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Aggression is a pervasive, wide spread problem that has a number of implications, one of which is the quality of the individual's relationship with peers, as they are often socially maladiusted. The Social Information Processing Model (Crick & Dodge, 1994) has frequently been used to conceptualise the difficulties socially maladjusted children experience, with one proposal being that they selectively attend to hostile or threatening cues in the environment. This study attempted to addresses weaknesses in the traditional methodology used to assess the model's applicability by proposing an alternative methodology, using a dot probe task. Based on the assumptions made by the model, it was hypothesised that children rated as experiencing difficulties, particularly in the form of conduct problems or peer relationships, would demonstrate an attentional bias towards hostile or ambiguous pictures. The hypotheses were tested using a correlational design, with a sample of 72 boys aged 11 to 13 years, recruited from local secondary schools. Data relating to the participants' social adjustment was gathered from both parents and the participants, using the appropriate versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires.

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References : leaves 328-355. / vi, 355 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychology, 1995?

In this paper I describe a time-limited piece of work with a mother whose child committed suicide. The client went on to develop serious ulcerative colitis that I have conceptualised as the embodiment of her experience of disintegration in grief. Using Freud’s theory of identification with the lost object, I suggest that her illness represented an unconscious sadistic attack on herself and the identified-with lost object. Unconscious phantasies of harming the lost loved object resulted in guilt and resistance to making a link between her disease and her grief. I experienced this as a projective identification that made it difficult for me to work in the transference. Her failure to make herself better both from her disease and from mourning her son made her continue to feel like a victim. Being believed became a central theme of the work, reflecting the trauma she had experienced and her resulting belief that she would not be understood, annihilating her ability to make meaning.

A large amount of research suggests that aggressive children differ from their nonaggressive peers in the way they process social information in conflict situations. Using Crick & Dodge's (1994) Social Information Processing following Provocation Model as a theoretical framework, this investigation was undertaken to explore adults' social information processing (SIP) under the influence of negative affect as well as assessing how specific subcategories of aggressive behaviour (reactive and proactive aggression) relate to different stages in this model. Pilot Study I (n = 10) and II (n = 13) were carried out to develop an anger provoking laboratory aggression paradigm (Hand Slapping Game). Hypothesising that responding in this paradigm would be associated with other well-established measures of aggression (e.g. AQ) convergent validity of this procedure was established. In Study I (n = 55) the paradigm was modified (Chopstick Game) which led to the successful induction of negative affect (which failed to occur in the Hand Slapping Game). It was hypothesised that the new paradigm would have convergent validity, that there would be sex differences in early SIP steps and that early SIP steps (e.g. intent attribution, response access) would be associated with trait/state anger. There was partial support for the convergent validity of the new paradigm, sex differences in early SIP steps and associations between early SIP steps and trait/state anger. In Study II (n = 62) it was predicted that the paradigm would have convergent validity, and that further early SIP steps (e.g. attention, goal formation) would be associated with trait/state anger and trait aggression. Convergent validity of the paradigm was confirmed and there was general support for a relationship between early SIP steps and trait/state anger and trait aggression. In Study III (n = 35) it was hypothesised that later SIP steps (e.g. outcome evaluation, self efficacy) would be associated with (pro-active) aggressive traits. Only limited support for the relationship • between later SIP steps and trait aggression was provided. Combined, these studies provide support for the presence of relationships of social information processing with • both trait anger/aggression and negative affect in samples of adults. The author concludes by discussing theoretical and treatment implications, highlighting limitations of the present investigation and making suggestions for future research.