This dissertation examines the use of the dark areas of the occult in the lives of six adolescents who have been involved with black magic, satanic ritual, or other occult practices. All but one of the subjects were connected to the community helping system because of divorce, abuse and/or neglect, delinquency, and substance abuse. Data was collected by means of an interview concerned with the ethnic, economic and religious background of the subjects' family, the subjects' relationships with family, community and state agencies, and the duration of involvement with the occult. The interview and data analysis drew from two perspectives: The first five stages of Erik Erikson's "Eight Stages of Man" identity development model and the existential psychological examination of the "problems of youth" by Paul Goodman in Growing Up Absurd (1960). The study provides an examination of the historical and current use of the occult as a social-strain gauge and disturbing parallels of despairing behavior between the youth culture of Weimar Republic Germany and that of the United States. A strong connection is made between the involvement with dark areas of the occult and the loss of meaning, hope and faith. The subjects came from circumstances that hampered healthy negotiation of Erik Erikson's first five stages of identity development. The subjects grew up in circumstances that led to despairing beliefs and behaviors, as described by Goodman. The data suggests that the nature of the use of magic during early adolescence depends on the nurturent (physical, psychological and ideological) circumstances of infancy, and latency. If the child despairs because of insufficient family/community nurturence then the dark, deviant and depraved element of the occult is more likely to manifest itself. The subjects represent a larger despairing population (uninvolved with the occult or the helping system) that puts society at risk politically and economically. The current youth culture parallels with Weimar Republic youth culture suggest that this larger despairing population threatens society because they could be manipulated by historical circumstance and charismatic personalities to commit widespread depravity in the name of political change.

No description available.

This study examines the relationship between developmental stage and psychological experience in the transition to motherhood. Kegan's constructive-developmental theory (1982) is used to divide new mothers into groups according to developmental position. The issues and themes that emerge as salient for women at different developmental positions are then contrasted. Constructive-developmental theory describes the evolution of stages of cognitive making meaning. The theory focuses on underlying structural change in subject-object balance, a balance which influences the manner in which individuals experience themself and their environments. Two semi-structured interviews provided data about women's experiences in the transition to motherhood. The content interview elicited information about the changes in a woman's identity, her relationships and the integration of motherhood into her life structure. The Subject-Object interview was conducted and scored for developmental position. Participants also completed a demographic questionnaire, a projective instrument and the MAACL-R. Twelve first time mothers between the ages of 25 and 33 with infants between the ages of 2 months and one year participated. The women in the sample are in the Interpersonal (3) balance in Kegan's model so that relationships are an important source of identity for them. The evolution through the constructive-developmental continuum is confirmed by the differentiation of two developmental groupings combining Imperial (2) and Institutional (4) structures with the Interpersonal (3). These groups vary in: their ability to take perspective, the source of their identity and the meaning of relationships in their lives. One woman for whom the Imperial (2) dominated is discussed separately. The results are discussed in terms of connections to previous research on motherhood, specifically (1) the ability to express anger; (2) the impact of motherhood on self-esteem; and (3) motherhood and employment. Implications of the study for providing services to new mothers are discussed. Also, the theoretical implications of Imperial (2) structures in normal adults and the application of constructive-developmental theory to women's lives are discussed.

This is the first study of its kind to integrate empirical data from college men who reported a childhood sexual experience with a significantly older person with qualitative accounts of their perceptions and adaptations to these sexual interactions. The purpose was to delineate between those experiences that were clearly perceived as abusive, versus those incidents that were judged to be more positive. Descriptive accounts of these events, along with independent measures of current interpersonal functioning and adherence to hypermasculine beliefs and attitudes, provided several sources from which to ascertain internal consistency or discrepancies in reporting. This study shows that 18% of male college students are willing to report such a childhood sexual experience (CSE), with an equal ratio of young males engaging with an older male or female. Students who disclosed such a sexual event were more likely to come from conflictual family homes, to identify higher levels of sexual dysfunction, and lower levels of sexual self-esteem. They were also likely to engage in more masturbatory activity and in less direct sexual interactions with others. Boys who were adolescents at the time of the CSE were more likely to have their sexual development arrested, which incurred substantial impairments to their sexual self-identity. This study also confirms that boys who have had sexual experiences as children with older women are far more likely to perceive these experiences as positive and beneficial in their lives. The findings from this project assert that future empirical research and clinical interventions with this population needs to allow men more open-ended opportunities to describe and self-define a wide variety of childhood sexual experiences, free of biased language (e.g. abuse, victim, or molestation). With a self-created framework within which to evaluate childhood sexual interactions, men can begin to reflect upon how their own past sexual experiences influence their current interpersonal and sexual adjustment. These conversations will hopefully lead to more open dialogues about power; sexual, personal, interpersonal, and community power--its uses and abuses. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

The investigation examined the relationship between various clinician variables and clinicians' gender stereotypes for men and women varying in age and race. Randomly selected white psychotherapists listed in the National Register of Health Care Providers in Psychology used the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) to rate a "mature, healthy, socially competent individual" in one of 12 target groups (a black or race unspecified man or woman in their late 20s, late 40s, or late 60s). Three scale scores (Nurturant, Agentic, and Self-Governing) were utilized that were based on a factor analysis of the 40 feminine and masculine BSRI subscale items. A Personal Data Survey attached to the BSRI provided information on therapist characteristics. The information utilized included theoretical orientation, amount of contact with various categories of clients, and the year of the highest degree received. It was found that on the masculine-associated scale, Agentic, there was a significant association between theoretical orientation and gender stereotypes. Clinicians identified as dynamic and eclectic viewed targets as most agentic while clinicians identified as behavioral-rational rated targets as least agentic. There were no significant interaction effects nor were there significant main effects or interactions on the Nurturant or Self-Governing scales. It was also found that on the scale Agentic, there was a significant interaction between respondents' percentage of black clients and the sex of target rated. The greater the percentage of black clients, the more likely was the therapist to rate black male targets as more agentic. For black female targets, the greater the percentage of black clients, the more likely was the therapist to rate these targets as less agentic. Finally, it was found that on the scale Agentic, the degree of similarity between respondents and target (on sex, age, and race) was significantly related to gender stereotypes. The greater the similarity between respondent and target, the more likely were respondents to view targets as more agentic. The findings suggest that masculine-associated characteristics pull for more stereotyped responses over feminine-associated characteristics and this varies by the clinician variables studied.

Perceptions of people on-the-job as a function of smiling and gender were examined. Forty male and forty female undergraduate students viewed slides of same- and mixed-gender confederate dyads taken at their places of work. On each slide, the face of only one member of the dyad could be seen. The visible face was smiling in half of the slides and not smiling in the other half. After viewing each slide, subjects completed questionnaires in which they rated confederates' ability, affect, and presumed job level. Contrary to expectations, smiling increased evaluations of confederates' ability. In accordance with expectations, gender was an influential variable; males were seen as more able and as holding higher level jobs than females overall, and females were judged to be more considerate than males. Further, interactions and post hoc analyses of the means indicated that evaluations of and by females were more influenced by smiling than evaluations of and by males were.

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No description available.

Intersectionality theory can provide a useful research tool for social psychologists studying multiple social identities and social categorization. The overarching goal of this set of studies was to test the theory of intersectionality by investigating the perception of multiple social identities and category activation using quantitative methods traditionally employed in social psychological research. Study 1's major finding was that intersecting social identities accounted for nearly twice the amount of variance in overall impression ratings than did singular identities. Specifically, Study 1 examined how different combinations of three social identities based on race, gender, and sexual orientation differentially affected evaluation of overall impression and personality ratings. Different combinations of target race, target gender, and target sexual orientation affected overall impression ratings and personality ratings of honesty, emotionality, and openness. Notably, the combination of these social identities did not differentially affect personality ratings of extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The goal of Study 2 was to investigate the possibility of simultaneous category activation, but did not yield significant results and therefore did not provide support for intersectionality theory. In Study 2, participants were primed with race, gender, or race and gender combined, and they subsequently completed a lexical decision task to measure category accessibility. There were no significant differences in mean lexical decision latencies by condition, indicating that the priming technique employed in this study was not effective. Implications and future directions for using intersectionality theory in psychological research are discussed. / Psychology

<p> &ldquo;Since the 1970s, one of the hallmarks of reforms of junior high and middle schools has been the recognition of social &lsquo;needs&rsquo; of young teens and the ways in which schools have failed to serve them&rdquo; (Juvonen, p. 197, 2007). If school climate is left to fail, adolescents are at a risk for developing mental health problems, anxiety, antisocial behaviors, and depression (Shortt, Alison, &amp; Spence, 2006). Unless discipline issues are at a minimum, instruction will be interrupted and teaching time will be lost (McIntosh, Bohanon &amp; Goodman, 2011).</p><p> The following research questions are a few of the questions that guided this study: 1. What are the students&rsquo; perceptions of school climate at the end of the school 2014 year? 2. What are the differences in the number of Office Disciplinary Reports (ODRs) from pre-implementation of the SWPBS in 2009 to post-implementation of the SWPBS in 2014 by grade level and gender? </p><p> This study employed a causal-comparative research design utilizing ex post facto data collected from ODRs and a School Climate Survey to determine feasibility and worthiness of a School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS). The students in this study (<i>N</i>=487) were from a small suburban middle school located in the Northeast.</p><p> Analyses of students&rsquo; perceptions of school climate were negative in the following three dimensions: <i>Order and Discipline</i>=41%, <i> Student-Interpersonal Relations</i>=49% and <i>Student-Teacher Relations </i>=78%. An analysis of ANOVAs revealed significant differences between grade levels 5 to 8 (<i>p</i>=&lt;.001). Findings for Office Disciplinary Reports (ODRs) at the end of a five-year implementation of a SWPBS system reported significant percent decreases ranging from 54% at pre-implementation of the SWPBS to 90% at post-implementation in grade levels 5 to 8.</p><p> Educational leaders can utilize the findings from this study to guide their instructional practice on building <i>Student-Teacher Relations </i> and implement the use of a School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) system, to help address the social emotional needs of students and minimize student behavioral problems to effect time spent on learning and the success of student learning in the classroom.</p>