A comprehensive theory of the ontogenesis of the delinquent personality is presented and supported by self-report data from a sample of American adolescents. The theory postulates that socialization requires the development of two complementary faculties: the ability to engage in prosocial behavior in the face of adversity (diligence) and the ability to avoid antisocial behavior despite temptation (self-control). Innate traits are thought to interact with particular experiences to create the mature personality. During development, a lack of diligence can inhibit the development of self-control, and can facilitate the development of a characteristic set of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors associated with delinquency, including the willingness to deceive and manipulate others, a callous disregard for their feelings, attitudes and beliefs justifying a lack of diligence and a continuation of antisocial behaviors, and short-term mating activity. The characteristic personality of the delinquent, then, is both low in diligence and high in antisociality. This contrasts with the conceptions of control theory, which subsumes diligence within the construct of self-control. The delinquent personality itself facilitates an adaptive strategy, or approach to life, that involves short-term mating and deception. Two kinds of deception related to delinquency are distinguished: overt deception and deception based on unpredictability. A cross-sectional version of this model was tested with data from 1139 adolescents from a medium-sized city in the Southeastern United States, and found to explain 58% of the variance in self-reported delinquency. Within a confirmatory structural equation model, the constructs thought to comprise factors relating to prosociality, antisociality, and social bonds loaded as expected. Each of these constructs significantly correlated with delinquency on their own. A longitudinal study will be necessary to test the full model, and a behavior genetics design will be necessary to determine the extent to which the constructs deemed important to this theory may be subject to environmental influences.

This narrative ethnography analyzed cultural processes influencing bereavement following Latino gang-related homicide in the Southwestern U.S. A hermeneutic approach explicated bereavement experiences of two mothers, one Mexican American and one Pascau Yaqui/Mexican, whose sons were killed in the same gang-related event. Responses to gang-related deaths from Latino communities were also studied. The mothers' bereavement included six processes: (1) dehumanization; (2) ongoing shock; (3) diversity in bereavement responses; (4) spiritual and religious aspects; (5) construction of meaning; and (6) emerging self-transcendence. Mothers' bereavement responses were highly reflective of their own cultural contexts. The process of dehumanization was an important reflection of the social stigma the mothers felt about gang-related deaths. The process of self-transcendence indicated the mothers utilized personal and cultural resources to develop new perspectives that enhanced their lives in the context of great suffering. Two themes emerged among Mexican American communities one-week following gang-related deaths. First, rituals embodied four communal functions: (1) providing community support; (2) honor and recognition for the deceased; (3) helping the deceased; and (4) support in expression of emotions. Second, public discourse functioned to rehumanize the deceased and their communities and reinforced reciprocal relationships between the living and dead. Among Mexican American parents struggling to integrate the violent death of a child, four themes were identified: (1) sharing the process of bereavement; (2) sensing spiritual connections with the child; (3) creating space and place for the child; and (4) contesting dehumanizing public domains. Findings from this study have implications for practice, research, and theory in nursing and other human science disciplines. Parents grieving stigmatized deaths may suffer greatly due to dehumanizing judicial proceedings and media representations that complicate the bereavement process. The use of narratives, or storytelling, was an important strategy in rehumanization and an effective vehicle for the establishment of a therapeutic relationship. Conceptually and methodologically, studies on traumatic bereavement may need to account for and measure the simultaneous presence of distress and wellness during people's healing trajectories. Bereavement theorists may need to re-evaluate notions of maladaptive grieving to account for disorganized states of being that may accompany people's evolution in healing trajectories.

The purpose of the present study was to compare symptomatology evidenced by the MMPI-2 clinical scales and profiles of individuals with neurologic damage to the brain (NDB) and individuals with an Adjustment Disorder. The study was designed to investigate whether the MMPI-2 scales and profiles of individuals with NDB should be modified to account for the possible contaminating effect of "neurologic items" contained within the instrument's item pool (as espoused by Alfano, et al., 1991; Gass, 1991; Hamilton, et al., 1995). In addition, the relationships between demographic variables (age, education, marital status, and gender) and level of "emotional distress" conveyed via MMPI-2 clinical scale profiles within the NDB sample was examined. A retrospective sample was collected of 46 individuals who had been diagnosed with NDB and 46 individuals who had been diagnosed with an Adjustment Disorder by psychology staff at David Grant Medical Center (DGMC), Travis Air Force Base, California during the years 1990-1992. MMPI-2 clinical scales, overall means of the clinical scales, and clinical scale profile configurations were compared. The Adjustment Disorder sample group demonstrated a slightly greater level of symptomatology than did the NDB group, as measured by overall mean MMPI-2 clinical scale scores. However, no statistically significant differences were found between the NDB group and the Adjustment Disorder group, based on the above-described comparisons. In addition, no statistically significant differences were found within the NDB group on the four demographic variables. The results of the study provided evidence that applying a modification method to the MMPI-2 profiles of individuals with NDB, prior to interpretation, may result in an inaccurate appraisal of actual symptomatology.

The construct of alexithymia was examined using factor analyses and a modified Crovitz-Robinson autobiographical memory technique. Results indicated a two-factor solution to the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Subjects high in alexithymic characteristics were actually faster at recalling emotional events. They also reported more intense emotional experience at time of encoding but not at time of recall, showed a more complex emotional profile for their memories, but a greater number of response failures. When factor scores from principal components analyses were used to predict the above variables opposite results were obtained. Factor 1 and factor 2 scores showed very different patterns of relationships with the variables. It is proposed that the first factor found contains the "core" alexithymia characteristics. The breakdown of alexithymic characteristics and their differential relationship to the present cognitive task are discussed.

The feminine character, shaped by nurturing experience, includes fundamental spiritual training. Feminist spiritual writers value nurturant other-oriented personality characteristics. Although not necessarily having fulfilled nurturing social roles, men may develop spiritually advanced characteristics by undergoing experiences Christ recommended. Examining four spiritual figures, this study sought to ascertain whether exposure to the experiences recommended by feminists and by Christ facilitates development of spiritually advanced characteristics. The findings did not demonstrate that exposure to the experiences recommended by feminists facilitated this development. Nor did exposure to the experiences recommended by Christ predict this development. Females did not develop spiritually advanced characteristics to a higher degree than males. Exposure to a combination of the experiences recommended by Christ and by feminists did correlate with development of spiritually advanced characteristics. Exposure to a modicum of the experiences recommended by feminists may be necessary. Recommendations for counselors are included.

This study assessed the differences between men in therapy and clinical and nonclinical samples reported in previous research. It identified the personality types of men currently in therapy using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). It was expected that responses to the MBTI and identified types would differ from nonclinical and clinical samples previously reported. This distinguished and described those men seeking therapy from those who did not. The 135 men sampled were drawn from a variety of therapeutic settings in southern Arizona, including private and public hospitals, non-profit and profit agencies, and individual therapists. All subjects were 18 years of age or older and voluntarily agreed to participate. Men in therapy differed from both the general population and the population of men in psychiatric hospitals. They were more Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving than the general population and more Extroverted, Intuitive, and Perceiving than the men in psychiatric hospitals.

This study examines the linkage between similarity and relational satisfaction within friendship dyads. The central proposition states that both actual and perceived similarity between relational partners will be positively associated with relational satisfaction. Actual and perceived similarity were measured using a conflict that had occurred between the relational partners. It was further posited that perceived similarity (PS) will be a better indicator of relational satisfaction than actual similarity (AS). It was found that when both length of relationship and amount of PS were held constant, AS was moderately associated with relational satisfaction. It was also found that PS was negatively associated with relational satisfaction. Furthermore, the findings indicate that PS is a better indicator of relational satisfaction than AS. These findings raise questions about operationalizing perceived and actual similarity, the relationship between relational type, similarity, and satisfaction, and the use of accounts in this type of research.

<p> Previous research indicates that ecstasy use is positively associated with higher levels of impulsivity and risky sexual behaviors. In addition, methamphetamine use, which is chemically related to ecstasy, has been associated with higher levels of adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms. This study adds to the existing literature by investigating the relationship between adult ADHD symptoms, impulsivity, ecstasy use, and unprotected anal sex. Participants were recruited from the Center for Behavioral Research and Services in Long Beach, California. Adult ADHD symptoms were associated with unprotected anal sex among women, but not for men. Furthermore, ecstasy use was found to be associated with unprotected anal sex among men who have sex with men (MSM) but not for women or men who have sex with women (MSW). In addition, higher levels of impulsivity were associated with both ecstasy use and unprotected anal sex among women, MSM, and MSW.</p>

<p> The abstract is not available for copy and paste.</p>

<p> One of the primary pursuits of archetypal psychology has been to "unpack the backpack" of psychology&mdash;relying heavily on a methodological stance of <i>via negativa,</i> or description through negation, and deconstruction. This position has resulted in a wealth of critique that, while often controversial and even heretical, has had a significant impact on the field of psychology. It is important to note, however, that this deconstructive approach is also one fantasy amongst many. A move towards seeing through this methodology invokes an immediate encounter with the dismembering influence of Dionysus. It is the Dionysian presence that facilitates the radical re-visioning and tearing apart of stale, violently fixated, and dogmatic theory and practice. Through the work of archetypal psychology, Dionysus has presented as a dialectic partner to the abhorrent one-sidedness of Apollonian natural science psychology. As necessary as this deconstruction has been, James Hillman (2005) himself has noted, every archetypal image has its own excess and intensity. Without an explicitly constructive element, the clinical implications of archetypal psychology will remain largely dormant. Archetypal psychology has yet to produce a work that effectively encapsulates an archetypal approach to psychotherapy (Hillman, 2004). True to its Dionysian form, dismembered pieces of therapeutic method are strewn throughout the literature (Berry, 1982, 2008; Guggenb&uuml;hl-Craig, 1971; Hartman, 1980; Hillman, 1972, 1975a, 1977a, 1978, 1979b, 1980b; Newman, 1980; Schenk, 2001a; Watkins, 1981, 1984). This study will attempt to gather the disparate pieces of archetypal method and weave them together with dreams, fantasy images, and clinical vignettes in an effort to depict the particular style taken up by archetypal psychotherapy. While respecting the importance of deconstruction and <i>via negativa,</i> the aim of this research is to re-construct and clearly describe the primary elements of a therapeutic method derived from the literature of archetypal psychology using a theoretical design complemented by the alchemical hermeneutic method resulting in a depiction of an archetypal approach to psychotherapy. The face of archetypal psychotherapy that has taken form throughout this study is one in which the phenomenal presentation of psychic image is given radical autonomy and privilege. </p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> Archetypal, Dream, Image, Myth, Psychotherapy.</p>