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Abstract

This paper examines some of the challenges that family researchers face in assessing the effects of divorce, particularly on children. The author highlights five of the most significant of these challenges. They include examining (1) the effects of divorce before it is completed, (2) controlling for socioeconomic status, (3) the effects of divorce on the general population, who are not immediately involved in the change in family structure, (4) the problems in assessing the effects of divorce, and (5) considering what psychological and academic measures to use when assessing the influence of family structure. Based on contemporary research, this paper addresses some of the relevant issues under each of these challenges and then offers some solutions.     

The New “Bridge to Adulthood”: Searching for Meaning and Cohesion in the Nexus of “Hook-ups,” Internet Porn,and Instant Messages

The transition from adolescence to young adulthood has sometimes been referred to as the “bridge to young adulthood.” This period is critically important for consolidating identity and for developing a deeper capacity for sexual and nonsexual intimacy. However, widening reliance on cyber technology, social media websites, and instant text messaging, in combination with newly emerging patterns of sexual relations and recreational drug and alcohol use, has complicated the navigation of the developmental transition to young adulthood. We review psychoanalytic theory pertaining to the transition from adolescence to adulthood with a focus on Erikson’s theory of psychosexual/psychosocial epigenesis in order to explicate the developmental tasks specific to this transition. This developmental stage will also be examined through the lens of developmental neurobiology. Recent theorizing on Internet-mediated sexuality will be discussed as it relates to the case studies presented. Case material will demonstrate difficulties with the transition to adulthood, manifested in part-object relating, and the use of cyber-mediated and compulsive sexuality to resolve dysphoric self-states.     

The relation of violence exposure and ethnicity to intelligence and verbal-performance discrepancies in incarcerated male adolescents

Incarcerated populations have an estimated incidence of intellectual disabilities (IDs) far higher than national norms, ranging as high as 10%. In the present study, the relation between ID and violence exposure in 115 incarcerated adolescents was examined. Interpersonal violence exposure (IPV-E) predicted an average decrease in full scale IQ of 4.5 points, explaining approximately 5% of the difference in IQ. Child maltreatment increased the odds of having a verbal disability by three folds and explained 17% of the variance in verbal disability. Hierarchical regression was used to examine the relative contribution of ethnicity, poverty, and violence exposure to intellectual functioning. The literature on racial bias in incarceration and the implications for the present study are discussed.     

Sexuality,Technology, and Sexual Scandal in The Good Wife

Inspired by the CBS drama The Good Wife, this article explores sexuality, new media, and scandal in contemporary American culture. Focusing on real life sex scandals as well as those fictionalized on the show, it argues that sexuality is lived and experienced in mediated terms. The Good Wife focalizes these understandings by concentrating on the experiences of the wronged wife, yet at the same time pushes back against the notion that sexual publicity can arrive at a “truth” of sex, using a literal language of negation and a visual language of barriers and blockages in order to make this case. By emphasizing the enigmatic qualities of personal desire and sexual exchange, The Good Wife reformulates silence as a strategy, transmuting it into an ethos of deliberate unknowability.     

Evaluating a multiple-family group access intervention for refugees with PTSD

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a multiple-family group in increasing access to mental health services for refugees with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study investigated a nine-session multiple-family group called Coffee and Families Education and Support with refugee families from Bosnia-Herzegovina in Chicago. Adults with PTSD (n = 197) and their families were randomly assigned to receive either the intervention or a control condition. The results indicated that a multiple-family group was effective in increasing access to mental health services and that depression and family comfort with discussing trauma mediated the intervention effect. Further well-designed studies of family interventions are needed for developing evidence-based interventions for refugee families.     

Suicide in Gaol: The Construction and Measurement of a Phenomenon

The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody has brought the issue of inmate death, especially suicide, to public attention. This paper examines theoretical accounts and existing research on suicide during imprisonment. Current international findings on the characteristics of inmate suicide are discussed and compared with the findings from the first Australian study of death in prison. It is argued that the extant research on suicide presents a fragmented and incomplete account of the phenomenon. Further, the theoretical construction of suicide within international and local research and the methodological approach to its measurement contribute to the obfuscation of specific aspects of the phenomenon. In particular, attention is deflected from the policies and procedures within the institution. Suggested remedies for reducing the incidence of inmate suicide are thus constrained by the initial construction of the issue. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges posed for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. This is contrasted with the need for comprehensive accounts of death in custody which apply to all inmates.