Journal articles on the topic 'Codependency in literature'

This study developed and evaluated the Nurse Codependency Questionnaire (NCQ) and generated initial estimates of the stability and internal consistency of responses for the questionnaire. An initial pool of 95 items, reflective of four domains of codependency, was generated from the codependency literature using a domain-referenced approach. Seven expert judges from the nursing and codependency fields calculated the content validity index (CVI) as > .80. Items were critiqued for relevance, clarity, and predicted direction of each item’s correlation with the total codependency score. A convenience sample of 547 male and female nurses from Texas was recruited from a variety of professional settings to test the NCQ. Evidence of reliability and validity was sought through the use of principal factor analysis (PFA) techniques and correlation analysis. The specific domains of “codependent caretaking” and “lack of voice” represented two of the four hypothesized domains that were supported by factor analysis. Data screening and item analysis resulted in a final sample of 24 items. Test-retest reliability was .90 and internal consistency reliability was .80 for the entire scale. Reliability estimates for the “codependent caretaking” and “lack of voice” scales were .65 and .59, respectively for test-retest; and .81 and .64, respectively for internal consistency. Known groups validity was supported by each of the factors’ ability to discriminate between binge and nonbinge eaters. The NCQ may be useful for identifying codependency within the nursing profession. Research is needed to determine the external factors that influence the overt expression of nurse codependency. Screening for nurse codependency may contribute to the health of the profession by providing a means for anticipatory guidance and early intervention.

Introduction. Marital codependency is a common form of family relationships that has significant socio-psychological consequences due to the persistent influence on the personal characteristics of codependent persons. In the sources of scientific literature, the gender-individual-psychological features of marital codependency are insufficiently covered, which determined the relevance of the topic of this study. Aim. The purpose of the study is to determine the individual psychological characteristics of men and women in codependent marital relationships. Materials and methods. 39 men and 46 women who are in codependent family relationships took part in the study. The following psychodiagnostic techniques were used: The Codependency Self-Inventory Scale (CSIS); Scale for measuring the level of codependency (D. Spann and D. Fisher); R. M. Hirschfeld Interpersonal Dependency Inventory (IDI); Test-questionnaire for determining self-esteem (S. V. Kovalev); Diagnosis of emotional intelligence (N. Hall); Coping test (R. Lazarus and S. Folkman). Results. It was established that the formation of codependent marital relationships is influenced by self-esteem, which is low in both codependent men and codependent women. It was found that codependent men and women equally have a low level of emotional intelligence. Conclusions. Gender differences in the manifestations of interdependence have been revealed. The hypothesis that the individual psychological characteristics of men and women influence the formation of codependent relationships in married couples has been confirmed. It is shown that a low level of the ability to manage emotions and to self-motivate, in combination with greater empathy, makes the coping strategies of codependent women more adaptive, determining their adaptation to codependent relationships and their inability to actively resist, while men are more prone to confrontation and distancing. Prospective research. An interesting direction of prospective research may be to find out the gender characteristics of the conflict behavior of spouses in codependent relationships. Also, in the future, it is planned to investigate the ability of codependent persons to self-regulate behavior and to cognitively regulate emotions.

Codependency is a complex human experience with many meanings. The experiences of self-identified codependent individuals, who attend 12 steps groups are largely missing from the literature. In this article, we present how a combination of a visual method and interviews assisted deeper exploration and analysis of the experience of living with codependency, in an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study.A case example, titled ‘The Lady of Shalott’, is offered as an illustration of the data collection and multilevel interpretative analytical process, highlighting how the ambiguity in the meanings of the imagery aided the interpretation. The case study, demonstrates how the visual method enriched the data collection and analysis process assisting the researcher to reach deeper layers of meanings, capturing a better understanding of the lived experience portrayed by the participant.

The Holyoake Codependency Index is being developed to measure the extent to which a person endorses codependent beliefs and attributions. A 28-item pilot version was administered to 39 male and 268 female clients of a family counseling agency. Factor analysis, used to identify the shortest version with acceptable reliability, yielded a 13-item final version comprising three subscales (external focus, self-sacrifice, and reactivity). The subscales correspond to key themes within the literature on codependency. Scores on each subscale correlated significantly in the predicted direction with relevant measures of psychological functioning, providing initial evidence of construct validity. The 13-item scale was administered to a general community sample of 303 women and the factor structure was fully replicated. Internal consistency of the subscales ranged from .74 to .84 with the family counseling sample and from .73 to .83 with the general community sample.

Relevance. The number of people suffering from various kinds of addictions (alcohol, drugs, gambling and others) is growing every year. This is also associated with an increase in domestic violence and a deterioration in the quality of life. An important place in partnership, family relations has a family member (partner) living with an addict. Co-dependency as a personal characteristic of other family members in these conditions becomes important for rehabilitation and support, as well as therapy for antisocial behavior of addicts.Intention. The study was aimed to analyze the results of empirical and theoretical studies in psychology and related sciences on the phenomenon of codependency and identify genes that are most likely to be associated with codependency, attachment, behavior in relationships and the formation of adaptive and maladaptive codependent behavior strategies.Methodology. A theoretical analysis of the scientific literature on the problem has been carried out using the PubMed database, the Google Academy search platforms, and using the resources of the Scientific Electronic Library (eLIBRARY.ru).Results and Discussion. It is shown that with a complex structure, the codependency has a large number of connections with personality traits, which in turn have biological predictors and are associated with various genes. The results of psychogenetic studies on the role of genes in the formation of emotional and personal characteristics, dependent behavior, emotional attachment and features of human social behavior are described. These are mostly genes associated with the work of neurotransmitter systems and neuropeptide genes.Conclusion. In order to identify the biological determination of codependency, the study of polymorphisms of the DRD2, DAT, and OXTP genes will be the most promising. Also of interest are the DRD4, COMT, 5-HTTLPR, BDNF, MAOA, 5HT2A, 5HT1A, and PKNOX2 genes.

Codependency is considered to be a dysfunctional form infused with the extreme focus outside oneself. Spouses of male substance abusers derive the sense of purpose from the marital relationship, while neglecting their own self-esteem, personal life, self-worth and autonomy. It not only affects their psychological health but is also varied by a number of sociodemographic factors that may contribute to the functionality of spouses. The study aims to examine the relationship between demographic characteristics and codependency of spouses of substance users. Demographic characteristics included education of female spouses, types of substance abuse taken by the male spouses, family system, and profession of female spouses and socio-economic status. There was no significant correlation between the demographic characteristic however there was a significant positive correlation between age, duration of marriage and duration of substance abuse of male spouse. There was also a significant positive correlation between Education and socio-economic status, psychological and medical issue. The patterns uncovered showed to be consistent with the literature and paved way for future research.

The paper offers an extended review of the book High and Codependency. Recovered Sobriety and Literature [Kumar dolbyashchiy i sozavisimost. Trezvenie i literatura] (2021) by the modern poet and critic M. Kudimova, pointing out and discussing the most problematic theses found in this collection of critical reviews and essays: in particular, the topics of the ethnic component of Russian literature, literary oblivion, and the patronage of writers by the authorities and critics, etc. Zubareva suggests and successfully proves that the scope of Kudimova’s book goes beyond a philological study. The problems of literary studies overlap with contemporary issues of Russian culture which is predominantly literature-centric. Kudimova is drawn to controversial images and characters — P. Ershov, A. Kryzhanovsky, and V. Vysotsky; analysing her philological and critical essays, Zubareva discovers that the collection follows in the footsteps of the best literary critical and journalistic traditions of the Pushkin era and stimulates the mind as well as emotions, encouraging the reader to view the 19th- and 20th-c. Russian literature as part and parcel of our daily life.

The ArgumentThe group of mathematicians known as Bourbaki persuasively proclaimed the isolation of its field of research — pure mathematics — from society and science. It may therefore seem paradoxical that links with larger French cultural movements, especially structuralism and potential literature, are easy to establish. Rather than arguing that the latter were a consequence of the former, which they were not, I show that all of these cultural movements, including the Bourbakist endeavor, emerged together, each strengthening the public appeal of the others through constant, albeit often superficial, interaction. This codependency is partly responsible for their success and moreover accounts for their simultaneous fall from favor, which, however, can clearly be seen as also stemming from different internal problems. To understand this dynamics, I argue that Bourbaki's role can best be captured by using the notion of cultural connector, which I introduce here.

After the boom of feminist science fiction in the 1970s, many such novels have tackled the different sociocultural understandings of gender and sexual reproduction. Conventionally, patriarchal thinking tends to posit a biological explanation for gender inequality: women are supposed to be child bearers and the primary caregivers, whereas men should provide for the family through their work. However, if men could share procreation, would these views change? A recent work of fiction exploring this question from multiple perspectives is Helen Sedgwick’s The Growing Season (2017), a novel that presents a near future in which babies can be grown in artificial wombs that can be carried around. As an analysis of the novel will show, The Growing Season creatively explores the existing tensions among contemporary understandings of motherhood and feminism(s), as well as developments in reproductive biotechnology, through the different perspectives offered by the heterodiegetic third-person narration and multiple focalisation. Ultimately, the voices of the different characters in the novel convey a polyhedral vision of possible future feminist motherhood(s) where ideas of personal freedom and codependency are radically reconceptualised—a rethinking that becomes especially important nowadays, for the biotechnological elements of this fictional dystopia are already a reality.

This paper shall present a multifractal interpretation of turbulent atmospheric entities, considering them a complex system whose dynamics are manifested on continuous yet non-differentiable multifractal curves. By bringing forth theoretical considerations regarding multifractal structures through non-differentiable functions in the form of an adaptation of scale relativity theory, the minimal vortex of an instance of turbulent flow is considered. In this manner, the spontaneous breaking of scale invariance becomes a mechanism for atmospheric turbulence generation. This then leads to a general equation for the non-differentiable vortex itself, with its component velocity fields, and to a vortex turbulent energy dissipation—all of which are plotted and studied. Once the structure of the non-differentiable multifractal structure is mathematically described, an improved phenomenological turbulence model and relations between turbulent energy dissipation and the minimal vortex are employed together, exemplifying the codependency of such models. Using turbulent medium wave propagation theory, certain relations are then extrapolated which allow the obtaining of the inner and outer length scales of the turbulent flow using lidar data. Finally, these altitude profiles are compiled and assembled into timeseries to exemplify the theory and to compare the results with known literature. This model is a generalization of our recent results published under the title “On a Multifractal Approach of Turbulent Atmosphere Dynamics”.

La codependencia se asocia comúnmente con adultos casados y los instrumentos para su medición están enfocados en su mayoría para ese grupo de edad y tipo de relación. Sin embargo, se ha encontrado que la codependencia puede surgir también en relaciones prematrimoniales durante la juventud, etapa para la cual no existen escalas específicas que midan este fenómeno con precisión. Por lo tanto, el propósito de esta investigación fue construir una escala de codependencia para jóvenes con relaciones prematrimoniales. Para ello, se condujo un estudio instrumental, con un diseño no experimental en donde participaron 319 jóvenes (M=20.99, DE=1.8) con un noviazgo de al menos 1 año de duración. A partir de un análisis factorial exploratorio se encontró una escala con 7 factores: control interpersonal (α=0.91), daño relacional (α=0.92), autosacrificio (α=0.85), orientación rescatadora (α=0.89), dependencia emocional (α=0.90), foco externo de atención (α=0.82) y desgaste (α=0.83), que explican 67.64% de la varianza. Los resultados permiten observar factores coincidentes con la literatura internacional (control interpersonal, autosacrificio y foco externo de atención) y factores nuevos como efecto de la cultura, tipo de relación y etapa de vida (daño relacional, orientación rescatadora, dependencia emocional y desgaste). Así como una escala válida y confiable para la medición de la codependencia en las relaciones prematrimoniales en la juventud.

Понятие «менталитет» становится предметом широкого научного дискурса и тяготеет и в отечественной, и в зарубежной литературе к междисциплинарному пониманию. Это сопряжено с широким составом понятий, которые входят в его структуру, и прикладными особенностями его развития - историчностью, устойчивостью/изменчивостью, идеологической лояльностью культур и т.д. Дальнейшая его разработка требует выработки схем описания его структурной композиции, уточнения базовых теоретических концепций, операциональных схем эмпирического анализа и структурирования различных его видов. Проблемы изучения экономического менталитета связаны с содержанием базового понятия и его спецификой - он представляется структурным компонентом российской полиментальности и требует психологического анализа различных его аспектов: сущности и характера его влияния на экономическое поведение личности, корпоративное взаимодействие и экономическое развитие страны в целом. Изучения требуют взаимное проникновение психологических и экономических факторов, прогнозирование их влияния на экономические показатели государства, выделение его функциональных характеристик, а также интенсивность и выраженность психологических свойств и условий культурного развития различных обществ. Выявлен ряд связанных с ним феноменов: взаимовлияния качества жизни и чувства экзистенциальной безопасности; влияния общественного сознания на темпы роста экономики; взаимозависимости качества жизни и субъективной удовлетворенности жизнью; различий в представлениях о причинах бедности преимущественно обеспеченных и нуждающихся слоев населения. Показано, что системно-структурный анализ информационных процессов в интернете (анализ запросов в Google) отражают психологические закономерности возникновения и развития интереса к экономическим явлениям. Предлагаемые подходы позволяют обоснованно считать, что возможно выявление новых знаний об экономическом менталитете. The concept of «mentality» is becoming the subject of a broad scientific discourse and tends, both in domestic and foreign literature, to interdisciplinary integration in the study of the psychology of peoples. It was revealed that the broad interpretation of mentality is associated with a wide range of categories that are included in its structure, and applied features of development - historicity, variability, ideological loyalty of cultures, etc. It seems that further development of the concept requires the development of schemes for describing the structural composition of the mentality, clarification of basic theoretical concepts, operational schemes of empirical analysis and structuring of its various types. The paper describes the problems of studying the economic mentality, which naturally has both problems associated with the study of the basic concept itself, and its own specificity. The economic mentality appears to be a structural component of Russian polymentality and requires an in-depth psychological study of its various aspects: the essence, the nature of the impact on the economic behavior of the individual, corporate interaction and the country's economic development. It was shown that the study requires the mutual penetration of psychological and economic factors, predicting their impact on economic results, highlighting its functional characteristics, identifying the intensity and severity of specific psychological characteristics and conditions of cultural development of societies. It was presented that within the framework of various theoretical approaches and studies, many facts were revealed: the mutual influence of the quality of life and the feeling of existential security; the influence of public consciousness on the rate of economic growth; codependency of the quality of life and subjective life satisfaction; found differences in the perceptions of the wealthy and needy strata of the population about the causes of poverty. It was shown that the systemic and structural analysis of information processes in Google, in particular, the analysis of queries, will make it possible to clearly see that in economies of various types there are certain psychological patterns of interest in economic phenomena that have yet to be substantiated. The proposed approaches make it possible to hope for the identification of new knowledge in the study of economic mentality.

In this paper, we focus on the early-stage diffusion of codependent IT innovations, which are a type of innovation in which the overall innovation consists of two complementary parts that are adopted by two different adopter communities but where both parts need to be jointly adopted by the two coadopter communities for successful diffusion of the overall innovation. Using innovation diffusion, organizing vision (OV), and institutional entrepreneurship theories as the key theoretical lenses, and an in-depth case study reconstructed using 20 years of discourse surrounding Walmart’s campaign in the early stage of diffusion of the RFID-in-retailing technology, we develop a fourphase process model for the early-stage diffusion of codependent IT innovations. We make three specific contributions to the IS discipline, specifically to the literature on IS innovation adoption and diffusion. First, we add the notion of coadopter relative advantage and posit that the organization in the coadopter community with a higher coadopter relative advantage that perceives the highest degree of coadopter relative advantage will emerge as an institutional entrepreneur (IE) and will influence the early-stage diffusion of the codependent IT innovation. Second, we add the notion of an internal-external influencer and posit that the IE may be an actor who is internal to the overall adoption phenomenon, which involves two different coadopter communities, but external to the coadopter community with a lower coadopter relative advantage that adopts the innovation component. Third, we divide the early-stage diffusion process into four phases—emergence, structuralization, evolution, and chasm—and identify the institutional entrepreneurship strategies used and the OV functions enacted by the IE during each phase. We propose that the IE for a codependent innovation will: (1) use the rationale development strategy and enact the interpretation OV function during the emergence phase, (2) use the resource mobilization strategy and enact the mobilization OV function during the structuralization phase, (3) use the relationship development strategy and enact the legitimation OV function during the evolution phase, and (4) use all the three institutional entrepreneurship strategies and enact all the three OV functions during the chasm phase.

In the context of the discussion on deglobalization in economic literature, that has been intensified by the slowdown in globalization processes since the early 2010s, there was made an attempt to systemize the key challenges of the world economy at the current stage. Three enlarged clusters of global meta-risks were identified: the rise of protectionism, geopolitical uncertainty, digitalization challenges. Their consideration was based on the scheme of structuring the consequences that arise for and from the activities of the GVCs. The main conclusion was that our present reality remains as codependent world.

O conceito de codependência, embora muito popular no meio clínico do campo das dependências químicas, segue sendo considerado um constructo muito criticado e controverso no meio científico. Nosso objetivo foi avaliar o estado da arte sobre o constructo de codependência de familiares de usuários de álcool e outras drogas quanto à etiologia e outros possíveis fatores relacionados. Tratase de uma revisão da literatura através da busca de artigos indexados em bases de dados, publicados nos idiomas inglês, português e espanhol, utilizando-se os descritores codependência, transtornos relacionados ao uso de substâncias e família. Foram incluídos 16 artigos nesta revisão, os quais retratam que o conceito de codependência segue teorizado e pouco explorado de forma empírica. Tentativas de escalas de rastreio foram realizadas sem replicações de estudos de campo. De uma forma geral, aqueles que se autoidentificam como pessoas codependentes, uma vez que recebem suporte, relatam alguns benefícios positivos. O termo, mais do que um conceito psicológico de fato validado, parece representar um movimento social que deu empoderamento aos membros das famílias de usuários de álcool e outras drogas. Mais estudos de campo sobre a validação conceitual da codependência e os fatores a ela relacionados devem ser conduzidos, a fim de corroborar sua real utilidade clínica e ampliação de evidência da existência desse fenômeno.

ABSTRACT We provide new evidence on the codependence among the many country attributes previously linked to financial reporting quality. First, we show that the synchronicity of 21 changing country attributes spikes surrounding mandatory IFRS adoption. Thus, while IFRS adoption “explains” increased reporting quality, this finding disappears after including other changing country determinants of reporting quality. Second, a single underlying factor distills the numerous reporting quality measures used in the international literature. Finally, we document that four underlying country factors largely subsume the individual explanatory power of 72 candidate country attributes in explaining reporting quality levels across countries. We conclude with implications and suggestions for future research on international reporting quality. JEL Classifications: F30; G15; K22; M41. Data Availability: Data used in this paper are from publicly available sources and/or are drawn directly from data tabulated in published research papers.

AbstractIn the aftermath of natural disasters, emergency medical teams (EMTs) are dispatched to help local rescue efforts. While some impact evaluations of EMTs are available, few comprehensive evaluations of the implementation of EMTs in natural disasters, have been published to date. As a result, the evidence base to inform global guidelines and best practices, is remarkably thin. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the role of EMTs, by summarizing recent reports and case studies. Specifically, this summary aims to identify key improvement areas, as well as obstacles and opportunities for improvement. After a search of the literature, 40 publications met the inclusion criteria, and were included in this summary of the literature. The effective functioning of EMTs is codependent on interactions between different actors, including national governments, international organizations, NGOs, local government agencies, community stakeholders and the private sector. Five key improvement areas were identified: (1) coordination and integration of EMTs and other actors; (2) systematic classification and registration of EMTs; (3) national stewardship; (4) community engagement; (5) research and data collection. As the prevalence of natural disasters rise, effective disaster response will be an increasingly important component of global health in the coming decades. To optimize EMT efficiency, there needs to be increased recognition of the different actors involved, increased cooperation amongst EMTs under the coordination of international rosters, and increased research efforts to evaluate challenges to and opportunities for improved disaster response.

AbstractAccelerated bone loss and muscle decline coexist in women with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), but there are significant gaps in our understanding of musculoskeletal health in POI. This article is the first of a two-part review which describes estrogen signaling in muscle and its role in musculoskeletal health and disease. Current evidence regarding the utility of available diagnostic tests and therapeutic options is also discussed. A literature review from January 2000 to March 2020 was conducted to identify relevant studies. Women with POI experience significant deterioration in musculoskeletal health due to the loss of protective effects of estrogen. In addition to bone loss, muscle decay and dysfunction is now increasingly recognized. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of validated tools to assess muscle parameters. There is a growing need to acknowledge bone–muscle codependence to design new therapies which target both muscle and bone, resulting in improved physical performance and reduced morbidity and mortality. More high-quality research and international collaborations are needed to address the deficiencies in our understanding and management of musculoskeletal health in women with POI.

Abstract More can be done in minor character studies to account for the strong sense of being that emerges at the edges of the nineteenth-century novel. By pairing traditional readings of the minor character in narrative theory with sociologist Erving Goffman's writings on disengagement, this article offers a different perspective on the competition for narrative attention as we know it. For example, when disengagement is taken into account, Alex Woloch's losers in the competition for narrative attention become winners in the formulation of a fulfilling social life. Dickens's minor characters take part in central spaces while not being contained by them. Their distance from main scenes and settings, captured in passing by a gaze that has no interest in registering these elsewheres in any level of depth, has the effect of making minor characters appear strange, memorable, or other, even though their worlds are quite rich. But Dickens's minor characters define the ingenuity of counterintuition, pointing toward a suppressed energy that belies the flatness of a minor character. Drawn with care, these characters build alternative, codependent ways of surviving on the edges of the characterological field.

. Dar a luz encierra un espectro de potencialidades: puede ser desde una experiencia profundamente traumática, hasta una experiencia empoderadora que aumenta la confianza de las personas de parto en sus capacidades y su entorno. El elemento que aquí analizamos para comprender estas potencialidades es la vulnerabilidad específica del parto. Defendemos que la vulnerabilidad del proceso de parto conlleva una radical apertura y codependencia, lo cual nos expone al daño, pero también posibilita la creación de vínculos singulares con el propio cuerpo y con las demás personas. Exploramos el dolor y la incontrolabilidad como rasgos centrales de la experiencia del parto, y proponemos una noción resignificada de control como clave para que este resulte una experiencia positiva e incluso empoderadora. Comprendemos este empoderamiento desde las coordenadas de una autonomía relacional, pues solo sería posible alcanzarlo cuando, tras abrirnos al mundo y a las demás, encontramos el apoyo, confianza y cuidado necesarios.

Situated within debates of world literature, petrocultures, and the blue humanities, this article provides a methodological approach to interpreting genre, energy forms, and world-literature. This relies on Dominic Boyer’s concept of ‘energopolitics’ (adapted from Foucault’s biopolitics), which considers the codependence of political power, electricity, fuel and energy infrastructure. Echoing Fredric Jameson (1981) and Patricia Yaeger (2011), the article argues that looking for a text’s ‘energopolitical unconscious’ is a means of discerning the way energopolitics and energy are encoded in world-literary plot, form, and genre. Then, it turns to a comparative reading of two novels, Carlos Fuentes’s The Hydra Head (1978) and Ian Rankin’s Black & Blue (1997), to argue that such novels provide an understanding of relationships between world-literary genre, forms of energy, and the world-oceanic regime of the offshore. The offshore is a juridical-spatial regime that circumvents nation-state regulation through extraterritorial ownership practices. It is a political and infrastructural power over the oceanic flows of capital and energy, to produce a spatial environment that exceeds the juridical boundaries of nation-states. Thus, if the world-ocean is the space upon which fossil capital depends for its realisation, the offshore is the legal form of fossil capital in the world-ocean. Finally, the article argues that noir mysteries are the genre of the offshore, as it is a genre particularly capable of indexing its social tensions. Noir’s settings and atmospheres are intimately connected with petromodernity’s infrastructure: hotels, highways, flickering streetlights and eerie hinterlands, ports and warehouses; the mystery is an excellent formal device, providing both narratorial motivation and a code for traversing imagined territories and detecting their secrets. At the same time, noir’s generic investment in investigations of legality and power—its ‘legal grammar’—makes it a useful stage through which to pursue questions of sovereignty, ocean-space, territory, and juridical forms.

AbstractFor archaeologists, stratification is an important character of archaeological deposits. Through it, layering is discerned and cultural and evolutionary interpretations are proposed. Archaeologists possess much implicit knowledge about the social practices that produce stratigraphic sequence and the specific, contextualized manner in which layers were built upon or cut into previous deposits. The aim of this paper is to gather together and formalize this knowledge so as to codify conceptual ‘tools to think by’ when recording and interpreting stratigraphy. Relevant literature is widely dispersed and here can only be sampled; authors consider stratigraphy in terms of (1) techniques of terraforming, (2) processes enacted and (3) meaning and interpretation. Techniques and processes are discussed within larger social interpretations such as memory, history-building, forgetting, renewing, cleansing and destroying. Examples are drawn from the Turkish Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük and the ancestral Maya site of K'axob in Belize, Central America, to illustrate the applicability of an approach that here is called ‘social stratigraphy’. A practice-based history of stratigraphy – the recording and interpretation of strata – within archaeology is problematized in reference to codependence with geology, the deployment of labour and centralized authority within the emergent 19th- to early 20th-century field of archaeology. The contributions of and conflicts between British and American stratigraphic schools are considered in light of a potential rapprochement. Contested issues of cultural heritage – such as preservation of selected strata – suggest that thinking about stratigraphic sequence in social terms is more than an academic exercise.

Purpose Interprofessional collaboration is necessary when supporting mentally ill offenders but little is understood of these interactions. The purpose of this paper is to explore prison officers’ perceptions of current and desirable levels of interprofessional collaboration (relational coordination (RC)) to understand how collaboration between these systems can be improved. Design/methodology/approach Gittell’s RC scale was administered to prison officers within the Norwegian prison system (n=160) using an adaptation of the instrument in which actual and desired levels of RC are evaluated. This differentiates between prison officers’ expectations of optimum levels of collaboration with other professional groups, dependent on the role function and codependence, vs actual levels of collaboration. Findings Prison officers reported different RC levels across professional groups, the lowest being with specialist mental health staff and prison doctors and highest with nurses, social workers and other prison officers. Significant differences between desired and actual RC levels suggest expertise of primary care staff is insufficient, as prison officers request much greater contact with mental health specialists when dealing with the mentally ill offender. Originality/value The paper contributes to limited literature on collaborative practice between prison and health care professionals. It questions the advisability of enforcing care pathways that promote the lowest level of effective care in the prison system and suggest ways in which mental health specialists might be better integrated into the prison system. It contributes to the continued debate on how mental health services should be integrated into the prison system, suggesting that the current import model used in Norway and other countries, may not be conducive to generating the close professional relationships required between mental health and prison staff.

The article investigates David Grossman’s To the End of the Land as an intervention into debates on the presence of myth in Israeli society. Do resonances of the Bible in Modern Hebrew perpetuate biblical narratives as constitutive to Israeli collective memory? Do literary references to the Bible dictate the rootedness of Hebrew speakers to the Land? Grossman’s novel discerns the implications of these questions for the political agency of individuals. It does so through the striking adaptation of a motif much frequented in Israeli literature: the Binding of Isaac. The prominent biblical myth is transformed in the novel through a set of interplays: the unusual enactment of the Akedah scene by a matriarch; original exegeses of biblical names; and the merging of several biblical narratives into the novel’s structure. The protagonists reveal their “awareness” of these interplays, when they reflect on the correspondence of their “lives” with various biblical narratives – whose divergence from one another enable them to negotiate the overdetermination of myth in political discourse. The article argues that the novel’s reflective stance on the role of myth in Israeli society is codependent on the philosophy of language that it develops. To the End of the Land features language acquisition, linguistic interferences with Israel’s main vernacular by other languages, word play and semiotic collapse. Through the presentation of linguistic utterances as contingent, associative, subjective and ever-changing, the identification with biblical narratives is rendered volatile. To the End of the Land questions the limits of Israeli literature in redefining the valence of the language in which it is written as well as the ability of literary texts to reshape major conditions for their own reception: collective memory and national motifs.

Drawing on forty-eight interviews with individuals who participated on the academic job market in rhetoric and composition between 2010 and 2015, this essay shows how conceptualizing the academic job search as an intimate endeavor can offer insights for understanding the rhetorical production of affective binds within institutional contexts.

Introduction Cancer survivorship addresses attendant challenges beyond treatment, emphasizing outcomes of patient quality of life, costs, emergency services/hospitalization, and mortality. Nekhlyduov L et al., 2019 describe nine domains of cancer survivorship which, although represented distinctly, are interrelated and codependent. Despite the sustained worldwide increase in the burden of cancer in the past decade, there is a paucity of evidence regarding cancer survivorship pertaining to patient needs across the Gulf countries. Methods A systematic review adhering to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines was conducted to assess cancer survivorship across the 6 Gulf countries Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. We utilized search results across Medline, Embase, Cochrane, SciELO, and Web of Science published in English through April 1, 2023. Our search terms were inclusive of the country's names, cancer, survivors, neoplasm, survivorship, and follow-up studies were used. Included articles were then evaluated for nine domains of cancer survivorship outlined by Nekhlyduov L et al., 2019. Results Thirty-one articles were included in the systematic review. Cancer survivorship in the context of hematological malignancy (leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma) was observed in 48% (n = 15) of studies. Saudi Arabia accounted for most of the published literature, 67.7% (n = 21). Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain all reported the least on cancer survivorship, 3.2% (n = 1). Clinical structure, surveillance, and management of physical and psychosocial effects were the most reported domains across the included articles, 87.1% (n = 27), 74.2% (n = 23), and 67.7% (n = 21), respectively. Conversely, the surveillance and management of chronic medical conditions and patient and caregiver experience domains were the least reported,12.9% (n = 4) and 9.7% (n = 3), respectively. The clinical structure domain refers to the type of healthcare delivery environment, cancer survivorship providers' education and training status, availability, and access to needed specialty care, healthcare professionals, health information systems, and opportunities for research participation to patients. The surveillance and management of physical and psychosocial effects domains encompassed assessment of patient symptoms and conditions, referral of recommended evaluation, recommendations of and adherence to appropriate treatment and risk-reducing strategies, and reassessment of symptoms and/or conditions at defined intervals and/or treatment phases. The domain of surveillance and management of chronic medical conditions involves evaluating and treating noncancer comorbidities using disease-specific indications and medical reconciliation. The patient and caregiver experience domain assesses the patient's satisfaction with the healthcare provider, perceived timely access to healthcare and services, and follow-up regarding test results. Conclusion Our findings siren the need for a clear focus on the clinical structure domain. There are significant gaps in both the countries reporting on the topic and the domains of cancer survivorship included in their studies. Importantly, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain require further cancer survivorship research. Moreover, all the countries need to emphasize domains of surveillance and management of chronic conditions and patient caregiver experience.

The relevance of the research is conditioned upon the rapid spread of the problem of codependency, which has a destructive impact on the psychological state, and social and personal development of a person. The purpose of the research is to determine the psychological traits of codependent women in the period of midlife crisis. The research methodology is based on the methods of critical analysis, synthesis and generalisation of scientific and methodological literature. In the course of the study, the concept of codependence is defined, and the factors of its development are identified. It has been established that the main factor that becomes a prerequisite for the emergence of codependency is upbringing in a dysfunctional family. The psychological features of women’s codependency and their manifestations are described. It has been established that codependent women are characterised by low self-esteem, a desire to control others, using psychological defence mechanisms, self-sacrifice, and caring for others, forgetting about their own needs and feelings. The author analyses the midlife crisis as a factor of personality transformation and a period with a high opportunity to free oneself from codependency. It is determined that during a midlife crisis, a person tries to reassess their life, achievements, and behavioural patterns. The author argues that the midlife crisis can have both destructive consequences, including the loss of the meaning of life, and constructive ones, which are manifested in the discovery of new meanings. The results of the scientific research are designed to generalise theoretical data on the problem of codependency and identify the psychological traits of codependent women. The theoretical significance of the research lies in the systematisation of scientific approaches to the study of codependent personality and the identification of psychological traits of codependent women in the period of midlife crisis.

Excessive Internet use has demonstrated comorbidity with other psychological symptoms and psychiatric disorders, as well as impairments in the management of daily life, relationships and emotional stability. Recent findings in the literature have consistently supported the relationship between impulsivity and Internet addiction. The present study hypothesized that, in addition to impulsivity, a further predictor of Internet addiction might be relational co-dependency, which is also associated in the literature with addiction phenomena, but mainly substance addiction. This paper investigates the role and predictive weight of impulsivity and codependency on Internet addiction on a sample of young adult university students (n = 481) by using a hierarchical regression analysis. The participants were administered the UADI-2, the BIS-11 and the SFCDS. In terms of percentage distribution, 38 % of the participants were in the dependency range, while 37.7 % demonstrated Internet abuse behavior. The results confirmed the role of impulsiveness (β = 0.312) and added to the literature by showing the significant role of relational codependency (β = 0.275), gender (β = 0.174) and age (β = 0.196). Thus, male participants were more dependent, more impulsive and more co-dependent, with increasing age in the given range (18–30). The present study shed light to the presence of this issue among young adults and that, as a preventive and restraining measure, there is a need not only for targeted awareness-raising programmes but also for interventions to promote greater emotional control and a more balanced management of personal relationships.

Abstract Objective: The present study aims to understand the theoretical-methodological rationales which guide psychological care practices for family members of people with alcohol use disorders. Method: For this theoretical-reflective study we conducted a systematic search for literature review articles to learn about the modality of interventions, their theoretical-methodological frameworks and clinical or efficacy results. Afterwards, a complementary search for articles and book chapters was conducted to map and analyze the most used professional care practices and their theoretical assumptions. Results: We identified six theoretical-methodological rationales that guide the professional’s clinical reasoning in caring for family members, which are organized around key concepts about their emotional suffering: 1) family stress; 2) family dynamics; 3) behavioral repertoire deficit; 4) codependency; 5) inflexibility; 6) potential for psychological change. Conclusion: The identification of these rationales can aid professionals when planning their practices in a critical and informed manner.

The inter-relationship between physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep (collectively defined as physical behaviours) is of interest to researchers from different fields. Each of these physical behaviours has been investigated in epidemiological studies, yet their codependency and interactions need to be further explored and accounted for in data analysis. Modern accelerometers capture continuous movement through the day, which presents the challenge of how to best use the richness of these data. In recent years, analytical approaches first applied in other scientific fields have been applied to physical behaviour epidemiology (eg, isotemporal substitution models, compositional data analysis, multivariate pattern analysis, functional data analysis and machine learning). A comprehensive description, discussion, and consensus on the strengths and limitations of these analytical approaches will help researchers decide which approach to use in different situations. In this context, a scientific workshop and meeting were held in Granada to discuss: (1) analytical approaches currently used in the scientific literature on physical behaviour, highlighting strengths and limitations, providing practical recommendations on their use and including a decision tree for assisting researchers’ decision-making; and (2) current gaps and future research directions around the analysis and use of accelerometer data. Advances in analytical approaches to accelerometer-determined physical behaviours in epidemiological studies are expected to influence the interpretation of current and future evidence, and ultimately impact on future physical behaviour guidelines.

Abstract Focusing on the decades between 1887 and 1936, this article examines the relationship between the Parsi-Iranian network of the printed text—often sustained by abundant visual evidence—and the built environment that then returned onto the published pages of printed books and periodicals. It examines several seminal Parsi and Iranian texts, all of which were published in the Bombay-based Parsi press, containing images of outstanding architectural edifices erected in Iran with Parsi financing to map the broader political discourse on modern reform through the strategy of an artistic revival. The piece foregrounds the codependence of Parsi patronage of print and built architecture. Architecture itself is treated as a text that aimed to ground the instability of language and identity in solid foundations. This codependent relation helped support a modernist discourse on Iranian nationalist rebirth.

ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze the frequency of the “caregiver role strain” nursing diagnosis in informal caregivers for the elderly, the defining characteristics and the related factors. Method: a cross-sectional, descriptive study carried out with 99 informal caregivers for elderly residents living in the areas covered by five units of the Family Health Strategy of Cuiabá, Mato Grasso, Brazil. Data collect took place between July and September 2017, through home interviews. A questionnaire elaborated from the literature on the diagnosis A questionnaire elaborated from the literature on the diagnosis caregiver role strain established by NANDA-International taxonomy II was used. A descriptive analysis with relative and absolute frequency was accomplished. Results: the frequency of the “caregiver role stress” nursing diagnosis found in caregivers was 98.0%. The most common defining characteristics were: difficulty in seeing the care receiver with the disease (69.1%); apprehension about the future health of the care recipient (66.0%); apprehension about the welfare of the care recipient, if the caregiver is unable to offer it (61.9%); apprehension about the future ability to provide care (60.8%); apprehension about the possible institutionalization of the care recipient (55.7%); concern with the routine care (55.7%) and social isolation (51.5%). The related factors most frequently found were: duration of care (92.8%); 24-hour a day care responsibilities (75.3%); dependence (77.3%) and alteration in the cognitive function was (73.2%) in the elderly; physical conditions (73.2%) and codependency of the caregiver (61.9%). Conclusion: the frequency of the “caregiver role strain” nursing diagnosis found in this study is high, its defining characteristics concerning mainly the caregiver's apprehension with the elderly and the related factors refer to the demands of the care provided. The nurse and other team’s professionals must pay attention to the caregivers as well as to the elderly being cared of in the health units, helping them to overcome the difficulties involved in performing their role.

ABSTRACT The extant attempts in the literature to refute the greatest difficulty argument in the Parmenides have focused on denying the parallelism between the pros relations among Forms and those among particulars. However, these attempts are unsatisfactory, for the argument can reach its conclusion that we cannot know any Forms without relying on this parallelism. I argue that a more effective strategy is to deny the more essential premise that the knowledge-object relation is a pros relation. This premise is false because pros relations require definitional and ontological codependence between the relata, and the knowledge-object relation does not satisfy this reciprocity condition.

The publication attempts a different than traditional approach to the sobriety of anonymous alcoholics, as well as the emotional and physical effort of codependent members of their families. Based on among others for the analysis of dozens of literature and case studies, attempts were made to show that the lifelong sustainability can be considered as the overarching task of self-education, which the subject subordinates his new, socially desirable, far-reaching tasks, and almost all of them, often innovative and creative everyday activities. It was also attempted to show how all several - several years old, repeatedly complex actions of the alcoholic family, focused on taking up sobriety, and then supporting in it, have or may have the character of selfdevelopment tasks.

AbstractAccelerated bone loss and muscle decline coexist in women with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), but there are significant gaps in our understanding of musculoskeletal health in POI. This article is the first of a two-part review which describes estrogen signaling in muscle and its role in musculoskeletal health and disease. Current evidence regarding the utility of available diagnostic tests and therapeutic options is also discussed. A literature review from January 2000 to March 2020 was conducted to identify relevant studies. Women with POI experience significant deterioration in musculoskeletal health due to the loss of protective effects of estrogen. In addition to bone loss, muscle decay and dysfunction is now increasingly recognized. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of validated tools to assess muscle parameters. There is a growing need to acknowledge bone–muscle codependence to design new therapies which target both muscle and bone, resulting in improved physical performance and reduced morbidity and mortality. More high-quality research and international collaborations are needed to address the deficiencies in our understanding and management of musculoskeletal health in women with POI.

Many studies focusing on childhood sexual abuse (CSA) may have neglected the consequences related to experiencing other types of childhood maltreatment, such as psychological maltreatment. Moreover, the literature has focused more on negative consequences related to CSA, hence potentially leaving out more adaptive and resilient trajectories. This qualitative study aimed to explore childhood psychological maltreatment and CSA, mindfulness, sexuality, and intimate relationships in adult survivors. The interview data from 19 individuals who experienced CSA and psychological maltreatment were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Four conceptual categories developed: (a) an unsafe family environment that hindered the development of positive experiences and relationships; (b) impaired mindfulness dispositions: the reliving of trauma, the avoidance of suffering, and feeling engulfed; (c) impaired intimacy: instability, codependence, emotional distance, and self-silencing; and (d) mindfulness dispositions and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in participants’ intimate lives. These findings highlight that mindfulness, sexuality, and intimate relationships are often poor among survivors of psychological maltreatment and CSA. Yet opportunities to develop mindfulness dispositions appear to enhance PTG in survivors’ intimate relationships, significantly contributing to survivors’ healing processes.

A foundational understanding within education leadership literature is that education leaders are expected to guide reform efforts within school systems (e.g., Darling-Hammond, 2001; Evans, 1996; Fullan, 2001). This expectation mirrors organizational development literature that describes leaders as individuals who constructively institute change within their organizations (e.g., Northouse, 2004; Havelock & Zlotolow, 1995; Yukl & Lepsinger, 2005). Although leadership and change are portrayed as codependent and recursive phenomena within both educational and organizational development literature, no scholarship has linked change models with leadership theories (Herold, Fedor, Caldwell, & Liu, 2008). This article describes a multiple case study that explored the relationship between leadership behaviors and the change process through secondary school department chair stories of change. From the analysis of these stories of successful and unsuccessful change attempts, a clearer picture emerged that illustrates how leaders with little control over decisions implement change. Findings included distinct connections between CREATER change process stages (Havelock & Zlotolow, 1995) and specific leadership behaviors related to the Leadership Grid (Blake & McCanse, 1991; Yukl, Gordon, and Tabers, 2002), as well as change-leadership patterns that differentiate successful and unsuccessful change. Based on these findings, suggestions as to how education leaders should approach change attempts within their schools are discussed.

The aim of the author of this article is to present the issue of shopping addiction and its social consequences, with particular emphasis on family relationships and daily existence from the point of view of a person who is codependent and lives in the same house as a shopping addict. The article was created because of a request from a member of the household of a person who buys excessively various products or services. It consists of three parts. The first is to present the issue of shopping addiction in the context of behavioural addictions. The second is a quotation of current, although rudimentary, research on excessive buying, and the third one is a description and analysis of a conversation with a codependent person, a daughter, who talks about a household member in the context of excessive buying. The article ends with a summary that contains conclusions based on the literature and analysis of the collected research material. A case report: The concept of an interview was developed on the basis of a survey of the psychological and sociological literature. The final part contains an analysis of the conversation (free interview) and conclusions from this analysis. The article outlines the research issues by analysing a conversation with the daughter of a person whose household members suspected addictive buying, and verifying the concept of addictive buying based on this case. Casual interview, conducted in December 2023 with a 28-year-old woman, resident of Krakow. Comment: During the analysis of the presented case, it was noted: the respondent's satisfaction with the purchases made, combined with the justification of the purchase with the desire to improve the family's financial situation, because the products were at attractive prices or promotions; however, higher sums of money were spent due to collective, group purchasing of specific products (packing several pieces); while shopping, the person is as if in a trance, i.e., in another world, focused on shopping and what is happening in the store; shopping includes not only the purchase of things or products, but also continuous browsing and matching of service offers, e.g. purchases of various TV, Internet, and mobile phone packages; the surveyed person has had loans or other financial obligations for over 20 years, explaining them by the need to ensure the current functioning of the household (inability to save); uses the services of leasing companies (frequent car replacement - every two years).

Se presenta una propuesta del Análisis de Trayectoria con dos variables categóricas, basada en los Coeficientes de Dependencia y Codependencia (Cordeiro, 1990). En una tabla de contingencia bidimensional donde una de las dimensiones son las especies de algún animal y la otra dimensión son los ambientes que buscan dichos animales para su alimentación, aplicándose las técnicas convencionales se puede estudiar la asociación entre las dos categorías (especies y ambientes) y habiéndose encontrado la asociación, se ajusta algún modelo explicativo de tal situación. Amplia literatura al respecto se encuentra en Fienberg(1980), Agresti(1982), Andersen(1980) entre otros. Pocas metodologías permiten la verificación de algún tipo de asociación entre las filas o entre las columnas de la tabla (Goodman, 1975), como por ejemplo, entre las especies del problema propuesto desde el punto de vista de sus preferencias por ambientes. Este es un problema de aplicación muy importante en las áreas biológicas como por ejemplo en ecología. Por otro lado, resulta de mucha mayor importancia para investigadores de dichas áreas, verificar si las especies se atraen (o se repelen) por sí mismas o a través de relaciones entre los grupos de especies. O sea, es de interés estudiar si hay evidencia de asociación entre los niveles de las categorías y la posibilidad de ajustarse un modelo explicativo para un nivel de una de las categorías a través de los otros niveles de la misma variable categórica. Además, en muchas situaciones prácticas puede ser necesario proponer relaciones causales entre los niveles de una categoría como si fuesen los efectos de los otros niveles de la misma variable categórica y éste problema aún no ha sido abordado . En éste contexto y para solucionar problemas de aplicación como el propuesto se ha desarrollado una propuesta teórica cuyo resumen se presenta en el presente artículo. Se propone utilizar los parámetros de dependencia y codependencia (Cordeiro, 1990), para transponer o emular la teoría de Análisis de Trayectoria para variables cuantitativas (Wright, 1934; Li, 1975; Achcar, 1976; Wermuth, 1980) a las tablas de contingencia de doble entrada (Gómez, 1997). Con el fin de ilustrar los resultados teóricos del presente artículo, se tiene una aplicación usando "Drosophylas" (moscas) y "Leveduras" (alimentos) para verificar qué especies y por qué prefieren ciertas leveduras, es decir, las prefieren por atracción directa entre ellas o por atracción indirecta a través de otras especies.

Textured thrust bearings are capable of providing higher load capacity and lower friction torque compared to nontextured bearings. However, most previous optimization efforts for texturing geometry were focused on rectangular dimples and employed Reynolds equation. Limited studies have been done to investigate the effects of partially textured thrust bearings with elliptical dimples. This study proposes a new optimization approach to find the optimal partially texture geometry with elliptical dimples, which maximize the loading capacity and minimize the friction torque. In this study, a 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for a parallel sector-pad thrust bearing is built using ANSYS cfx. Mass conserving cavitation model is used to simulate the cavitation regions. Energy equation for Newtonian flow is also solved. The results of the model are validated by the experimental data from the literature. Based on this model, the flow pattern and pressure distribution inside the dimples are analyzed. The geometry of elliptical dimple is parameterized and analyzed using design of experiments (DOE). The selected geometry parameters include the length of major and minor axes, dimple depth, radial and circumferential space between two dimples, and the radial and circumferential extend. A multi-objective optimization scheme is used to find the optimal texture structure with the load force and friction torque set as objective functions. The results show that the shape of dimples has a crucial effect on the performance of the textured thrust bearings. Searching the design space for a proper combination among the design variables satisfying the constraints has the advantage of capturing the codependence among design variables and leads to a surface patterning of the bearing, which showed a 42.7% improvement on the load capacity.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to contribute to the debate on the impact of organizational culture and national culture on green supply chain management (GSCM) adoption by empirically testing the developed framework, and ultimately pave the way toward potential areas for future research. Design/methodology/approach Using survey data from a sample of Moroccan manufacturing firms, 130 responses were collected and analyzed using SPSS 25 and Smart PLS v 3.3.3 software. The paper used a convenience sample, as it is required by the quantitative method, which legitimate making generalization under certain conditions. Findings The research results indicated that the national culture does not influence the GSCM implementation. The results contradict a number of prior works. As for the second direct effect measured postulated that organizational culture has a direct and significant impact on the GSCM. The results indicate that adhocracy culture, clan culture and hierarchical culture have a positive impact on the implementation of GSCM initiatives. To assess the impact of ownership type on GSCM, we underlined the difference between local and foreign firms. In fact, as argued, the foreign firms are more implementing GSCM initiatives than local firms do. Based on the arguments advanced on prior literature, the firm size does, as expected, exert significant control over the adoption of GSCM initiatives. Research limitations/implications The paper here is a starting point to understand how environmental sustainability and culture are interlinked; further research might contribute to this topic by empirically testing the model in similar or different contexts, using different cultural frameworks. Practical implications The practical implications for the paper are related to the necessity of adopting adequate organizational culture to build responsible behaviors for GSCM adoption by Moroccan firms. Recognizing the powerful role of organizational culture as a crucial factor responsible for GSCM’s success beyond the well-defined corporate strategies, including market presence and technological advantages, etc. Social implications This paper contributes to the establishment of codependent links between sociology and management fields as it helps to update the social theories present in the operations management area. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, few works have pursued to review and bridge cultural theories with the GSCM implementation.

The rise of expertise in the lives of women is a complex and prolonged process that began when the old networks through which women had learned from each other were being discredited or destroyed (Ehrenreich and English). Enclosed spaces of expert power formed separately from political control, market logistics and the pressures exerted by their subjects (Rose and Miller). This, however, was not a question of imposing expertise on women and forcing them to adhere to expert proclamations: “the experts could not have triumphed had not so many women welcomed them, sought them out, and … organised to promote their influence” (Ehrenreich and English 28). Women’s continuing enthusiasm for self-help books – and it is mainly women who buy them (Wood) – attests to the fact that they are still welcoming expertise into their lives. This paper argues that a major factor in the popularity of self-help is the reversal of the conventional ‘priestly’ relationship and ethic of confession, in a process of conversion that relies on the enthusiasm and active participation of the reader.Miller and Rose outline four ways in which human behaviour can be transformed: regulation (enmeshing people in a code of standards); captivation (seducing people with charm or charisma); education (training, convincing or persuading people); and conversion (transforming personhood, and ways of experiencing the world so that people understand themselves in fundamentally new ways). Of these four ways of acting upon others, it is conversion that is the most potent, because it changes people at the level of their own subjectivity – “personhood itself is remade” (Miller and Rose 35). While theories of conversion cannot be adequately discussed here, one aspect held in common by theories of religious conversion as well as those from psychological studies of ‘brainwashing’ is enthusiasm. Rambo’s analysis of the stages of religious conversion, for example, includes ‘questing’ in an active and engaged way, and a probable encounter with a passionately enthusiastic believer. Melia and Ryder, in their study of ‘brainwashing,’ state that two of the end stages of conversion are euphoria and proselytising – a point to which I will return in the conclusion. In order for a conversion to occur, then, the reader must be not only intellectually convinced of the truth, but must feel it is an important or vital truth, a truth she needs – in short, the reader must be enthused. The popularity of self-help books coincides with the rise of psy expertise more generally (Rose, "Identity"; Inventing), but self-help putatively offers escape from the experts, whilst simultaneously immersing its readers in expertise. Readers of self-help view themselves as reading sceptically (Simonds), interpretively (Rosenblatt) and resistingly (Fetterly, Rowe). They choose to read books as an educational activity (Dolby), rather than attending counselling or psychotherapy sessions in which they might be subject to manipulation, domination and control by a therapist (Simonds). I have discussed the nature of the advice in relationship manuals elsewhere (Hazleden, "Relationship"; "Pathology"), but the intention of this paper is to investigate the ways in which the authors attempt to enthuse and convert the reader.Best-Selling ExpertiseIn common with other best-selling genres, popular relationship manuals begin trying to enthuse the reader on the covers, which are intended to attract the reader, to establish the professional – or ‘priestly’ – credentials of the author and to assert the merit of the book, presenting the authors as experienced professionally-qualified experts, and advertising their bestseller status. These factors form part of the marketing ‘buzz’ or collective enthusiasm about a particular author or book.As part of the process of establishing themselves in the priestly role, the authors emphasise their professional qualifications and experience. Most authors use the title ‘Dr’ on the cover (Hendrix, McGraw, Forward, Gray, Cowan and Kinder, Schlessinger) or ‘PhD’ after their names (Vedral, DeAngelis, Spezzano). Further claims on the covers include assertions of the prominence of the authors in their field. Typical are DeAngelis’s claim to being “America’s foremost relationships expert,” and Hendrix’s claim to being “the world’s leading marital therapist.” Clinical and professional experience is mentioned, such as Spezzano’s “twenty-three years of counseling experience” (1) and Forward’s experience as “a consultant in many southern California Medical and psychiatric facilities” (iii). The cover of Spezzano’s book claims that he is a “therapist, seminar leader, author, lecturer and visionary leader.” McGraw emphasises his formal qualifications throughout his book, saying, “I had more degrees than a thermometer” (McGraw 6), and he refers to himself throughout as “Dr. Phil,” much like “Dr Laura” (Schlessinger). Facts and SecretsThe authors claim their ideas are based on clinical practice, research, and evidence. One author claims, “In this book, there is a wealth of tried and accurate information, which has worked for thousands of people in my therapeutic practice and seminars over the last two decades” (Spezzano 1). Another claims that he “worked with hundreds of couples in private practice and thousands more in workshops and seminars” and subsequently based his ideas on “research and clinical observations” (Hendrix xviii). Dowling refers to “four years of research … interviewing professionals who work with and study women.” She went to all this trouble because, she assures us, “I wanted facts” (Dowling, dust-jacket, 30).All this is in order to assure the reader of the relevance and build her enthusiasm about the importance of the book. McGraw (226) says he “reviewed case histories of literally thousands and thousands of couples” in order “to choose the right topics” for his book. Spezzano (7) claims that his psychological exercises come from clinical experience, but “more importantly, I have tested them all personally. Now I offer them to you.” This notion of being in possession of important new knowledge of which the reader is unaware is common, and expressed most succinctly by McGraw (15): “I have learned what you know and, more important, what you don't know.” This knowledge may be referred to as ‘secret’ (e.g. DeAngelis), or ‘hidden’ (e.g. Dowling) or as a recent discovery. Readers seem to accept this – they often assume that self-help books spring ‘naturally’ from clinical investigation as new information is ‘discovered’ about the human psyche (Lichterman 432).The Altruistic AuthorOn the assumption that readers will be familiar with other self-help books, some authors find it necessary to explain why they felt motivated to write one themselves. Usually these take the form of a kind of altruistic enthusiasm to share their great discoveries. Cowan and Kinder (xiv) claim that “one of the wonderful, intrinsic rewards of working with someone in individual psychotherapy is the rich and intense relationship that is established, [but] one of the frustrations of individual work is that in a whole lifetime it is impossible to touch more than a few people.” Morgan (26) assures us that “the results of applying certain principles to my marriage were so revolutionary that I had to pass them on in the four lesson Total Woman course, and now in this book.”The authors justify their own addition to an overcrowded genre by delineating what is distinctive about their own book, or what other “books, articles and surveys missed” (Dowling 30) or misinterpreted. Beattie (98-102) devotes several pages to a discussion of Dowling to assert that Dowling’s ‘Cinderella Complex’ is more accurately known as ‘codependency.’ The authors of another book admit that their ideas are not new, but claim to make a unique contribution because they are “writing from a much-needed male point of view” (Cowan and Kinder, back cover). Similarly, Gray suggests “many books are one-sided and unfortunately reinforce mistrust and resentment toward the opposite sex.” This meant that “a definitive guide was needed for understanding how healthy men and women are different,” and he promises “This book provides that vision” (Gray 4,7).Some authors are vehement in attacking other experts’ books as “gripe sessions,” “gobbledegook” (Schlessinger 51, 87), or “ridiculous” (Vedral 282). McGraw (9) writes “it is amazing to me how this country is overflowing with marital therapists, psychiatrists and psychologists, counselors, healers, advice columnists, and self-help authors – and their approach to relationships is usually so embarrassing that I want to turn my head in shame.” His own book, by contrast, will be quite different from anything the reader has heard before, because “it differs from what relationship ‘experts’ tell you” (McGraw 45).Confessions of an Author Because the authors are writing about intimate relationships, they are also keen to establish their credentials on a more personal level. “Loving, losing, learning the lessons, and reloving have been my path” (Carter-Scott 247-248), says one, and another asserts that, “It’s taken me a long time to understand men. It’s been a difficult and often painful journey and I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way in my own relationships” (DeAngelis xvi). The authors are even keen to admit the mistakes they made in their previous relationships. Gray says, “In my previous relationships, I had become indifferent and unloving at difficult times … As a result, my first marriage had been very painful and difficult” (Gray 2). Others describe the feelings of disappointment with their marriages: We gradually changed. I was amazed to realize that Charlie had stopped talking. He had become distant and preoccupied. … Each evening, when Charlie walked in the front door after work, a cloud of gloom and tension floated in with him. That cloud was almost tangible. … this tension cloud permeated our home atmosphere … there was a barrier between us. (Morgan 18)Doyle (14) tells a similar tale: “While my intentions were good, I was clearly on the road to marital hell. … I was becoming estranged from the man who had once made me so happy. Our marriage was in serious trouble and it had only been four years since we’d taken our vows.” The authors relate the bewilderment they felt in these failing relationships: “My confusion about the psychology of love relationships was compounded when I began to have problems with my own marriage. … we gave our marriage eight years of intensive examination, working with numerous therapists. Nothing seemed to help” (Hendrix xvii).Even the process of writing the relationship manual itself can be uncomfortable: This was the hardest and most painful chapter for me to write, because it hit so close to home … I sat down at my computer, typed out the title of this chapter, and burst into tears. … It was the pain of my own broken heart. (DeAngelis 74)The Worthlessness of ExpertiseThus, the authors present their confessional tales in which they have learned important lessons through their own suffering, through the experience of life itself, and not through the intervention of any form of external or professional expertise. Furthermore, they highlight the failure of their professional training. Susan Forward (4) draws a comparison between her professional life as a relationship counsellor and the “Susan who went home at night and twisted herself into a pretzel trying to keep her husband from yelling at her.” McGraw tells of a time when he was counselling a couple, and: Suddenly all I could hear myself saying was blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah, blah. As I sat there, I asked myself, ‘Has anybody noticed over the last fifty years that this crap doesn’t work? Has it occurred to anyone that the vast majority of these couples aren’t getting any better? (McGraw 6)The authors go to some lengths to demonstrate that their new-found knowledge is unlike anything else, and are even prepared to mention the apparent contradiction between the role the author already held as a relationship expert (before they made their important discoveries) and the failure of their own relationships (the implication being that these relationships failed because the authors themselves were not yet beneficiaries of the wisdom contained in their latest books). Gray, for example, talking about his “painful and difficult” first marriage (2), and DeAngelis, bemoaning her “mistakes” (xvi), allude to the failure of their marriage to each other, at a time when both were already well-known relationship experts. Hendrix (xvii) says: As I sat in the divorce court waiting to see the judge, I felt like a double failure, a failure as a husband and as a therapist. That very afternoon I was scheduled to teach a course on marriage and the family, and the next day, as usual, I had several couples to counsel. Despite my professional training, I felt just as confused and defeated as the other men and women who were sitting beside me.Thus the authors present the knowledge they have gained from their experiences as being unavailable through professional marital therapy, relationship counselling, and other self-help books. Rather, the advice they impart is presented as the hard-won outcome of a long and painful process of personal discovery.Peace and PassionOnce the uniqueness of the advice is established, the authors attempt to enthuse the reader by describing the effects of following it. Norwood (Women 4) says her programme led to “the most rewarding years of my life,” and Forward (10) says she “discovered enormous amounts of creativity and energy in myself that hadn't been available to me before.” Gray (268) asserts that, following his discoveries “I personally experienced this inner transformation,” and DeAngelis (126) claims “I am compassionate where I used to be critical; I am patient where I used to be judgmental.” Doyle (23) says, “practicing the principles described in this book has transformed my marriage into a passionate, romantic union.” Similarly, in discussing the effects of her ideas on her marriage, Morgan (26) speaks of “This brand new love between us” that “has given us a brand new life together.” Having established the success of their ideas and techniques on their own lives, the authors go on to relate stories about their successful application to the lives and relationships of their clients. One author writes that “When I began implementing my ideas … The divorce rate in my practice sharply declined, and the couples … reported a much deeper satisfaction in their marriages” (Hendrix xix). Another claims “Repeatedly I have heard people say that they have benefited more from this new understanding of relationships than from years of therapy” (Gray 7). Morgan, describing the effects of her ‘Total Woman’ classes, says: Attending one of the first classes in Miami were wives of the Miami Dolphin football players … it is interesting to note that their team won every game that next season and became the world champions! … Gals, I wouldn’t dream of taking credit for the Superbowl … (Morgan 188)In case we are still unconvinced, the authors include praise and thanks from their inspired clients: “My life has become exciting and wonderful. Thank you,” writes one (Vedral 308). Gray (6) talks of the “thousands of inspirational comments that people have shared” about his advice. Vedral (307) says “I have received thousands of letters from women … thanking me for shining a beam of light on their situations.” If these clients have transformed their lives, the authors claim, so can the reader. They promise that the future will be “exceptional” (Friedman 242) and “wonderful” (Norwood, Women 257). It will consist of “self fulfilment, love, and joy” (Norwood, Women 26), “peace and joy” (Hendrix xx), “freedom and a lifetime of healing, hope and happiness” (Beattie), “peace, relief, joy, and passion that you will never find any other way” (Doyle 62) – in short, “happiness for the rest of your life” (Spezzano 77).SummaryIn order to effect the conversion of their readers, the authors seek to create enthusiasm about their books. First, they appeal to the modern tradition of credentialism, making claims about their formal professional qualifications and experience. This establishes them as credible ‘priests.’ Then they make calculable, factual, evidence-based claims concerning the number of books they have sold, and appeal to the epistemological authority of the methodology involved in establishing the findings of their books. They provide evidence of the efficacy of their own unique methods by relating the success of their ideas when applied to their own lives and relationships, and those of their clients and their readers. The authors also go to some lengths to establish that they have personal experience of relationship problems, especially those the reader is currently presumed to be experiencing. This establishes the ‘empathy’ essential to Rogerian therapy (Rogers), and an informal claim to lay knowledge or insight. In telling their own personal stories, the authors establish an ethic of confession, in which the truth of oneself is sought, unearthed and revealed in “the infinite task of extracting from the depths of oneself, in between the words, a truth which the very form of the confession holds out like a shimmering mirage” (Foucault, History 59). At the same time, by claiming that their qualifications were not helpful in solving these personal difficulties, the authors assert that much of their professional training was useless or even harmful, suggesting that they are aware of a general scepticism towards experts (cf. Beck, Giddens), and share these doubts. By implying that it is other experts who are perhaps not to be trusted, they distinguish their own work from anything offered by other relationship experts, thereby circumventing “the paradox of self-help books’ existence” (Cheery) and proliferation. Thus, the authors present their motives as altruistic, whilst perhaps questioning the motives of others. Their own book, they promise, will be the one (finally) that brings a future of peace, passion and joy. Conversion, Enthusiasm and the Reversal of the Priestly RelationshipAlthough power relations between authors and readers are complex, self-help is evidence of power in one of its most efficacious forms – that of conversion. This is a relationship into which one enters voluntarily and enthusiastically, in the name of oneself, for the benefit of oneself. Such power enthuses, persuades, incites, invites, provokes and entices, and it is therefore a strongly subjectifying power, and most especially so because the relationship of the reader to the author is one of choice. Because the reader can choose between authors, and skip or skim sections, she can concentrate on the parts of the therapeutic diagnosis that she believes specifically apply to her. For example, Grodin (414) found it was common for a reader to attach excerpts from a book to a bathroom mirror or kitchen cabinet, and to re-read and underline sections of a book that seemed most relevant. In this way, through her enthusiastic participation, the reader becomes her own expert, her own therapist, in control of certain aspects of the encounter, which nonetheless must always take place on psy terms.In many conversion studies, the final stage involves the assimilation and embodiment of new practices (e.g. Paloutzian et al. 1072), whereby the convert employs or utilises her new truths. I argue that in self-help books, this stage occurs in the reversal of the ‘priestly’ relationship. The ‘priestly’ relationship between client and therapist, is one in which in which the therapist remains mysterious while the client confesses and is known (Rose, "Power"). In the self-help book, however, this relationship is reversed. The authors confess their own ‘sins’ and imperfections, by relating their own disastrous experiences in relationships and wrong-thinking. They are, of course, themselves enthusiastic converts, who are enmeshed within the power that they exercise (cf. Foucault History; Discipline), as these confessions illustrate. The reader is encouraged to go through this process of confession as well, but she is expected to do so privately, and to play the role of priest and confessor to herself. Thus, in a reversal of the priestly relationship, the person who ‘is knowledge’ within the book itself is the author. It is only if the reader takes up the invitation to perform for herself the priestly role that she will become an object of knowledge – and even then, only to herself, albeit through a psy diagnostic gaze provided for her. Of course, this instance of confession to the self still places the individual “in a network of relations of power with those who claim to be able to extract the truth of these confessions through their possession of the keys to interpretation” (Dreyfus and Rabinow 174), but the keys to interpretation are provided to the reader by the author, and left with her for her own safekeeping and future use. As mentioned in the introduction, conversion involves questing in an active and engaged way, and may involve joy and proselytising. Because the relationship must be one of active participation, the enthusiasm of the reader to apply these truths to her own self-understanding is critical. Indeed, the convert is, by her very nature, an enthusiast.ConclusionSelf-help books seek to bring about a transformation of subjectivity from powerlessness to active goal-setting, personal improvement and achievement. This is achieved by a process of conversion that produces particular choices and types of identity, new subjectivities remade through the production of new ethical truths. Self-help discourses endow individuals with new enthusiasms, aptitudes and qualities – and these can then be passed on to others. Indeed, the self-help reader is invited, by means of the author’s confessions, to become, in a limited way, the author’s own therapist – ie, she is invited to perform an examination of the author’s (past) mistakes, to diagnose the author’s (past) condition and to prescribe an appropriate (retrospective) cure for this condition. Through the process of diagnosing the author and the author’s clients, using the psy gaze provided by the author, the reader is rendered an expert in therapeutic wisdom and is converted to a new belief system in which she will become an enthusiastic participant in her own subjectification. ReferencesBeattie, M. Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself. Minnesota: Hazelden, 1992.Beck, U. Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. Trans. M. Ritter. London: Sage, 1992.Carter-Scott, C. If Love Is a Game, These Are the Rules. London: Vermilion, 2000.Cheery, S. "The Ontology of a Self-Help Book: A Paradox of Its Own Existence." Social Semiotics 18.3 (2008): 337-348.Cowan, C., and M. Kinder. Smart Women, Foolish Choices: Finding the Right Men and Avoiding the Wrong Ones. New York: Signet, 1986.DeAngelis, B. Secrets about Men Every Woman Should Know. London: Thirsons, 1990.Dolby, S. Self-Help Books: Why Americans Keep Reading Them. Chicago: U of Illinois P, 2005.Dowling, C. The Cinderella Complex: Women’s Hidden Fear of Independence. New York: Summit Books, 1981.Doyle, L. The Surrendered Wife: A Step by Step Guide to Finding Intimacy, Passion and Peace with a Man. London: Simon and Schuster, 2000.Dreyfus, H.L., and P. Rabinow. Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1982.Ehrenreich, B., and D. English. For Her Own Good: 150 Years of the Experts’ Advice to Women. London: Pluto, 1988.Foucault, M. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Trans. A. Sheridan. New York: Vintage, 1979.———. The History of Sexuality Volume 1: An Introduction. Trans. R. Hurley. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978.Giddens, A. Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Oxford: Polity, 1991.Gray, J. Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: A Practical Guide for Improving Communication and Getting What You Want in Your Relationships. London: HarperCollins, 1993.Grodin, D. “The Interpreting Audience: The Therapeutics of Self-Help Book Reading.” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 8.4 (1991): 404-420.Hamson, S. “Are Men Really from Mars and Women From Venus?” In R. Francoeur and W. Taverner, eds. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Human Sexuality. 7th ed. Conneticut: McGraw-Hill, 2000.Hazleden, R. “The Pathology of Love in Contemporary Relationship Manuals.” Sociological Review 52.2 (2004). ———. “The Relationship of the Self with Itself in Contemporary Relationship Manuals.” Journal of Sociology 39.4 (Dec. 2003). Hendrix, H. Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples. New York: Pocket Books, 1997.Lichterman, Paul. "Self-Help Reading as a Thin Culture." Media, Culture and Society 14.3 (1992): 421-447. Melia, T., and N. Ryder. Lucifer State: A Novel Approach to Rhetoric. Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 1983.Miller, P., and N. Rose. “On Therapeutic Authority: Psychoanalytical Expertise under Advanced Liberalism.” History of the Human Sciences 7.3 (1994): 29-64. McGraw, P. Relationship Rescue: Don’t Make Excuses! Start Repairing Your Relationship Today. London: Vermilion, 2001.Morgan, M. The Total Woman. London: Harper Collins, 1973.Norwood, R. Letters From Women Who Love Too Much. New York: Pocket Books, 1988. ———. Women Who Love Too Much: When You Keep Wishing and Hoping He’ll Change. New York: Pocket Books, 1986.Paloutzian, R., J. Richardson, and L. Rambo. “Religious Conversion and Personality Change.” Journal of Personality 67.6 (1999).Ricoeur, P. Oneself as Another. Trans. K. Blamey. Chicago: Chicago UP, 1990.Rambo, L. Understanding Conversion. Yale UP, 1993.Rogers, C. On Becoming a Person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1961.Rosenblatt, L. Literature as Exploration. 5th ed. New York: MLA, 1995.Rose, N. “Identity, Genealogy, History.” In S. Hall and Paul du Gay, eds. Questions of Cultural Identity. London: Sage, 1995.———. Inventing Our Selves: Psychology, Power and Personhood. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998.———. “Power and Subjectivity: Critical History and Psychology.” Academy for the Study of the Psychoanalytic Arts. 2000. < http://www.academyanalyticarts.org >.———., and P. Miller. “Political Power beyond the State: Problematics of Government.” British Journal of Sociology 43.2 (1992): 173-205.Rowe, Y. “Beyond the Vulnerable Self: The 'Resisting Reader' of Marriage Manuals for Heterosexual Women.” In Kate Bennett, Maryam Jamarani, and Laura Tolton. Rhizomes: Re-Visioning Boundaries conference papers, University of Queensland, 24-25 Feb. 2006.Schlessinger, L. The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. New York, HarperCollins, 2004.Simonds, W. Women and Self-Help Culture: Reading between the Lines. New Jersey: Rutgers UP, 1992.Spezzano, C. 30 Days to Find Your Perfect Mate: The Step by Step Guide to Happiness and Fulfilment. London: Random House, 1994.Starker, S. Oracle at the Supermarket: The American Preoccupation with Self-Help Books. Oxford: Transaction, 1989.Vedral, J. Get Rid of Him! New York: Warner Books, 1994.Wood, L. “The Gallup Survey: Self-Help Buying Trends.” Publishers Weekly 234 (1988): 33.