Social Feelings Research Articles

The Processes of Bureaucratization and Debureaucratization of Teachers’ Work and Their Influence on the Quality of Teachers’ Professional Activity: Sociological Project Results

Introduction. The article for the first time structures the types of additional responsibilities of teachers, not underpinned by local regulations. The proposals for debureaucratization of the educational process in secondary schools are generalized. The aim of the study is to reveal the impact of bureaucratic burden on the social feeling of teachers of general secondary education facilities, the quality of their professional activities and to develop proposals for debureaucratization of teachers’ work. Materials and Methods. A survey of managers and teachers of educational institutions covered more than 3,000 respondents. As additional sources for the interpretation of the data, we used the methods of group interviews (two focus groups conducted among rural teachers), as well as a secondary analysis of data from the international study of the educational environment and working conditions of secondary school teachers (TALIS), conducted in 48 countries, including Russia. Results. The study broadened the idea of the impact of bureaucratization of the education system on the quality of professional activity and the social well-being of teachers. Intensification of bureaucratization of teacher work is attributed, on the one hand, to the extensive growth of additional types of work, and on the other, to the low legal awareness of teachers of educational institutions. Working with reporting documentation takes up to 90 % of the working time free from paid teaching ho urs, which practically does not leave time for the implementation of part of the pedagogical load associated with methodological, organizational and consulting activities. The study identifies activities that, according to respondents, contribute to the debureaucratization of teachers’ work. Discussion and Conclusion. The article is of interest to teachers and heads of educational organizations, regional educational authorities, and scientists, researching i nto educational problems.

An Examination of Social Skills, Friendship Quality, and Loneliness for Adults with Williams Syndrome

Individuals with Williams Syndrome (WS) are hypersocial, overfriendly, and experience social skills deficits that may adversely impact their social outcomes. This study examined the relation between social skills, friendship quality, and feelings of loneliness for adults with WS as reported by 114 parent-adult with WS dyads. Results indicate that although most friends do not live close-by, adults with WS have good quality friendships and do not report high feelings of loneliness. Positive friendship qualities were found to partiallymediate the relationship between social skills impairments and social feelings of loneliness. Findings indicate that although adults with WS experience social skills deficits and struggle to maintain friendships in their immediate community, they still report positive friendship qualities and low feelings of loneliness.

Abstract P2-13-12: Predictors of social function and feelings of isolation among metastatic breast cancer survivors

Abstract Introduction: Living with cancer can present physical and emotional challenges. The symptoms and side effects of breast cancer and its treatment can be intensive and long lasting and may interfere with spending time with family, friends, and community. The aims of the present analysis were to 1) describe social functioning and isolation among metastatic breast cancer (MBC) survivors who received chemotherapy, and 2) identify factors related to poorer social functioning and greater concern about feeling isolated among survivors. Methods: 273 female MBC survivors from the Cancer Support Community’s Cancer Experience Registry® reported a history of chemotherapy, completed the PROMIS-29v2.0 health-related quality of life survey, and rated their level of concern (0=not at all; 4 = very serious) about key areas of life, including social isolation (CancerSupportSource®). We used multiple regression analysis to identify significant correlates of 1) social functioning (T-scores for PROMIS Ability to Participate in Social Roles and Activities scale), and 2) level of concern about “feeling lonely or isolated.” Independent variables included socio-demographic factors (age, employment, income, and race), clinical history (time since diagnosis, time between initial and metastatic diagnoses), treatment history (currently receiving chemotherapy or radiation; method of chemotherapy administration ever received), and physical symptom burden (daily interference from peripheral neuropathy (PN) and fatigue). Results: Participants were 86% White, 9% Black; mean age 53.4 (SD=11.2) years. Time between initial cancer diagnosis and metastatic diagnoses averaged 3.3 (SD=5.2; range 0-27) years. 56% were currently receiving chemotherapy; 24% radiation. 60% ever received both IV and oral chemotherapy, 30% IV only, 9% oral only. Scores for the 4-item PROMIS social functioning scale were significantly (p<.001) worse for MBC patients and survivors than the national average of T=50 for the U.S. population (95% CI=44.5-46.9, n = 246). When considering individual responses, 23.6% of MBC respondents reported substantially worse social functioning (>1SD) than the national average. 32.4% of MBC participants were moderately to very seriously concerned about feelings of social isolation. About two in three reported they have trouble doing want they want to do (% sometimes, often, or always) regarding their usual work (70%), activities with friends (67%), family activities (64%), and regular leisure activities with others (63%). In multivariate regression analysis, predictors of poorer social functioning (R2 = .564, p< .001, n = 134) included currently receiving chemotherapy (semipartial r = -.19, p < .01), greater PN interference (semipartial r = -.22, p < .001), and greater fatigue interference (semipartial r = -.49, p < .001). Predictors of concern about feeling lonely or isolated (R2 = .35, p< .001, n = 143) included greater PN interference (semipartial r = .16, p < .05) and fatigue interference (semipartial r = .37, p < .001). Significant associations with social functioning and concern about feeling isolated in bivariate analysis but not multivariate included lower income, unemployment, less time since diagnosis, and shorter interval between initial and metastatic diagnoses. Conclusion: Symptom burden, including peripheral neuropathy and fatigue, are associated with poorer social functioning and increased isolation among metastatic breast cancer survivors. Currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment is also associated with poorer social function, even after accounting for the contributions of symptom burden. Our results highlight the significant social impact of living with metastatic breast cancer and the value of tailored supportive care to address survivors’ unmet physical and socioemotional needs. Citation Format: Alexandra K Zaleta, Melissa F Miller, Shauna McManus, Kelly Clark, M. Claire Saxton. Predictors of social function and feelings of isolation among metastatic breast cancer survivors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-13-12.

Autism, Expression, and Understanding of Emotions: Literature Review

In recent years there has been a growing interest in autism spectrum individuals in the expression and understanding of emotions. The objective of this work is through a literature review: a) to illustrate the emotional development and education of individuals on the spectrum b) to present the findings of investigations c) to present and raise key concerns about the emotional intelligence of children spectrum of autism (d) raise questions about the development of educational methods aimed at enhancing the emotional development of individuals in the autism spectrum and thereby the development of social feelings their maternal skills.

He had it Comin': ERPs Reveal a Facilitation for the Processing of Misfortunes to Antisocial Characters.

Human sociality and prosociality rely on social and moral feelings of empathy, compassion, envy, schadenfreude, as well as on the preference for prosocial over antisocial others. We examined the neural underpinnings of the processing of lexical input designed to tap into these type of social feelings. Brainwave responses from 20 participants were measured as they read sentences comprising a randomly delivered ending outcome (fortunate or unfortunate) to social agents previously profiled as prosocial or antisocial individuals. Fortunate outcomes delivered to prosocial and antisocial agents aimed to tap into empathy and envy/annoying feelings, respectively, whereas unfortunate ones into compassion for prosocial agents and schadenfreude for antisocial ones. ERP modulations in early attention-capture (100-200 ms), semantic fit (400 ms), and late reanalysis processes (600 ms) were analyzed. According to the functional interpretation of each of these event-related electrophysiological effects, we conclude that: 1) a higher capture of attention is initially obtained in response to any type of outcome delivered to a prosocial versus an antisocial agent (frontal P2); 2) a facilitated semantic processing occurs for unfortunate outcomes delivered to antisocial agents (N400); and 3) regardless of the protagonist's social profile, an increased later reevaluation for overall unfortunate versus fortunate outcomes takes place (Late Positive Potential). Thus, neural online measures capture a stepwise unfolding impact of social factors during language comprehension, which include a facilitated processing of misfortunes when they happen to occur to antisocial peers (i.e., schadenfreude).

The Role of Sensorimotor Representation in Social Interaction

Emerging grounded cognition contended that the representation and processing of knowledge involved perceptual, somatosensory, and motoric re-experiencing information. In this view, social interaction was grounded in the physical context. For example, temperature changed people’s social feelings and social feelings were understood by temperature. Hence, the representation of social interaction was based on the sensorimotor representation. However, it is still unclear whether and how humans use grounded cognition theory to explain social interaction. In this review, we first introduced some basic viewpoints of grounded cognition and how this theory can be applied in social interaction. Then it explained the universality of grounded cognition theory by comparing some related theories of grounded cognition. Next, by speculating on the causes of the phenomena of grounded cognition in social interaction, it was proved that grounded cognition theory can be well applied to social interaction. In the last part, the advantages and disadvantages of grounded theory in interpreting social interaction are further discussed by comparing conceptual metaphor theory with grounded cognition theory.

Celebrating 150 Years: A President’s Perspective

Celebrating 150 Years: A President’s Perspective Susan E. Belangee It is hard to imagine my life without Adlerian psychology, because for the last 22 years, it has been central to everything I have accomplished. From career to family to friends, Adler’s theory permeates all aspects of my life. Now as president of the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology (NASAP), I feel honored to share some thoughts to commemorate Adler’s 150th birthday. One of the greatest things about Adlerian psychology, in my opinion, is its easy application to real life. During my doctoral program, I was encouraged to relate Adler’s theoretical concepts to my own life experiences to facilitate learning. For instance, growing up in an extended family with many strong women significantly influenced how I viewed myself, especially the messages of “You can be anything you work hard to be no matter what anyone else says.” I certainly followed in my female relatives’ footsteps, becoming strong, independent, and driven. Adler would say that this is evidence of how family constellation played a role in my lifestyle development. The enduring nature of Adler’s views regarding inequality between the sexes also resonates with me. As a resilient woman, it was encouraging to learn that Adler (1956) recognized the plight of women living in patriarchal societies and that “the arch evil of our culture [is], the excessive pre-eminence of manliness” (p. 55). In his book Understanding Human Nature, Adler (1927/1992) wrote that “there is almost universal dissatisfaction with the feminine role” (p. 114), and “until we can guarantee each woman absolute equality with men we cannot ask her to subscribe to all the expected patterns of behavior that make up our society” (p. 115). These ideas affect me deeply, personally and professionally, because there are still so many mixed messages (certainly in U.S. society) about what is acceptable behavior especially for women. Given my expertise in working with clients (mainly women) with eating disorders, I see firsthand the struggle to achieve society’s fabricated ideals about body shape and appearance and how women are encouraged to make this their prime focus and to disregard the value of their intelligence. Even 100 years later, Adler’s ideas are still profoundly relevant. [End Page 4] As the 11th female president of NASAP, I am humbled by those brave women who came before me—Alexandra Adler and Lydia Sicher were the first two presidents of NASAP. How courageous they must have been in the early 1950s to hold a powerful position like this one. I am hopeful that in another 150 years these struggles will be long behind us and that Adler’s concept of social interest will have emerged as the “universal existence . . . that binds humanity together,” for it is “this social feeling, or community spirit [that] is at the root of all the great accomplishments of our civilization” (Adler 1927/1992, p. 156). References Adler, A. (1992). Understanding human nature. Rockport, MA: Oneworld. (Original work published 1927) Google Scholar Adler, A. (1956). The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler: A systematic presentation in selections from his writings (H. L. Ansbacher & R. R. Ansbacher, Eds.). New York, NY: Basic Books. Google Scholar Copyright © 2020 University of Texas Press

A cross-sectional study on preponderance of stress and depression among engineering students and their association with various recent factors

Background: Stress actually means body's psychological perception of pressure and its response to that pressure, involving multiple factors. The factors may be either external or internal/physical or biological. Stress-management is one of the most prevalent and popular topic of the latest times. Stress is mostly associated and leading to depression in the present juncture. Aims: The main objective of this study is to evaluate and elicit the levels of stress and depression in association with various recent factors accounting and resulting in them. Prevalence of stress and depression in relation to factors such as body mass index (BMI), social feeling, gastric problems, appetite, hair fall can also be assessed by this study. Materials and Methods: 298 engineering students of an engineering college were requested to answer up the analysis sheet comprising of Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and other criteria comprising some selected factors adding to stress and depression. Analysis sheets were assessed, results were obtained and statistically analysed by GraphPad InStat Software. Results: The results of the present study indicate that majority of the students are having moderate and higher levels of stress, and no depression. Most of the people felt the higher levels of stress during the period of examinations. Conclusions: The students studying first year felt more stressed, which could be due to their recent entry into the course. Female students are more prone to these stressors and depressors. Juniors were more stressed when compared to senior students.

A cross-sectional study on the preponderance of stress and depression among medical students and their association with various recent factors

Background: Stress and depression among medical students are the prevalent and global concern these days. Stress is a critical risk factor for depression as it can contribute to depression through various pathways. Stress is multifactorial in causation which can be associated or attributable to depression. Aims: The aim of this study is to evaluate and elicit the levels of stress and depression in association with various recent factors, accounting and resulting to stress and depression. Subjects and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted among medical students of a well-recognized medical college. Analysis sheets consisting of Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and other criteria comprising demographic details such as gender, age, year of studying and some associated factors which include appetite, gastrointestinal (GI) problem, sleep, social feelings, body mass index (BMI), and hair fall adding to stress and depression were made to fill by 288 medical students of a medical college. Results: Majority of the study participants have moderate-or-high levels of stress but no depression. Nearly 46.5% of the study participants have normal values of BMI, and 42.7% are over the levels of their normal BMI. Nearly 59.7% of the total students have hair fall, 76.7% have normal sleep-wake cycle, 77.4% have normal social feelings, 75.6% have normal appetite, and 84.7% do not have any GI problems. When the relation between stress and these study variables was observed, the association between BMI and hair fall was found to be significant. Conclusions: First-year students feel more stressed that could be due to their recent entry into the course. Female students are more prone to these stressors and depressors. Juniors are more stressed when compared to senior students.

Perubahan Sosial Masyarakat Akibat Konversi Minyak Tanah Ke LPG di Kelurahan Tanjungpinang Barat

Social changes are any changes in social institutions within a society, which affect the social system, including the values, attitudes and behavior patterns among groups in society. Pressure on the definition is the basic set of social institutions as human beings, the changes which then affect other social systems. Based on preliminary observations of this LPG conversion program apparently was sudden and unplanned comprehensively. Framework will be operationalized concept refers to the opinion Selo Soemardjan and Bertrand which state that social change affects the social system, where the elements of the social system, namely beliefs, feelings and thoughts, goals, rules / norms, status/ role and facilities. Qualitative research with a qualitative descriptive design format, which aims to describe, to tell a variety of conditions, situations and phenomena of social realities that exist in society. Sampled data were collected through interviews with informants as many as 14 people. From the research results can be concluded that the kerosene to LPG in the Village of West Tanjungpinang has given the change to more efficient public spending among others so survival is more assured, the pattern of behavior among members of the public is more awake, environmental sustainability is maintained by the reduction of air pollution so as to create of a society that is more practical, efficient and effective

Determinants of Consumers’ Retention and Subjective Well-Being: A Sustainable Farmers’ Market Perspective

Farmers’ markets have received much attention in many countries, and the amount of research on farmers’ markets is gradually increasing. The consumption process of consumers at farmers’ markets include both economic and social aspects, but most past studies have only focused on a single aspect. The economic perspective mainly focuses on transaction issues such as purchase motives, quality, satisfaction, purchase behavior, and post-purchase behavior, whereas the social perspective focuses on the social relations and psychological feelings created when consumers go to markets. This study aimed to integrate the economic and social perspectives and analyze the relationships among product performance evaluation, relational capital, repurchase intention, and subjective well-being of consumers at farmers’ markets after their purchase experiences. I chose three recurrent farmers’ markets in Taiwan, obtained 358 valid samples, and performed structural equation modelling analysis. The results indicated that the economic product performance exerted a significant and positive influence on repurchase intention, but its influence on subjective well-being was not significant. In contrast, the social relational capital was found to be a positive and significant factor of both repurchase intention and subjective well-being. On the whole, relational capital is more important than product performance. The suggestions for practice were as follows. First, farmers’ markets have economic and social value and are thus worth being promoted by government agencies. Second, the managers of farmers’ markets should implement a set of management mechanisms to ensure product performance and also create a market atmosphere that facilitates social interactions between farmers and consumers.

GROUP-BASED PARTICIPATORY ARTS INTERVENTIONS: PRODUCING ART AND VALIDATION OF PERSONHOOD

Participatory arts-based interventions for people living with dementia involve the collaborative creation and performance of poetry, story, song, dance, and visual arts. These programs are designed to support self-expression and productive collaboration among people living with dementia while stimulating positive social interactions and feelings of empowerment and validation. This paper explores the use and potential benefits of validation in the implementation of person-centered participatory arts interventions in the context of dementia care. The authors offer a theoretical framework for understanding validation as a common intervention method and participant experience during these interventions, organized into five themes: collaboration, connection, creation, communication, and confirmation. Basic validation techniques are easily learned and can be incorporated into a broad diversity of dementia care strategies and interventions including activity programs designed to stimulate cognitive, physical, and communicative abilities. Participatory arts programs offer tools for connecting to personhood in a population for whom such connections are under constant threat of erosion. As activity programs based in creative arts help to support self-expression among participants and serve as a vehicle for generating feelings of self-efficacy, such activities are well suited to fostering the person-centered goals of dementia care programming. Clinicians and other transdisciplinary care providers are encouraged to understand, use, and teach these and other validation-focused arts interventions with persons living with dementia. These validation experiences are suggested to offer direct clinical benefits for participants as well as indirect benefits when modeled in the presence of formal care providers and family members.

Emil Durkheim on the role of religion in public life. Substantiation of the choice of elementary religion

The sociological theory of the religion of E. Durkheim, despite the past tense, remains an important source for the study. The understanding of the French sociologist of religion as the most important social institution providing social integration, led him to look for a sociological approach to the study of this social institution. In the works of E. Durkheim embodied the development of ideas about the collective consciousness, that is, collective beliefs and related moral relations, acting as a unifying force in society, as the “highest form of mental life”. An important distinction of E. Durkheim’s Elementary Forms of Religious Life from his contemporary totemism literature and primitive religion in general became its methodological approach. He consistently examines, criticizes and rejects competing theories of the origin of totemism, analyzes the development of a religious phenomenon in society, examining precisely its social aspects that are available for scientific analysis. In a religious rite, a person fixes his “confused social feelings” on these clear, concrete objects, from which the physical power and moral powers of society are distinguished. E. Durkheim saw the exceptional social appearance of religious facts. Thus, the sequence of short but intense periods of religious “collective excitement” alternates with much longer periods of diffuse secular individual economic activity, and that it was this division that gave rise to belief in two special worlds — the sacred and the secular — both within man and within nature. E. Durkheim’s famous hypothesis — that a deity is nothing more than a deified society — was confirmed by many arguments of its reasoning, but at the same time it does not have any anticlerical or antireligious ideology that would strongly contradict Durkheim’s understanding of the principle of scientific objectivity.

An Analytical Report on Measuring the Level of Stress & Anxiety among College Level Students

There are few scenarios in one’s life when we feel that “my life is out of Control”. These feelings are at the extreme when we are a student especially a college level. A college level student is forced to decide the course of their life and career during their stay at campus. Therefore they are left battling with so many emotional, career and social feelings which unknowingly pushes the student towards adverse situations. These mixed feeling and situations are a main reason behind stress and anxiety among students. In order to identify the factors which are associated with the level of stress especially among students a study (Online Survey) was conducted among various college level students studying in the geographical area of Punjab (Banur). In this study a few factors have been highlighted which although are very insignificant but can be a major cause behind creation of feelings which leads to stress and anxiety. Four categories of academic stressor (i.e. personal frustration, learning hours, financial issues, and health related issues) and four categories describing reactions to these stressors (i.e. Behavioral, Psychological, Social and Cognitive effects) were examined. The online survey sample consisted of 158 students studying in four different colleges falling in the geographical area of Punjab region. The findings emphasized on various factors like pressure of studies, poor knowledge on how to live a balanced life etc. The findings of this study can further be used by various researchers and motivational speakers who are working on designing of certain program along with workshops on how to live a balanced life which is healthy, happy and successful.

Take me up, I want to go: Captivity, disorientation and affect in the neurosphere

ABSTRACTCaptivity narratives have been a core American genre for centuries. This paper suggests that some American captivity narratives are opening into emergent attempts to articulate social feeling at a moment of precarity. I treat captivity here not just as a narrative, genre or trope but also as an affect. I explore how neurodivergent young people evoke disorientation and captivity on Tumblr as an expression of identity. I show how the bloggers share a feeling with UFO abduction narratives in creating an atmosphere of difference.

Professional stress and social support feelings, coping strategies, and burn-out of caregivers in care facilities for dependent elderly people.

Caregivers in dependent elderly people facilities may develop a burn-out, but few studies have been conducted on the subject. The aim of this study is to evaluate the feelings of professional stress and social support, coping strategies and caregivers' burn-out including nurses, caregivers and medical psychologists, to identify the different coping strategies according to the burn-out level, and to analyze the links between burn-out, perceived work stress and perceived social support. Seven facilities were contacted, but only three sent back valid response questionnaires. Twenty-one caregivers completed the questionnaires (socio-demographic data, MBI, Brief Cope, SSQ6, JSS). Results showed a low level of burn-out and perceived stress and a satisfactory perceived social support. Functional coping strategies were used, especially by caregivers with lower burn-out level (positive reinterpretation) unlike caregivers with moderate or high burn-out level that used more dysfunctional strategies (substance abuse). Significant links were found between perceived work stress and emotional exhaustion, and between personal accomplishment, perceived social support and emotional exhaustion, and between perceived work stress and perceived social support. These results show the relevance of creating working groups for caregivers in stress situations. The groups help to develop or maintain functional coping strategies and provide adequate social support for the healthcare team. Taking into account burn-out improves caregivers' job satisfaction and care quality for the residents.

KONSEP BAGI HASIL DALAM PERSPEKTIF ISLAM

Profit sharing was well known by mudharabah in Islamic worldview or cooperation done by two person and more were agreed on various sides. It's done between creditor and bussinessman or expertman. The main modal on this concept not only money and wealth but also honesty and social feels are more important. Helping each other and enjoying success and being responsible for the difficulties with working together to find solutions is part of the goal of the concept of mudaraba offered by Islam. With the concept of Muslims, especially business people can run their business with financial support from borrowers without having to be burdened with interest that binds and becomes a burden at the time of profit and loss, so that the economic wheel can be implemented in accordance with Islamic teachings and away from interest.

Leading Factors of Sustainable Rural Tourism Development: Case of Georgia

Purpose: This study is aimed to identify the leading factors for the tourism industry sustainable development in a less developed country. Design/Methodology/Approach: Sustainable development can be defined as a process of economic and social changes as well as an agreed and coordinated process of natural resource exploitation, direction of investment, scientific and technological development, personal development and institutional change enhance the present and future potential of human needs. In this paper, we have tried to show the factors contributing to the development of the tourism industry. These recommendations make it possible to promote the sustainable development and rapid resuscitation of the tourism industry. In many ways it is about ensuring the quality of life of people. The design of the article includes theoretical explanations regarding sustainable development with emphasis in the tourism industry. Findings: There are proposed more effective policies promoting the industry in addition to specific projects improving the infrastructure and the social feelings about tourism Practical Implications: It was defined a set of measures that can have a positive impact, able to influence the industry in a positive way regarding its direct and indirect effects in the state, regional and local economies of tourism destinations. Originality/Value: This is an important contribution describing and identifying issues related to the Georgian tourism sector. It is a valuable piece of information for policy-makers to adopt the studies proposals for the further sustainable development of the industry.

Affiliations for homeless individuals through social enterprise employment

Purpose This paper aims to explore the ways in which a social enterprise provides opportunities to its homeless employees to increase their number and types of affiliations. Design/methodology/approach Affiliation theory is used to explore whether employment at a social enterprise may ameliorate homelessness by increasing the affiliations employees acquire. Seven semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with participants at one social enterprise. Findings Results indicate that enterprise leadership staff facilitate opportunities to employees to increase and maintain their affiliations. Leadership staff provide a supportive environment, allowing employees to gain social skills and feelings of utility that result in their building and maintaining affiliations. However, leadership staff confront high turn-over, addiction and mental illness among employees, which result in disaffiliation. Employees contend with a lack of housing and limited educational and job training opportunities; obtaining these resources in the future may necessitate additional affiliations. Originality/value This paper contributes to the current state of knowledge concerning affiliation theory and the employment of homeless individuals through a social enterprise by demonstrating the importance of both strong and weak ties between employees and employers, social service agencies, other employees and members of the community outside of work, and how the strength of ties may change over time.

Syphilitic Insanity and Incontinence: The Uncontrolled Bodily Fluids of Degenerative Decline

Syphilitic Insanity and Incontinence:The Uncontrolled Bodily Fluids of Degenerative Decline Rebecka Klette (bio) In the late nineteenth century, self-restraint and bodily discipline emerged as the markers of civilization and evolutionary superiority; conversely, the uncontrolled, unrestrained body signified the threat of devolutionary regression to a primitive past (Gilman 99; Nye 143). One example of the many contemporary attempts to establish boundaries between developmental stages—between animal and human, between savagery and civilization—can be found in taboos surrounding bodily fluids. Transgressive forms of fluidity—sexual, pathological, in excess, or in public—threatened those boundaries and served as atavistic vestiges of humanity's primal origins. These anxieties coalesced in contemporary discussions concerning general paralysis of the insane (GPI), a progressive paralytic dementia caused by late-stage neurosyphilis, which became the primary focus of research into syphilitic insanity and mental degeneracy during the latter half of the nineteenth century.1 The progressive decline of physical and mental autonomy, strength, and self-control rendered the afflicted unable to work; given that the majority of patients were middle-class men at the peak of their careers, the disease had dire socio-economic implications, as well as fuelling anxieties concerning national and racial fitness.2 Drawing on contemporary scientific explanatory models of entropy and nervous energy, British psychiatrist Henry Maudsley proposed that GPI was the result of "spent force—something by which somehow the most refined and sublimed vitality of the cerebral centres has been drained away" (458). The prospect that the vitality of civilized men was finite and could be depleted by physical or nervous excesses emphasized the "destructive element of masculine energy—physical incontinence" (Hurn 85). While syphilis was firmly established as the primary cause of GPI by the early twentieth century—following the discovery of the Spirochaeta pallida organism [End Page 14] in 1905 and the Wassermann antibody test in 1906—physicians were reluctant to abandon the multicausal explanatory model. Alcohol abuse, sexual excesses, intellectual overwork, the nervous exhaustion and stresses of the modern urban environment, moral laxness, and hereditary predisposition were continually invoked as indirect, predisposing, or triggering factors in the etiology of GPI.3 In GPI, the French psychiatrist B.A. Morel's delineation of progressive hereditary degeneration over four generations was compressed into a rapid physical and mental decline over merely a few years. Sufferers accelerated through the stages of moral insanity, impulsive criminality, sexual perversion, intellectual enfeeblement, delusions, epileptiform fits, complete paralytic dementia, and, finally, death. In patient case histories, the general paretic's rapidly progressing physical and mental deterioration and loss of control over bodily functions and fluids was mediated through a degenerationist lens; these symptoms were portrayed as markers of physical, mental, moral, and evolutionary degeneration and decline. As Harry Oosterhuis notes, "Degeneration was associated with the lack of inhibitory control of the 'higher' faculties over the more primitive levels of the central nervous system" (54). In the early stages of the disease, the most refined faculties of moral sense, judgment, higher intellect, willpower, and self-control—as the latest evolutionary acquisitions—were the first to be impaired. Describing a GPI patient, Maudsley noted that "in speech, manner, and behaviour he betrays the loss of refined feeling and … self-restraint" (436), more specifically, a "blunted moral and social feeling" (457). The patient would gluttonously binge on copious amounts of food and alcohol; worsening tremors in the tongue and hands led to drooling and spilling, and he was seemingly indifferent to the stains of sweat, saliva, and food on his unchanged clothes. Succumbing to his more indulgent, brutish, and perverted urges and impulses, the patient violated modern civilized society's mores of propriety: exposing himself in public or carelessly urinating "in the middle of a busy street or on the carpet of a room. The present impulse meets with no restraining reflections, because of the utter dissolution of the bonds of his cerebral reflexes" (460). The processes of pathological excess and disinhibition also manifested in the form of megalomaniac and absurdly extravagant delusions of grandeur, often concerning the baser bodily functions; German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin noted that a GPI patient would often maintain that: "[h]is urine is Rhine wine; his evacuations are gold. … his...