James Horley

Affective and cognitive components of global subjective well-being measures

A study was conducted to replicate some of the findings of Andrews and McKennell (1980), who examined affective, cognitive, and other components of global subjective well-being measures among respondents from the United States and Britain. Using data collected from 1068 Canadians, linear structural relations (LISREL) estimates of affective, cognitive, and error components of three global well-being measures provided general support for Andrews and McKennells findings. Implications of the results, such as impact on the design of future studies and measures of subjective well-being, are discussed.

Personal Construct Perspectives on Forensic Psychology

Forensic Psychology and Personal Theory. A Credulous Approach to Violence and Homicide. Sexual Offenders. Mentally Disordered Offenders. Stress in Police Officers. Treating Offenders in the Community. Psychological Treatment of Offenders in Institutions.

Personal Construct Theory and Human Values

Despite recognition as an important, potentially unifying construct within the social sciences and humanities, value lacks an overarching theoretical framework. One theory within the social sciences, personal construct theory, is suggested as a theoretical foundation for human values, and an attempt to situate values within this theory is presented. It is argued that human values are core constructs in the language of personal construct theory, while ordinary beliefs are peripheral constructs. Various implications and applications of this formulation are discussed.

Fixed-Role Therapy With Multiple Paraphilias:

Paraphilias, or sexually deviant behaviors, are especially difficult to address when an individual displaysmore than one sexual deviation at one time. Acase of an incarcerated forensic client who displayed symptoms of sadism, masochism, and hebephilia is described. Fixed-role therapy (FRT), a dramaturgical approach to treatmentwhere a client enacts a new character or role based on how he or she would like to act, was employed with at least short-termsuccess in one case. Some of the advantages and limitations of FRT are discussed.

Frotteurism : A term in search of an underlying disorder?

Abstract Frotteurism is understood commonly as a quite rare paraphilia that involves deriving sexual satisfaction from unwanted rubbing against another person. The exact nature of frotteurism is in dispute, and this paper argues that definitional imprecision and paucity of clinical and research information on the disorder are causes for concern. An example of an individual provisionally diagnosed as afrotteur is presented. Penile plethysmography and other data reveal that the individual might be construed as a timid rapist. It is suggested that frotteurism may be viewed best as ineffectual sexual assault and ‘frotteurs’ as less aggressive rapists, perhaps eliminating the need for a separate diagnostic category.

Personal construct psychotherapy: Fixed-role therapy with forensic clients

Abstract Fixed-role therapy, a dramaturgical approach to psychotherapy developed by Kelly in 1955, has been used in a variety of situations over the years with various client groups, including criminal offenders. Some of the benefits and limitations of fixed-role therapy with sexual abusers will be discussed. It is suggested that the strengths of some offenders, such as the social skills necessary to succeed at confidence games, be recognized and directed in fixed-role sessions. Illustrations of a number of issues will be drawn from two clinical case examples.

After the Baltimore affair : James Mark Baldwin's life and work, 1908-1934

James Mark Baldwin was one of the earliest American practitioners of the new psychology and an influential figure in the emergence and establishment of psychology in the United States. He left the United States because of a scandal in Baltimore resulting from his arrest at a colored bordello. Baldwin returned only occasionally to North America following his forced resignation from Johns Hopkins University in 1909. Contrary to the few references to his life after leaving Baltimore, Baldwin appears to have initially settled in England. He made numerous extended trips to Mexico and continental Europe, especially France, which eventually became his adopted home. Baldwins later life and work in Europe are examined in this article.

The emergence and development of psychopathy

Currently, psychopathy and related terms such as antisocial personality disorder are popular yet problematic constructs within forensic psychology and other disciplines. Psychopathy is traced typically to the works of Pinel and Prichard in the early 19th century, and it has even been linked to biblical passages, although there appears to be little or no support for the latter claim. The first use of the term psychopathy in German psychiatry of the mid-19th century referred only to psychological disturbance in general, or ‘personality diseases’, although German psychiatrists such as Kraepelin did propose more specific definitions of the term related to social deviance. Our modern understanding of psychopathy as a psychiatric disorder of an undetermined genetic origin involving antisocial elements and a lack of feeling or concern for others owes much to the clinical work and writings of Cleckley. Antisocial personality disorder appears similarly to derive from the work of psychiatric nosologists like Kraepelin and Schneider, while sociopathy is due more to the work of Partridge in the 1920s and 1930s.

Understanding Multiple Sexualities

The language that we invent to describe experience tends to shape the experience. This is very clear with respect to human sexuality. To date, in part due to religious injunctions which still exist in many parts of the world, our languages of sexuality have been limited (see Weeks, 2011). The ways in which we describe our sexual selves to others, and think privately about our identities and desires, are often impoverished. How, for example, would a mid-30s man describe himself based on a series of same-sex relationships during his teens, a 10-year exclusive relationship with a woman, and bondage fantasies involving older, sexually ambiguous partners? Due to a host of reasons he might choose straight, but he might also select bisexual. Currently, an expanded list might include queer and BDSM-curious, but the choices are limited, and any term or set of terms selected might even be disputed. With respect to English, we operate with a relatively restricted terminology for sexual identities, desires, and experiences that can lead to confusion, anxiety, and even social conflict. This restricted use of language at times lags behind the dramatic changes in the sexual world that have occurred since the 1960s, although Scott’s (1998) research would suggest that the so-called Sexual Revolution was anything but revolutionary in terms of impact on sexual values and ethics. There were certainly some effects, and these social changes were well summarized by Weeks (2007):

Social Influence on Sexual Constructs

Social context, as mentioned in the Chapter 2, has been given relatively little explicit consideration in personal construct theory (PCT) to date. There is a formal recognition of social relationships in terms of the sociality corollary of the theory, or to the extent that people interpret the construction processes of others they are able to play roles in social processes involving others (Kelly, 1955). This theoretical corollary has inspired an entire book to make sense of social processes, individuals, and related topics (see Bannister, 1979; Stringer, 1979), as well as numerous attempts (already mentioned) to sort out the social side of PCT. In addition, Kelly’s commonality corollary—to the extent that one person employs a construction of experience similar to that employed by another person, their psychological processes can be seen as similar—seems to point to social factors to some extent. It remains unclear, however, what social processes and social context actually mean to individuals, self-identity, and especially to their understanding of sexuality. Additionally, the ontological status of various social factors is unresolved within the theory, which is odd and uncomfortable in a personality theory with clinical implications—social interaction and social conditions must be relevant, for example, to a psychotherapeutic encounter if only between two individuals. We feel the need here to consider the potential contributions to PCT, and especially a PCT-based understanding of sexuality, of sociology, social psychology (both psychological and sociological social psychology), and other social science disciplines.