Growing Up with Child Sexual Abuse in an Experimental Commune: Making Sense of Narrative Variation

The legitimacy of adult's accounts of child sexual abuse depends on the consistency of the story they tell about this experience. But there are a variety of influences that conspire to create dynamic variation in retrospective accounts of child sexual abuse. In a study of an experimental New Zealand commune called Centrepoint, participants showed considerable variation in accounting for the child sexual abuse that was known to have occurred there. We used a narrative methodology to show the variation between stories that highlighted abuse and suffering and others that represented an idyllic childhood within which sex between children and adults was normalised. There was also considerable variation within individual participant's accounts. The variation within and between accounts was shaped by features such exposure to contradictory experiences, different social positioning in relation to child sexual abuse, shifts in memory and interpretation over time, differences between insider and outsider perspectives on child sexual activity at the commune and alternative perspectives on victimhood. This research challenges the mythology that accounts of child sexual abuse should be expected to be clear and consistent. Instead, variation should be treated the rule rather than the exception in these accounts. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A brief introduction to the work of Jean Laplanche

The author proposes an introduction to the work of Jean Laplanche, a well‐known figure of psychoanalysis who recently passed away. He foregrounds what he views as the three main axes of Laplanche's work: firstly, a critical reading method applied to Freud's texts; secondly, a model of psychic functioning based on translation; and, thirdly, a theory of general seduction. Far from being an abstract superstructure, the theory of general seduction is firmly rooted in the analytic situation, as the provocation of transference by the analyst best illustrates. The analytic situation indeed consists in a revival and a reopening of the ‘fundamental anthropological situation’ which, according to Laplanche, is the lot of every human baby born in a world where he or she is necessarily exposed to the enigmatic and ‘compromised’ messages of the adult other. Thanks to the process of analytic de‐translation, the analysand is therefore granted an opportunity to carry out new translations of the other's enigma – translations or symbolizations that might be more inclusive and less rigid than the pre‐existing ones. Incidentally, such a model brings together the purely psychoanalytic and the psychotherapeutic aspects of the treatment.     

Effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy on the signs,symptoms and clinical consequences of premature ejaculation

The purpose of this research was to assess the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on the signs, symptoms, and clinical‐sexual consequences of premature ejaculation, including sexual esteem, sexual anxiety, sexual depression, sexual fear, and sexual satisfaction of patients and their wives. Fifteen patients with premature ejaculation were selected and received cognitive behavioral therapy of eight to 12 sessions. Finally, the data collected from 12 patients were analyzed using paired t‐tests. The results of the analysis showed that all of the variables changed after the treatment. All of the changes were statistically significant with a tendency towards improvement. CBT can be a more popular and effective treatment provided to patients suffering from premature ejaculation.     

Phonological recoding,rapid automatized naming,and orthographic knowledge

Phonological recoding, orthographic knowledge, and rapid automatized naming (RAN) are three major contributors to word identification. However, the interrelations between these components remain somewhat unclear. The current analyses focus on how phonological recoding and alphanumeric versus non-alphanumeric RAN contribute to different components of orthographic knowledge (word specific vs. general). Results indicate that alphanumeric and non-alphanumeric RAN contribute to orthographic knowledge components differently. Alphanumeric RAN relates more to word-specific orthographic knowledge, whereas non-alphanumeric RAN relates more to general orthographic knowledge. Furthermore, phonological recoding is more closely related to word-specific orthographic knowledge than to general orthographic knowledge.     

Presleep Suggestion Related to a Phobic Object: Successful Manipulation of Reported Dream Affect

Twenty-four female subjects with a strong dislike of snakes slept for four nonconsecutive nights in the laboratory. They were divided into four groups of six, each group receiving a different presleep suggestion on Nights 3 and 4. On Nights 2, 3, and 4, before sleep, the subjects saw but did not have to touch a live snake and their dreams were collected for each REM period. The results showed that, when compared with the subjects who received the negative affect suggestions, subjects who received positive affect suggestions had significantly higher levels of positive emotions in their dreams, rated their own dreams as more pleasant, and had significantly lower levels of anxiety, sadness, and aggression. These results support the hypothesis that presleep suggestion can be an effective technique in influencing the affective dimension of the dream.     

A Multiphasic Personality Schedule (Minnesota): III. the Measurement of Symptomatic Depression

La Fave's habit lag construct, which specifies conditions under which previously automatized motor responses become disruptive of subsequent performance, was tested. Performance under stress was also examined as a possible factor in the occurrence of habit lag. Following a visual discrimination task, 48 women performed motor responses simultaneously: (a) repeating an invariant lever movement and (b) pushing one of two keys. The habit lag construct was supported, as Ss who had automatized responses produced more errors than nonautomatized Ss. Performance under stress, by calling attention to the risk of habit lag, reduced errors. Habit lag accounts for an intrusive type of error often found in motor performance where negative transfer fails to do so.     

Developing Roles and Skills in Community-Living Adults With Severe and Persistent Mental Illness

People with severe and persistent mental illness often experience a disruption in the development of social roles, and the skills within these roles. Role Development, a set of guidelines for practice, is an intervention to develop roles and skills. The purpose of this study was to continue to examine the efficacy of this intervention. Ten people attending two community mental health programs participated in evaluation and treatment based on Role Development. Quantitative pretest and posttest measures were used. Qualitative components were incorporated to get a sense of the experience involved in developing roles and skills. Quantitative results indicated statistical significance (p < .05) in the development of roles and skills. Qualitative data revealed multiple trends experienced by the participants. This study contributes to the evidenced-based knowledge regarding development of roles and skills for persons living with severe and persistent mental illness.     

Nuevas perspectivas en el desarrollo de la tipificación sexual y de género

RESUMEN

El autor, tras constatar la necesidad de perspectivas propiamente evolutivas que conserven las aportaciones de la psicología diferencial, repasa estos enfoques evolutivos clásicos del desarrollo psicosexual destacando la teoría cognitiva propuesta por Kohlberg (1966). Seguidamente analiza tanto los intentos posteriores de perfeccionar estos enfoques desde el punto de vista psicoanalítico, conductista y cognitivo como la aparición de nuevas perspectivas desde comienzos de los setenta: los enfoques de la “trascendencia de los roles sexuales” y los del procesamiento de la información, ofreciendo las características fundamentales que los diferencian de los clásicos. El autor se pregunta si no sería conveniente una nueva elaboración teórica que tuviera en cuenta las directrices, preocupaciones y necesidades comunes de todos ellos considerando que, para ello, se necesita clarificar previamente la taxonomización terminológica, la contextualización de los distintos contenidos y la extensión a lo largo del ciclo vital. Tras desarrollar estas tres bases de fundamentación, finaliza esbozando un nuevo modelo evolutivo de tipificación sexual y de género en torno al cual ordenar y reinterpretar los hallazgos de las investigaciones sobre el tema.     

Psicología de la violación

Resumen

Este artículo constituye una revisión de la literatura psicológica referida a la violación. En la primera parte nos ocupamos del agresor sexual, enfatizando la naturaleza fundamentalmente agresiva de la violación, y poniendo de manifiesto la necesidad de superar la perspectiva tipológica. La segunda parte trata de la víctima, poniéndose de relieve los impactos de la agresión recibida y las difíciles circunstancias por las que pasa la mujer que ha denunciado el hecho en el proceso penal. Se concluye acentuando el aspecto social de la violación, y comentando las medidas que habría que adoptar a nivel psico-social con objeto de prevenir la aparición de esta conducta.