Caring for the caregivers : the relationship between perceived organizational support and teacher-child interactions in Head Start classrooms

The purpose ofthis study was to examine whether there is a correlation between Head Start preschool teachers’ perceived agency support and the quality of their interactions with children in their programs. This study utilized a mixed methods design with both observational and self-report measures to examine the correlation between two measures as administered in Head Start preschools programs: The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and the Survey of Perceived Organizational Support (SPOS). A national sample of 69 Head Start preschool teachers responded to a modified version of the SPOS that included demographic items and agreed to release their CLASS scores. Teachers were also invited to share open-ended responses about support in their agency, which were qualitatively coded to examine underlying themes. A negative correlation was found between teacher pay and the CLASS dimension Negative Climate (as pay increased, Negative Climate decreased). Correlations were also found between several CLASS dimensions and several items on the SPOS with most correlations in an expected direction. In line with literature from early childhood attachment, organizational psychology, psychodynamic perspectives, and education research, both pay and perceptions of organizational support were shown to affect preschool teachers’ capacity to, in turn, provide support to children. This is particularly a social justice issue in Head Start preschools due to their dedication to serving low-income families and children with disabilities, as well as the high rate of adverse childhood experiences (ACES) in Head Start children and Head Start teachers, which increases risk of later mental and physical health challenges

Behind the Curtain: Fetishism and the Production of Virtual Reality Treatment for PTSD

Virtual Iraq/Afghanistan, a virtual reality (VR) exposure therapy designed for the treatment of combat-related PTSD, has generated wide public interest in the wake of growing concerns over mental health problems among service members. Enlisting concepts from the fields of cultural studies and psychoanalytic film criticism, the paper interprets the VR therapy program as a form of technology fetishism within the expanding apparatus of military mental health operations. Even as the program seeks to expose the “invisible wounds of war,” the stories produced through this use of visual culture conform closely to hegemonic military accounts of the psychological effects of combat