Creativity in Indian science

Kapur, et.al (1997) Reports the findings of a preliminary inquiry which is part of a larger project on creativity among Indian scientists from a psychological perspective. The aim of the project is to explore the scientists' cognitive and emotional approaches to work, to understand their personality patterns, and to examine the psychosocial influences which have shaped them. The preliminary inquiry included a review of literature and an open-ended interview with 20 scientists (aged 42-59 yrs) who were asked about their definition of creativity, their understanding of creative processes and the personality characteristics of creative people. In addition, information pertaining to the impact of Indian culture on creativity and child rearing practices and codes of interpersonal relationship in India was also elicited. Interview findings were subjected to a qualitative analysis, critically examining the scientists' views against the available literature on Indian character.

Kapur, RL., Subramanyam, Susmita., Shah, Anisha. (1997). Creativity in Indian science. Psychology and Developing Societies. Vol 9 (2): 161-187

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Child abuse: An impediment to the development of creative potential in children

Pandey (2005) studied child abuse :The role of environmental setting, gender and child abuse in shaping the creative potential of children (N = 335) was investigated Results revealed that the rural and abused children scored low on various dimensions of creativity than their urban and non-abused counterparts. The boys scored higher than girls on a number of measures of creativity. The role of ecological and parental treatment of children in the process of creative development is discussed.

Pandey, Sushma. (2005). Child abuse: An impediment to the development of creative potential in children. Psychological Studies. Vol 50(2-3) 238-242

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Organizational design for enhancing the impact of incremental innovations: A qualitative analysis of innovative cases in the context of a developing e

Manimala, et.al (2005) conducted a research literature on organizational design for enhancing the impact of incremental innovations. Innovation in established firms has made a useful distinction between radical innovation and incremental innovation and identified the organizational features associated with each. An implied assumption of many such studies is that radical innovations (compared to incremental) would have a greater impact on the organization as well as the economy. While this is generally true, it is incorrect to assume that all incremental innovations could be uniformly categorized as low-impact innovations. In a study of 31 cases of innovation implemented in large corporations in India, it was observed that though all of them could be classified as 'incremental', their impact varied considerably. A combined index for assessing the impact based on the novelty of the idea, revenues generated/costs saved, dissemination within and outside the organization, extent of commercialization and patentability, was used to categorize the innovations into high impact (HI) and low impact (LI) groups. The analysis of the two groups was qualitative and was based on the detailed case studies prepared through extensive interviews of people involved in the projects. Inferences from the comparative analysis are explained under six sub-themes that emerged as important in differentiating between low and high impact innovations, namely: individual versus team action; the top management support; the role of the immediate supervisor; rewards, recognition and incentives; focus on core versus non core areas; and documenting and patenting practices. An important factor that enhances the impact of innovations is that organizations should have a deliberate innovation strategy and corresponding organizational structures and processes. Coupled with the innovation strategy, organizations should also develop and implement a value appropriation strategy.

Manimala, Mathew J., Jose, PD., Thomas,K Raju. (2005). Organizational design for enhancing the impact of incremental innovations: A qualitative analysis of innovative cases in the context of a developing economy. Creativity-and-Innovation-Management. Vol 14(4) 413-424

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Life in the Arts: Thinking About Dreams and Creativity

Stagner (2004) Reviews Dreams and Drama: Psychoanalytic Criticism, Creativity and the Artist, by Alan Roland (see record 2003-02252-000). The author is an artist, an author of plays and librettos, and a practicing psychoanalyst. Two-thirds of his clientele has drawn extensively from the artistic community. He is familiar with diverse elements of the art world, from painting to writing to dance. Likewise, he is fluent with diverse traditions within psychoanalysis from classical theory to ego psychology to the world of self-objects. Different readers will be drawn to different parts of the three sections of this book. The first section draws extensively and lucidly on the author's clinical experiences with career artists. In the next section Roland presents his insights regarding dreams and creativity. From this recasting of the psychoanalytic understanding of dreams, imagery, art, and primary and secondary process, the third section develops a fresh approach to psychoanalytic criticism. The three sections of this book are closely interconnected, but not seamlessly so. The first three chapters will be more immediately relevant to clinicians, especially those whose clients struggle with emerging artistic identities and the process of creation. Later chapters are more immediately relevant to the student or critic of art. Roland is an experienced clinician whose previous work elaborating a cross-cultural understanding of self (examining India and Japan) likewise attempt to examine disparate conceptual traditions. Here he clearly hopes that a broader, more contemporary understanding of the psychoanalysis of artists and art-making will inform a richer and more useful analysis of works of art. It is a subtle and cerebral ambition, presented in surprisingly accessible and lucid language.

Stagner, Brian H (2004). Life in the Arts: Thinking About Dreams and Creativity. PsycCRITIQUES-. Vol 49 (Suppl 14)

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Structure of word associations in relation to creativity and psychopathology

Bhandari & Upmanyu (2003) designed this study to relate different categories of word associations to various measures of creativity and psychiatric disturbances by giving due weightage to stimulus word characteristics, namely response entropy and affective connotation of stimulus word. Low Response Entropy Word Association Test, MMPI-Pd Scale, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, Culture Fair Intelligence Test: Scale 3 (Form A). Torrance Test of Creative Thinking: Verbal and Figural (Form A), General Mental Ability Test, Rorschach Ink Blot Test were administered to 200 female college students in the age range of 18-24 years. The study reveals several important findings: (1) extremely unusual word associations reflect impulsive-nonconforming-sensation seeking responses, (2) extremely unusual word associations showed, negative association with impulse control, (3) word associations were structurally unrelated to psychometric as well as projective indices of creativity, (4) a negative association (though weak) was found between psychoticism and intelligence.

Bhandari, Anuradha & Upmanyu, VV. (2003). Structure of word associations in relation to creativity and psychopathology. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology. Vol 29 (1-2): 1-6

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Measured intelligence, achievement, openness to experience, and creativity

Harris (2004) studied measured intelligence, achievement, openness to experience, and creativity. He tried to answer the question, are personality traits related to intelligence? This question is addressed in an in-depth examination of the correlations between, and factor structure of, measured intelligence and personality scales chosen to measure the dimensions of Openness and need for Achievement. Participants (203 adult men and 201 adult women) completed four scales of a timed, group administered, intelligence test, 10 personality scales, and a creativity measure. After principal components analysis with direct oblimin rotation, the two personality factors, Openness and Achievement, were found to have small to moderate positive correlations with an intelligence factor (which included the creativity scale), suggesting that intelligence is related to these personality trait dimensions.

Harris, Julie Aitken. (2004). Measured intelligence, achievement, openness to experience, and creativity. Personality and Individual Differences. Vol 36 (4): 913-929

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Cognitive and Motivational Characteristics of Adolescents Gifted in Mathematics: Comparisons Among Students With Different Types of Giftedness

Hong & Aqui (2004) conducted a research on cognitive and motivational characteristics of adolescents gifted in mathematics: comparisons among students with different types of giftedness. They said that although numerous studies have compared cognitive and motivational characteristics between gifted versus nongifted students, research comparing those characteristics among different types of gifted students has not kept up with the theoretical development that saw a transition from unidimensional to multidimensional conceptualizations of giftedness. This study compares cognitive and motivational characteristics of high school students who are academically gifted in math, creatively talented in math, and nongifted. Whereas no differences were found among the three groups in their beliefs about ability, most of the other characteristics examined in the study distinguished the three groups. Academically gifted female students reported expending more effort than did academically gifted male students. Creatively talented males put forth more effort than academically gifted males, and the creatively talented in general used more cognitive strategies than the academically gifted. Overall, students who were either academically gifted or creatively talented in mathematics perceived that they were self-efficacious in general, used cognitive strategies, perceived their math ability and math self-efficacy to be high, and valued learning math more so than their nongifted age peers.

Hong, Eunsook & Aqui, Yvette. (2004). Cognitive and Motivational Characteristics of Adolescents Gifted in Mathematics: Comparisons Among Students With Different Types of Giftedness. Gifted Child Quarterly. Vol 48 (3): 191-201

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Life in the Arts: Thinking About Dreams and Creativity

Stagner (2004) Reviews Life in the Arts: Thinking About Dreams and Creativity, by Alan Roland. The author is an artist, an author of plays and librettos, and a practicing psychoanalyst. Two-thirds of his clientele has drawn extensively from the artistic community. He is familiar with diverse elements of the art world, from painting to writing to dance. Likewise, he is fluent with diverse traditions within psychoanalysis from classical theory to ego psychology to the world of self-objects. Different readers will be drawn to different parts of the three sections of this book. The first section draws extensively and lucidly on the author's clinical experiences with career artists. In the next section Roland presents his insights regarding dreams and creativity. From this recasting of the psychoanalytic understanding of dreams, imagery, art, and primary and secondary process, the third section develops a fresh approach to psychoanalytic criticism. The three sections of this book are closely interconnected, but not seamlessly so. The first three chapters will be more immediately relevant to clinicians, especially those whose clients struggle with emerging artistic identities and the process of creation. Later chapters are more immediately relevant to the student or critic of art. Roland is an experienced clinician whose previous work elaborating a cross-cultural understanding of self (examining India and Japan) likewise attempt to examine disparate conceptual traditions. Here he clearly hopes that a broader, more contemporary understanding of the psychoanalysis of artists and art-making will inform a richer and more useful analysis of works of art. It is a subtle and cerebral ambition, presented in surprisingly accessible and lucid language.

Stagner, Brian H. (2004). Life in the Arts: Thinking About Dreams and Creativity. Vol 49 (Suppl 14)

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Thinking self in thinking society: Understanding self representations through george H. Mead and Serge Moscovici

Malik (2004) has studied this research with two goals: first, to search for a theoretical framework on the self that is able to take into account the dynamic interplay between the creativity of the individual and the prescriptive nature of society; and second, to provide partial empirical support for the above theoretical framework. This dissertation begins with an analysis of the current dominant approach in self-and-culture studies within empirical social psychology. This analysis concludes with illustrations of the problems of the current dominant approach. It then continues to explore George H. Mead writings on social psychology and the self and Serge Moscovici's theory of social representations. After linking the rich theoretical and conceptual insights from Mead and Moscovici, this dissertation then proposes a theoretical framework on self-representation. At the core of this framework is the notion of the self as a semiotic object, which has structure (semiotic structure, not a hard-wired one) and content. Self-representations are reflexively generated, both at the interpersonal and intrapersonal levels through the established semiotic structures. At the interpersonal level, the structure is established at the moment one is engaged with other(s) within a particular common meanings or social representations forming a trialogical structure of person 1-social representations-person 2. At the intrapersonal level the structure consist of ego-prototype-alter . Through this theoretical framework issues pertaining to self-representations, such as continuity and sameness vs. change, structure vs. content, inner and outer self, personal sense of self and cultural conception of self/person can begin to be addressed at social-psychological and cognitive levels. Two empirical studies are offered as partial support for the framework. Study 1 illustrates how self-representations are linked to the cultural and historical origin, specifically the social representations of personhood, man, woman and nationality. Study 2 is aimed at illustrating the embeddedness of self-representations within the social context, specifically how self representations vary along the continuum of social-psychological distance.

Malik, Abdul. (2004). Thinking self in thinking society: Understanding self representations through george H. Mead and Serge Moscovici. Dissertation Abstracts International : Section B : The Sciences and Engineering. Vol 64 (10-B): 5276

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Culture's influence on creativity: The case of Indian spirituality

Bhawuk (2003) In this paper, the author posits that people strive to excel in areas that are compatible with their cultural values. Since spirituality is valued in the Indian culture, it is argued that creative geniuses are readily channeled in this field of human endeavor. A historical analysis followed by a case-analytic approach using three cases is applied to examine the thesis. By building on existing theoretical frameworks, a general model of culture and creativity is presented in which culture, Zeitgeist, and genius are postulated to have reciprocal relationships in shaping creative behaviors. This paper also points out how some culture theories are unable to explain this process. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.

Bhawuk, Dharm PS. (2003). Culture's influence on creativity: The case of Indian spirituality. International Journal of Intercultural Relations. Vol 27 (1): 1-22

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Hypothalamic digoxin, hemispheric chemical dominance, and creativity

Kurup & Kurup (2003) studied on hypothalamic diigoxin, hemispheric chemical dominance and creativity. They said that the human hypothalamus produces an endogenous membrane Na+-K+ ATPase inhibitor, digoxin, which regulates neuronal transmission. The digoxin status and neurotransmitter patterns were studied in creative and non-creative individuals. The activity of HMG CoA reductase and serum levels of digoxin, magnesium, tryptophan catabolites, and tyrosine catabolites were measured in creative/ non-creative Ss, and in Ss with differing hemispheric dominance ( to determine the role of cerebral dominance). In creative individuals there was increased digoxin synthesis, decreased membrane Na+-K+ ATPase activity, increased tryptophan catabolites ( serotonin, quinolinic acid, and nicotine), and decreased tyrosine catabolites (dopamine, noradrenaline, and morphine). The pattern in creative Ss correlated with right hemispheric dominance. In non-creative Ss there was decreased digoxin synthesis, increased membrane Na+-K+ ATPase activity, decreased tryptophan catabolites ( serotonin, quinolinic acid, and nicotine), and increased tyrosine catabolites (dopamine, noradrenaline, and morphine). This pattern in non-creative individuals correlated with that obtained in left hemispheric chemical dominance. Hemispheric chemical dominance and hypothalamic digoxin could regulate the predisposition to creative tendency.

Kurup, Ravi Kumar & Kurup, Parameswara Achutha. (2003). Hypothalamic digoxin, hemispheric chemical dominance, and creativity. International Journal of Neuroscience. Vol 113 (4): 565-577

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Chase, chance, and creativity: The lucky art of novelty

Austin (2003) Examines the role of chance in the creative process. The author tells a personal story of the ways in which persistence, luck, and creativity interact in biomedical research; the conclusions the author reaches sheds light on the creative process in any field.

Austin, James H. (2003). Chase, chance, and creativity: The lucky art of novelty. Cambridge, MA, US: MIT Press. xix, 245

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Faraway, so close: Code ownership over innovative work in the global software industry (India)

Metiu (2002) investigated the factors that influence the accomplishment and allocation of innovative work among distributed settings in the international software industry. Over the past 15 years, several major software development centers have emerged in various countries. The study uses ethnographic methods of participant observation in a dispersed team of software developers working across two locations-the West Coast of the US and Bangalore, India-and additional interviews with managers in companies active in offshore software development. The collaboration between remote developers is impeded by the difficulty of achieving the creative engagement needed for work on an innovative project. Group engagement is difficult to achieve and to maintain because of two main reasons. First, the numerous barriers separating the sites create a thick opacity that impedes the knowledge of work processes at the remote site. Work in the distributed setting is affected by the scarcity of the human interface, and by the absence of boundary objects that structure intense and interactive work episodes. As a result, the development of work routines and the emergence of processes-contagion, spontaneity, and reciprocity-that sustain engagement across sites are prevented. Furthermore, the status differential between the sites leads to the underutilization of available boundary objects and boundary spanners. Second, the code ownership in which engagement is rooted-responsibility over work outcomes, entailing both coding and design tasks-is jealously guarded by existing centers. The difficulty of obtaining code ownership over innovative work limits the new centers' ability to grow their capabilities and hence improve their status. The study shows that it is the emotional basis to creativity that forms the micro-foundations to the dispersion of creative work. It is the difficulty of engaging in a common activity across the multiple boundaries of geography and status that explains the fact that innovativeness thrives in proximate settings. These findings have important implications for understanding the forces that sustain agglomeration in innovation, and permit the development of capabilities in new innovative centers in the world economy.

Metiu, Anca Maria. (2002). Faraway, so close: Code ownership over innovative work in the global software industry (India). Dissertation Abstracts International Section A : Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol 62 (11-A): 3852

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Trait intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, academic performance, and creativity in Hong Kong college students

Moneta & Siu (2002) examined the effects of trait intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, measured by the Work Preference Inventory (WPI; T. M. Amabile et al, 1994), on creativity and academic performance in Hong Kong college students (aged 18-24 yrs). In an experimental creative writing task, intrinsic motivation correlated with creativity. In a follow-up study, intrinsic motivation correlated negatively with yr-1 grade point average (GPA), whereas extrinsic motivation correlated positively. Findings suggest that our college environment discourages intrinsic motivation and creativity.

Moneta, Giovanni B & Siu, Christy MY. (2002). Trait intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, academic performance, and creativity in Hong Kong college students. Journal of College Student Development. Vol 43 (5): 664-683

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Technology business incubators to help build an innovation-based economy

Lalkaka (2002) Discusses the characteristics, purposes, and proliferation of technology business incubators (TBIs). TBIs do not build an innovation-based economy, but provide a catalytic input as part of a national innovation system. TBIs nurture nascent ventures by providing focused counselling and facilitation services together with smart workspace and shared office facilities. An incubator, often sited within a technology park and affiliated to a technical university or research institute, provides a platform for convergence of support in a synergistic system. The cases of incubation arrangements in China, Brazil, India, and the US show a variety of practices. The formation of a world incubation association may occur in the near future.

Lalkaka, Rustam. (2002). Technology business incubators to help build an innovation-based economy. Journal of Change Management. Vol 3 (2): 167-176

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The incentive to creativity in graduate programs according to their students / O estimulo a criatividade em programas de pos-graduacao segundo seus es

De & Eunice (2002) Investigated the degree to which graduate professors implemented instructional activities that fostered creativity, according to graduate students. The results were then compared with those obtained from undergraduate students. 92 graduate students completed an inventory of incentive to creativity and evaluated their own, their teachers' and colleagues' levels of creativity. Results show that more incentive for different factors that are associated with creativity was emphasized by the graduate students, compared to the undergraduates. Graduate students judged themselves as more creative than their professors and colleagues. Moreover, they evaluated themselves and their professors as more creative than did the undergraduate students. The conditions more favorable to creativity in the graduate courses were due possibly to the goals of the graduate courses related to the production of knowledge.

De, Alencar & Eunice, ML Soriano. (2002). The incentive to creativity in graduate programs according to their students / O estimulo a criatividade em programas de pos-graduacao segundo seus estudantes. Psicologia:-Reflexao-e-Critica. Vol 15 (1): 63-70

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The incentive to creativity in graduate programs according to their students / O estimulo a criatividade em programas de pos-graduacao segundo seus es

De & Eunice (2002) Investigated the degree to which graduate professors implemented instructional activities that fostered creativity, according to graduate students. The results were then compared with those obtained from undergraduate students. 92 graduate students completed an inventory of incentive to creativity and evaluated their own, their teachers' and colleagues' levels of creativity. Results show that more incentive for different factors that are associated with creativity was emphasized by the graduate students, compared to the undergraduates. Graduate students judged themselves as more creative than their professors and colleagues. Moreover, they evaluated themselves and their professors as more creative than did the undergraduate students. The conditions more favorable to creativity in the graduate courses were due possibly to the goals of the graduate courses related to the production of knowledge.

De, Alencar & Eunice, ML Soriano. (2002). The incentive to creativity in graduate programs according to their students / O estimulo a criatividade em programas de pos-graduacao segundo seus estudantes. Psicologia:-Reflexao-e-Critica. Vol 15 (1): 63-70

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Parents' and teachers' implicit theories of children's creativity: A cross-cultural perspective

Runco & Johnson (2002) studied the parents and teachers implicit theories of children’s creativity. A social validation methodology was applied across two cultures to examine the implicit theories of parents and teachers. Adults (N= 150) from the United States and India were rated on 68 adjectives for creativity and desirability. The results indicated that all groups distinguished between indicative and contraindicative aspects of creativity and, for the most part, viewed creative traits desirably. These results were qualified by the adjectives that received high ratings for creativity but significantly lower ratings for desirability. These provided evidence that creativity and desirability are related yet separate constructs and that parents and teachers recognize that some traits associated with creativity may be undesirable. Multiple analysis of variance ( MANOVA) revealed significant differences between the United States and India for intellectual and attitudinal clusters of adjectives, p < .001; however, parent and teacher differences were not found, p > .05. These findings support the notion that implicit theories are influenced by cultural traditions and expectations.

Runco, Mark A & Johnson, Diane J. (2002). Parents' and teachers' implicit theories of children's creativity: A cross-cultural perspective. Creativity Research Journal. Vol 14 (3-4): 427-438

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Structural cognition: A comparison of creative and non-creative adults

Riaz & Ali (2002) carried out a study to compare structural cognition and visual images of creative and non-creative individuals. The sample consisted of seventy subjects including an equal number of creative and non-creative individuals. Creative subjects were selected on the basis of their creative accomplishments. The non-creative sample was matched with creative group on relevant demographic characteristics, namely, age, gender, education, and profession. Records of Visual Structural Images (VSIs) of two abstract concepts were classified into different categories. This analysis yielded three broad categories of VSI of both the concepts, namely, different irregular, horizontal, and vertical. However, in the case of counting, the horizontal category was subdivided into three subcategories, namely, horizontal image in one line, horizontal image in ten lines and horizontal image in varying number of lines. The vertical category was subdivided into two subcategories, namely, vertical image in one line and vertical image in ten lines. Chi-square test revealed that subjects of the present study vary significantly in their VSIs of both of the abstract concepts (counting and week) used for this purpose. A comparison of creative and non-creative individuals revealed significant.

Riaz, Mah Nazir., Ali, Nadia Nabat. (2002). Structural cognition: A comparison of creative and non-creative adults. Journal of Personality and Clinical Studies. Vol 18 (1-2) : 1-8

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Maximizing the motivated mind for emergent giftedness

Rea (2001) explains how the theory of the motivated mind conceptualizes the productive interaction of intelligence, creativity, and achievement motivation and shows how this theory can help educators to maximize students' emergent potential for giftedness. According to this theory, students' motivated minds are complex-adaptive systems comprised of two co-evolving psychological subsystems: cold-order thinking expressed as serious intelligence and hot-chaotic thinking expressed as fun creativity. When these co-evolving subsystems become fully differentiated and integrated students' complex capacity for giftedness emerges as fluid-adaptive thinking. This enhanced thinking capacity is both seriously intelligent and playfully creative at the same time. Students' optimal motivation for self-regulating and educators' ideal leadership style for promoting fluid-adaptive thinking are operationally described. The motivated mind is also compared and contrasted with J. Renzuffl's three rings of giftedness, H. Gardner's multiple intelligences, R. Sternberg's successful intelligence, and M. Csikszentmihalyi's optimal experience of flow.

Rea, Dan. (2001). Maximizing the motivated mind for emergent giftedness. Roeper-Review. Vol 23 (3): 157-164

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The history of the evolution of gifted identification procedures in Georgia

Williams (2001) studied the history of the evolution of gifted identification procedures in Georgia. Gifted education has come a long way in the development and acceptance of broader definitions of giftedness and more inclusive identification procedures. Educators have recognized that restrictive requirements which rely unilaterally on 10 scores fail to identify many gifted students; they have worked to change traditional notions of giftedness. This research focuses on the history of the evolution of multiple criteria procedures for gifted identification in Georgia from 1958 to 1997; it chronicles the events and personalities which brought about changes mandating that students be evaluated for gifted program admission on the basis of aptitude, achievement, motivation, and creativity. This research also parallels the development of Georgia rules mandating the use of multiple criteria with the nation-wide trend toward more inclusive procedures. It includes a discussion of research-based "best practices" for gifted identification and a comprehensive history of gifted education since the time of Thomas Jefferson.

Williams, Eulouise Etheridge Hamill. (2001). The history of the evolution of gifted identification procedures in Georgia. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol 61 (8-A)

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Creativity and acculturation: Psychological and cultural effects on the divergent thinking of Cuban preadolescent immigrants entering the United State

Timmel (2001) studied the psychological and cultural effects on divergent thinking of Cuban preadolescent immigrants entering the United States. Cuban immigrants arrive by raft on the Florida coast almost daily. Many of the "Balseros" (or "raft-fugees", as this author calls them) who arrived in 1994 and 1995 were preadolescent children. They would have been in what Torrance termed "the fourth grade slump" in creative thinking (Torrance, 1967). Yet, creativity was needed by these children to understand and be understood in their new surroundings. Did their travails ignite the sleepy creativity within them at this age? Or did the acculturating process accentuate the fourth grade slump? In response, forty-four children in Dade County, Florida were studied for two consecutive years. Half were newly arrived Cuban children in the third, fourth, and fifth grades, and half were American children of the same demographics. Each year, each child received three divergent thinking tests and one personal interview. The first test was visual, Torrance's Tests of Creative Thinking, Figural version, where the children completed figures, and titled drawings. The second test was an auditory exercise where the children responded to sounds. The third set of scores was determined from the interview test, where uses for objects presented were analyzed. These scores were compared by nationality and by other demographic indicators. Concurrently, interview responses were qualitatively analyzed to discern social factors that might have affected the children's divergent thinking. The data suggest that upon arrival, the Cuban children displayed lower fluency (number of ideas) and flexibility (categorical differentiation of ideas) scores than their American peers. However, the originality (uniqueness of ideas) observed of them was greater. After a year, when the same tests and another interview were conducted, the Cuban children had dramatically improved their scores, equaling or surpassing their American peers on one fluency and all flexibility measures. Their originality scores remained higher than those of American children, but had not improved further. The interviews signaled that the Cuban children had acculturated fairly well to American society by then. Acculturation clearly affected divergent thinking at this age.

Timmel, Jill Lissette. (2001). Creativity and acculturation: Psychological and cultural effects on the divergent thinking of Cuban preadolescent immigrants entering the United States. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol 61 (9-A): 3468

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The passions of maturity: Morality and creativity in later life

Studies of moral development have concentrated on children and adolescents rather than older adults. Yet people continue to face and reflect on moral dilemmas throughout the life-course. This article examines how a group of older women and men from a rural New York community deal with issues of meaning and purpose in their mature years, and compares their experiences with those of elders from India. Through a series of ethnographic vignettes, three American approaches to the moral nature of late life are explored: viz., deep involvement in art, in public service, and in self-exploration. Rural people discovered many forms of passion, ranging from the personal, professional and political to the ethical and expressive. In their attempts to negotiate both passion and purpose, these individuals also found themselves contending with major contradictions in their own culture, especially the tensions between self fulfillment and social responsibility, duty and creativity, and personal meaning and reciprocity. Their sense of purpose is compared with that of sannyasins, older spiritual seekers from India, whose goals stressed a very distinct set of cultural ideals.

Savishinsky, Joel. (2001). The passions of maturity: Morality and creativity in later life. Journal of Cross Cultural Gerontology. Vol 16 (1): 41-55

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A study of relationship of Piagetian stage of cognitive development and intelligence to creative thinking potential

Upadhayay & Shukla (2001) Examined the interrelationship of the Piagetian stage of cognitive development and intelligence to creative thinking potential of 750 2nd-7th grade female primary students by employing a factorial design (2x3) for 7 separate TTCT indicators. The findings reveal that a significant difference is found in the creative thinking potential of female primary students at different Piagetian stages of cognitive development as well as the interactions between ( StagexIQ Group) showed significant difference except in verbal flexibility and verbal originality.

Upadhayay, Himani & Shukla, Asha. (2001). A study of relationship of Piagetian stage of cognitive development and intelligence to creative thinking potential. Psycho Lingua. Vol 31 (1): 21-24

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Exploration in literary creativity: Some preliminary observations

Srivastava & Misra (2001) try to explore the concept of creativity. Notes that creativity has been conceptualized in the West in terms of novelty and appropriateness of a product. In contrast, the Indian view is more process-oriented. It involves the experience of personal fulfillment. Its conception pertains to the primordial realm, or the expression of an inner essence or ultimate reality. To understand the nature of literary creativity in the Indian context, this study examined the contributions of Jnanpith awardees, the highest literary award in India, employing a case study approach. This paper reports some of the preliminary observations of the study. In particular, it analyzed the life course (such as awardees as prodigies, their frustration and sufferings, education and occupation, marital relationships, nonconformism, and contemporaneity in creative writing), network of enterprises, and creative process of the Jnanpith awardees. The creativity of Indian litterateurs is characterized by multiplicity in network of enterprises and the creative work aims to bring welfare to the humankind. The study has implications for understanding the indigenous nature of creativity in the Indian context.

Srivastava, Ashok K., Misra, Girishwar. (2001). Exploration in literary creativity: Some preliminary observations. Psychological Studies. Vol 46 (3): 148-160

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Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The search for optimal motivation and performance

In understanding human behavior, psychologists have long been interested in what motivates specific actions. Debates have pitted those who favor extrinsic motivation (e.g., reward/punishment) against those who favor intrinsic motivation in an attempt to determine what best motivates individuals. This book provides a summary of what research has determined about both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and clarifies what questions remain unanswered. It revisits the debate about the effects of extrinsic incentives or constraints on intrinsic motivation and creativity and identifies theoretical advances in motivation research. It then focuses on the hidden costs and benefits of different types of achievement goals on motivation and performance. Theory and research findings are discussed on how extrinsic and intrinsic motivators may work in everyday life and over time. The book will be of interest to researchers in psychology, education, and business, as well as to a wider audience interested in promoting optimal motivation and performance.

Sansone, Carol., Harackiewicz, Judith M. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The search for optimal motivation and performance. San Diego, CA, US: Academic Press, Inc. xix, 489 pp.

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Achievement and power motives, performance feedback, and creativity

Fodor & Carver (2000) Investigated if need for achievement measured by the TAT enhances creative performance in response to feedback concerning a prior performance. 144 undergraduates' TAT was scored for achievement motivation and power motivation. Ss later provided a solution to an engineering problem. The experimenter then gave them preprogrammed feedback on how well they performed (positive or negative feedback) and no feedback in a third condition. Feedback was couched in the language of both achievement and power imagery. Last, students rendered solutions to a second engineering problem. Two students performed ratings of each solution on dimensions designated as creativity and complexity. Ratings for the two dimensions moderately correlated with one another and were combined to form a single overall Creativity score. Achievement motivation correlated positively with Creativity score in the positive- and negative-feedback conditions. Power motivation correlated positively with Creativity in the positive-feedback condition, and negatively in the negative-feedback condition. Neither was significant in the no feedback condition. It was concluded that there is a differential response to negative feedback. Achievement-motivated people appear to benefit from it, whereas power-motivated people do not.

Fodor, Eugene M., Carver, Rodney A. (2000). Achievement and power motives, performance feedback, and creativity. Journal of Research in Personality. Vol 34 (4): 380-396

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Challenging demographic reductionism: An investigation of demographic diversity and value diversity in small groups

Rodriguez (2000) compared the effects of demographic (race, gender, and age) and value diversity on group-member satisfaction, perceived group fit (by outgroup members), group effectiveness, and group creativity. Contrary to expectations, demographic diversity was discovered to be unrelated to value diversity. Because the original impetus for demographic diversity is socio-political, in contrast to the alleged economic benefits of value diversity, it is, therefore, argued that they should not be confounded or misrepresented. Diversity in one area should not be assumed to lead to outcomes that would result from diversity in the other. Furthermore, it was determined that diversity in the three major demographic areas of race/nationality, gender, and age have differing effects on individual and group-level outcomes. Researcher's should exercise care, then, to not arbitrarily extend the results of research done in one area to another. Also contrary to expectations, this study failed to determine that value diversity was of any consequence to any of the previously specified outcomes. However, the basic group development model of Tuckman (1977) and others was affirmed: a clear, normative, group-level, value structure is essential for task effectiveness. At the group-level, "percent minority" (but not the unbiased measure of race/nationality diversity) had an adverse effect on personal satisfaction and perceived fit. In contrast, the unbiased measure of race/nationality diversity was positively related to both perceived fit and effectiveness. Also at the group-level, this study failed to find any association between either gender or age diversity and the investigated outcome variables. It was discovered, however, that gender-balanced groups establish greater levels of agreement on group-level terminal values. At the individual level, group members who reported higher satisfaction scores had a relative individual preference for "A World of Peace" and felt that their group norms favored the values of "Responsible, " "Ambitious," and "Friendship" more highly and "Clean" less highly.

Rodriguez, Ralph A. (2000). Challenging demographic reductionism: An investigation of demographic diversity and value diversity in small groups. Dissertation Abstracts International : Section B : The Sciences and Engineering. Vol 60 (7-B): 3621

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The influence of creativity, sex and type of school on creative self-perception

Khanam (1998) studied the influence of creativity, sex, and type of school on creative self-perception was investigated by testing 314 boys and girls ( aged 12-13 yrs) studying in Grade 7. The schools from which the children were taken are situated in Dhaka City, capital of Bangladesh. Boy students showed superiority over the girl students on creative self-perception. Although main effect of the type of school was not significant, the interaction effect of type of school and sex was significant. The 3-way interaction was also found to be significant.

Khanam, Mehtab. (1998). The influence of creativity, sex and type of school on creative self-perception. Social Science International. Vol 14 (1-2): 60-70

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Gifted kindergarten children in Kuwait

Nazar (1998) conducted this study identifies the behavioral characteristics of gifted children in kindergarten in Kuwait. Aspects included in this study were learning, motivation, creativity, leadership, and psychomotor skills. Three hundred children, their mothers (N = 300) and their teachers (N = 150) participated in the study. Analysis of data obtained from the parents and teachers showed significant differences between female and male children regarding the selected behavioral characteristics. Female children were more gifted in learning, while male children were more gifted in leadership and psychomotor skills. Only 10 children were found to be gifted in all five areas. Results suggest using multiple criteria in identifying the gifted behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Nazar, Fatima. (1998). Gifted kindergarten children in Kuwait. Journal of the Social Sciences. Vol 26 (3): 139-154.

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Challenging demographic reductionism: A pilot study investigating diversity in group composition

Rodriguez (1998) examined the impact of within-group value diversity on personal satisfaction, group creativity, and group effectiveness. 11 groups of undergraduate students participated. The characteristics of team members were summarized by measures of central tendency or dispersion, thereby yielding measurement of team properties. Individual participants were initially administered the Rokeach Value Survey. Groups were assigned 1 of 2 management cases. They were instructed to "analyze the situation, identify the key variables, identify alternative solutions, and present and defend a singular course of action before an audience composed of student-observers who have been assigned the alternate case." The groups had 12 wks between the time of initial assignments until the presentation due date. Student observers evaluated each presentation for style and content, using an evaluation form. After accounting for diversity in race/nationality, gender and age, value diversity predicted greater personal satisfaction, and higher perceived group creativity and effectiveness. The authors conclude that the results indicate that organizations should be more discerning in how they think about demographic and value diversity, in terms of both strategy and potential benefits.

Rodriguez, Ralph A. (1998) Challenging demographic reductionism: A pilot study investigating diversity in group composition. Small Group Research. Vol. 29 744-759

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Creativity, motivation, and "defiant" behavior: Young adolescents' perceptions of a middle school experience

Wright (1998) conducted a research to examined the creativity and perceptions of nine adolescents (three females, six males). Students were identified by teachers as having low academic motivation and varying levels of "defiant" behavior (i.e., "low," "moderate," and "high" according to school norms for conduct). Three additional students identified as motivated, well-adjusted, and "artistically talented" were included as a comparison group. All attended the same middle school, were in the eighth grade, and were considered academically "average" students. The investigation focused on (1) the nature of creativity among participants, (2) their perceptions of school, (3) ways creativity and school experiences influenced their academic motivation and defiant behavior, and (4) contexts that they found engaging and those they did not. Data collection involved both qualitative and quantitative techniques including a document review, participant observation, the Torrance Tests for Creative Thinking (TTCT verbal and figural-Form A), interviews, focus groups, and a design workshop for participants. Findings reveal that most of the "average, low motivated" students demonstrated above average creative potential (TTCT verbal) and had a number of characteristics that define creative people (e.g., strong sense of self, high emotional intelligence, intense desire for quality). Participants also perceived their relationships with teachers as the most critical aspect of their school experience and reported high stress and frustration related to testing and grades. Participants' academic motivation and defiant behavior in school were influenced by one or more of the following categories: (1) the quality of learning experiences (e.g., curriculum, instructional practices, and relationships with teachers); (2) a combination of home/school stress; and (3) situations in which students perceived a lack of support for their uniqueness or creative expression-including the extent to which they could freely express their opinions. Participants desired (1) greater involvement in curriculum development and in the evaluation process; (2) less emphasis on skills and more authentic learning; ( 3) greater diversity in sports, the arts, and other subject areas; (4) more discussion and group work; (5) more time for reflection and completion of projects; and (6) increased opportunities for leisure during the school day (i.e., rest, recreation, and relaxation both alone and with friends).

Wright, Sheila (1998). Creativity, motivation, and "defiant" behavior: Young adolescents' perceptions of a middle school experience. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A : Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol 59 (3-A).

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Creative thinking abilities and specific characteristics of the classroom environment of female high school students in Saudi Arabia

Al-Sulaiman (1998) tried to investigate the relationships between the creative thinking abilities of originality, fluency, and flexibility, and specific characteristics of classroom environment as perceived by tenth grade female students and their Arabic teachers. Such factors included the degree of emphasis on higher-/ lower-level thought processes, classroom climate, and classroom focus (teachers' vs. students' focus). A stratified sampling technique was used to represent most of the socio-economic groups. Participants were randomly chosen from 73 public high schools located in the four educational regions (northern, southern, eastern, and western) of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study sample consisted of 569 students (485 Saudi and 84 non-Saudi) from 18 classes randomly selected from 16 randomly selected schools. In addition, 17 secondary school Saudi teachers who specialized in teaching Arabic subjects were selected to participate in the study. The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, Figural Form B, and the Classroom Activities Questionnaire were selected to determine the students' creative thinking abilities and classroom environment. Inferential and descriptive statistics including the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Analysis of Variance were used to test the hypotheses generated from the research questions. The study findings indicate a significant relationship between students' perceptions of the lower-level thought process of translation and the ability of fluency. Classroom focus and absence of lecture were significantly related to the abilities of originality and flexibility. Classroom climate, specifically the factor of less teacher talk, was correlated positively with all three creative thinking abilities. Also, the study results showed statistically significant differences between teachers' and students' perceptions of their classroom environment. Teachers reported more emphasis on both the higher and lower level thought processes and a more positive climate than did the students. The demographic variables of family income, school location, and student nationality were significantly related to the students' creative thinking abilities. The researcher recommends that the Presidency of Girls Education make it possible for teachers to participate in long-term staff development programs on how creative thinking abilities develop and are nurtured in the classroom.

Al-Sulaiman, Norah Ibrahim. (1998). Creative thinking abilities and specific characteristics of the classroom environment of female high school students in Saudi Arabia. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A : Humanities-and- Social-Sciences. Vol. 59 (3-A).

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From factors of production to factors of creation: "Best" model as a strategic management framework

Sharma (1998) Provides a holistic perspective on concepts of best managers and a strategic management framework model. Four factors are considered as essential components of the management decision making process: behavioral, economic, strategic, and technical (BEST). This BEST framework is presented in the diagrammatic form of a steering wheel. The BEST model also refers to 4 types of markets: labor, capital, product, and technological. From the BEST model, the concept of BEST analysis is derived and applied in a strategic management framework.
Issues discussed include factors in creation and production, behavior of organizations, and organizational culture. It is suggested that in a highly competitive environment, organizations with higher creativity would be able to create new markets and new ideas.

Sharma, Subhash. (1998). From factors of production to factors of creation: "Best" model as a strategic management framework. Abhigyan. Vol. 16, 43-47.

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From factors of production to factors of creation: "Best" model as a strategic management framework

Sharma (1998) Provides a holistic perspective on concepts of best managers and a strategic management framework model. Four factors are considered as essential components of the management decision making process: behavioral, economic, strategic, and technical (BEST). This BEST framework is presented in the diagrammatic form of a steering wheel. The BEST model also refers to 4 types of markets: labor, capital, product, and technological. From the BEST model, the concept of BEST analysis is derived and applied in a strategic management framework.
Issues discussed include factors in creation and production, behavior of organizations, and organizational culture. It is suggested that in a highly competitive environment, organizations with higher creativity would be able to create new markets and new ideas.

Sharma, Subhash. (1998). From factors of production to factors of creation: "Best" model as a strategic management framework. Abhigyan. Vol. 16, 43-47.

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A comparative study of intelligence and creativity in hearing impaired and normal boys and girls

Moorjhani et.al (1998) Compared intelligence and creativity in 80 subjects of 6-11 year old on hearing impaired and normal boys and girls. Intelligence was measured with Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices and creativity with the Wallach and Kogan Test of Creativity. Statistical analysis revealed that Subject with hearing performed better than the hearing impaired Subject on intelligence. The verbal stimulus of the Creativity Test did not exert any significant difference on the basis of hearing status, though differences were present based on gender and age.
On the visual stimulus hearing impaired Subject gave significantly more number of responses than the hearing Subject. When the number of unique responses were considered on the verbal stimulus, only age exerted a significant difference.

Moorjhani, JD., Jacob, EA., Nathawat, SS. (1998). A comparative study of intelligence and creativity in hearing impaired and normal boys and girls. Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology. Vol 25, 200-205.

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Effect of Divorce on Children

Fear of abandonment as a mediator of the relations between divorce stressors and mother-child relationship quality and children's adjustment problems

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, August, 2002 by Sharlene A. Wolchik, Jenn-Yun Tein, Irwin N. Sandler, Kathryn W. Doyle

Although the negative effects of parental divorce on adjustment problems have been extensively documented, the processes through which divorce leads to these outcomes have not been well articulated. A considerable body of literature has identified both social--environmental and intrapersonal factors that affect the development of adjustment problems in children following parental divorce. However, studies have not examined pathways to the development of these adjustment problems that involve the joint influence of social--environmental and intrapersonal factors. Identification of such pathways has clear implications for theories of the etiology of adjustment problems for children following parental divorce and should provide guidance for the design of effective prevention and treatment programs. Given that over 1 million children in the United States experience parental divorce each year (Cherlin, 1992), the public health implications of such programs are significant.

This study uses a prospective longitudinal design to examine the plausibility of a model in which children's fear that they will not be cared for (i.e., fear of abandonment) mediates the relations between two empirically supported correlates of children's postdivorce adjustment problems: mother-child relationship quality and divorce stressors. First, the research on children's postdivorce adjustment problems is discussed. Next, the literature on the relations between divorce stressors, as well as mother-child relationship quality, and postdivorce adjustment problems is briefly reviewed, and the limited empirical work on fear of abandonment is discussed. Finally, plausible linkages between divorce stressors, mother-child relationship quality, fear of abandonment, and children's postdivorce adjustment problems are articulated and theoretical support for a mediational model is provided.

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Potential adjustment and social adaptation problems of children who have experienced parental divorce include increased levels of aggression, depression, and anxiety; poor academic performance; school drop-out; peer relationship problems; drug and alcohol use; early sexual behavior; and adolescent pregnancy (e.g., Amato & Keith, 1991a; Hetherington et al., 1992). Although for some children the effects of this transition in family structure are mild and short lived, for other children, divorce leads to clinically significant and lasting adjustment problems during childhood and adolescence (see Amato & Keith, 1991a). Further, several longitudinal studies have shown elevated rates of mental health problems in adults who experienced parental divorce as children (e.g., Chase-Landale, Cherlin, & Kiernan, 1995; Rodgers, Power, & Hope, 1997; Ross & Mirowsky, 1999). For example, in a prospective study, Rodgers et al. found the odds ratio of being above the clinical level on mental health problems for parental divorce to be 1.70 at age 23 and 1.85 at age 33.

The research focused on predictors of variation in children's postdivorce adjustment problems has consistently found that two social--environmental factors, divorce stressors and custodial parent--child relationship quality, are significantly associated with postdivorce adjustment problems. It is well documented that divorce often involves a wide array of disruptions or stressors, including increased fights between parents, exposure to parental distress, changes in residence and schools, involvement with parents' new partners, and loss of time with one or both parents, as well as extended family members (e.g., Sandler, Wolchik, Braver, & Fogas, 1986). There is considerable evidence indicating a significant relation between divorce stressors and children's postdivorce adjustment problems (e.g., Sandler, Wolchik, Braver, & Fogas, 1991; Stolberg & Anker, 1983; Wolchik, Wilcox, Tein, & Sandler, 2000). It also is well documented that changes in parenting, such as decreased warmth and affection, poorer communication, and erratic discipline, commonly occur after divorce (e.g., Hetherington, Cox, & Cox, 1982; Peterson & Zill, 1986; Simons et al., 1996). Researchers have consistently documented that high levels of warmth and affection in the custodial mother-child relationship are negatively related to postdivorce adjustment problems (e.g., Hetherington et al., 1992; Simons, Lin, Gordon, Conger, & Lorenz, 1999; Wolchik et al., 2000). Further, several researchers have shown that divorce stressors and mother--child relationship quality interact to affect children's postdivorce adjustment problems, such that the relation between divorce stressors and adjustment problems is mitigated at high levels of warmth and affection (e.g., Camara & Resnick, 1987; Wolchik et al., 2000).

The current study tests whether the effects of both of these social--environmental factors can be accounted for through a common mediating pathway, their joint effect on an intrapersonal factor, children's fear of being abandoned. From a motivational theory of stress and coping (Skinner & Wellborn, 1994, 1997), stressors affect children's adjustment problems because they threaten one or more of three basic needs: relatedness, competence, and autonomy. Sandler (2001) proposed that the effects of both stressors and protective resources work through their effects on children's perceptions of satisfaction of these basic needs. He proposed that stressors lead to higher adjustment problems by threatening basic need satisfaction, whereas protective resources reduce adjustment problems either by directly promoting need satisfaction or by decreasing the negative effects of stressors on need satisfaction. This paper proposes that postdivorce stressors particularly threaten one basic need, children's need to be part of a caring and stable social group (Baumeister & Leary, 1995) and that the protective resource of a high quality relationship with the primary residential parent reduces this threat.

Several researchers have suggested that divorce threatens children's need to be part of a caring social group. For example, Kurdek and Berg (1987) note that children whose parents divorce may believe that they will lose contact with their residential, as well as nonresidential, parent. Similarly, Gardner (1976) observes that children who experience the departure of one parent from the home wonder what is to prevent the remaining parent from also leaving. Wallerstein (1985) notes that divorce can cause a pervasive sense of vulnerability for children as the protective, nurturing aspects of the family diminish. She also observes that children often experience fears of being lost in the shuffle and have concerns that their needs will be disregarded because their parents are so focused on their own needs.

Of the multiple theoretical perspectives that focus on central social relationships, the two most relevant to the current study are need for relatedness (Baumeister & Leary, 1995) and attachment (e.g., Bowlby, 1973, 1980). Although these theories differ in many respects, they converge in predicting that fear of being abandoned by one's primary caregivers leads to adjustment problems, and thus provide support for the importance of the model that is being tested. As articulated by Baumeister and Leary (1995), need for relatedness includes both a need for frequent personal contact that is primarily affectively positive and free from negative affect and a sense that an interpersonal bond characterized by affective concern will endure over time. From an attachment perspective, the hallmark of secure attachment involves open and relaxed communication between the parent and child and the perceived availability of and reliance on the attachment figure when distressed (Bowlby, 1969/1982). Increasing evidence suggests that humans have a need for a sense of felt security in their relationships with parents, peers, and intimate partners and that these relationships have significant influence on a variety of developmental and behavioral outcomes (see Bowlby, 1980; Bretherton & Munholland, 1999; Dozier, Stevenson, Lee, & Velligan, 1991). For example, Baumeister and Leary (1995) review evidence that individuals who lack a sense of belongingness experience higher levels of mental and physical illnesses, such as depression, somatic problems, and decreased immunocompetence. Further, researchers have demonstrated that insecure attachment serves as a risk factor for maladjustment in the context of risk factors from multiple domains, such as family stress and low child IQ (e.g., Greenberg, 1999).

It is important to note that the current study is not a test of either of these theoretical perspectives. Neither internal working models of attachment nor need for relatedness is assessed. Rather, children's fear of being abandoned, which is likely related to both attachment and need for relatedness, is examined. The limited empirical work on fear of abandonment has defined this construct as including worries about the stability of children's relationships with their parents, as well as continuity of living arrangements. Kurdek and Berg (1987) examined relations between several divorce-related beliefs (peer ridicule and avoidance, maternal blame, paternal blame, self-blame, hope for reunification, fear of abandonment) and mother, teacher, and child reports of adjustment problems. Only fear of abandonment was significantly related to children's reports of anxiety in their sample of White, middle class children. Using an inner-city, predominantly ethnic minority sample, Wolchik, Ramirez, Sandler, Fisher, Organ ista, and Brown (1993) examined the relations between children's postdivorce adjustment problems and fear of abandonment, paternal blame, maternal blame, and hope for reconciliation. Significant relations were found only for fear of abandonment, with higher scores being significantly related to both mother and child reports of children's adjustment problems.

At a theoretical level, it is plausible that the relations between divorce stressors and adjustment problems, as well as between mother-child relationship quality and adjustment problems, are mediated by fear of abandonment. As noted earlier, divorce often sets in motion a multitude of stressors and changes in the mother-child relationship. The experience of stressors that disrupt children's social connections to their primary residential or nonresidential parent, involve conflict between their parents, or indicate vulnerability of their parents is likely to create concerns about the ability or willingness of their family to continue to care for them. On the other hand, the interactions that occur in a high quality relationship between the child and the residential parent provide evidence that the child will be cared for and may either directly reduce concerns about being abandoned or mitigate the effects of divorce stressors on fear of abandonment.

The current study tests the plausibility of a model in which the relations between children's adjustment problems and both divorce stressors and mother-child relationship quality are accounted for by a common intrapersonal factor, children's fear that they will be abandoned. In this model, divorce stressors and mother-child relationship quality relate to fear of abandonment and fear of abandonment relates to adjustment problems. Further, the relations between divorce stressors and mother-child relationship quality and adjustment problems are mediated through fear of abandonment. Given empirical and theoretical work on the stress-mitigating effects of high quality mother-child relationships in divorced families (e.g., Camara & Resnick, 1987; Sandler, 2001; Wolchik et al., 2000), the model also tests whether divorce stressors and mother-child relationship quality interact to predict fear of abandonment. It was predicted that the relation between divorce stressors and fear of abandonment will be weaker for child ren with high mother-child relationship quality than that for children with low mother-child relationship quality.

Two methodological aspects of the current study are noteworthy. First, the study utilizes a prospective longitudinal design in which Time 1 divorce stressors, mother-child relationship quality, and fear of abandonment predict Time 2 adjustment problems, controlling for Time 1 adjustment problems. Because prospective longitudinal data satisfy the condition of time precedence, they are particularly useful in testing the plausibility of causal directionality between variables. Second, to reduce concerns that observed relations might be due to shared method variance across the measures or self-report negativity bias and to allow the examination of the robustness of the findings across models, mother as well as child reports of mother-child relationship quality and children's adjustment problems were used.

METHOD

Participants

The sample consists of 216 children who experienced parental divorce within the previous 2 years and their primary residential mothers. These families were participants in the Divorce Adjustment Project (Sandler, Tein, & West, 1994), a longitudinal study of children's postdivorce psychological adjustment. The primary goal of this study was to identify short-term longitudinal correlates of postdivorce adjustment problems that could be used to guide the development of prevention programs for children who lived primarily with their mothers, the residential arrangement that characterizes 80% of divorced families (U.S. Bureau of Census, 1998). Thus, neither primary residential fathers nor noncustodial fathers were interviewed. The time period of 2 years was used given that restabilization of the family usually occurs 2-3 years after divorce (Hetherington, 1999). Only families who participated in both Time 1 and Time 2 assessments, which occurred 5.5 months apart, were included. The 5-month time interval was used b ecause it was long enough to allow for change in mental health problems and short enough to detect the prospective effects of stress and adaptation processes that occur at Time 1 (see Sandler et al., 1994; Sheets, Sandler, & West, 1996, for other examples of prospective longitudinal effects across this time period).

Court records were used to identify potential participants. A random sample of 1,236 families with children was identified from the countywide records of divorces granted in the last 2 years. Participation in the study was solicited by an initial mailing and a follow-up phone call. Forty-nine percent of selected families were reached by phone, and of these, 73% met the following eligibility criteria: the family contained a child between the ages of 8 and 12; the mother had not remarried and did not have a live-in partner; the child resided with her/his mother at least half the time; mother and child were fluent in English; the family lived in and expected to remain in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area for the study period; and child's residential status (i.e., primary residence with mother) was expected to remain stable over the study period. The primary reasons for ineligibility were that the mother had remarried (44%), the family had moved outside of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area (44%), and the child lived with the mother less than half of the time (9%). In families where there was more than one child in the targeted age range, one child was randomly selected to ensure independence of response.

Fifty-eight percent (n = 256) of the families who were eligible and invited to participate in the study participated in the Time 1 assessment. Children interviewed at Time 1 averaged 9.59 years of age (SD = 1.19); 44% were female. Eighty-six percent of the children had at least one sibling living with them. The majority of the mothers were Caucasian/non-Hispanic (87%); 9% were Hispanic, 2% were Black, and 3% were of another racial or ethnic background. Mothers averaged 35.3 years of age (SD = 5.5). Twenty-four percent of the mothers had completed college or attended graduate programs; 40% had taken some college courses or completed technical school; 28% had completed high school; and 8% had less than a high school education. Mother's average yearly income fell in the range of $20,001-$25,000. The average time since physical separation was 26.6 months (SD = 13.3); the average time since divorce was 13.4 months (SD = 6.5). In 63% of the families, the mothers had sole legal custody; the rest had joint legal cust ody. Mothers reported that 40% of the children typically had unrestricted contact with their fathers, 26% saw their fathers on a regular basis, 27% saw their father only occasionally, and 7% had no contact with their fathers at all.

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Eighty-four percent (n = 216) of the families who completed the Time 1 assessment also completed the Time 2 assessment. The reasons that families attritted or were attritted from Time 2 assessment were (a) referral for treatment by project staff due to children scoring above the clinical cutoff on the Child Depression Inventory (Kovacs, 1981) or reporting current suicidal ideation (n = 19), (b) moving out of the Phoenix metropolitan area (n = 5), (c) becoming ineligible (n = 1), or (d) refusing to participate at Time 2 (n = 15). Demographic data, which were collected at Time 1, for those families who participated in both assessments are as follows: These children averaged 9.64 years of age at the first assessment (SD = 1.20); 44% were female. The majority of the mothers were Caucasian/non-Hispanic (86%); 9% were Hispanic, 2% were Black, and 3% were of another racial or ethnic background. Mothers averaged 35.5 years of age at the first assessment (SD = 5.7); 25% of them had completed college or attended gradua te programs; 39% had taken some college courses or completed technical school; 27% had completed high school; and 9% had less than a high school education. Mother's average yearly income fell in the range of $20,001-$25,000. The average time since physical separation was 26.3 months (SD = 13); the average time since divorce was 13.3 months (SD = 6.5). In 63% of the families, the mothers had sole legal custody; the rest had joint legal custody. Mothers reported that 41% of the children typically had unrestricted contact with their fathers, 26% saw their fathers on a regular basis, 26% saw their father only occasionally, and 6% had no contact with their fathers at all.

Attrition analyses were conducted on the Time 1 variables to compare families who completed the Time 2 assessment to those families who did not. Chi-square analyses were applied to test the categorical variables and t statistics were applied to test the continuous variables. Mothers from families who completed the Time 1 assessment but did not complete the Time 2 assessment were older (M = 35.54) than those who completed the Time 2 assessment (M = 33.80, t = 2.10, p < .05). Also, children from families who did not complete the Time 2 assessment reported higher fear of abandonment (M = 0.93), more divorce stressors (M = 4.55), and higher depression scores (M = 12.37) than children who completed the Time 2 assessment (M = 0.47, t = 2.76, p < .01; M = 3.12, t = 3.00, p < .01; and M = 6.22, t = 3.60, p < .01, respectively).

Procedure

Mothers and children were interviewed separately by trained interviewers. After confidentiality was explained, mothers signed informed consent forms and children signed assent forms indicating their willingness to participate. Families received $50 compensation for each assessment.

Predictors
Fear of Abandonment. Children completed the 6-item Fear of Abandonment subscale of the Children's Beliefs about Parental Divorce Scale (Kurdek & Berg, 1987). This subscale assesses concerns about the stability of relationships with parents and continuity of living arrangements. Responses are dichotomous (true; false). Kurdek and Berg obtained a 9-week stability coefficient of .52 for this subscale. Given the dichotomous response format and highly skewed responses, confirmatory analysis with MPlus (Muthen & Muthen, 1998) rather than Cronbach alpha was used to test the factor structure. A key feature of MPlus is its ability to model factor structure with response variables that are binary, nonnormally distributed, or both. The analysis showed that a 4-item measure fit the data, [chi square](df = 2) = 3.41, ns, better than the 6-item measure, [chi square](df = 9) = 28.52, p < .001. These results are consistent with the results of Kurdek and Berg's factor analysis that indicated that the two items included in the 6-item but not the 4-item scale had much lower factor loadings than the other items. The following four items were used: I worry that my parents will want to live without me; It's possible that my parents will never want to see me again; I worry that I will be left all alone; I think that one day I may have to live with a friend or relative. Reliability was assessed using a confirmatory factor analytic approach that incorporates both latent theoretical constructs and measured variables into a single structural equation model (Bollen, 1989; Hayduk, 1987). The average reliability (squared correlation of the observed variable and its latent variable) was .53. Thirty-three percent of the children endorsed one or more of the items (22% endorsed one item, 8% endorsed two items, 2% endorsed three items, and 1% endorsed four items).

Divorce Stressors. Children reported on the number of negative divorce events that occurred within the last 3 months on the Divorce Events Schedule for Children (DESC; Sandler et al., 1986), a "tailor-made" life events scale designed to assess a representative sample of stressors that children may experience after divorce. Child report was used because children are the best reporter of their awareness of the occurrence of negative events, and theoretically, awareness of stressful events is necessary for primary appraisals of threat, which leads to stress arousal (e.g., Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). For this scale, stressors were defined as events that typically occur to a child or in a child's environment following parental divorce and would generally be perceived as negative by the child. Knowledgeable key informants (i.e., parents and children who had experienced divorce, mental health professionals, and lawyers who worked with divorced families) identified over 200 events that they believed had an important im pact on children after divorce. The research team used these events to develop nonoverlapping events that did not involve a symptom of a psychological disorder or physical problem and were primarily beyond the child's control. This process yielded 62 events (see Sandler et al., 1986, for additional information on scale development). In a separate sample of children who had experienced parental divorce, children rated whether each event occurred within the past 3 months and whether the event was positive, neutral, or negative. To minimize possible contamination of participants' adjustment and their assessment of the valence of events (e.g., Monroe, 1982), scores were derived using consensually based classification (Sandler et al., 1991; i.e., events were classified as consensually negative or positive if 80% or more of the children in the scale development sample who had experienced the event rated it in that direction). Sixteen of the 62 events were consensually classified as negative; the number of negative events that occurred is the divorce stressors score. Similar to other life events scales, the events are heterogenous in content. Examples of negative events are "Relatives said bad things about mom/dad"; "Dad missed scheduled visits"; "Mom and dad argued in front of me"; "Parents physically hit/hurt each other"; "I had to give up pets/toys/things I like." The divorce stressor score correlates with internalizing and externalizing problems in cross-sectional and short-term longitudinal studies (Sandler et al., 1986, 1991). Two week test-retest reliability has been shown to be adequate (r = .85; Sandler, Wolchik, & Braver, 1988).

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Divorce Rate on The Born Again (Strong Believer) & Non Born Again

Divorce rate no lower among the born-again
Christian Century, Oct 5, 2004

In one of George Barna's largest national surveys on marriage and divorce, the pollster has confirmed previous findings that born-again Christian adults have the same likelihood of divorce (35 percent) as other Americans.

But the California-based researcher, whose primary market for books and seminars is the broad evangelical world, also proposes that one reason for the similar finding is that couples who profess Jesus as savior are also more likely to marry than to live together.

"If the non-born-again population were to marry at the same rate as the born-again group," Barna said, "it is likely their divorce statistic would be roughly 38 percent."

Using a representative sample of 3,614 adults interviewed between January and April this year, the Barna Group found that the divorce rate is quite similar to that reflected in a survey ten years ago. (See www.barna.org.) This was despite the research group's observation that many conservative churches attempt to discourage congregants from considering divorce.

Faith perspectives make a difference in whether adults agree with the teaching that divorce is a sin unless adultery has been committed but not as much of a difference as might be expected, according to Barna.

Born-again adults were twice as likely in the 2004 survey as nonborn-again adults (24 percent against 10 percent) to affirm that teaching. However, a majority of the born-again group (52 percent) disagreed that divorce without adultery is sin, whereas 74 percent of the non-born-again adults disagreed.

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Long Term Effect Of Divorce

The long arms of divorce
By Lauren Aaronson
MOST PEOPLE WORRY about how divorce will affect the kids. Now, researchers say, they may have to worry about the grandkids, too--even those who haven't yet been born.

Paul R. Amato and Jacob Cheadle, two Pennsylvania State University sociologists, sifted through 20 years of information on divorced families. The data show that the grandchildren of divorced couples end up with less education, more turbulent marriages and more distant relationships with their parents. These troubles occurred most often when the middle generation suffered similar divorce-related consequences.

Although other studies have shown that marital problems tend to run in families, few studies have probed these links beyond two generations. Divorce may set off a chain reaction, the researchers conclude, with problems for one generation contributing to problems for the next.

The good news? Divorce isn't uniformly harmful to children, nor does it necessarily result in long-term psychological distress. Studies show most children whose parents divorce go on to develop into well-adjusted adults. Counseling may also deflect trouble.

Source :
Psychology Today, May-June, 2005

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Polygamy and Scholastic Achievement

Scholastic achievement and family marital structure: Bedouin-Arab adolescents from monogamous and polygamous families in Israel.
By : Elbedour S, Bart WM, Hektner JM.
In a sample of Bedouin-Arab adolescents from monogamous and polygamous families in the Negev region of Israel, the authors examined scholastic achievement levels in the subjects of Arabic, English, Hebrew, and mathematics. There were no significant differences in the scholastic achievement levels in those 4 disciplines between adolescents from monogamous families and those from polygamous families. There was, however, a significant interaction between gender and family marital structure for Hebrew scores: Polygamous family structures tended to engender higher Hebrew scores for the male participants, whereas monogamous family structures tended to engender higher Hebrew scores for the female participants (boys in polygamous families and girls in monogamous families achieved higher Hebrew scores).

However, the major overall finding was that polygamous family marital structures did not affect deleteriously the scholastic achievement levels of the Bedouin-Arab participants.

Source

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Religious Attitude in Indonesia

By : Prof. DR. Sarlito Wirawan Sarwono
Dean of the Faculty of Psychology, University of Indonesia
Jakarta Indonesia

Abstract.
In the last decade Indonesia experienced series of religion-based social conflicts which reached its peak in the years of 1998-2000 in Ambon and North Maluku. Thousands of people died, churches and mosques and houses burnt, and more than one hundred thousand people became refugees.
Although there are different underlying factors (social, economical and political), the conflicts always end as religion-based conflict.
This paper will present results of a national survey held in 1997 by the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Indonesia. It studied the exclusive-inclusive attitude of religious leaders of five official religions (Islam, Protestants, Roman Catholic, Hindu and Buddha) in nine different locations of religious dominance across the country (N = 1216).
The survey reveals that the general religious attitude of the religious leaders is moderate. It is inclusive at the level of daily social interaction, but becomes exclusive at the theological level. Harmonious inter-religion daily activities may become conflict once they are pushed toward theological beliefs. It is also observed that among the five religions, Islam is the most exclusive. As the country’s major religion (80%), the exclusive attitude of Islamic leaders (ulama) is viewed as threat of expansion by other religions.
The conclusion is that social-conflicts in Indonesia tend to become conflicts among religions (regardless of their original cause), because of the religious attitude among the religious leaders and believers.

Background of the study.
The study (Sarwono & Azhra, 1997) was initiated by series of religious violence in Java, 1996 (Situbondo in East Java, Tasikmalaya and Rengasdengklok in West Java etc.) and sponsored by the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
It is executed in March-June 1997 by the Center of Study on Islam and the Society – the State Institute of Islam (PPIM-IAIN), Jakarta, and supported by the Faculty of Psychology University of Indonesia, Higher School of Philosophy (STF) "Driyarkara" (Roman Catholic), Higher School of Theology (STT) (Protestant) and School of Nalanda Buddhism in Jakarta and Hindu University in Bali.

The problems:
The government has encouraged harmonious inter-religion relationship by a number of projects and programs e.g.: building worship places, supporting religious NGOs, financing national religious events and on the other hand minimizing political roles of religion
Religion is supposed to bring peace, not violence.
Indonesia is famous as a country with harmonious inter-religion relationship (Taher, 1997)
Indonesians talks only (in public) about harmonious inter-religion relationships and avoid talks on conflicts and differences.
The assumptions:
The government has failed in encouraging harmonious inter-religion relationship.
Religious believers fail to see religion as a mean to harmonious inter-religion relationship.
Perception of the believers is manifested in religious attitude.
The more exclusive the religious attitude, the more violent; the more inclusive, the less violent.

Background information
Indonesia is an archipelago located between Singapore and Australia.
Population of Indonesia: 220 million
60% live in Java island (7% of the land)
The New Order Government (1996-1998) officially recognized only 5 religions: Islam, Roman Catholic, Protestants, Hindu and Buddhism (since 1999 the new government do not practice religious discrimination anymore).
Islam is the majority (80-90%). However in some provinces it is the minority (Bali: Hindu, North Sulawesi: Protestants, West Timor: Catholic and Protestants etc.)
Despite of the heavy regulation by the government on the role of religion in politics, prior to the 1999 general election new parties emerged (including religious ones) making a total of 101 parties and 41 of them were eligible to take part in the general election.

Theoretical perspectives.
Religion consists of values influencing daily behavior of its believers (Malony & Spilka, 1991).
Religion is seen by its believers as a reference in giving meanings on behavior; it gives legitimate differentiation between right and wrong, good and bad, truth and false etc. (Malony & Spilka, 1991; Pergament, 1997).
Practice of religion is influenced by local culture and local context; the same holly book and prophet teachings may be interpreted and practiced differently within different culture, context and time (Robertson, 1982; Wulff, 1997: 455).
Different perceptions will lead to different attitudes and behavior, e.g. stereotypes (Pergament, 1997), prejudices (Brewer, 1999), exclusivism and aggression (Baillie, 1995: 30-41).
In history, religious exclusivism always related to religious violence (Lipsedge, 1996), e.g. the cases of Protestanism in Middle Age, the Middle East (Bailie, 1995: 167-169), Serbia-Bosnia, Muslim separatist in the Philippines, India-Pakistan (Rutter, Giller & Haggell, 1998: 236-237) etc., including Indonesia (Ruhiyat, 1997; Simuh, 1995; Sarwono, 1997).
In studying religion we need to make distinction between the religious teachings as it is written in the holly books and the prophet sayings, and the day-to-day practice of its believers which is bound to subjective perception and attitudes (Jones, 1995). The first relates to religion itself, the second to the psychology of religion (Amaro, 2000).
Religious attitude differ in different theological-social levels: the more theological, the more exclusive; the more social, the more inclusive (Wulff, 1997: 232-234).
In this study religious attitude is measured in 5 different levels:
Theological faith (most theological, least social)
Worship place
Religious practice
Social interaction
Religious expansion (most social, least theological).

Objective of the study
Describe the exclusive-inclusive attitude of religious believers in Indonesia.
Give policy recommendation to the government (c.q. the Ministry of Religious Affairs)

Methods and procedures
The subjects: religious preachers of each religion. Preachers are opinion leaders and their attitude will be followed by their believers.
Definition of preacher: religious leaders, teachers, scholars, artists, priests, clergymen.
Sampling technique: combination of purposive, quota and stratified random sampling:
Determine survey sites purposively
Determine quota of respondents
Draw sample randomly in each site.
Survey sites:
Homogenous communities : (1) Maumere, West Timor (Roman Catholic), (2) Temanggung, Central Java (Budha), (3) Madura, East Java (Islam), (4) Badung, Bali (Hindu), and (5) Minahasa, North Sulawesi (Protestants).
Mixed-old-settlement communities: (1) Malang, East Java, (2) Metro, Lampung.
Mixed-new-settlement communities: (1) Samarinda, East Kalimantan, (2) Pontianak, West Kalimantan.
Sample size:
Table 1: sample size
Religion
Proposed
Actual
% (actual)
Islam
500
506
46.6%
R. Catholic
175
171
14.1%
Protestants
175
181
14.9%
Hindu
175
171
14.1%
Buddha
175
186
15.3%
Missing

1
0.1%
Total
1200
1216
100.0%
Data collecting instruments:
Questionnaire: religion, education, sex, profession, address
Religious attitude scale (Likert like)
Depth interview check list (10% of the sample)
Focused group discussion (FGD) check list
Analysis:
Frequency and percentage distribution
Cross tabulation
Regression
Qualitative analysis

Results
N = 1216
53.3% live in villages, 47.7 % live in towns, suburbs and cities
Male: 83.4%, female: 16.1%
Age: 17-90 (mode: 26-55)
Education: 52% higher education, 28% high school, 20% junior high school or less
Main results:
Table 2: religious attitude
Aspects
Mean
Standard Deviation
Ranking (exclusive)
Ranking (inclusive)
Theological faith
3.497
.666
1
5
Worship place
3.427
.615
2
4
Religious practice
2.827
.769
3
3
Social interaction
2.811
.646
4
2
Religious expansion
2.529
.584
5
1
Interpretation: the aspects represent the exclusivism and inclusivism
Table 3: inter-aspects correlation (Spearman)
Aspects
1
2
3
4
5
1. Theological faith
***
***
***
***
***
2. Religious practice
.3675
(.000)
***
***
***
***
3. Worship place
.3952
(.000)
.5432
(.000)
***
***
***
4. Religious expansion
.2754
(.000)
.0295
(.305)
.3368
(.000)
***
***
5. Social interaction
.5428
(.000)
.3127
(.000)
.3348
(.000)
.2833
(.000)
***
Interpretation: all aspects are significantly inter-correlated, except between religious expansion and religious practice.
Table 4: Religious attitude by religion (%)
Religion
Very
Inclusive
Inclusive
Moderate
Exclusive
Very
Exclusive
Islam


14
83.5
2.4
R. Catholic

.2
85.2
13.6

Protestants

3.9
85.6
10.6

Hindu


87.6
12.4

Buddha

.5
86.6
12.9

Interpretation: Islam respondents tend to be the most exclusive.

Conclusion, discussion and recommendation
The most recent development in Indonesia (1999-2000) shows that religious violence moved from Java to outside Java (the islands of Ambon and Halmahera, and the town of Poso in Central Sulawesi).
The frequency, intensity and casualties increase sharply.
Although a number of political provokers have been arrested, the issues in these places always go back to religion (not politics or economy).
Religious believers in some areas are very sensitive to inter-religion issues.
The speculation is that exclusivism is stronger outside Java than Java.
Discrimination among religions (Islam tend to get first priorities and privileges) by the government and civil servants (prohibition of inter-religion marriage, regulation of building worship places, uneven budget plan etc.) is perceived (as reported in interviews and FGD) by the Islam respondents as fair and necessary to achieve harmonious inter-religion relationship. On the other hand it is seen as threat by believers of other religions.
Although in general all respondents tend to have moderate attitude, the Islam respondents show the highest score of exclusivism. In the future this attitude may trigger further religious conflict and violence since the minority may feel threatened and they will develop self-defense mechanism opening more opportunity for political provokers to intervene.
There should be further study to cross-tabulate religious attitude by level of education.
This study is not in anyway reliable to explain the most recent conflicts in Indonesia. Another study is needed to update the data (particularly in other places outside the sites of the present study).
It is recommended that the government ban all discriminating acts, laws and regulations. However, the new policy must be taken very carefully to avoid negative reaction from the Islam believers.

References.
Amaro, Jorge, W.F., 2000: Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Religious Faith, in Nielsen’s Psychology of Religious Pages, http://www.class.ufl.edu/users/ gthursby/psi/
Bailie, Gil, 1995: Violence Unveiled: Humanity at Crossroads, NY:
Brewer, Marylin, B., 1999: The Psychology of Prejudice: Ingroup love or outgroup hate?, Journal of Social Issues, 55 (3), 429-444.
Jones, Stanton L., 1995: Psychology and Religion, American Psychologists, 50 (7), 545
Lipsedge, Maurice, 1996: Religion and Madness in History, Psychiatry and Religion: Content, Consensus, and Controversies, Dinesh Bhugra (ed.), London: Rotledge, 23-50
Malony, H.Newton & Bernard Spilka, 1991: Religion in Psychodynamic Perspective, the Contribution of Paul W. Pruyser, NY: Oxford University Press
Pergament, Kenneth I., 1997: Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice, NY: The Guilford Press
Robertson, Roland (ed.) 1982: Sociology of Religion, Middlesex: Penguin Books
Ruggiero, Karren, M., 1999: The personal/Group Discrimination Discrepancy: Extending Allport’s Analysis on Targets, Journal of Social Issues, 55 (3), 519-536.
Ruhiyat, Ilyas, 1997: Ada Gangguan Karena Masing-masing Umat Beragama Maunya Memajukan Agamanya Sendiri, daily REPUBLIKA, Jakarta, 12 Januari
Rutter, Michael, Henry Giller & Ann Hegel, 1998: Antisocial Behavior by Young People, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Sarwono. Sarlito W., 1997: Agama dalam Masyarakat Indonesia, Suatu Tinjauan Psikososial, Penuntun, Jurnal Teologi dan Gereja, 3 (12), 397-405
Sarwono, Sarlito W., Azyumardi Azhra et al. 1997: Laporan Penelitian Kerukunan Antar Umat Beragama, Jakarta: PPIM-IAIN
Simuh, 1995: Lebih Jauh dengan Dr. Simuh, daily KOMPAS, Jakarta, 30 Juli.
Taher, Tarmizi, 1997: Aspiring the Middle Truth, Jakarta: PPIM-IAIN
Wulff, David, M. 1997: Psychology of Religion: Classic & Contemporary, NY: John Willey & Sons.

Source : http://www.himpsi.org

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Destructive Conduct of Youths in Indonesia

By : Monty P. Satiadarma
Department of Psychology Tarumanegara University Jakarta

Abstract
Detrimental conduct of youths in Indonesia has been one of the largest concerns of the Indonesian society in facing future generation. Physical injurious behavior in gang fights such as school fights and the elevation of drug and alcohol use by students in various areas in Indonesia have become the largest concern over the implementation of moral education in the society. Besides perception, social legitimization over the behavior has apparently been the significant factors that support moral disengagement of the Indonesian youths. This current paper is aimed to discuss about the Indonesian youth destructive conduct, particularly school fights. Data collection is based on various reports from primary mass media in the country as well as more than 150 respondents of high-school youths who ever engaged in school fights. Personal interviews were conducted by more than 70 students of clinical psychology class utilizing tape recorder and recorded verbatim. Solidarity and group identity were the most mentioned reasons for the school-students to get engaged in the fights, and legitimization of destructive conduct by moral agencies in the society could be the source of such acts. Discussion is included concerning a larger dimension of youths’ problems in the country.

The massive threats to human welfare stem mainly from deliberate acts of principle rather than from unrestrained acts of impulse (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 1996). Detrimental conduct of youths in Indonesia, has been one of the largest concerns of the Indonesian society in facing the future generation ("Perkelahian Pelajar," 1999). Myers (1993) stated, " …evil acts not only reflect the self, they shape the self" (p.127). When the exercise of moral control is weakened by sanitized label of violations in the society, the future generation will be in serious threats. When moral disengagement is "approved " by legitimizing inhumane social practices by utilizing such as euphemism, in the name of moral justification, we may expect to see more inhumane social practices in the near future.
Physical injurious behavior in gang fights such as school fights and the elevation of drug and alcohol use by students in various areas in Indonesia (Prambadi, 1996, April 27; Alwie, Anam, Tantan, & Hidayat, 1996, April 27) have become the largest concern over the implementation of moral education in the society ("Tawuran,"1999; Prambadi, 1996, April 27). School fights have become so common, and they happen almost every day in Jakarta ("Jadi Pelajar,"1997; "209 titik," 1999; TVRI, 1999, April 4), and there are 209 pocket areas of school fights in Jakarta in the recent six years ("209 titik, 1999, TVRI, 1999, April 4), including 11 large bus terminals and 21 bus routes (Achmad & Nababan 1999, April 11).
Perhaps there is no other country in this world that has so many and so frequent school fights as in Indonesia, particularly in Jakarta, and these school fights caused various problems such as traffic congestions ("Perkelahian Pelajar, 1998), public transport drivers strike ("Akibat Tawuran," 1998; "Mikrobus Bogor Mogok Lagi," 1998) up to serious injuries ("Jadi Pelajar", 1997), and death ("Usai Tawuran," 1997, "Pelajar STM," 1997, "Tawuran sesama pelajar," 1997, "Terus Berjatuhan," 1999; "Pelajar Tewas Tertembak," 1998; "Andri Tewas," 1998). Data from 1991 to 1995 from the Jakarta Police Department is shown as such:

Years
Total Case
Detention
Death
1991
260
1505
6
1992
167
987
13
1993
80
275
10
1994
No data
1261
10
1995
70
1245
13
(Prambadi, Kelana, Waluyo, Gunadi, & Ndraha, 1996, April 27)
In these recent two years, the numbers of cases and death casualties may have increased due to the high frequency of school fights since there is not even a day without school fights ("Jadi Pelajar," 1997).
Research on school fights in 1991 (Prambadi, et. al, 1996, April 27) reported that the respondents in general were having low motivation to get involved in school fights, yet they considered the acts as positive experiences in order to explore and to test self capacity. Collective moral disengagement can have widespread societal and political ramifications by supporting, justifying, and legitimizing inhumane social practices and policies. Group decision making enables people to behave inhumanely since as everyone is responsible, no one really feels responsible. Thus, group action weakens moral control (Bandura et al, 1996). People may behave more cruelly under group responsibility than when they hold themselves personally accountable for their actions (Bandura, Underwood, & Fromson, 1975; Diener, 1977; Zimbardo, 1969, 1995). In support to these concepts, social identity theory for example, explained that group members exhibited in-group bias since they were motivated to seek or maintain a positive identity and group distinctiveness (Tajfel, 1978; Tajfel & Turner, 1986) Also, they did not consider the act as negative that may give problems to others. This research (conducted by the University of Indonesia) was based on questionnaires given to 315 students who were classified into four groups. 1) 44,67% students were not aggressive and basically did not like to fight. 2) 22,8% students were slightly aggressive ("aggressive 1"), often times they got involved in fights and sometimes lead the fights. 3) 22,22% were they who had motivation to fight ("aggressive 2"). 4) 8,25 % were they who were in detention due to the fights.
Various reasons such as poverty ("Tawuran," 1999), social gap, immature personality of the youths, influence of films and other mass media, "looking for challenge attitude" of the youths, urbanization, and self defense (Prambadi, Kelana, Waluyo, & Anwar, 1996, April 27), or other forms of rationalization have been considered to be the sources for the students to conduct such acts. Prambadi et.al (1996, April 27) quoted an explanation from Professor Yaumil Achir of the University of Indonesia explained that the increase numbers of students along with inappropriate systems in the society could be the complicated sources of school fights. These sources included social gap, unstable emotional development, inappropriate educational system, inappropriate parent-child relationships, and the inconsistencies of laws and rules execution in the society. Yet, in many occasions, parents showed models of destructive behaviors to be imitated by their children when they had to deal with frustrating situations. For example in a national newspaper report ("Anak tak lulus seleksi," 1998), it was explained how parents in a village in West Java, burned a school since their children were unable to be accepted by the institution. Much reprehensible and destructive conduct has been perpetrated by ordinary, otherwise considerate people in the name of religious principles, righteous ideologies, nationalistic imperatives, and ruthless social policies (Bandura, 1986; Rapoport & Alexander, 1982; Sanford & Comstock, 1971).
In everyday life transactions, a lot of aggressive behavior gets justified in the name of protecting honor and reputation (Cohen & Nisbett, 1994). Similar reasons were reported to be the reasons for many students to get involved in school fights (Alwie, & Anam, 1996, April 1996). Moreover, punishment upon the students who get involved in school fights often increases their pride and status symbol as courageous or heroes (Prambadi et. al, 1996, April 27). Some subcultures in The United States of America for example, have acknowledge what anthropologist call ‘culture of honor’, in which small disputes becomes contest for reputation and social status (Fischer, 1989; McWhiney, 1988; Peristiani, 1965).
Based on various reports above, there are various reasons for students to get engaged in school fights. The reasons being mentioned above were (1) poverty, (2) mass media influence, (3) self defense, (4) social gap, (5) inappropriate education, (6) inappropriate parent-child relationships, (7) law inconsistencies, (8) role models, (9) protecting honor, and (10) pride. Each of these reasons can be classified into more details. However, this study merely exploring (1) how do the school children perceive their involvement in school fights, (2) whether their moral standards are in support to their involvement in the fights, (3) What factors to be influencing their moral standards (if any) to get involve in the fights.
People basically regulate their actions by the consequences they apply to themselves. People do things that satisfy them and give them self-worth. On the contrary, people refrain from behaving in ways that violate their moral standards since the behavior will bring self–censure. Anticipatory self-sanctions keep conduct in line with internal standards (Bandura et al, 1996), but there are many psychosocial processes by which self-sanctions can be disengaged from inhumane conduct (Bandura, 1990, 1991). These psychosocial processes consist of moral justification (Kelman & Hamilton, 1989; Kramer, 1990; Sanford & Comstock, 1971), euphemistic language (Bolinger, 1982; Lutz, 1987), displacement of responsibility (Andrus, 1969), diffusion of responsibility (Bandura, Underwood, & Fromson, 1975; Diener, 1977; Kelman, 1973; Zimbardo, 1969, 1995), dehumanization (Haritos-Fatouros, 1988; Keen, 1986; Kelman, 1973).

LEGITIMIZATION OF VIOLENCE
It has been mentioned above that various moral justifications may give direct impact to students to get engaged in school fights. In the name of and for the sake of self- defense, social respect and self worth for example, people tend to regulate violent behaviors up to dehumanizing others and even sacrificing other people’s lives. Several experts have discussed various conditions as below of the possible reasons of why people manifested aggressive behaviors.
The strength of moral self-sanctions depends partly on how perpetrators view the people they mistreat. Bandura (1992) explained that to perceive another as human activated empathetic and vicarious emotional reactions through perceived similarities. When people are dehumanized, they are no longer viewed as persons with feelings, hopes, and concerns, but more as subhuman objects (Haritos-Fatouros, 1988; Keen, 1986; Kelman, 1973). Perry, Williard and Perry (1990) reported that some aggressive children exhibited little sympathetic concern over inflicting devalued peers. In educating children, corporal punishment practices are considered (in some cultures) as the way to teach children about "appropriate way" to handle conflict (Cohen, 1996). Thus, when violence is used to discipline and control (Trelease, 1989) is introduced to children to teach them in handling conflicts, this collective legitimized aggression will bring feedback and affect the children’s behaviors in their later development.
Some anthropologists noted that cultures having herding as the basis of their economy tend to be more approving of certain forms of violence (Campbell, 1965; Edgerton, 1971, Peristiany, 1965). Some studies also reported that collective violence for social control and for maintaining "moral" regulations among subcultures (such as Black Americans, Poor Whites), has long history in the south part of The United States (Brown, 1969; Cash, 1941; Ingalls, 1989). Gelles and Cornell (1990) stated that the old southern statutes and case law even give instructions allowing violence as an appropriate correction for a slave, a child or a wife.

METHOD
Seventy students of Intro to Clinical Psychology Class interviewed at least two high school students who ever got involved in school fights. The interview was conducted in a form of free and open-ended interview since using questionnaires tended to be threatening for the interviewee. Preliminary field study reported that most of the interviewee rejected to cooperate when they saw the interviewers carried questionnaires to fill in.
There are some disadvantages in utilizing open questions since answers will be more difficult to classify. However since for the sake of a preliminary study it is considered that they permit unlimited number of responses, there may be some unanticipated findings, and that the answers may reveal subject’s frame of reference (Neuman, 1997). Neuman (1997) also mentioned that open-ended questions were especially valuable in early or exploratory stages of research
Approaches were conducted in a rather informal atmosphere, and interview recordings were taken by utilizing tape recorder. Most interviews were taken around 30 to 45 minutes since interviewee tended to be hostile when being asked too personal questions and they wanted to cooperate within a very limited time space. After the interviews were being recorded, the interviewers put the interview process into verbatim form. Control of the interview process and verbatim notes was conducted by comparing what were written on papers and what were mentioned in the tape.
The responses of the interview subjects were being classified into groups based on the basic questions such as: (1) how many times have you got involved in school fights, (2) what was the reason for you to get involved in the fights, (3) how did the fight start (4) have you ever been caught due to the fight? (5) what did you experience when being caught, (6) how was your feelings to that, (7) did you ever use any specific weapons?

Results
Subjects:
More than 150 subjects were interviewed at random. One hundred twenty five (125) subjects were considered as ever being involved in school fights, and the rest of the interviewees were passive participants or merely bystanders. Seventeen subjects had involved in one to two school fights, 16 subjects had involved in 3 to 4 fights, and 102 subjects had involved in 5 or more fights. Students who reported fighting 5 or more were not necessarily stated the numbers of fighting. Some students mentioned 8, 10, but most of them said "I could not count, since that happened almost every day". Even some other students reported that they were involved in the fights more than once a day.

Number of Fights
1-2
3-4
5 & more
Number of Subjects
17
16
102

Among 125 subjects, 3 subjects were female. They were involved once for specific reasons. One girl reported she was asked for money by a group of schoolboys, and she reported the case to her friends, which finally caused school fights where she were involved. Another subject reported that she was suspected by others as "stealing" someone’s boy friend from another school. The result was the school students were fighting and she was in the fight as well. The third female subject reported that she was just joining the fights together with her friends.

Reasons:
When subjects were asked what was the reason or were the reasons for them to get involved in the fights, some answered single particular reason and some answered various reasons and classified as below:
Solidarity is classified when students mentioned solidarity or wanting to be with the group, feeling together with the group, or did not feel separate with the group, as a part of the group.
Retaliation is classified when students mentioned that they were intimidated or being attacked thus they need to retaliate. Some students even dramatically mentioned: "It is better to kill rather than to be killed".
Self image has large connotations. This includes when students stated such as: "I am a man, it is normal for a man to be aggressive", "If I do not help my friends, who will", "I do it because I want to help and protect my friends".
Fear of Being Left Alone consists of statements such as: "If I do not help them now, later, when I am going home, I will be alone, no one will help me", "If I do not help them, later they may not be willing to help me", or "I don’t want to be left alone by my friends. It’s scary when we are being attacked. I need my friends. So, I should help them when they need me as well"
Self Defense includes statements such as: " I do need to protect my self". "What else must you do when you are attacked by a group of people. Would you rather remain passive? You are going to die soon"
Tradition is classified when students mentioned that the fight was tradition in the school. Some students mentioned that "It’s normal, it’s our school tradition, we, the male, must fight", or "Ever since I enter this school, it seems to be the tradition of the school"
Enforced is classified when the interviewee stated "I was enforced by my senior classmates", or "My friends enforce me to join them". Some of them mentioned "If I did not join them, I would be considered betraying my friends".

Reasons
Number of Answers
Solidarity
79
Retaliation
36
Self Image
31
Fear of Being Left Alone
22
Self Defense
22
Tradition
21
Enforced
6

It is interesting to find that one student reported that the school principle asked him to defend the school and to fight for the sake of the school.

Triggering Factors:
When subjects were asked how the fight started, some of them stated unclear answers such as "I don’t know, I just joined my friends", or "I just want to be together with my friends". Some of the subjects mentioned various conditions that stimulated the incidents, and those conditions were classified as:
Being looked down is classified when they feel as being mocked, or humiliated, scoffed, without any physical threats.
Being intimidated is classified when they were approached physically, threatened directly, asked for money and such.
Old enemies is the concept which normally carried by their senior classmates, and they had label some specific schools as their enemies, toward whom they had been having unfinished business.
Vengeance is classified when they had been attacked previously, they did not retaliate directly but gathering more friends and using plans to attack the previous attacker.
Being looked at is classified when they feel humiliated, intimidated, or objectified by others by only looked at.

What Causes the Fights
Number of Answers
Being Looked Down
41
Being Intimidated
38
Old Enemies
24
Vengeance
14
Being Looked at
3

One respondent clearly stated that he sometimes initiated the fight. When he started entering the school, his senior classmates asked him and his colleagues to intimidate other school students as the initiation process. Moreover, his groups were also asked to attack other school students, and this has been a part of the tradition in his school.

Experiences in Detention
Most of the respondents they had never been caught. However, they who had ever been caught by police or army reported as below:

Experiences
Number of Subjects reported
Corporal punishments
10
Administrative procedures
2
Others
3

The form of punishment under the classification of "others" is stripping the students to only wear shorts, letting them standing in the sun for some time.
These students did not show any concern for being caught by the security, including those who experienced punishments. They mentioned it as normal as one of the students said "the police only slapped me on my cheeks several times, and that’s all". They did not show any concern for being intimidated, and they repeated their actions.
One student reported that in one of the fights he was involved, two friends of his were shot on the legs by the police. Many students reported the police and security in general did not do anything rather than only chasing here and there which did not work. For they kept coming back to the same place to fight.

Parental reactions:
Most subjects reported that their parents did not know about the fights. They either lied to their parents when being found dirty all over their clothes, their parents were not home when they returned from school, or their parents paid no attention on such matters. However, there were 6 subjects reported that their parents reacted specifically over their actions such as prevented them to go to school for a few days, and one student reported his father slapped his face, which did not bring any impact to him.

Weaponry:
Weapon is any kind of tool the students used. Other than stones on the street, any form of weapon is any tool they have prepared at home to be carried out along with them while going to or going back from schools.
When subjects were asked whether they used any specific weapons, 54 subjects reported using sharp tools they normally prepared from home, and 29 subjects reported they use found objects on the streets, which primarily were stones. Interestingly, the people surrounded the students helped them to hide the weapons so that they were not found when being checked at schools. Subjects reported that The school gardener helped them to hide the weapons or they hid their weapons such as in school canteens or put in street vendors’ carts. Some subjects did not clearly explain where they hid the weapons.
The tools they were carrying were normally sharp objects such as knife, sword, sabre, katana (Japanese sword), sharp head belt, chain, and scythe. One person reported using crackling, and another person reported using broken glass bottle.

Abused cases:
There was assumption that parental abuse might be a contributing factor for school fights, but among the 125 subjects, there were only 4 subjects reported as being physically abused by parents. The 121 subjects mentioned that their relationships with their parents and other family members as normal, their parents supported their education very well and they got along with their parents very well.

Conclusion
81% of respondents have involved in more than 5 times, 12,8% involved in 3-4 times and 13 % are "beginners". This condition appears to be parallel with the fact that the frequency of school fights is considerably high. Students involved in the fights not only once but repetitiously. Qualitative data also supports the fact that they could not remember exactly how many times they were involved in the fights. All they remember was that they involved many times, and some involved almost every day.
40% of the answers being mentioned by the respondents considered that their involvement in the fights were based on solidarity, 16% for the sake of retaliation, 14% self image, and about 10% and below are based on other reasons. Thus solidarity becomes the most common themes the students mentioned in regard to their involvement in school fights. The sense of being part of the group appears to be the strongest factor influencing the students to get involved in the act of school fights.
In regard to the source of school fights, being looked down appears to be to most popular themes being mentioned by the students. The question may still remains why the students can easily feel being humiliated. It may be more understandable if they fight for self-defense or to retaliate due to their experience for being physically intimidated by others.
From 125 students reports, only a small numbers reported that they had ever been caught by security (police, army, and such). Surprisingly, from the limited number of students who reported, most of them reported of having corporal punishment. Others reported as being stripped off and instructed to stand in the heat of the day.
Meanwhile there were considerably lots of students reported carrying tools such as knife, sword, sabre, and such which potentially can cause injury to others. They were not easily found when being checked in the school since the gardener, the canteen keeper, or the street vendors protected them and helped them hiding the tools. This reflects that the society has been supportive to the students to get involved in school fights.
Finally, the data showed that only a small number of students who were involved in the fights were being abused by their parents.
Solidarity seems to be the main reason for the students to get involved in the fights. Yet, some students reported other reasons along with solidarity, and these reasons underneath solidarity seems to be more the basic reasons for them to get involved in the fights. Thus, solidarity is actually only being utilized as the mask for more basic reasons such as fear of being left alone by friends, wanting to have better self image, and self defense as a form of self preservation, the most basic reason for human to live. It appears that the word "solidarity" has been used in a form of euphemistic way so that the society will legitimize the destructive actions.
Another concern for us is that what makes the students become so sensitive toward being mocked. The fact that many of them had carried tools and weapons from home, they appeared to get ready to fight by using tools and weapons to create injury to others. Thus mockery itself may not be the triggering factor but fighting seems to be planned by the students. But, it is more concerning that these students seem to legitimize their actions in the name of self-image, self-defense, and school tradition, despite most of them realize that their actions were conducted in a destructive way.
The fact showed that only a small number of students ever got abused by their parents, thus abused experience seems not contributing factors to the students attitude toward fighting. But, numerous qualitative follow-up interview obtained data that they who were caught were punished physically, and it appears that the older generations such as teachers, school principles, parents, and security personnel have paid so little attention to their safety environment in pursuing their education. A rather surprising report was the one that stated that the school principal requested the students to fight in order to defend the schools and that there was a tradition where the juniors were asked by the seniors to intimidate other students during their orientation period. Thus violence behavior in school fights recently seem to be a legitimate action in Jakarta. The question remains: "Don’t they have self-regulations or self sanctions for their actions?" and "Have not they learned about it?"
The euphemism of solidarity and self-legitimization of destructive behavior in the name of self-image, self-defense, and school traditions appear to gain support from the society. Thus, numerous members in the society, which were educational agents such as parents, school teachers, and security members did not take specific actions to prevent the youngsters to get involved in the fights. Some people may complain about the fights, but they act more as bystanders. The question continues as what causes the society becomes helpless in preventing school fights.

Discussion
This article is based on a preliminary study over the destructive conduct of Indonesian youths and specifically on school fights in Jakarta and vicinity. Further research must be conducted in order to obtain better picture about some psychological factors that cause the fights. Further interview will be needed in order to get better understanding about the basic reasons for youths to get involved in destructive actions and taking the risks of being injured. We may need to develop the questionnaires and the classification of the responses. We may also need to do comparative study with the similar conditions in different settings or in different cities.
Solidarity seems to be the "key word" for students to get involved in school fights. But, it appears that the connotation of solidarity has been utilized negatively by youths, particularly in Jakarta. There have been little data about school fights in other cities in Indonesia, but in Jakarta. Does Jakarta has changed the youths’ perception over moral education, or are there many other factors being involved in creating school fights.
Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, the central government place, appears unable to handle this detrimental youth conduct for several years. It is quite reasonable that the population and density is very high in Jakarta, thus the government must have specific approach to handle this problem. However, we found that the subjects we interviewed reported that the security did not do much on handling school fights, teachers did not know what has been going on, and parents apparently did not really care about such matters. Did they? Has the security never been trained to handle riots, including gang fights? Were the school teachers so unobservant and unaware that their students were involved in school fights similar to gang fights. Were parents so unaware about their children, and thus what are they aware of?
These facts above are clearly in support of several concepts which mentioned that people behave much more aggressively when assaulting a person is given sanitized label than when it is called aggression (Bandura et al, 1996). Statecraft is soulcraft (Will, 1983). Euphemistic language provides a convenient tool for masking reprehensible activities or even conferring a respectable status upon people (Bolinger, 1982; Lutz, 1987). Thus, in the name of moral justification, detrimental conduct is made personally and socially acceptable by associating it in the service of valued social or moral purposes (Kelman & Hamilton, 1989; Kramer, 1990; Sanford & Comstock, 1971).
The fact that various social agents paid so little attention on school fights as if there is no specific effort to educate the younger generation to have self control or self regulation appear to be an important factor we need to consider in order to save our your generation to live in a safe environment in order to obtain safe educational atmosphere. The low self control and self regulation among the Indonesian youths in Jakarta is in support of some concepts that have already been mentioned above such as the one mentioned by Bandura et al. (1996). Sadly enough the problem does not stop there. On the contrary it even goes on larger dimension.
Youths’ fights have been going mostly around main roads, intersections and around public transport stops. They are not only threatening between one another but also threatening the public in general, primarily those who use the road access. The society has put so much concern over the problems for these recent years, but the government has not been able to solve the problem. Instead, various youths’ destructive conducts have been escalating, primarily at the very end of this century.
Various youths’ crimes have grown considerably fast in Jakarta. At various intersections, the government of Jakarta not only have to dealt with the illegal youth vendors who creates traffic congestion, but the government now must also deal with criminals who enforce people to give money otherwise the criminals will break the car windows, reflecting mirrors, or scratch the car bodies with sharp tools. At various intersections and u-turns, there are youths who act as "traffic controller". Some of them may only ask charity from people who use the road access, but some enforce people to give money, otherwise they will break or scratch the cars. Sadly, they do the crimes within a few yards away from the presence of the policemen, security persons. Yet, the policemen and the security persons do not consistently prevent them to do so.
There are indeed various interesting areas in Indonesia to be explored and researched. This particular paper is discussing only a small section of a very large problematic section in Indonesia. The development of the Indonesian youth may in general be the responsibility of the Indonesian government. But, the large youth population in Indonesia is one of the largest numbers in the world, and the entire population of Indonesia is rank four in the world after China, India, and The United States. This means a great numbers of people in the world are dealing with serious problems in facing the new millenium. It could only be a massive threat to Indonesia at this moment. But, if moral justification in one country is neglected, the threat to other countries may come in the near future.
These problems are not only the problems of one particular government, namely Indonesian government, but the problems of the world. Scientists and professionals, politicians and educators, parents and religious leaders must work hand in hand to help the world to solve these problems. We should not let the youths destroy one another, we should not let people destroy this planet, the home of many living beings. It is our duty to protect the next generation from destructiveness, it is our duty to show the next generation about what good morality is. It is our duty to justify our own morality, not to destroy one another, nor in war neither in politics. So that the new generations will see and model their good parents, not copying their amoral mommies and daddies, who may have not taught their children self regulations and self sanctions. Since, they may have not had it and have never been aware of it.

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