The fate of a warrior culture

Jonathan Lear in Radical Hope tackles the idea of cultural devastation, in the specific case of the Crow Indians. What do we mean by “annihilation” of a culture? The moral point of view that he imagines as he reconstructs the eve and aftermath of this annihilation is not second personal, of obligation, but first personal, in the collective and singular, as told by the Crows, with Lear as “analyst.” Radical Hope is a study of representative character of a people—of virtue, courage, resilience, and hope in the face of cultural collapse. The leading questions are shaped by ancient Greek ethics, but with a twist: On the brink of cultural death, what counts for us as good living and what is the nature of the virtues or excellences that constitute it? How might a leader, a phronimos, exemplify it? This puts it too narrowly. The questions, also, are Wittgensteinian: How does a nation go on, when the concepts and way of life it has lived by for centuries are no more? What does it mean to go on? What does it mean to stop when the marks of going on are no longer?     

Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: Effects of Confiding in Religious Leaders

IPV is the most challenging mental health problem facing clergy. Abused women (n = 476), most of whom are Christians living at home (not in shelters), sought assistance from domestic violence centers. Data obtained from questionnaires demonstrated that confiding in clergy predicts higher self-esteem and reduces the impact of lack of social support on self-esteem, self-efficacy, and life satisfaction. Compassionate clergy counseling can have a positive influence on psychological outcomes of women in abusive relationships.     

Implicit stereotypes and women’s math performance: How implicit gender-math stereotypes influence women’s susceptibility to stereotype threat

This experiment examined the effects of implicit gender-math stereotyping and implicit gender and math identification on women’s math performance under stereotype threat and reduced threat conditions. Results showed that of the three, only implicit gender-math stereotyping moderated stereotype threat effects on women’s math performance: women who showed less implicit math-gender stereotyping showed the largest performance difference across experimental conditions. These results suggest that women’s implicit associations between gender and math interact with situational cues to influence their math performance: women who implicitly associate women more than men with mathematics were most benefited by reduction of stereotype salience during testing.     

Do Feminist Women Feel Better About their Lives? Examining Patterns of Feminist Identity Development and Women’s Subjective Well-being

Relations between women’s patterns of feminist identity development and their subjective well-being were explored through an online study with a sample of 691 women ages 18 to 83 from across the United States. The results of a hierarchical cluster analysis indicated that women fall into three groups based on their feminist identity development processes: Women with Traditional Values, Women with Moderate Values, and Women with Feminist Values. The results of the analysis of covariance showed that women who held feminist and moderate values scored significantly higher on a measure of overall well-being—particularly on subscales measuring purpose in life, autonomy, and personal growth—than women with traditional values.     

Applications of social cognitive theory to the career development of women of color

This article provides a review of the literature on the educational and career development of women of color within the context of social cognitive career theory (Lent, et al, 1994 and Lent, et al, 1996). Specifically, possible gender, ethnic, racial, and cultural influences on career self-efficacy and outcome expectations are explored to delinate the potential mechanisms whereby ethnicity, culture, and ethnic and racial identity development, in interaction with gender, affect career choice and adjustment. Suggestions for future research on social cognitive career theory and the career development of women of color are presented.     

A qualitative exploration of apprehended women’s experience of drink driving events

BackgroundIn Australia, drink driving remains a serious road safety issue. The few studies that have addressed drink driving behaviour amongst women often focus on aggregated statistical comparisons to men or view the concept of drink driving as part of broader criminological behaviour. In contrast, scant research has directly focused on convicted female drink drivers. The aim of this study was to explore the factors that contribute to drink driving in a cohort of women convicted for drink driving and examine why these women were unsuccessful in mitigating the risk of engaging in drink driving behaviour.MethodThe study thematically analysed the narratives of 14 women who had been apprehended and subsequently convicted of a drink driving offence in the state of Queensland (Australia). All participants were recruited by way of their attendance at a drink driving education program.ResultsOverall examination of participants’ narratives revealed drink driving behaviour derived from a complex set of processes including taking a risk, using alcohol to self-medicate and alleviate psychological distress, basing the decision to drive on subjective assessment, and past engagement in drink driving behaviour and punishment avoidance. Underpinning these themes was the participants lack of awareness about the increasing risks associated with their alcohol consumption levels, with cognisance only being achieved after apprehension.ConclusionThese findings add to the limited research addressing drink driving behaviour among women and highlight important factors to explain why women are increasingly engaging in this risky behaviour.     

More than “just a driver”: A study of professional women racecar drivers' agency in motorsport

ObjectivesMotorsport is among the largest sports nationally and globally (Ross, Ridinger, & Cuneen, 2009), and racecar driving constitutes a leading motorsport (Pflugfelder, 2009). Missing, however, is empirical work that captures professional female racecar drivers' agentic experiences (Pflugfelder, 2009). In that racecar driving is one of few sports in which women compete alongside men, insight into how women drivers navigate this performance arena can offer a unique perspective on contemporary gender dynamics.DesignQualitative study design informed by a cultural praxis agenda consisted of semi-structured interviews with 8 current or former professional female racecar drivers.MethodThis study adopted an abductive (inductive and deductive) approach (Sparks & Smith, 2014). Inductive analysis allowed researchers to capture women's diverse agentic experiences. Deductive analysis using cultural praxis and gender (poststructural) perspectives offered a more nuanced understanding of women's agentic experiences and their potential (dis)empowering effects.ResultsResults highlights four key themes: (1) entry into racecar driving: family and fatherly influence; (2) marginalizing beliefs, behaviors, and industry barriers; (3) navigating the space: negotiating gender and its (dis)empowering effects; and (4) promoting girls and women in autoracing. Results reveal various dimensions of sexism and sportswomen's agentic experiences.ConclusionResearchers can heed women drivers' call for knowledge translation efforts that attend to their unique needs and strengths, and disseminate empirical findings in accessible ways. Future research that takes up a cultural praxis agenda is vital to contest constraining gender binaries and deficit-based discourses about women athletes for the promotion of gender equity in motorsport.     

The impact of thin idealized media images on body satisfaction: Does body appreciation protect women from negative effects?

This article examines whether positive body image can protect women from negative media exposure effects. University women (N = 112) were randomly allocated to view advertisements featuring ultra-thin models or control images. Women who reported high levels of body appreciation did not report negative media exposure effects. Furthermore, the protective role of body appreciation was also evident among women known to be vulnerable to media exposure. Women high on thin-ideal internalization and low on body appreciation reported appearance-discrepancies that were more salient and larger when they viewed models compared to the control group. However, women high on thin-ideal internalization and also high on body appreciation rated appearance-discrepancies as less important and no difference in size than the control group. The results support the notion that positive body image protects women from negative environmental appearance messages and suggests that promoting positive body image may be an effective intervention strategy.     

Women Living with Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Women living with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) typically experience social and emotional sequelae that can be effectively addressed in the context of a psychotherapeutic relationship. Traumatic Brain Injuries can affect the full range of human functioning, from activities of daily living to experiencing a coherent sense of self. In this article, we focus on two issues, social isolation and emotional functioning, that encompass a number of key challenges facing women with TBI and are common and fruitful foci of psychotherapy. Social isolation includes marginalization in multiple communities, the invisibility of cognitive disabilities, difficulties in interpersonal relationships, and difficulties in employment and access to transportation. Emotional functioning includes posttraumatic stress symptoms, loss of self-esteem, anxiety, depression, anger, and shame. Two exemplary cases are used to illustrate the themes and underscore the complexities and realities of adjusting to TBI. Recommendations for therapists and consumers are woven throughout the paper.