Health psychology, Family, Parenting, Orphans and vulnerable children, reproductive health, Security, women security, care of prisoners family, Peace and conflict studies.

1-2-3-4 Feminists Don't Want Another War by Carol P. Christ

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

War is a feminist issue for many reasons, most importantly because war is always war against women.
more War is a feminist issue for many reasons, most importantly because war is always war against women.

Patriarchy, war, rape as the “spoils” of war, and the taking of women and children as slaves in the wake of war arose together.  Recent blogs on Feminism and Religion have addressed the war on women—from the rape culture, to Humane Vitae, to the Catholic Church’s and other church’s  attempts to remove birth control from health care, to the tolerance of sexist hate speech in the culture at large. While the issue of Rush Limbaugh calling Sandra Fluke a slut is being focused on in the press, the drums of war are being sounded again in the Middle East:  the US is considering bombing Iran or supporting Israel if it decides to do so.  Feminists must stand together against war and the harm it does to women, children, and all living things.

‘Hope’ for children and youth in a challenging world?

by Penny Moore

Social workers' perspectives on parental engagement when children are at risk in Romanian society

by Ioan Popoviciu

S. Popoviciu, D. Birle & D. Bara (2012), Published in Child and Family Social Work

This paper presents the findings of a study that looked at social workers' perspectives on parental engagement in... more This paper presents the findings of a study that looked at social workers' perspectives on parental engagement in making the difficult choice of either taking the child into care or keeping the family together. The paper first explores the specific context of children at risk in Romanian society and explains that in this middle-income nation there is an absence of evidence-based risk assessment tools, which prompts social workers to use their own ‘common sense’ risk assessment indicators. The findings of this small-scale, non-representative study on several public non-voluntary child protection services in Romania suggest that social workers' perceptions of specific dimensions of parental engagement in non-voluntary child protection may influence service delivery decisions and outcomes.

Queensland's proposed surrogacy legislation: An opportunity for national reform

by Tammy Johnson

Incidental exposure to no-smoking signs primes craving for cigarettes

by Brian Earp

Earp, B. D., Dill, B., Harris, J., Ackerman, J., and Bargh, J. (2011). Incidental exposure to no-smoking signs primes craving for cigarettes: An ironic effect of unconscious semantic processing? Yale Review of Undergraduate Research in Psychology, Vol 2, No 1, 12-23.

The present study tests whether incidental exposure to no-smoking signs may ironically boost craving for cigarettes in... more The present study tests whether incidental exposure to no-smoking signs may ironically boost craving for cigarettes in smokers. Smokers viewed photographs in which no-smoking signs were either incon- spicuously embedded (prime) or edited out (control). Participants then used a joystick to make quick approach vs. avoid motions while viewing smoking-related and neutral stimuli on a computer screen (Chen & Bargh, 1999). We hypothesized that primed smokers, but not controls, would show an automatic reach bias toward the smoking-related stimuli. The data supported our prediction. Possible mechanisms for the effect are discussed, as well as implications for public health policy, negation-based social campaigns in general, and our understanding of the unconscious processing of semantic information.

Medically Fragile Children: A Comparison of Three States' Methods for Addressing Their Educational Needs

by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects

Rhoades, Lisa, "Medically Fragile Children: A Comparison of Three States' Methods for Addressing Their Educational Needs" (1995). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 219.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/219

Factors associated with posttraumatic growth among the spouses of myocardial infarction patients

by Mithat Durak

Key Words: cognitive processing, environmental factors, individual factors, myocardial infarction patients, posttraumatic growth, spouses of myocardial infarction patients

To clarify the rationale behind Posttraumatic Growth (PTG), a model by Schaefer and Moos describes the relative... more To clarify the rationale behind Posttraumatic Growth (PTG), a model by Schaefer and Moos describes the relative contribution of environmental resources, individual resources, event related factors, cognitive processing and coping (CPC) on PTG. In the present study, this model was tested with the spouses of myocardial infarction patients with data from various hospitals in Turkey. A structural equation model revealed that neither individual nor environmental resources had indirect effects on PTG through the effect of event-related factors and CPC, while they showed direct effects on PTG. The findings were discussed in the context of the theoretical model.

Factors associated with the symptoms of depression and anxiety among male Turkish prisoners: a life crisis and personal growth model perspective

by Mithat Durak

Key Words: prisoners, anxiety, depression, locus of control, prison-life stress, situational factors

The factors associated with depression and anxiety disorders in the prison populations have been empirically tested in... more The factors associated with depression and anxiety disorders in the prison populations have been empirically tested in various studies. The aim of the present study was to examine the factors associated with the symptoms of depression and anxiety in a sample of 179 Turkish male prisoners. For this purpose, a model conceptualized by Schaefer and Moos (1998) was used as the theoretical framework for this study. The role of locus of control (as a personality trait); prison type, crime type, time spent in prison (as situational and crime-related variables); and the effect of prison-life stress on the prisoners' level of depression and anxiety symptoms were tested by using two separate structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses. Results revealed that by playing a mediator role, prison-life stress affected locus of control and situational and crime-related variables and hence, indirectly influenced depression and anxiety symptoms. Examining the role of the situational and personality factors on prisoners will provide a new departure for further studies conducted within prison settings.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COGNITIVE APPRAISAL OF STRESS, COPING STRATEGIES AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AMONG CORRECTIONAL …

by Mithat Durak

Development of work stress scale for correctional officers

by Mithat Durak

Key Words: Correctional officers, work-stress, psychometric properties

This study aimed at examining the psychometric properties of Work Stress Scale for Correctional Officers (WSSCO).... more This study aimed at examining the psychometric properties of Work Stress Scale for Correctional Officers (WSSCO). Methods: One hundred nineteen correctional officers (109 males and 10 females) employed in Turkey participated in this study. In addition to WSSCO, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were administered to the participants. Results: The internal consistencies and the item-total correlations were acceptable both for the whole scale and for its subscales; namely, “work overload,” “role conflict and role ambiguity,” “inadequacies in physical conditions of prison,” “threat perception,” and “general problems.” Test–retest reliability coefficient was 0.77 for total scale, and test-retest reliability coefficients ranged between 0.68 and 0.78 for the subscales. The total scale and most of the subscales were positively correlated with depression, anxiety, and hopelessness, and negatively correlated with perceived social support. Furthermore, all subscales significantly differentiated high depressive symptomatology group from the low depressive symptomatology group. Conclusions: The present results revealed that the psychometric properties of WSSCO were quite adequate. The scale can provide a potentially useful tool for research on job stress in correctional officers.

The Effects of Parental Nurturance and Involvement on Peer Relationships and Psychosocial Functioning of Young Adults

by Maria Reid

This study examined peer relationships and psychosocial functioning as a function of maternal and paternal involvement... more This study examined peer relationships and psychosocial functioning as a function of maternal and paternal involvement and nurturance along with the moderating effects of gender, family form, and ethnicity. Prior research has shown the influence of mother’s involvement on peer relationship quality but not of fathers. Further, previous studies did not examine moderation by family form, gender, or ethnicity. The sample consisted of 1359 students who identified their biological mother and father as the most influential parental figures in their lives. Their ages ranged from 18 to 26; Sixty–one percent of the sample was Hispanic, 13% non-Hispanic Black, 25% non-Hispanic White; 76% female and 70% from intact families. The analytical strategy included using bivariate correlations and structural equation modeling to examine these relationships.

All dimensions of maternal and paternal nurturing and involvement were positively related to positive characteristics of peer relationships, self-esteem and life satisfaction consistent with the multicultural findings of PARTheory (Rohner, Khalique, & Cournoyer, 2005). A structural model was developed that was able to adequately account for the relationship between parental influence, peer relationships, and psychosocial functioning. These effects of both maternal and paternal influence were strongly moderated by culture, family form, and gender. Finally, a differential effect was found among parental influence with fathers having a greater influence on friendship quality and importance than mothers, despite greater maternal involvement.

These findings have theoretical, clinical, and social implications as they call for a socially based theoretical perspective within which to study these relationships. Such a perspective would better inform clinicians when using impaired social functioning as indicative of axial diagnosis, and for the implementation of social policy to encourage paternal involvement.

Why Do They Hate Us? Making Peace Between Prisoners and Psychology

by Shadd Maruna