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Questionable authorship and the problem of dirty hands: Throwing missing authorship into the ring. In response to both Bulow and Helgesson, and Tang
Get PDFThe unethical practice of gift authorship and hostage authorship was portrayed in detail in previous issues of Research Ethics. The aim of this short article is to explore the impact of penalising junior researchers for partaking in gift authorship, and the occurrence and implications of missing authorship in publication. It concludes with reflections on current guidelines and suggestions put forth by Bulow and Helgesson, and Tang, and potential strategies for counteracting the frequency with which both occur
O self aprisionado: Desdobramentos no processo psicanalítico (Compreender o self aprisionado: Um jeito diferente de domesticar)
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Complex and conscious. Case study of a change programme in a UK local authority adult care service through a complexity and psychoanalytical lens
No full textThis paper offers a case study of a large UK local authority adult care department as it introduces a new practice model. The change programme is examined through a lens of complexity theory. Complexity offers a way of understanding constantly changing systems and uses concepts such as ‘feedback loops’ and recognition of ‘emergent’ behaviours to offer a means to anticipate patterns of change in otherwise unpredictable systems. In this study, complexity is found to offer a helpful understanding of behaviour across the complex adaptive system of a large organisation but it falls short at recognising the cause of behaviours that can be obstructive. The author suggests the use of psychoanalytic theory to acknowledge the emotion that might be the driver for resistance to change and notices how effectively the two theories applied together can bring rich understanding as well as strategic oversight to a complex social care system. This study provides a useful, theoretically informed insight into change management and leadership within a social work agency that is moving away from transactional practice and promoting creative, autonomous, relationship-based practice. The study advances understanding of how complexity and psychoanalytic theory can be used in tangent to support organisational change within social care
New discoveries in child psychotherapy: Findings from qualitative research
No full textNew Discoveries in Child Psychotherapy presents eleven new contributions to child psychoanalytic research, most of them based on the experience of the clinical consulting room. Each chapter is the work of an experienced child psychotherapist or child analyst, vivid in their description of the children and families they encountered. Their understanding of the "inner worlds" of patients and the clinical consulting room is clearly evidenced in their analysis of clinical presentations.
The chapters are the result of the psychoanalytic clinical and observational practices of their authors, allied to their use of rigorous qualitative research methods, in particular Grounded Theory and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). They describe developments of child psychoanalytic knowledge in several fields, including autism, psychotherapy with severely deprived children, and the study of early infancy. They demonstrate advances in child psychoanalytic theories and methods and the development of new forms of clinical service provision. Contested issues in psychoanalytic research are thoroughly evaluated, showing how it can be made more accountable and rigorous through the adaptation of established qualitative research methods to the study of unconscious mental phenomena.
New Discoveries in Child Psychotherapy will be an essential text in the field of child psychoanalysis and will be highly useful in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis training courses and for psychoanalytic researchers, as well as for practitioners
Can evolutionary thinking shed light on gender diversity?
No full textIssues of sexual reproduction lie at the core of evolutionary thinking, which often places an emphasis on how individuals attempt to maximise the number of successful offspring that they can produce. At first sight, it may therefore appear that individuals who opt for gender-affirming medical interventions are acting in ways that are evolutionarily disadvantageous. However, there are persuasive hypotheses that might make sense of such choices in evolutionary terms and we explore these here. It is premature to claim knowledge of the extent to which evolutionary arguments can usefully be applied to issues of gender identity, although worth reflecting on the extent to which nature tends towards diversity in matters of sex and gender. The importance of acknowledging and respecting different views in this domain, as well as recognising both the uncertainty and likely multiplicity of causal pathways, has implications for clinicians. We make some suggestions about how clinicians might best respond when faced with requests from patients in this area
“There’s a long way to go.” Educational psychologists’ perceptions of their role in supporting schools to improve outcomes for trans* students.
Get PDFWhilst the prevalence of the trans* community is difficult to estimate, the number of children and young people seeking medical support for struggles associated with gender identity has increased significantly over the last 5 years (The Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, 2018). Trans* students are reportedly more likely to be victimised in school environments and more likely to experience poor academic and mental health outcomes (Stonewall, 2017; Nadin, Peel, Tyler and Rivers, 2015; Yunger., Carver, and Perry, 2004). Educational Psychologists (EPs) are arguably well placed to support schools to improve outcomes for trans* students. They are able to work at a whole school, group and individual level helping schools develop policy and curriculum, providing training, consulting with staff members and other professionals and offering direct interventions to students (Fallon, Woods and Rooney, 2010) Limited research was found considering the role of EPs with the trans* population, the majority of which was not conducted in the UK. This project sought to ex-tend the existing evidence base and discover EPs perceptions of their role in sup-porting schools to improve outcomes for trans* students. A relativist and constructivist ontological and epistemological position was taken. 8 practicing EPs working in an outer London, Local Authority were inter-viewed and a thematic analysis was conducted. This illuminated 6 interconnected themes. The first theme, the ‘EP role with the trans* community,’ encompasses participants’ views as to how EPs may work to improve outcomes for trans* students. Their role was felt to be influenced by (as well as have influence on) four other themes: ‘awareness, thought and discussion around gender identity;’ ‘knowledge and uncertainty,’ ‘beliefs and attitudes influencing practice’ and factors that add ‘complexity’ to a situation. These 5 themes were considered grounded within a 6th theme, ‘contextual factors,’ describing individual, local and national factors that may change over time. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research, the current national and local context and theoretical frameworks including Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecological Systems Model and psychodynamic theory. Strengths, limitations and directions for future research are outlined and potential implications for EP practice are discussed. Finally, self-reflections on the research journey producing this thesis are presented
Becoming the parent of a school child: A psychosocial approach to understanding the transition process for parents of children with SEN
Get PDFTransitions to educational institutions have received growing attention in recent years, with research directed towards supporting effective transition policies, practices and programmes. In UK based research, minimal attention has been paid to what a parent may experience as their child with SEN transitions to school and how parents cope with these changes and adjustments. This qualitative study looked at how parents in an outer London borough experienced their child with SEN’s transition from nursery to school. In this study, the transition to school process was understood in the context of relational change, uncertainty, changes in expectations, as well as internal and interpersonal processes. A psychosocial approach was adopted and Hollway and Jefferson’s (2013) Free Association Narrative Interview Method was used to interview five parents about their experience. A thematic analysis was used to gather a rich account of the psychological and social dimensions of the transition process for each of these parents. Themes were then considered in conjunction with relevant psychoanalytic concepts. Findings are presented in relation to analysis, related theory and research. The limitations of this study and implications for educational psychology practice and the role of professionals in the transition to school are discussed, including a reflection on how the conceptualisation of transition may be pertinent to EP practic
Mother Nature and Father Time: Oedipal imbalance and the premature structuring of reality in the perversions
Get PDFMother Nature and Father Time are ever-present in the human story. Mother equals nurture, symbiosis and is chaos. Father stands for separation, lore, structure and culture. We need them both, but there is a toxic version of each: the Oedipal mother devours her infant in a perpetual symbiosis. The toxic father is violently intrusive. The psychoanalytic cure is based upon the restructuring of the Oedipal imbalances within the early object world. The technical challenges of one particular area of psychopathology; that of perversion, is instructive both for the treatment of such problems, as well as for psychoanalytic technique more generally. Perversion involves a series of compelling actions, an action narrative, which is used by the person afflicted as a solution to anxiety. I argue that the perverse enactment and its transference corollary represent premature attempts to introduce structure due to the terror of an intimate ego-to-ego engagement, because contact with the other and with the chaos of the internal world is experienced as potentially annihilating. I focus on the particular qualities of the superego in perversion, illustrated with a description of the psychotherapy of such a case. This elucidates the specific clinical pitfalls of working with such psychopathology. The perversion itself signifies the experience of a powerful (maternal) superego, more primitive, visceral and harsh than the (paternal) superego described by Freud as heir to the Oedipus Complex. This belongs to an early stage of development when nascent ego structures are tenuous. The notion of superego is broadened to include all aspects of our shared culture, not just the moral element described by Freud. Superego-to-superego contact is impersonal and relates to our shared culture and rituals; in the clinical context, the setting. This is different from ego-to-ego contact associated with emotional connectedness, the hallmark of good mothering and ultimately the aim of psychoanalytic treatment. Enactment in perversion indicates an attempt to prematurely structure reality in the absence of a reliable benign paternal object, and this is manifest in the here-and-now with the setting. This allows for safety, but at huge cost in terms of the capacity for object relating
Last chance saloon: From repetition to growth, a young mother’s journey in brief psychotherapy
No full textThis chapter describes a time-limited psychotherapy with a young mother who, by her early twenties, had lost three children into care. Intergenerational dynamics in a family of women are a central vein running through this case, as they are in so many, and this is illustrated along with aspects of this young mother’s presentation that were different in important ways.
I consider some of the tensions when seeing parents for psychotherapy and needing to keep the children, and the network, in mind as well.
Finally, I discuss the difficulties of short or time-limited work with vulnerable mothers where neglect and premature abandonment are in the history that one repeats