Sex differences in the encoding and decoding of negative facial emotions

To study the effects of gender on ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion, two separate samples of male and female undergraduates (727 in Study 1, 399 in Study 2) judged 120 color photographs of people posing one of four negative emotions: anger, disgust, fear, and sadness. Overall, females exceeded males in their ability to recognize emotions whether expressed by males or by females. As an exception, males were superior to females in recognizing male anger. The findings are discussed in terms of social sex-roles.Portions of this paper were presented at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, New York: August, 1987.     

Authentic/Inauthentic Identities in the Prison Visiting Room

The observations reported here demonstrate ways in which some incarcerated prison convicts use available materials, i.e., people, objects, and the physical setting of the prison visiting room to (a) violate rules, in order to (b) construct a situated identity based on self-autonomy and freedom from constraints. Sometimes the actions of guards and staff are to allow, within the context of the visiting room and within limits, for these situated social identities to be objectified even though these identities may have little currency in other prison contexts, and this situated self contradicts the intention of the prison regimen. The situated self found in the visiting room is considered to have beneficial influences on the inmate and is important for achieving desired, future outcomes related to treatment. When certain limits are breached, there will be attempts to suppress these identities. Several symbolic interactionist concepts, including awareness contexts and authentic/inauthentic identities, are employed to explain the behaviors of inmates, guards, and visitors and to point to treatment programs that would be most effective.     

Community attitudes toward physician assisted suicide

Attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide (PAS) were assessed in a sample of 400 community adults, stratified as to gender and socioeconomic class, using a 12-item psychometric scale rather than the more typical survey question. The results indicate that the Domino scale, currently the only psychometric instrument of attitudes toward PAS, is factorially homogeneous and shows considerable internal stability. There were no gender differences, but significant socioeconomic class differences were obtained with better educated, upper class individuals more favorable in attitude than semi-skilled and unskilled poorly educated lower social class individuals. The majority of respondents support physician assisted suicide, but such support is inversely related to age.     

Social roles,context and evolution in the origins of depression

This paper reviews the author's research on the social origins of depression begun in the early 1970s. It emphasizes the importance of taking account of the context and meaning of proximal causal factors by the use of investigator-based ratings using intensive interviews and the need to extend research to cover a whole lifetime. The implications of the research program that has involved some twenty inquiries in a variety of cultural settings is discussed in terms of the importance of both a comparative and an evolutionary perspective concerning meaning that bring together the biology involved in an evolutionary perspective emphasizing a common human nature with one that takes account of cultural and individual differences. In short an approach that take seriously a biopsychosocial perspective.     

Comparing drug use between welfare-receiving arrestees and non-welfare-receiving arrestees

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) symbolized a comprehensive change to the nation's welfare system. Despite several provisions within PRWORA that focus on the use of illegal drugs, few studies have attempted to identify the prevalence of illegal drug use among welfare recipients. Moreover, no scholarly works have compared rates of drug use in welfare-receiving populations to those of non-welfare-receiving populations with an objective measure of drug use. In the current study, urine specimens were collected from 1,572 arrestees interviewed through Houston's Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Program in 1999. Drug positive rates are compared between welfare-receiving arrestees (n = 116), non-welfare receiving arrestees living below the poverty level (n = 539), and non-welfare receiving arrestees living above the poverty level (n = 917). Welfare-receiving arrestees were more likely to be female, older, less educated, and to test positive for opiates and benzodiazepines than the other subgroups. Implications for welfare reform policy are discussed in light of the current findings.     

Welfare Reform and Immigrant Participation in Welfare Programs

This article examines the impact of the 1996 welfare reform legislation on welfare use in immigrant households. Although the data indicate that the welfare participation rate of immigrants declined relative to that of natives at the national level, this national trend is entirely attributable to the trends in welfare participation in California. Immigrants living in California experienced a precipitous drop in their welfare participation rate (relative to natives). Immigrants living outside California experienced roughly the same decline in participation rates as natives. The potential impact of welfare reform on immigrants residing outside California was neutralized because many state governments responded to the federal legislation by offering state‐funded programs to their immigrant populations and because the immigrants themselves responded by becoming naturalized citizens. The very steep decline of immigrant welfare participation in California is harder to understand, but could be a by‐product of the changed political and social environment following the enactment of Proposition 187.

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Violence and trauma: predicting the impact on the well-being of African American women with severe mental illness

Exposure to violence and trauma has become a major mental health and public health problem in the United States. This study assesses the rates of exposure to traumatic events of 55 adult African American women receiving treatment in an urban community mental health clinic. The study examined three research questions. First, what is the rate of exposure to violence and trauma among African American women in an urban community mental health clinic? Second, what effect does violence and trauma exposure have on mental health? Finally, does exposure to violence and trauma have an effect on well-being as measured with the Medical Outcomes Survey (MOS/SF-36)? A significant negative relationship between diagnostic burden and well-being was found. A negative nonsignificant relationship was found between Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) and wellbeing. Study findings suggest that use of a screening and assessment tool for violence and trauma exposure may have important clinical implications in providing appropriate mental health services to African American women.     

The effects of backpack load carrying on dynamic balance as measured by limits of stability

PURPOSE: The purpose of this research was to determine if standing dynamic balance was affected by carrying a backpack. SUBJECTS: Data was obtained from 50 healthy college students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Limits of stability was assessed using the Smart Equitest Balance Master System(R). Reaction time, movement velocity, end point excursion, maximum excursion, and directional control were measured to evaluate movement, with and without a loaded backpack. DATA ANALYSIS: Reliability was established using an Intra-Class Correlation Coefficient (2,1). MANOVA was utilized to analyze the effect of the backpack. SUMMARY DATA: Movement velocity significantly decreased during backpack loaded trials (p=0.004). Directional control was significantly different with respect to direction (p=0.006). No significant difference in reaction time, maximum excursion, or end point excursion was observed with backpack loading (p=0.10-0.93). CONCLUSION: This study concludes that backpack load carrying has an effect on movement velocity and directional control.