Tara L. Kuther

Victimization by Community Violence in Young Adolescents from a Suburban City

An exploratory model of the victimization-distress relation was tested with a sample of 123 sixth- through eighth-grade students from a small suburban city. More than one-half of the participants reported being victimized by community violence (including being chased, hit, mugged, and wounded). Although the majority of victimization incidents described by students included less severe types of physical confrontations such as chasing or hitting, nearly one-fifth of the students experienced more severe forms of victimization, namely mugging or wounding. An exploratory model was constructed whereby assertiveness and self-controlling coping predicted victimization. Victimization and family support emerged as direct predictors of distress, and family support moderated the victimization-distress relation. Suggestions for further research are discussed.

Integrating Research Ethics into the Introductory Psychology Course Curriculum

Faculty at 2 universities integrated 6 case studies on research ethics into their introductory psychology curricula. Students who received the ethics modules were better able to identify ethical issues and consider moral ambiguities them students who received standard instruction. Students and faculty favorably evaluated the curriculum, and students indicated that ethics instruction increased their interest in research psychology and scientific ethics.

SEX AND SEX-ROLE DIFFERENCES IN LOCUS OF CONTROL

The relations among of sex, measures of sex-role orientation, and locus of control were examined with 240 undergraduates (150 women and 90 men). Although there were no sex differences on mean locus of control scores, a significant relation between scores on sex-role orientation and locus of control was observed for women but not for men.

Promoting Positive Ethics: An Interview with Mitchell M. Handelsman

Tara L. Kuther is an associate professor of psychology at Western Connecticut State University, where she teaches courses in child, adolescent, and adult development. She is chair of the Society for the Teaching of Psychologys Instructional Resource Awards Task Force and the author of The Psychology Majors Handbook (2003) and Careers in Psychology: Opportunities in a Changing World (2004; coauthored by Robert D. Morgan of Texas Tech University), both published by Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Mitchell M. Handelsman is a professor of psychology and a Colorado University Presidents Teaching Scholar at the University of Colorado at Denver, where he has taught courses in introductory and clinical psychology as well as ethics, psychotherapy, interviewing, and family therapy. A clinical psychologist by training, Mitch earned his PhD from the University of Kansas in 1981 and is licensed in the state of Colorado. He served as chair of the Ethics and Professional Review Committee of Colorado Psychological Association and the APA Division 2 Task Force on the Incorporation of Ethics into the Undergraduate Psychology Curriculum. Mitch is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and his many teaching awards include the 1995 Teaching Excellence Award from APA Division 2 and the 1992 CASE Colorado Professor of the Year Award. In 1989–1990 he was an APA Congressional Science Fellow in Washington, DC. Mitch is the author of more than 50 refereed articles and book chapters, mostly on ethical issues in the teaching and practice of psychology.