Fatherhood today: variations on a theme

Freud explored the concept of the unconscious in some detail in one of his papers on 'metapsychology' in 1915. But this concept is crucial to the birth of psychoanalysis more than twenty years earlier. If we look closely at one of the early cases Freud described in his 1895 book with Breuer, Studies on Hysteria, we can see how that concept was also being born. This paper focuses on the case of Elisabeth von R, to show how the distinctive psychoanalytic understanding of the unconscious was starting to be used there to make sense of her hysterical symptoms. Freud's account and the words he chooses to frame it raise a number of questions about theory and practice in psychoanalysis, which we examine here in relation to unconscious love.     

Dilemmas in brief therapy

This paper examines three central concerns for the short-term therapist at a time when therapy is widely available free of charge in the community, in a model that has been called ‘ serial life-span therapy’. Issues of referral-on, topping-up or extending contracts are experienced as dilemmas or as temptations, depending on what therapists believe their clients need and what their clients may demand of them. Short-term therapy has become accepted in many contexts, with therapy no longer used as a once-and-for all solution to clinical problems, but as a serial method over time which includes topping up and re-contracting. After an initial agreement of brevity, depending on the client's disturbance levels at assessment and on availability, there may be the need for referral-on at the end of a brief contract, when clients may be offered a different, long-term service, or they may be recommended to return later in life for more, if and when this becomes necessary. Flexible contracts rather than rigid rules about the termination of therapy are being practiced in many contexts, depending on ‘what works’ and how methods can be adjusted to new evidence. There is danger of collusion or control, and this can lead to therapeutic dilemmas, which involve taking acceptable risks, or to therapeutic temptations, which are due to the desire for narcissistic gratification, benefiting the therapist rather than the client in terms of power or Eros. Being able to let go of clients and manage issues of loss, grief and greed requires a measure of maturity in the therapist that aims for good-enough results rather than striving for perfect endings.     

Supervision of supervision: Specialism or new profession?

Abstract

Consecutive BAC Codes of Ethics and Practice of the Supervision of Counsellors have emphasised the importance of supervisory consultations for supervisors, and the need of evaluating and monitoring supervision work. Supervision of supervision work has also been an integral part of the training of supervisors, in order for them to learn supervision by actually supervising and receiving feedback on their work. The paper attempts to define and conceptualise the task of the supervisor of supervision in comparison with and by contrast to ordinary supervision and covers such areas as function, format, focus, presentation.     

Creating and Refining Boundaries – Church Splitting Among Pentecostal Vietnamese Migrants in Berlin

In many parts of the world, Pentecostalism is becoming the fastest growing religious movement. As a result of migration, people from Asia, Africa and Latin America carry religious ideas and practices across borders, in other cases, migrants establish religious networks in the diaspora. However, while embracing newcomers from various backgrounds, Pentecostal believers constantly cross cultural boundaries by incorporating people from different ethnic, national and language backgrounds. While Pentecostal charismatic practitioners blurr boundaries in many situations, simultaneously, they create ‘bright boundaries’ by rejecting ‘traditional’ religious practices, imagined as the Other of Pentecostalism and thus to be eliminated. By referring to the concept of boundaries (Barth 1969; Alba (Ethnic and Racial Studies 1:20–69, 2005)) this article argues that charismatic Pentecostal Christianity, alongside its embracing practices with regard to social, ethnic and political boundaries, generates religious boundaries: First, church members reject “traditional” religious practices such as ancestor veneration and spirit possession, practices migrants carry across borders. Second, Pentecostal believers create boundaries towards those who split from the church. By exploring the ambiguities of migrant converts, I will investigate, how some of them subvert and reject control and authority exerted by religious leaders. Therefore, this article, based on ethnographic fieldwork among Vietnamese Pentecostalists, contributes to widely underresearched practices of boundary making and church splitting in the diaspora.     

Post‐identification feedback,confidence and recollections of witnessing conditions in child witnesses

Eyewitness confidence and detailed memory reports are often considered reliable indicators of the credibility of the eyewitness testimony. This study investigated how feedback concerning the accuracy of a lineup identification influences witnesses' confidence in the accuracy of their identification decision and their judgements concerning the witnessing experience. Fifty‐seven children (11–12 years) and 55 adults (17–39 years) viewed a video of a robbery and attempted to identify the culprit from a photo lineup. The culprit was not present. Participants received confirming feedback, disconfirming feedback, or no feedback on the accuracy of their identification. The confidence judgements and recollections of witnessing conditions of both children and adults were influenced by confirming and in some instances, disconfirming feedback. These findings imply that confidence and memory reports are easily distorted by non‐specific feedback and investigators should be sensitive to this particularly when dealing with vulnerable witnesses such as children. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Die Entwicklung des moralischen und rechtlichen Bewusstseins von Kindern und Jugendlichen.

First, Piaget’s and Kohlberg’s models of moral development are briefly sketched and some objections rose. Then the cognitive dimension of the development of moral and legal understanding in childhood and adolescence is described. This involves knowledge of moral rules, an understanding of the categorical ought, cognizance of the prima facie validity of moral rules and specific knowlegde systems guiding contextualized rule applications. Data show that all children quite early acquire an adequate basic understanding of moral rules and legal concepts. Several learning mechanisms are at work – sociocognitive development, processes of implicit rule reconstruction, acquisition of knowlegde systems. The following part focusses on moral motivation - its strength and the types of concerns motivating conformity. Moral motivation develops in a second, delayed, differential learning process which only on average shows a steady continuous increase. Individual trajectories often display losses attributable to sociocultural influences.     

Latent classes of posttraumatic stress and growth

Background and Objectives: Potentially traumatic events may lead to different patterns of posttraumatic stress symptoms and posttraumatic growth. The objective of the present study was to identify subgroups with different patterns of posttraumatic reactions, and to determine whether these subgroups differed in terms of personal and social resources and indicators of adjustment. Design: This study used survey data collected 10 months after the 2011 Oslo bombing attack to investigate patterns of reactions among ministerial employees (N = 1970). Methods: We applied latent class analyses with covariates to extract subgroups of individuals. Results: Three classes of individual reactions were extracted, and these were similar among those who were and those who were not physically proximate to the bombing attack: “High stress/high growth” (27% and 11%, respectively), “Low stress/high growth” (74% and 42%, respectively), and “Low stress/low growth” (only among the not physically proximate: 47%). The classes differed in terms of gender, neuroticism, and social support as well as life satisfaction and daily functioning. Conclusions: Heterogeneous patterns of posttraumatic reactions were found. Physical proximity is not necessary to experience posttraumatic stress or growth after political violence. Among individuals with low stress, posttraumatic growth may not encompass higher life satisfaction or functioning.     

“There Must be Mouse Dirt with the Pepper”: A Lutheran Approach to Choosing Songs1

Abstract : This paper stems from my doctoral research on the question, “What is a good song?” It is a response to the Praise and Worship movement, which started within the charismatic churches, but also has spread to many mainline churches, including my own in South Africa. While I am supportive of much that is good in this movement, I am also critical of the content and theology of many of the songs. This paper focuses on what we as Lutherans can learn from our founder when it comes to choosing what and how to sing in our services.