The clinical utilization of early childhood memories.

Early childhood memories (EMs) are discussed as an individual's unique psychological product, capable of revealing basic fantasies around which the individual's character structure is organized. Major theoretical approaches to understanding EMs are surveyed including early Freudian, Adlerian, and Ego Psychological. The more recent Cognitive-Perceptual perspective is also discussed. As EMs are viewed as a projective technique, methods of retrieval and interpretation are described. Case material is presented to demonstrate the utilization of EMs in the course of psychotherapy. In the early phase of therapy, EMs are shown to be of use in establishing therapeutic focus and elucidating dynamic patterns. Within the process of therapy, illustrations are given to demonstrate the use of EMs as an interpretive aid and as a means of monitoring therapeutic change.

War and the demographic trap.

PIP: Advice is offered on alleviating environmental damage and the suffering of women and children from the effects of war. It is postured that the demographic trap, which was described by King and Elliott, is responsible for environmental stress and many wars. The surface cause may be identified as ideology, politics, or ethnicity, but as in the case of Bosnia, the "ethnic cleansing" makes farmland available to sustain expanding Serbian or Croatian populations. If the land is environmentally damaged by war, then there is little hope of sustainable development. Conflicts in many countries have driven people to urban areas or periurban slums because of displacement and the failure of subsistence economics. Mortality from wars has reached more than a 100 million since the early 1990s. A comparable number have died indirectly from famine and disease associated with the disruption of agriculture and infrastructure from wars. Since 1945, 66-75% of mortality victims have been civilians, of whom 15 million have been women and children. In 1993, there were at least 30 conflicts ongoing throughout the world. Not all of these conflicts are as "ferocious" as the Bosnian conflict, but these "so called low intensity wars" nonetheless disrupt and kill. The manifestations of the demographic trap can be alleviated through interventions that focus on multisectoral aid and conflict resolution. There must be a cooperative effort on the part of health workers, agricultural scientists, mediators, and development personnel. Unfortunately, the amount of development assistance from Europe and America has been reduced in recent years. The recession has affected the provision of international aid. African nations, in particular, have been affected, yet these countries remain the neediest in the world. It would appear that aid agencies have given up hope that the demographic trap can be closed. Population growth must be limited, as the only hope for relieving environmental stress, ecological collapse, and demographic entrapment. The challenge of reducing population must be recognized, and has been recognized by the Union of Concerned Scientists.^ieng

Homo sapiens--a suicidal species?

Preparations should be made now to counter the expected effects of environmental damage on health. Otherwise humanity may have to pay a very high price for plundering the world's resources.

Obligations and responsibilities of epidemiologists to research subjects.

Some important obligations and responsibilities of epidemiologists to research subjects include protecting the welfare of research subjects; proper conduct relating to informed consent; protecting privacy and maintaining confidentiality; communicating pertinent aspects of the research to study subjects; respect for the cultural setting in which the research is conducted; informing the study population about risk factors that the investigation discloses; and ensuring that economic or political consequences of the research findings do not harm the study subjects. These are discussed in this paper in the context of basic principles of biomedical ethics.