vol. 12 núm. 20 (2016)

Purpose: To describe the activities that have been carried out in the context of the application of the community psychology model to Mexican youth (called “Juvenile Offenders”) who, for various reasons, have been referred to the so-called juvenile detention centers, located in the state of Mexico, in the metropolitan area of Mexico.  Topic: Awareness of the activities that have been carried out with juvenile offenders will prospectively allow to design increasingly relevant intervention strategies for the population concerned based on community social psychology. Development: At first, some considerations on how psychology students from the School of Higher Studies (FES by its Spanish acronym) Iztacala, UNAM, are trained in the field of research are discussed and then the manner in which an effective intervention with Mexican juvenile offenders can be made is presented. The various interventions that have been made in juvenile detention centers are listed, as well as the methodology used, showing the progress of such intervention and proposals for improvement in the work carried out by psychology students from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, FES Iztacala. Conclusions: It is expected that this model will serve to train students in similar scenarios in Latin America, considering ethical relevance and social commitment to the social sphere, as well as deductive and inductive dynamics involved in the research-intervention process.

Introduction: Public security management involves the implementation of public policies that justify the guidance of the State in the prevention of crime and the administration of justice. However, citizen distrust of government action is evidenced by a growing insecurity perception reported by the literature in seven dimensions: territorial, national, public, human, citizen, private and Internet user. Objective: To establish reliability and validity of an instrument that measures the perception of territorial, national, public, human, citizen, private, and Internet user security. Method: Non-experimental, cross-sectional, exploratory study with a non-probabilistic selection of 320 students from a public university. Results: Reliability of the overall scale (alpha = 0.793), and territorial (alpha = 0.792), national (alpha = 0.709), public (alpha = 0.785), human (alpha = 0.782), citizen (alpha = 0.792), private (alpha = 0.794), and Internet user (alpha = 0.731) subscales, show sufficient internal consistency. The territorial security factor accounted for 22% of total variance. Based on adjustment and residual parameters ⌠χ2 = 135.34 (32 gl) p = 0.054; GFI = 0.995; CFI = 0.990; RMSEA = 0.003⌡, the null hypothesis of significant relationship among theoretical dimensions of security with respect to factors weighted was accepted. Conclusions: Inclusion and measurement of a dimension of self-control perception that would negatively and significantly correlate with the perception of territorial security would explain the factorial structure of the scale. Such model would be estimated by a confirmatory factorial analysis with unweighted least squares.

Introduction: The conflict between work and family has been studied in different contexts. The studies for the Portuguese context identify its existence and demonstrate that it is more frequently felt by women. Objective: The aim of the study is to contribute to the understanding of this reality, together with Portuguese families with an adult child. It seeks to perceive to what extent factors associated with generation —comparing parents and children— and gender can change the perception of a conflict of roles. Method: The study was conducted with 48 family triads: father, mother, and adult child. Results: These indicate that the differences between generations are not evident since mothers and children have higher perceptions of work-family conflict, and they differ only in relation to fathers. Similarly, in terms of work-family conflict, the three groups (mothers and children) also have higher values in this dimension of the conflict and only differ from fathers. Conclusions: While the results do not support the hypotheses concerning possible generation and gender differences, they prove the importance of these dimensions in the analysis of work-family conflict and contribute to the understanding of work-family conflict in the Portuguese context.

Introduction: This article is the product of the research project “Social Memory Constructions around Soccer-Related Violence: Discourse Analysis in the Newspaper El Colombiano from Medellin.” Objective: The purpose of the research was to understand the constructions of social memory of soccer violence in the press.  Methodology: This study was conducted from a qualitative approach, through discourse analysis, whereby discursive strategies and functions of narratives that are used to refer to the phenomenon are explored. The analysis of 188 journalistic articles produced by the newspaper El Colombiano in the period between 2010 and 2015 was conducted. Results: Crystallized memories of violence in soccer are presented, which are historic narrations, such as the memory of an ideal past without violence; the beginnings of violence: the 5-1 result of Colombia vs. Argentina and the murder of Andres Escobar; and the establishment of violence: the relationship of drug trafficking with soccer and the influence of hooligans. Conclusions: It is possible to argue that the press has a special place in the institutionalization and circulation of memories regarding soccer and violence.

Introduction: Despite its importance, formal, detailed reporting on the content validity of psychometric instruments has often been neglected. In a previous work, the Child Perfectionism Scale by Oros (2003), from Argentina, was linguistically and culturally adapted to the Venezuelan context. Objective: The purpose of this study was to estimate content validity of the Venezuelan version of the above scale through the opinion of judges. Methodology: A group of experts in the field of perfectionism judged whether there is correspondence between what each item of the instrument appears to measure and the dimension to which they belong. To quantify the inter-judge agreement, the so-called Factorial Validity Index (fvi) was used. Results: The total scale and the so-called “Self-Demands”, which refer to perfectionist thoughts, achieved satisfactory indices (fvi > 0.80). There was less agreement with items in the dimension “Reactions to Failure,” partly attributable to cultural differentiation factors influencing emotional expression. Conclusions: Now, the rest of the psychometric validation of the test can be completed. Other studies that pursue an objective similar to that of this work could emulate the procedure presented herein.

Introduction: Data recorded on alcohol consumption are important for the diagnosis and prognosis of alcohol use disorders. Objective: This descriptive study aimed to characterize references to alcohol consumption and other related variables in hospital records of patients treated in a specialized alcoholism unit at a public hospital in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Methodology: Records of 60 admissions between February and November 2011 were examined and categorized by extracting data related to alcohol consumption, source of referral, diagnosis, treatment, hospitalization, and other diseases, as well as aspects of family and socioeconomic environment. Subsequently, a descriptive analysis was conducted considering the percentage of records mentioning these aspects. Results: While the recording of data regarding alcohol consumption was high, it was generally incomplete. Recorded data made evident that the bio-psycho-social conditions of these patients are unfavorable for successful treatment. Conclusions: The need to systematize information (for example, through unified medical records) and ways to prevent progression of alcohol use disorders are discussed.

Introduction: Marital aggrandizement is a tendency to idealize one’s partner. It is considered to be a functional trait correlated to satisfaction with the relationship. There is a scale for its assessment created in Canada (18 items) and adapted in Mexico (14 items), but is not validated. Objectives: 1) To describe the distribution of the Marital Aggrandizement Scale in its original format of 18 dichotomized items (MAS) and its version of 14 ordinal items (MAS14), checking which is better suited to the concept of functional trait; and 2) to study the relationship of MAS and MAS14 with sociodemographic and religiosity (belief and practice) variables, verifying the substantiation of these correlates in controlling the effect of satisfaction with the relationship. Methodology: MAS, Relationship Assessment Ratio (RAS), and a sociodemographic data questionnaire were applied to 431 women and 376 men married or cohabiting in Monterrey, Mexico. Probability sampling of random routes was used. Results: MAS show deviation from normality with positive asymmetry and flattened profile. MAS14 showed slight deviation from normality with slight negative asymmetry and mesokurtic profile. MAS and MAS14 were independent or exhibited low associations with sociodemographich and religiosity variables. Only correlations with religiosity were significant and nontrivial after biasing the effect of satisfaction with the relationship (RAS). Conclusions: The distribution of MAS14 is more consistent with the concept of functional feature it intends to measure and does not require differential scales for sociodemographic variables.

Quiero manifestar mi más sincero agradecimiento al editor y al equipo de esta revista por la confianza depositada en mí para versar sobre las memorias traumáticas en los niños y jóvenes palestinos de la Franja de Gaza. Esperamos que sea de interés para investigadores, psicólogos, educadores, padres, políticos, trabajadores sociales, etc. Cualquier programa de intervención sobre la población debe partir de un conocimiento, lo más exhaustivo posible, de los sujetos a quienes se dirige: planes de intervención del estrés postraumático, programas de orientación familiar y escolar.