THE COLLECTIVIST APPROACH TO COLLECTIVE MORAL RESPONSIBILITY

Abstract: In this article we critique the collectivist approach to collective moral responsibility. According to philosophers of a collectivist persuasion, a central notion of collective moral responsibility is moral responsibility assigned to a collective as a single entity. In our critique, we proceed by way of discussing the accounts and arguments of three prominent representatives of the collectivist approach with respect to collective responsibility: Margaret Gilbert, Russell Hardin, and Philip Pettit. Our aims are mainly critical; however, this should not be taken to imply that we do not ourselves support an alternative account of collective responsibility. We advocate an individualist account of collective responsibility. On this view of collective responsibility as joint responsibility, collective responsibility is ascribed to individuals. Each member of the group is individually morally responsible for the outcome of the joint action, but each is individually responsible jointly with the others.     

The analyst: His professional novel1

The psychoanalyst needs to be in touch with a community of colleagues; he needs to feel part of a group with which he can share cognitive tension and therapeutic knowledge. Yet group ties are an aspect we analysts seldom discuss. The author defi nes the analyst's ‘professional novel’ as the emotional vicissitudes with the group that have marked the professional itinerary of every analyst; his relationship with institutions and with theories, and the emotional nuance of these relationships. The analyst's professional novel is the narrative elaboration of his professional autobiography. It is capable of transforming the individual's need to belong and the paths of identifi cation and deidentifi cation. Experience of the oedipal confi guration allows the analyst to begin psychic work aimed at gaining spaces of separateness in his relationship with the group. This passage is marked by the work on mourning that separation involves, but also of mourning implicit in the awareness of the representative limits of our theories. Right from the start of analysis, the patient observes the emotional nuance of the analyst's connection to his group and theories; the patient notices how much this connection is governed by rigid needs to belong, and how much freedom of thought and exploration it allows the analyst. The author uses clinical examples to illustrate these hypotheses.     

Evaluation of an intervention program for the reduction of bullying and victimization in schools

The present study evaluates the effect of an intervention program on the reduction of bullying and victimization in schools with a sample of 239 students aged 10–16 years old in Rome, Italy. The program deals with bullying and violence. It consists of three videos and a booklet that help students to develop the social cognitive competence skills to understand the negative consequences of aggressive behavior. The intervention was evaluated using an experimental design with pre‐test and post‐test analyses. Students were randomly allocated to experimental or control classes. Students completed a self‐report questionnaire in which they were asked to indicate on a 5–point scale how often they were victimized or bullied others. Victimization and bullying were assessed by using questions about specific types of actions, a composite measure of victimization and bullying, and a single question about victimization and bullying in general. Results showed that the program worked best for older students, but not for younger ones who in some cases reported an increased level of victimization after the intervention. For older students there was a decrease in victimization according to the sum of types of behavior for the experimental group, but an increase for the control group. The same result was found for direct victimization, having belongings stolen, and being called nasty names. Therefore, the program seemed to be beneficial for older students but possibly damaging for younger students. It is suggested that the program could have worked better with older students because of the cognitive skills it required. Younger students could have reported higher levels of bullying after the intervention because they became more sensitized to the topic of bullying. Aggr. Behav. 30:1–15, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Collective Action Meets Prospect Theory: An Application to Coalition Building in Chile, 1973–75

Expected utility theory explains collective action as an attempt by individuals to maximize their gains. In contrast, my application of prospect theory to collective action suggests that people are motivated to participate in collective action by a fear of loss. These alternative rationalities are considered in the context of the successful cooperative effort of four economic groups in Chile during 1973–75, the first years of the Pinochet military regime. In this case, the logic of prospect theory better captures how actors made decisions about whether or not to engage in collective action. Of the four groups that did join the 1973–75 economic coalition, only one (the mineowners) appears to have maximized its net asset level, as expected utility theory predicts. All four groups seem to have been motivated to cooperate because they found themselves in the domain of losses and expected that cooperation with other, even rival, economic groups might help them recoup their recent losses.     

童年中期同伴侵害影响孤独感的中介变量分析

为检验同伴侵害影响儿童孤独感的中介变量,采用同伴提名、儿童自我知觉量表、儿童孤独感量表和班级戏剧问卷对武汉市某小学3-6年级445名儿童进行了调查。结果发现：同伴接纳和整体自尊是同伴侵害与孤独感间的两个中介变量。 在考察单一变量的中介作用时,同伴接纳在儿童的同伴侵害与其孤独感间起完全中介作用,而整体自尊在儿童的同伴侵害与其孤独感间起部分中介作用;当同时考察同伴接纳与整体自尊的中介作用时,同伴接纳与整体自尊在同伴侵害与孤独感间起完全中介作用,而且,由于同伴接纳对整体自尊的正向预测作用,同伴侵害对整体自尊的预测关系不显著。     

班级集体效能对初中生学业自我效能与学习倦怠的调节作用

采用学习倦怠、学业自我效能、班级集体效能问卷,选取26个班级的1125名初中生作为被试,运用多层线性模型探讨班级集体效能对学业自我效能与学习倦怠的影响。在控制性别和年级的影响后,结果发现:(1)班级集体效能与学习倦怠具有直接的关联:班级正向联合力越高,则学生的学习成就感越高;班级负向联合力越高,则学生的情绪与生理的消耗越严重;班级优秀成员的效能越高,则其他学生学习的成就感越低,师生关系越疏远、生理消耗越严重;而班级成员的自我效能越高,学生的学习成就感越高、情绪的损耗越小;(2)班级集体效能对学业自我效能与学习倦怠之间的关系具有显著的调节作用:班级的正向和负向联合力越强,则学业自我效能对师生疏离的负向影响就越弱;班级的负向联合力越强,则学业自我效能对情绪耗竭的负向影响就越小;优秀成员效能越高,则学业自我效能对学习低成就感的负向影响就越大;而成员自我效能强,则学业自我效能对师生疏离的负向影响也强。     

On being victimized by peers in the advent of adolescence: prospective relationships to objectified body consciousness

Previous research indicates that peer victimization is tied to children's negative appearance evaluations. The current study examines whether early peer victimization is also prospectively related to objectified body consciousness. Six-hundred-and-two Swedish boys and girls answered questionnaires at age 10, and again at age 18. Main findings showed that being the target of peer victimization at age 10 was related to more habitual appearance monitoring and body shame at age 18. Gender moderated the relations between victimization and body shame, with victimized girls experiencing stronger body shame than victimized boys. Additionally, whereas boys experienced less body shame than girls, they were equally likely to monitor their appearance. In sum, this study provides preliminary support to the notion that peer victimization is involved in the processes by which young adolescents’ self-objectify. Future studies are warranted to further validate these findings.     

HUMAN CLONING THROUGH THE EYES OF MUSLIM SCHOLARS: THE NEW PHENOMENON OF THE ISLAMIC INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOSCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS

In the wake of the February 1997 announcement that Dolly the sheep had been cloned, Muslim religious scholars together with Muslim scientists held two conferences to discuss cloning from an Islamic perspective. They were organized by two influential Islamic international religioscientific institutions: the Islamic Organization of Medical Sciences (IOMS) and the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA). Both institutions comprise a large number of prominent religious scholars and well-known scientists who participated in the discussions at the conferences. This article gives a comprehensive analysis of these conferences, the relation between science and religion as reflected in the discussions there, and the further influence of these discussions on Muslims living in the West. Modern discussions on Islamic bioethics show that formulating an Islamic perspective on these issues is not the exclusive prerogative of religious scholars. Formulating such perspectives has become a collective process in which scientists play an essential role. Such a collective approach strengthens the religious authority of Muslim scholars and makes it more influential rather than undermining it.     

青少年儿童不爱社交、同伴排斥和同伴侵害的交叉滞后分析

本研究采用班级戏剧和同伴提名对初中一年级766名学生进行了3年的追踪研究,采用交叉滞后设计,考察同伴排斥、同伴侵害和不爱社交之间的相互预测关系。结果表明：（1）不爱社交、同伴排斥和同伴侵害都表现出较高程度的稳定性;（2）早期同伴排斥可以预测随后的同伴侵害,早期同伴侵害也可以预测随后的同伴排斥,但这两种作用模式都受到性别的调节;（3）从总体上来说,早期同伴侵害影响个体随后的不爱社交倾向,但这种关系模式受到性别的调节。对女生来说,初一的同伴侵害影响初二的不爱社交;对男生来说,早期同伴侵害对随后的不爱社交没有显著的预测作用。本研究结果表明,同伴侵害不仅对同伴排斥产生较大的影响,同时可能导致女生对社会交往变得越来越冷漠,对人际关系产生长期影响。     

Evolutionary perspective on indirect victimization in adolescence: the role of attractiveness, dating and sexual behavior

We studied indirect victimization from an evolutionary perspective by examining links between this type of victimization and several indicators of attractiveness (past sexual behavior, dating frequency and physical appearance). Two thousand three hundred and nineteen (56% female) students (ages 13-18) from a region of southern Ontario, Canada, completed self-report measures of indirect victimization, physical appearance, dating frequency, recent sexual behavior (number of partners in previous month) and past sexual behavior (number of lifetime partners minus number of partners in previous month) as well as indexes of depression, aggression and attachment security, which were used to control for psychosocial maladjustment. Consistent with an evolutionary framework, physical appearance interacted significantly with gender, wherein attractive females were at greater risk for indirect victimization, whereas for males physical attractiveness was a protective factor, reducing risk of victimization. Physical appearance also interacted with grade, being inversely related to indirect victimization for younger adolescents and having a nonsignificant association with victimization for older youth. Finally, recent sexual behavior was associated with increased risk of indirect victimization for older adolescents only, which we discussed with regard to peer perceptions of promiscuity and short-term mating strategies. These findings have important implications for the development of interventions designed to reduce peer victimization, in that victims of indirect aggression may represent a rather broad, heterogeneous group, including attractive individuals with no obvious signs of maladjustment.