Adolescent Intimacy Revisited

Two studies examined intimacy in adolescent friendships. In the first, 7th-, 9th-, and 11th-grade students completed a questionnaire assessing perceived friendship intimacy. Age and sex differences were identified in emotional closeness, self-disclosure, emphasis on individuality, control, and conformity. Across ages, emphasis on individuality increased, whereas control and conformity declined. There were no age differences in emotional closeness and self-disclosure. Females reported more emotional closeness and self-disclosure than males. In the second study, individual differences in friendship intimacy were examined in a sample of 9th-grade adolescents. A joint problem solving task identified interdependent and disengaged friends. Perceived intimacy among interdependent and disengaged friends was contrasted with that in a control group of subjects without friends. Adolescents with friends reported more closeness than those without friends. Interdependent friends reported greater levels of respect for individuality than disengaged friends. The results underscore the salience of intimacy for peer relationships during the adolescent years and suggest that intimacy may be an important construct distinguishing between different types of close friendships.     

Psychiatric testimony in "cult" litigation

Changes in political or religious beliefs among POWs and hostages have often been attributed to "brainwashing" or "coercive persuasion." The cases reported have usually involved people held involuntarily. Since the publication of DSM-III, the authors have noted frequent usage of the term "atypical dissociative disorder" in civil lawsuits by plaintiffs seeking damages from groups or cults they joined voluntarily. The effects of "psychological captivity" are claimed to be comparable to the effects of involuntary participation in instances of kidnapping or being taken prisoner. The authors suggest that voluntary and involuntary activities are fundamentally dissimilar and that the use of DSM-III is problematic in these cases.     

From the margins to the center: urban housing for single Jewish women in pre-state Israel

From the mid-1920s on, single urban Jewish women in Palestine under the British Mandate (1920–1948) experienced a chronic shortage of suitable and affordable lodgings. This spurred Zionist women’s organizations to take action and solve the problem. Their cooperation led to building four ‘Women Pioneers’ Houses’, which offered single immigrant working women modern lodgings and vocational training. Women architects designed the buildings, keeping in mind their future women residents. The buildings’ architects, who had studied and worked in Europe before immigrating to Mandatory Palestine, applied modernist concepts to the buildings’ design. All the houses followed the highest contemporary standards of living and working environments. They became urban female hubs and notable socio-cultural forces in the city, eventually reaching beyond the female sphere, and offering the public at large a variety of activities. The houses had significant visibility and prominence in the urban landscape and were a source of pride for women.