How Ineffective Family Environments Can Compound Maldevelopment of Critical Thinking Skills in Childhood Abuse Survivors

The high stress of childhood abuse is associated with neurobiological detriments to executive function. Child abuse survivors may also be cognitively and relationally disadvantaged as a result of being raised in emotionally impoverished families that lack cohesion, organization, flexibility, self-expression, and moral and ethical values and fail to provide opportunities for effective learning. A review of literature demonstrates how dysfunctional family of origin environments common to child abuse survivors, concomitant with the extreme stress of overt acts of abuse, can act as a barrier to the development of higher-order critical thinking skills. The article concludes by discussing ramifications of critical thinking skill deficits in child abuse survivors and highlights the importance of integrating and prioritizing critical thinking skills training in treatment.     

“From that Moment on My Life Changed”: Turning Points in the Healing Process for Men Recovering from Child Sexual Abuse

Recent research indicates that child sexual abuse often undermines the health of boys and men across the lifespan. However, some male survivors experience a turning point marking a positive change in their health trajectories and healing process. Although frequently discussed in reference to physical health problems or addictions, very little is known about turning points with respect to child sexual abuse for men. The purpose of this secondary qualitative analysis was to describe the different types of turning points experienced by male survivors who completed the 2010 Health and Well-Being Survey (N = 250). Using conventional content analysis, researchers identified seven types of turning points that were classified into three broad categories: influential relationships (professional and group support, personal relationships), insights and new meanings (cognitive realizations, necessity to change, spiritual transformation), and action-oriented communication (disclosure of CSA, pursuit of justice). Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.     

Making Hakka Spaces: Resisting Multicultural Nationalism in Taiwan

Projects of official nationalism have long been understood as state-sponsored attempts at enforcing cultural uniformity within the borders of the national territory. Contemporary nationalisms tend to compartmentalize minority cultural groups in a way that marginalizes those who are not seen as belonging to the core of the “modern” nation. Contemporary official Taiwanese nationalism promotes the “ethnic Taiwanese” (Hokkien) majority as the modern center of an otherwise diverse nation, primarily through the funding and ‘preservation’ of non-Hokkien cultural traditions. Though these programs that celebrate local cultures are more inclusive than earlier nationalisms in Taiwan, the terms of inclusion nonetheless function as a form of neoliberal state control of minorities, such as the Hakka (kejia ren). This article examines how Hakka “culture workers” (wenhua gongzuozhe) resist state attempts at spatial and symbolic marginalization. From producing ethnographies that create a Hakka neighborhood to organizing a parade route that symbolically links that neighborhood to Taipei's government and financial centers, Hakka culture workers resist multicultural nationalism by making Hakka spaces that are resistant to state attempts to marginalize them. I argue that their work is a prime example of how communities and individuals can successfully negotiate the cultural and spatial politics of the neoliberal state.     

Transnational Movement Innovation and Collaboration: Analysis of World Social Forum Networks

In this article we first trace the ideological development and collective framing of the World Social Forum (WSF) as a non-hierarchical gathering for collaboration and networking within the global justice movement. We then analyze the consequences of organizational design, thematic resonance, and technological innovations implemented to produce more open and horizontal collaboration. We do this by conducting two-mode network analysis of organizations that facilitated sessions and workshops during two separate meetings (2003 and 2005) of the WSF in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Our findings indicate that organizational affiliations were less hierarchical in 2005, but we uncover mixed results from analyzing patterns of interaction produced by individual organizations and groups of organizations. Finally, we discuss the implications of such macro-level innovations on the dynamics of multi-organizational fields (collaboration, coalition building, and thematic resonance) and the contributions of such an approach to the study of transnational organizational networks.     

Development of Three‐Dimensional Completion of Complex Objects

Three‐dimensional (3D) object completion, the ability to perceive the backs of objects seen from a single viewpoint, emerges at around 6 months of age. Yet, only relatively simple 3D objects have been used in assessing its development. This study examined infants’ 3D object completion when presented with more complex stimuli. Infants (N = 48) were habituated to an “L”‐shaped object shown from a limited viewpoint; then they were tested with volumetrically complete (solid) and incomplete (hollow) versions of the object. Four‐month‐olds and 6‐month‐old girls had no preference for either display. Six‐month‐old boys and both sexes at 9.5 months of age showed a novelty preference for the incomplete object. A control group (N = 48), only shown the test displays, had no spontaneous preference. Perceptual completion of complex 3D objects requires infants to integrate multiple, local object features and thus may tax their nascent attentional skills. Infants might use mental rotation to supplement performance, giving an advantage to young boys. Examining the development of perceptual completion of more complex 3D objects reveals distinct mechanisms for the acquisition and refinement of 3D object completion in infancy.     

From ‘What the F#@% is a Facebook?’ to ‘Who Doesn’t Use Facebook?’: The role of criminal lifestyles in the adoption and use of the Internet

Concerns about a digital divide persist and recent calls have been made for understanding how lifestyles influence Internet adoption and use. Online criminal behaviors have drawn attention from law enforcement, but diffusion of innovation theory suggests higher propensities for crime, particularly street crime, reduces the likelihood of Internet use. Drawing from this theory and research on the role of street criminal lifestyles on technology adoption, this study examined patterns of Internet use among a sample of 585 individuals at-risk for and involved in street crime. Results from our logistic and negative binomial regression analyses lead to two general conclusions: (1) compared to research on the general population, similar predictors and lower rates of Internet participation and usage are observed, and (2) mixed evidence suggests participation in criminal lifestyles contributes to digital inequality. The results support a theory of technological diffusion to marginalized populations. We conclude by discussing the expansion of technology, digital inequality, and crime.     

赫拉克利特、巴门尼德、老子与万物的统一

本文首先区分了赫拉克利特和巴门尼德关于对立统一的两种思路：前者认为对立面的统一就在对立面本身之中,后者认为对立面的统一在对立的双方之外、超越对立而存在。由此出发,作者探讨了柏拉图和老子关于对立统一的思想。通过对这些思想的比较,指出关于对立统一的形而上学问题已经触及理性思考的边界,并且正是因此始终具有思想上的活力。