Psychodynamics of Suicide in Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,or Transgender Youth

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth are a vulnerable population at high risk of suicide and, as such, benefit from an informed psychotherapeutic approach to treatment. While it is clear that sexual orientation and gender identity are independent dimensions from psychopathology, LGBT youth are frequently marginalized and may face unique challenges with self-acceptance and identification with peers, family, and society, increasing risk of social isolation, which in turn increases vulnerability to anxiety, mood disorders, substance use, and suicide. We elaborate on the common phenomenon of ambivalent repression of the sexual self in adolescents associated with intertwined themes frequently expressed in suicidal lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, and queer patients on the inpatient adolescent unit: anger directed toward internal and external objects; desire for self-punishment, atonement, and possibly rebirth; and desperation and desire to escape psychic pain. We enhance our discussion with case examples and practical therapeutic considerations that emerge from these themes that can be harnessed across treatment settings.     

Association of Religious Commitment and Tobacco Use Among Muslim Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between religious observance and tobacco use among a sample of Jordanian youth. Using multistage, random sampling, a cross-sectional survey of middle and high school students was conducted. Of the 950 Muslim students in the study, 32 % were daily tobacco users and 72 % prayed regularly. Frequency of praying was negatively associated with tobacco smoking. Religious observance was found to be strongly associated with tobacco smoking among Jordanian youth. Our results indicate that religion can be a culturally important tool in health professionals’ efforts for tobacco control.     

The influence of culture on teacher commitment

Culture is believed to be an important factor that influences various aspects of human life, such as behaviour, thinking, perceptions and attitudes. This article examines the similarities and differences in the influence of culture on teacher commitment in three types of Malaysian primary schools. Since commitment to teaching has rarely been investigated in the field of education, it is necessary to identify initially the dimensions of teacher commitment and their interrelationships that are likely to operate in schools. Each of the three types of schools in which this study is conducted is related to one of the three major cultural groups in Malaysia, namely, the Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures. An investigation is undertaken of the similarities and differences between these three groups with respect to cultural orientation with school leadership, in-school working conditions and teacher commitment as the criteria. The statistical analysis, conducted at the teacher level, is path analysis with latent variables using partial least squares regression to estimate the direct and indirect effects for the different ethnic groups of the main variables on teacher commitment. The differences reported between groups are of sufficient strength to argue that analysis with pooled data are largely inappropriate and consideration needs to be given to separate analysis for the various cultural subgroups both within a country and between countries where the effects of culture are largely different.     

The fundamentality of existence and the subjectivity of quiddity

It would not be an overstatement to say that Mulla Sadra’s metaphysical system—commonly known as transcendent philosophy or transcendent wisdom (hikmat muta‘aliyyah)—is founded on the fundamentality of existence and the subjectivity of quiddity or whatness. I will begin this essay by drawing a rather simple picture of this principle under the title “A Common Error.” Then I will proceed by explaining its background and the reasoning supporting it, while offering a more detailed elucidation of the problem. The essay will end by examining two recent interpretations that have gone to extremes in describing quiddity’s subjective nature. This article was written in Farsi specifically for this edition of Topoi and was translated by D. D. Sodagar and Muhammad Legenhausen.

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Self-Reported Health Status of Older Adults in Malaysia and Singapore: Evidence from the 2007 Global Ageing Survey

The aim of this study is to investigate the correlates of self-reported health (SRH) among older adults in Malaysia and Singapore. The study uses data collected in the Global Ageing Study (GLAS) 2007, one of the largest surveys of its kind, specially designed to investigate attitudes towards later life, ageing and retirement. Data were collected from 1002 and 1004 respondents from Malaysia and Singapore respectively. The study found that Singaporeans report a healthier life than Malaysians. The two countries have consistent results with regard to the influences of selected covariates on individual health. Poorer health is more prevalent among people with lower education, among those widowed, divorced or separated, and those working in blue-collar occupations. Although social support is found to be an important determinant of SRH, the effects are partially confounded with other covariates. These findings enhance our knowledge about the health status of older people, and in turn will be useful for governments to ensure effective policy making.     

Traditionalism and reformism polemic in Malay–Muslim religious literature

At the end of the twentieth century, the Muslim academic world has been faced with a polemic between traditionalism and reformism, to the extent that it has come to preoccupy most present-day scholars. Most modern studies on contemporary Islamic law have mainly concentrated on Muslim countries in the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent, but this study will look at Malaysia, which is a relatively new field of Islamic legal inquiry. The article will concentrate on historical events in Malaysia from 1900 until the 1940s and, on the basis of what these events revealed, will highlight the legal polemic initiated by Malayan Islamic reformism and traditionalism. The discussion will focus on three issues: first, the capacity of human reason to understanding Islamic teaching; second, the concepts of ijtihād and taqlīd; and third, attitudes towards classical Muslim fiqh.     

Impact of Religious Activities on Quality of Life and Cognitive Function Among Elderly

Journal of Religion and Health - Religiosity and spirituality have previously been found to have significant effects on mental and physical health. This study aimed to compare...     

Structural analysis of 30RO–30Al2O3–40B2O3 ( R = Mg,Ca or Sr) glasses

Bond-compression and ring-deformation models are used to quantitatively analyze the acoustical properties (elastic moduli, Poisson's ratio, Debye temperature and longitudinal attenuation) of 30RO–30Al₂O₃–40B₂O₃ glasses (in wt%), where R?=?Mg, Ca or Sr. The network structure of the glass is quantified in terms of the four-fold coordinated formers, atomic ring size, cross-link density, first-order stretching force constant and bulk modulus. It is found that network strength increases in the order Mg?>?Ca?> Sr. Structural changes of the glasses are deduced by relating the elastic moduli, the ratio of bond compression to experimental bulk modulus and ultrasonic attenuation to structural parameters and oxygen density.     

MEDICAL MANAGEMENT OF INFANT INTERSEX: THE JURIDICO‐ETHICAL DILEMMA OF CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC LEGAL RESPONSE

Technological advances in the field of medicine and health sciences not only manipulate the normal human body and sex but also provide for surgical and hormonal management of hermaphroditism (intersexuality). Consequently, sex assignment surgery has not only become a standard care for babies born with genital abnormalities in the West but even in some Muslim states. On the positive side, it goes a long way in saving children born with abnormal genitalia from numerous legal interdictions of the pre‐sex corrective surgery. Nevertheless, the larger ethical and legal questions that medical management of genital abnormality raises to some extent have not been adequately appreciated by contemporary Muslim responses. This article, therefore, in principle argues against surgical management of intersexuality during early infancy from the Islamic legal perspective.