Abstracts

Colapinto, J. The relative value of empirical evidence. Family Process,
Frank, H. Psychodynamic conflicts in female law students. American Journal of Psychoanalysis .
Riskin, L.L. Sexual relationships between psychotherapists and their patients: toward research or restraint. California Law Review ,
Verhulst, J. & Heiman, J.R. An interactional approach to sexual dysfunctions. American Journal of Family Therapy ,     

An Interesting Property of the Sample Mean under a First-Order Autoregressive Model

The unweighted sample mean is examined as an estimator of the population mean in a first-order autoregressive model. It is demonstrated that the precision of this estimator deteriorates as the number of equally spaced observations taken within a fixed time interval increases.     

Interhousehold Transfers of Goods and Services and Reported Well-Being Among Polish Households

Analyses of data from 600 households in the province of Lubin, Poland, five years after the economic transformation indicated the transfers of goods and services between households to be quite prevalent, with households with high levels of resources giving goods and services and those with low levels of resources receiving goods and services. The receipt of such transfers does not improve the living conditions of the receiving households relative to those who do not receive help; in fact, those receiving help report lower levels of satisfaction than those not receiving assistance.     

Health, Quality of Life and Population Density: A Preliminary Study on “Contextualized” Quality of Life

Quality of life concerns individual (physical and psychological health), interpersonal (social relationships) and contextual (environment) aspects, which are both subjective and objective. In considering contextual characteristics, empirical findings have demonstrated that people’s relation to their living environment is a key issue for their well-being. However, until now literature has paid little attention to population density as an element affecting quality of life. The present study aimed at assessing the predictive role of population density on the several domains of quality of life, along with socio-demographic characteristics and physical diseases. Participants were 344 subjects living in the Northern Italy area. A questionnaire with WHO Quality of Life Brief Scale, a checklist of chronic diseases and a socio-demographic form was used to collect data. Results showed that population density influences psychological, relational and environmental quality of life. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.     

Gay guys using gay language: friendship,shared values and the intent‐context‐effect matrix

This article draws on in‐depth interviews with 35 openly gay male undergraduates from four universities in England to develop an understanding of the changing nature of language related to homosexuality. In addition to finding a diminution in the prevalence of homophobic language, we demonstrate that participants maintain complex and nuanced understandings of phrases that do not use homophobic pejoratives, such as ‘that's so gay’. The majority of participants rejected the notion that these phrases are inherently homophobic, instead arguing that the intent with which they are said and the context in which they are used are vital in understanding their meaning and effect. We conceptualize an intent‐context‐effect matrix to understand the interdependency of these variables. Highlighting the situated nature of this matrix, we also demonstrate the importance of the existence of shared norms between those saying and hearing the phrase when interpreting such language.     

The Interpretation of Line of Regard by Prelingually Deaf Children

The ability of 5- to 12-year-old deaf children to utilise and interpret another person's visual line of regard (where the eyes are looking) was studied in four experiments using cartoon faces. The children had little difficulty in determining whether or not a face was looking directly at them. They had more difficulty, however, with more complex tasks requiring them to infer mental states of desire and intention from line of regard and to ignore line of regard when it was inappropriate to attend to this cue. Deaf children raised in a hearing environment appear to have more difficulty with these more complex tasks than hearing children. The results are discussed in terms of the special difficulties facing some deaf children in the development of skills involving utilisation of line of regard and the implications for the development of joint attentional behaviour, theory of mind and dyadic social interaction in deaf and hearing children.     

Gauging crime in late eighteenth-century London

This article uses a new method to gauge eighteenth-century crime. It counts the crimes committed against metropolitan London's justices noted in newspapers and in the Old Bailey Sessions Papers, and finds crime more prevalent than current historiography acknowledges. The article contests current claims that the manner in which newspapers noted crime constructed their readers' perception of crime, making their readers believe crime was much more horrific, and the judicial system much more just, than readers would otherwise have thought they were. The article also argues that some crimes were attacks on the powerful because they were powerful.