Achievement of autonomy by nonhandicapped and mildly learning handicapped adolescents

This study examines the achievement of autonomy by a sample of 30 midly learning handicapped and 30 nonhandicapped adolescents. From participant observation over the course of a school year, a detailed account was obtained about the life of each subject, both in the home and among friends outside the home. Findings suggest that autonomy is achieved through a gradual process of negotiation during the high school years. The mildly handicapped adolescents generally lag behind their regular education counterparts in breaking away from the family. While almost three-fourths of the nonhandicapped sample had made significant gains toward increased freedom, less than half of the mildly handicapped sample had shed close supervision by parents. However, most of the handicapped adolescents were satisfied with the limited freedom they had. The data suggest that autonomy should be understood as relative to the needs and abilities of each individual. Not all adolescents develop at the same pace; not all feel the same desire to assert their independence from their parents when they reach a particular age.This research was supported by Grant HD23097 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.Received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine. Current interest is the adjustment problems of mildly learning handicapped adolescents.Received her Ed.D. from Columbia University. Current interest is social competence of mildly learning handicapped populations and family adjustment.     

Parental criticism and young adolescent self-disclosure: A cross-cultural study

Criticism by mothers and fathers, as well as young adolescents' perceptions of parental criticism and their self-disclosure to parents, was assessed for a sample of 80 families. Of these, 40 were resident in Australia (20 Anglo-Australian and 20 Greek-Australian) and 40 were resident in Greece (20 professional and 20 working-class). There were no differences between the groups in amount of criticism by parents nor in adolescents' perceptions of criticism. Greek- and Anglo-Australian adolescents disclosed significantly less to parents than did the Greek adolescents. For Greek-Australian adolescents there was an inverse relationship between self-disclosure on a number of topics and perceived levels of parental criticism. The results were interpreted in terms of cultural differences between the groups and adaptive behaviors of the Greek-Australian adolescents.This research was supported by a University of Melbourne grant to the first author.Received Ph.D. from University of Melbourne. Research interests include the social context of adolescent development.Received Ph.D. from Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki. Research interest is in cognitive development through the life span.Received Ph.D. from Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki. Research interest is in cognitive development through the life span.     

Emotional and temperamental correlates of Type A in children and adolescents

Emotional and behavioral correlates of Type A behavior in children and adolescents were examined in 184 fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-grade students, classified as high or low Type A, using self-report, teacher ratings (fifth grade only), and structured interview procedures. Measures included the Hunter-Wolf A-B Rating Scale, Behavioral Symptoms of Stress Inventory, Dimensions of Temperament Survey, Desire for Control Scale, Eysenck Personality Inventory, and the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist. High Type A children reported significantly more stressed-related behaviors, higher levels of depression, anger, anxiety, and cognitive disorganization, and greater reactivity than Low Type A. No differences were found on measures of temperament (activity level, attention span, adaptibility, and rhythmicity), desire for control, or introversion-extroversion. Females, in general, reported significantly more behavioral stress symptoms. However, no other gender differences were found. Possible reasons for reported differences between Type A children and adults are discussed, along with gender differences in behavioral symptoms. Need for multiple measures of Type A across situation is considered along with need for controlled longitudinal studies of Type A components and the influence of contexts.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: Adolescent problems, stress.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: Type A, anger/hostility; AIDS prevention.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: child & family problems, stress disorders.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: psychoneuroimmunology.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: pain disorders, stress.Received Ph.D. from Stanford.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: anxiety and phobic disorders.     

Development of interest and enjoyment in adolescence. Part I. Attentional capacities

The first part of this two-part article argues that significant changes in both the capacity and the content of attention emerge in adolescence. Part I reviews evidence from behavioral and biological studies that the capacity for interested attention develops from late childhood into adolescence.     

Correlates of romantic attachment: A path analysis study

A path-analytic study was undertaken to investigate the proposed relationship between physical attractiveness, need for intimacy, self-disclosure, thought about one's dating partner, and reported romantic love. Extrapolations from theories by Murstein (1971) and I. Reiss (1960), and conclusions from other empirical work, provided the background for the assessment of the relationship between the four proposed predictive factors and the development of romantic affect. During the winter of 1977-78 656 college students responded to a survey assessing each of the four predictors and romantic love. Path structures were initially estimated for male and female subsamples. Since few significant sex differences were noted, coefficients were compared for groups of students involved in dating relationships of varying durations. All four predictors were significantly associated with the subjects' self-reported romantic affect toward their dating partner. In all analyses, thinking about one's partner was found to be the most potent predictor. The data suggest the earlier work by Murstein and Reiss offer both testable and productive theoretical foundations for the study of romantic involvement. However, in future work it would be beneficial to (a) search for more numerous and powerful antecedents to romantic love; (b) delineate the specific role of cognitive processes in influencing romantic attachment; (c) compare relationships on criteria other than months of involvement; and (d) seek to examine love from the perspectives of both individuals involved in the dyadic relationship.Received her Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State UniversityReceived his Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University.     

Traditionalism in Swaziland: The economic basis of a Southern African monarchy

Swaziland: Tradition and Change in a Southern African Kingdom by Alan R.

Booth Westview Press, Boulder (Colorado), and Gower, Aldershot (England), 1983. xi plus 156 pp. including maps, illustrations, tables, notes, bibliography and index. $19,50.     

B. Reviews

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF ARABIC LITERATURE. Volume 1: Arabic Literature to the End of the Unayyad Period. Edited by A.F.L. Beeston, T.M.Johnstone, R.B.Serjeant and G.R.Smith, pp.xvi, 547. Cambridge University Press, 1983. £37.95.

AL‐MAQRIZI'S “BOOK OF CONTENTION AND STRIFE CONCERNING THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE BANU UMAYYA AND THE BANU HASHIM”. Translated into English, with an introduction and commentary by C.E.Bosworth. (Journal of Semitic Studies, Monograph No.3), Manchester, Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Manchester, 1980. pp.157.

ARABIC CULTURE THROUGH ITS LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. By M.H. Bakalla. London, Kegan Paul International, 1984. pp.371, 51, plates, maps.

ARABIC LINGUISTICS: AN INTRODUCTION AND BIBLIOGRAPHY. By M.H. Bakalla. London, Mansell, 1983. pp.742.

LA RELATION DE THOMAS PELLOW: UNE LECTURE DU MAROC AU 18^e SIÈCLE. By Magali Morsy. (Synthèse No.12), Paris, Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, 1983. pp.254, 17pl. FF.129.

ESPANA Y EL NORTE DE AFRICA: EL PROTECTORADO DE MARRUECOS (1912–56). By Victor Morales Lezcano. Madrid, Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, 1984. pp.249. Photos., maps, diagrams. 600.00 ptas.

EGYPT AND THE PALESTINE QUESTION 1936–1945. By Thomas Mayer. Berlin, Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1983. pp.391 (paperback).

SUDAN. By M.W.Daly. (World Bibliographical Series, Vol.40.) Oxford (UK) & Santa Barbara (USA), Clio Press, 1983. pp.xvi, 176, 1 map. £19.50.

THE OTHER FACE OF OPEC: FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO THE THIRD WORLD. ENERGY RESOURCES AND POLICIES OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA. By Ibrahim F.I. Shihata. London, Longman, 1982. pp.281 (paperback).

DEVELOPING EDUCATION SYSTEMS IN THE OIL STATES OF ARABIA: CONFLICTS OF PURPOSE AND FOCUS. By J.S.Birks and J.A.Rimmer. (Occasional Papers Series, No.21: Manpower and Migration Series, no.3). University of Durham, Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, 1984. pp.33. E2.50.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO IRAN: THE MIDDLE EAST LIBRARY COMMITTEE GUIDE. Edited by L.P.Elwell‐Sutton. Sussex, The Harvester Press/New Jersey, Barnes & Noble Books, 1984. pp.462.

ARABISCHE UND PERSISCHE PRIVATURKUNDEN DES 12. UND 13. JAHRHUNDERTS AUS ARDABIL (ASERBEIDSCHAN). By Monika Gronke. (Islamkundliche Untersuchungen, Bd 72), Berlin, Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 182. pp.555.

MYSTICISM AND DISSENT: SOCIORELIGIOUS THOUGHT IN QAJAR IRAN. By Mangol Bayat. Syracuse, N.Y., Syracuse U.P., 1982. pp.xvii, 228. $25.00.

SOCIAL DISINTEGRATION AND POPULAR RESISTANCE IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE 1881–1908: REACTIONS TO EUROPEAN ECONOMIC PENETRATION. By Donald Quataert. New York, Columbia U.P., 1983. pp.xxii, 205. $45.50.     

Post-mortem human reproduction: legal and other regulatory issues

Increasingly women are seeking to establish pregnancies using sperm retrieved from their dead or dying partners. This raises a number of issues of a broad nature, but is also of significance in terms of the relationship between regulatory mechanisms and private choices. This article reviews this relationship with specific reference to the United Kingdom position, but also taking account of case law and regulation in Australia, particularly in the State of Victoria.