Can I Author Myself? The Limits of Transformation.

Narrative medicine is predicated on the importance of narrative to human life. Although that in itself is not controversial, an extension of this principle that has sprung up in narrative psychiatry--namely, that by coming to imagine a different life story one can become a different person--ought to be. One reason one cannot remake one's life in the image of a story is that life is not to be mistaken for a story in the first place. The seminal study of psychotherapy, Persuasion and Healing, although recommending that the demoralized absorb more uplifting stories about themselves, appears to recognize some limit to the possibility of modeling life on story. The same study likens therapeutic stories to placebos, but as it happens, placebos themselves have their limits, alleviating symptoms but not curing or "healing." In order for someone to become a different person through the agency of the placebo effect, it would have to be more robust than it is. The argument that life follows narrative is an ironic one for a discipline devoted to narrative to make, given the salience in the tradition of the novel, from Don Quixote forward, of works that explore the fallacies of that presumption. In keeping with its attention to narrative, this article challenges the use of a short story by Chitra Divakaruni as an illustration of the principles of narrative psychiatry.

Nas trilhas do real: mais-além da psicologia do espectador / En las huellas de lo real: más-allá de la psicología del espectador / On the trail of the real: beyond the spectator psychology

O ensaio visa a discutir a relação entre psicanálise e reflexão sobre arte sob o prisma da problemática do olhar em Jacques Lacan, mas, neste caso, tal como apreendido pelo crítico e historiador da arte Hal Foster. A meu ver, conceber esta intersecção nos permitiria lançar luz sobre novas possibilidades de leitura da obra de arte, tendo em vista um paradigma de psicanálise não-aplicada. Assim, o artigo almeja tatear questões que se referem ao real lacaniano, propondo-se a questionar certos problemas que concernem à obra de arte contemporânea. (AU)

This essay to discusses the relationship between psychoanalysis and aesthetic thinking, through the prism of Lacan’s theory on visuality, as perceived by the critic and art historian Hal Foster. In my opinion, this intersection would allow us to enlighten new ways of reading the work of art towards a paradigm of a non-applied psychoanalysis. Therefore, this paper intends to tackle aspects which concern the Lacanian concept of real in order to question some problems that concern the contemporary work of art. (AU)

El ensayo tiene como objetivo analizar la relación entre el psicoanálisis y la reflexión sobre el arte desde la perspectiva de la mirada en Jacques Lacan, pero, en este caso, a partir de la aprehensión de la teoría por Hal Foster, historiador y crítico del arte estadounidense. A mi juicio, concebir tal articulación arrojaría luz sobre las nuevas posibilidades de hacer la lectura de obras de arte, hacia un paradigma de un psicoanálisis no aplicado. Así, el artículo apunta a preguntas que se refieren a lo real lacaniano, tratando de cuestionar ciertas problemáticas concernientes a la obra de arte contemporânea. (AU)

Nas trilhas do real: mais-além da psicologia do espectador / En las huellas de lo real: más-allá de la psicología del espectador / On the trail of the real: beyond the spectator psychology

O ensaio visa a discutir a relação entre psicanálise e reflexão sobre arte sob o prisma da problemática do olhar em Jacques Lacan, mas, neste caso, tal como apreendido pelo crítico e historiador da arte Hal Foster. A meu ver, conceber esta intersecção nos permitiria lançar luz sobre novas possibilidades de leitura da obra de arte, tendo em vista um paradigma de psicanálise não-aplicada. Assim, o artigo almeja tatear questões que se referem ao real lacaniano, propondo-se a questionar certos problemas que concernem à obra de arte contemporânea.

This essay to discusses the relationship between psychoanalysis and aesthetic thinking, through the prism of Lacan’s theory on visuality, as perceived by the critic and art historian Hal Foster. In my opinion, this intersection would allow us to enlighten new ways of reading the work of art towards a paradigm of a non-applied psychoanalysis. Therefore, this paper intends to tackle aspects which concern the Lacanian concept of real in order to question some problems that concern the contemporary work of art.

El ensayo tiene como objetivo analizar la relación entre el psicoanálisis y la reflexión sobre el arte desde la perspectiva de la mirada en Jacques Lacan, pero, en este caso, a partir de la aprehensión de la teoría por Hal Foster, historiador y crítico del arte estadounidense. A mi juicio, concebir tal articulación arrojaría luz sobre las nuevas posibilidades de hacer la lectura de obras de arte, hacia un paradigma de un psicoanálisis no aplicado. Así, el artículo apunta a preguntas que se refieren a lo real lacaniano, tratando de cuestionar ciertas problemáticas concernientes a la obra de arte contemporânea.

“Cambiar las actitudes con un poco de imaginación”. Efectos del contacto imaginado en los sesgos intergrupales de los niños pequeños / "Changing attitudes with a little imagination": Imagined contact effects on young children's intergroup bias

En esta investigación se ha evaluado un nuevo concepto en psicología social, denominado "contacto imaginado‟, en niños pequeños (n = 123, de 5 a 10 años). A la mitad de la muestra se les pidió que se imaginaran a sí mismos interactuando con un niño con una discapacidad física; la otra mitad no participó en esta actividad (grupo control). En comparación con el grupo control, los niños en la condición "contacto imaginado‟ mostraron posteriormente una reducción del sesgo intergrupal cuando se evaluaban sus actitudes generales y sus valoraciones de cordialidad y aptitudes. El "contacto imaginado‟ también se asoció con un mayor deseo de desarrollar conductas de amistad hacia el niño con discapacidad, pero solo en los participantes de 5 -6 años. Esto apoya parcialmente nuestra hipótesis de que los niños pequeños, quizá como resultado de una falta de experiencia con el exogrupo, se benefician en mayor medida del contacto imaginado. Se discuten las implicaciones para el desarrollo de las actitudes hacia las personas con discapacidad, la teoría del contacto imaginado y el desarrollo de técnicas de reducción de los prejuicios en el aula basadas en el contacto imaginado (AU)

The current research tested a recent development in social psychology, namely "imagined contact‟, among young children (n = 123, 5 to 10 years). Children imagined interacting with a physically disabled child, or did not take part in this activity (the control group). Compared with the control group, children who engaged in "imagined contact‟ subsequently showed reduced intergroup bias in their general attitude and ratings of warmth and competence. Imagined contact also led to more positive intended friendship behavior towards the disabled, but only among 5 – 6 year olds. This provides partial support for our hypothesis that younger children, perhaps as a result of their lack of out-group experience, are more likely to benefit from imagined contact. Implications for the development of attitudes towards the disabled, imagined contact theory and the development of classroom-based prejudice-reduction techniques based on imagined contact are discussed (AU)

Imagining intergroup contact reduces implicit prejudice.

Recent research has demonstrated that imagining intergroup contact can be sufficient to reduce explicit prejudice directed towards out-groups. In this research, we examined the impact of contact-related mental imagery on implicit prejudice as measured by the implicit association test. We found that, relative to a control condition, young participants who imagined talking to an elderly stranger subsequently showed more positive implicit attitudes towards elderly people in general. In a second study, we demonstrated that, relative to a control condition, non-Muslim participants who imagined talking to a Muslim stranger subsequently showed more positive implicit attitudes towards Muslims in general. We discuss the implications of these findings for furthering the application of indirect contact strategies aimed at improving intergroup relations.

Human research ethics in practice: deliberative strategies, processes and perceptions.

In theory, HREC members should use the ethical guidelines in the National Statement on the Ethical Conduct of Research Involving Humans as the basis for their decisions, and researchers should design their research in accordance with these guidelines. However, very little is known about what researchers and HREC members actually do in practice. In this paper, we report some of the key findings of the study "Human Research Ethics in Practice", a qualitative interview-based study of health researchers and HREC members in Victoria. The findings shed light on how researchers and HREC members conceptualise ethics, how they use the National Statement, and what deliberative strategies they employ to assess the ethical appropriateness of research studies. The findings also reveal differences and similarities between health researchers' and HREC members' perceptions of the roles of HRECs, and point to some sources of misunderstanding and tension. We examine the implications of some of these findings for the ways in which HRECs carry out their task, and research institutions support and promote ethical conduct in research amongst their staff and students. The focus of this study is on health research, but we suggest that the findings are highly relevant to all other research areas where human participants are involved.