The effects of baby bath and massage by fathers on the family system: The sunraysia australia intervention project

Instruction in baby massage and the Burleigh Relaxation Bath technique was given to one-half of our sample of 32 couples who had just had their first child. This brief intervention, given at 4 weeks post-partum, led to beneficial behavioural and psychological effects for the family system when assessed at 12 weeks postpartum. Depression and marital satisfaction were assessed with mothers and fathers at 4 weeks and 12 weeks after the birth of their child, and self-esteem was measured at 12 weeks only. The mothers and fathers who were shown baby bathing and massage techniques showed higher degrees of marital satisfaction and self-esteem, as well as lower levels of depression at 12 weeks post-partum, than parents who did not receive instruction. It seems likely that brief interventions which educate new parents concerning functional techniques of baby care may favourably affect their feelings of competence and be of benefit to the entire family system.     

Michel de Certeau's keys of political discernment in May 1968: The theological-spiritual assumptions that informed his tools of analysis

This article seeks to identify the theoretical tools that supported Michel de Certeau's political discernment during the crisis of May 1968 in France. De Certeau's ability to elucidate the novelty and complexity of this event is linked to the intertwining of his experiences as a historian, traveller (voyageur), and Christian (specifically a Jesuit). De Certeau's articulation of a 'theology of difference' allowed him to construct the intellectual and spiritual tools that enabled a lucid discernment of May 1968. Through this theology, derived from negative theology, de Certeau made the experience of faith operative at a moment of cultural crisis. The article also analyses possibilities involved in the ‘rupture’, that is, the fracture that is implied in modernity; in the notion of an event that highlights the deficiency of language, its incapacity to establish ‘a truthful communication’ in society; and the recognition of the poetic dimension of speech, which is capable of interweaving speech and action. The May 1968 event invites these elements mutually to redefine themselves.     

Accuracy and precision of the PEAK Performance Technologies Motion Measurement System

This study evaluated the accuracy and precision of the PEAK Performance Technologies, lnc.'s motion analysis system for three-dimensional angle reconstruction. Pendular motion of a bar, on which 18 retroreflective markers were mounted, was videotaped at three different orientations (parallel, and rotated 30 degrees right and left) to a plane at which two standard video cameras were aimed. The videotaped motion was digitized off-line, and 32 angles between the 18 markers were calculated. intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated between trials within each pendulum orientation and across orientations to determine system precision, and between randomly selected trials and actual angles to determine accuracy. lCCs were in all cases greater than.99. Within-trial standard deviations ranged between 0.05-0.8 degrees for the different angles. Deviations from the actual angle averaged 0.0-0.8 degrees across all angles and orientations. The results indicate that accurate and reliable angular measurements can be made with this motion analysis system.     

Conflict play and its modification in the course of treating children

The authors report their experience with a special form of psychodrama for the treatment in small groups of neurotic children aged five to fifteen. The acting out of ambivalent, partly unconscious and restrained tendencies and inclinations by playing, i.e., by taking roles in spontaneous performances, is followed by alternation of identification in the group and, possibly, careful indirect verbalization by the therapeutist and/or group, of which the purpose is to arrive at a reorientation of the attitudes of patients and a consolidation of the newly won attitude.     

Teachers’ perceived time pressure,emotional exhaustion and the role of social support from the school principal

Social Psychology of Education - Many teachers experience high levels of work-related strain due to time pressure, which over time can lead to various health problems, such as emotional exhaustion....