Does an Appeal to the Common Good Justify Individual Sacrifices for Genomic Research?

In genomic research the ideal standard of free, informed, prior, and explicit consent is believed to restrict important research studies. For certain types of genomic research other forms of consent are therefore proposed which are ethically justified by an appeal to the common good. This notion is often used in a general sense and this forms a weak basis for the use of weaker forms of consent. Here we examine how the notion of the common good can be related to individual health, health care, and genomic research and we use this analysis to propose more precise criteria to justify forms of consent which diverge from the ideal standard.     

The Ethics of Sex: A Call to the Gay Community

Addresses the gay community and suggests three principles to govern contemporary sexual behavior: first, the presumed goodness of homosexual relationships; second, an updated version of natural law, that one do what is healthy and wholesome, as determined by the best available opinion of the day, which scientific research provides; third, a developmental principle, that all are not capable of the same level of interpersonal and sexual relationships. Discussion proposes both negative and positive guidelines for sexual practice.     

Power,Freedom, and Individuality: Foucault and Sexual Difference

This paper offers a detailed account of Foucaults ethical and political notion of individuality as presented in his late work, and discusses its relationship to the feminist project of the theory of sexual difference. I argue that Foucaults elaboration of the classical ethos of care for the self opens the way for regarding the I-woman as an ethical, political and aesthetic self-creation. However, it has significant limitations that cannot be ignored. I elaborate on two aspects of Foucaults avoidance of sexual difference as a relevant category for an account of political and ethical individuality, which thus implicitly associates individual agency with men. I argue that Foucault implicitly assumes the existence of an ontological desire to become engaged in political self-creation. However, the ethical position of self-knowledge and desire should be understood as a contingent option that depends on material and historical conditions for its realization. Hence, I argue that a feminist reworking of Foucaults notion of political individuality should add a substantial ethical condition to the imperative of self-knowledge and self-creation – making possible the desiring woman subject.     

Experiences of mandated reporting among family therapists: a qualitative analysis

Mandated reporting of child abuse by Family Therapists (FTs) has been examined by the authors in two previous studies. The first study found that mandated reporting issues negatively affected FTs abilities to maintain a systemic focus. The second study surveyed types and frequencies of negative experiences of FTs with mandated reporting. A 46-item questionnaire was administered to 101 FTs. Results were significant for four of the items. The respondents also provided 116 comments related to mandated reporting experiences. This study provides a qualitative analysis of the written comments of the respondents regarding their xexperiences with mandated reporting of child abuse.     

Psychological Patterns Among Roman Catholic Clergy Accused of Sexual Misconduct

A remarkable amount of international attention has focused on the sexual misconduct by Roman Catholic clergy in recent years. While the demographics and risk factor profiles of clergy sex offenders is now fairly well established, the psychological and personality profiles of these men are not. Very few empirical research studies have been published on the psychological and personality functioning of clergy who engage in sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological profiles of 21 Roman Catholic clergy who have confronted credible accusations of sexual misconduct. Relative to national norms, MMPI-2 results suggest that these men tend to have profiles that were defensive, repressive, mistrustful, isolative, and irritable. Precautions and limitations of the current study, as well as implications for future research are offered.     

Thought suppression mediates the relationship between negative affect and borderline personality disorder symptoms

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among negative affect, childhood sexual abuse (CSA), thought suppression, and diagnostic symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in a community sample (n=127). Findings suggest that the temperamental variable negative affect intensity/reactivity was a stronger predictor of BPD symptoms than CSA. In addition, results indicated that higher thought suppression mediated the relationship between negative affective intensity/reactivity and BPD symptoms, after controlling for a history of CSA. Overall, findings suggest that (a) negative affectivity may be a better predictor of BPD symptoms than CSA, and (b) chronic efforts to suppress unpleasant thoughts may be a regulation strategy underlying the relationship between intense negative emotions and BPD symptoms.     

Coming out in community psychology: personal narrative and disciplinary change

Community psychology as a discipline has not focused its attention on the lives of lesbians, gay men, and bisexual (LGB) people, despite the field's potential to collaborate with this population in dealing with the many psychosocial challenges they face. Professional and personal barriers that community psychologists must confront conducting research and developing interventions with the LGB community are described. Community psychology work with LGB communities is often a coming out experience for LGB community psychologists, and a questioning of sexual orientation fot heterosexual community psychologists. Conceptual analyses and empirical reports are presented that exemplify how community psychologist can contribute to decreasing the pervasive stigma LGB people face. The use of an ecological model, a focus on the development and evaluation of preventive interventions, and a recognition of the diversity within the LGB population are core perspectives that can direct future work by community psychologists. Issues ranging from testing ways to empower young LGB people to analyses of the impact of the sociopolitical climate on LGB lives demonstrate the rich range of contributions community psychologists can make.     

Activational and organizational effects of estradiol on male behavioral neuroendocrine function

Evidence is reviewed that establishes an essential role for estradiol, synthesized locally via aromatization of testosterone in the adult as well as the developing male nervous system of rats, ferrets, and mice, in both the organization and adult activation of neural circuits that control appetitive as well as consummatory components of masculine sexual behavior. Evidence is also reviewed suggesting that perinatal estradiol biosynthesis and action in the female's nervous system may contribute to the development of female-typical sexual behavior.     

Research on Dead Infants

This paper examines the ethicalproblems that arise when research is carriedout after autopsy on dead infants. It comparesthe right of parents against that of the publicinterest in matters of research on dead minors. The basis for the respect that is widelyaccorded to the body of a dead person isexamined and is shown to ground the parentalinterest. A discussion of the nature of thefamily suggests that `informed consent' is notthe best term to apply to the process ofparental consultation. Some reasons areprovided against using this term in the contextin which bereaved parents are consulted aboutautopsy and research on their dead infants. Itis suggested that a term such as `authorize'might better apply to this situation.