Alcohol interlocks and prevention of drunk-driving recidivism

IntroductionAlcohol interlock programs (AIP) are aimed at preventing drunk-driving recidivism. They first appeared in Europe in the nineties.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was investigate whether AIPs are effective in reducing recidivism and determine what factors of such programs contribute to their positive impact.MethodWe performed a follow-up of AIP participants (n = 175) and control participants (n = 234) for five years. Data such as blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at time of arrest, previous and subsequent violations (alcohol-related or other types) were collected from the official driver's license files. For self-evaluation and evaluation of the program (since November 2009 only), we used questionnaires based on two theoretical models: the Transtheoretical Model of Change (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1984) and the Diamond of Change Model from the DRUID project, build to explain which are the elements of driver rehabilitation training courses that favor behavioral modification (Bukasa et al., 2009).ResultsThe data obtained allowed us to describe these populations of alcohol-drinking offenders, for both the interlock program group and the control group. Two salient features were male proneness to alcohol-related violations and a very high BAC (between 1.5 and 2 g/l) among the majority of drivers who drink under the influence of alcohol. In terms of recidivism reduction, the interlock program was not clearly linked to a beneficial effect. An analysis of behavioral change among the AIP participants showed that consciousness raising took effect more quickly than did environmental reevaluation or reinforcement management.ConclusionsThe application of Prochaska et al.’s model to the follow-up of AIP programs would be more fruitful in the future if psychologists are involved in the program. As we have seen, medical/psychological monitoring may not have been strong enough in the program studied here.     

Évolution du contrôle religieux la première année suivant l’annonce d’un cancer du sein : quels liens avec les stratégies de coping,l’anxiété, la dépression et la qualité de vie ?

The aim of this study was to examine the evolution of perception of religious control during the first year after breast cancer diagnosis and to establish how this evolution could have an effect on coping strategies, psychological distress and quality of life. One hundred and seventeen patients completed four self-reports questionnaires at surgery time and 1, 4, 7, 10, 13 months after the first assessment. Findings showed that religious control declined during the first 4 months treatment, although it is stable after. Furthermore, maintenance of religious control was associated with lower helplessness-hopelessness, denial, anxious preoccupations and avoidance and with better emotional and physical quality of life at all times of the study. We found no association with anxiety or depression.     

La représentation du but dans le contrôle exécutif chez l’enfant

Implementation of executive control over thought and action can only be guided by the goals that one desires to reach. Over the last decade, research has pointed out the central role of goal representation in executive control both during childhood and adulthood. The present paper reviews these findings, emphasizing the developmental dynamics observed during childhood. More precisely, it addresses the role of active goal maintenance in working memory, as it has been stressed by developmental and neurocognitive theoretical models. Beyond goal maintenance, the question as to how goal representations are formed in working memory has attracted research efforts lately. With age, children successfully process increasingly subtle environmental cues to infer the current task goal and when task goals need to be updated, as evidenced by the effect of cue transparency on switching and inhibition performance. In addition, the paper addresses how goal representation sheds light on the interplay between executive skills and conceptual knowledge, through the presentation of research in such domains as analogical reasoning, categorical flexibility, and class inclusion quantification. Taken together, these lines of research show that executive control development does not rely exclusively on a growing ability to implement appropriate actions, but it also depends largely on increasingly efficient identification of what such actions should be.     

Early childhood education and crime

This article presents new evidence on the crime-reducing impacts of a high-quality, intensive early childhood program with long-term follow-up, evaluated by a randomized controlled trial. Proportionately, more women than men decrease their criminal activity after participating in the program. This gender difference arises because of the worse home environments for girls, with corresponding greater scope for improvement by the program. For both genders, treatment effects are larger for the least-advantaged children, as measured by their mother's education at baseline. The dollar value of the social cost of criminal activity averted is higher for men because they commit more costly violent crimes.     

Contingency and changing reality: Perspectives from Germany

The World Wide Web connects less and disconnects more. In Germany as in the United States, disconnecting factions digitize their ideologies and overnight multiply their adherents. Such forces of disruption are incessant. Appeal to constructivist theory reveals that beneath this destabilizing dynamic is awareness of contingency, the feeling of disempowerment in the face of an unpredictable and uncontrollable future. Religion has the potential for stabilizing, but religious leaders will need to reignite a faith in the future to make this happen.     

Moving towards Soul – an alchemical journey. Rehabilitation of women suffering from ‘chronic pain’ in a clinical and Jungian context

The aim of this paper is to explore the connection between symptom and symbol in the body of women suffering from chronic pain, diagnosed as fibromyalgia. The working hypothesis has been that the symbol that emerges from the symptom in the body can bridge the gap to a deeper meaning of pain and suffering, thereby becoming the agent of change for healing of the bodymind and the experience of pain in the physical body. To explore this subject I will introduce some recent research from the field of fibromyalgia, and the concepts of agency and affect systems in the body, which are important cornerstones in my work. I will briefly present my clinical concept of ‘Form and Freedom’. From this theoretical base I give some clinical examples of what I see as an alchemical journey towards soul, presented through vignettes, images and the words of three women – Maria, Riba and Ishtar. I conclude with how I see analytical psychology taking its rightful place alongside, informing or in conjunction with, as in my case, other psychotherapeutic modalities, working in creative ways that enhance healing in patients who suffer from chronic pain.