Justice,Morality, and the Dehumanization of Refugees

Three studies were conducted to test the role of the dehumanization of refugees (through claims that they are immoral) in determining emotional reactions to refugees, attitudes toward refugees, and attitudes toward current refugee policy in Canada. We also examined determinants of such perceptions. In Studies 1 and 2, correlational analyses and structural equation modeling were utilized. In both studies, it was demonstrated that individuals who are higher in social dominance orientation are especially likely to dehumanize refugees, and this dehumanization leads to greater contempt and lack of admiration for refugees, resulting in less favorable attitudes toward the group and toward the nation’s current refugee policy. Study 3 was an experiment in which we examined the effects of information presented about refugees on emotions and attitudes. Results demonstrated that dehumanizing media depictions of refugees as violating appropriate procedures and trying to cheat the system cause greater contempt and lack of admiration for refugees in general, which in turn lead to less favorable attitudes toward the group and less support for the current refugee policy. Results are discussed in terms of the functions that dehumanization may serve, and potential strategies for counteracting such effects. Preparation of this article was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant to the first author. Portions of this research were presented at the 2005 EAESP Small Group Meeting on Social Justice and Intergroup Conflict, Lisbon, Portugal, and at the 2005 Meeting of the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology, Wurzburg, Germany     

Sleep in Mexican-American Adolescents: Social Ecological and Well-Being Correlates

A burgeoning body of research documents links between sleep and adjustment in adolescence, but little is known about the role of the social ecology in promoting healthful sleeping habits. This study was aimed at identifying the socio-cultural correlates of adolescents’ sleep, including average nighttime sleep duration, average daytime napping, and night-to-night variability in sleep duration and assessing the links between these dimensions of sleep and adjustment in Mexican-American youth. Participants were 469 Mexican-American adolescents (50.5% female) and their mothers and fathers. Data on family socio-cultural characteristics and youth adjustment were collected in home interviews with youth, mothers, and fathers, and, during 7 evening telephone interviews, adolescents reported on nighttime sleep and daytime napping for the prior 24-h period. Night-to night variability and napping were more strongly linked to youth depressive symptoms and risky behavior than was average nighttime sleep, whereas nighttime sleep predicted lower body mass index. Lower parental acculturation and fathers’ familism values predicted more healthful sleep, and higher levels of family income, parental education and neighborhood crime predicted less healthful sleep. In addition to illuminating the significance of socio-cultural influences on youths’ sleep, this study contributes to the literature by documenting the multidimensionality of sleep patterns and their links with adjustment in an understudied population.     

针灸正骨法治疗急性期腰椎间盘突出症58例

目的：探讨针灸正骨法治疗急性期腰椎间盘突出症（ＬＩＤＰ）的疗效。方法：采用单盲对比法将患随机分成两组，治疗组５８例，对照组５０例，分别采用针灸正骨法和正骨法配合静脉滴注甘露醇，地塞米松疗法相对照，进行对比观察。结果：治疗组疗效优于对照组，两组有显性差异。结论：针灸正骨法是治疗急性期ＬＩＤＰ实用，有效的方法。