Male gender role conflict, depression, and anxiety: Clarification and generalizability to women.

The purpose of this study was (a) to determine whether the relationship between male gender role conflict variables and mental health generalizes to women and (b) to investigate other aspects of social gender roles and mental health. An adaptation of the Gender Role Conflict Scale (I. M. O'Neil, B. J. Helms, R. K. Gable. L. David, & L. S. Wrightsman, 1986) and measures of depression and anxiety were administered to male and female college students. Men showed more restricted emotionality. more restricted affection, greater appropriate and inappropriate success, and more restricted affection, particularly for other men; there were no gender differences related to the conflict between work and family. However, for the most part these variables were related to depression and anxiety in similar ways in men and women. The major predictor of depression and anxiety for men and women was conflict between work and family. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Special issue introduction: Psychology, politics, and public policy.

As evidenced by the eclecticism of this collection of essays, the history of psychology is ripe with possibilities for additional research into the interplay of politics and public policy on the development of the discipline and its practice. After all, as this collection makes clear, a more complete rendering of the history of psychology must make sense of the profession’s longstanding immersion in politics and public policy—indeed, of its being as much a political and policymaking project as an intellectual one. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Soul on the couch: Spirituality, religion, and morality in contemporary psychoanalysis.

Review of book: Charles Spezzano and Gerald J. Gargiulo (Eds.) Soul on the Couch: Spirituality, Religion, and Morality in Contemporary Psychoanalysis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997, 272 pp. Reviewed by Joanne Marie G. Greer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Men and women, alcohol and aggression.

The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of alcohol on aggressive behavior in men and women in a laboratory setting. Participants were 526 (261 men and 265 women) healthy social drinkers between 21 and 35 years of age. They were randomly assigned to either an alcohol or a placebo group. Aggression was measured using a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm in which electric shocks are received from, and delivered to, a same gender fictitious opponent during a supposed competitive interpersonal task. Aggression was operationalized as the intensity and duration of shocks that participants administered to their “opponent.” Overall, men were more aggressive than women. Alcohol increased aggression for both men and women but this effect was stronger for men. This is one of the first laboratory studies to demonstrate that alcohol increases aggression in women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Jung, Jungians, and psychoanalysis.

The break between Freud and Jung--and the subsequent division between their followers--has had profound and continuing consequences for both parties. The Jungians have continued an ambivalent relationship to psychoanalysis, with the effects of internal conflicts and institutional schisms. Mainstream psychoanalysis, for its part, has used Jung, the primary and still most prominent "deviant," to inhibit developments in areas associated with his work. This article explores how the pressure to maintain solidarity and conformity in psychoanalysis has curtailed, in particular, thinking in 3 areas: symbolism, lifelong development, and paranormal experience. It concludes with observations about the opportunities and dangers associated with the move toward pluralism being considered in both camps. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Questions for Freud: The secret history of psychoanalysis.

Review of book: Questions for Freud: The Secret History of Psychoanalysis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997, xiv + 239 pp. Reviewed by Hannah S. Decker. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reenfranchising psychoanalysis.

This article explores the meaning of disenfranchisement as it relates to the estrangement of psychoanalysis from gays and lesbians, who were not included in the original conference on the disenfranchised. This oversight is examined as part of the lag between a more inclusive stance toward gays and lesbians by psychoanalytic professional organizations and adoption of a similar inclusiveness by doctoral programs. The author examines whether these programs are honestly acknowledging their gay and lesbian students; alternative supervisory clinical vignettes are presented to illustrate their difficulties. The implications of continued avoidance of open conversation around issues of sexuality in training programs are explored in terms of the possible consequences that arise from unexamined countertransference, for both patients and therapists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Feminism and its discontents: A century of struggle with psychoanalysis: Book review.

Review of book: Feminism and Its Discontents: A Century of Struggle with Psychoanalysis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998, 448 pp. Reviewed by Elaine Hoffman Baruch. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mind, body, and psychoanalysis: The science of psychotherapy.

Along with the contributions of the psychoanalytic century to the science of the mind, there appears to be a diminished interest in and training for psychotherapy in favor of genetic, organic, and psychopharmacologic approaches. New advances should not be accompanied by the elimination of achieved ones. R. Waelder (1967) stated that progress has victims as well as beneficiaries. Psychopathology consists of complex psychological mechanisms and developmental factors, which, although they can now be demonstrated by cerebral radiography, must still be recognized as the center of therapeutic efforts. The opportunity is greater than ever to achieve an integration of our combined knowledge of brain and mind. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Condom use among young women: Modeling the theory of gender and power.

Objective: This study sought to articulate pathways between constructs from the theory of gender and power and their associations with sexual behavior. Design: The data were collected preintervention during a randomized controlled HIV prevention trial. Participants were 701 sexually active, unmarried African American females, aged 14–20, who were not pregnant, and were recruited from three health clinics in a southeastern US city. Structural equation modeling was used for the analyses. Main Outcome Measure: Self-reported condom use. Results: Theoretical associations yielded a well-fitting structural model across initial and cross-validation samples. A significant amount of variance was explained for the variables of condom use (R2 = .31, .18), partner communication (R2 = .30, .26), substance use during sex (R2 = .32, .51), and negative personal affect (R2 = .36, .48). Partner communication (.35, .38) was the strongest predictor of condom use, negative personal affect (?.41, ?.37) was the strongest predictor of partner communication, and physical risk (.54, .54) was the strongest predictor of negative personal affect. Conclusion: This model provides evidence to support both direct and indirect associations between social and behavioral risk factors and condom use. Associations between theory of gender and power constructs and condom use can facilitate future development and analyses of interventions based on this theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unformulated experience: From dissociation to imagination in psychoanalysis.

Review of book: Donnel B. Stern. Unformulated Experience: From Dissociation to Imagination in Psychoanalysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press, 1997, 312 pp. Reviewed by Michael L. Miller. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The death of psychoanalysis and depth therapy.

Notes that numerous attempts have been made to explain the demise of psychoanalysis and depth psychotherapy, placing blame on secularism among analysts, insufficient empirical research, prolonged treatment time, monetary considerations, and managed care. The author considers the primary cause to be an implicit cultural movement to squelch serious inquiry into family dynamics and interpersonal relationships, particularly the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse of children. To revive the humane practice of depth psychotherapy, therapists must support research that emphasizes the importance of early psychosocial environmental influences on personality development. Clinicians must also challenge restrictive societal pressure, sacred illusions concerning family life, and their own psychological defenses in order to reestablish a legitimate practice of depth therapy that moves away from the medical model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Kohut, psychoanalysis, and psychology—A response to Masek.

As a psychologist grounded in and respectful of general psychology, and as a clinician who uses and teaches ego psychological theory, it seems to the author that Masek (1986) overstates the meaning and contribution of Kohut's work. As he points out, the current status of psychoanalysis—as theory and as praxis—is unparalleled for its "creative ferment". Indeed, the metaphor of identity crisis might well apply to the timing and severity of the upheavals confronting the psychoanalytic movement today. But that internal chaos is not wholly attributable to Kohut. Both ego psychology and object relations theory raise questions which jeopardize such fundamental tenets of Freudian theory as the dualistic theory of libidinal and aggressive drives; the primacy of Oedipal conflict in the etiology of psychopathology; the neutrality and impersonal detachment of the analyst. In addition, the limitations of psychoanalysis as a treatment when costed against alternative therapies has radically reduced the client pool, thus raising other questions about theory and practice. From this context, the author reviews Masek's view of the impact of Kohut on the theory and practice of "mainstream" psychoanalytic thought. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The concept of transformation in psychoanalysis.

Transformation is viewed as the essential process of structure building. This article delineates levels of meaning organization that undergo alteration and move increasingly toward higher levels of symbolization. The transition from each stage of mental organization involves a dialectic conflict leading to reorganization at a higher level. This general thesis is illustrated by clinical material, reference to the literature, and a body of research data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editors' introduction to the special issue: Behavioural origins and solutions of environmental problems.

With this special issue, CJBS joins several journals in focussing on environmental problems and their relation to human behaviours. The six research papers by Canadian researchers in this issue are grouped into three areas: environmentally responsible behaviours, managed resource use, and community problems. An invited essay by the Minister of Environment, the Honourable Sergio Marchi, P.C, M.P., concludes this issue with a call for psychological research targeted to the needs of policymakers and legislators. This introduction sets these articles in the context of environmental psychology research, defined as a perspective on psychological research in which the focus is on transactions between people and their physical surroundings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nomothetic psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalytic theory's roots (in the clinic rather than the laboratory), and aims (depth understanding of the individual) have led to the development of a theoretical perspective that relies primarily on idiographic data and case material to derive and test psychoanalytic hypotheses. In this article, I describe nomothetic psychoanalysis--a framework for conceptualizing and evaluating psychoanalytic ideas that complements and enriches the traditional idiographic approach. Guidelines for conducting nomothetic studies of psychodynamic constructs are provided, and five principles are offered for implementing nomothetic psychoanalysis to maximize its heuristic value and clinical impact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to a new series of interviews on the future of psychoanalysis.

When Elliot first took over as editor of Psychoanalytic Psychology and invited Jeremy to join the editorial board, we met for lunch to brainstorm about new directions for the journal. One of the schemes we hatched was the idea of developing a special issue consisting of articles by prominent figures in the field, reflecting on the future of psychoanalysis. This article discusses some of the details of this issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Recent developments in psychoanalysis: A critical evaluation.

Reviews the book, Recent developments in psychoanalysis: A critical evaluation by Morris N. Eagle (see record 1987-98252-000). This is, I believe, one of the most important books of psychoanalytic scholarship to emerge in the last few years. Morris Eagle has written a book that reviews and attempts to bring clarity to some of these newer speculations, while simultaneously seeking to maintain those aspects of historical scholarship that can withstand the test of time and prove relevant today. Eagle critically assesses the contributions of object relations theory, instinct theory, the psychoanalytic theory of therapy, problems of metapsychology and psychoanalytic epistemology, self psychology, the role of evidence in the formulation of clinical theory, the structural model of the mind, and the psychoanalytic theory of anxiety; that he is able to do so succinctly and coherently is a testimony to the focused intensity of much of the thinking in this provocative book. In conclusion, whether one agrees or not with Eagle's points, this book may be profitably read by students, psychologists, and psychoanalysts interested in the contemporary psychoanalytic scene. It joins a growing body of recent critical scholarship seeking to render psychoanalysis as a more humane, tough, and thoughtful discipline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Talking cure in the 21st century: Telephone psychoanalysis.

Is psychoanalytic treatment by telephone a standard practice for psychologists? If it has value, in what situations is it effective? A survey of 120 members of Division 39 of the American Psychological Association showed that 83% had used it over the previous 2 years: 84% said they found such sessions usually productive, and 98% found them productive at least some of the time. Geography was the most frequent indication. A therapist or a patient moving to a new location and a patient traveling for work were the usual causes. Case studies showed that telephone work was especially useful in uncovering patient need for emotional distance and patient shame about physical characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cartesian and post-Cartesian trends in relational psychoanalysis.

This article illuminates the ways in which relational psychoanalysis has remained caught in the grip of the Cartesian, isolated-mind philosophy it has sought to subvert. Residual Cartesianism is examined in the work of Sullivan and Fairbairn, in "present-moment" thinking, in the mutual-recognition model of intersubjectivity, in the concept of projective identification, and in the mixed models prevalent in relational theorizing. The aim of this critique is to move relational theory toward becoming ever more contextual. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)