Le rapport à la loi et à ses représentants est-il altéré par le contact des adolescents avec les acteurs de la chaîne pénale ? Une revue systématique de la littérature

IntroductionAdolescents have the highest prevalence and incidence rates of delinquency. Several authors have suggested that the rejection of authority figures in adolescence may explain these rates. Other studies have also found a positive relationship between delinquency and negative attitudes toward the law and its representatives.ObjectiveThe objective was to make an inventory of the current scientific knowledge concerning the link between contact with the penal actors and the adolescents’ attitude towards the law and its representatives. We also want to identify the mediators of this link.MethodWe conducted a systematic review. Of the 802 articles identified, we selected those involving adolescents and focusing on contact with penal actors (i.e., law enforcement officers, court personnel, lawyers, prison personnel, security personnel, social workers) and on attitudes toward the law and its representatives. Our review finally covers the 46 articles corresponding to our inclusion and exclusion criteria.ResultsMost studies show that contact with penal actors lead to more negative attitudes toward the law and its representatives. Longitudinal studies suggest that this relationship is causal : contact with penal actors leads adolescents to have less positive attitudes towards the law and its representatives. However, there seem to be differences according to the type of contact studied.ConclusionThese results, questioning the penal responses brought to adolescents, will be discussed, both on a theoretical and practical level. Methodological issues will also be addressed.     

An empirical investigation into carpooling behaviour for sustainability

Carpooling is a sustainable, economical, and environmental friendly solution that can significantly reduce air pollution and traffic congestion in urban areas. In spite of its numerous benefits, commuters are still skeptic about adopting it as a routine choice for transportation. This study attempts to map commuters’ attitude towards carpooling services. The study has focused on a few motivational constructs that can have an influence on commuters’ behavior. The study has looked at the role of cognitive complexity and empowerment perceptions of commuters to check if these constructs significantly intervene in the behavioral outcomes. The methodology used is a scenario-based 2 × 2 survey design where the sample is an individual who has experience with carpooling. The survey has used two levels (high, low) each of cognitive complexity and psychological empowerment to give rise to four scenarios. The final sample consisted of 400 carpoolers selected from an IT park having more than 5000 employees. MANOVA analysis showed that cognitive complexity and psychological empowerment had significant influence on the motivational constructs used in the study. Value beliefs, safety and platform quality perceptions were found to have a direct impact on attitude formation and intention to engage in carpooling behavior. The findings offer many implications for managers in the sense that that they can focus on creating suitable communication that creates favorable perceptions towards carpooling to bring about better adoption intentions.     

French Adaptation and Validation of The Bullying Attitude Questionnaire in a sample of Primary School Teachers

IntroductionTeachers are the most likely people to intervene in bullying situations in primary schools. An effective and inexpensive way to measure the quality of their interventions during these incidents is the hypothetical scenario. However, there is no such validated measurement tool available in French.ObjectiveThe study objective was therefore to translate, adapt, and validate The Bullying Attitude Questionnaire among francophone primary school teachers.MethodThe participants were 37 female primary school teachers who completed the adapted version of The Bullying Attitude Questionnaire, translated in French by bilingual experts, as well as other scales used as external criteria.ResultsThe translated and adapted version of The Bullying Attitude Questionnaire showed good concurrent validity. Moreover, previous study conclusions using the same measurement tool were replicated in this study.ConclusionHypothetical scenarios represent a convenient way to measure the quality of teacher's interventions in bullying situations. In line with previous studies, teachers tend to perceive relational aggression as less severe than physical and verbal aggression. In such situations, they are less empathetic toward the victims, less upset with the perpetrator, and less likely to intervene.     

Network change point detection in resting-state functional connectivity dynamics of mild cognitive impairment patients

Background/Objective: This study aims to characterize the differences on the short-term temporal network dynamics of the undirected and weighted whole-brain functional connectivity between healthy aging individuals and people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The Network Change Point Detection algorithm was applied to identify the significant change points in the resting-state fMRI register, and we analyzed the fluctuations in the topological properties of the sub-networks between significant change points. Method: Ten MCI patients matched by gender and age in 1:1 ratio to healthy controls screened during patient recruitment. A neuropsychological evaluation was done to both groups as well as functional magnetic images were obtained with a Philips 3.0T. All the images were preprocessed and statistically analyzed through dynamic point estimation tools. Results: No statistically significant differences were found between groups in the number of significant change points in the functional connectivity networks. However, an interaction effect of age and state was detected on the intra-participant variability of the network strength. Conclusions: The progression of states was associated to higher variability in the patient's group. Additionally, higher performance in the prospective and retrospective memory scale was associated with higher median network strength.     

Infants' reasoning about opaque and transparent occluders in an individuation task

Two experiments document that conceptual knowledge influences 3-year-olds' extension of novel words. In Experiment 1, when objects were described as having conceptual properties typical of artifacts, children extended novel labels for these objects on the basis of shape alone. When the very same objects were described as having conceptual properties typical of animate kinds, children extended novel labels for these objects on the basis of both shape and texture. Moreover, providing a salient perceptual cue (Experiment 2) did not interfere with children's reliance on conceptual information in extending novel words: when an object with eyes was labeled with a novel word in the context of a story describing the object as an artifact, children extended the label on the basis of shape alone (i.e. as though the object were an artifact). These results, which challenge directly the position that 'dumb attentional mechanisms' can account for word learning, stand as evidence for the central role of conceptual information in mapping words to meaning.     

Explicit and implicit attitudes towards food and physical activity in childhood obesity

This study investigated differences in the explicit and implicit attitudes towards food and physical activities between children with obesity (n=38) and a matched control group (n=38). The implicit attitude was assessed using the Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (EAST; J. Exp. Psychol. (50) (2003) 77), a modified version of the Implicit Association Test (IAT; J. Personality Social Psychol. (74) (1999) 1464). It was expected that both groups would report a positive explicit attitude towards healthy food and intense physical activities, and a negative explicit attitude towards unhealthy food and sedentary activities. Of particular interest was the hypothesis that children with obesity would have a more positive implicit attitude towards unhealthy food and sedentary activities than the control group. Results revealed no differences between groups in the explicit attitude towards food and physical activity. Children and adolescents with obesity had a more pronounced positive implicit attitude towards food in general. The relevance of these findings in terms of prevention, treatment and further research is discussed.     

The Partners for Change Outcome Management System: A Both/And System for Collaborative Practice

Systematic client feedback (SCF) is increasingly employed in mental health services worldwide. While research supports its efficacy over treatment as usual, clinicians, especially those who highly value relational practices, may be concerned that routine data collection detracts from clinical process. This article describes one SCF system, the Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS), along a normative (standardized measurement) to communicative (conversational) continuum, highlighting PCOMS’ origins in everyday clinical practice. The authors contend that PCOMS represents “both/and,” providing a valid signal of client progress while facilitating communicative process particularly prized by family therapists steeped in relational traditions. The article discusses application of PCOMS in systemic practice and describes how it actualizes time‐honored family therapy approaches. The importance of giving voice to individualized client experience is emphasized.     

A unitary Neo-Piagetian/Neo-Eriksonian model of development: Fundamental assumptions and meta-issues

The article briefly reviews a stage model of change in human development that integrates a Neo-Piagetian model and a Neo-Eriksonian model into one unitary stage model across the lifespan (as presented in Young, 2011). The model suggests a generic model of stages in change. The article explores the fundamental assumptions underlying the model as well as considering meta-issues. The article adds to the book by describing the Neo-Eriksonian stages as reflections of a social “participatory” process. It adds to the change process in development by describing it as possibly reflecting “punctuated disequilibrium.” Finally, it adds a “multiple psychodynamics” model.     

“易象”新说——兼论《周易》原有《象经》问题

论文对古代典籍所载"易象"一名作了新的解读。认为所谓"易象",仅是当时《周易》的另一种称谓而已,它并不神秘;"易象"与今本《象传》没有直接联系,尚无渊源,《象传》"演德","易象""尊礼尚施",至汉代仍保存有以古礼诠释《周易》的传统;古代《周易》原有《象经》,或以《卦下易经》当之,惜已不传;但在清人的《易》著中,至今仍可见其传承的轨迹。     

Personality and Substance Use in Midlife: Conscientiousness as a Moderator and the Effects of Trait Change

Personality traits predict substance use in adolescence, but less is known about prospective substance use in middle age and beyond. Moreover, there is growing interest in how personality change and the multiplicative effects among personality traits relate to substance use. Participants included approximately 4000 adults aged 25-74 who participated in two waves of the Midlife in the US (MIDUS) study. Higher levels of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, and lower levels of conscientiousness and agreeableness predicted longitudinal substance use. Increases in neuroticism and openness predicted increased substance use while increases in conscientiousness and agreeableness predicted decreased substance use. Higher levels of conscientiousness moderated two of the other trait main effects. Personality, trait change, and interactions among traits reliably forecasted 10-year substance-use behaviors.