Intimate Friends Research Articles

“If you don’t send me five other pictures I am going to post the photo online”: A qualitative analysis of experiences of survivors of sextortion

ABSTRACT In this study, we explored survivors’ experience with sextortion (threats to expose sexual images to coerce victims to provide additional pictures, sex, or other favors). We conducted in-depth telephone interviews with 48 adults aged 18 to 25 who had been targets of sextortion. Nearly half of participants were minors at the time of the sextortion incident. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, which resulted in four major dimensions. The dimensions identified were the emotional connections between victims and perpetrators, the nature of the threats, societal responses, and integrating the sextortion into their life stories. The findings emphasized the multidimensional nature of this phenomenon. There was a wide range of emotional connections, from brief connections to close intimate relationships or strong friendships. Some threats remained unfulfilled, while other were carried out. Some threats were one-time and some lasted for years. Societal responses were central in participants’ narratives, with most participants actually turning to their peers and parents for support. Many expressed thankfulness for the opportunity to tell their story during the interviews. For the majority of participants sextortion was perceived as a central event in their lives, one that changed them forever. Listening to the voices of survivors helps professionals understand these harmful situations.

Regulatory Focus as a Mediator between Perceived Parenting Style and Friendship Intimacy in Chinese Emerging Adulthood

Regulatory Focus as a Mediator between Perceived Parenting Style and Friendship Intimacy in Chinese Emerging Adulthood

First time sexual experiences of sexual minority adolescent girls in the United States

ABSTRACT Cisgender sexual minority girls report an earlier average age at first sex than cisgender heterosexual girls, but little is known about these first experiences with sex. As part of a larger study to develop a sexual health intervention for cisgender sexual minority girls, this analysis explored the context of first sexual experiences of 48 cisgender, sexually experienced, sexual minority girls ages 14 to 18 years in four online focus groups. We used qualitative description to explore with whom girls had their first sex, where it took place, and the context surrounding the experience. Our findings documented both thoughtful intended first sex in committed and intimate friend relationships, and casual, unintended experiences influenced by alcohol, in parental homes and outdoor settings, and provide brief glimpses into the first experiences for sexual minority cisgender girls. They can provide a starting point for sexual health education content that is more inclusive of sexual orientation, and support sexual minority girls’ knowledge of how to have safe, enjoyable, and positive sexual experiences.

Through the Looking Glass of Intimate Friendship and Common Enemies: Images of Sino–Soviet Relations in Chinese and Soviet Political Cartoons of the 1950s

This article examines Sino–Soviet relations in the 1950s through the medium of political cartoons in Manhua and Krokodil, satire magazines published in the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union. Images of friendship and enmity produced an intricate narrative about world affairs and the paths of socialism and capitalism. By comparing the stories and visual representations in Krokodil and Manhua, this study underscores the similarities and contradictions existing between the Soviet Union and China in the years before their split. This approach provides an example of two ideological machines working to reflect unexpected shifts in alliances while maintaining a claim on the teleological coherence of socialist development. It also exemplifies the mechanics of visual propaganda under the stress of contradictory policies and purposes.

Editorial

Editorial Raymond Studzinski, O.S.B. Many of us are familiar with occasional "breakthrough moments" when we can see ourselves overcoming stagnation and resistance and moving forward in a truly fruitful direction. Such moments may find us thinking and imagining about ourselves and life in a way that liberates us from what has boxed us in and opens us to a depth that has always been there but has eluded us so far. Such breakthroughs happen not only to people and to societies but to disciplines such as theology, philosophy, and psychology. In philosophy, the Scottish philosopher John Macmurray (1891-1976) challenged the individualistic and secular mindset of modern times by declaring in the Gifford Lectures in 1952 and 1953 that human persons are relational beings and are made for communion with one another and ultimately with God. He countered egocentricity by emphasizing community. Parallel to what Macmurray was doing in philosophy, psychoanalysts began to move beyond Freud's emphasis on drive satisfaction as motivating behavior to see persons as relationship-seeking. This new way of thinking created an intellectual renaissance in psychoanalysis with new thinking emerging on issues such as the role of religion and spirituality in maintaining psychic well-being. In the area of evangelization and catechetics, Pope Francis has likewise put relationships front and center with his emphasis on encounter, dialogue, and accompaniment. The introduction to the Directory for Catechesis echoes points made by Pope Francis in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium where he describes the role of accompaniment in promoting spiritual growth (EG 169-173). According to the Directory for Catechesis, the process of accompaniment, a relationship marked by respect, compassion, and trust, provides the formative experience leading to "intimate communion with Christ" (DC 3). In this issue of the IJEC, our authors likewise attend to the centrality of relationships in the ministry of evangelization and catechesis. Brian Pedraza addresses the critical importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as at the center of faith. The thrust of evangelization is to lead others to the encounter with the risen Lord and to establish an abiding and intimate friendship with him which then energizes [End Page 105] the believer to spread the message of salvation. Sadly, as Pedraza notes, surveys reveal only a relatively small percentage of believers acknowledge that God is personal. Others avoid focusing on the personal relationship with the Lord because it does not have enough of a Catholic ring to it or gives insufficient attention to the sacraments. Pedraza skillfully responds to such objections and shows how a personal relationship with Christ and the sacraments work together in drawing persons to a greater gift of self to Christ and their neighbor. In an essay on the special emphasis given to the kerygma in the Directory for Catechesis and other recent ecclesial documents, Eric J. Westby draws attention to the whole-hearted response that the proclamation of the saving work of Jesus Christ can elicit in the hearer. That response finds individuals entering a relationship with the living God which brings a sense of purpose, happiness, and peace. Westby addresses the impact that this renewed attention to the kerygma will have on how a parish staff goes about its ministry. He notes that it is important that staff members are able not only to articulate the kerygma but also that they are willing to share how Christ has touched them personally. They must be ready to work with people in a one-on-one relationship and offer hospitality where all are able to feel welcomed. Proclaiming the kerygma invites a parish community to foster relationships in which all members work together at becoming a missionary church. Relationships are not only with people but with all that surrounds us—the natural environment, the world of culture, and the world of ideas. Samantha Mattheiss and Joseph R. Laracy look at the beauty found in this larger world and explore and try to understand how that quality found in all sorts of objects and experiences can become a path to Christ for us. Beauty can lure us into a relationship with the One, the source of all beauty. Mattheiss and Laracy probe the impact of beauty...

Reflections and Prospects of China-Iran Relations under the Impact of COVID-19

The Corona virus causes major changes in the world, among which China-Iran relation is to change more or less under the influence. The worsened relations with the US of both countries are expected to push the two countries to have a more intimate friendship; the bilateral cooperation and the common interests of both countries also demonstrate a bright future. On the other hand, with the impediment of the second outbreak of the virus, the uncertainty of Iranian attitudes, and the impact of other countries, the improvement of the bilateral interactions is not all plain sailing. The essay aims to give analyses on these factors as well as some reasonable predictions.

The (Un)Willingness to Keep Living at Very Advanced Ages

A long life is a general desire that will be reached by more and more people, particularly in developed countries. But the delay of mortality raises important questions about quality of life in the later years. Centenarians have received attention from different disciplines, particularly from demography and genetics, but a psychological approach on whether life at age 100 is perceived as worth living is still very limited. This study explores centenarians’ will to live and associated factors in a sample of 121 centenarians (mean age 101 years; SD 1.63 years; 84.3% female), who answered to a questionnaire comprising sociodemographic characteristics, health status, social functioning, and well-being as well as open questions on their will to live and end-of-life issues. Of the total sample, 31.4% expressed willingness to live longer, 30.6% did not, and 38% presented no clear positioning. From the qualitative thematic analysis, annoyance, uselessness, loss of meaning, disconnection, and loneliness were the most common justifications for being reluctant to live longer. Positive valuation of life and good self-rated health, followed by having a confidant and reduced pain frequency, were the reasons for being willing to live longer. From the quantitative analysis, associated factors of will to live include pain frequency, self-rated health, having a friend confidant and valuation of life. This study provides researchers suggestions for further investigation and highlight the importance of inquiring and understanding very old people’s values and views on their will to live, future wishes, and meaning in life.

Homicides of American Indians/Alaska Natives - National Violent Death Reporting System, United States, 2003-2018.

Problem/ConditionHomicide is a leading cause of death for American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). Intimate partner violence (IPV) contributes to many homicides, particularly among AI/AN females. This report summarizes data from CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) on AI/AN homicides. Results include victim and suspect sex, age group, and race/ethnicity; method of injury; type of location where the homicide occurred; precipitating circumstances (i.e., events that contributed to the homicide); and other selected characteristics.Period Covered2003–2018.Description of SystemNVDRS collects data regarding violent deaths obtained from death certificates, coroner/medical examiner reports, and law enforcement reports and links related deaths (e.g., multiple homicides and homicide followed by suicide) into a single incident. This report includes data on AI/AN homicides that were collected from 34 states (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia.ResultsNVDRS collected data on 2,226 homicides of AI/ANs in 34 states and the District of Columbia during 2003–2018. The age-adjusted AI/AN homicide rate was 8.0 per 100,000 population. The homicide rate was three times higher in AI/AN males than females (12.0 versus 3.9), and the median age of AI/AN victims was 32 years (interquartile range: 23–44 years). Approximately half of AI/AN homicide victims lived or were killed in metropolitan areas (48.2% and 52.7%, respectively). A firearm was used in nearly half (48.4%) of homicides and in a higher percentage of homicides of AI/AN males than females (51.5% versus 39.1%). More AI/AN females than males were killed in a house or apartment (61.8% versus 53.7%) or in their own home (47.7% versus 29.0%). Suspects were identified in 82.8% of AI/AN homicides. Most suspects were male (80.1%), and nearly one third (32.1%) of suspects were AI/ANs. For AI/AN male victims, the suspect was most often an acquaintance or friend (26.3%), a person known to the victim but the exact nature of the relationship was unclear (12.3%), or a relative (excluding intimate partners) (10.5%). For AI/AN female victims, the suspect was most often a current or former intimate partner (38.4%), an acquaintance or friend (11.5%), or a person known to the victim but the exact nature of the relationship was unclear (7.9%). A crime precipitated 24.6% of AI/AN homicides (i.e., the homicide occurred as the result of another serious crime). More AI/AN males were victims of homicides due to an argument or conflict than females (54.7% versus 37.3%), whereas more AI/AN females were victims of homicides due to IPV than males (45.0% versus 12.1%). For homicides related to IPV, 87.2% of AI/AN female victims were killed by a current or former intimate partner, whereas approximately half (51.5%) of AI/AN male victims were corollary victims (i.e., victims killed during an IPV-related incident who were not the intimate partners themselves).InterpretationThis report provides a detailed summary of NVDRS data on AI/AN homicides during 2003–2018. Interpersonal conflict was a predominant circumstance, with nearly half of all AI/AN homicides precipitated by an argument and for female victims, 45.0% precipitated by IPV.Public Health ActionNVDRS provides critical and ongoing data on AI/AN homicides that can be used to identify effective and early intervention strategies for preventing these deaths. When possible, violence prevention efforts should include community-developed, culturally relevant, and evidence-based strategies. These efforts should incorporate traditional native knowledge and solutions, implement and possibly adapt evidence-based IPV and other violence prevention strategies, and consider the influence of historical and larger societal factors that increase the likelihood of violence in AI/AN communities.

Considering Autonomous Exploration in Healthy Environments: Reflections from an Urban Wildscape.

Autonomous exploration should be considered in the creation of healthy environments since autonomy is an important developmental experience for children. For a group of boys in Raleigh, N.C., U.S. during the period 2002–2006, autonomous exploration was a meaningful experience. Results of a qualitative research project (n = 5) which highlight the importance of autonomous exploration are organized within a proposed framework for thick description. The framework creates verisimilitude by reporting on the context, social action and cultural context, and behavior and intentionality. The context of Raleigh and urban wildscapes furnished areas ripe for exploration. The social action and cultural context of attachment supported the autonomous exploration through scaffolded experiences of autonomy. The intentionality of the behavior was a desire to distinct themselves through a focus on individual development and the pursuit of extraordinary experiences. The ultimate outcomes of autonomous exploration for the boys were the development of long-term, intimate friendships and confidence in their decision-making ability. As cities become more health-focused, attention should be paid to preserve the rough edges of a city for children to explore.

“You must kneel, compañero”: The Making of Graham Greene’s Monsignor Quixote

Abstract In the 1970 s and 1980s Graham Greene took up the habit of travelling around Spain to holiday in the company of his Spanish friend, the priest and professor Leopoldo Durán. The most outstanding fruit of these trips, almost always in summer, was the inspiration for Monsignor Quixote (1982), which Greene came to regard as his most accomplished novel (Cloetta 2004: 77). Centred around an idealistic, innocent, and somewhat foolish priest who establishes an intimate friendship with a communist ex-mayor, with whom he travels around Spain and talks about the divine and the human, the novel was initially conceived as a kind of friendly caricature of Father Durán, but it soon served as a vehicle to express various concerns that haunted the writer’s mind. The opening of the “Durán papers” collection at Georgetown University enables scholars to delve into unpublished material kept by Durán over the years, which may cast insights into the genesis of Monsignor Quixote from both textual and biographical perspectives. Taking as a major source Durán’s diaries, 16 notebooks recording his meetings and telephone conversations with Greene from 1976 to 1991, this paper aims to clarify some of the relevant background to the book’s inception, complementing the diaries with other accounts such as Greene’s letters to Durán and other friends, Durán’s letters to Greene, and testimonies by witnesses present at the events described.1

Completeness, Self-Sufficiency, and Intimacy in Seneca’s Account of Friendship

Examining Seneca’s account of friendship produces an interpretative puzzle: if the good of the Stoic sage is already both complete and self-sufficient, how can friendship be a good? I reject the solution that friendship is simply a preferred indifferent instead of a good and argue that though Seneca’s account can consistently explain both why friendship’s nature as a good does not threaten the completeness or the self-sufficiency of the sage, Stoic friends must choose between intimate friendships that leave them vulnerable or impersonal friendships that lack intimacy but do not undermine their happiness. The consistent Stoic must choose the latter, but I argue that this conflict shows why we ought to reject the Stoic model of friendship.

"Life itself acquainted me with and made me become an intimate friend of language…" (to the V. I. Dal’s 220th anniversary of the birth)

This paper devoted to V. I. Dal’s 220th birthday anniversary presents a short review of his creative, professional activity in the context of compiling "The Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language". Being exemplified by a brief scientific discussion which dates back to the end of the XIXth century, the role of this Dictionary in the history of the academic explanatory lexicography development is highlighted in greater detail. The aim of the study was to generalise the well-known facts about V. I. Dal and his Dictionary as well as to refer to lesser-known sources. V. I. Dal contributed significantly to each of the spheres in which he was creatively or professionally involved: he was a naval officer, a doctor, a writer, and a civil servant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. All Dal’s professional and creative experience as well as his in-depth knowledge of folklife had an impact on the structure, form, and content of the Dictionary: they made it the yardstick and exemplar of Russian lexicography. This thesis is expounded in the course of studying I. Kh. Pachmann’s critical "Memorandum" (1899) concerning the commencement of the work on the "Shakhmatov’s revision" of the academic "Dictionary of the Russian Language". Additionally, this "Memorandum" provides certain evaluation of Dal’s edition from the perspective of its educational potential that could be exploited in school education. Despite the drawbacks revealed by his contemporaries, V. I. Dal’s dictionary inadvertently became the yardstick and exemplar in the discussion of the moot issues arising during the initiation of the new academic project. It is this dictionary that influenced the further development of explanatory academic lexicography.

Friendship at home: everyday in domestic space shaping friendship intimacies in Finnish small-scale communes

In this article, I examine intimacy in friendship through spatio-temporalities of everyday in Finnish communal living. Based on 31 semi-structured interviews with residents of Finnish small-scale communes, I argue that the everyday in domestic space reshapes intimacies in friendship by enhancing embodied knowledge of others gathered through continuous, routine co-presence in close spatial proximity. This phenomenon, which I call domestic density, introduces intensified negotiations of affective responsibility and personal boundaries to friendship due to the increase and diversification of intimate knowledge. Although the domestic everyday has long been central in feminist discussions of personal relations, it has yet not been examined in detail how domestic space shapes friendship intimacies when friends share a common home. Domestic space entails generative particularities of its own and needs to be included in the analysis of geographies of friendship. For the research participants, the experience of intimacy in domestic space was ambivalent. Reshaping both embodied and verbal practices, the routine everyday in domestic space created novel closeness but also an experience of emotional distance. Moreover, the interviewees utilized a variety of strategies to negotiate questions of affective responsibility and personal boundaries ranging from managing one’s emotions to definitions they gave to the roommate-friendship relation.

Editor’s Introduction

Editor’s Introduction

Heroines and Local Girls: The Transnational Emergence of Women’s Writing in the Long Eighteenth Century

Heroines and Local Girls: The Transnational Emergence of Women’s Writing in the Long Eighteenth Century

Profiles of mental health help seeking among Australian adolescent males

IntroductionAdolescent males are at increased risk of mental illness and are reluctant to engage in treatment. This study aims to identify subgroups of help-seeking intentions among a sample of Australian male adolescents. MethodsA sample of 1038 male adolescent sport participants in Australia (age M = 14.69 years, SD = 1.35) reported help-seeking intentions from ten sources and from ‘no one’. Latent profile analysis was conducted based on these 11 items. Identified profiles were then compared across mental health measures. ResultsFour latent profiles were identified: Low general help-seekers (10.5%), Moderate general help-seekers (46.8%), High general help-seekers (25.5%), High family and friends help-seekers (17.2%). Low, Moderate, and High general help-seekers had uniformly low, moderate, and high intentions to seek help from all sources, respectively. High family and friends help-seekers reported high endorsement of intentions to seek help from intimate partners, friends, parents, and other relatives, but low intentions for other sources. Low general help-seekers had lower intentions to seek help from parents compared to all other profiles. They also had significantly lower perceived family support and higher psychological distress. ConclusionsLow general help-seekers were particularly reluctant to seek help from all sources and at high risk of experiencing psychological difficulties. Their distinct profile offers potential to identify this high-risk group through the use of ratings on the parent help-seeking intentions item. Further research should investigate the predictive utility of this item on help-seeking and mental health, and should consider the influence of masculinity and previous experiences of help-seeking.

Loneliness, Love, and the Limits of Language

AbstractIn this article, we illuminate the affective phenomenon of loneliness by exploring the question of how it relates to love and other forms of friendship. We reflect in particular on the question of how different forms of loneliness are relevant to human existence. Distinguishing three forms of loneliness, we first introduce two border cases of loneliness: unfelt loneliness in which one’s individuality is denied and one therefore cannot feel lonely; and existential loneliness in which the possibility of intimacy and existential communication are denied and one therefore cannot but feel lonely. We then turn to loneliness that occurs within intimate friendships—even the most intimate ones. In our analysis, we pay attention especially to the role of communication. In order to do so, we repeatedly turn to poetic expressions of loneliness. We argue that loneliness cannot reflect only the absence or partial failure of communication but also the inherent limits of communication. These limits in turn point back to the nature of human existence and love itself.

Ace and aro lesbian art and theory with Agnes Martin and Yayoi Kusama

This article draws on the field of asexuality studies and the growing work of aromanticism studies to think about whether and how we can theorize lesbian studies from asexual (ace) and aromantic (aro) perspectives. Aces experience “the lack of sexual attraction to others, or low or absent interest in or desire for sexual activity” (Asexual Visibility and Education Network) and aros experience little or no romantic attraction to others. While lesbian studies has countless examples of “asexual resonances,” or lesbian theorizations that focus on intimacy between women in ways that do not centralize sex and sometimes do not centralize romance—such as those of Boston Marriages and intimate friendships, women identified women, single lesbian figures and spinsters, and lesbian kinship networks that are erotic if not sexual or romantic in nature—little work thus far has explored lesbian identities using the frameworks of asexuality and even more so of aromanticism. This piece explores ace and aro lesbianism by focusing on two artists: abstract expressionist Canadian-American painter Agnes Martin (1912–2004) and pop art multi-media Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (b.1929). Martin has been regarded as lesbian and Kusama as a sexually repressed heterosexual, with neither artist widely understood nor celebrated for the ace and aro elements of their identities, despite evidence suggesting that both artists might be ace and aro. Opening up understandings of lesbianism beyond the sexual and romantic, I argue, allows for a dynamic positioning of lesbianism as a relational quality that can be extended to countless artists, figures, literary texts, and films.

Mediating Close Friendship Intimacy in Times of (Social) Distance

This article presents mediated intimacy in friendships as a necessary but difficult course of action to bridge physical absence between close friends. Following migration research to picture the mediation of intimacy of transnational family members, differences regarding the communicative behaviour, and specifically, the obligation to communicate contrasts distant friendships with translocal family interactions. Drawing on a German study on friendship communication, this paper asks the question how to derivate measures for profound friendship exchange in social distance, with regard to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Findings reveal communication media are definitely useful to keep up existing friendships but they also prevent meaningful friendship interaction. Accordingly, this paper contributes to the discussion of mediated communication and the production of mediated intimacy in friendships and highlights potential prospects to enhance physically distanced friendships.

Hubungan antara Intimate Friendship dengan Self Disclosure pada Siswa Kelas XI SMA N 4 Kota Padang Pengguna Media Sosial Instagram

The aim of this research is to see whether there is a relationship between intimate friendship and selfdisclosure in class XI students of SMA N 4 Padang City , Instagram social media users . The dependent variable in this study is Self Disclosure and the independent variable is Intimate Friendship . Measuring instrument used in this study was largely skal a Intimate Friendship and Scale Self Disclosure . The sampling technique in this study is probability sampling, namely, a sampling technique that provides equal opportunities for each element (member) of the population to be selected as a sample member. The probability sampling technique used is simple random sampling. The sample in this study were 147 students of class XI SMA N 4 Padang City . The test results show the coefficient of validity on Intimate Friendship moves from 0, 433 to 0.819, while the coefficient of reliability is 0, 962, And the coefficient of validity on Self Disclosure move from 0,327 to 0,839 while the coefficient of reliability is 0,926. Based on data analysis, correlation values of 0, 165 with a level of signifi Kansi 0,046 which means that the hypothesis is accepted. This shows that there is a significant relationship between Intimate Friendship and Self Disclosure in class XI SMA N 4 Padang City Social Media Users Instagram . With the effective contribution of Intimate Friendship with Self Disclosure to class XI students of SMA N 4 Padang City, Social Media Users Instagram 3 %.