The Psychological Interdependence of Family, School, and Bureaucracy in Japan

The Japanese "examination hell" phenomenon is viewed as a series of crisis rites through which the child passes from family-centered to peer group-centered values in a "particularistic" society. It is held that this model has greater explanatory power than the "minimization of competition" model proposed by others and that it also helps to explain the phenomenon of student radicalism and centrifugal relationships in middle-class communities.     

Scars for war: evaluating alternative signaling explanations for cross-cultural variance in ritual costs

While males in many societies endure traumatic and painful rites, in other societies male rites are mild or completely absent. To explain these cross-cultural differences, we use data collected from the Human Relations Area Files electronic databases (eHRAF) to test two sets of hypotheses derived from signaling theory. If costly male rites serve to signal mate quality, they would be expected to correlate with the intensity of mating competition. If they serve to signal group commitments, they would be expected to be associated with the importance of overcoming problems of collective action. Our results support the latter set of hypotheses: males in societies that engage in warfare endure the costliest rites. Moreover, we show that whether wars are fought within cultural groups or against other cultural groups is an important determinant of whether or not male rites result in permanent visible marks, such as ritual scars. We argue that costly male rites signal commitment and promote solidarity among males who must organize for warfare.     

Anthony's Feast: The Gift in Abelam Aesthetics

In this essay I take up a major theme in the work of Anthony Forge: the relationship between word and image. Focusing on the problem of what the Abelam say (or do not say) about the design elements in masculine initiation rites, I explore the relationship between language and the exchange relations that are involved in the ceremony. While the Abelam have no explicit way of explaining the design elements, initiation involves a constructed and aestheticised use of language. This lecture will investigate the word/image nexus from this viewpoint.     

Setting Free the Son,Setting Free the Widow: Relational Transformation in Arrernte Life-Cycle Rituals (Central Australia)

ABSTRACT

In Australian Aboriginal society, personal identity is an evolving process whose successive mutations derive from a person’s capacity to enter into new relationships. Both initiation rites and funerary practices act to mediate such relational transformations. Drawing on Spencer and Gillen’s material on the Arrernte, this paper establishes a parallel between the procedures put into effect to render a son autonomous from his mother in the course of male initiation, and those undertaken to emancipate a widow from her deceased husband. Both ritual operations introduce a relational distancing within a totality. This totality is composed of two individuals whose antecedent close physical intimacy could thwart these persons’ ability to become an autonomous agent. The rituals make the person capable of entering a new intimate relationship: marriage in the case of a son and remarriage in the case of a widow. Both procedures entail the intervention of ritual objects closely connected to an individual’s personal identity: on the one hand, the churinga, a man is joined with at the end of his initiation and which allows him to exercise responsibilities in fertility rites, and on the other hand, the decaying, contaminating corpse a husband leaves behind upon his death.     

Peer Influence on Adolescent Alcohol Use: The Moderating Role of Parental Support and Discipline

This study tested the moderating effects of parental social support and consistency of discipline on the relation between adolescents' affiliation with drug-use promoting peers and their subsequent alcohol use. Participants were a subsample (n = 300) of 454 children of alcoholics and matched community controls (ages 101/2-151/2 years). Results indicated that mothers' and fathers' social support and consistency of discipline buffered the effects of peer group affiliation on girls' alcohol use; however, both variables exacerbated peer effects on boys' alcohol use. For girls, results are consistent with the notion that parenting behaviors can serve as protective factors by promoting qualities that serve to resist peer group pressure. For boys, increases in support and discipline behaviors may be interpreted as threats to autonomy.     

Joint music making promotes prosocial behavior in 4-year-old children

Humans are the only primates that make music. But the evolutionary origins and functions of music are unclear. Given that in traditional cultures music making and dancing are often integral parts of important group ceremonies such as initiation rites, weddings or preparations for battle, one hypothesis is that music evolved into a tool that fosters social bonding and group cohesion, ultimately increasing prosocial in-group behavior and cooperation. Here we provide support for this hypothesis by showing that joint music making among 4-year-old children increases subsequent spontaneous cooperative and helpful behavior, relative to a carefully matched control condition with the same level of social and linguistic interaction but no music. Among other functional mechanisms, we propose that music making, including joint singing and dancing, encourages the participants to keep a constant audiovisual representation of the collective intention and shared goal of vocalizing and moving together in time — thereby effectively satisfying the intrinsic human desire to share emotions, experiences and activities with others.     

An Unusual Social Experiment to Help Youth in Crisis (Ankh)

This paper describes the setting up and operation of a Crisis Intervention Service in a semi-rural community serving a population of 75,000 within a 20-mile radius. It was established in response to the mounting problem of drug abuse by youth in the community. Workers in the service were drawn from within the peer group being served, and the service has been deliberately client-orientated. It has developed as a community project. Significant features behind its success are described. Evaluation on a cost-effectiveness basis shows considerable saving in both financial and professional time terms, which should interest any organization, medical, social or political, concerned with these matters.     

It Is Time to Re‐Evaluate the Peer Review Process for Preclinical Research

Problems in peer review, the backbone of maintaining high standards in scientific publishing, have led to wide spread discontent within the scientific community. Training in the peer review process and a simpler format to assist in decision making are possible courses to improve and expedite the process of peer review and scientific publishing.     

Plants among Yi People’s Traditional Folk Customs and Their Cultural Significance in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture,Sichuan

The culture of plants used in Liangshan Yi people’s traditional folk customs is widespread. These plants represented rich cultural diversity, mainly existing in witchcrafts, rites and festivals. A community based study and an extensive field surveys had been carried out. The methods including Key Informant Interviews, Semi structured Interviews and Participatory Observation were adopted in the study. The plants in traditional folk customs used by the Yi people in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture and their cultural contexts were documented and inventoried. The results showed that there were 102 plant species used in Yi people’s traditional folk customs and expressed diversity and richness in terms of cultural meanings. The plants were used for witchcrafts and rites, social rituals, festive events, including 21 species used in wedding, 24 in funeral, 11 in the adult ceremony, 3 in daily life; 14 in the Torch Festival, 15 in the Yi National new year, 91 in witchcrafts and rites. The folk plants’ cultural meanings are mainly reflected in exorcism, reproductive worship and ancestor worship. The main reasons are that the Yi people advocate ghosts and believe the animism of primitive religion in Lianshan region. The cultures of folk plants are an important component of the natural primary religion and Bimo culture. It is an indispensable part of the traditional culture of the Yi people.     

The ritual use of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brugmansia</Emphasis> species in traditional Andean medicine in Northern Peru

Economic Botany 58(Supplement):S221–S229, 2004. This paper reports the use of Brugmansia species (Solanaceae) in traditional practices of shamans (curanderos) of Northern Peruvian Andes. The field study permitted the classification of a number of species and/or their hybrids used for both curative and psychotropic activities. There is evidence of a folk systematics in this genus that constitutes a very important phenomenon for its therapeutic-divinatory, phytotherapeutical, and ritual (in initiation and black magic rites) uses.     

Experimental study of informal rewards in peer production

We test the effects of informal rewards in online peer production. Using a randomized, experimental design, we assigned editing awards or "barnstars" to a subset of the 1% most productive Wikipedia contributors. Comparison with the control group shows that receiving a barnstar increases productivity by 60% and makes contributors six times more likely to receive additional barnstars from other community members, revealing that informal rewards significantly impact individual effort.     

Peer support among persons with severe mental illnesses: a review of evidence and experience

Peer support is largely considered to represent a recent advance in community mental health, introduced in the 1990s as part of the mental health service user movement. Actually, peer support has its roots in the moral treatment era inaugurated by Pussin and Pinel in France at the end of the 18th century, and has re-emerged at different times throughout the history of psychiatry. In its more recent form, peer support is rapidly expanding in a number of countries and, as a result, has become the focus of considerable research. Thus far, there is evidence that peer staff providing conventional mental health services can be effective in engaging people into care, reducing the use of emergency rooms and hospitals, and reducing substance use among persons with co-occurring substance use disorders. When providing peer support that involves positive self-disclosure, role modeling, and conditional regard, peer staff have also been found to increase participants' sense of hope, control, and ability to effect changes in their lives; increase their self-care, sense of community belonging, and satisfaction with various life domains; and decrease participants' level of depression and psychosis.     

&quot;She would sit with me&quot;: mothers' experiences of individual peer support for exclusive breastfeeding in Uganda

Background

Different strategies have been used to improve the initiation and duration of breastfeeding. Peer counsellors are reported to improve exclusive breastfeeding levels, but few studies have assessed the satisfaction of women with the support given, especially in Africa. In this paper we describe women's experiences of peer counselling for exclusive breastfeeding in an East African setting.

Methods

In the Ugandan site of PROMISE-EBF, a multi-centre community randomised trial to evaluate the effect of peer counselling for exclusive breastfeeding on infant health, 370 women in the intervention arm participated in a study exit interview. Individual peer counselling was offered to women in 12 of the 24 study clusters, scheduled as five visits: before childbirth and during weeks 1, 4, 7 and 10 after childbirth. During the visits, the women were given information and skills to help them breastfeed exclusively. After the 10-week visit, they were interviewed about their feelings and experiences related to the peer counselling.

Results

Overall, more than 95% of the women expressed satisfaction with the various aspects of peer counselling offered. Those who had received five or more visits were more likely to give positive responses about their experience with peer counselling than those who had received fewer visits. They explained their satisfaction with time spent with the peer counsellor in terms of how much she discussed with them. Most women felt their knowledge needs about breastfeeding were covered by the peer counsellors, while others expressed a desire to learn about complementary feeding and family planning. Attributes of the peer counsellors included their friendliness, being women and giving support in a familiar and relaxed way. Women were positive about the acquisition of knowledge and the benefit to their babies from the peer counselling. They preferred a peer counsellor to a health worker for support of exclusive breastfeeding because of their friendly approach.

Conclusions

Individual peer counselling to support exclusive breastfeeding was positively received by the women.

Trial Registration

clinicaltrials.gov no: NCT00397150.

     

Tabernanthe iboga: an African narcotic plant of social importance

Tabernanthe iboga is an apocynaceous shrub native to the forests of Gabon and the northern Congo. First described in the late 1800’s, it has been reasonably well studied by botanists. The roots of T. iboga contain several indole alkaloids, of which the most important, ibogaine, is a central stimulant and in large doses an hallucinogen. In Gabon, the roots are used in the initiation rites to a number of secret societies, of which the Bwiti is most famous. The plant remains to this day a central feature of local religion, and its spectacular effects have hampered native acceptance of Christianity in Gabon.     

Effect of antenatal peer support on breastfeeding initiation: a systematic review

Background

Our objective was to examine the effect of antenatal peer support on rates of breastfeeding initiation.

Methods

We performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials, quasi-randomized trials and cohort studies with concurrent controls. We searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), the National Research Register and the British Nursing Index from inception or from 1980 to 2009. We carried out study selection, data abstraction and quality assessment independently and in duplicate. We defined high-quality studies as those that minimized the risk of at least three of the following types of bias: selection, performance, measurement and attrition bias. We calculated risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for individual studies and undertook separate meta-analyses for high-quality trials of universal peer support and targeted peer support. We did not include low-quality studies.

Results

We selected 11 studies, which involved 5445 women in total. Seven of these studies (involving 4416 women in total) evaluated universal peer support, and four studies (involving 1029 women in total) targeted antenatal peer support. In the three high-quality studies of universal peer support, all involving low-income women, the relative risk for not initiating breastfeeding was 0.96 (95% CI 0.76–1.22). In the three high-quality studies of antenatal peer support that targeted women considering breastfeeding, the relative risk for not initiating breastfeeding was 0.64 (95% CI 0.41 – 0.99).

Interpretation

Universal antenatal peer support does not appear to improve rates of breastfeeding initiation, but targeted antenatal peer support may be beneficial. This effect may be related to context, however, so any new peer-support program should undergo concurrent high-quality evaluation.Breastfeeding confers numerous benefits for mother and infant,^1–3 yet many women still do not initiate breastfeeding.⁴ The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding to six months,⁵ and national governments have implemented initiatives to increase initiation rates.^6,7 Peer support has been examined as one intervention to increase breastfeeding rates, but there have been few high-quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining initiation. One systematic review⁸ (published in 2000) concluded, based only on two nonrandomized studies, that antenatal peer support had a positive effect on breastfeeding initiation. Another⁹ (published in 2005 and updated in 2007) included only RCTs but excluded those whose primary purpose was to affect duration. Based only on one RCT, that review concluded that peer support is likely to result in improvements in initiation of breastfeeding among low-income women where baseline breastfeeding rates are low. These weaknesses in the available evidence make recommendations uncertain. Despite this uncertainty, antenatal peer support for breastfeeding is being incorporated into routine maternity care in some parts of the world.¹⁰Antenatal peer support can be provided as a universal service or targeted to women who are considering breastfeeding. Although trials have made this distinction, previous reviews have not. New evidence has become available, and it appears appropriate to re-examine antenatal peer support through a systematic review. The purpose of our review was to assess the effectiveness of antenatal peer support, as either a universal or a targeted service, including all studies that examined breastfeeding initiation using concurrent controls.     

Espaces de réclusion et de rassemblement et expression graphique au Néolithique

Space is an inescapable data to analyse the schematic graphic expression in the Neolithic age and the practices, which are linked with it. A sign has meaning according to its place on the wall, in the shelter and in the area of decorated sites. We suppose that these painted shelters, and widely, the space where they are included, are visited during transition rites. Some of these sites have probably been used for persons in cloistered status. Others shelters are more areas for the gathering of an important group of men. We think that cloistering and gathering are adaptable with the diversity of environment. The Van Gennep's explanation of transition rites in three parts and the spatial analysis allow us to explain the transition and transformation of men on the decorated sites.     

Effects of community-based antiretroviral therapy initiation models on HIV treatment outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundAntiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation in the community and outside of a traditional health facility has the potential to improve linkage to ART, decongest health facilities, and minimize structural barriers to attending HIV services among people living with HIV (PLWH). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the effect of offering ART initiation in the community on HIV treatment outcomes.Methods and findingsWe searched databases between 1 January 2013 and 22 February 2021 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies that compared offering ART initiation in a community setting to offering ART initiation in a traditional health facility or alternative community setting. We assessed risk of bias, reporting of implementation outcomes, and real-world relevance and used Mantel–Haenszel methods to generate pooled risk ratios (RRs) and risk differences (RDs) with 95% confidence intervals. We evaluated heterogeneity qualitatively and quantitatively and used GRADE to evaluate overall evidence certainty. Searches yielded 4,035 records, resulting in 8 included studies—4 RCTs and 4 observational studies—conducted in Lesotho, South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, and Haiti—a total of 11,196 PLWH. Five studies were conducted in general HIV populations, 2 in key populations, and 1 in adolescents. Community ART initiation strategies included community-based HIV testing coupled with ART initiation at home or at community venues; 5 studies maintained ART refills in the community, and 4 provided refills at the health facility. All studies were pragmatic, but in most cases provided additional resources. Few studies reported on implementation outcomes. All studies showed higher ART uptake in community initiation arms compared to facility initiation and refill arms (standard of care) (RR 1.73, 95% CI 1.22 to 2.45; RD 30%, 95% CI 10% to 50%; 5 studies). Retention (RR 1.43, 95% CI 1.32 to 1.54; RD 19%, 95% CI 11% to 28%; 4 studies) and viral suppression (RR 1.31, 95% CI 1.15 to 1.49; RD 15%, 95% CI 10% to 21%; 3 studies) at 12 months were also higher in the community-based ART initiation arms. Improved uptake, retention, and viral suppression with community ART initiation were seen across population subgroups—including men, adolescents, and key populations. One study reported no difference in retention and viral suppression at 2 years. There were limited data on adherence and mortality. Social harms and adverse events appeared to be minimal and similar between community ART initiation and standard of care. One study compared ART refill strategies following community ART initiation (community versus facility refills) and found no difference in viral suppression (RD −7%, 95% CI −19% to 6%) or retention at 12 months (RD −12%, 95% CI −23% to 0.3%). This systematic review was limited by few studies for inclusion, poor-quality observational data, and short-term outcomes.ConclusionsBased on data from a limited set of studies, community ART initiation appears to result in higher ART uptake, retention, and viral suppression at 1 year compared to facility-based ART initiation. Implementation on a wider scale necessitates broader exploration of costs, logistics, and acceptability by providers and PLWH to ensure that these effects are reproducible when delivered at scale, in different contexts, and over time.

Ingrid Eshun-Wilson and co-workers assess the available evidence on community-based treatment initiation for people with HIV.     

Protobacco Media Exposure and Youth Susceptibility to Smoking Cigarettes,Cigarette Experimentation,and Current Tobacco Use among US Youth

Purpose

Youth are exposed to many types of protobacco influences, including smoking in movies, which has been shown to cause initiation. This study investigates associations between different channels of protobacco media and susceptibility to smoking cigarettes, cigarette experimentation, and current tobacco use among US middle and high school students.

Methods

By using data from the 2012 National Youth Tobacco Survey, structural equation modeling was performed in 2013. The analyses examined exposure to tobacco use in different channels of protobacco media on smoking susceptibility, experimentation, and current tobacco use, accounting for perceived peer tobacco use.

Results

In 2012, 27.9% of respondents were never-smokers who reported being susceptible to trying cigarette smoking. Cigarette experimentation increased from 6.3% in 6th grade to 37.1% in 12th grade. Likewise, current tobacco use increased from 5.2% in 6th grade to 33.2% in 12th grade. Structural equation modeling supported a model in which current tobacco use is associated with exposure to static advertising through perception of peer use, and by exposure to tobacco use depicted on TV and in movies, both directly and through perception of peer use. Exposure to static advertising appears to directly increase smoking susceptibility but indirectly (through increased perceptions of peer use) to increase cigarette experimentation. Models that explicitly incorporate peer use as a mediator can better discern the direct and indirect effects of exposure to static advertising on youth tobacco use initiation.

Conclusions

These findings underscore the importance of reducing youth exposure to smoking in TV, movies, and static advertising.     

The evolution of peer review as a basis for scientific publication: directional selection towards a robust discipline?

Peer review is pivotal to science and academia, as it represents a widely accepted strategy for ensuring quality control in scientific research. Yet, the peer‐review system is poorly adapted to recent changes in the discipline and current societal needs. We provide historical context for the cultural lag that governs peer review that has eventually led to the system's current structural weaknesses (voluntary review, unstandardized review criteria, decentralized process). We argue that some current attempts to upgrade or otherwise modify the peer‐review system are merely sticking‐plaster solutions to these fundamental flaws, and therefore are unlikely to resolve them in the long term. We claim that for peer review to be relevant, effective, and contemporary with today's publishing demands across scientific disciplines, its main components need to be redesigned. We propose directional changes that are likely to improve the quality, rigour, and timeliness of peer review, and thereby ensure that this critical process serves the community it was created for.     

Health related virtual communities and electronic support groups: systematic review of the effects of online peer to peer interactions

Objective To compile and evaluate the evidence on the effects on health and social outcomes of computer based peer to peer communities and electronic self support groups, used by people to discuss health related issues remotely.Design and data sources Analysis of studies identified from Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Evidence Based Medicine Reviews, Electronics and Communications Abstracts, Computer and Information Systems Abstracts, ERIC, LISA, ProQuest Digital Dissertations, Web of Science.Selection of studies We searched for before and after studies, interrupted time series, cohort studies, or studies with control groups; evaluating health or social outcomes of virtual peer to peer communities, either as stand alone interventions or in the context of more complex systems with peer to peer components.Main outcome measures Peer to peer interventions and co-interventions studied, general characteristics of studies, outcome measures used, and study results.Results 45 publications describing 38 distinct studies met our inclusion criteria: 20 randomised trials, three meta-analyses of n of 1 trials, three non-randomised controlled trials, one cohort study, and 11 before and after studies. Only six of these evaluated “pure” peer to peer communities, and one had a factorial design with a “peer to peer only” arm, whereas 31 studies evaluated complex interventions, which often included psychoeducational programmes or one to one communication with healthcare professionals, making it impossible to attribute intervention effects to the peer to peer community component. The outcomes measured most often were depression and social support measures; most studies did not show an effect. We found no evidence to support concerns over virtual communities harming people.Conclusions No robust evidence exists of consumer led peer to peer communities, partly because most peer to peer communities have been evaluated only in conjunction with more complex interventions or involvement with health professionals. Given the abundance of unmoderated peer to peer groups on the internet, research is required to evaluate under which conditions and for whom electronic support groups are effective and how effectiveness in delivering social support electronically can be maximised.