Densidad,delincuencia y diseño: Control formal e informal y ambiente edificado

Resumen

Este trabajo revisa la literatura acerca del impacto general del ambiente físico sobre la desorganización social, el crimen y la delincuencia juvenil, centrándose más específicamente en la relación de la densidad por vivienda, la densidad en el diseño del edificio y la delincuencia juvenil. Se muestra que en el contexto ambiental se han desarrollado dos perspectivas de control. Una destaca la capacidad de impedir el control social informal del medio edificado, y la otra, la atracción que ejerce este mismo ambiente sobre los agentes de control social formal (la policía). Se presenta un modelo de senderos que muestra que la densidad en el diseño de los edificios predice de modo independiente el consumo de marihuana y apoya la noción de que el ambiente físico puede afectar al control informal. El modelo muestra también que la densidad en el diseño del edificio predice de modo significativo la presencia de la policía, ofreciendo así un apoyo empírico a la noción de que el ambiente físico puede afectar al control formal.     

The Role of Racial Discrimination in the Economic Value of Education Among Urban,Low-Income Latina/o Youth: Ethnic Identity and Gender as Moderators

The present study used resilience theory to explore relationships among perceived racial discrimination, ethnic identity, gender, and economic value of education (EVE) among urban, low‐income, Latina/o youth. It was expected that racial discrimination would predict poorer perceptions of the EVE among Latina/o adolescents. Ethnic identity was hypothesized to buffer the negative effect of racial discrimination on Latina/o students’ EVE. The participants in this study were 396 urban, low‐income Latina/o high school students from a large, Midwestern city who completed surveys in both 9th‐ and 10th‐grade. Structural equation modeling was used to test the relationships among racial discrimination, ethnic identity, and EVE. Results supported a protective model of resilience. Specifically, ethnic identity served as a protective factor by buffering the negative effect of perceived racial discrimination on EVE for male participants. The present study is the first to examine ethnic identity as a buffer of racial discrimination on EVE among Latina/o high school students. Future directions and implications are discussed.     

Discovery of a Partner Affair and Major Depressive Episode in a Probability Sample of Married or Cohabiting Adults

Prior research has found that humiliating marital events are associated with depression. Building on this research, the current study investigated the association between one specific humiliating marital event—discovering that one's partner had an affair—and past‐year major depressive episode (MDE) in a probability sample of married or cohabiting men and women who were at high risk for depression based on the criterion that they scored below the midpoint on a measure of marital satisfaction (N = 227). Results indicate that (i) women were more likely than men to report discovering their partner had an affair in the prior 12 months; (ii) discovering a partner affair was associated with a higher prevalence of past‐year MDE and a lower level of marital adjustment; and (iii) the association between discovering a partner affair and MDE remained statistically significant when holding constant demographic variables and marital adjustment. These results support continued investigation into the impact that finding out about an affair has on the mental health of the person discovering a partner affair.     

Working with chronic and relentless self‐hatred,self‐harm and existential shame: a clinical study and reflections

This paper is the first of a two‐part series which explores some of the theoretical and experiential reference points that have emerged in my work with people whose relationship to their body and/or sense of self is dominated by self‐hatred and (what Hultberg describes as) existential shame. The first paper focuses on self‐hatred and the second paper focuses on shame. This first paper is structured around vignettes taken from a 14‐year analysis with a woman who was bulimic, self‐harmed and repeatedly described herself as ‘feeling like a piece of shit’. It draws together elements of Jung's concepts of the complex and symbol, and Laplanche's enigmatic signifier to focus on experiences of ‘inner otherness’ around which we are unconsciously organized. It also brings Jung's understanding that emotion is the chief source of consciousness into conversation with Laplanche's approach to the transference which is that by being aware that they do not ‘know’, the analyst provides a ‘hollow’ in which the patient's analytic process can evolve. These combinations of ideas are linked speculatively to emerging understandings of the neuroscience of perception and throughout the paper clinical material is used to illustrate these discussions.     

Apocalyptic themes in times of trouble: when young men are deeply alienated

Boys and young men more frequently live out aspects of their psychic and social alienation online. This paper explores some of the risks and dangers that can arise from retreats into the two-dimensional world of cyberspace. It focuses more specifically on videogaming called MOBA, multi-player online battle arena games, in which players point and shoot at others. A case example emphasizes the clinical problems emerging from violent fantasies that seek a false form of containment in cyberspace. Themes of destructive fantasizing are further amplified through images of apocalypse, which are often prevalent in combat arena videogames. Textual sources from the Book of Revelation offer possible understanding for various elements of destructiveness as it appears in vulnerable male psyches. Therapeutic contact that combines a relational, containing approach and a broadly spiritual and soulful perspective can provide a path to healing such violent splits within the psyches of boys and young men.