超越两种文化：第三种文化与变革中的当代心理学

心理学内部长期存在着科学文化与人文文化的对立与决裂,这一矛盾加剧了心理学的分裂趋势。第三种文化兴起后,既不赞同非此即彼的单一文化观,也不认可两种文化间存在着不可逾越的鸿沟,而是提出了“数据、理论、阐释”三位一体的“综合科学”概念和以“磁力”主题为中心的研究模式,积极倡导人文与科学文化的宽容、批判性反驳与合作精神,从而超越了传统意义上两种文化的观念束缚,有望为当代心理学的发展提供一种新的进路。     

The paternal function in Winnicott: The psychoanalytical frame

My first aim has been to identify the implicit assumptions underlying Winnicott's detailed notes on a fragment of an analysis dating from 1955 and published after his death. The importance given by Winnicott to the father figure as early as 1955 is one of my discoveries; another is the deep Freudian roots of his thinking. In this essay I propose a new way of linking together the concepts of ‘paternal function’ and the ‘psychoanalytical frame’. Developing my hypothesis, I compare my reading of Winnicott and my way of reading José Bleger's study on the frame. Like Winnicott, I explore in detail a process of discovery, focusing on what the analyst and the patient are nor fully aware of …'as yet'. I am not proposing to unify Winnicott's and Bleger's thinking. My aim is to avoid the pitfall of eclecticism and, in so doing, to recognize both the related depths they sound in their thinking and their otherness. I want to share with the readers their ‘meeting’ in my mind.     

Battle of the dinosaurs: The impact of internalized bad paternal and maternal objects in a three-year-old boy

Abstract

This paper begins with a summary of W. Ronald D. Fairbairn's object relations theory, with particular focus on his ideas of how paternal objects are internalized alongside maternal objects. A case is then presented of a three-year-old boy who experienced deprivation and frustration from both his mother and father, thus initiating the internalization of bad paternal and maternal objects. Assessment and implications for treatment are then discussed using Fairbairn's model as an organizing framework for developing goals and interventions, and monitoring treatment progress.     

The superego and its vicissitudes in contemporary society

Assuming that psychic reality and social phenomena are two sides of the same social totality, this article attempts to discuss the building up of the concept of superego in the Freudian text emphasizing its social roots and the function it performs as the representative of the symbolic law. Critical turning points in the development of the concept are presented and possible theoretical consequences of Freud's argument in “Civilization and its Discontents” are questioned when considered against the background of our present society determined by globalization and consumption. The author concludes by suggesting that the contemporary superego may represent an erractic reaction against the conditions prevalent in the social realm. Thus it appears to be rather the heir to the initial state of helplessness than the result of a paternal identification. That could account for its role as the representative of the symbolic law.     

Individual,organizational, and societal empowerment: A study of the processes in a Nicaraguan agricultural cooperative

Defined and examined the personal (material and psychological), organizational, and societal goals of empowerment. This exploration of empowerment was primarily based on 7 months of participant observation in an agricultural cooperative in Nicaragua in 1989. The research focused on the perspectives of the participants, internal program functioning, and relations to local organizations and the national context. This study shows that some factors in the cooperative setting enhanced empowerment at each level, while others impeded its development. The cooperative met immediate needs, and provided social status and a degree of autonomy in society. Its structure allowed for broad participating in decision making and control. “Sense-making” and informal consciousness-raising processes facilitated psychological empowerment. These processes were hidden in apparent disorganization and thus not recognized by local service providers. Fears of speaking in meetings and the reluctance to face crises were intense and influential. Opinions and behavior of outsiders and the environmental context, although seemingly helpful, also had detrimental effects. Parallels are drawn to empowerment theory and findings from other populations. This article is based on the author's unpublished dissertation in Social Psychology at the Claremont Graduate School. The name of the cooperative was not disclosed to protect the members. The author thanks Douglas Perkins for his helpful support and valuable comments on earlier drafts.     

“Some more” notes,toward a “third” sophistic

Historians of rhetoric refer to two Sophistics, one in the 5th century B.C. and another c. 2nd century A.D. Besides these two, there is a 3rd Sophistic, but it is not necessarily sequential. (The 3rd is counter to counting sequentially.) Whereas the representative Sophists of the 1st Sophistic is Protagoras, and the second, Aeschines, the representative sophists of the 3rd are Gorgias (as proto-Third) and Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-François Lyotard, Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan, and Paul de Man.To distinguish between and among Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and then Protagoras, Gorgias, and Lacan, the author determines how far each of these personages can count. The model of counting, used semiotically across the topoi of possible/impossible, is that of the people of New Guinea: one thing, two things, many things. It is determined (generally) that the philosophers, including Aristotle, count to one; the Sophists to two; and Gorgias, Lacan, and Lyotard, et al. count to many things, thereby breaking up a monism or binarism. The ancient philosophers employ a substratum of probability to hold together the contraries of possible/impossible; the Sophists employ anti/logic, which keeps the contraries/antitheses separate and therefore without synthesis, but which eventually threatens the integrity of the substratum, or the law of non-contradiction; and Gorgias, Lacan, Lyotard et al. theorize about the impossibility/Resistance of the Logos (reason, logic, law, argumentation, history) to Theory/Totalization, because of the Gorgian Kairos and the Lacanian Real — both of which enter the Logos and break up the cycle of the antitheses and create something new, irrational (Untersteiner).This breaking up has a negative/positive influence on Protagoras's man-measure doctrine, which in turn has a similar influence on the problem of the ethical subject. The subject/agent not only no longer knows (by way of Logos) but also no longer acts (as independent agent); the subject becomes a function of Logos as determined by Kairos/Real; it moves from a hypotaxis/syntaxis of one and two to a radical parataxis/paralogy of some more.From the Impossibility/tragedy of knowledge, however, comes the Possible, or Possibilisms, which allows for the new (though divided) ethical subject to reclaim its position as individual. Such a reclamation of the subject, however, has a profound effect on argumentation, and especially the notion of consensus. What is wanted, then, in a Third Sophistic ethical — as opposed to a political — rhetoric is dissensus through radical parataxes and paralogies.     

Keeping fathers in mind

This paper focuses on keeping fathers in mind – in the mind of the mother and the mind of the therapist – as a symbol and as an actual person so that he can become a healthy presence in the mind of the child. Through its myths and laws, mainstream Indian culture constantly reinforces the idea that the child belongs first to the man who places ownership over a womb. This paper will focus on the importance of the father as a parent and not only as a sexual partner or keeper of the mother. It will illustrate that the actual presence of the father qualitatively enhances the child’s capacities and that the father’s absence or disengagement deeply and painfully affect a young boy. Through an account of some clinical work with young boys at a community-based psychotherapy clinic, the paper aims to illustrate the need of the boy for a good enough father, the reluctance of fathers to be involved in the parenting of their children, and the role of the mother in drawing in the father to be actively paternal.     

Delving into psychoanalytic texts: the notion of the reading third

In this article I introduce the notion of the reading third, which evolves during the reading process. The idea came to my mind while studying Wolfgang Iser’s theory of the reading process, and already knowing about Thomas Ogden’s concept of the analytic third: What is experienced, shaped and understood while reading a text? The notion of the reading third is based on psychoanalytic theory and method like just Ogden’s concept, and on the aesthetic response theory of Iser. Elaborating the reading third, I combine two modes of reading: one understanding and interpreting, and one floating and experiencing mode. To these modes I add two different understandings of truth. The first mode is connected to a traditional, objective and visible truth. The latter mode relies on Wilfred Bion’s concept of O, a special kind of evasive, ephemeral truth. The reading third takes and loses form as one reads, accentuating reading as a highly creative activity, where each reading elicits different understandings, experiences and truths. I give examples of such a way of reading psychoanalytic texts like those of Bion and a work of fiction, Henry James’ short novel The Turn of the Screw.     

Becoming a bilingual teacher in a Chinese university: a case study

Higher education in China has developed significantly over the past decades. Many universities have established cooperative partnerships with western universities, and overseas courses are being progressively introduced to China. At many Chinese universities, a cohort of teachers endeavor to open up bilingual subjects as a bridge to their students’ future learning; accordingly, there are higher expectations of the teachers involved in bilingual education and challenges for their professional development. In this case study, the researcher invites a Chinese professor to reflect on his experiences of bilingual instruction at a university situated in central China. After describing how the bilingual course in the case study was set up and the difficulties confronted, this study uses theories of hybrid identity and third space to contextualize how bilingual teachers experience hybrid identity construction and transformation in their adaptation to the new challenges. This in-depth study will shed light on the professional development of bilingual teachers in China’s higher education industry.     

Development of the Collectivist‐Sensitive Trait Forgivingness Scale

Mounting evidence suggests that experiences of forgiveness vary across cultures. However, culturally sensitive conceptualizations of forgiveness lack empirical support, in part because psychometrically sound instruments designed to capture unique aspects of forgiveness in non‐Western cultures are rare. For this reason, we developed the Collectivist‐Sensitive Trait Forgivingness Scale (TFS‐CS), which is designed to measure trait forgivingness within societies characterized by a blend of individualistic and collectivistic worldviews. In Study 1 (N = 597), exploratory factor analysis revealed a 16‐item three‐factor structure of third‐party forgiveness, collectivistic forgiveness, and interpersonal resentment among South Africans. In Study 2 (N = 897), the three‐factor model replicated in an independent South African sample. Findings also offered preliminary evidence supporting the construct validity of the TFS‐CS. Overall, these studies support a conceptualization of trait forgivingness with similarities and differences relative to Western models and highlight the importance of appreciating the influence of culture when measuring forgiveness.