Ethical and Professional Challenges Posed by Patients with Genetic Concerns: A Report of Focus Group Discussions with Genetic Counselors, Physicians, and Nurses

Ninety-seven physicians, nurses, and genetic counselors from four regions within the United States participated in focus groups to identify the types of ethical and professional challenges that arise when their patients have genetic concerns. Responses were taped and transcribed and then analyzed using the Hill et al. (1997, Counsel Psychol 25:517–522) Consensual Qualitative Research method of analysis. Sixteen major ethical and professional domains and 63 subcategories were identified. Major domains are informed consent; withholding information; facing uncertainty; resource allocation; value conflicts; directiveness/nondirectiveness; determining the primary patient; professional identity issues; emotional responses; diversity issues; confidentiality; attaining/maintaining proficiency; professional misconduct; discrimination; colleague error; and documentation. Implications for practitioners who deal with genetic issues and recommendations for additional research are given.     

干细胞研究及其伦理学问题

干细胞是动物体内一种独特的基本细胞类型。干细胞分化时,有些成为特殊类型的细胞,另一些仍维持干细胞,准备替代机体衰老和损伤的细胞。这些干细胞本身能够复制,以供机体终生组织更新的需要。最基本的多能干细胞存在于早期胚胎中,科学家们成功分离和培育干细胞的报告,为退行性疾病主损伤甚至致合性疾病的治疗带来了新的希望,然而,与此同时也引起了世界范围的关于使用人类胚胎和死亡胎儿进行研究的伦理大争论。     

A Disparity of Esteem: Relative Group Status in Northern Ireland after the Belfast Agreement

Using the case of a deeply divided society (Northern Ireland) in the aftermath of a major peace accord, this article combines two methodological approaches to assess the public reception of the peace accord and its impact on intergroup competition. The social psychological concept of esteem (central to social identity theory) and time-series data are used to assess intergroup relations between Protestant-unionists and Catholic-nationalists in Northern Ireland in the wake of the 1998 peace accord. By illustrating the disparity of esteem between the two main politico-religious groups, the article indicates early settlement weakness. Moreover, it suggests a conceptual approach that may be applicable to the study of intergroup competitions in other divided societies.     

Graduate attributes of the 4‐year Australian undergraduate psychology program

This paper outlines the background, process and outcomes for a project that delineated a set of graduate attributes of the 4‐year Australian undergraduate psychology program. The nature of the current undergraduate psychology program and its quality assurance system is described, followed by a consideration of current issues in psychology education and training. The processes involved in delineating the six graduate attributes (i.e., knowledge and understanding, research methods, critical thinking, values, communication, and application) are then described. Some issues and suggestions related to their implementation are then outlined. Finally, the authors summarise what has been accomplished in delineating the graduate attributes, and what still needs to be achieved.     

Christ’s Love,Peace, Justice,and Freedom Seen against the Challenges of the Modern World

This is an edited version of an address given in Paralimni at the Open University of Cyprus in January 2019 during a meeting of the assembly planning committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), hosted by the Archdiocese of Constantia and Ammochostos. It is a reflection on the theme set for the WCC’s 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 2021, “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.”     

Contributions of Religious Actors to Peace and Security

The past decade has seen a shift of rhetoric, where religious actors are presented not just as aberrations in the secular and democratic order, but also as significant players in the development of peaceful and diversified societies. However, experiences of extremist religious groups raise questions about the legitimacy of involving religious actors in these kinds of processes, in particular in relation to security, which according to a classical perspective is a matter of national and international security agencies. This paper analyzes the challenges relating to the inclusion of religious actors in security situations in East Africa, particularly those involving confrontations between religious actors, in which the concept of the “religious other” has a specific reference. The main finding is that religious actors have a contribution to make in relation to security and conflict involving religion and faith, given that security is understood in a broader sense than the classical.     

Reconciliation and Mission

This article discusses the message and ministry of reconciliation with a view to both its biblical content and its contemporary missional application. Within a salvation historical framework of missio Dei, the article outlines the biblical narrative about human beings created in the image of God for personal relationships with God, self, other people, and nature; the fall in sin and the human predicament that necessitate reconciliation; the historical reconciliation provided by God through the incarnation, atoning death, and victorious resurrection of Christ (the first stage); the message of reconciliation in the mission of the church; the present reception of reconciliation through faith in that message (the second stage); and the results of reconciliation both in relation to God (“vertical reconciliation”) and among human beings in the church and in the world (“horizontal reconciliation”), with an emphasis on peace, unity, love, forgiveness, righteousness, and freedom. Christ’s victory over and subjugation of all evil spirit powers are described as “cosmic reconciliation.” Because reconciliation may be partial in this world where sin still exists and evil powers are active, the eschatological hope is for a final reconciliation where the relationships to God, to other human beings, and to a recreated world are renewed and consummated.     

Adverse Childhood Experiences: A 20-Year Content Analysis of American Counseling Association and American School Counselor Association Journals

The purpose of this content analysis was to illustrate trends related to the use of the term adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), or terms related to the 10 components of ACEs, within 140 peer-reviewed articles published in 22 journals affiliated with the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) between 1998 and 2018. Of the 9,120 articles published in the 22 ACA- and ASCA-affiliated journals in that time, only three articles (0.03%) explicitly mentioned the term adverse childhood experiences in the title, abstract, or keywords. Authors of 93 journal articles mentioned terms related to the original 10 categories of ACEs 104 times (1.0% of all published articles). The need for consistent language across research and practice is highlighted. Implications include ways that the counseling field may benefit from an increased clarity and focus around ACEs.