Boredom: Exploration of a developmental perspective

This article presents an examination of the phenomenon of boredom in adults and searches for a developmental explanation for boredom by using clues from the cumulative literature on boredom, clinical interviews with bored adults and findings from infant observational studies. The author attempts to link behaviors observed in infant research with the phenomenon of adult boredom toward the goal of contributing to a more precise meaning of this state of mind in both the patient and the therapist.Material in this article is drawn in part from a dissertation completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Ph.D. at Smith College School for Social Work, 1983. The author wishes to thank the subjects for their interest and reflections.     

Contradiction and Change of Performance Expectations*

L'auteur propose deux hypotheses pour justifier le fait que les anticipations de ? performance ? changent lorsqu'elles sont mises en présence de faits objectifs qui les contredisent. On peut prédire que ce changement dans les anticipations evolue en fonction de la variété et du niveau des contradictions. Le cas de celui dont les attentes pour soi sont inferieur aux attentes pour les autres est utilise pour des fins expérimentales de verification des hypothèses. A la fin de l'article l'auteur apporte des suggestions dans le but d'améliorer l'arrière-plan théorique des hypothèses. Two hypotheses are proposed on the way specific performance expectations change when confronted with objective evidence that contradicts them. The change in expectations is predicted to be a function of the number and the degree of the contradictions they receive. The case of initial lower expectations for self than for other is used in an experimental test of the hypotheses, and these are confirmed by the results of the test. Some suggestions for the refinement of the hypotheses' theoretical background are discussed at the end.     

Self awareness of the supervisor in supervision

Teaching self awareness is an important and sensitive task in the supervision of the clinical casework student. However, lack of self awareness on the part of the supervisor may lead to a serious impaction of this learning process, and unfortunately, there is no institutionalized process for reviewing lack of supervisory self awareness as there is for students. Some occasions in which problems in supervisory self awareness are likely to occur are: the supervisor who has difficulty in responding appropriately to the student's dependency demands in supervision, responding either by withdrawing from the student or being overprotective of him; the supervisor who is threatened by students whose character styles are very different from his own; and the supervisor who views client behavior from the perspective of a value system very different from the student's.     

Assessing Capacity Within a Context of Abuse or Neglect

In 2000, with the implementation of Part III of the Adult Guardianship Act: Support and Assistance for Abused and Neglected Adults, British Columbia formally recognized the need to examine issues of decisional capacity of older adults within a context of abuse or neglect. Interestingly, however, although the test of capacity was clearly laid out under this piece of legislation, the potential influence that living in a situation of abuse or neglect may have on how the person makes decisions is not explicitly addressed. Similarly, this is a missing link throughout the literature discussing decisional capacity in older adults. This gap exists despite the fact that determining the “protection” needs of someone who is being abused and/or neglected often hinges directly on that person's decisional capacity. The purpose of this article is to examine the unique aspects associated with assessing and determining capacity for older adults who are living in a situation of abuse or neglect. The specific objectives are to: (a) examine how living in a situation of abuse or neglect may influence the determination of capacity and (b) explore the implications of conducting an assessment within a potentially abusive context. The legal notion of undue influence and the psychological concept of relational connection are introduced as potentially important for considering decision making within this context.     

Personality Characteristics and Value Stances of Students in Two Areas of Graduate Study

This study demonstrates that the attempt to rectify the problem of screening out the mavericks and the assertive individuals by ceasing to screen out almost anyone on grounds of personality has attracted to graduate social work programs an unduly large number of individuals with qualities not desirable for effective functioning in social work. Furthermore, further self-selection into organizing and planning practice versus therapeutically oriented types of practice results in two groups with identifiable personality differences.     

Naming sexual body parts: Preliminary patterns and implications

A Consultation on partner notification for preventing HIV infection was convened by the World Health Organization's Global Programme on AIDS (GPA) and Sexually Transmitted Disease Programme (VDT) from 11–13 January 1989 in Geneva. A total of 27 participants from 20 countries attended the Consultation, including experts in public health, law, epidemiology, biomédical and social science aspects of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STD).