Madness Reimagined: Envisioning a Better System of Mental Health in America

Leonard A. Steverson, Flagler College

Madness Reimagined: Envisioning a Better System of Mental Health in America provides a comprehensive analysis of the current mental health system in the United States. Presented from a sociological rather than a psychological perspective, this book seeks to provide readers with an extensive but accessible look at its history, the current mental health treatment modalities, the various mental health practitioners, the different conditions known as mental health disorders, as well as strategies for improving the system. Trained both in clinical and applied therapy and sociology, the author aims to provide a balance to the work that other books on mental health often lack. As a result, this book proposes a dual approach to the study of mental health. Dr. Steverson acknowledges that while disorders and treatment modalities require a micro-level (intrapsychic) approach, the overall analysis of the mental health system demands a macro-level (sociological) approach. Due to the recent changes in the American healthcare system and the concerns this has raised, this book is a necessary and important contribution to its field. It also reflects a growing desire from the public to better understand this subject as mental health issues continue to gain visibility in the public eye. Free of psychological jargon and in an accessible format, this book will not only appeal to academics and students, but also to mental health consumers, their families, and people who are interested in advocacy.

Enjoying the Operatic Voice: A Neuropsychoanalytic Exploration of the Operatic Reception Experience

Carlo Zuccarini

There has been a long-standing and mutually-informing association between psychoanalysis, literature and the arts. Surprisingly, given the oral/aural basis of the ‘talking cure’, music has largely been overlooked by psychoanalysis. Notably, neuroscientific research investigating music reception and production has been steadily increasing in range and scope over the years. However, in order to avoid confounding factors, empirical studies have focused primarily on non-vocal music. Remarkably, operatic vocal music has not featured prominently in either field. Yet the multi-dimensional, multi-layered nature of opera, which fuses together a number of different arts, would appear to provide fertile soil for both disciplines. This book aims to fill that gap, providing a stepping stone for further research. It leverages the individual strengths of psychoanalysis and neuroscience both separately and jointly as the inter-discipline of neuropsychoanalysis. By combining various theories of mind with knowledge about music processing in the brain, this book comprehensively examines the operatic reception experience, providing an account in subjective as well as objective terms. It explores the bittersweet enjoyment of operatic vocal music, which can literally move an operaphile to tears. The explanation for this may be found in a number of subjective dynamics that are unique to the reception of opera, rather than in any distinct objective neural processes, which are common to the reception of all music. These subjective dynamics, which are recruited during neural processing, are triggered by the equally unique features of the operatic voice, in combination with a number of auxiliary elements that are specific to opera. This book will be of interest to academics in a broad range of science and arts disciplines related to music perception and performance, such as music psychology and operatic performance. It may also appeal to passionate operaphiles who wish to understand what drives their addiction!

A Threatened Rural Idyll? Informal social control, exclusion and the resistance to change in the English countryside

Nathan Aaron Kerrigan, Centre for Advances in Behavioural Science, Coventry University, UK

Issues concerning globalisation, protection of identity and resistance to change at the national level (e.g., Brexit) have been the cause of much public and scholarly debate. With this in mind, this book demonstrates how these national, and indeed global narratives, have impacted on and are influenced by ‘going-ons’ in local contexts. By situating these national narratives within a rural context, Kerrigan expertly explores, through ethnographic research, how similar consequences of informal social control and exclusion are maintained in rural England in order to protect rural identity from social and infrastructural change. Drawing on observation, participant observation, and in-depth interviews, ‘A Threatened Rural Idyll’ illustrates how residents from a small but developing rural town in the South of England perceived changes associated with globalisation, such as population growth, inappropriate building developments, and the influx of service industries. For many of the residents, particularly those of middle-class status and long-standing in the town, these changes were seen as a direct threat to the rural character of the town. The investigation highlights how community dynamics and socio-spatial organisation of daily life work to protect the rural traditions inherent in the social and spatial landscape of the town and to maintain the dominance of its largely white, middle-class character. As a result, Kerrigan contends that the resistance to change has the consequence of constructing a social identity that attempts to reinforce the notions of a rural idyll to the exclusion of processes and people seen as representing different values and ideals.

Random Destiny: How the Vietnam War Draft Lottery Shaped a Generation

Wesley Abney

This book provides a concise but thorough summary of how the selective service system worked from 1965 through 1973, and also demonstrates how this selective process, during a highly unpopular war, steered major life choices of millions of young men seeking deferrals based on education, occupation, marital and family status, sexual orientation, and more. This book explains each category of deferral and its resulting “ripple effect” across society. Putting a human face on these sociological trends, the book also includes a number of brief personal anecdotes from men in each category, told from a remove of 40 years or more, when the lifelong effects of youthful decisions prompted by the draft have become evident. There are few books which address the military draft of the Vietnam years, most notably CHANCE AND CIRCUMSTANCE: The Draft, the War and the Vietnam Generation, by Baskir and Strauss (1978). This early study of draft-age men discusses how they were socially channeled by the selective service system. RANDOM DESTINY follows up on this premise and draws from numerous later studies of men in the lottery pool, to create the definitive portrait of the draft and its long-term personal and social effects. RANDOM DESTINY presents an in-depth explanation of the selective service system in its final years. It also provides a comprehensive yet personal portrait of how the draft and the lottery steered a generation of young lives into many different paths, from combat to conscientious objection, from teaching to prison, from the pulpit to the Canadian border, from public health to gay liberation. It is the only recent book which demonstrates how American military conscription, in the time of an unpopular war, profoundly influenced a generation and a society over the decades that followed.

To Know as I Am Known: The Communion of the Saints and the Ontology of Love

Mark McLeod-Harrison, George Fox University, USA

The doctrine of the communion of the saints is central in the spiritual lives and theology of millions of Christians. However, it has been neglected by much recent philosophical scholarship. ‘To know as I am known’ addresses this oversight by offering a contemporary analysis of this venerated doctrine. By taking two related puzzles inherent in the doctrine itself, McLeod-Harrison explores and reflects on not only the communion of the saints but also on the ontology of love. Divided into five parts, this book provides an account of human nature and sin, before suggesting a way of thinking of love that is rooted both in the doctrine of the Trinity and in the thought of several contemporary analytic thinkers along with Dostoyevsky, Eckerd, Royce. While the integral issues of the doctrine are related to the “why-be-moral” problem, McLeod-Harrison shows that the challenges of the doctrine arise from the unique nature of agape (divine love). Thus, the communion of the saints comes through the challenges intact with a plausible interpretation of saintly motivation and human solidarity. Born out of 20 years of thought, this essential and sophisticated reflection serves as an important contribution to the field of the philosophy of religion that will inspire and engage students, scholars, and Christians, alike.

Positioning English for Specific Purposes in an English Language Teaching Context

Edited by Nadezda Stojkovic, University of Niš, Serbia

With the unrelenting spread of globalization, the English language has been firmly established as the Lingua Franca. Now more than ever, the importance of learning English is paramount within nearly all professional and educational sectors. English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has long been accepted as an effective method for teaching English as a foreign language. In recent years, it has experienced an increasing presence in secondary and tertiary education across the globe. This is predominantly due to its learner-centered approach that focuses on developing linguistic competence in the student’s specific discipline, may that be academics, business or tourism, for example. Positioning English for Specific Purposes in an English Language Teaching Context attempts to present and define the relevance and scope of ESP within English Language teaching. From mobile phones as educational tools to the language needs of medical students, the contributors to this volume examine and propose different epistemological and methodological aspects of ESP teaching. Its unique approach to ESP marks this volume out as an important and necessary contribution to existing ESP literature, and one that will be of use to both researchers and practitioners of ESP.

Cultural Encounters: Cross-disciplinary studies from the Late Middle Ages to the Enlightenment

Edited by Désirée Cappa, Warburg Institute et al.

This collection of essays contributes to the growing field of ‘encounter studies’ within the domain of cultural history. The strength of this work is the multi- and interdisciplinary approach, with papers on a broad range of historical times, places, and subjects. While each essay makes a valuable and original contribution to its relevant field(s), the collection as a whole is an attempt to probe more general questions and issues concerning the productive outcomes of cultural encounters throughout the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods. The collection is divided into three sections organised thematically and chronologically. The first, ‘Encounters with the Past,’ focuses on the reception of classical antiquity in medieval images and texts from France, Italy and the British Isles. The second, ‘Encounters with Religion,’ presents a selection of instances in which political, philosophical and natural philosophical issues arise within inter-religious contexts. The final section, ‘Encounters with Humanity,’ contains essays on early science fiction, political symbolism, and Elizabethan drama theory, all of which deal with the conception and expression of humanity, on both the individual and societal level. This volume’s wide range of topics and methodological approaches makes it an important point of reference for researchers and practitioners within the humanities who have an interest in the (cross-)cultural history of the medieval and Renaissance periods.

Borders and Beyond: Orient-Occident Crossings in Literature

Edited by Adam Bednarczyk, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland et al.

The work presents articles discussing various subjects relating to literary, cultural borders and borderlands as well as their crossings with the Orient and the Occident. A broad, multifaceted scope of the volume draws the attention of readers to the problem of liminal spaces between cultures, genres, codes and languages of literary and artistic communication. The perspective of borderness proposed by orientalists, literary specialists, culture experts provide insights into multi-dimensional and heterogenic subjects and methods of consideration. The authors referring to, inter alia, comparative studies, theory of reception, intertextuality, transculturality of the East and West works touch upon themes such as coexistence, exclusion, crossing or the instability of borders. Also by taking into account identity issues, the interpenetration of various influences between different literatures, poetics and languages, the readers gain a broader context of intercultural dialogue between the Orient and Occident, what allow them to transgress barriers of a purely artistic, literary reception of the book contents. The volume – due to the abundance of proposed topics, its heterogeneous representations and manifold approaches used in analysis, discussion and (re)interpretations – is a debate’s record or a result of an academic reflection rather than a comprehensive monograph.

Forensic Linguistics

Asylum-seekers, Refugees and Immigrants

Edited by Iman Nick, Germanic Society for Forensic Linguistics (GSFL)

According to international statistics, the world is currently undergoing one of the largest refugee catastrophes in modern history. This humanitarian crisis has stimulated the mobilization of countless private and public rescue and relief efforts. Yet, deep-seated concerns over potential breaches of national security and wide-spread fears over uncontrolled mass immigration have prompted many policy-makers to caution against the unregulated entry of foreigners with little or no identity documentation. In an effort to strike a balance between addressing the needs of these two competing sets of concerns, an increasing number of governments have instituted policies and procedures for identity verification. In this multi-authored work, the focus is placed upon the widespread governmental use of language analyses to investigate displaced persons’ registered origins. This dynamic collection of writings provides readers with a thought-provoking, politically-stimulating, intellectually challenging examination of the pitfalls and promise of these practices across differing sociopolitical, legal, linguistic, and geographical contexts. This contextual diversity reflects the unique strength of this reference work. Unlike so many other publications on the market that focus rigidly upon a single vantage point, this work offers a dynamic exploration of the theory and practice of language analysis for governmentally-mandated identification procedures. From the linguistic scholar to the human rights activist, the agency worker to the asylum-seeking applicant, this collection offers a complex and rich cross-section of professional and personal experiences. The multiplicity of perspectives is powerfully complemented by the heterogeneity of disciplines represented in this work. From sociology, psychology, demography, and language policy to linguistics, ethics, international affairs, government and politics, this work will satisfy a wide variety of readers’ scholarly interests and commensurately serves as an excellent reference work for researchers and practitioners as well as a valuable teaching resource for graduate and undergraduate courses.

Answering the New Atheists: How Science Points to God and to the Benefits of Christianity

Anthony Walsh, Boise State University

In the face of increasing attacks on Christianity by militant new atheists, Christians should be able to robustly defend their beliefs in the language spoken by Christianity’s detractors—science. Atheists claim that science and religion are incompatible and in constant conflict, but this book argues that this is assuredly not true. In order to rebut the polemic agenda of the new atheists who want God banned from the public square, this book engages with the physical and natural sciences, social science, philosophy, and history. It shows that evidence from these diverse disciplines constitutes clear signposts to God and the benefits of Christianity for societies, families, and individuals. Answering the New Atheists begins by examining what new atheism is, before demolishing its claim that Christianity is harmful by showing the many benefits it has for freedom and democracy, morality, longevity, and physical and mental health. Many historians of science contend that science was given its impetus by the Christian principle that a rational God wants us to discover his fingerprints on nature. Thus, in subsequent chapters, Walsh presents a well-informed and philosophical-based analysis of the Big Bang and cosmic fine-tuning, the unimaginable improbability of factors that make this planet habitable, and the multiverse often called the “last refuge of the desperate atheist.” Interdisciplinary in its approach, this book adeptly explores the very problematic issues of the origin and evolution of life that have forced many top-rate scientists including Nobel Prize winners, who have thought deeply about the philosophical meaning of their work, to accept God as the Creator of everything.

A Global Perspective on Friendship and Happiness

Edited by Tim Madigan, St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York and Bertrand Russell Society and Tim Delaney, State University of New York at Oswego

In A Global Perspective on Friendship and Happiness, editors Tim Delaney and Tim Madigan have organized a collection of original articles on the subjects of friendship and happiness. Each of these chapters offers a unique perspective and serves as worthy contributions to the field of friendship and happiness studies. The chapters found in this publication are the result of the "Happiness & Friendship" conference held June 12-14, 2017 at Mount Melleray Abbey, Waterford, Ireland. The contributing authors come from many diverse countries and academic disciplines thus enhancing this outstanding volume.

Symbolic Interactionism: The Basics

Charles Quist-Adade, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Canada

This book is a survey of Symbolic Interaction. In thirteen short chapters, it traces the history, the social philosophical roots, the founders, “movers and shakers” and evolution of the theory. Symbolic Interactionism: The Basics takes the reader along the exciting, but tortuous journey of the theory and explores both the meta-theoretical and mini-theoretical roots and branches of the theory. Symbolic interactionism or sociological social psychology traces its roots to the works of United States sociologists George Hebert Mead, Charles Horton Cooley, and Herbert Blumer, and a Canadian sociologist, Erving Goffman; Other influences are Harold Garfinkel’s Ethnomethodology and Austrian-American Alfred Schutz’s study of Phenomenology. Symbolic Interactionism: Basics explores the philosophical sources of symbolic interactionism, including pragmatism, social behaviorism, and neo-Hegelianism. The intellectual origins of symbolic interactions can be attributed to the works of William James, George Simmel, John Dewey, Max Weber, and George Herbert Mead. Mead is believed to be the founder of the theory, although he did not publish any academic work on the paradigm. The book highlights the works of the intellectual heirs of symbolic interactionism— Herbert Blumer, Mead’s former student, who was instrumental in publishing the lectures his former professor posthumously with the title Symbolic Interactionism, Erving Goffman and Robert Park.

Messy Ethnographies in Action

Edited by Alexandra Plows, Bangor University

This edited collection of chapters showcases original and interdisciplinary ethnographic fieldwork in a range of international settings; including studies of underground pub life in North East England; Finnish hotels; and bio-scientific institutions in the Amazonian rainforest. Informed by John Law’s concept of ethnographic “mess,” this book makes a unique, empirically-informed, contribution to an understanding of the social construction of knowledge and the role that ethnography can and does play (Law, 2004). It provides a range of colourful snapshots from the field, showing how different researchers from multiple research environments and disciplines are negotiating the practicalities, and epistemological and ethical implications, of “messy” ethnographic practice as a means of researching “messy” social realities. Law notes that “social…science investigations interfere with the world…things change as a result. The issue, then, is not to seek disengagement but rather with how to engage” (ibid p14). Drawing on their own situated experiences, the book’s contributors address the “messy” implications of this and also explore the (equally messy) issue of why engage. They reflect on the process of undertaking research, and their role in the research process as they negotiate their own position in the field. What is ethnography “for”? What impact should, or do, we have in the field and after we leave the research site? What about unintended consequences? When (if ever) are we “off duty?” What does “informed consent” mean in a constantly shifting, dynamic ethnographic context? Is ethnography by its very nature a form of “action research?” By providing a wide range of situated explorations of “messy ethnographies,” the book presents a unique, hands-on guide to the challenges of negotiating ethnography in practice, which will be of use to all researchers and practitioners who use ethnography as a method.

Political Routes to Starvation

Why Does Famine Kill?

Bas Dianda

This book seeks to reclassify famine by offering an in-depth look at the phenomenon that continues to affect millions of people across the world every year. Defined as a widespread scarcity of food, Dr. Basilio Dianda argues that the causes of famine cannot be reduced exclusively to a shortfall in agricultural output or to economic dynamics. Instead, an analysis of famine must take into account political and economic factors as well as agricultural, climatologic and demographic data. ‘Political Routes to Starvation’ is the result of an all-encompassing analysis of eighty famines from across the globe. This extensive piece of research demonstrates that there are not only multiple factors at play in the genesis of a food crisis, but also in its evolution to starvation. Dianda contends that in order to fully understand the causes of famine it is necessary to reinstate a hierarchy between foundation and concomitant causes, especially when cross-comparing cases. Importantly, Dianda maintains that only a comprehensive approach to famine can appropriately answer the questions: What is famine? How does famine occur? Why does famine kill?

Climate Change Perception and Changing Agents in Africa & South Asia

Edited by Suiven John Paul Tume, Green Care Association, Cameroon and Vincent Itai Tanyanyiwa, Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe

‘Climate Change Perception and Changing Agents in Africa & South Asia’ presents first-hand experiences of climate change perception. Now more than ever understanding public perceptions of climate change is fundamental in creating effective climate policies, especially within countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Striving to present a comprehensive study of climate perception in Africa and South Asia, this volume presents seven in-depth case studies from Cameroon, the Eastern Himalayas, Kenya, Nepal, and Zimbabwe. In order to combat climate change, effective communication is essential in order to educate, persuade, warn and mobilize the masses. Therefore, climate change communication is shaped not only by our different experiences and beliefs but also by the underlying cultural and politic values of a country. Within this volume, climate change communication is examined from Cameroonian, Kenyan and Zimbabwean perspectives. From the role of stakeholders to practical field experiences, the individual case studies present an interesting and informative portrait of climate change communication. It is often the poorest and most vulnerable people who are most affected by the impacts of climate change. Therefore, community-based adaptation is an approach that is aimed at empowering communities in the process of planning for and coping with climate change. In this book, this progressive and innovative approach is examined from a grass-roots perspective that looks to both the Eastern Himalayas and Zimbabwe. Readers are presented with case-studies that investigate the importance of indigenous knowledge, community-based research and the role of social workers in climate change mitigation. This high-quality resource puts forward a well-informed and accessible discussion of climate change perception that will be of interest to both students and scholars, alike.

Christian and Islamic Philosophies of Time

Edited by Marcin Podbielski, Jesuit University Ignatianum, Kraków, Poland and Sotiris Mitralexis, City University of Istanbul, Turkey; University of Winchester, UK

This volume constitutes an attempt at bringing together philosophies of time—or more precisely, philosophies on time and, in a concomitant way, history—emerging from Christianity’s and Islam’s intellectual histories. Starting from the Neoplatonic heritage and the voice of classical philosophy, the volume enters the Byzantine and Arabic intellectual worlds up to Ibn Al-Arabi’s times. A conscious choice in this volume is not to engage with, perhaps, the most prominent figures of Christian and Arabic philosophy, i.e., Augustine on the one hand and Avicenna/Ibn Sina on the other, precisely because these have attracted so much attention due to their prominence in their respective traditions—and beyond. In a certain way, Maximus the Confessor and Ibn Al-Arabi—together with Al-Fārābi—emerge as alternative representatives of their two traditions in this volume, offering two axes for this endeavor. The synthesis of those approaches on time and history, their comparison rather than their mere co-existence, is left to the reader’s critical inquiry and philosophical investigation.

From Head to Heart: High Quality Teaching Practices in the Spotlight

Nicholas D. Young, American International College et al.

It is widely acknowledged that today’s teachers are tasked with educating increasingly diverse students as well as addressing their academic and social-emotional needs. This book examines cutting-edge teaching practices that make a difference in improving general educator and/or student performance across the grade spans. The emphasis is placed on research-based strategies, practices, and theories that can be readily translated into classroom practice. From Head to Heart: High Quality Teaching Practices in the Spotlight considers the importance of more personal topics within the teaching field, such as teacher wellness, as well as including information on effective teaching practices that seek to inspire and empower students and teachers. This book will be of interest to those that work within a pedagogical environment as well as university students and parents, alike.

Stars in the Schoolhouse: Teaching Practices and Approaches that Make a Difference

Nicholas D. Young, American International College et al.

It is acknowledged that today’s teachers are tasked with educating increasingly diverse students as well as with addressing their academic and social-emotional needs. The Stars in the Schoolhouse: Teaching Practices and Approaches that Make a Difference offers a visionary look at teaching skills and practices that focus on the classroom, technology, and specific content areas that are often ignored in educational conversations. Emphasis is placed on research-based strategies, practices, and theories that can be readily translated into classroom practice, whilst examining cutting-edge teaching practices that make a difference in improving general educator and/or student performance across the grade spans. This high-quality teaching resource will be of interest to regular and special educators, school administrators, guidance counselors, graduate education professors, and university students.

Directing the Narrative and Shot Design

The Art and Craft of Directing

Lubomir Kocka, Savannah College of Art and Design

This book is a “directing-altering book” as it provides high-quality learning resources that encourage and challenge film enthusiasts, aspiring directors, film students, and professionals to strive for new levels of excellence and impact in their film directing, television directing, and new media directing. This book puts forward a well-informed and innovative discussion of critical director’s choices that have not previously been considered by existing texts on film and television directing. This book presents a wide range of directorial concepts and directing exercises that include: • Psycho-physiological regularities in left-right/right-left orientation transferred to a shot design. How directors can manipulate the viewer’s perception of a character and of the journey they are on using screen direction. • Methodology and visual strategy for rendering a scene based on character perspective. • The directorial concept of emotional manipulation. • Demystifying the 180-degree rule.

Making Strangers: Outsiders, Aliens and Foreigners

Edited by Abbes Maazaoui, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania

Studies on foreignness have increased substantially over the last two decades in response to what has been dubbed the migration/refugee crisis. Yet, they have focused on specific areas such as regions, periods, ethnic groups, and authors. Predicated on the belief that this so-called “twenty-first century problem” is in fact as old as humanity itself, this book analyzes cases based on both long-term historical perspectives and current occurrences from around the world. Bringing together an international group of scholars from Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America, it examines a variety of examples and strategies, mostly from world literatures, ranging from Spain’s failed experience with consolidation as a nation-state-type entity during the Golden Age of Castile, to Shakespeare’s rhetorical subversion of the language of fear and hate, to Mario Rigoni Stern’s random status at the unpredictable Italian-Austrian borders, to Lawrence Durrell’s ambivalent approach to noticing the physically visible other, to the French government’s ongoing criminalization of hospitality, to Sandra Cisneros’s attempt at straddling two countries and cultures while belonging to neither one, to the illusive legal limbo of the DREAMers in the United States. We are not born foreigners; we are made. The purpose of the book is to assert, as denoted by the title, this fundamental premise, that is, the making of strangers is the result of a deliberate and purposeful act that has social, political, and linguistic implications. The ultimate expression of this phenomenon is the compulsive labeling of people along artificial categories such as race, gender, religion, birthplace, or nationality. A corollary purpose of the book is to help shed light worldwide on one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: the place of “the other” amid fear-mongering and unabashedly contemptuous acts and rhetoric toward immigrants, refugees and all those excluded within because of race, gender, national origin, religion and ethnicity. As illustrated by the examples examined in this book, humans have certainly evolved in many areas; dealing with the “other” might not have been one of those. It is hoped that the book encourages reflection on how the arts, and especially world literatures, can help us navigate and think through the ever-present crisis: the place of the “stranger” among us.