Justice and Human Development

Psychologists have studied certain elements of wellness, and various aspects of fairness, but they have seldom studied the interaction between the two. As a result, it is not surprising that there is a paucity of educational, community, clinical and social interventions to promote wellness and fairness in concert. In this paper I present a framework of justice consisting of substantive and contextual types. Distributive and procedural justice constitute the two main types of justice. Interpersonal, organizational, cultural and communal justice are contextual types which embed within them the two substantive aspects of justice. I explore how these various kinds of justice impact human development across six facets of well-being: interpersonal, communal, occupational, physical, psychological and economic. I claim that for children and adults to achieve optimal human development, these facets of well-being must be supported by various types of justice

Promoting Strengths, Prevention, Empowerment, and Community Change Through Organizational Development: Lessons for Research, Theory, and Practice

SPEC Learning and Changing by Doing is a three-year, action research and organizational change project designed to ultimately promote social justice and well-being in the community. SPEC is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Prevention, Empowerment, and Community Change. The project consists of five organizations tackling internal organizational change in order to better promote justice and well-being in their respective constituencies. In this paper we present a formative evaluation of this multicase study of organizational change in human services. This paper contributes to the empirical and theoretical literature on organizational change in the nonprofit human service milieu

Identity and Oppression: Differential Responses to an In-Between Status

Oppression operates at various levels, with varying degrees of negativity, and groups respond in markedly different ways. In this paper, the in-between status of the colored South African group is used to illustrate issues of identity and oppression under the Apartheid system—and differing ways in which oppression was experienced and used. The colored group had many social advantages over Blacks, but were also used to oppress that group. Habituation, accommodation, and relative advantage were identified as dynamics within the broader context of power and privilege that contributed to cultural and psychological marginality and status ambivalence of the coloreds. These processes must be understood within the historical, social, and political context of the community. What is evident from the data is that groups and individuals can take up various positions along a continuum of oppressor—oppressed, depending upon the contexts, time, and social and legal relationships involved in their interactions

The value of grounded theory for disentangling inequalities in maternal-child healthcare in contexts of diversity : a psycho-sociopolitical approach

Adopting a psycho-sociopolitical approach, the present paper describes the results of a community-based participatory needs assessment focusing on the perceived needs of women of reproductive age as users of primary healthcare in contexts of migration-driven diversity and socioeconomic vulnerability in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon. The investigation comprised 64 in-depth interviews with women, including natives and immigrants to Portugal from the main origin countries in the context under study (Brazil, Cape Verde, and other Portuguese- speaking African countries) and a survey of 125 women, again natives and immigrants from these countries. The central role of qualitative methodology and grounded theory, in the framework of a multi-method research, allowed understanding the needs of women as embedded in contexts characterized by asymmetrical power relations, in terms of unequal opportunities and resources, at multiple interrelated ecological levels (personal, relational, organizational, community, socioeconomic, health system/policy, cultural/migration). The priority perceived needs of women were primarily related to socioeconomic disadvantage, severely aggravated in the current contexts of crisis; and factors at the health system level, mainly unequal access to family doctors, excessive waiting lists, and increases in the direct costs of healthcare. Results allow questioning the adequacy of cultural competence approaches for the reduction of inequalities in maternal-child healthcare in the context under study, showing the critical and innovative value of qualitative methodology and grounded theory in research on social justice and health in contexts of diversity characterized by unequal power dynamics.FP7 -Seventh Framework Programme(FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF

Estudios sobre tropomiosina de invertebrados

La tropomiosina A (TM A) o paramiosina es una molécula extremadamente asimétrica, de forma de bastón cuya estructura predominante es de α-hélice y cuyas propiedades han sido asociadas con la tonicidad del músculo aductor de los lamelibanquios. La TM A aislada de Aulacoaya magellanica (cholgas recogidas en Puerto Deseado, R. Argentina) cristaliza en forma de agujas muy similares a las de TM A de Pinna nobilis. Constituye casi un 1% en peso seco del músculo aductor del molusco, valor algo mayor al que se obtiene para Peeten maximus, pero bastante inferior al de Pinna. Su solubilidad en sulfato de amonio (precipita entre 21 y 34 % de saturación) así como su constante de sedimentación (3.13 a concentración de proteína igual a cero)coinciden con las de TM A de Pinna y Pecten. Su espectro de absorción presenta un máximo a 276 mμ con un coeficiente de extinción E1cm ^1%= 3.4 (280 mμ) indicativo de un muy bajo contenido en aminoácidos aromáticos. El peso molecular para el método de Archibald dió un valor de 258,000 +- 16,000 similar al obtenido por el mismo método para la paramiosina de Venus. Se asigna sin embargo, un peso molecular máximo de 130,000; los valores anotados se atribuyen a la formación de agregados. Posee grupos básicos como C-terminales. Determinaciones de aminoácidos N-terminales por el método de fluorodinitrobenceno dieron 0.6 moles de dinitrofenil-alanina por cada 130,000 g. de proteína.Por todo ello y por dejar un fragmento al ser digeridapor tripsina, la proteína aislada de Aulacomya debe ser clasificada como TM A con propiedades similares a las de Pinna y Pecten. Sin embargo el valor de su viscosidad intrínseca (0.80) está muy por debajo del valor observado para las TM A de Pinna y Pecten; aproximándose mucho al de la TM B de Pecten. La variación de la velocidad de sedimentación con la concentración de proteína (0.051) es también menor que la de la TM A de Pinna (0.095). Ambos resultados sugieren una menor asimetría o hidratación molecular. La velocidad y extensión de la acción de la tripsina sobre la TM A de Pinna nobilis, Peeten maximus y Aulacomya mageilanica fué seguida por diferentes métodos a saber, nitrógeno total, contenido de α-amino nitrógeno y arginina en la fracción soluble en ácido tricloroacético, consumo de álcali y residuos N-terminales en la mezcla de digestión. Los resultados obtenidos permiten decir que el número de uniones rotas por la tripsina es aproximadamente la mitad del número de uniones susceptibles presentes en la molécula. Colaboran a sostener esta conclusión los estudios físicos y químicos realizados sobre el fragmento que queda después del tratamiento trípsico de la proteína nativa. La mayor parte de la arginina liberada durante la proteólisis está en la forma de arginina N-terminal o arginina libre desde que cerca de un 80% de la arginina total liberada por la enzima está presente como dinitrofenil-arginina en la fracción soluble del digerido tratado por fluorodinitrobenceno. La cinética de la proteólisis se estudió por dos métodos diferentes y se observó claramente la existencia de por lo menos dos o posiblemente tres reacciones simultáneas que ocurrían a diferentes velocidades. Las constantes de velocidad sugieren que una clase de uniones peptídicas es mucho más susceptible al ataque que otras. La extensión de la digestión de TM A de Pecten y Aulacomya con tripsina es muy similar a la de TM A de Pinna. Una digestiión prolongada (24 horas) de TM A de Pinna, Pecten y Aulacomya deja un fragmento de caracter proteico. El fragmento de Pinna fué estudiado en detalle. Parece ser un producto bien definido de peso molecular de alrededor de 85,000 cuya composición de aminoácidos es muy similar a la de la proteína nativa. La técnica del fluorodinitrobenceno reveló ácido glutámico como residuo N-terminal predominante, acompañado de vestigios de dinitrofenil-serina, dinitrofenil-glicina, dinitrofenil-alanina y dinitrofenil-fenilalanina. La carboxipeptidasa B reveló que contiene 8.6 residuos de lisina e igual número de residuos de residuos de arginina en la posición C-terminal. Determinaciones físico-químicas de viscosidad intrinseca y la dependencia de la velocidad de sedimentación con la concentración sugieren que la molécula se ha hecho menos asimétrica. Las propiedades de solubilidad y la carga neta del fragmento trípsico son similares a las de la tropomiosina soluble (TM B). Sin embargo, las dos proteínas difieren en su variación de viscosidad con la fuerza iónica y en su comportamiento frente a la tripsina. La acción de la tripsina sobre el fragmento tratado bajo diversas condiciones ("desnaturalización" por calor, urea, ácido tricloroacético, eliminación de metales,alta fuerza iónica, solventes orgánicos) no producen una digestión apreciable. Lo mismo ocurrió cuando se trató el fragmento con enzimas tales como quimotripsina y elastasa. La pepsina en cambio, parece destruir el fragmento en péptidos con una gran tendencia a la agregación. El material difusible al cabo de la digestión prolongada de TM A consiste en una mezcla de péptidos pequeños y arginina y lisina libres. Estos dos aminoácidos tambien forman parte de los péptidos neutros, básicos y acídicos. Se discuten los resultados sobre la base de la estructura secundaria conocida de la TM A. La acción de la tripsina no sigue un modelo simple. Aparentemente se opera un profundo cambio en la configuración de la molécula durante los primeros 15 minutos de la digestión y la estructura terciaria y la alta concentración de cargas negativas pueden ser causas de la resistencia del nuevo fragmento a la proteólisis. Cuando se digirió TM A de Pinna con quimotripsina durante 24 horasm se obtuvo una considerable cantidad de material difusible y quedó un fragmento no dializable. Este fragmento tiene una composición de aminoácidos muy similar a la de la TM A, conteniendo aún fenilalanina y tirosina. La digestión, si prosigue, es extremadamente lenta. Se realizó un estudio comparado de la digestiones prolongadas de TM A, TM V y miosina: 1) La digestión con tripsina parece ser un método simple para diferenciar TM A de TM B porque la primera deja un fragmento proteico mientras que la segunda se digiere completamente. 2) La miesina no parece incluir la molécula de TM A como parte integrante de su estructura, como fuera sugerido por algunos autores.Fil: De Milstein, Celia Prilleltensky. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina

The I COPPE Scale Short Form for measuring multidimensional well-being: Construct validity and reliability from US, Argentinian, and Italian large samples

The aim of this study is to present a short form of the I COPPE scale of multidimensional well‐being. We conducted two studies, which include four samples collected across three countries, namely United States, Argentina, and Italy. In the pilot study we tested during the data analysis phase whether it was feasible to reduce the full I COPPE scale by omitting the items dealing with past well‐being. Prompted by the positive results of the pilot study, we launched a final validation study with a sample of 2682 Italian people who completed the I COPPE scale short form, which is designed without items referring to past well‐being. Results from a series of confirmatory factor analyses show that the I COPPE scale short form presents acceptable levels of construct validity and reliability. Moreover, the 7‐factor correlated‐trait model proved to be the best fit for the data. We discuss advantaged of using the I COPPE scale short form along with limitations and future recommendations

Liberation-focused Community Outreach: A Qualitative Exploration of Peer Group Supervision during Disaster Response

While it is clear that community outreach and disaster response must include cultural and social justice competence, there is a dearth of knowledge regarding the process by which this can occur. Guided by liberation psychology, this qualitative study examined the peer group supervision process of psychologists and counselors providing outreach to Haitian communities in Florida after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The findings suggest that peer supervision generated a cyclical process in which the practitioners focused on both content and process themes that were salient to the community outreach. During supervision, practitioners used content information on the community\u27s culture, strengths, and sociopolitical issues to conceptualize the community\u27s experiences and needs. This content informed the outreach process, including the practitioners’ roles and the ways in which they connected and developed respectful relationships with the community. Ongoing peer supervision appeared to facilitate a liberation-focused community outreach and increase consciousness among the practitioners

Disrupting the dynamics of oppression in intercultural research and practice

In this special issue we focus on exploring the tensions, challenges and possibilities for working in contexts where relationships between groups are characterized by dominance and resistance. Some of the impetus lies in our own struggles and frustrations with models, guidelines and ‘recipes’ that have been developed to guide sensitive, competent and empowering research and practice across boundaries of ‘race’, ethnicity and culture. These models and guidelines are often framed as tools that will enable culturally competent transactions across these boundaries

Psychology for the Common Good: The Interdependence of Citizenship, Justice, and Well-being across the Globe

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