Patologisering af non-reproduktive seksuelle praksisser aktuelt og historisk

The article provides a critical commentary on the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-V, from 2013. It traces the historical reasons behind the fact that sexual preferences are included as mental disorders in the psychiatric manual, even if many of them are empirically neither generally associated with impairment or harmful to anyone else. This holds true for fetishism, masochism and consensual sadism among others, and the article pays special attention “sadism” and “masochism, which as “clinical” terms are constituted from the names of literary authors. Second it close reads the descriptions in DSM-V to show that there are several reasons why these descriptions become pathologizing and stigmatizing despite explicit intentions to be the opposite. These include erosions of the distinction between paraphilia and paraphilic disorder – a distinction on which the very possibility of diagnosis is established. Furthermore, the handbook does not make the non-consensual, the impairing or the harmful, the over-riding principle but instead the sexual preference in and of itself. The article shows how deeply affected the conceptions of the real-world preferences are by the events and characters in the fiction of these authors, and how hierarchical disparity and power exchange are typically more central to the preferences than pain with which they have been so closely linked

A Social Autopsy of the Kiss Nightclub Fire

This article offers a social autopsy of the Kiss Nightclub Fire and an exploration of the networks of trauma and reconstruction in its wake. We present a critical analysis of the social and political conditions that created this large-scale tragedy, placing these in the context of political conflict and profit-seeking in Brazil’s recent past. We trace the trauma of the fire in a network of survivors and family members in Rio Grande do Sul and beyond, and the contrasting ways they have sought to make sense of and respond to the fire with political action and/or spiritual exploration

Too Big to Fail? The Framing and Interpretation of ‘Success’/‘Failure’ in Cultural Participation Policy: A Case Study

This article engages with questions of failure in cultural participation through a reflection upon matters of interpretation and meaning. That is, rather than considering the ways or extent to which cultural participation programmes might achieve their stated goals, the discussion centres upon the crucial role of representations and perceptions in relation to questions of ‘failure’/‘success’. The discussion centres upon one case study initiative, England's version of the Venezuelan El Sistema programme, In Harmony, and employs frame analysis to explore the ways press coverage and relevant policy documents cultivate an image of programme ‘success’. In order to help reveal some of the problematic assumptions embedded in dominant accounts, the article also draws on original interview data in exploring the marginalised perspectives of programme participants. The findings which emerge suggest the need for particular attention to the symbolic dimensions of cultural participation policies in relation to questions of ‘failure’/‘success’

Editorial: Cultural Participation: Stories of Success, Histories of Failure

This editorial introduces a special edition of Conjunctions that explores how cultural participation policies, projects, and practices could be improved through recognising the pervasiveness of past failures. It introduces current policy debates on cultural participation and posits that the dominant focus on ‘cultural deficits’ and ‘non-participants’ rather than on how activities are currently funded has resulted in a failure to increase the number and diversity of people participating in state subsidised cultural activities.  It further suggests that a culture of evaluating success, rather than critically reflecting on failure, results in cultural participation policies and projects that replicate past failures and maintain an inequitable status quo.  This special edition attempts to challenge existing narratives of unqualified success by offering alternative narratives that consider failure from different perspectives and at different points in the design and implementation of cultural participation policies and projects. In doing so it highlights the extent to which success and failure coexist and the richness of insight that comes from considering both. This matters because it is only such open and honest critical reflection that has the potential to facilitate the social learning needed for those who can exert the most power in the cultural sector to acknowledge the extent of the structural change required for cultural participation to be supported more equitably

Perspektiver på legedeltagelse og legepraksis i grønlandske børnehaver – mellem risikofyldte, grænseudforskende og farlige lege

Denne artikels formål er at undersøge og diskutere, hvordan leg ser ud i grønlandske børnehaver, og hvordan det pædagogiske personale heri deltager i børns institutionaliserede leg. Artiklen indledes med en kulturhistorisk kontekstualisering af børnehaveområdet i Grønland med perspektiver på leg, opdragelse og udvikling i oprindelige samfund. Det empiriske afsæt eret kortvarigt og refleksivt etnografisk feltarbejde i tre børnehaver i Nuuk, Grønland samt samtaler og interviews med personale og ledere om værdier, perspektiver og forståelser knyttet til børns leg og voksnes deltagelse i den. Inspireret af refleksiv tematisk analyse udvikler jeg i artiklen to temaer: 1) Balanceringer mellem formålsdreven og fri leg samt 2) Leg med og på kanten af grænser – lystfuld og farefuld leg. Temaerne illustrerer dels generelle perspektiver på børns leg og voksnes deltagelse i den og dels specifikke kultur- og kontekstsensitive analyser og refleksioner over risikofyldt og grænseudforskende leg som pædagogisk opmærksomhed i grønlandske børnehaver. I artiklens diskussion udfolder jeg tegn på et særligt legepædagogisk anliggende om ‘omsorg for fremtiden’ som anderledes fra en traditionel ‘omsorg for nuet’- pædagogik. Artiklen bidrager med undersøgelser af leg og pædagogik i en grønlandsk kontekst, hvilket er underbelyst i pædagogisk forskning om børns leg og voksnes deltagelse i den

PPR's funktion og faglighed i bevægelse: Et historisk rids i lyset af den aktuelle debat om øget praksisnærhed i PPR og en begyndende skitsering af en situeret pædagogisk-psykologisk praksis

I disse år fremføres ’praksisnærhed’ i stigende grad som et fagligt og organisatorisk ideal for Pædagogisk Psykologisk Rådgivning (PPR). I artiklens første del argu-menterer vi for nødvendigheden af at forstå det aktuelle ønske om praksisnærhed i relation til den historiske ramme og tradition, som de praksisnære idealer er knyttet til og vokset ud af. På baggrund af en historisk læsning af PPR-feltet foretager vi i artiklens anden del en begyndende skitsering af en situeret pædagogisk-psykologisk praksis. Med afsæt i en situeret psykologisk rammesætning, der henter inspiration i praksisteori (Bernstein, 1971; MacIntyre, 1985) og situeret læringsteori (Lave, 1988, 2019; Lave & Packer, 2008) er det artiklens argument, at der i den aktuelle debat om praksisnærhed i PPR er en risiko for, at praksisnærhed altovervejende kommer til at handle om at befinde sig ’i’ praksis som en modpol til at undersøge børn ’udenfor’ deres (hverdags)praksis. Praksis reduceres hér til alene at være et fysisk afgrænset sted, man kan befinde sig i eller udenfor. Med et afsæt i en situeret psykologisk rammesætning skitserer artiklen en praksisnærhedsforståelse, der ikke reducerer praksis til én pol i en historisk dualitet mellem individ og kontekst, men i stedet som en dialektik mellem forståelser af børns og voksnes deltagelse og delta-gelsens sociale (herunder materielle, strukturelle, historiske) betingelser

Are chatbots the future clinical psychologists?

In recent years, there has been a huge upsurge in research on psychotherapy delivered by conversational agents, such as chatbots, social robots, and virtual avatars, which raises several questions: are conversational agents a replacement or a tool for clinical psychologists? How should professionals approach conversational agents? This paper aims to help professionals form informed opinions concerning the proliferation of conversational agents in psychotherapy. We identify and evaluate key potential and limitations of delivering psychotherapy via conversational agents. We highlight the accessibilityof conversational agents as a core strength that addresses weaknesses in the dominant treatment model in Western countries. Furthermore, we discuss whether conversational agents can replace the interpersonal bond between therapist and client. Finally, we introduce recommendations for professionals in the field of mental health. I de seneste år er der sket en eksplosiv udvikling i forskningen om psykoterapi leveret af samtaleagenter såsom chatbotter, sociale robotter og virtuelle avatarer. Det rejser flere spørgsmål: Er samtaleagenter en erstatning eller et værktøj for kliniske psykologer? Hvordan bør fagpersoner forholde sig til samtaleagenter? Artiklens formål er at hjælpe fagpersoner med at tage stilling til  udbredelsen af samtaleagenter i psykoterapi på et informeret grundlag. Vi udpeger og evaluerer centrale potentialer og begrænsninger, som knytter sig til at levere psykoterapi via samtaleagenter. Vi argumenterer for, at samtaleagenters tilgængelighed er en styrke i forhold til den dominerende behandlingsmodel i vestlige lande. Derefter diskuterer vi, om samtaleagenter kan erstatte den mellemmenneskelige relation i psykoterapi. Afslutningsvist introducerer vi anbefalinger til fagpersoner, som beskæftiger sig med mental sundhed