Countertransference risks when women treat women

Certain female patients deal with issues of sexuality, reproduction, aggression, and dependence in ways which may generate intense reactions in their female therapists. We will describe the range of responses we experienced while treating various women in an acute psychiatric inpatient setting. A surprising finding was that not only our problematic responses, but also our effective solutions, have often occurred unconsciously.A shorter version of this paper was presented at the California Chapter NASW Conference on April 7, 1989.     

Ambiguity and the abstract tact: A signal detection analysis

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - Four observers who had completed a formal course in projective test techniques were asked to discriminate House-Tree-Person (H-T-P) drawings made by psychiatric...     

Young Adult Predictors and Midlife Outcomes of Male Fine Art Careers

The fine artist is often characterized as atypical and as one who persists with an unconventional lifestyle and career pattern because of the satisfaction derived from creating. To persevere with such an unconventional pattern over an extended period requires an unusual person. Can such a person be identified before he or she experiences this career pattern? The current study followed a group of male fine and applied artists over an 18-year period and identified the young adult and midlife variables that differentiated the two groups. Results indicate that men in stereotypical fine art careers (labeled fluid careers) are more talented, inner-focused, and less materialistic as young adults than their peers. By midlife, such fine artists also have significantly lower socioeconomic status than those in stable applied art careers, yet are equally satisfied with their lives. The results suggest that men who experience a fluid, fine-art career are intrinsically oriented.     

Advice to Risk Assessors Modeling Viral Health Risk Associated with Household Graywater

Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) is a valuable tool that can be used to predict the risk associated with human exposure to specific microbial contaminants in water sources. The transparency inherent in the QMRA process benefits discussions between multidisciplinary teams because members of such teams have different expertise and their confidence in the risk assessment output will depend upon whether they regard the selected input data and assumptions as being suitable and/or plausible. Selection of input data requires knowledge of the availability of appropriate data sets, the limitations of using a particular data set, and the logic of using alternative approaches. In performing QMRA modeling and in the absence of directly relevant data, compromises must be made. One such compromise made is to use available Escherichia coli data and apply a ratio of enteric viruses to indicator E. coli in wastewater obtained from prior studies to estimate the concentration of enteric viruses in other wastewater types/sources. In this article, we have provided an argument for why we do not recommend the use of a pathogen to E. coli ratio to estimate virus concentrations in single household graywater and additionally suggested circumstances in which use of such a ratio may be justified.     

The role of attributions in psychological reactions to job relocation

Job relocation refers to the process of simultaneously moving to a new job and house and this can cause considerable stress for the relocator and his/her family. Based upon an attributional analysis, we predicted that negative psychological reactions would be a function of (1) number of relocation problems, and (2) making pessimistic attributions for relocation problems (that is, the tendency to attribute negative events to internal, stable and global causes). Furthermore, these factors should interact, such that individuals with many relocation problems who also make pessimistic attributions will experience the worst psychological reactions. The results from a cross-sectional survey of 93 relocators supported these predictions. As expected, those relocators who had many relocation problems and made pessimistic attributions reported the worst mental health and relocation-specific stress. In addition, a reanalysis of a longitudinal study of relocators by Martin (1996) also supported the above predictions using attributions of perceived control. Furthermore, the relocators predicted to be most at risk (many problems}/low control) reported the worst changes in mental health during the course of the move.     

When a Baby Dies: Ambiguity and Stillbirth

ABSTRACT

Stillbirth, or sudden intrauterine death, is in many ways an invisible death. A stillborn infant is one mature enough developmentally to have lived outside the womb but for some reason, or perhaps multiple reasons, was born dead. Stillborn infants are often demarcated from other types of child death and are rarely legitimized as a real loss. When a baby is stillborn, mothers, fathers, surviving siblings, and grandparents may struggle for years to find answers to a series of complex and inherently unanswerable questions. The family members' profound feelings of grief and ambiguity loss are borne in a social environment that denies this reality because the child's death was invisible to most of the world. Boss's framework for understanding ambiguous loss proves quite helpful in thinking about stillbirth.     

Aboriginal Women's Perceptions and Experiences of a Family Violence Transitional Accommodation Service

Abstract

This article presents a qualitative study of Aboriginal women's perceptions and experiences of a transitional housing program in South Australia that was established to assist long-term homelessness and family violence. The aim of the study was to explore the experiences and service outcomes for Aboriginal women and their children and to identify both facilitators and barriers to the effective operation of the program. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 13 Aboriginal women and thematic analysis was used to report their collective stories. The women's stories showed individualised, flexible, and open-ended support as well as practical outcomes of stable, safe housing for themselves and their children were particularly valued. The women reported that these features of the program augmented feelings of strengthened confidence and self-efficacy. The authors argue the domestic and family violence sector has the opportunity to learn from the perceptions and experiences of Aboriginal women, particularly allowing time and commitment to working long-term with families.     

Condom Sense and Privacy

Abstract

Janus S, Janus C, The Janus Report on Sexual Behavior New York: John Wiley &; Son; 1993. 430 pps, $24.95.     

Health Promotion Project for University Students at a South African University: Results of a Pilot Survey

Globally, chronic diseases place a tremendous burden on health care systems all over the world. The increased prevalence of chronic diseases is mainly influenced by industrialization and decreased levels of physical activity. A cross-sectional qualitative and quantitative pilot survey, using a self-administered questionnaire and focus group discussions, was conducted with 73 students to assess the need for and feasibility of a health promotion program for university students at a rural South African university. The results of this survey suggest that there is a need for a health promotion program aimed at young adults who attend university.     

Spare Rib,Second-Wave Feminism and the Politics of Consumption

This article examines the significance of representations of both consumer culture and consumption practices in the British feminist magazine Spare Rib during its initial years of publication from 1972 to 1974. The analysis identifies how the magazine combined an established feminist critique of consumer culture with guidance on responsible consumption practices. The dispositions towards consumption that are recommended to readers are shaped by four key values: these are health, the natural, economy and craft production. These values underpin a politics of consumption during a period in which Spare Rib attempted to negotiate a feminist identity. However, once this feminist identity was established, content centred around consumption rapidly diminished as it was apparently not “feminist” enough. The article questions how a “conventional” position was established against both consumer culture and consumption practices within second-wave feminism and raises questions about the impact of this position on feminism's relationship to both consumer culture and consumption practices today.