Honor Killing: Where Pride Defeats Reason

Honor killings are graceless and ferocious murders by chauvinists with an antediluvian mind. These are categorized separately because these killings are committed for the prime reason of satisfying the ego of the people whom the victim trusts and always looks up to for support and protection. It is for this sole reason that honor killings demand strict and stern punishment, not only for the person who committed the murder but also for any person who contributed or was party to the act. A positive change can occur with stricter legislation and changes in the ethos of the society we live in today.     

Maternal Relationship Insecurity and Depressive Symptoms as Moderators of Home Visiting Impacts on Child Outcomes

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which maternal relationship insecurity and severe depressive symptoms moderate home visiting impacts on developmental and behavioral outcomes in 2-year old children. In an experimental trial of the Healthy Families Alaska home visiting program, families (N = 249) were randomly assigned to home visiting (n = 126) or community services as usual (n = 123). Maternal severe depressive symptoms (CES-D ≥ 24) and relationship insecurity were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the Attachment Style Questionnaire at baseline. Child cognitive and psychomotor development and behavior problems were measured with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Child Behavior Checklist at follow-up. The results revealed that home visiting significantly impacted three outcomes—child cognitive development, internalizing behavior, and externalizing behavior. Home visiting impacts were limited to subgroups defined by maternal depressive symptoms and relationship insecurity. Home visiting improved cognitive development (B = 6.02, p < .03), and decreased internalizing behavior (B = ?3.83, p = .02) and externalizing behavior problems (B = ?3.74, p = .03) in children of mothers with either severe depressive symptoms or high levels of discomfort with trust at baseline, but not both. Family engagement in home visiting seems to play a role in mediating these moderating effects. These findings reflect the importance of screening for maternal relationship insecurity and depressive symptoms to distinguish family subgroups likely to benefit from home visiting from those for whom an enhanced service model might be needed.     

Pharmacologic treatment of schizophrenia: what the future holds

The advent of the newer "atypical" antipsychotics has revolutionized pharmacologic treatment of schizophrenia (SZ) and other psychotic disorders. In contrast to the first-generation conventional neuroleptics, these second-generation antipsychotic agents possess a broader spectrum of efficacy and cause fewer motor side effects such as extrapyramidal symptoms and tardive dyskinesia. Despite their substantial advantages, however, these second-generation agents also have significant limitations in terms of both efficacy and adverse effects. Several strategies to address these shortcomings are currently under study and some of these are likely to become part of our therapeutic armamentarium in the future. Current shortcomings in the pharmacologic treatment of SZ and strategies under investigation to address each of these deficiencies are reviewed. New formulations of existing medications and new antipsychotics under development are discussed. Developing adjunctive treatment strategies to address each of the major psychopathologic domains in SZ are summarized. The potential application of genetic information to treatment-matching in SZ is reviewed and likely refinements in the practice of evidence-based medicine in the pharmacotherapy of SZ are considered.     

Constructing a Tree for Community Leaders: Contexts and Processes in Collaborative Inquiry

This paper presents collaborative research between a university-based team and a grass roots community organization on the south side of Chicago. The purpose of the work is to document the nature of community leadership as expressed by members of the host organization. Using a semistructured interview, 77 community members nominated by the host organization were asked about various aspects of their community work. Qualitative analyses of interview text generated a set of 56 codes concerning different aspects of community leadership as reported by grassroots leaders. These codes were subsequently grouped together into five conceptually linked dimensions of community leadership. A leadership tree that simultaneously analyzes and visually displays each of these five dimensions of community leadership was created. Implications of the methodology used to create the leadership tree are discussed for the salience of qualitative methods in community research.     

On Community Leadership: Stories About Collaboration in Action Research

This article provides an account of a 10-year collaborative documentation of community leadership in an African American community on the South side of Chicago. The stories are oriented to several critical incidents in the life course of the collaboration. They are told from the perspectives of one university professor, four graduate students, and one community leader. Together they provide an account of how this research was shaped by the interactions of the research team with members of the community, how research questions emerged, methodologies were developed, ways of gathering data were tried and tested, and interpretations of data unfolded. Special attention is given to the ways in which the process and products of this research contributed to the community's own process of leadership development. The stories also discuss the various roles participants in this collaboration played both in the academic arena and in the community, and how they experienced gender, race, nationality, and social status.     

Illness Meanings in the Context of Cancer: An Indian Perspective

Attempts at meaning-making are considered an integral part of the process of psychological adjustment following the diagnosis of a major illness. The present study aimed at examining the applicability of Lipowski’s illness meaning framework and the utility of a card-task and an interview method for the assessment of illness meanings in an Indian sample of cancer patients (n=100). ‘Challenge’, ‘value’, ‘punishment’ , ‘weakness’ and ‘enemy’ were the five categories from the Lipowski’s framework that were found to be applicable in the current study sample whereas ‘strategy’, ‘relief’ and ‘loss’ were not applicable in the sample. Five new categories of illness meanings emerged namely; ‘burden’, ‘part of life’, ‘God’s plan’, ‘fate’ and ‘low threat’. Subgroups of patients formed on the basis of four broad categories of illness meanings (positive, negative, fate and low threat) differed significantly on depression, anxiety and quality of life, supporting the convergent validity of the interview based assessment. The study highlights that the card-task for assessment of meanings has significant limitations and that Lipowski’s illness-meaning framework requires expansion to capture the breadth of illness experiences in Indian patients.