Called to repair injustice: Connecting everyday practices to societal phenomena,creating momentum for solidarity and change

I have been working with a model of witnessing for more than 30 years (Weingarten, 2000a). In this article, I add layers to its conceptualization by discussing several related concepts: the implicated subject (Rothberg, 2019) and ethical loneliness (Stauffer, 2015) among them. What distinguishes the Witnessing Model positions from the implicated subject is that the implicated subject is always aligned with power and/or domination, whereas a witness may not be. Certain responsibilities accrue if we take our implication seriously. Just as I have suggested there are steps one can take from positions two, three and four of the Witnessing Model to enter, return or remain in the aware and empowered position, a position from within which accountability is more likely, I offer ideas about how one can respond accountably when one acknowledges one's implication. Throughout this article, I raise questions, some of which I cannot answer. For instance, can empathic repair be undertaken by one party to a ruptured relationship, one segment of a society, without an unfolding process of mutual recognition and compassion? The contemporary moment in which we are living presents us with dire outcomes if the answer is “no.” The entire article is an extended meditation on the following central question: How can we, implicated subjects, practice solidarity to diminish ethical loneliness and create movement toward the personal, interpersonal and structural changes necessary to address the truths that our implication entails?     

Engagement of secondary school teachers in Namibia: Relational context effects

The aim of this study was to investigate relational antecedents of work engagement for secondary school teachers and to determine whether specific psychological conditions mediate the effects of relational factors on work engagement. A cross-sectional survey was used. The participants were 502 secondary school teachers in Namibia (females = 64.7%, Afrikaans-speaking = 49%). They completed the following measuring instruments: Co-worker and Supervisor Relationships Scales, Emotional Exhaustion Scale, Perceived Organizational Support Scale, Psychological Conditions Scale and the Work Engagement Scale. Data were analysed using Mplus 7.3. The results showed that low emotional exhaustion and high psychological meaningfulness and availability explained work engagement. Relational factors (i.e. co-worker relations, supervisor relations, and emotional exhaustion) influenced psychological meaningfulness and safety strongly, and psychological availability moderately. Supervisor relationships and emotional exhaustion indirectly influenced work engagement via psychological meaningfulness. Co-worker relationships and emotional exhaustion indirectly affected work engagement via psychological availability. The results provide support for a relational model of work engagement.     

Emotional availability (EA): Theoretical background,empirical research using the EA Scales,and clinical applications

Emotional availability (EA), as a construct, refers to the capacity of a dyad to share an emotionally healthy relationship. The Emotional Availability (EA) Scales assess this construct using a multi-dimensional framework, with scales measuring the affect and behavior of both the child and adult partner (caregiver). The four caregiver components are sensitivity, structuring, non-intrusiveness, and non-hostility. The two child components are the child’s responsiveness to the caregiver and the child’s involvement of the caregiver. We first describe this relationship construct, look at psychometric properties in basic and prevention/intervention efforts, then review the extant empirical literature in order to examine the scope of studies assessing EA by using the EA Scales. We also explore its use in clinical practice. Throughout, we critically evaluate the knowledge base in this area as well as identify areas for further growth.     

Resolution of an impasse at a network meeting: Dialogical sequence analysis of the use of a shared formulation

The study describes the resolution of an impasse at a network meeting during clinical child neurological assessment procedure, analysed by dialogical sequence analysis (DSA) a micro-analytic method for analysing utterances. The two earlier studies of the project describe how a DSA-based case conceptualisation can be used to assess change in the dyadic interaction between neuropsychologist and parent. This study applies the same formulation to analyse group level interaction at the network meeting. The case of a four-year-old girl was selected from a database of videotaped and transcribed child neurological team assessment processes. A repetitive problematic pattern was clearly manifested between parents and the child. At an early stage of the assessment, the neuropsychologist formulated and shared with the parents a clinical formulation of the pattern, summarised as the controlling/coercive parents to the rebellious child. In the earlier studies, microanalysis using DSA confirmed the accuracy of the neuropsychologist’s initial formulation, which she had used in the encounters with the parents. This study traces how she made use of it to address a re-enactment of the problematic pattern, now between the parents and professionals at the network meeting. The analysis of the phases of the conflict resolution by using DSA suggests that the impasse represented a re-enactment of the role positions of coercion and rebelliousness. The use of the original formulation at the meeting helped the conflicting parties to reach an observing stance to the pattern and a more empathic attitude to each other. The micro-analytic methodology by DSA used in this study allows to show the therapeutic potential of the network meeting and also how the development of an empathic stance is manifested in the discourse content.     

THE EMPATHIC EMOTIONS AND SELF-LOVE IN BISHOP JOSEPH BUTLER AND THE NEUROSCIENCES

In Joseph Butler, we have an account of human beings as moral beings that is, as this essay demonstrates, being supported by the recently emerging findings of the neurosciences. This applies particularly to Butler's portrayal of our empathic emotions. Butler discovered their moral significance for motivating and guiding moral decisions and actions before the neurosciences did. Butler has, in essence, added a sixth sense to our five senses: this is the moral sense by means of which we perceive what we ought or ought not do. The moral sense yields relatively reliable moral perceptions when we love our neighbors as ourselves, and when our love for ourselves is genuine. Accurate moral perceptions will be thwarted by self-deceit—that is, by a self-partiality devoid of neighbor love, a condition that thwarts genuine self-love. This essay explores the parallels between Butler's understanding of self-deceit and Robert J. Lifton's understanding of "doubling."     

Less is more: The availability heuristic in early childhood

This study examined whether young children are influenced by the subjective experience associated with an easy or difficult recall when making memory decisions. Seventy‐one children, aged 4, 6, and 8 years, were asked to generate either a small (easy condition) or large (hard condition) number of first names. Statistical analyses revealed that participants in the hard condition were more likely to infer that they did not know many names than participants in the easy condition, contrary to what would be expected if children based their memory judgement on the objective number of recalled items. Overall, our results support the hypothesis that children as young as 4 years old rely on the subjective experience of ease to regulate their decision‐making processes. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

What enhances the development of emotion understanding in young children? A longitudinal study of interpersonal predictors

We studied potential determinants of the development of children's emotion understanding (EU) from age 4 to 6 in a Norwegian community sample (N = 974) using the Test of Emotion Comprehension. Interpersonal predictors included the accuracy of parental mentalization, parental emotional availability, and teacher‐reported child social skills. Intrapersonal child factors were child gender and verbal skills. Overall, children's EU increased significantly over time. After adjusting for child gender, age‐4 EU, and parental socio‐economic status, greater child verbal and social skills and greater parental mentalization each uniquely predicted growth in EU. Results are discussed in terms of theory and research on children's EU and parents' emotion socialization.