Drawing a connection from victim to victimizer.

1. The biological basis of the altered alarm/dissociative process during and after sexual trauma impedes the development of information processing essential for discerning intention, personal responsibility, sense of control over events, and trust in others. 2. Once this imbalance occurs, the child is restricted in developing cognitive schema to deal with interpersonal intimacy. This in turn results in secondary patterns of aggressiveness or avoidance. 3. The implication of this biological understanding of trauma and information processing for treatment underscores the necessity of reducing arousal, thus lessening the dissociative process. Drawings of the criminal act and the victim experience elicit cues connecting the two events, facilitating an increase in personal control over repeated aggressive acts.     

Micro Ruptures and Repairs in the Beginning Phase of Cross-Cultural Psychotherapy

The article discusses misunderstandings and misattunements that occur in the beginning phase of cross-cultural psychotherapy. Sources of micro ruptures are outlined, including client maladaptive patterns, therapist misunderstandings, cross-cultural misunderstandings due to cultural variations, and asymmetrical power relations involving the impact of prior experiences or current therapy practices. Multiple clinical vignettes illustrate the rupture/repair process, drawing on Safran and Muran’s (2000) list of direct and indirect techniques.     

Health effects of migration: U.S. Chinese in and outside the Chinatown

Previous studies on the health effects of migration at the international level have seldom been directed to those concentrated in segregated enclaves. This study hypothesizes that in spite of the known deviations in certain demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Chinatown (San Francisco-New York City) residents from the US Chinese population, no consistent relationship seems to exist between these attributes and health risks, as reflected in the mortality levels of the 2 populations. A convergence in mortality was observed for a noticeable number of causes of deaths, with but a few disease-cause sets of non-convergence with statistical significance. The study results were interpreted in terms of varying degrees of acculturation experience.     

Extent of relational stigmatization of lesbians and their children by heterosexual college students

Within the judicial and clinical communities, the stigmatization of children with lesbian mothers is often seen as inevitable. Even lesbian mothers themselves often impose secrecy upon their children based on fears that stigmatization will occur. In two studies, college students were asked to indicate how willing they would be to enter into relationships with lesbians and their children. Relational stigma was greater toward lesbians that their children and acceptance decreased as relational closeness increased. However, between 80 and 100 percent of students were willing to be acquaintances, friends, or best friends with children of lesbians. Although there were no sex differences in acceptance of lesbians, women were more willing to engage in relationships with children of lesbians than were men. Persons who believed that homosexuality was caused by environmental factors were less willing than persons with other beliefs to date or marry the child of a lesbian.     

From Pronatalism to Social Welfare? Extending Family Allowances to Minority Populations in France and Israel

An inherent tension exists between the goals ofpronatalism and the actual policies throughwhich law makers have often attempted to raisebirth rates. Proponents of pronatalism oftenprefer to raise births only to specificracial/ethnic or national groups; yet in moderndemocracies, it is unacceptable for socialpolicies to explicitly discriminate on thebasis of race, ethnicity, or national origin. Social benefits, such as family allowances,must be accessible to all citizens. The recentextension of certain previously denied familybenefits to minority populations in France andIsrael illustrates this tension and points to afuture direction in which any pronatalistintent behind family policy will likely bedownplayed in favour of a social welfareimperative.     

Religious Social Support Protects against Social Risks for Adolescent Substance Use

We used a social developmental perspective to identify how prominent social contexts influence substance use during adolescence. Longitudinal data were collected annually from 167 parent–adolescent dyads over four years. We investigated whether parent substance use was related to adolescent substance use directly and indirectly via peer substance use and whether these associations were moderated by religious social support. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis indicated significant moderated mediation: Greater parent substance use predicted increases in adolescent substance use indirectly via increased peer substance use when adolescent religious social support was low or average, but not high. These results suggest religious social support may protect adolescents against prominent social risks for intergenerational substance use.