On the adolescent process as a transformation of the self

The purpose of this paper is to clarify and extend the psychoanalytic theory of adolescence. Three sources of data are used: biographical source material about Freud's adolescence, introspective accounts from the self-analysis of psychoanalysts, and other biographical vignettes and reports from the psychoanalytic literature. It is proposed that a change in the self emerges as the pivotal focus during adolescent development. An intense peer relationship serves to maintain narcissistic balance and the cohesion of the self. This allows deidealization of archaic parental imagoes and their transformation into newly internalized idealizations. The newly acquired idealizations consolidate into a stable ego ideal which eliminates the need for an alter ego relationship. The self-objects chosen for these new idealizations are related to the need to overcome specific disappointments in the archaic self-objects. The stability of the new ideals depends on the invulnerability of the idealized self-objects. Transient states of narcissistic disequilibrium manifest as turmoil. Presented at a meeting of The Chicago Psychoanalytic Society on May 23, 1972.Received M.D. from the University of Maryland; psychiatric training at the Cincinnati General Hospital; graduate of The Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. Main interests are the development of psychoanalysis from a historical perspective and the psychology of adolescence.Received M.D. from New York University; psychiatric training from Associated Psychiatric Faculties of Chicago; graduate of The Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. Main interest is the intellectual history of psychoanalysisReceived M.D. from the University of Chicago; psychiatric training at Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago; graduate of The Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. Main interest is psychoanalytic metapsychology of development.     

Hyperostosis cranii ex vacuo in adults: a consequence of brain atrophy from diverse causes

Hyperostosis cranii ex vacuo is diffuse thickening of the bones of the cranium occurring after successful ventricular shunting in hydrocephalic children, presumably as a compensatory phenomenon. We present three adults with severe brain atrophy and correspondingly severe skull thickening. In each, the cause of cerebral atrophy was well defined, and none had undergone ventricular shunting. In two, brain atrophy resulted from different temporally discrete insults sustained in adult life, ischemic in one and traumatic in the other. In the third case. progressive brain atrophy resulted from a primary neurodegenerative disorder, Hallervordan Spatz disease. Our observations suggest that hyperostosis cranii ex vacuo is a more general phenomenon than has been previously recognized, and point to a relationship between dynamic changes in brain size and skull thickness. We suggest that such relationships should be taken into account in anthropometric evaluation of the skull.     

The use of pulmonary interstitial emphysema as an indicator of live birth

Making the determination of live birth versus stillbirth in a discarded newborn infant based on gross and microscopic autopsy findings can be a challenging task for the forensic pathologist. The traditional criteria for live birth determination are frequently challenged in court, and indisputable evidence of live birth remains elusive. The histologic finding of pulmonary interstitial emphysema has not been considered as a useful determinant of live birth. The authors report two cases of discarded newborn infants in which the finding of pulmonary interstitial emphysema was used as an indicator of live birth.     

Prisoners' perception of informing to the authorities: an analysis in terms of functional moral judgment

A series of functional measurement experiment show that prisoners modulate their moral judgments of violations of their in-group regulations. The participants were 67 women and 80 men, sentenced for at least three years for murder, robbery, drug-traffic or white collar offenses. Each was asked, individually, to imagine a series of incidents where incriminating information on in-group or out-group inmates is delivered to the prison authorities or to an ingroup source and to rate the deserved denigration of the informer, who was characterized as a leader or not and as a drug-addict or not who had a prison-leave or not. An assignment of approximately equal weight for social status, drug use and prison leave was found, beyond gender and type of offense. In line with the hypothesis of judgmental modularity, informing to an out-group source was judged much more severely than informing to in-group arbiter and than informing on an out-group inmate.     

A Novel Method for Removing a Spinal Cord with Attached Cervical Ganglia from a Pediatric Decedent

A diagnosis of child abuse is dependent on a comprehensive and accurate assessment of injury in the context of a thorough investigation. However, signatures of trauma are often subtle and interpretation can be very difficult. Recently, researchers have refocused their attention from the head to the neck in search of traumatic signatures of abusive head trauma. HCIFS has developed a technique to remove the cervical spinal cord with the ganglia attached that is less destructive and more time and cost efficient than alternative methods previously published. Once removed, the dorsal nerve roots and ganglia are evaluated for the presence of hemorrhage. The authors performed a small pilot study using the novel method to evaluate 20 decedents with a history of blunt force trauma and eight without a traumatic history. Fifteen of the traumatic deaths and two of the nontraumatic deaths were found to have dorsal nerve root and/or ganglia hemorrhage.     

School Suspensions and Adverse Experiences in Adulthood

The “school-to-prison pipeline” and the negative effects of suspensions, expulsions and school arrests have received increasing national attention recently. Researchers have documented some of the potential harms of these exclusionary school discipline practices for students, including academic difficulties, increased misconduct, and future justice system contact. However, these investigations have been somewhat limited in scope, as they tend to focus only on students’ academic outcomes and juvenile justice system involvement. In this paper we seek to expand upon prior studies by considering how school suspensions may affect youth in peripheral and long-lasting ways. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent to Adult Health, we analyze whether being suspended from school relates to the likelihood of students experiencing a number of adverse events and outcomes when they are adults. We find that being suspended increases the likelihood that a student will experience criminal victimization, criminal involvement, and incarceration years later, as adults.     

鹅细小病毒和鸭瘟病毒复合PCR检测方法的建立

根据GenBank中的鹅细小病毒(GPV)和鸭瘟病毒(DPV)基因序列,分别设计合成了针对GPVVP3和DPV UL6基因片段的2对引物,以GPV-GZ1株鹅胚尿囊液和DPV-SD株鸭胚尿囊液的核酸提取物混合液作为模板,经优化反应条件,成功建立了检测GPV和DPV 2种病毒的复合PCR方法.特异性试验结果显示,该方法对GPV-GZ2株与DPV-SC株病毒核酸的扩增均获得550 bp和376 bp的2条特异性目的片段,而对鹅副黏病毒、鸭肝炎病毒、鸭源沙门菌、鸭源巴氏杆菌和鸭疫里默氏杆菌的核酸扩增结果均为阴性;敏感性试验结果显示,该方法对GPV核酸的最小检出量为1.66 Pg,对DPV核酸为0.166 Pg;对人工感染雏鹅的肝组织进行PCR扩增,结果可检测到相应的特异性病毒核酸片段.表明,建立的复合PCR方法具有特异性强、敏感性高、快速简便等特点,可用于GPV或/和DPV临床感染病例的联合检测与鉴别诊断.     

Decoding Negotiation Systems in the Middle East and North Africa: A Framework for Analysis

Regional conflicts are becoming increasingly complex due to the involvement of an ever more numerous and interconnected set of actors. Previous research has focused on regional conflict systems and has generated theoretical approaches such as the regional security complex paradigm. However, when complex, multifaceted, seemingly contradictory webs of relationships are spun in a region, new tools are needed to analyze and evaluate them. Drawing on previous regional conflict models, we propose a negotiation-oriented framework of regional conflict analysis that explores the type and intensity of relationships between state and nonstate actors in a conflict system. We offer a seven-step scale of relationships (ranging from ally to active armed opponent) that represents a novel contribution to the methodological efforts to analyze relationships in conflict systems. This framework brings to light the relational imbalance of the MENA region and has the potential to contextualize for negotiators and mediators the complex system of conflicts within, and possibly outside, the region.