity/spirituality and well-being in gay and heterosexual Orthodox Jews

Numerous studies have demonstrated positive relationships between religiosity/spirituality and emotional well-being. Little research exists, though, on these relationships in Orthodox Jewish and gay populations. Therefore, data from two studies focusing on heterosexual Orthodox Jews (Study 1, 52 females, 18 males) and gay Orthodox Jews (Study 2, 191 males) are presented. The studies assessed religiosity, spirituality, and well-being using validated self-report measures. In Study 1, religiosity and spirituality were generally positively correlated with well-being. In Study 2, spirituality was positively correlated with well-being, while religiosity entered into a complex pattern of relationships. For gay Orthodox Jews, religiosity may not have the same associations with well-being that it does for heterosexual Orthodox Jews, although spirituality may provide an alternative pathway for emotional benefits.     

胃部恶性肿瘤临床实践中的医疗艺术

医学是一门讲求艺术性的科学.随着社会的发展,医疗艺术在整个医学临床实践中的重要性越来越突出.医疗艺术体现了医生对生命的尊重和伦理的理解.讲求医疗艺术对于建立和谐的医患关系具有重要意义.因此,如何在过硬的现代医学技术基础上提高临床医疗的艺术性,是医学教育和临床实践领域都应该思考的问题.本文以胃部恶性肿瘤的临床实践为例,从态度、语言、表情以及医患互动等细节方面入手,探讨在初诊、术前、康复以及面对晚期临终患者的不同情况中应该如何提高医疗艺术.     

From Self-Culture to College Lecture

Abstract

The Jewish Chautauqua Society (JCS), founded in Philadelphia in 1893 by Reform Rabbi Henry Berkowitz, evolved from an organization dedicated to popularizing Jewish knowledge among Jews to one devoted to teaching non-Jews about Judaism. Emulating the forms of Chautauqua Institution, the Society created reading circles, published textbooks for the study of Judaism, and held annual assemblies for forty years. In 1939, the Society came under the sponsorship of the North American Federation of Temple Brotherhoods, a lay Reform Jewish organization. It expanded the most ambitious of its programs, rabbinically-taught college courses on Jewish studies. Since its inception, the Jewish Chautauqua Society has sought to combat anti-Semitism, dispel prejudice and create “understanding through education” about a minority religious and ethnic component of American society.