Avowals and First-Person Privilege

When people avow their present feelings, sensations, thoughts, etc., they enjoy what may be called "first-person privilege." If I now said: "I have a headache," or "I'm thinking about Venice," I would be taken at my word: I would normally not be challenged. According to one prominent approach, this privilege is due to a special epistemic access we have to our own present states of mind. On an alternative, deflationary approach the privilege merely reflects a socio-linguistic convention governing avowals. We reject both approaches. On our proposed account, a full explanation of the privilege must recognize avowals as expressive performances, which can be taken to reveal directly the subject's present mental condition. We are able to improve on special access accounts and deflationary accounts, as well as familiar expressive accounts, by explaining both the asymmetries and the continuities between avowals and other pronouncements, and by locating a genuine though non-epistemic source for first-person privilege.     

Sharing My Music with You: The Musical Presentation as a Tool for Exploring,Examining and Enhancing Self‐Awareness in a Group Setting

Musical presentation (MP) is a diagnostic and therapeutic music therapy tool which focuses on the participant's emotional exploration and awareness‐insight development. Using this tool people present themselves through music of their choice and subsequently receive feedback from their peers. This study investigates MP as a tool for enhancing self‐awareness in the context of a voluntary activity that was integrated in courses for undergraduate students in order to demonstrate its possible uses. Open‐ended in‐depth interviews with 15 MP presenters and focus‐group interviews with 41 MP peers who listened to the presentations were conducted. The Johari Window, which is a cognitive psychological model used to help people better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships, served as a conceptual framework for this study. Qualitative analysis of the data showed that presenters' self‐awareness was enhanced through the use of both music and words. As an accessible and creative tool, the MP can be used as a way for people in both therapeutic and non‐therapeutic settings to present themselves via their music to a group and increase their self‐awareness.     

Coping Strategies of Immigrant Parents: Directions for Family Therapy

Immigration often involves major changes in the physical, cultural, and social settings in which families function and develop. In the process of immigration, parents are often confronted with totally different child-rearing practices and ideologies held by the socializing agents of the host culture. This article proposes an ecological approach for dealing with these differences. Based on this approach, it is suggested that an “adaptive adult” image underlies child-rearing ideologies and practices in different cultures. The article presents a differential perspective based on three types of coping strategies typically adopted by immigrant families struggling with conflicting “adaptive adult” images. This perspective challenges the prevailing notion that differences result in long-term malfunctioning of the child and family. Finally, the article outlines motives for choosing a specific strategy and suggests directions for family therapy using the proposed conceptual framework.