Inequalities of power and sexual problems

The proposition that sexual problems can emerge as a response to structural inequalities of power is explored by reference to a case which forms part of our current clinical work and research in this area. It is suggested that inequalities of power between heterosexual partners and societal 'discourses' which support the use of sexuality, predominantly by women, as an influence strategy, can serve to promote the development and maintenance of sexual symptoms as forms of covert power struggles. An integration is attempted of systemic and feminist theories with some practical suggestions for therapists working with couples with sexual problems.     

Relevance and digressions in argumentative discussion: A pragmatic approach

Digressions in argumentative discussion are a kind of failure of relevance. Examination of what actual cases look like reveals several properties of argumentative relevance: (1) The informational relevance of propositions to the truth value of a conclusion should be distinguished from the pragmatic relevance of argumentative acts to the task of resolving a disagreement. (2) Pragmatic irrelevance is a collaborative phenomenon. It does not just short-circuit reasoning; it encourages a failure to take up the demands of an argumentative task. (3) Pragmatic irrelevance can occur not simply by the absence of a connection between what is said and some standpoint in dispute, but also by the presence of a connection between what is said and a competing use of the information. (4) Pragmatic relevance must be accomplished through communicative action.     

Nonsexist curricula,sex of teacher,and children's sex-role learning

This study examined the impact of nonsexist curricula and teacher's sex on children's sex role learning. Thirty-two boys and 32 girls, aged three to five, were equally divided among four programs: nonsexist curriculum, female director; nonsexist curriculum, male director; control curriculum, female director; and control curriculum, male director. Sex role discrimination and preference were measured at the beginning and end of a six-month period. Exposure to the nonsexist curriculum produced significantly greater reductions in sex stereotyping on all measures than exposure to the control curriculum. Moreover, children in the male-directed nonsexist program displayed greater decreases in stereotypic knowledge and preference for sex-typed children's activities than those in the female-directed nonsexist program, while children in the male-directed control program showed more stereotypic increases on these measures than their counterparts in the female-directed control program. Finally, children under the direction of an opposite-sex teacher exhibited less stereotypic changes in preference for adult activities than children under the direction of a same-sex teacher. Implications for early childhood programs are discussed.This research was partially supported by an Oregon State University Foundation grant from the Shell Foundation and a grant from the Milne Computer Center.     

Instance-based categorization: Automatic versus intentional forms of retrieval

Two experiments are reported which attempt to disentangle the relative contribution of intentional and automatic forms of retrieval to instance-based categorization. A financial decision-making task was used in which subjects had to decide whether a bank would approve loans for a series of applicants. Experiment 1 found that categorization was sensitive to instance-specific knowledge, even when subjects had practiced using a simple rule. L. L. Jacoby’s (1991) process-dissociation procedure was adapted for use in Experiment 2 to infer the relative contribution of intentional and automatic retrieval processes to categorization decisions. The results provided (1) strong evidence that intentional retrieval processes influence categorization, and (2) some preliminary evidence suggesting that automatic retrieval processes may also contribute to categorization decisions.     

The use of consultation in psychological practice: ethical, legal, and clinical considerations

The importance of consulting with other professionals to maintain acceptable standards of care is well documented in many health care professions. However, evidence indicates that many psychologists fail to utilize consultation when needed, and that consultation use varies along dimensions such as the education and training of the consultee, the type of setting, number of years in practice, and proximity to available consultants. In this article, we review the research on the use of consultation by psychologists as well as other health care professionals. We discuss the clinical, ethical, and legal implications of seeking consultation as a professional psychologist. Finally, a detailed and practical model for the regular use of consultation is given to improve the routine use of consultation in clinical practice.     

DEPRESSION IN WOMEN AS RELATED TO ANGER AND MUTUALITY IN RELATIONSHIPS

Self-in-relation theory (Jordan, Kaplan, Miller, Stiver, & Surrey, 1991) proposes that a lack of mutuality in women's relationships predisposes them to depression and inhibits their ability to acknowledge and address effectively emotions such as anger. Research linking anger to depression has not examined women's emotional expressivity within the context of their partner relationships. Women's depression as a function of both their level of anger suppression or inappropriate anger expression and the level of perceived relationship mutuality was studied in a sample of 223 college women, aged 18 to 54. Lower levels of mutuality and higher levels of suppressed or inappropriately expressed anger were associated with depression. Moreover, mutuality made contributions to predicting depression beyond that explained by anger. Lower mutuality was also related to higher anger suppression, but unrelated to inappropriately expressed anger.