The Psychological Impact Of War
Trauma On Civilians:
An International Perspective,
by Stanley
Krippner & Teresa McIntyre (Eds.), Praeger, Westport,
Connecticut, 2003, Psychological Dimensions to War and Peace
Series, xiv+327 pages. ISBN: 0-275-97202-X
The wars of the past century
have been marked by ever-increasing numbers of civilian casualties.
Stevan Hobfoll, in his preface, stresses that this book presents a
timely reflection upon the impact of war and extreme stress on civilian
populations, and psychology’s response to these issues. Contributors
examined and developed interventions in locations including Africa, the
Balkans, Afghanistan, Siberia, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Cutting edge research on the psychosocial consequences of war is
presented, analyzing the social, cultural and psychological processes
involved in generating conflict and victimization.
The book assumes a health psychology
approach in addressing the psychosocial consequences of war on
civilians, drawing from other disciplines in an integrative manner, such
as cognitive psychology, clinical psychology, education and social
psychology. A holistic model is considered key in addressing the complex
nature of war stress and the overreaching quality of its consequences at
the individual, social and community levels. Both risk and resilience
factors are considered in the individual and community responses to war
trauma. The book makes a statement that there is no individual health
without social and community health, and that psychology in its
different domains has a social responsibility in contributing to global
health.
Weidber,
G., Kopp, M., Kristenson, M. (eds.)
Heart
Disease - Environment, Stress, and Gender.
2002,
Volume 327 NATO Science Series: Life and Behavioural Sciences.
350
pp., hardcover, ISBN: 158603 082 5
Price:
US 90, EUR 95, GBP 60
The
book addresses gender differences in heart disease with special
attention placed on the recent cardiovascular disease epidemic among
middle-aged men in Eastern Europe. While the traditional risk factors
such as hypertension or high cholesterol level proved to be unable to
explain the gender gap in coronary heart disease, psychosocial risk
factors such as stress, should warrant more attention. This book focuses
on both biological and psychosocial perspectives and provides a
multidisciplinary framework from the fields of demography, epidemiology,
clinical medicine, sociology and psychology. The book features the work
of a distinguished group of international researchers participating in
the NATO conference “The Increase in Coronary Heart Disease in Central
and Eastern Europe: Stress- and Gender Related Factors” in 2000,
organized by Maria Kopp and Gerdi Weidner in Budapest.
Marcia
Inhorn & Frank van Balen (eds)
Infertility
Around the Globe:
New
Thinking on Childlessness, Gender and Reproductive Technologies.
2002,
University of California Press
374
pp. ISBN:0-520-23108-2
Information
from the website:
Based
on original research by seventeen social scientists, this is the first
book to investigate the use of reproductive technologies in non-Western
countries. With infertility as the lens through which a wide range of
social issues is explored, the contributors address a far-reaching array
of topics: why infertility has been neglected in population studies, how
the deeply gendered nature of infertility sets the blame squarely on
women's shoulders, how infertility and its treatment transform family
dynamics and relationships, and the distribution of medical and marital
power. The chapters present investigations into cultural perceptions of
infertility in numerous countries, including China, India, the nations
of sub-Saharan Africa, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Egypt, Israel, the United
States, and the nations of Europe. Poised to become the quintessential
reference on infertility from an international social science
perspective, Infertility around the Globe makes a powerful argument that
involuntary childlessness is a complex phenomenon that has far-reaching
significance worldwide.
The
Health Psychology Handbook:
Practical
Issues for the Behavioral Medicine Specialist
Edited
by Lee M. Cohen, Dennis E. McChargue, Frank L. Collins
Sage,
July 2003
Information
from the website:
“The Health Psychology Handbook is a comprehensive yet practical
volume that consolidates information needed by health psychologists
working alongside other healthcare professionals. It facilitates the
progression of the learner from the classroom to the clinical setting by
focusing on the translation of science to practice using concrete
examples.
The
Handbook is divided into four major parts. Part I highlights
practical issues faced by health psychologists in a medical setting (how
to motivate patients, consultation-liaison, assessment and screening,
brief psychotherapies, ethical issues, etc.). Part II concentrates on
treating unhealthy behaviors (alcohol and nicotine use, noncompliance,
overeating/obesity, physical inactivity, stress). Part III considers
behavioral aspects of medical problems (pain management, hypertension,
diabetes, cancer, sexual dysfunction, HIV/AIDS, irritable bowel
syndrome, insomnia). And Part IV takes up special issues relevant to
practice and research in the field (minority issues, women's issues,
working with geriatric populations, public health approaches to health
psychology and behavioral medicine)”.
Qualitative
Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods
Edited
by Jonathan A. Smith, Birkbeck, University of London.
Published
by: Sage, London, 2003.
Information
from the website: “Prompted
by the current explosion of interest in qualitative psychology, this
book is written in a very accessible manner and is primarily intended as
a textbook for undergraduates and postgraduates, though it will also be
useful to more advanced researchers. Qualitative Psychology covers all of the main qualitative approaches
now used in psychology and each chapter offers the reader a step-by-step
guide to carrying out research using that particular method with plenty
of pedagogical advice.”
This
book will be of particular interest to European health psychologists for
two reasons:
1.
Many of the chapters are written by people well known for their
work in health psychology and using illustrations from health
psychology.
2.
The book is written in a clear style, which should make it
accessible for
readers
whose first language is not English.
