Trade-offs in the study of culture and development: theories, methods, and values

The commentators are unanimous in their support for our general orientation to culture and development, and for the pathways we have identified, and they suggest ways to enrich our approach to theory, methods, and values. We view their main suggestions as relating to trade-offs: between theories that highlight generalizations or exceptions; between methods that rely on one-, two-, or multiculture studies; and between values involving individuation or accommodation. Here, we describe ways to find an optimal balance in each instance.     

Unraveling the Slut Narrative: Gender Constraints on Adolescent Girls' Sexual Decision-Making

Limited research exists on the slut labeling process, a key means of enforcing rules around appropriate female sexuality. This study explores that process through qualitative interviews with 44 adolescent girls in Travis County, Texas. Labeling girls as sluts or hos was pervasive and was based on a number of factors beyond sexual behavior, including dress, friendships with boys, or jealousy from other girls. Responses depicted a narrow space in which girls functioned, bound at one end by limited agency and at the other by pervasive vulnerability. There was consensus about the negative consequences of being labeled. Most girls held mixed opinions about the slut labeling process: this may reflect their attempts to push back against a system that entraps them. These findings suggest that prevention and sex education programs must explicitly address slut labeling as well as other gender narratives that impede healthy sexual development.     

The process of supervision in the turkish educational system: purpose, structure, operation

The aim of this study is to provide information on the purposes, structure and operation of the process of supervision in the Turkish educational system. In this paper, the historical development of supervision services in the Turkish educational system, as well as the purposes and principles of educational supervision in Turkey and the structure of supervision in the Turkish educational system are defined. Moreover, the organization of sub-systems of the Ministry of National Education and that of supervision at elementary schools, hiring supervisors, their training, duties and responsibilities as well as working principles are presented. In addition, a detailed analysis of the supervision of institutions and teachers by supervisors is included.     

Voices in the Wilderness: Counselling Gifted Students in a Swedish Egalitarian Setting

An egalitarian setting; that is, a setting established on an ideological and cultural basis, in which individual differences traditionally is a sensitive and often problematic issue, the counseling of gifted individuals present a particular problem. Sweden provides the setting in which the current study was carried out. This qualitative case study focuses on how one highly gifted individual—a 27-year-old male—has experienced his school years and university training and how successful counselling for him was construed. The case is argued to be fairly typical, and it is also suggested that Received Mentorship might be the only way to counsel a gifted individual in a forbidding egalitarian setting. The article concludes by proposing a number of recommendations for counselors who work in similar settings.     

Developing a Personal Grading Plan

The purpose of this instructional module is to assist teachers in developing defensible grading practices that effectively and fairly communicate students' achievement status to their parents. In formulating such practices, it is essential that teachers first consider their personal grading philosophy and then create a compatible personal grading plan. The module delineates key philosophical issues that should be addressed and then outlines the procedural steps essential to establishing a grading plan. Finally, the features of several common methods of absolute and relative grading are compared.     

Male university attrition: A discriminant analysis

Ability and personality test scores of 256 males, categorized by college persistence seven semesters after matriculation, were subjected to stepwise discriminant analysis. A combination of personality and ability variables distinguished between groups (p<.001); personality variables alone did not. The most powerful discriminator was overall ability. Authoritarianism, natural science ability, and nonconformity also entered into the discrimination. Results indicate: (a) the most able, most autonomous group included those who withdrew; (b) the most authoritarian, those who became seniors; (c) the most nonconforming, those who continued without becoming seniors, and (d) the highest in ability to think abstractly and scientifically and to solve problems, the academic dismissals who with difficulty succeeded in gaining reinstatement.     

Social impact of stimulant treatment for hyperactive children

Most children diagnosed with ADHD have extensive and enduring problems in the social arena. Despite its limitations, the standard stimulant treatment regimen for children with ADHD is a useful therapeutic modality as well as an heuristic tool for increasing our understanding of both optimal and problematic interpersonal functioning. This article explores the social impact of stimulant treatment, delineating documented improvements, identifying elusive domains and puzzling patterns, and highlighting unintended and potentially undesirable outcomes. Medication-related changes in the behaviors and perceptions of the diagnosed child's adult caretakers are distinguished from those observed in peers, and the need to enhance our understanding of peer cultures is underscored. We present new findings on the effects of stimulant treatment on social cognition and affect, and then discuss the critical need to map the attributional sequelae of any treatment approach. The final sections explore contemporary controversies and improved strategies for balancing the costs, risks, and benefits of stimulant treatment in the service of enhancing interpersonal competence, satisfaction, and harmony.