The personality of pursuit: personality attributions of unwanted pursuers and stalkers

A sample of 292 college students recalled a partner who had engaged in unwanted pursuit (46%) or recalled their most recent "normal" dating relationship. Subjects rated their own level of stalking victimization and rated the partner on a series of personality characteristics and social competence. Unwanted pursuers were perceived as less socially competent, more histrionic, more borderline, and less obsessive-compulsive, with discrimination of "normals" from unwanted pursuers of approximately 75% to 80% accuracy. These attributions also significantly predicted a continuous measure of unwanted pursuit victimization (R = .406). Implications for developing more precise and practical risk profiles of unwanted pursuers are discussed.     

Sociologist as Dean and Dean as Sociologist

This article highlights contrasts between the identity and values of sociology faculty members versus the identity and values of college administrators. Some of these contrasts include: questioning authority and speaking truth to power versus being in a position of authority and engaging in political compromise; taking a critical, reflective, and independent stance as a scholar versus a dean taking a stance of positive attitude and setting direction in the organization; and acting in an egalitarian and democratic fashion versus acting in a discriminating manner and making executive decisions. This article also explores the ways in which being a sociologist can inform a dean’s understanding of the structure and organizational life of the college and the group dynamics among faculty, students, administrators, and other constituents.     

Saffron as good as methylphenidate in treating ADHD

Short‐term treatment with saffron — which comes from the crocus plant and is known to cooks as one of the most important and expensive ingredients of various dishes — is as effective in treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as methylphenidate, researchers have found in one small trial. The study, “Crocus sativus L. Versus Methylphenidate in Treatment of Children with Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Randomized Double‐Blind Pilot Study,” was published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. Methylphenidate is a controlled substance, a stimulant with addictive properties.     

Is generic buprenorphine film as good as Suboxone?

When Indivior's popular Suboxone film went off patent, Dr. Reddy's was ready with the generic, and there are more companies now providing it as well — including Indivior itself (distributed by Sandoz). The point of generics, from a patient or payer point of view, is that they are less expensive than brand. But there can be problems — with quality, including of active ingredients. Patients frequently complain when their agonist medications are switched — whether it's from one type of methadone to another or, now, from Suboxone film to a generic.     

The child as project and the child as being: parents' ideas as frames of reference

SUMMARY: This article discusses the implicit psychological theories of parents, viewed as being related to the culture and analysable in term of ideology and world view. In a study in Sweden, parents of four year old children were interviewed concerning their ideas of child development Contrasting images of the child could be seen, sometimes co-existing in one and the same person. It is argued that parents adopt contrasting ideas of child as a means of dealing with conflicting demands of parenthood - creating a free zone for individuality while helping one's child adapt to the environment.     

Therapist-worldview matching: not as important as matching to clients

In this essay, we respond to Simon's article (2012). We discuss our view that therapy works best when therapists can match therapeutic interventions to the worldview of clients. We see this matching to client worldview as rooted in research evidence, and we suggest that therapists can practice authentically and effectively using more than one divergent therapy approach. We conclude the paper by pointing out points of disagreement we have with Simon's use of Davis and Piercy's (Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 2007a; 33, 298; Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 2007b, 32, 515) study, a study Simon uses to ground his arguments.     

The Media as spectacle: September 11 as soap opera

The concept of “spectacle” is most often associated with the writings of Guy Debord, but has also been developed and extended by later theorists, most particularly Jonathon Crary. We make use of their ideas on the “spectacle” which is the mass media to address two important sets of questions: how and why does the media find itself in a position to carry out the “immobilising” function ascribed to it by both Debord and Crary; and what are the techniques and mechanisms that facilitate this operation? We then exemplify the process of the media as spectacle with regard to coverage of recent political events such as the September 11 attacks and the so‐called “war on terror” and its relation to what we call the hysterical order of the soap opera.

The whole of life of those societies in which modern conditions of production prevail presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacle. All that once was directly lived has become mere representation. (Debord )     

Religion as communication

From the perspective of social system theory, religion is a label by which it is possible to study the relation between the individual expressions of the sacred, on one hand, and the organized system of meanings to be referred to the sacred, on the other, developing a relatively free chain of communication. Therefore, coherently to this approach, the author suggests to assume the notion of religion as communication: a system of belief challenges the complexity of the world, trying to reduce that, transforming the external differentiation into a internal one. This theoretical approach supports three research strategies: (a) overcoming the disputing question secularization/de-secularization, focusing on the dynamics of the relation between a system of belief and the social change occurring in a social context; (b) going beyond the polarization between tradition and modernity, confuting the assumption that modernity means necessarily the decline of religion; (c) reconsidering religion in the light of the social theory.     

Caregivers as Comptrollers

The emphasis on cost containment that was the hallmark of the Reagan Administration and the shining of the burden for long-term care onto the informal sector have had a particularly negative impact on women. Women through caregiving are used to help control the public cost of long-term care. This unwritten policy is unlikely to be successful because of a number of factors: (1) the economic condition of women; (2) the lack of available and affordable community services; and (3) the types of social relationships we now have.     

Funders as principals

This article examines the tensions that surfaced for three nonprofit funding intermediaries—tensions between their historic practices and the new practices required to use performance measurement to ensure greater accountability and results among their grantees—and analyzes these tensions in light of literature on philanthropic and accountability relationships. From this analysis, the article makes three points. First, philanthropic relationships are not equivalent to accountability relationships. Second, because of these differences funders that adopt performance measurement may encounter tensions as these new practices challenge the importance of other philanthropic concerns. Third, without a systematic way to attend to these concerns when adopting performance measurement, funders face an impoverished choice: reward measurable results or fall back on supporting good intentions.     

Polls as Journalism

Public opinion polling has always had close financial and institutionalties to journalism. Many of its strengths and weaknesses derivefrom these ties.