Data Karaoke: Sensory and Bodily Skills in Conference Presentations

At the International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD), an interdisciplinary conference dedicated to sonification and the use of non-speech sound to represent information, presenters make use of a variety of bodily skills and representations that appeal to the senses of their audience. In many established disciplines, the conventions that guide the use of these skills and representations are taken for granted; but within ICAD, they are often explicitly negotiated. The practice of ‘data karaoke', in which researchers mimic the sound of a sonification with their own voice, is particularly instructive for understanding these negotiations, and the ICAD community more generally. Data karaoke fulfils five functions: embodiment, highlighting, illustration, authorisation and integration. To make sense of data karaoke, we have to understand the institutional and intellectual environment in which this peculiar practice has emerged; but conversely, an understanding of data karaoke can help us throw new light on epistemological debates about the hierarchy of the senses: data karaoke is a multisensory skill engaging the whole body of the sonification researcher, and thus calls into question the dominant epistemological discourse within the ICAD community, in which the different sensory modalities are framed as competitors. The ICAD case shows that studying conferences as sites where bodies interact, and presentations as performances involving the bodies and senses of scientists, helps us to understand not only the conference cultures, but also the ideals about scientific scholarship and academic authority held by scientific communities.     

The social unconscious in persons,groups and societies,Vol 1: mainly theory; and Trauma and organizations

This paper considers the emotional life of the infant in the incubator and develops a new psychological theory which is called the ‘incubator psyche’. Theory building is advanced from three main discourses: (1) psychoanalysis, (2) neo-natal nursing and (3) psychology. A case study of Corey, a 7-year-old boy, who had been delivered prematurely, with a hole in his heart, and spent the first 6 weeks of post-natal life in an incubator, is presented to illustrate how aspects of an incubator psyche might be clinically manifest. The concept of an incubator psyche is advanced with reference to a particular kind of second-skin formation (Bick, 1968, The experience of the skin in early object relations, The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49, 484–486). It is proposed that the incubator psyche characterises a client's mental functioning exercised as an environmental sensibility that could be understood in terms of the total transference situation (Klein, 1952, The origins of transference, International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 33, 433–438; Joseph, 1985, Transference: The total situation, International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 66, 447–454). Implications for practice are considered advocating particular attention to the setting.     

Front-line services,complexity, research and policy

The evidence-based culture of modern mental health policy and service delivery is being extended through funded efforts to accelerate implementation of research findings in practice settings. In this paper, we argue that this linear model of research and policy-making is profoundly ill adapted to the nature of practice realities and real-world policy-making processes. Both need to be re-conceptualised using the theoretical and practical resources deriving from modern complexity theory. A short case study illustrates the nature of ‘complexity’, the reframing of the notion of ‘evidence’ it implies and the different relationship between research, practice and policy that flows from this more attuned model of mental health and therapeutic processes.     

Twenty-Five Years of Change in Working with Partner Abusers—Part I: Observations from the Trenches About Community and System-Level Changes

The past 2 ½ decades have witnessed explosive growth in research and practice in the area of intimate partner violence, especially regarding perpetrators. The author reflects on his observations of key community and systemic developments in the field of research and treatment with batterers. The author examines systemic changes that have facilitated growth in the field and examines related issues and controversies. The author calls for continued development of an empirical base to guide both theory development and practice standards. The author also calls for openness to change within the field so that new developments will lead to appropriate dialogue and debate, increased dissemination and translation of new research findings into formats that are useful to clinicians, and accountability and change in abusers.     

Developing Guidelines for Domestic Violence Offender Programs

Summary

This article reviews research on domestic violence that can help inform the development of guidelines for programs for men who batter. It also illustrates some successes and problems in other fields that might be instructive for the domestic violence field. Firm conclusions about “best practice” guidelines for intervention seem to be premature because of flaws in evaluation studies. In addition, there is growing evidence of variability among men who batter on dimensions such as severity of violence, childhood traumas, generality of violence and personality traits. Programs also need to be able to respond to motivational and cultural difference among abusers. Existence of variability implies the need for multiple forms of interventions.     

Child Abuse and Divorce

Summary

This article addresses the problem of divorce situations in which there are also allegations of abuse. Its goal is to provide guidance for professionals evaluating these cases. It describes the challenges peculiar to cases where divorce and abuse allegations coexist, relevant research findings, and potential sources of bias. The article suggests a multidisciplinary approach may be the optimal strategy for evaluating these cases. Specific guidelines for evaluation and decision-making are provided.     

Mandated Reporting Among School Personnel

Summary

An empirical review and critique of existing state standards for batterer programs in the domestic violence field appeared timely, given the current debate about their status and utility. Although there has been a considerable amount of polemic discussion of the topic, relatively limited data have been reported. The present article surveyed the content of standards developed in 30 states within the United States. Five categories of interest were examined including: (1) the minimum length of treatment specified; (2) specification of treatment orientation, methods, and content; (3) preferred or allowable modalities of treatment; (4) whether research findings were mentioned or endorsed as a basis for development of treatment standards; and (5) methods for developing and revising standards. A related area, the minimum education required for providers, was also included as an area of interest to further describe the current pool of practitioners targeted for regulation. An analysis of the content of these standards was then performed with regard to existing peer-reviewed research in the field. The results are discussed in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of current standards, the areas in which further research is needed, and specific recommendations regarding steps that might be taken to improve existing efforts.     

Book reviews

This paper begins with a critical evaluation of British counselling psychology's aspirations for a scientific basis and considers some of the consequences in terms of theoretical assumptions and research practice. Through identifying certain empirical, theoretical and ideological problems inherent in the dominant tradition of quantifying inferred cognitive constructs (using the example of trainee self-talk), an alternative framework of discursive psychology is simultaneously introduced. the argument is made for a discursive study of storied meanings by trainee counselling psychologists about themselves and their work. This would potentially address two pivotal research areas. First, it affords both a personal and yet socially embedded framework for an increased understanding and more sensitive evaluation of the training process (with its acquisition of skills, knowledge, experience, competencies, etc.). Second, it offers an alternative approach to the problematic area of understanding unique and generic interactions between practitioners and their preferred psychological model(s) of therapy, thus challenging the theoretical and research cul-de-sac of competing modernist visions of purism, eclecticism and integration. Extending from these observations two research possibilities are suggested.