Promoting student well-being and resilience at law school

University can be a psychologically distressing place for students, particularly those studying law. Legal academics have been concerned about this for some time. In the United States, in particular, it has been found that symptoms of psychological distress rise signifi cantly for students in their fi rst year of law (compared to levels in the general population at that time), and persist throughout the degree to post-graduation. Recognised symptoms include depression, obsessive compulsive behaviour, feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, anxiety, hostility, paranoia, and social alienation. Many students experience law school as an isolating, adversarial and competitive environment, which impacts negatively on their values and motivation...

Subacute effects of ecstasy on mood : an exploration of associated risk factors

Ecstasy use may result in lowered mood, anxiety or aggression in the days following use. Yet, few studies have investigated what factors increase the risk of experiencing such symptoms. Ecstasy users (at least once in the last 12 months) who subsequently took ecstasy (n=35) over the next week, were compared on measures of mood, sleep, stress and drug use, with those who abstained (n=21) that week. Measures were administered the week prior to ecstasy use and 1 and 3 days following use, or the equivalent day for abstainers. Mood symptoms were assessed using the Kessler-10 self-report psychological distress scale, a subjective mood rating (1-10), and the depression, anxiety and hostility items of the clinician-rated Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Timeline followback methods were used to collect information on drug use and life stress in the past month. Self-reported sleep quality was also assessed. Ecstasy use was not associated with subacute depressive, anxiety or aggressive symptoms. Rather, lowered mood and increased psychological distress were associated with self-reported hours and quality of sleep obtained during the 3-day follow up. These findings highlight the importance of considering sleep disruption in understanding the short-term mood effects of ecstasy use.

Differentiating first episode substance induced and primary psychotic disorders with concurrent substance use in young people

Objective: Substance use is common in first-episode psychosis, and complicates the accurate diagnosis and treatment of the disorder. The differentiation of substance-induced psychotic disorders (SIPD) from primary psychotic disorders (PPD) is particularly challenging. This cross-sectional study compares the clinical, substance use and functional characteristics of substance using first episode psychosis patients diagnosed with a SIPD and PPD. Method: Participants were 61 young people (15-24 years) admitted to a psychiatric inpatient service with first episode psychosis, reporting substance use in the past month. Diagnosis was determined using the Psychiatric Research Interview for DSM-IV Substance and Mental disorders (PRISM-IV). Measures of clinical (severity of psychotic symptoms, level of insight, history of trauma), substance use (frequency/quantity, severity) and social and occupational functioning were also administered. Results: The PRISM-IV differentially diagnosed 56% of first episode patients with a SIPD and 44% with a PPD. Those with a SIPD had higher rates of substance use and disorders, higher levels of insight, were more likely to have a forensic and trauma history and had more severe hostility and anxious symptoms than those with a PPD. Logistic regression analysis indicated a family history of psychosis, trauma history and current cannabis dependence were the strongest predictors of a SIPD. Almost 80% of diagnostic predictions of a SIPD were accurate using this model. Conclusions: This clinical profile of SIPD could help to facilitate the accurate diagnosis and treatment of SIPD versus PPD in young people with first episode psychosis admitted to an inpatient psychiatric service.

Social adjustment and symptomatology in two types of homeless adolescents : runaways and throwaways

Previous research on homeless adolescents has largely ignored the distinction between those who have left home on their volition (runaways) and those who have been forced to leave (throwaways). Fifty-two homeless adolescents in Brisbane, Australia, were assessed to compare male and female runaways and throwaways for social adjustment and symptomatology. Differences for social adjustment (antisocial tendencies and aggression) and symptomatology (social isolation and depression) were predicted. Results indicated that male runaways were significantly more hostile than male throwaways (p < 0,001), and significantly more socially isolated than female runaways (p < 0,025). Female throwaways, however, were significantly more hostile than male throwaways (p < 0,025) and female runaways (p < 0,025). Yet homeless males overall had a significantly stronger urge to act out hostility than homeless females (p < 0,025). In addition, female throwaways were significantly more antisocial than male throwaways (p < 0,001). There were no significant differences for depression. A theory of inner social control (Hirschi, 1969), postulating absence of bonding in earlier socialization, was supported.

Speaking truth to power : sexism, outrage and the public consciousness

Alan Jones's now infamous comment that women are destroying the joint' sparked a flurry of observations and interpretations in the national and international media and in the blogosphere about the motivations and meanings of such a statement. The overriding tone of this commentary was outrage - how dare an influential figure like Jones state with such blatant and provocative hostility that women are at best unsuitable for leadership and at worst, damaging our public and private institutions? The answers, as we have seen, are likely to be complex, but an alternative question could also be posed. Why the outrage? Public male figures have, throughout history, made derogatory, demeaning and sexist remarks about women, and the material effects of gender inequality continue to be felt- consider the gender pay gap and glass ceiling phenomenon for starters. So why did this particular comment ignite such widespread indignation and anger?

An examination of the factorial invariance and refinement of the multidimensional school anger inventory for five Pacific Rim countries

The validity of the Multidimensional School Anger Inventory (MSAI) was examined with adolescents from 5 Pacific Rim countries (N ¼ 3,181 adolescents; age, M ¼ 14.8 years; 52% females). Confirmatory factor analyses examined configural invariance for the MSAI’s anger experience, hostility, destructive expression, and anger coping subscales. The model did not converge for Peruvian students. Using the top 4 loaded items for anger experience, hostility, and destructive expression configural invariance and partial metric and scalar invariances were found. Latent means analysis compared mean responses on each subscale to the U.S. sample. Students from other countries showed higher mean responses on the anger experience subscale (ds ¼ .37–.73). Australian (d ¼ .40) and Japanese students (d ¼ .21) had significantly higher mean hostility subscale scores. Australian students had higher mean scores on the destructive expression subscale (d ¼ .30), whereas Japanese students had lower mean scores (d ¼ 2.17). The largest latent mean gender differences (females lower than males) were for destructive expression among Australian (d ¼ 2.67), Guatemalan (d ¼ 2.42), and U.S. (d ¼ 2.66) students. This study supported an abbreviated, 12-item MSAI with partial invariance. Implications for the use of the MSAI in comparative research are discussed.

Prevalence of childhood sexual abuse among 2508 college students in 6 provinces of China [中国6省市2508名大学生儿童期性虐待经历回顾性调查]

OBJECTIVE To assess the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in college students and to explore the association of CSA with youth mental health problem. METHODS A retrospective survey was conducted among 2508 students (females 1360, males 1148) in Nov. 2003 to Mar. 2004. The students were from 6 colleges/universities in Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Shaanxi and Anhui provinces of China. RESULTS Of the 2508 students, 24.8% of females and 17.6% of males reported one or more types of nonphysical contact CSA (females 20.0% vs. males 14.6%) or/and physical contact CSA (females 14.1% vs. males 7.8%) before the age of 16 years. Risk of any CSA was not associated with the existence of siblings (one-child vs. two-or more child families), rural/non-rural residence during childhood, or parental education. Compared with their peers who had no CSA, the students with CSA showed significantly higher mean scores of psychological symptoms of somatization, obsessiveness, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and psychoticism. CONCLUSION The problem of CSA was not uncommon and there was a significant correlation between CSA experience and students mental health problems. More attention should be paid on CSA prevention and provision of health services for the victims.

Night Rage/ Night Fall

A new form of media installation combining image, multi-channel sound and internally lit objects into a mysterious, deep image plane. Staged on the very edge of spectrum blackout, and moving into the deep of night, Version 1 (Night Rage) for ISEA 2013 examined the many shades of 'nocturnal', threats to night biodiversity and the myriad myths and stories that have shaped our cultural understandings of life after light. Barely recognisable images float within landscapes of media, noise and sound as the work asserts a profound resistance to today's all consuming media mesh. Version 2 (Night Fall) for the Queensland State Museum examined contemporary ideas around the ‘night’ and the 'nocturnal'. Beginning with the dark myths and stories that have long shaped our cultural understandings of life after light, NIGHT FALL considers how fearful ideas have often underpinned actions that continue to reduce Australia’s extraordinary night biodiversity. Today’s growing hostility towards Australia’s ancient, iconic flying foxes - who have been quietly pollinating our forests for millennia - hints at just how far we have yet to travel in our thinking. Enter the darkened tunnel to experience mysterious, edge-of-perception 3D forms, enhanced by a range of cinematic, illusionary and animatronic techniques, and become immersed in a strangely familiar sound track based upon seasonal field recordings made after dark, sourced from across the eastern coast of Queensland.

The rise and demise of the Inspector of Schools in Queensland

The colony of Queensland, established on 10 December 1859, passed its first Education Act in 1860. This enabled the government to provide for the education of all children from six to twelve years of age. The Board of General Education appointed its first Inspector of Schools in 1863, and he was followed by over 400 men — and later women — to inspect schools and teachers to guarantee conformity and efficiency. In 1875, education became a ministerial responsibility and the Department of Public Instruction was established. Teachers never seemed to enjoy a friendly working relationship with inspectors, and with the establishment of the Queensland Teachers Union, hostility increased. Eventually, in 1989, the Inspector of Schools position was abolished.

Pilot study evaluating the effect of massage therapy on stress, anxiety and aggression in a young adult psychiatric inpatient unit

Objective: The aim of the present pilot study was to examine the effectiveness of a relaxation massage therapy programme in reducing stress, anxiety and aggression on a young adult psychiatric inpatient unit. Method: This was a prospective, non-randomized intervention study comparing treatment as usual (TAU) with TAU plus massage therapy intervention (MT) over consecutive 7 week blocks (May–August 2006). MT consisted of a 20 min massage therapy session offered daily to patients during their period of hospitalization. The Kennedy Nurses’ Observational Scale for Inpatient Evaluation (NOSIE), the Symptom Checklist-90–Revised (SCL-90-R), the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and stress hormone (saliva cortisol) levels were used to measure patient outcomes at admission and discharge from the unit. The Staff Observation Aggression Scale–Revised (SOAS-R) was used to monitor the frequency and severity of aggressive incidents on the unit. Results: There was a significant reduction in self-reported anxiety (p < 0.001), resting heart rate (p < 0.05) and cortisol levels (p < 0.05) immediately following the initial and final massage therapy sessions. Significant improvements in hostility (p = 0.007) and depression scores (p < 0.001) on the SCL-90-R were observed in both treatment groups. There was no group×time interaction on any of the measures. Poor reliability of staff-reported incidents on the SOAS-R limited the validity of results in this domain. Conclusions: Massage therapy had immediate beneficial effects on anxiety-related measures and may be a useful de-escalating tool for reducing stress and anxiety in acutely hospitalized psychiatric patients. Study limitations preclude any definite conclusions on the effect of massage therapy on aggressive incidents in an acute psychiatric setting. Randomized controlled trials are warranted.

Deus vult: Images of crusader violence c. 1095-1100.

This study sets out to provide new information about the interaction between abstract religious ideas and actual acts of violence in the early crusading movement. The sources are asked, whether such a concept as religious violence can be sorted out as an independent or distinguishable source of aggression at the moment of actual bloodshed. The analysis concentrates on the practitioners of sacred violence, crusaders and their mental processing of the use of violence, the concept of the violent act, and the set of values and attitudes defining this concept. The scope of the study, the early crusade movement, covers the period from late 1080 s to the crusader conquest of Jerusalem in 15 July 1099. The research has been carried out by contextual reading of relevant sources. Eyewitness reports will be compared with texts that were produced by ecclesiastics in Europe. Critical reading of the texts reveals both connecting ideas and interesting differences between them. The sources share a positive attitude towards crusading, and have principally been written to propagate the crusade institution and find new recruits. The emphasis of the study is on the interpretation of images: the sources are not asked what really happened in chronological order, but what the crusader understanding of the reality was like. Fictional material can be even more crucial for the understanding of the crusading mentality. Crusader sources from around the turn of the twelfth century accept violent encounters with non-Christians on the grounds of external hostility directed towards the Christian community. The enemies of Christendom can be identified with either non-Christians living outside the Christian society (Muslims), non-Christians living within the Christian society (Jews) or Christian heretics. Western Christians are described as both victims and avengers of the surrounding forces of diabolical evil. Although the ideal of universal Christianity and gradual eradication of the non-Christian is present, the practical means of achieving a united Christendom are not discussed. The objective of crusader violence was thus entirely Christian: the punishment of the wicked and the restoration of Christian morals and the divine order. Meanwhile, the means used to achieve these objectives were not. Given the scarcity of written regulations concerning the use of force in bello, perceptions concerning the practical use of violence were drawn from a multitude of notions comprising an adaptable network of secular and ecclesiastical, pre-Christian and Christian traditions. Though essentially ideological and often religious in character, the early crusader concept of the practise of violence was not exclusively rooted in Christian thought. The main conclusion of the study is that there existed a definable crusader ideology of the use of force by 1100. The crusader image of violence involved several levels of thought. Predominantly, violence indicates a means of achieving higher spiritual rewards; eternal salvation and immortal glory.

What is racism? Othering, prejudice and hate-motivated violence

The paper’s concern is the current difficulty, in journalism, the academy and politics, of discussing questions to do with race, ethnicity, difference and immigration because of the fear of being called a racist. It starts with an analysis of biographical interview data drawn from fifteen people who had variously acquired the label racist and who were part of a small-scale study into racism in the Midlands city of Stoke-on-Trent, UK conducted between 2003 and 2005. The interviews used the free association narrative interview method. This analysis revealed that most people do not consider themselves racist and that having a conviction for a racially aggravated offence or being a member of a far right organisation was not able to differentiate racists from non-racists. It also revealed a spectrum of attitudes towards immigrants or particular ethnic groups: strong expressions of hatred at one end of the spectrum; strong prejudicial feelings in the middle; and a feeling that ‘outsider’ groups should not benefit at the expense of ‘insiders’ (called ‘othering’) at the other end. The turn to theory for assistance revealed that, although hatred, prejudice and ‘othering’ are not the same thing, and do not have the same origins, they have become elided. This is primarily because cognitive psychology’s hostility to psychoanalysis marginalised hatred whilst its exclusive preoccupation with prejudice came effectively to define racism at the individual level. Progress in thinking about racism might consist of abolishing the term and returning to thinking about hatred, prejudice and ‘othering’ separately.

Noise sensitivity medical, psychological and genetic aspects

Noise can be defined as unwanted sound. It may adversely affect the health and well-being of individuals. Noise sensitivity is a personality trait covering attitudes towards noise in general and a predictor of noise annoyance. Noise sensitive individuals are more affected by noise than less sensitive individuals. The determinants and characteristics related to noise sensitivity are rather poorly known. The risk of health effects caused by noise can be hypothesized to be higher for noise sensitive individuals compared to those who are not noise sensitive. A cardiovascular disease may be an example of outcomes. The general aim of the present study was to investigate the association of noise sensitivity with specific somatic and psychological factors, including the genetic component of noise sensitivity, and the association of noise sensitivity with mortality. The study was based on the Finnish Twin Cohort of same-sex twin pairs born before 1958. In 1988 a questionnaire was sent to twin pairs discordant for hypertension. 1495 individuals (688 men, 807 women) aged 31 88 years replied, including 573 twin pairs. 218 of the subjects lived in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Self-reported noise sensitivity, lifetime noise exposure and hypertension were obtained from the questionnaire study in 1988 and other somatic and psychological factors from the questionnaire study in 1981 for the same individuals. In addition, noise map information (1988 1992) from the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and mortality follow-up 1989 2003 were used. To evaluate the stability and validity of noise sensitivity, a new questionnaire was sent in 2002 to a sample of the subjects who had replied to the 1988 questionnaire. Of all subjects who had answered the question on noise sensitivity, 38 % were noise sensitive. Noise sensitivity was independent of noise exposure levels indicated in noise maps. Subjects with high noise sensitivity reported more transportation noise exposure than subjects with low noise sensitivity. Noise sensitive subjects reported transportation noise exposure outside the environmental noise map areas almost twice as often as non-sensitive subjects. Noise sensitivity was associated with hypertension, emphysema, use of psychotropic drugs, smoking, stress and hostility, even when lifetime noise exposure was adjusted for. Monozygotic twin pairs were more similar with regards noise sensitivity than dizygotic twin pairs, and quantitative genetic modelling indicated significant familiality. The best fitting genetic model provided an estimate of heritability of 36 %. Follow-up of subjects in the case-control study showed that cardiovascular mortality was significantly increased among noise sensitive women, but not among men. For coronary heart mortality the interaction of noise sensitivity and lifetime noise exposure was statistically significant in women. In conclusion, noise sensitivity has both somatic and psychological components. It does aggregate in families and probably has a genetic component. Noise sensitivity may be a risk factor for cardiovascular mortality in women.

Gendering and racialising self-determination: Indigenous women and patriarchal whiteness

Indigenous peoples have the right of self-determination, in accordance with international law by virtue of which tehy may freely determine their political status and institutions and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. an integral part of this is the right to autonomy and self-government. The essential feature of racism is not hostility or misperception, but rather the defense [sic] of a system from which advantage is derived on the basis of race. The manner in which the defense [sic] is articulated - either as hostility or subtlety - is not nearly as important as the fact that it insures the continuation of a privileged relationship.

Biologically Inspired Cooperative Routing for Wireless Mobile Sensor Networks

Biological systems present remarkable adaptation, reliability, and robustness in various environments, even under hostility. Most of them are controlled by the individuals in a distributed and self-organized way. These biological mechanisms provide useful resources for designing the dynamical and adaptive routing schemes of wireless mobile sensor networks, in which the individual nodes should ideally operate without central control. This paper investigates crucial biologically inspired mechanisms and the associated techniques for resolving routing in wireless sensor networks, including Ant-based and genetic approaches. Furthermore, the principal contributions of this paper are as follows. We present a mathematical theory of the biological computations in the context of sensor networks; we further present a generalized routing framework in sensor networks by diffusing different modes of biological computations using Ant-based and genetic approaches; finally, an overview of several emerging research directions are addressed within the new biologically computational framework.