Vitamins, herbs, and supplements: tools of empowerment

1. Consumers who elect to use natural products are electing to do more than simply use a product. Their choice is an act of self-empowerment. 2. Education is necessary because these products most often are not being obtained in a professional, consultative setting but rather in chain discount department stores and supermarkets. 3. If consumers choose to address their health concerns using a natural-based treatment plan, consultation with a health care practitioner who shares this shift in perspective and who follows the literature is important. 4. A paradigm shift could be on the health care horizon, which when complete would make herbs and other natural products part of mainstream health care practice.     

When parties and candidates collide: citizen perception of house candidates' positions on abortion

When candidates assume issue positions opposite those of their sponsoring political party do citizens recognize these positions? Relatedly, what role do candidates' actual issue positions play in citizens' perceptions of their issue positions? Examining citizens' perceptions of 1996 and 1998 House candidates' position on abortion, this research finds that citizens' perceptions are shaped largely by partisan and, to a lesser extent, gender stereotypes. However, candidates' individuating positions on abortion influence perceptions of the candidates' position, but the effects are considerably stronger for perceptions of Republican candidates. Democratic candidates are likely to adopt anti-abortion positions in districts characterized by lower than average levels of political awareness and education, reducing the likelihood their party-contradicting position is accurately perceived. In contrast, Republican candidates adopt a pro-choice position in districts characterized by high education and political awareness, increasing the likelihood their position is accurately perceived.     

Evaluation of a tobacco prevention program on knowledge, attitudes, intention and behavior of tobacco use among fourth grade students--a preliminary study

This was a preliminary study to evaluate the effectiveness of a tobacco prevention program on knowledge, attitude, intention, and behavior of tobacco use among fourth-grade students in four north central Florida counties. The results suggest that the program was effective in improving students' knowledge, attitudes, and intention toward not using tobacco products. Data analysis showed that students in the education group had a greater improvement in knowledge than the comparison group. Students in the education group also improved their attitude and intention scores while the comparison group did not show any improvement. The results also indicated positive responses from the students. In addition, teachers also gave a very positive response to the program.     

Money as a Tool for Negotiating Separateness and Connectedness in the Therapeutic Relationship

It is nothing new to suggest that money has meaning. Whether or not one accepts Freud's (1908)linkage of money and feces, within our culture money is frequently seen as a direct pathway to feelings of power, agency, self-directedness, and personal satisfaction. Trachtman (1999) states, Money, psychologically speaking, is our projection onto coins, bills, bank accounts, and other financial instruments of our beliefs, hopes, and fears about how those things will affect who we are, what will happen to us, and how we will be treated by others or by ourselves...(Trachtman, 1999, p. 283). Yet this material is often unavailable for therapeutic exploration or understanding until it explodes into the therapy, often in unmanageable and countertherapeutic ways. This article will look at some of the ways in which money can be utilized to negotiate the ever-changing tensions between self and other, object and subject, intrapyschic and interpersonal, connection and separation that appear in every relationship. In particular, it will explore some ways that money issues within the therapeutic relationship can be turned into significant tools for understanding and working with anxieties about connection and separateness, both within and outside the therapeutic dyad.     

Residential substance abuse treatment for pregnant and postpartum women and their children: treatment and policy implications

In FY 1993 and FY 1995, the federal government awarded 27 five-year grants that supported 35 residential treatment projects for substance-abusing pregnant and postpartum women and their children. These projects provided comprehensive culturally and gender-specific treatment. Preliminary aggregated data collected in a national cross-site evaluation of 24 of these projects are encouraging with respect to infant mortality and morbidity, treatment retention and completion rates, and behavioral changes in the participating mothers at six months postdischarge. Local evaluations reflect other benefits of treatment. Cost data are expected to demonstrate the efficiencies and benefits of these projects compared to no treatment.     

Alternative solutions to the problem of selection bias in an analysis of federal residential drug treatment programs

In an evaluation of prison-based residential drug treatment programs, the authors use three different regression-based approaches to estimating treatment effects. Two of the approaches, the instrumental variable and the Heckman approach, attempt to minimize selection bias as an explanation for treatment outcomes. Estimates from these approaches are compared with estimates from a regression in which treatment is represented by a dummy variable. The article discusses the advantage of using more than one method to increase confidence in findings when possible selection bias is a concern. Three-year outcome data for 2,315 federal inmates are used in analyses where the authors separately examine criminal recidivism and relapse to drug use for men and women. Statistical tests lead the authors to conclude that treatment reduces criminal recidivism and relapse to drug use. The treatment effect was largest when the inference was based on the Heckman approach, somewhat smaller when based on the instrumental variable approach, and smallest when based on the traditional dummy variable approach. Treatment effects for females were not statistically significant.     

Obsessive-Compulsive Features in Pathological Lottery and Scratch-Ticket Gamblers

The results of this study support the notion that pathological gamblers drawn from the community would score higher on all three scores from the YBOCS than light gamblers. Consistent with hypotheses, pathological gamblers (lottery and scratch ticket) reported more obsessions, compulsions, and avoidance behavior than the light gamblers, and also reported having more urges to engage in injurious behaviors to themselves and others. These findings provide evidence that pathological gambling falls in a spectrum or family of disorders which have obsessive-compulsive disorder at its core. These findings support McElroy, Hudson, Philips, et al.'s (1993) suggestions of similarities between OCD and Impulse Control Disorders, and extend Blaszczynski (1999) findings of overlap between pathological gamblers and OCD in a treatment population. Heavy gamblers also reported significantly more hoarding symptoms and compulsive buying than light gamblers. More research in this area may show further evidence of a spectrum of disorders with obsessive compulsive disorder at its core, and show further links between impulse control disorders (such as pathological gambling) and OCD.     

客观性与交互文化的经验

在文化接触中摆脱偏见并建立严格的客观性是文化交往理论的努力目标,遗憾的是当代思想屡屡在此失足。利用胡塞尔构造现象学的资源,以交互主体性、意向性、生活世界和自属性等概念为启发性类比的关节点,可以创造性地提出一条通向“情境客观性”的道路。     

Computer-mediated focus groups

This article discusses the feasibility and effectiveness of computer-mediated (CM) focus groups. The study describes technological and practical considerations the authors learned from conducting such groups and reports on a comparison of the reactions of CM and face-to-face (FTF) participants in focus groups discussing academic dishonesty. The results suggest that the CM environment, in comparison to FTF, may lessen members' concern about what the moderator thinks of them and discourage participants from withholding embarrassing information. The article concludes with a list of suggestions for this technique and a discussion of the potential advantages and limitations associated with CM focus groups.