Substance Use and Risky Sexual Behavior for Exposure to HIVLeigh, Barbara C.; Stall, Ron
doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.48.10.1035pmid: N/A
Recent reports have suggested that the use of alcohol or drugs is related to sexual behavior that is high risk for HIV infection. If substance use leads to unsafe sexual activity, understanding the dynamics of this relationship can contribute to research and preventive and educational efforts to contain the spread of AIDS. In this article, we review research on the relationship between substance use and high-risk sexual behavior. We then consider the inherent limitations of the research designs used to study this relationship, outline some methodological concerns including measurement and sampling issues, and comment on causal interpretations of correlational research findings. We end with a consideration of potential avenues for future research and a discussion of implications of these findings for current AIDS prevention policies.
Violence Against WomenBiden, Joseph R.
doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.48.10.1059pmid: N/A
America as a nation has for too long failed to grasp either the scope or the seriousness of violence against women. In this article, Senator Biden describes his attempt to address this issue through federal legislation. The Violence Against Women Act, first introduced in 1990 and reported favorably out of committee in May of 1993, takes aim at the problem from four different perspectives: rectifying imbalances, helping survivors, providing education, and requiring equal treatment. Each of these aspects of the legislation is discussed.
The Science of PreventionCoie, John D.; Watt, Norman F.; West, Stephen G.; Hawkins, J. David; Asarnow, Joan R.; Markman, Howard J.; Ramey, Sharon L.; Shure, Myrna B.; Long, Beverly
doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.48.10.1013pmid: N/A
A conceptual framework for studying the prevention of human dysfunction is offered. On the basis of recent advances in research on the development of psychological disorders and methods of preventive intervention, generalizations about the relation of risk and protective factors to disorder are put forward, along with a set of principles for what may be identified as the science of prevention. Emerging themes from the study of human development, in general, need to be incorporated in the models for explaining and preventing serious problems of human adaptation. The article concludes with a set of recommendations for a national prevention research agenda.
RapeKoss, Mary P.
doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.48.10.1062pmid: N/A
There are many ways for women to be victimized by strangers and by people they know, but rape is the crime women fear most. The research on the frequency, psychological aftereffects, somatic consequences, and immediate as well as delayed interventions for rape is reviewed; a brief consensus of the literature within each of these areas is developed; and the implications of the research for public policy are considered. Among the suggested policy responses are improvements in the databases on rape frequency, increased attention to measurement, a higher priority for teaching about rape in the education of health care providers, increased funding and technical assistance to rape crisis centers, and more diversity of interventions and research on their effects.
Psychology and the Ethics of Social PolicyKendler, Howard H.
doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.48.10.1046pmid: N/A
Psychology's ability to resolve or moderate social conflicts stemming from competing moral positions depends on whether psychology is conceptualized as a mental or behavioral science. Knowledge claims from the direct observation of consciousness cannot yield consensual agreement about valid ethical principles or correct social policies. As a behavioral science, psychology is unable to validate moral principles because of the logical impossibility of inferring ethical imperatives from empirical data. Behavioral evidence can nevertheless assist society in choosing among competing social policies by revealing their empirical consequences. To do this successfully, psychology must use natural science methodology with the aim of seeking empirical and theoretical truth, not political goals or ethical ideals.
Male Violence Against WomenGoodman, Lisa A.; Koss, Mary P.; Fitzgerald, Louise F.; Russo, Nancy Felipe; Keita, Gwendolyn Puryear
doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.48.10.1054pmid: N/A
This Psychology in the Public Forum section, authored by the American Psychological Association's Committee on Women in Psychology's Task Force on Male Violence Against Women and by Senator Joseph Biden, examines the prevalence, impact, and public policy dimensions of physical assault, sexual assault, and sexual harassment of women. This introduction reviews common themes that emerge from the articles that follow. It concludes by emphasizing that the problem of violence against women cannot be fully understood, let alone solved, by focusing exclusively on individual psychology. Only by changing the social and cultural institutions that have given rise to the problem can a lasting solution be achieved.