The Fourth Wave of Feminism: Psychoanalytic Perspectives Introductory Remarks

This introductory paper traces a century of 4 waves of feminism from a psychoanalytic perspective. The first phase focused on political change as the suffragette movement was undertaken at the turn of the 20th century by feminist activists who lobbied successfully for women's right to vote; the second phase, a broad sociopolitical-cultural movement located in the 1960s and 1970s, focused on consciousness-raising around gender issues, women's liberation (Betty Friedan, Kate Millet, Simone de Beauvoir, Bela Abzug, Gloria Steinem), and job and economic parity. With sexual freedom and job opportunities more established for women, the third phase evolved in the 1980s and 1990s, emphasizing women exploring gender pluralities; “having it all”; and juggling career, sex, and motherhood. The fourth wave moved into the 21st century as women turned toward spiritual concerns about the planet and all its beings, putting themselves in the service of the world, ecology, and the downtrodden.     

Women Shaping Their Destinies: Psychoanalytic Perspectives and Contemporary Clinical Portraits

Using two case examples of women from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, this article focuses on three central themes to explore women's fears and conflicts about success: the function of masochism as a protective device; the awareness and use of the transference-countertransference to inform both the patient's and analyst's relationship to the past; and the importance of both positive and negative influences in the cultural center. By attending to their own relationships to success, analysts can resonate with their women patients, promoting a more emancipated self-definition and mutual reparativeness.     

The Political Is Psychoanalytic: On Same-Sex Marriage

Psychoanalysis should attend to same-sex marriage for two reasons: (1) Exclusion from marriage harms the mental health of same-sex couples and their children and (2) psychoanalysis is the science of irrationality, and the arguments about same-sex marriage are often highly irrational. The arguments against same-sex marriage, made by senior judges in the United States, are best understood by the von Domarus principle: If homosexuals are allowed to be married, and I am married, then I may be a homosexual. And if I make it impossible for homosexuals to marry, and I am married, then I will make it impossible for me to be a homosexual.     

Evangelical Women and Feminism:

Although a number of studies have demonstrated that evangelical women are more likely than other women to take anti-feminist positions, recent research suggests that there might be substantial support among evangelicals for certain feminist positions. Using data from the 1984 American National Election study, we find that evangelical women are indeed more antifeminist than other women, but that a sizable minority take feminist positions on a number of issues. Approximately one in six can be classified as having a politicized feminist consciousness, while an additional quarter are potential converts to the feminist cause. These potential feminists are fairly negative toward the feminist movement, however. This is due in part to the association by many evangelical women between the women's movement, lesbian rights, and abortion.     

The Relevance of Psychoanalytic Ideas to Crisis Work

The therapeutic aim of crisis work typically has been to help the patient regain a pre-morbid state of functioning with an almost exclusive focus on the amelioration of immediate symptomatology. Drawing on our experience in a crisis team of a major metropolitan hospital with a large Hispanic and African-American population, we contend that crisis work ought not to focus myopically on symptom removal and must include, to the highest degree possible, an exploration of the multiple meanings contained in what is possibly a turning point in the patient’s life. Toward this aim, we describe three psychoanalytic principles believed to be particularly relevant to crisis work that have, nonetheless, traditionally been deemed inappropriatefor this treatment modality. These principles are historicity, neutrality, and fantasy. Discussion of the principles are presented within the context of case material.     

The Relevance of Psychoanalytic Ideas to Crisis Work

The therapeutic aim of crisis work typically has been to help the patient regain a pre-morbid state of functioning with an almost exclusive focus on the amelioration of immediate symptomatology. Drawing on our experience in a crisis team of a major metropolitan hospital with a large Hispanic and African-American population, we contend that crisis work ought not to focus myopically on symptom removal and must include, to the highest degree possible, an exploration of the multiple meanings contained in what is possibly a turning point in the patient's life. Toward this aim, we describe three psychoanalytic principles believed to be particularly relevant to crisis work that have, nonetheless, traditionally been deemed inappropriate for this treatment modality. These principles are historicity, neutrality, and fantasy. Discussion of the principles are presented within the context of case material.     

The Evolution of Feminism: Comparison of Adaptation and By-Product Concepts

The aspiration of an ideal social structure includes the ambition of construction of a society that does not discriminate on the basis of gender. The development of feminist thought is an endeavor for evolutionary changes within the prevailing patriarchal society. This article exemplifies the development and changes in the feminist movement due to internal pressures, external politics, and ideological changes, by highlighting the oppression of women and the movement's chief accomplishments, and strives to explain this evolution from the standpoint of two alternative justifications, an adaptationist and by-product influence. It elucidates underlying aspects of the movement and the prerequisites for it to flourish and become a multifaceted, global phenomenon.     

The Aboriginal People: Literary Perspectives

There continues to be a worrying lack of material about family therapy with Aborigines, despite the massive difficulties experienced by Aboriginal people. A notable exception has been from Geraldine Slattery, whose original paper Transcultural Therapy with Aboriginal Families: Working with the Belief System was published by the Journal in 1987. Here Geraldine reviews two recent publications by University of Queensland Press, which has a long record of publishing about our Aboriginal citizens. While these books are not specifically focused on family therapy, their central relevance will be obvious. — Editor.     

Feminism and bioethics: an overview

Despite differences in style, tone, and emphasis, the various schools of feminist thought share a primary concern with the stories and lives of women. This concern gives them distinctive perspectives on medical practice and the field of bioethics.     

The Language of Globalization,Transnationality and Feminism

This article considers recent feminist actions in the Asia-Pacific region, which have involved transnational collaboration. This provides a site for a discussion of the relationship between language, discourse, cultural practices, political economy, activism and social transformation. It is argued recent examples of transnational feminist collaboration have either been based on a logic of similarity and affiliation or on a recognition of mutual imbrication in structures of inequality.     

The Primal Scene in and about Psychoanalytic Institutions

ABSTRACT

Drawing on notions of primal scene and Bion’s theorizing of groups, this essay looks at the elements in institutional groups where transgressions and corruption may appear and develop and examines the difficulties group members have in working through the violations and potential disruptions to the institution’s functioning.     

The Good Grandparent: Perspectives of Young Adults

As life expectancy increases, the role of grandparent has increased in duration and is continually adapting as families change in structure, function and form. Across the past several decades, researchers have examined grandparenting styles, finding some consistency as well as the emergence of newer styles, and evidence that grandparenting styles are related to the age and gender of both the grandparents and the grandchildren. In this study, we investigated young adults’ perceptions of grandparenting quality. University Students (N?=?470) from a Midwestern university responded to an online survey that asked them to evaluate the quality of their grandparents grandparenting now and at two retrospective points in time, childhood and adolescence. We hypothesized that the grandparents' performance of multiple styles of their role would be related to grandparenting quality. In addition, we expected that preferred grandparental roles would vary in relation to grandchildren's gender. The results of regression analysis indicated that, although grandparenting quality tended to decline across the respondents' developmental stages, higher ratings at an earlier stage were related to higher ratings at the latter two stages. Further, grandsons preferred grandparents who performed as supporters and advisors, whereas granddaughters preferred grandparents who functioned as supporter and friend. Overall, grandmothers were likely to be the more significant grandparent. Continual research on both grandchildren and grandparents will be needed to chronicle the development of the grandparental role in changing times.     

Reflexivity in the Research Process: Psychoanalytic Observations

This paper highlights what psychoanalysis can add to discussions of reflexivity, by specifically describing how reflexivity is conceptualized and fostered on psychoanalytic observation methods courses at the Tavistock Clinic, London. It is demonstrated that this psychological form of reflexivity is relevant to empirical and conceptual work and shown that it shares interesting parallels with debates about reflexivity in social research methods, while also being able to contribute to discussions of what constitutes reflexivity and what kinds of methods course might facilitate it. Reflexivity is often discussed in relation to a researcher’s empirical work, but this paper argues that reflexivity is equally needed in relation to the academic context in which most research and learning takes place. This paper demonstrates how psychoanalytic approaches to learning stimulate a reflexive relation to empirical and conceptual work and it provides examples of reflexivity from a two‐year infant observation and a research project on romantic love (involving conceptual and biographical research).     

Ministers,Feminism, and Abortion:

The attitudes of male ministers in an Eastern state are examined with respect to attitudes toward the proper roles of women, legalized abortion, and the proposed Human Life Amendment to the Constitution. Doctrinal orthodoxy is found to be the strongest predictor of attitudes toward abortion and the Human Life Amendment. However, having an employed wife has borth direct and indirect effects on these attitudes, affecting abortion attitudes in a "pro-choice" direction. Importantly, the wife's employment status is exogenous to the model, as such employment outside the home is not predicted by any religious variable.