The im-possibility of secular critique: The future of religion's memory

The legacy of secular critique, with its Greek, Christian, Kantian, modernist traces, constitutes an aporetic law (or contradiction). That law is this: a critical legacy, if it is critical, can affirm and sustain itself only by trying to separate it from itself (from the very crisis that it is). The legacy or history of ‘religion’ is always a history of such critique. Such a legacy always anticipates critiquing itself, its memory (of whatever kind – racist, sexist, colonialist, nationalist). Such a legacy of critique is always a legacy of crisis. However, the crisis of such a legacy cannot be resolved, because critique, as kairos/krisis (critical/decisive moment), can admit of no resolution. Yet the (secular) history of religion, if it is ever historical, can only be a history of such aporetic critique. Such an aporetic critique will be the heritage of religion's im-possible ¹ ?1. I write the word impossible/impossibility with and without a hyphen. When I hyphenate im-possible, I do so to remain true to Derrida's use of it. The im-possible is irreducible to either possibility or impossibility. Sometimes Derrida also writes the word without hyphenating it, but he still implies such irreducibility. future. It is an im-possible future because it will always be a promise, a promise to separate it from itself, a promise that will remain always deferred, always to come. Today, the promise of this secular critique is (in) democracy with its sovereign ‘decisive’ politics. We can no longer simply critique the (future) legacy of religion, understood this way. To do so is to fulfil that legacy's own messianic wish. This is the aporetic limit of secular critique. To think at the limits of the legacy of the critique of religion is to think the very question of the (secular) history of ‘religion’ and its others, that is, ‘religions’.     

Countertransference and the female triangular situation3

This paper represents an attempt toward reconciling contemporary changes in psychoanalytic understandings of female development, particularly in respect to separation issues, with their clinical applications to female patients. Psychoanalytic thinking typically has categorized separation conflicts as pre‐oedipal, but the authors suggest that these are an integral part of the triangular situation of the girl. The authors argue that an allegiance to erroneous theory and/or individual blind spots have led to the infantilization, pre‐oedipalization or cultural stereotyping of females, which constrains the effectiveness of their analyses. The authors present a selected review of the literature on gender‐based countertransference biases in both male and female analysts, with reference to female ‘oedipal’ material. Analytic case material of two women is presented which demonstrates how theoretical misperceptions and countertransferences to triangular separation conflicts can produce an impediment to progression in analysis.     

Childhood Interrupted: A Story of Loss,Separation, and Reconciliation

This essay presents a story of personal loss and childhood trauma experienced by the author in 1968. Written in autoethnographic form, the author narrates a particular time in his life when he lost his hearing and subsequently experienced “disrupted attachment”(Becker, 1997 Becker, G. (1997). Disrupted lives: How people create meaning in a chaotic world. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. [Google Scholar]) caused by forced separation from family on the day he began life at a residential school for deaf children. Forty-six years later, the author weaves together a narrative of loss and trauma followed by his own reflections, showing how he used writing conversation as a source of healing that allowed him reconcile with his past.     

父母“低头行为”对青少年网络欺负和受欺负的影响：亲子亲密感和内化问题的链式中介作用

基于社会学习理论和依恋理论,探讨父母低头行为对青少年网络欺负和受欺负的影响,并探究亲子亲密感和内化问题的中介作用。采用父母低头行为量表、亲子亲密感量表、长处和困难问卷和网络欺负量表对1003名青少年进行调查。结果发现：(1)初二学生的网络受欺负和父母低头行为程度最严重,亲子亲密感水平最低;(2)父母低头行为与青少年内化问题、网络受欺负呈显著正相关,与亲子亲密感呈显著负相关;(3)父母低头行为直接影响青少年网络受欺负,但对网络欺负没有直接影响;(4)父母低头行为通过青少年亲子亲密感和内化问题的单独中介和链式中介间接影响网络欺负、网络受欺负。     

亲子、同伴、师生关系与青少年主观幸福感关系的研究

为探讨青少年亲子关系、同伴关系、师生关系和其主观幸福感之间的关系,本研究构建了一个有调节的中介模型。采用青少年主观幸福感量表、亲子沟通问卷、同伴关系量表、师生关系量表对475名来自湖南、甘肃地区的初高中生进行测查。结果显示：（1）亲子、同伴、师生关系均能正向预测主观幸福感;（2）同伴关系在亲子关系和主观幸福感的关系间起部分中介作用;（3）亲子关系对主观幸福感的直接作用路径受到了师生关系的调节;（4）师生关系调节了亲子关系通过同伴关系影响主观幸福感的中介过程的前半路经。可见,师生关系在亲子关系预测青少年主观幸福感的过程中具备重要的调节功能,未来青少年主观幸福感的提升可聚焦于促进良好师生关系的建立以及发挥亲子、同伴、师生关系的联合作用。     

表情对婴儿面孔图式效应的调节及其机制

婴儿面孔图式效应是促进早期亲子关系形成的一种先天本能反应, 该效应一直被认为主要是受婴儿面孔结构的影响。但近年来表情对该效应的影响开始得到关注, 在以成人面孔为基线的条件下, 婴儿面孔图式效应量会因表情不同而有所变化, 表现出中性婴儿面孔图式效应最强的现象。鉴于目前对该现象的成因及其神经机制知之甚少, 所以本项目拟先建立一套婴儿与成人同面孔多表情图片系统; 然后以此为基础, 分别考察面孔表情不确定性是否会调节成人对不同表情婴儿面孔的偏好和注意偏向, 并探究其相应神经机制, 促进养育脑研究在我国的开展。     

Parents’ experience of child contact within entrenched conflict families following separation and divorce: a qualitative study

Child contact arrangements with parents following separation and divorce are strongly endorsed for children in both public policy and law where safe, but can be difficult to sustain. Entrenched high-conflict post-separation relationships between parents can cause substantial emotional risks to children as well as impacting severely on parents’ mental health. This paper describes a qualitative study, aimed at examining parents’ experiences of contact arrangements post-separation, undertaken within a mixed methods random allocation study of therapeutic outcomes for parents in entrenched conflict over their children. Two established semi-structured interviews with 22 parents were jointly subjected to thematic analyses. A thematic analysis across interviews revealed three main themes: ‘Dealing with contact evokes extreme states of mind’ for parents; when speaking of contact, the child is ‘everywhere and nowhere’ in the parents’ minds; ‘the hardest thing about contact is dealing with my ex-partner’. These findings indicate the immense strain children and parents are under and shed much light on the desperate states of mind for parents, particularly the anxieties driving relentless child contact disputes. This paper may contribute to the understanding of parents’ experiences of contact arrangements post-separation, potentially providing important information which can inform best practice for professionals working with this population.     

Effect of anxiety on behavioural pattern separation in humans

Behavioural pattern separation (BPS), the ability to distinguish among similar stimuli based on subtle physical differences, has been used to study the mechanism underlying stimulus generalisation. Fear overgeneralisation is often observed in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders. However, the relationship between anxiety and BPS remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of anxiety (threat of shock) on BPS, which was assessed across separate encoding and retrieval sessions. Images were encoded/retrieved during blocks of threat or safety in a 2?×?2 factorial design. During retrieval, participants indicated whether images were new, old, or altered. Better accuracy was observed for altered images encoded during periods of threat compared to safety, but only if those images were also retrieved during periods of safety. These results suggest that overgeneralisation in anxiety may be due to altered pattern separation.     

父母体罚与青少年焦虑抑郁的关系:同伴侵害的中介效应与亲子关系的调节效应

采用问卷法对1406名初中生进行调查,考察了同伴侵害在父母体罚与青少年焦虑抑郁关系间的中介效应,以及亲子关系对这一中介过程的调节效应。结果发现：（1）在控制了性别、年龄、家庭月收入和父母受教育水平后,父母体罚显著正向预测青少年焦虑抑郁;（2）同伴侵害在父母体罚与焦虑抑郁关系间起着显著的完全中介作用;（3）亲子关系对中介路径"父母体罚→同伴侵害→焦虑抑郁"具有显著的调节效应。