Basque attitude towards political violence: Its correlation with personality variables,other sociopolitical attitudes,and political party vote

The Basque are a strongly nationalistic European people in northern Spain and southern France with an ancient ethnic tradition and a language unrelated to any other known. Their recent history has been overshadowed by a terrorist organization perpetrating political violence within the boundaries of the Basque Country and often beyond its borders within the Spanish state. Research on the Basque, with an emphasis on the comparison of psychological characteristics (studied by the use of an instrument developed for that purpose by the author of this article and another colleague, Jesús Guerra, of the University of the Basque Country), has provided an opportunity to review attitudes towards violence within the general population, analyze different groups constituted according to differences in attitude as well as political party vote, and to compare them with regards to differences in personality. The distribution of these attitudes within the sample population, as well as some hypotheses as to their origins, are presented, discussing their possible relationship to social and psychological variables at work within Basque society. Psychopathological indicators permit an estimation of the degree of abnormality associated with the attitude towards political violence. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Correlates and Prognosis in Relation to Participation in Social Activities Among Older People Living in a Community in Osaka, Japan

To examine the factors associated with social participation and to determine whether social participation is predictive of mortality, a cohort of 1405 randomly selected older people aged 65 years and over, living in Settsu, Osaka Prefecture, was followed up for 66 months. By multivariate analysis using logistic regression, female sex, older age, disability, medical treatment, no use of health checks, no daily preventive health practices, and no life worth living (no Ikigai) were independent risk factors for no participation in social activities. From the analysis using the Kaplan–Meier method, the cumulative survival rates were higher among those who took part in social activities than among those who did not in both age groups, 65–74 years and 75 years and older, for men and women. Application of the Cox proportional hazards model resulted in adjusted hazard ratio of no participation in social activities for mortality of 1.53 (95% confidence interval: 1.11–2.11), controlling for other potential factors. These results suggest that participation in social activities is closely associated with health and psychosocial conditions and may be an independent risk factor for mortality among community-residing older people.     

Genocide and Mass Killing: Origins, Prevention, Healing and Reconciliation

This article focuses on intense collective violence, especially mass killing and genocide. It briefly presents a conception of their origins, with new elements in the conception and comparisons with other approaches. Various aspects of genocide and mass killing are considered, including their starting points (such as difficult life conditions and group conflict), cultural characteristics, psychological and social processes (such as destructive ideologies), the evolution of increasing violence and its effect on perpetrators and bystanders, and the roles of leaders and of internal and external bystanders. Actions that might be taken by the community of nations and other actors to halt or prevent violence are described. In considering prevention there is a focus on processes of healing within previously victimized groups and reconciliation between hostile groups. A project on healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation in Rwanda is briefly described.     

Sexual Identity Development: A Base for Work with Same-Sex Couple Partner Abuse

Literature review reveals that domestic violence occurs in same-sex relationships at approximately the same rate as it does in heterosexual relationships. There are a number of dimensions common to same-sex and heterosexual battering as well as significant differences. The differential impact of sexual identity development on same-sex violence has not been addressed in the literature. Unlike the situation with heterosexual couples, there is little in the literature addressing treatment guidelines for work with same-sex couples. This article highlights some of the differences between same-sex battering and heterosexual battering and suggests the need for additional research on the interaction between sexual identity development stages of same-sex partners and domestic violence.     

Threat Vigilance in Child Witnesses of Domestic Violence: A Pilot Study Utilizing the Ambiguous Situations Paradigm

Research has found that children exposed to family violence exhibit higher rates of maladjustment. We review relevant literature on family violence, marital conflict, and cognitive factors implicated in child behaviour problems. A bias toward perceiving threat in ambiguous contexts has been identified as one factor mediating both aggressive and anxious behaviour disorders. We conducted a study utilizing the ambiguous situations paradigm to assess whether children exposed to violent spousal conflict were more likely than children not exposed to violence (divided into children with an externalizing behaviour disorder and non-clinic children) to perceive threat in two classes of ambiguous situations: Peer and Inter-Parental. The results indicated that children exposed to violent spousal conflict perceived more threat in parental situations than either of the other two groups. A number of considerations were taken into account given the exploratory nature of the study, particularly sample limitations. We conclude with suggestions for improvements to the research design and the further relevance of exploring cognitive factors involved in the adjustment of children from backgrounds of violence.     

Mental Health and Dangerousness: Characteristics and Outcomes of Children and Adolescents in Residential Placements

Violence has been identified as a significant risk behavior among children and adolescents. Dangerousness is a factor in psychiatric hospitalizations and out-of-community placements. However, there is only a small amount of research that has investigated the mental health co-morbidities and treatment outcomes of violent children and adolescents. A random sample of children and adolescents in residential placements through the State of Florida's child welfare system were studied. Cases were classified into three levels of dangerousness. Results indicated that dangerousness was associated with much elevated mental health co-morbidity. Also, cases who were dangerous at the time of admission had less developed peer and moral/spiritual strengths than did other cases. Although dangerous cases had worse dispositional outcomes, there was strong evidence that these cases derived the most clinical benefit from residential treatment.     

初中生的抑郁与焦虑:结构与发展特点

本研究采用问卷法,对南充市3所普通中学的500名初中生进行了调查,考察其抑郁、焦虑的结构和发展特点。研究发现:(1)初中生的抑郁、焦虑都具有一定的内在结构,抑郁包括无助与孤独感、绝望与无价值感、能力减退感、不良心境和生理症状五个维度,焦虑则包括担忧与过敏倾向、对人不安、恐惧倾向、生理症状四个因素;(2)初中生的抑郁与焦虑的总体水平表现出明显的年龄特征,即随年龄的增长,其抑郁与焦虑的水平不断提高,初中二年级是重要的转折期。(3)初中生的抑郁和焦虑情绪有显著的性别差异。     

The Effects of a Learning Station on the Completion and Accuracy of Math Homework for Middle School Students

We studied the effects of a Learning Station on the completion and accuracy of math homework of middle school students who had chronic homework problems. The Learning Station was a three sided free-standing panel with theoretically and empirically-based components involving (a) stimulation (color, music, activity breaks, and choice) and (b) self-attention (mirror and self-monitoring). Two students who used the Station tripled their accuracy and the amount of homework completed as assessed in a multiple baseline across participants design. One student with high academic abilities elected not to use the intervention, because he worked quickly (albeit carelessly) at school to complete his homework during baseline and during intervention. The practical and research implications of the findings are discussed.     

初中生英语词汇记忆策略的研究

通过对134名初中三年级学生英语词汇记忆策略的问卷调查以及记忆不同难度的词汇时所使用的策略的分析,发现初三学生以使用机械的、一般性的记忆策略为主;优生比差生更善于选用具体的词汇记忆策略;词汇记忆难度增大时,选择和使用多种策略的频率与人数有所增加。     

Reaping the benefits of cultural diversity: Classroom cultural diversity climate and students’ intercultural competence

Culturally diverse schools may constitute natural arenas for training crucial intercultural skills. We hypothesized that a classroom cultural diversity climate fostering contact and cooperation and multiculturalism, but not a climate fostering color-evasion, would be positively related to adolescents’ intercultural competence. Adolescents in North Rhine-Westphalia (N = 631, M_age = 13.69 years, 49% of immigrant background) and Berlin (N = 1,335, M_age = 14.69 years, 52% of immigrant background) in Germany reported their perceptions of the classroom cultural diversity climate and completed quantitative and qualitative measures assessing their intercultural competence. Multilevel structural equation models indicate that contact and cooperation, multiculturalism, and, surprisingly, also color-evasion (as in emphasizing a common humanity), were positively related to the intercultural competence of immigrant and non-immigrant background students. We conclude that all three aspects of the classroom climate are uniquely related to aspects of adolescents’ intercultural competence and that none of them may be sufficient on their own.