Variación de la violencia sexual en tiempos de guerra: la violación en la guerra no es inevitable

La violencia sexual varía dramáticamente de una guerra a otra, y, en ocasiones, de un grupo armado a otro dentro de una misma guerra. Sin embargo, en algunos conflictos la violencia sexual perpetrada por determinados grupos armados es especialmente limitada, pese aque estos cometen otro tipo de violencia contra civiles. Ciertos grupos cometen actos de violencia sexual solo contra mujeres, mientras que otros también lo hacen contra hombres. Los científicos sociales están documentando y analizando con una frecuencia cada vez mayor esta variación en los patrones de violencia sexual en tiempos de guerra, particularmente en cuanto a las distintas dimensiones de violencia (su forma, frecuencia, blancos ypropósitos), así como en lo referente a los cambios en estos cuatro patrones a través del tiempo. Por tal razón, en este texto, en primer lugar, introduzco conceptos clave, incluyendo estas cuatro dimensiones y el concepto de violencia sexual como práctica (un patrón que no es ordenado pero sí tolerado por los comandantes, y que ocurretanto en casos en los que hay beneficios estratégicos como en los que no los hay). Después, resumo brevemente las investigaciones recientes que documentan patronesde violencia sexual en tiempos de guerra. Tras mostrar que muchos abordajes presentes en la literatura publicada no dan cuenta de la variación observada –dehecho, muchos predicen más violencia sexual que los trágicos niveles observados–,propongo un marco teórico centrado en las dinámicas internas de los grupos armados. Luego, analizo las condiciones en las cuales los grupos armados no llevan a cabo violaciones, aquellas en las que realizan violaciones estratégicas y aquellas en las que las violaciones se cometen como práctica. A lo largo del artículo, me valgo de hallazgos recientes en la literatura de las ciencias sociales, algunos de ellos todavía no publicados. Concluyo con la implicación de este análisis para la formulación de políticas públicas: la variación observada en la violencia sexual en tiempos de guerra, particularmente la ausencia relativa de este tipo de violencia por parte de muchos grupos armados, indica que la violación no es inevitable en la guerra.

Nongenetic inheritance, linguistic competence, prenatal experience and behavior manipulation: recent contributions from behavioral neurobiology and neuropsychology to the explanation of behavior

This article gives an overview of presuppositions and explanations posed by behaviorist psychology (particularly its radical branch), cognitive–nativist sciences (i.e. psycholinguistics and a branch of cognitive psychology) and other disciplines regarding important psychological events such as anxiety, stress, fear, mood states and language. In relation to the discussion of environment versus genetics, contributions from behavioral neurobiology and neuropsychology are added, showing evidence of traits that can be multigenerationally inherited in a non-genetic way, which have an impact thought the life of organisms and on their way of interacting with the environment; ways in which behavior can be altered by recently unsuspected environmental agents or events, and the overlooked role of prenatal experiences in the explanation of behavior. The evidence calls into question presuppositions made by the academic disciplines listed above, and suggests alternative behavior reinterpretations and explanations

Recognition of static and dynamic facial expressions: Influences of sex, type and intensity of emotion

Ecological validity of static and intense facial expressions in emotional recognition has been questioned. Recent studies have recommended the use of facial stimuli more compatible to the natural conditions of social interaction, which involves motion and variations in emotional intensity. In this study, we compared the recognition of static and dynamic facial expressions of happiness, fear, anger and sadness, presented in four emotional intensities (25 %, 50 %, 75 % and 100 %). Twenty volunteers (9 women and 11 men), aged between 19 and 31 years, took part in the study. The experiment consisted of two sessions in which participants had to identify the emotion of static (photographs) and dynamic (videos) displays of facial expressions on the computer screen. The mean accuracy was submitted to an Anova for repeated measures of model: 2 sexes x [2 conditions x 4 expressions x 4 intensities]. We observed an advantage for the recognition of dynamic expressions of happiness and fear compared to the static stimuli (p < .05). Analysis of interactions showed that expressions with intensity of 25 % were better recognized in the dynamic condition (p < .05). The addition of motion contributes to improve recognition especially in male participants (p < .05). We concluded that the effect of the motion varies as a function of the type of emotion, intensity of the expression and sex of the participant. These results support the hypothesis that dynamic stimuli have more ecological validity and are more appropriate to the research with emotions.

O Papel de Variáveis Sócio-Demográficas na Tomada de Decisão: Uma Revisão Sistemática sobre o Iowa Gambling Task

O interesse em estudar o papel de variáveis sócio-demográficas no funcionamento cognitivo vem ganhando destaque nos últimos anos. Alguns estudos em neuropsicologia têm mostrado que os fatores sócio-culturais podem ser variáveis importantes na execução de tarefas neuropsicológicas. No entanto, pesquisas com populações saudáveis ainda são recentes na área. O presente artigo teve por objetivo realizar uma revisão sistemática da literatura sobre o papel das variáveis sócio-demográficas escolaridade, idade e gênero no processamento da tomada de decisão avaliado pelo Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Foram consultadas as bases de dados Medline, Pubmed, Psycinfo e Web of Science, no período de 2000 até 2010, com as seguintes palavras-chaves na sintaxe “education OR schooling AND Iowa Gambling Task” OR “somatic marker” para a variável escolaridade; “age” OR “aging” AND “Iowa Gambling Task” OR “somatic marker” para a variável idade e; “sex” OR “gender” AND “Iowa Gambling Task” OR “somatic marker” para a variável sexo/gênero. Dos abstracts que preenchiam os critérios de inclusão, foram examinados 9 artigos completos para a variável idade, 3 artigos para a variável escolaridade e 6 artigos para a variável gênero. Foram encontrados poucos estudos sobre os fatores idade, escolaridade e gênero e seu impacto no desempenho do IGT. A variável mais estudada foi a idade. A maioria dos estudos mostrou que os adultos jovens tiveram uma melhor aprendizagem ao longo da tarefa do que os adultos idosos, mas não tiveram diferenças quanto ao desempenho total no instrumento. Já quanto ao fator escolaridade poucos estudos foram encontrados e quanto à variável gênero os resultados são contraditórios. Assim, evidencia-se a necessidade de um maior número de investigações com populações saudáveis que esclareçam o papel das variáveis idade, escolaridade e gênero na tomada de decisão mensurada pelo IGT.

Assessment of social cognition in schizophrenia through the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test. Implications for rehabilitation

Introduction: Schizophrenia is a serious and chronic mental illness that has effect on cognitive and social functioning of a person who suffers it. Recent research points out that social cognition subprocesses, such as Theory of Mind, social perception or emotional processing, have to do with some problems that patients show in their social adjustment. Aim: Assessing ability of recognizing mental states from facial expressions in schizophrenia patients compared to a control group. Subjects and methods: 17 stable schizophrenia patients who are aware of the illness and 17 healthy people, with the same age and sociocultural level, took the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Test Revised Version of Baron- Cohen. Results: Compared with the control group, subjects with schizophrenia showed much lower scores. Conclusions: It is confirmed that schizophrenia patients have impairments to understand facial expressions, especially from the eyes. That is typical of this illness, so it is necessary to do interventions at that point. Furthermore, inability to recognize emotions, as a domain of social cognition, contributes to deficit in functional outcome in schizophrenia. Finally, some treatment programs are put forward.

Predictors of Attitudes toward Cosmetic Surgery among U.S. and Colombian College Women: The Roles of Eating Behaviors and Demographic Variables

Cross-cultural studies on eating behaviors and related constructs can identify cultural and social factors that contribute to eating disorder symptomatology. Eating disorders (EDs) are a major cause for concern in the U.S., and recent studies in Colombia have shown growing rates among their female population. In addition, cosmetic surgery procedures have been increasing rapidly in both the U.S. and Colombia, and preliminary research suggests a positive relation between disordered eating and endorsement of plastic surgery. In samples of college women from Colombia and the U.S., we investigated patterns of association between disordered eating variables and cosmetic surgery acceptance. Our approach utilized separate analyses for various subcomponents of disordered eating (to determine their unique associations with cosmetic surgery acceptance) while adjusting for potentially relevant covariates and examining cross-cultural patterns. Participants were students at an urban, public college in the U.S. (n=163) and an urban, private college in Colombia (n=179). Overall, our findings suggested that participants from Colombia with greater disordered eating were more likely to endorse cosmetic surgery for social reasons, while those from the U.S. were more likely to consider undergoing cosmetic surgery for personal reasons. Differing findings between the two samples may be due to cultural and social factors, which we delineate. These findings also have potential implications for presurgical counseling of cosmetic surgery candidates.

Religion, Marketing and Market: An Adjustment in the Language of Faith

O presente trabalho se propõe fazer uma análise de categorias sociais que a primeira vista não tem proximidade, na verdade, podem, inclusive, parecer antagônicas. Trata-se das relações entre Religião, Marketing e Mercado. O trabalho se apóia num referencial teórico mais próximo das ciências sociais, todavia, considera a Religião, em sua expressão institucional –a igreja– como um empreendimento social, uma empresa dos tempos modernos. Procura demonstrar que, para aderir ao mundo moderno, plasmado pela idéia de competição e consumo da sociedade capitalista, a religião reorganizou sua linguagem para atender as exigências desses tempos, já considerados Pós-modernos. A análise é feita a partir do caso brasileiro que, como muitos paises da América Latina, acomodam no seu tecido social, as mais recentes expressões da religião cristã, em especial, os grupos evangélicos que pululam as periferias das grandes cidades desse  continente americano.