Shattered Vision: Disenchantment of Couplehood Among Female Survivors of Violence in the Shadow of their Family-of-Origin Experiences

Abstract This article describes and analyzes the relationship disenchantment of couplehood among female survivors of violence and their family-of-origin experiences of abuse. Twenty Israeli women who were survivors of violence participated in this qualitative research. Each woman underwent three indepth interviews, two for data collection and one for validating the themes emerging from content analysis. Data analysis revealed that female survivors of violence aim to overcome the distress and pain of emotional and physical violence experienced in their family of origin, by constructing a couplehood vision imbued with a feeling of power, meaning, hope, and freedom. Partner violence shattered the women's vision of couplehood, leading to crisis, disillusionment, and disenchantment in their marital relationships

Transferring Davey`s Theorem on Annihilators in Bounded Distributive Lattices to Modular Congruence Lattices and Rings

Congruence lattices of semiprime algebras from semi--degenerate congruence--modular varieties fulfill the equivalences from B. A. Davey`s well--known characterization theorem for $m$--Stone bounded distributive lattices, moreover, changing the cardinalities in those equivalent conditions does not change their validity. I prove this by transferring Davey`s Theorem from bounded distributive lattices to such congruence lattices through a certain lattice morphism and using the fact that the codomain of that morphism is a frame. Furthermore, these equivalent conditions are preserved by finite direct products of such algebras, and similar equivalences are fulfilled by the elements of semiprime commutative unitary rings and, dualized, by the elements of complete residuated lattices.Comment: 18 page

Determinants of physician empathy during medical education: hypothetical conclusions from an exploratory qualitative survey of practicing physicians

Background Empathy is an outcome-relevant physician characteristic and thus a crucial component of high-quality communication in health care. However, the factors that promote and inhibit the development of empathy during medical education have not been extensively researched. Also, currently there is no explicit research on the perspective of practicing physicians on the subject. Therefore the aim of our study was to explore physicians’ views of the positive and negative influences on the development of empathy during their medical education, as well as in their everyday work as physicians. Method We administered a written Qualitative Short Survey to 63 physicians in seven specialties. They were able to respond anonymously. Our open-ended question was: “What educational content in the course of your studies and/or your specialist training had a positive or negative effect on your empathy?” We analyzed the data using thematic content analysis following Mayring’s approach. Results Forty-two physicians took part in our survey. All together, they mentioned 68 specific factors (37 positive, 29 negative, 2 neutral) from which six themes emerged: 1. In general, medical education does not promote the development of empathy. 2. Recognizing the psycho-social dimensions of care fosters empathy. 3. Interactions with patients in medical practice promote empathy. 4. Physicians’ active self-development through reflective practice helps the development of empathy. 5. Interactions with colleagues can both promote and inhibit empathy through their role modeling of empathic and non-empathic behavior. 6. Stress, time pressure, and adverse working conditions are detrimental to empathy development. Conclusions Our results provide an overview of what might influence the development of clinical empathy, as well as hypothetical conclusions about how to promote it. Reflective practice seems to be lacking in current medical curricula and could be incorporated. Raising physicians’ awareness of the psycho-social dimension of disease, and of the impact of peer influence and role modeling, seems promising in this regard, too. Stress and well-being seem to be closely related to physician empathy, and their modulation must take into account individual, social, and organizational factors. Further research should investigate whether or how these hypothetical conclusions can deepen our understanding of the determinants of physician empathy in order to help its promotion

Clinical practice and self-awareness as determinants of empathy in undergraduate education: A qualitative short survey at three medical schools in Germany

[english] Study aim: Physician empathy constitutes an outcome-relevant aim of medical education. Yet, the factors promoting and inhibiting physician empathy have not yet been extensively researched, especially in Germany. In this study, we explored German medical students’ views of the factors promoting and inhibiting their empathy and how their experiences were related to their curricula. Methods: A qualitative short survey was conducted at three medical schools: Bochum University, the University of Cologne and Witten/Herdecke University. Students were invited to complete an anonymous written questionnaire comprised of open-ended questions inquiring about the educational content of and situations during their medical education that positively or negatively impacted their empathy. Data were analyzed through qualitative content analysis according to the methods of Green and Thorogood. Results: A total of 115 students participated in the survey. Respondents reported that practice-based education involving patient contact and teaching with reference to clinical practice and the patient’s perspective improved their empathy, while a lack of these inhibited it. Students’ internal reactions to patients, such as liking or disliking a patient, prejudice and other attitudes, were also considered to influence their empathy. Although each of the three schools takes a different approach to teaching interpersonal skills, no relevant differences were found in their students’ responses concerning the possible determinants of empathy. Conclusion: Providing more training in practice and more contact with patients may be effective ways of promoting student empathy. Students need support in establishing therapeutic relationships with patients and in dealing with their own feelings and attitudes. Such support could be provided in the form of reflective practice training in order to promote self-awareness. More research is needed to evaluate these hypothetical conclusions