Computer-Assisted Sensate Focus: Integrating Technology with Sex Therapy Practice

It is well established that computer technology can be ethically, legally, usefully, and efficaciously integrated with the psychosocial treatment of mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. There is, however, a paucity of literature regarding how these applications could be applied to sex therapy. This article will briefly review the adaptation of computer technology to mental health treatment, provide a rationale for using computer applications in sex therapy, and demonstrate how computer technology could be applied to Masters and Johnson's sensate focus technique. The Sensate Focus Prototype (an Internet-delivered therapeutic module) presented is a working application designed for use by psychotherapists and researchers.     

Exploring the moral experiences of Anishinaabeg children in Rapid Lake,Quebec

This study was developed to guard against the imposition of settler-based colonial ethnocentric conceptions of moral development by exploring the everyday moral experiences of children in an Anishinaabeg community. A focused ethnography of 33 children over 3.5 months was conducted, which included participant observation, group activities and individual and group interviews. Drawing on their unique cultural and social background, children showed they had rich moral understandings and acted as moral agents in matters that affected them. These results help advance our understanding of what is morally significant to Anishinaabeg children in their daily experiences, in line with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action.     

Working in collaboration—a therapeutic intervention for abused children

In this article we report and reflect upon a service offered in one locality of the UK to children who have been abused. The evaluation shows the value of close working relationships between agencies, and the very positive way that such interventions are viewed by the children and those involved with their care. It is also evident that an eclectic style of therapeutic work is able to produce improvement in aspects of the children's behaviour, most particularly in the area of family life and relationships. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘Community fear and harassment’: learning difficulties and hate crime incidents in the north-east of England

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between impairment, disabling barriers and risk factors relating to hate crime incidents. The study analyses quantitative data collected in 2011–2012 where there were 81 incidents of disability hate crime reported in the Tyne and Wear area of England. The research discovered that in the Tyne and Wear region people with learning difficulties have a greater likelihood of experiencing hate crime than do people with other impairments. Although there was no significant difference between impairment and types of hate crime incidents recorded (i.e. verbal abuse/harassment, violence and criminal damage), there were distinct differences between police and victim support responses to victims which correlated to impairment categories (p ≤ 0.05). The study concludes by suggesting that owing to specific disabling barriers experienced by people with learning difficulties, this group is at increased risk of being victimised and is less likely to receive support from criminal justice agencies.     

Cryptosporidium and Dairy Cattle in the Catskill/Delaware Watershed: A Quantitative Risk Assessment

We carried out a study to estimate the public health risk posed by dairy cattle located in New York City's Catskill/Delaware watershed, as measured by daily C. parvum-like oocyst loading. A Monte Carlo simulation model that takes into account the nature of the dairy cattle population within the target area, age-specific incidence/prevalence rates, as well as differential fecal production and oocyst-shedding intensity rates was used to address the objectives. Additionally, the model was designed to distinguish between zoonotic and nonzoonotic species/genotypes of Cryptosporidium. Total estimated daily C. parvum-like oocyst shedding across all age/production categories was estimated at 4.15 x 10(10). The zoonotic C. parvum comprised 93.5% of this load. It was estimated that preweaned calves produce 99.5% of the total daily C. parvum ocyst burden. The recently described nonzoonotic C. bovis was estimated to have a daily load of 2.2 x 10(9) oocysts across all age/production strata. C. parvum deer-like genotype was estimated to have a total daily load of 1.3 x 10(9) oocysts. The results of this study support earlier assertions that strategies aimed at reducing the cryptosporidial risk posed by dairy cattle to public health will be most efficacious if aimed at preweaned calves.