Finding the space between east and west: the emotional impact of teaching in St Petersburg

The paper describes our experience of teaching analytical psychology to a group of graduates of the East European Institute of Psychoanalysis in St Petersburg, our developing partnership as we struggled to teach and learn, each with our own assumptions, preconceptions and projections about the other, and the emotional impact of our radically different social, intellectual and political histories. We had to be affected to become effective. It draws on contemporary Jungian ideas to unpack the interpersonal dynamics involved when there are culturally different styles of learning, which created a complicated transference/countertransference matrix. We believe we have by now witnessed a process of individuation among our students and at the same time they too have witnessed some change and growth in us.     

知情同意在中国不适用吗——“文化差异论”的认知错误

知情同意是在当代生命伦理学中最有影响的概念,在大多数西方国家它已成为医疗实践和涉及人体的医学科学研究的一个基本的伦理要求。不少西方和中国学者认为,由于中西文化显著而根本的差异,知情同意不适宜于中国。指出了“文化差异论”的三个认知错误,即,文化差异论是建立在对中国文化和医学道德、西方文化以及知情同意的一系列误解之上的。基于文化的差异而拒绝知情同意在中国的适用性和必要性,显然不能成立。     

Beyond the Ethnic‐Civic Dichotomy: Cultural Citizenship as a New Way of Excluding Immigrants

In European Union (EU) countries, public debates about immigrants and citizenship are increasingly framed in cultural terms. Yet, there is no agreement within the citizenship literature on whether a cultural citizenship representation can be distinguished from the more established ethnic and civic representations and on how its measures relate to anti‐immigrant attitudes. The present study tested measures of citizenship representations among high school students (N = 1476) in six EU countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Sweden). Factor analyses favored a three‐factor model of citizenship representations (i.e., ethnic, cultural, and civic factors), which showed partial metric invariance. Across countries, ethnic and cultural scales correlated positively with each other and negatively with the civic scale. Moreover, ethnic and cultural scales related positively and the civic scale negatively to anti‐immigrant attitudes. However, when analyzed simultaneously, relations of the ethnic scale with anti‐immigrant attitudes were no longer significant, while those of the cultural and civic scales proved to be robust. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Learning Related and Interpersonal Social Skills Constructs in Two Existing Social Skills Assessments

In the social skills literature it has been identified that both learning related social skills and interpersonal social skills may exist. This study ascertained the views of 16 experts regarding the existence of the two proposed constructs, learning related social skills and interpersonal social skills, within two pre-existing assessments: Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales–2nd edition and Child Behavior Rating Scale. Sixteen experts from Australia (n = 11) and Singapore (n = 5) with pediatric backgrounds in occupational therapy, speech pathology, psychology and early childhood education took part in the study. Experts were asked to sort cards with each of the items from the Child Behavior Rating Scale and Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales–2nd edition (66 items in total) into one of two piles (one for learning related social skills and one for interpersonal social skills) and then answered several open ended questions about the clinical utility of these constructs. Preliminary evidence demonstrated the existence of the learning related social skills and interpersonal social skills constructs within the items of the two assessments (Child Behavior Rating Scale and Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales–2nd edition). The experts' opinion also suggested the potential clinical benefits of assessing both learning related social skills and interpersonal social skills in preschool-age children. The study results and implications for further research and clinical practice are discussed.     

Model of Social Competence in an Early Childhood Environment

Maintaining relationships and interacting socially are essential aspects of children's occupational performance. A Model of Social Competence in an Early Childhood environment has been formulated to guide the assessment of and intervention for young children with issues in social skills. This article aims to (1) present the constructs that contribute to social competence for young children, (2) describe the interrelated contextual, foundation and environmental influences on social competence using the Model of Social Competence in an Early Childhood environment as a means of systematically examining these factors, and (3) discuss future directions for early intervention for children with social competence concerns. Cultural considerations will be discussed in relation to the Singaporean early childhood context.     

Cultural Lens on Mental Illness: Four Clients Share Their Perspectives

People served by mental health providers represent diverse cultural groups. In-depth qualitative interviews were used to collect data to examine: “How do people, diagnosed with a mental illness, perceive their experience in a partial care mental health program from the perspective of their cultural context?” Four participants described cultural identities that included ethnic, health status, and sexual orientation identities. The participants' way of participating in the world was often in conflict with cultural values and expectations of the family and counselors. Cultural competence must include understanding how complex, multiple cultural contexts interact and influence a person's participation in the therapeutic process.     

El estudio del significado mediante pruebas de sustitución de palabras

Resumen

Se presenta un método nuevo de estudio semántico del lenguaje: la técnica de sustitución de palabras (TSP), así como algunas pruebas concretas para aplicación de dicha técnica general. Las pruebas consisten en repertorios de frases donde figura la palabra por investigar en cada caso, palabra que los sujetos que realizan la prueba han de sustituir por alguna o algunas otras, tratando de conservar el sentido de la frase. Aunque constituye una técnica general de investigaión semántica, destacan sus ventajas en el estudio de ciertos lenguajes: político, ético, religioso y filosófico.     

Tuning Clinical Recruitment around Cultural Taboos in a Human Microbiome Study

ABSTRACT

Human microbial communities are bodies of microorganisms that reside in or on different body parts. Importantly, they have been found to affect human health. However, scientific research on human microbial communities has created new challenges for human subject recruitment. First, individuals are asked to collect samples of bodily substances that can be seen as repulsive (e.g. feces and urine). Second, because scientists want to understand how human microbial communities evolve over time, individuals are asked to commit to a regular sample collection for extended periods of time. A longitudinal qualitative study of the work of scientists, physicians, research staff, and study coordinators involved in a human microbiome research project has found that these actors can bypass some aspects of these recruitment and retention challenges through ‘tuning work’. Tuning work is a collaborative process where professionals agree to adjust their practices towards shared goals. Such professionals reconfigure their work practices, personal routines, and the study protocol in an effort to obviate cultural taboos against handling bodily substances. The burden of long-term participation provides fewer opportunities for tuning work for these professionals, however. As such, long-term commitment by human subjects remains a recruitment and retention obstacle.     

Cognitive maps and the energy‐culture interaction

This analysis considers the link between energy alternatives and cultural attitudes through the postulation of individual and collective energy‐related cognitive maps. The relationship between energy and society is described through the systems approach of General Evolution Theory. The need for cognitive maps is assessed in relation to contemporary global socio‐cultural dynamics. The concept of such maps is explicated and its implication for energy policy formulation is suggested. Finally, the first phase of a research agenda for mapping society's energy‐related cognitive maps through a systems history perspective is presented and discussed.     

ON SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST AND OTHER CORPORATE MYTHS

Although the doctrine of “survival of the fittest” is central to the Modern paradigm, it is not, as most Modernists would claim, the unvarnished truth. Indeed if we begin to think of the marketplace as a model of dynamic complexity then the logic of cooperation is inescapable. The point is that if business leaders refuse to accept that cooperation is a defining principle, not merely an abstract altruistic ideal but an essential strategy for the sustainable, long-term success of the businesses they are building, then they will continue to undermine their own best interests in the name of competitive dominance.