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Full-Text Articles in Social Work
The Mind-Body Connection: Not Just A Theory Anymore, Jill Littrell
The Mind-Body Connection: Not Just A Theory Anymore, Jill Littrell
SW Publications
The field of psychoneuroimmunology has witnessed an explosion of empirical findings during the last two decades. Research has documented the mechanisms through which stressful emotions alter white blood cell function. Stress diminishes white blood cell response to viral infected cells and to cancer cells. Moreover, vaccination is less effective in those who are stressed and wounds heal less readily in those who are stressed. While stress decreases the activity of some white blood cells, stress does not compromise the function of all types of white blood cells. Indeed, some types of autoimmune disease, which involve particular subsets of white blood …
The Status Of Freud’S Legacy On Emotional Processing: Contemporary Revisions, Jill Littrell
The Status Of Freud’S Legacy On Emotional Processing: Contemporary Revisions, Jill Littrell
SW Publications
This paper evaluates, in light of current empirical data, several of the assumptions contributed to our field by Freud about how emotions operate. The idea that expression of emotions dissipates these emotions is evaluated. The idea that bottling up emotion results is ill health is reviewed. The idea that pain of trauma and loss needs to be confronted will be examined. Additionally, the assumption that traumatic events invariably result in distress will be discussed. It is argued that empirical findings reject the Freudian model of emotion as energy that must be discharged. Empirical findings also support the view that revisiting …
Incorporating Information From Neuroscience And Endocrinology Regarding Sexual Orientation Into Social Work Education, Jill Littrell
Incorporating Information From Neuroscience And Endocrinology Regarding Sexual Orientation Into Social Work Education, Jill Littrell
SW Publications
The brains of heterosexual males and heterosexual females are different. Moreover, the brains of gay men are similar to heterosexual females whereas the brains of lesbians are similar to heterosexual males. Neuroscience research supporting these postulates is reviewed. The gestational processes that might explain the differences in brain structure and function corresponding with gender are reviewed. Following a discussion of the physiological bases for sexual orientation, a discussion of the physiological bases for the expression of gender related traits and a discussion of factors contributing to sexual identity are provided. Throughout the article, alternative ways to think about gender are …
The History Of Defining Youth: Current Implications For Identifying And Treating Delinquent Youth, Robin M. Hartinger-Saunders
The History Of Defining Youth: Current Implications For Identifying And Treating Delinquent Youth, Robin M. Hartinger-Saunders
SW Publications
This article presents a historical overview of how legally and socially constructed definitions of childhood and youth have, and continue to, shape the identification, treatment and research surrounding delinquent youth. Even though we age biologically along a continuum, formal social systems, most notably the courts and our system of rights, are based on specific chronological age parameters which impose a rigid element to something that is otherwise fluid. This often results in subjective decision making regarding sanctions and treatment options among family and criminal court systems as well as other professionals who work closely with delinquent youth. This article highlights …