Abortion: A Social-Psychological Perspective

More than most medical procedures, abortion is embedded in a social context that has implications for psychological reactions of patients. Following a brief history of legislation and research on abortion, correlates of post-abortion reponses are reviewed. A social-psychological framework is suggested which views abortion as a stress experience. Responses to the experience will be a function of the nature and meaning of the pregnancy to the individual woman, her defensive and coping style, and the social environment surrounding the abortion experience. Psychological effects of the procedure on the partner and on health professionals who perform abortions are also considered.     

Dynamics of Client-Counselor Differences

Sex, age, race, social class, and other variables as sources of counselor biases and stereotypes are discussed in a dialogue between Nancy K. Schlossberg, Visiting Professor, Department of Counseling and Personnel Services, University of Maryland, and Clemmont E. Vontress, Professor of Education, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. moderated by Daniel Sinick, Professor of Education, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and editor of The Vocational Guidance Quurterly.     

Urbanization and warming of Phoenix (Arizona,USA): Impacts,feedbacks and mitigation

This paper examines the impacts, feedbacks, and mitigation of the urban heat island in Phoenix, Arizona (USA). At Sky Harbor Airport, urbanization has increased the nighttime minimum temperature by 5°C and the average daily temperatures by 3.1°C. Urban warming has increased the number of misery hours per day for humans, which may have important social consequences. Other impacts include (1) increased energy consumption for heating and cooling of buildings, (2) increased heat stress (but decreased cold stress) for plants, (3) reduced quality of cotton fiber and reduced dairy production on the urban fringe, and (4) a broadening of the seasonal thermal window for arthropods. Climate feedback loops associated with evapotranspiration, energy production and consumption associated with increased air conditioning demand, and land conversion are discussed. Urban planning and design policy could be redesigned to mitigate urban warming, and several cities in the region are incorporating concerns regarding urban warming into planning codes and practices. The issue is timely and important, because most of the world's human population growth over the next 30 years will occur in cities in warm climates.     

Training Mental Health Professionals on Ethical Issues and HIV/AIDS

This report describes the importance of ethics training for mental health professionals working with persons infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. We first describe three major ethical dilemmas (confidentiality, duty to warn, and suicide) faced by mental health providers serving persons with HIV/AIDS, and the legal and clinical aspects of these dilemmas. We present data from the South Texas AIDS Training Project describing the types of mental health professionals who have attended workshops on ethical issues and HIV/AIDS. Finally, we report observations about the impact of the ethics training sessions on the participants' knowledge and attitudes.     

Cancer treatments

Cancer is of particular importance to gerontology due to the changing nature of the disease. Survival rates are at all time highs as a result of technological advances in early detection and treatment of cancer. Some less aggressive or invasive forms of cancer are now seen as chronic illnesses rather than acute, terminal diseases. As a result, demand is increasing for evidence-based psychosocial interventions designed to improve the health and well-being of people living with cancer. This article reviews evidence-based psychosocial interventions designed to address the needs of persons with cancer and their family members. Traditional and technology enhance interventions are discussed as are complementary and alternative therapies designed to augment traditional interventions.