Erika R. Carr

Sexual Objectification of Women: Advances to Theory and Research

Objectification theory provides an important framework for understanding, researching, and intervening to improve women’s lives in a sociocultural context that sexually objectifies the female body and equates a woman’s worth with her body’s appearance and sexual functions. The purpose of this Major Contribution is to advance theory, research, practice, and training related to the sexual objectification of women. The purpose of this article is to introduce readers to objectification theory and related research, extend objectification theory to our understanding of women’s substance use and/or abuse and immersed forms of sexual objectification via sexually objectifying environments, and provide an overview of this Major Contribution on Sexual Objectification of Women.

Sexual Objectification of Women: Clinical Implications and Training Considerations:

This article focuses on the implications of theory and empirical research on the sexual objectification of women. Drawing largely from the American Psychological Association’s 2007 Guidelines for Psychological Practice With Girls and Women, the 2007 Report of the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, key feminist therapy texts, and the findings from empirical research on Fredrickson and Robert’s (1997) objectification theory, the authors provide suggestions for practice with female clients struggling with issues related to sexual objectification and ideas for the training of psychologists.

Further evidence of self-medication: personality factors influencing drug choice in substance use disorders

According to Khantzians (2003) self-medication hypothesis (SMH), substance dependence is a compensatory means to modulate affects and self-soothe in response to distressing psychological states. Khantzian asserts: (1) Drugs become addicting because they have the power to alleviate, remove, or change human psychological suffering, and (2) There is a considerable degree of specificity in a persons choice of drugs because of unique psychological and physiological effects. The SMH has received criticism for its variable empirical support, particularly in terms of the drug-specificity aspect of Khantzians hypothesis. We posit that previous empirical examinations of the SMH have been compromised by methodological limitations. Also, more recent findings supporting the SMH have yet to be replicated. Addressing previous limitations to the research, this project tested this theory in a treatment sample of treatment-seeking individuals with substance dependence (N = 304), using more heterogeneous, personality-driven measures that are theory-congruent. Using an algorithm based on medical records, individuals were reliably classified as being addicted to a depressant, stimulant, or opiate by two independent raters. Theory-based a priori predictions were that the three groups would exhibit differences in personality characteristics and emotional-regulation strategies. Specifically, our hypotheses entailed that when compared against each other: (1) Individuals with a central nervous system (CNS) depressant as drug of choice (DOC) will exhibit defenses of repression, over-controlling anger, and emotional inhibition to avoid acknowledging their depression; (2) Individuals with an opiate as DOC will exhibit higher levels of aggression, hostility, depression, and trauma, greater deficits in ego functioning, and externalizing/antisocial behavior connected to their use; and (3) Individuals with a stimulant as DOC will experience anhedonia, paranoia, have a propensity to mania, and display lower levels of emotional inhibition. MANOVAs were used to test three hypotheses regarding drug group differences on the personality variables that were in keeping with the SMH. The MANOVAs for Hypothesis I (Depressant group) and Hypothesis II (Opiate group) were statistically significant. Findings partially support the SMH, particularly in its characterization of personality functioning in those addicted to depressants and opiates.

Underscoring the Need for Social Justice Initiatives Concerning the Sexual Objectification of Women

In this article, we emphasize the need to continually think outside the traditional therapy box in ways that we can intervene (and empower clients to intervene) to more directly address social problems, such as the sexual objectification of women, and to develop our own and our students’ advocacy skills to intervene at the level of organizations, processes, systems, and social policy. In addition, we encourage psychologists to actively take steps to increase the ways in which they turn their social justice agendas into action.

Positive behavioral support planning in the inpatient treatment of severe disruptive behaviors: A description of service features.

Positive behavior support (PBS) plans are increasingly used on inpatient units to assess and treat serious and dangerous behaviors displayed by patients with serious psychiatric impairment. A contemporary extension of traditional applied behavior analytic procedures, PBS plans integrate theories from several domains with perspectives on community psychology, positive psychology, and recovery-oriented care. Because there is little evidence to suggest that more invasive, punitive disciplinary strategies lead to long-term positive behavioral change (Parkes, 1996), PBS plans have emerged as an alternative to the use of seclusion and restraint or other forms of restrictive measures typically used on inpatient psychiatric units (Hammer et al., 2011). Moreover, PBS plans are a preferred method of intervention because more invasive interventions often cause more harm than good to all involved (Elliott et al., 2005). This article seeks to provide an integrated framework for the development of positive behavior support plans in inpatient psychiatric settings. In addition to explicating the philosophy and core elements of PBS plans, this work includes discussion of the didactic and pragmatic aspects of training clinical staff in inpatient mental health settings. A case vignette is included for illustration and to highlight the use of PBS plans as a mechanism for helping patients transition to less restrictive settings. This work will add to the scant literature examining the use of positive behavioral support plans in inpatient psychiatric settings. (PsycINFO Database Record

Principles for Recovery-Oriented Inpatient Care

This chapter defines and distinguishes between two related concepts of “recovery” in relation to serious mental illnesses and the provision of “recovery-oriented care.” With this distinction in place, the chapter then outlines four key principles for applying the principles of recovery-oriented care to inpatient psychiatry. This first principle is that it is the person’s own recovery, reframing the aim of inpatient care to preparing the person to manage his or her condition and life following discharge. The second principle that follows from this is that Recovery-oriented care needs to be person/family-centered and culturally responsive to be relevant to the person’s life. Given the high prevalence of trauma among persons with mental illness and the potentially traumatic nature of hospitalization itself, the third principle is that inpatient staff should anticipate, and welcome, trauma survivors through the provision of a safe, respectful, and collaborative environment. Finally, principle four is that the interdisciplinary team needs to be expanded to include the person him or herself, his or her identified family members, and the community-based providers who have worked with the person in the past and/or will work with the person following discharge. In closing, the respective role of each of these team members within the context of recovery-oriented inpatient care is described.

Childhood Maltreatment and PTSD: Spiritual Well-Being and Intimate Partner Violence as Mediators.

Childhood maltreatment places individuals, including African American women who are undereducated and economically disadvantaged, at risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Participants were 192 African American women with a history in the prior year of both a suicide attempt and intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure. They were recruited from a public hospital that provides medical and mental health treatment to mostly low-income patients. A simple mediator model was used to examine if (a) existential well-being (sense of purpose) or religious well-being (relationship with God) mediated the link between childhood maltreatment and adult PTSD symptoms. Sequential multiple mediator models determined if physical and nonphysical IPV enhanced our understanding of the mediational association among the aforementioned variables. Findings suggest that existential well-being mediated the association between childhood maltreatment and adult PTSD symptoms in a simple mediator model, and existential well-being and recent nonphysical IPV served as sequential multiple mediators of this link. However, religious well-being and physical IPV were not significant mediators. Findings underscore the importance of enhancing existential well-being in the treatment of suicidal African American women with a history of childhood maltreatment and IPV.

Training in Mental Health Recovery and Social Justice in the Public Sector

Individuals who experience serious mental illness (SMI) frequently encounter stigma and disenfranchisement. Attention to this concern necessitates a social justice focus within the mental health field. This article explores the significance and critical foundations of a psychology training experience grounded in a social justice and recovery-oriented perspective to answer the call for a focus on social justice and empowerment for individuals with SMI in mental health recovery. A specific training program is highlighted as an example of how social justice and recovery-oriented psychology training can be conducted. It includes theoretical foundations, trainee and supervision factors, a training model, and a description of didactic, clinical, consultation, interdisciplinary, and recovery-initiative training experiences. Last, specific successes and challenges of this type of training experience, as well as recommendations for future program development, are shared.

When Sexual Trauma Survivors with Severe Psychiatric Disabilities Experience Institutional Care

ABSTRACT Individuals with severe psychiatric disabilities face many challenges from their experience of mental health problems, but also from disenfranchisement, marginalization, and stigmatization from a sociocultural experience. Those who are sexual trauma survivors also have unique challenges and intersecting experiences, which are not historically well understood, acknowledged, or treated in U.S. systems of care. Both in historic and modern mental health systems there have been methods thought of as interventions that have been or are currently reported as traumatizing to those who experience them. This article highlights the specific challenges, needs, and organizational shifts that U.S. systems of care need to be aware of and embark upon in order to provide treatment that is more efficacious with and cognizant of the experiences of those who are sexual trauma survivors. Furthermore, new paradigms for providing mental health treatment are offered in the context of providing trauma-informed as well as trauma treatment to those who are sexual trauma survivors and experience severe psychiatric disabilities.

Shame and Depressive Symptoms: Self-compassion and Contingent Self-worth as Mediators?

Research has identified the experience of shame as a relevant predictor of depressive symptoms. Building upon resilience theory, this is the first study to investigate if self-compassion and/or contingent self-worth (i.e., family support and God’s love) mediate the link between shame and depressive symptoms. Participants were 109 African Americans, within the age range of 18 and 64, who sought service following a suicide attempt from a public hospital that serves mostly low-income patients. Findings suggest that shame was related to depressive symptoms through self-compassion but not through contingent self-worth, underscoring the significant role that self-compassion plays in ameliorating the aggravating effect of shame on depressive symptoms. Results highlight the value of incorporating self-compassion training into interventions for suicidal African Americans in an effort to reduce the impact of shame on their depressive symptoms and ultimately their suicidal behavior and as a result enhance their capacity for resilience.