bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Transcendentalist Communities
Authors: Delano Sterling F.
Published: February 2013

This article is about the major similarities and differences between Brook Farm and Fruitlands, America's two celebrated utopian communities with roots in Transcendentalism. Accounts of them invariably stress their differences rather than their similarities because the differences were so obvious. While Fruitlands had a brief existence and did not attract many people, Brook Farm attracted hundreds of people. An important and substantive difference between Brook Farm and Fruitlands was the Transcendental impulse that inspired each community. At Fruitlands, Alcott and Lane followed extreme forms of Transcendentalist beliefs. Despite the differences, the entire Alcott family visited Brook Farm several occasions. Their idea of education shows the similarities which existed between them. The article, as a whole, helps to provide a better understanding of the complex nature of Transcendentalism.
Sermons
Authors: Roberson Susan L.
Published: February 2013

The article explains how Transcendentalists used sermons in the early days when oratory was highly regarded and it also looks at how preachers participated in this influential form of communication. This period is one when Christianity was thoroughly criticized and different opinions were expressed on each and every concept of it. As the Higher Critics questioned the authenticity of certain biblical stories, the understanding of what constitutes a miracle and its role in verifying religious truths also came under scrutiny. While emphasizing the humanity of Jesus, the Higher Critics also questioned the authority of the person of Jesus. Ministers such as Emerson and Ripley left the Unitarian church. The article states, along with the figures from biblical history, Transcendentalist ministers also took examples from history and current events while giving sermons. Emerson frequently referred to Julius Caesar, George Washington, Socrates, and Christopher Columbus and told his congregation to read the biographies of great and good men.
The Visual Arts
Authors: von Frank Albert J.
Published: February 2013

The article looks at the influence of the visual arts among Transcendentalists and how they used the art of painting in favor of the movement. When the Transcendentalist movement began, the United States simply had no art or art had not yet generated any language for asserting its place in the country. The article states that this situation provided both advantages and disadvantages for the Transcendentalists. It promised freedom to extemporize ways of talking about art and beauty and they used that freedom very productively, though for a very brief period. The Transcendentalists' most consequential contact with the painter's art came in the spring of 1839. They also had their own view on the art of painting and the painter. They believed that the measure of the painter's ability was the depth to which he penetrated the world of matter, not the number or the accuracy of his facts.
Photography
Authors: Meehan Sean Ross
Published: February 2013

This chapter focuses on Transcendentalism's interest in early photography. The article states that that interest has been much neglected and that this speaks to contradictions that characterize both technologies, photography and writing, as processes for mediating vision and communication. The article states that both photography and Transcendentalism were connected in time, as the visual medium of image reproduction was discovered in a series of experiments in Europe throughout the early nineteenth century and officially introduced in both Europe and the United States in 1839. Photography and Transcendentalism are also connected in thought; indeed. We might imaginatively think of Transcendentalism as a sort of communication medium, much as we consider the photographic invention, given the mutual interest that we find in each for the other. The article also explains that Transcendentalists used stunning photographs of nature and other things in their books
Transcendental Virtue
Authors: Cafaro Philip
Published: February 2013

The article assesses the virtues of Transcendentalism as a movement and the effects that brought it about in American society. It says that Transcendentalists sought to transcend old, tired forms of worship and rules for living not simply because they were constraints, but also because they impeded rather than served the impulse to worship and know the divine, including the divinity of moral law. The Transcendentalists claimed that the prayers and even the dogmas of the church were wholly insulated from the life and business of the people. The article states that transcendentalists argued for complete individual freedom in worshipping. And, many people embraced this approach simply because it meant greater freedom, just as others instinctively recoiled from it out of constitutional timidity. The article notes that the Transcendentalists saw dead forms and unthinking in ethics too. They questioned the lethargic practices and an unquestioning acceptance of conventional moral judgments too.
Evolutionary Theory
Authors: Rossi William
Published: February 2013

The nineteenth century was a period of evolutionary theories in all spheres. The idea of evolution or “development” was often synonymous with “progress” and since these ideas had themselves been developed in various social and professional settings, efforts to distinguish them without dividing biological from cultural meanings was challenging. Those efforts haven't done justice to the complexity of evolutionary thought. The article elaborates on Darwinism saying the Transcendentalists had welcomed the theory, though their writings had a tendency to cling to the divine origins of humankind. The older Transcendentalists had proven tricky to locate in the development of evolutionary thought in part because they had little interest in the Darwinian issues of adaptation and mechanisms for species change. Where Darwin sought a mechanism to explain the complexities of adaptation and the processes of speciation and descent, those pre-Darwinian evolutionary thinkers closest to Transcendentalism were more concerned with organic form.
The Free Religion Movement
Authors: Robinson David M.
Published: February 2013

The article narrates different aspects of religious reforms and the changes that were brought about by transmitting an entirely new concept to the American society in the wake of the formation of Free Religious Association (FRA). The program of religious reform begun by the Transcendentalists was carried forward by the FRA, formed in 1865 by a group of dissident Unitarian ministers, self-described “radicals” who aspired to a naturalized, post-Christian, and universal understanding of human spirituality. They propounded a perpetually evolving and reconstituting self whose religious evolution was never wholly attained or fully completed but remaking itself always. The article states that though Transcendentalism had generated an ocean of scholarly articles and books, the free religion movement has been much less studied. The controversies surrounding the rise of the FRA were not so prominent as those surrounding Transcendentalism, and the movement remained, despite its larger aspirations, an essentially intra-Unitarian dispute.
The Electronic Age
Authors: Earhart Amy E.
Published: February 2013

This article examines the various online materials related to Transcendentalism and assesses the amount of coverage and usefulness the concerned websites possess. It says the best online encyclopedia for general information on Transcendentalism is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy as it is peer reviewed and conducts regular updates. While naming a number of websites that are dedicated to either individual writers associated with Transcendentalism or to the movement itself, it also states that since many of these sites are for general users they have limited value for scholars and the researchers interested in utilizing digital material. The article also assesses the coverage the Transcendentalists have got in the web world and states the coverage of other Transcendentalist figures is much less complete than that of Emerson and Thoreau.
Introduction
Authors: Rosenblum Marc R. , Tichenor Daniel J.
Published: February 2013

International migration has increased steadily during the past half century. The flow of people across national borders appears to have grown markedly. The United Nations Population Division estimates that the total number of international migrants—defined as persons born in a country other than where they currently reside—rose from 79 million in 1960 to 175 million in 2000 and to 210 million in 2009. The most developed regions of the world have experienced the largest growth in migrant populations and women comprise nearly half of all international migrants. This article discusses the origins and causes of migration, the effects of migration, migration policy, and the immigrant experience.
Space, Time, and Volition: Dimensions of Migration Theory
Authors: Fussell Elizabeth
Published: February 2013

This article lays out three overarching dimensions of current theoretical models of migration flows: a “spatial” dimension, which describes pushes and pulls in origin and destination countries; a “temporal” dimension, which explains why migration streams begin and either grow or dissipate; and a “volitional” dimension, which explains at the individual level how migrants respond to these forces and to the changing context in which migration occurs. The spatial dimension includes the four primary models of migration, based on neoclassical economics, world systems theory, the new economics of labor migration, and social capital theory. By placing these demographic-economic approaches into a synthetic, three-dimensional framework, the article addresses the discrete causes of migration while bridging the artificial (often disciplinary) divide among competing explanations.
War, Natural Disasters, and Forced Migration
Authors: Martin Susan F.
Published: February 2013

This article focuses on two categories of forced migrants—those displaced by conflict and those displaced by disasters—and the interconnections between them, particularly in the context of complex humanitarian emergencies. Using the typology of forced migration which considers the causes, timing, and geographic location of the displaced populations, the article sets out the legal and institutional frameworks in international and domestic law for protecting various categories of forced migrants. It then discusses the life cycle of displacement, exploring the stages of uprootedness. Next special problems encountered by involuntary migrants from conflict and natural disasters are identified. Finally, new challenges are examined, including the potential impact of climate change on mass displacement of people.
Economic Effects of Emigration on Sending Countries
Authors: Kapur Devesh , McHale John
Published: February 2013

This article surveys the economic consequences of international migration on sending countries. It first provides a broad overview of recent research on migration and development, beginning with the sizes of the emigrant/immigrant stocks and the possibilities for migration-related income gains, both direct migration-related impacts and the resulting remittance flows. Recent advances have led to a reassessment of the effects of migration on development, often leading to a more sanguine view compared to earlier work on the “brain drain.” However, the state of knowledge is still too rudimentary to identify when migration is beneficial for development. This uncertainty is particularly pronounced for skilled migration, which is increasingly the object of rich-country policies.
Immigrant Participation
Authors: DeSipio Louis
Published: February 2013

This article discusses four aspects of immigrant participation. First it analyzes naturalization patterns, looking at both numbers and the reasons some immigrants pursue naturalization and others do not. Second, it examines civic and community engagement among immigrants. This is frequently the first form of politics that appears in immigrant communities, in large part because immigrants, regardless of legal or citizenship status, can participate in civic life. Third, it assesses immigrant (and coethnic) electoral behavior. Finally, it examines a newly emerging form of political engagement among immigrants: their transnational efforts to influence the civic or political life of their communities or countries of origin. This form of politics remains an activity engaged in by a minority of immigrants, but like civic engagement in the country of residence, transitional activities are open to all immigrants, regardless of status.
Dimensions of Immigration Policy
Authors: Rosenblum Marc R. , Cornelius Wayne A.
Published: February 2013

This article describes the various and evolving definitions of the immigration policy problem and lays out a taxonomy of policy responses. In reviewing the types of immigration and immigrant integration policies being implemented in the United States and other migrant-receiving countries, it also describes contemporary empirical patterns and concludes by reevaluating two hypotheses from previous research: the “convergence” hypothesis, which predicts that diverse migrant-receiving countries are moving toward common policy modes; and the “gap” hypothesis, which predicts a divergence between popular demands for tight migration policies and less restrictive immigration policy outputs and outcomes.
Interest Group Politics and Immigration Policy
Authors: Freeman Gary P. , Tendler Stuart M.
Published: February 2013

This article reviews the case for the centrality of interest groups to the politics of immigration in liberal democracies. It focuses on alternative theories that might account for the creation of individual preferences with regard to immigration policies, which incentives and constraints affect the translation of individual preferences into organized groups, how groups seek to influence policy, and how effective they are. This discussion is followed by a review of the American case, and the article concludes with a discussion of research needed to establish the interest group-immigration policy nexus outside the United States.
Pathways of Incorporation for Immigrant Citizens in the United States: Perspectives on Historical Patterns
Authors: Ueda Reed
Published: February 2013

This article explores immigrant integration over time and identifies major historical pathways of immigrant civic incorporation which highlight the importance of historical developments and transitions that shape this process. It traces the civic construction of immigrants from late eighteenth-century thought to the Progressive Era, and from the Great Depression and the Cold War to the civil rights revolution of the 1960s. It places special emphasis on two significant dimensions of civic incorporation for newcomers. The first lies in how the symbolic representation of immigrants was produced by public discourse in legislation, public education, and government-promoted racial categories and policies. The second centers on the naturalization process as it was influenced by national policies and overall immigration trends, but especially by the local contexts of family and communal ties, demographic structures, community organizations, and civic institutions.
Aliens and People of Color: The Multidimensional Relationship of Immigration Policy and Racial Classification in the United States
Authors: Filindra Alexandra , Junn Jane
Published: February 2013

This article analyzes U.S. immigration policy as both a dependent and an independent variable in the politics of race and ethnicity. It argues that immigration policies at all levels of government have often been the direct result of racial considerations designed to support the American racial stratification system; have important influence on the context of immigrant reception and its connection to how immigrant and minority groups experience politics; and have influenced the social construction of various immigrant groups and the formation of racial and ethnic identities.
Conceptualizing Transborder Communities
Authors: Stephen Lynn
Published: February 2013

This article develops the concept of “transborder” communities. It first explores the concepts of borders, border crossing, and borderlands as a way of understanding the complexity of transborder communities. From there the discussion focuses on the concept of coloniality as a tool for understanding the ways that ethnic and racial hierarchies written into colonialism are often recycled into ideologies of nationalism that permeate discussions of contemporary migration. It evaluates theories of the compression of time in terms of how to conceptualize the local in multiple places simultaneously, drawing on the concepts of bifocal vision and social fields. Finally, the article discusses both the power and limits of states in affecting transborder communities.
Migration and Citizenship: Normative Debates
Authors: Bauböck Rainer
Published: February 2013

This article focuses on the persistence of national sovereignty as the organizing principle in migration. All modern states are defined by territories and rules defining membership. And as long as people migrate (and seek permanent residence abroad), every modern state confronts questions about when and how to extend membership to newcomers and how to exclude those denied legal access. The article approaches this question from the perspectives of freedom of movement and distributive social justice. First, do states have a moral right to restrict free movement, or does the individual's right to free movement supersede state interests in controlling borders? The answer depends on whether the individual's right to travel is intrinsic, or merely instrumental, in which case states may prioritize openness based on the secondary value would-be travelers derive from free access, for example, by admitting those with a well-founded fear of persecution. Second, from a distributive justice perspective, the right of states to exclude noncitizens depends on the normative theory of global distribution and on the likely redistributive effects of an open migration regime. The article concludes by drawing an important distinction between immigration policies and rules governing democratic membership. It makes the case that long-term stakeholders accrue greater rights to membership over time, an argument with resonance across most of the developed world as countries grapple with large and, in most cases growing, populations of unauthorized immigrants.
Understanding Schoenberg as Christ
Authors: Brown Julie
Published: February 2013

This article discusses Schoenberg's return to Christ in his late work. It constructs Schoenberg's priest-like leader role by his Vienna circle sometime in 1909. It notes that the Schoenberg correspondence from around 1909 to 1912 involved a language that is strongly inflected with Christian mysticality. Some communications even construct Schoenberg as a poet-priest who is performing a redemptive role. The article also examines three potential models of priestly discourse—through Otto Weininger, Stefan George, and Karl Dieter Wagner—and explains how these can contribute to the current understanding of Schoenberg's late activities.
“Shooting the Keys”: Musical Horseplay and High Culture
Authors: Garrett Charles Hiroshi
Published: February 2013

This article explains how humor acts not only as a kind of psychological comfort or comic relief, but also as an opportunity for cultural critique and a site of competition and interchange between elite and popular culture. The discussion focuses on how musical humorists have connected with different aspects of the world of classical music. It also determines what this connection shows about cultural history and the changing status of classical music in the United States.
Remembrance of Jazz Past: Sidney Bechet in France
Authors: Fry Andy
Published: February 2013

This article reviews the pictorial obituary of Sidney Bechet, which emphasizes youthful epiphanies and international recognition. It first studies Ernest Ansermet's views and theories about jazz and race, and then looks at Bechet's activities during the 1920s and early 1930s. This is followed by a discussion of Bechet's discovery in France at the 1949 festival and his subsequent rise to fame. The critical disputes over the authenticity of Bechet's jazz performances are explored, and an autobiography of Bechet is provided in the final section of the article.
Josquin des Prez, Renaissance Historiography, and the Cultures of Print
Authors: van Orden Kate
Published: February 2013

This article studies Josquin des Prez, a musical genius who refused to compose on request and was an individualist who represented the new spirit of humanism. It notes the lack of information sources or print for studies on Josquin. This makes him a good example of how musicologists who carry out research on the sixteenth century are often forced to go to the extremes in order to recover even the tiniest shreds of historical evidence. Nevertheless, this article focuses on information gathered by several researchers about Josquin, including his importance in Renaissance studies.
From “the Voice of the Maréchal” to Musique Concrète: Pierre Schaeffer and the Case for Cultural History
Authors: Fulcher Jane F.
Published: February 2013

This article focuses on Pierre Schaeffer's personal experience, creative journey, and understanding during the postwar years. It first looks at his spiritually and philosophically-driven quest to develop a new culture of communication with the youth of Vichy France. It is here where he learned how the radio transforms messages, either through masking or revealing meaning. It then studies how the medium of transmission may increase the sense of a work of art, and how a new technology can transform artistic traditions. The article also tries to show how Schaeffer attempted to express his own experience and provoke deep reflection on artistic language.
The Intellectual Roots of Health Psychology
Authors: Friedman Howard S. , Adler Nancy E.
Published: February 2013

Health psychology has deep and broad intellectual roots. Although the field of health psychology did not formally organize as a scientific discipline until the 1970s, its concepts grew out of a long philosophical tradition and from scientific developments in medical and clinical psychology, epidemiology and public health, medical sociology and anthropology, and psychosomatic medicine. Appreciation of these roots encourages more sophisticated concepts and models, and it helps modern researchers avoid common intellectual traps and sterile research paths.
A History of the Development of Health Psychology
Authors: Pickren Wade , Degni Silvia
Published: February 2013

A long tradition of thought and practice has asserted important connections between psychological states and physical health. The possible mechanisms or paths of influence may have changed over time and varied across locations, but humans have long believed that how they think and what they feel may be intimately linked to whether they are healthy or sick. This chapter focuses on those ideas and practices that led to this tradition’s eventual expression, in the late 20th century, in what came to be labeled health psychology. Beginning with developments in the mid to late 19th century, it tracks the convergence of thought and application that came together in the 20th century in a manner that made it possible to carve out a new area of disciplinary and professional expertise, that addressed health and disease from the perspective of the discipline of psychology.
The Brain, Homeostasis, and Health: Balancing Demands of the Internal and External Milieu
Authors: Cacioppo John T. , Berntson Gary G.
Published: February 2013

Communications among the nervous system, neuroendocrine system, and immune system are bidirectional to better balance the demands of the internal and external milieu. By producing feelings of fever and fatigue, not only is the immune system better able to defend against an infection (e.g., invading microbes do not flourish at elevated body temperatures), but the individual who, due to fever and fatigue, withdraws from daily stresses to the comfort of his or her bedroom also diminishes the release of neural and hormonal signals that can compromise immune function. This chapter traces the historical development of integrative principles regarding the regulatory and restorative forces of the autonomic nervous system, neuroendocrine function, and immune actions, and their modulation by the brain in transaction with the environment. The intention is to examine from a global perspective how the brain integrates the regulatory and restorative processes of the body to foster health and adaptation to environmental challenges.
Adjustment to Chronic Disease: Progress and Promise in Research
Authors: Stanton Annette L. , Revenson Tracey A.
Published: February 2013

Chronic illnesses carry important psychological and social consequences that demand significant psychological adjustment. The literature is providing increasingly nuanced conceptualizations of adjustment, demonstrating that the experience of chronic disease necessitates adaptation in multiple life domains. Heterogeneity in adjustment is apparent between individuals and across the course of the disease trajectory. Focusing primarily on cancer and rheumatic diseases, we review longitudinal investigations of proximal (personality attributes, cognitive appraisals, coping processes, interpersonal relationships) and distal (socioeconomic variables, culture/ethnicity, gender-related processes) risk and protective factors for adjustment across the illness trajectory. We conclude that the past decade has seen a surge in research that is longitudinal in design, involves adequately characterized samples of sufficient size, and includes statistical control for initial values on dependent variables. A progressively convincing characterization of risk and protective factors for favorable adjustment to chronic illness has emerged. We identify important issues for future application and research.
Health and Illness Perceptions
Authors: Benyamini Yael
Published: February 2013

This chapter describes the contents and structure of subjective perceptions of health and illness, which are coherent theories in which individuals’ health-related knowledge is integrated and that then serve to guide their coping with health issues as part of dynamic self-regulation processes that take place over time. These perceptions are not always medically accurate, yet they are rational and internally logical from the person’s subjective point of view. They serve as the objective reality for the individual in their role as major influences on behaviors and outcomes. The chapter discusses how such perceptions are formed on the basis of a variety of sources and their sensitivity to experiential, rather than to purely medical knowledge. Different quantitative and qualitative ways to assess health perceptions are described. Next, the processes involving these perceptions are discussed: The reasons why people form these perceptions, their associations with various physical and psychological outcomes, the mechanisms explaining these associations, and the personal and sociocultural factors affecting these perceptions. Finally, directions for future research are outlined.
Expressive Writing: Connections to Physical and Mental Health
Authors: Pennebaker James W. , Chung Cindy K.
Published: February 2013

This paper presents a broad overview of the expressive writing paradigm. Since its first use in the 1980s, dozens of studies have explored the parameters and boundary conditions of its effectiveness. In the laboratory, consistent and significant health improvements are found when individuals write or talk about personally upsetting experiences. The effects include both subjective and objective markers of health and well-being. The disclosure phenomenon appears to generalize across settings, many individual difference factors, and several Western cultures, and is independent of social feedback.
Advancing Health Behavior Theory: The Interplay Among Theories of Health Behavior, Empirical Modeling of Health Behavior, and Behavioral Interventions
Authors: Aiken Leona S.
Published: February 2013

Intervention research aimed at modifying health behavior can go beyond merely assessing behavioral outcomes to characterizing the putative mechanisms by which interventions bring about behavior change. To characterize these mechanisms, a two-stage research program is required. The first stage involves the development and evaluation of a psychosocial model of the putative determinants of a particular health behavior. This may be a hybrid model that draws constructs from existing theories and models, and it may also integrate constructs from related areas of scholarship. The second stage involves translation of the psychosocial model into a multicomponent intervention to encourage behavior adoption. Here, each model construct is transformed into a component of the intervention and becomes a candidate mechanism by which the intervention may bring about behavior change. The intervention is evaluated in an experimental trial, followed by mediation analysis to examine putative linkages from the intervention to change on model constructs to change on behavior outcomes. This two-stage approach is illustrated with examples of health behaviors aimed at disease detection and prevention, at distal and proximal threats to health, and at private and public health-related behaviors. Examination of the putative mechanisms by which interventions bring about behavior change reverses the flow of information from health behavior model to intervention. Instead, the findings from health behavior interventions can lead to theoretical advances in our understanding of health protective behavior.
Alcohol Use and Alcohol Use Disorders
Authors: Sher Kenneth J. , Talley Amelia E. , Littlefield Andrew K. , Martinez Julia A.
Published: February 2013

Heavy alcohol use in the general population, especially among late adolescents and young adults, is highly prevalent and associated with a range of adverse health outcomes, such as unintentional injury and sexually transmitted infections, as well as fetal injury in pregnant women. Although heavy consumption tends to decrease as individuals age, the cumulative effect of alcohol exposure increases risk for some forms of cancer, gastrointestinal disease, dementing illnesses, and other serious conditions. Alcohol use can also interfere with treatments for medical illnesses via drug interactions and poor compliance with prescribed treatments. Against this backdrop of considerable health burden associated with alcohol use in the population are findings that, at least among certain subgroups of the population, there are health benefits of moderate consumption. Additionally, alcohol use disorders (AUDs; alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence), are among the most prevalent mental disorders in the United States and elsewhere. AUDs are frequently comorbid with other psychological disorders which in themselves have important implications for health. A number of approaches to the prevention and treatment of problematic alcohol use have been developed and are effective. Some of these can be employed during primary care visits or other contacts with health professionals (e.g., emergency room visits).
Standards and Standardization
Authors: Geisinger Kurt F. , Carlson Janet F.
Published: February 2013

The meaningfulness of personality measures depends upon a number of factors: validity studies, score scales which are understood by test users, knowledge that the measure has been studied with members of a population to which an individual test taker or a group of test takers belongs, and so on. Fundamental to such considerations is that the measure has been administered under the same or comparable circumstances as it was when normed, validated, checked for appropriate types of reliability, and otherwise researched. This article examines issues specific to testing individuals, focusing on test standardization and test administration. It stresses the need to perform generalizability studies to show that the meaningfulness and validity of tests generalizes across administrative changes, language variations, and cultural differences for varying groups of individuals. Truly, psychological testing needs to stay rooted into its very basis: the science of individual differences. The article also considers the testing of minorities and disabled people.
Theory and Measurement of Personality Traits
Authors: Harkness Allan R.
Published: February 2013

This article describes the connections between basic emotion systems and personality traits. It discusses the fear, anger (or rage), interest (or seeking), and joy emotion systems and links them to personality traits. The article argues that modern psychological findings from behavior genetic, longitudinal, and clinical studies cannot be interpreted without including stable individuating personality traits as causes in psychological theories. Using personality sketches to illustrate behavioral features, it provides an introduction to trait concepts that can enrich clinical case conception. The article looks at the highly available Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) personality trait scales, called the Personality Psychopathology-Five scales, and how they are used in personality assessment.
Clinical Applications of Behavioral Assessment
Authors: Haynes Stephen N. , Yoshioka Dawn T. , Kloezeman Karen , Bello Iruma
Published: February 2013

This article presents a case study of a family with marital, substance-use, mood, external-stressors, and parent–child difficulties to illustrate the principles and methods of pretreatment behavioral assessment. Several guiding principles are discussed: an emphasis on identifying functional relations relevant to behavior problems and treatment goals, especially those that help us explain behavior problems; a multimodal focus during assessment, attending to overt behavior, thoughts, emotions, and physiology; the importance of the conditional and contextual nature of behavior; an emphasis on temporally contiguous and environmental events, thoughts, and emotions in triggering and maintaining behavior problems; the dynamic nature of behavior problems and causal variables; an emphasis on specificity and precision of measurement; and individual differences in the elements, correlates, and causes of behavior problems. A diverse set of methods is congruent with the principles of behavioral assessment and includes behavioral interviews and questionnaires, observation in natural and analog environments, and self- and instrument-aided monitoring of behavior and events in natural and analog environments.
Use of the MMPI-2 in Neuropsychological Evaluations
Authors: Gass Carlton S.
Published: February 2013

The measurement of personality and psychopathology in neuropsychological contexts is essential because brain injury affects psychological status, and psychological problems can mimic brain dysfunction. A neuropsychological evaluation is incomplete without an assessment of personality and emotional status. The MMPI-2 is, by far, the most widely researched and clinically utilized test to meet this need. The long history of its use in neuropsychology has generated numerous areas of investigation designed specifically to enhance its application with individuals with known or suspected brain damage. The MMPI-2 content scales, subscales, and RC Scales provide information that helps the clinician refine and supplement interpretation of Clinical Scales. This article reviews special administrative and interpretive considerations that apply in neuropsychological settings. It looks at recent and controversial developments in MMPI-2 research and application.
Assessment of Suicide Risk
Authors: Stolberg Ronald A. , Bongar Bruce
Published: February 2013

The assessment of suicide risk remains one of the most important, complex, and difficult tasks performed by clinicians. Many suicidal individuals do not voluntarily report their thoughts or plans for self-harm to the professionals who are trained to act accordingly. If we work from the premise that not all patients are willing to admit their suicidal ideation to their health-care provider, then we must utilize other resources to guide our intervention strategies. Because suicide is one of the few fatal consequences of a psychiatric illness, accurate assessment of suicide risk is essential. The optimal risk assessment integrates a sound clinical interview with actuarial instruments providing supplementary or clarifying information. This article explores the historical and contemporary literature on the use of psychological tests, suicide scales, and risk estimators, as well as the epidemiological and clinical data on risk factors. It highlights the importance of formulation of clinical judgment via important clinical observations and key elements in the clinical interview, as integral components of a model of comprehensive clinical assessment and risk management.
Assessment of Feigned Psychological Symptoms
Authors: Berry David T. R. , Sollman Myriam J. , Schipper Lindsey J. , Clark Jessica A. , Shandera Anne L.
Published: February 2013

Feigned-symptom reports have become of increasing interest in recent years, in part because the results of psychological evaluations are more widely accepted in legal proceedings. This article examines several pertinent issues regarding assessment of malingering, including methodological concerns, base rates of feigning, and coaching to avoid detection. It evaluates several frequently used measures of malingering, including the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III, Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology, Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test, and Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS). The article provides cutting scores, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive powers at various base rates of feigning. After the SIRS, the feigning scales of the MMPI-2 have the most support for malingering detection, followed by the PAI scales. Generally, all measures reviewed showed greater negative predictive power rates; thus, a two-stage sequential process for malingering detection is discussed.
Assessment of Clients in Pretreatment Planning
Authors: Harwood T. Mark , Beutler Larry E.
Published: February 2013

Pretreatment planning is an essential element in psychotherapy. Constraints imposed by managed care, efficiency-of-treatment/cost-effectiveness issues, and increased likelihood of change and increased magnitude of change are obvious justifications for the provision of individualized and comprehensive pretreatment assessment. Relatedly, quality pretreatment assessment is essential for accurate patient–treatment matching. In this vein, systematic treatment selection, prescriptive psychotherapy, systematic treatment, and Innerlife are variants of an overriding empirically supported model of patient–treatment matching. More specifically, they employ accurate, comprehensive pretreatment assessment to help guide the clinician in the selection and matching of specific psychotherapeutic strategies and principles. Questions regarding diagnosis, prognosis, current level of functioning, most effective treatment, and causation/maintenance are answerable through an evaluation of relevant patient predisposing variables. While there are many qualities of problems that vary as a function of specific situations and circumstances, three appear to be of major importance to the differential assignment of treatment: patient expectations, subjective distress, and functional impairment.
Assessment of Treatment Resistance via Questionnaire
Authors: Perry Julia N.
Published: February 2013

This article explores how evaluating trait-like resistance with objective personality-assessment instruments can assist therapists in better anticipating, understanding, and responding to their clients' signs of therapeutic resistance. First, it reviews the data regarding gender-influenced attitudes toward psychological treatment, and then presents and discusses specific Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) validity, clinical, and content scales that measure elements of treatment resistance. The article also analyzes clinical and normative data on the Butcher Treatment Planning Inventory, a measure that was created specifically for treatment-planning purposes. Finally, it presents a case example to illustrate specific methods of informing psychotherapy with objective test data.
The Spectrum of Personality Disorders
Authors: South Susan C. , Oltmanns Thomas F. , Krueger Robert F.
Published: February 2013

The concept of personality disorder has existed throughout the history of psychology and psychiatry. The ten current personality disorders (PDs) listed in the DSM-IV are conceived of as distinct syndromes. Nevertheless, DSM-IV PDs overlap extensively with each other, with normal personality traits, and with Axis I psychopathology. Thus, many investigators suggest that, in DSM-5, the classification system for PDs should be revised to better reflect the closeness of the links between personality and psychopathology, perhaps by linking both constructs within broader spectrums of psychopathological variation. The most common and well-accepted suggestion is that the categorical diagnoses of DSM-IV should be replaced with a dimensional model of pathological personality traits, and the links between personality traits and more syndromal forms of psychopathology (Axis I disorders) should also be explicitly articulated. In this chapter, we review current research on how PDs are linked with broad spectrums of personality and psychopathology. Specifically, we examine (1) evidence relevant to the etiology and course of PDs, (2) how these disorders can best be assessed, and (3) evidence regarding the most effective practices in the treatment of PDs, with the aim of articulating how etiology, course, assessment, and treatment of PDs might be conceptualized in a spectrum-based classification system.
Behavioral Emergencies and Crises
Authors: Kleespies Phillip M. , Hill Justin M.
Published: February 2013

This chapter illustrates the mental health clinician’s relationship with behavioral emergencies. The chapter begins by distinguishing the terms behavioral emergency and behavioral crisis, and underlying themes among all behavioral emergencies are identified. Given that most clinicians will face a behavioral emergency in their careers, the importance of enhancing the process of educating and training practitioners for such situations far beyond the minimal training that currently exists is highlighted. The chapter continues by exploring various aspects of evaluating and managing high-risk patients (i.e., those who exhibit violent tendencies toward themselves or others, and those at risk for victimization). It includes a discussion of the benefits and limitations to estimating life-threatening risk factors and specific protective factors. The chapter concludes by discussing the emotional impact that working with high-risk patients has on clinicians, and an emphasis is placed on the importance of creating a supportive work environment.
Couple Therapy: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Findings
Authors: Baucom Donald H. , Epstein Norman B. , Kirby Jennifer S. , Falconier Mariana K.
Published: February 2013

Whereas most couples enter into marriage or similar committed, romantic relationships with the full expectation that they will live their lives together in a happy and rewarding manner, the divorce rate in the United States and many Western countries continues to be alarmingly high—in the United States hovering around 50%. As a result, mental health practitioners have focused energy on ways to alleviate relationship distress. Many approaches for assisting distressed couples have been developed, yet few have been evaluated to demonstrate that they actually help couples. The current chapter provides an overview of the major models of couple therapy that have been evaluated in well-controlled research studies and have demonstrated that they benefit couples. The models included are: behavioral couple therapy, cognitive-behavioral couple therapy, integrative behavioral couple therapy, emotionally focused couple therapy, and insight-oriented couple therapy. For each model, the theoretical approach, overall interventions, and effectiveness are discussed.
Working with Sexual-Minority Individuals
Authors: Diamond Lisa M. , Butterworth Molly R. , Savin-Williams Ritch C.
Published: February 2013

The present chapter provides a review of some of the primary psychological issues confronting sexual minorities (i.e., individuals with same-sex attractions and relationships). Our goal is to provide a flexible set of preliminary questions that can be used to help sexual-minority clients to articulate their own idiosyncratic experiences and give voice to their own unique needs. We begin by addressing two of the most common and important clinical issues faced by sexual minorities: generalized “minority stress” and acceptance and validation from the family of origin. We then turn attention to the vast—and vastly underinvestigated—population of individuals with bisexual attractions and behavior, who actually constitute the majority of the sexual-minority population, despite having been systematically excluded from most prior research. We review the increasing body of research suggesting that individuals with bisexual patterns of attraction and behavior actually face greater mental health risks than those with exclusive same-sex attractions and behavior, and we explore potential processes and mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, focusing particular attention on issues of identity development and transition over the life span. We conclude by outlining a number of areas for future clinically oriented research.
Interventions with Culturally Diverse Populations
Authors: Comas-Díaz Lillian
Published: February 2013

This chapter addresses the need for cultural competence in the delivery of clinical psychological services. It advocates for cultural integrity in the adaptation of mainstream psychological practice. The role of cultural mirrors in the psychotherapeutic process is examined, namely, how worldviews, the therapeutic relationship, and communication affect therapy. The centrality of a sociocentric worldview in the delivery of psychological interventions for culturally diverse individuals is emphasized. The chapter discusses the role of cross-cultural therapeutic relationships, including racial identity developmental theories and ethnoracial bias, in addition to communication styles and their impact on clinical practice. The author advocates for the incorporation of ethnic specific therapies into psychological practice, and concludes with a discussion of ethnocultural psychological practice, an approach developed to integrate culture and ethnicity into the delivery of interventions with culturally diverse individuals.
Animals in Classical and Late Antique Philosophy
Authors: Clark Stephen R. L.
Published: February 2013

This article explores a large array of conceptions and theories in the ancient world, with an emphasis on what the ancients thought of both themselves and the other “animals.” The scope is immense in terms of leading schools of philosophy: the Pre-Socratics, the Golden Age of Athens, the Hellenistic period, and the Late Antique period. One generalization that does seem to hold is that non-human animals were commonly viewed as foils—beastly in habits and without minds of moral significance. The discussion assesses the ancient, classical, Greek, and Mediterranean attitudes as complicated and often contradictory. In general, animals were seen as entirely unlike us, but humans also were seen as capable of a descent into beastly behavior—to the point that humans were in effect seen as no more than animals.