People as third-party observers, without direct self-interest, may punish norm violators to maintain social norms. However, third-party judgment and the follow-up punishment might be susceptible to the way we frame (i.e., verbally describe) a norm violation. We conducted a behavioral and a neuroimaging experiment to investigate the above phenomenon, which we call the "third-party framing effect". In these experiments, participants observed an anonymous perpetrator deciding whether to keep her/his economic benefit while exposing a victim to a risk of physical pain (described as "harming others" in one condition and "not helping others" in the other condition), then they had a chance to punish that perpetrator at their own cost. Our results showed that the participants were more willing to execute third-party punishment under the harm frame compared to the help frame, manifesting a framing effect. Self-reported anger toward perpetrators mediated the relationship between empathy toward victims and the framing effect. Meanwhile, activation of the insula mediated the relationship between mid-cingulate cortex activation and the framing effect; the functional connectivity between these regions significantly predicted the size of the framing effect. These findings shed light on the psychological and neural mechanisms of the third-party framing effect.
Empathy ; Female ; Gyrus Cinguli ; Humans ; Neuroimaging ; Pain ; Punishment/psychology*

PURPOSE: We sought to determine if maternal depression contributed to the use of corporal punishment in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). PATIENTS and METHODS: The data were gathered through chart review of clinic-referred children with ADHD and their mothers who were evaluated at a psychiatric clinic located in a large academic medical center in Seoul, Korea. Daily records kept by parents and 13 items from the Physical Assault of the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales (CTSPC) were used to assess corporal punishment. Ninety-one children with ADHD and their mothers were included in this study. RESULTS: Mothers who used corporal punishment showed significantly higher scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (t = -2.952, df = 89, p < 0.01) than mothers who did not. Moreover, maternal depression contributed to the use of corporal punishment in ADHD children (Nagelkerke R(2) = 0.102, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Maternal depression contributes to the use of corporal punishment with children with ADHD. Assessment and management of the maternal depression should be an important focus of evaluation of children with ADHD.
Adolescent ; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/epidemiology/*psychology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Depression/*epidemiology/*psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mothers/*psychology ; *Punishment/psychology

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate current circumstances of violence against wives, and to identify the wife's opinion of the spouse's punishment in domestic violence cases. METHOD: The subjects were 216 married women in G province. Data was gathered from November 22 to December 6, 2004. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, and the x2-test using SPSS/Win 10.0 program. RESULTS: About thirty six percent of the subjects had experience with domestic violence. There was a high prevalence of psychological aggression(68%), sexual coercion (36%), physical assault(31%), and injury(19%). The subjects experiencing domestic violence had a higher positive attitude towards the spouse's punishment than subjects not experiencing domestic violence. The more severe the domestic violence was, the more the battered women's positive attitude for criminal action increased. CONCLUSION: An educational program and public relations will increase women's empowerment to solve domestic violence. A more cooperative and integrative program for prevention and an intervention system against domestic violence should be developed for women in battered situations.
Coercion ; Criminals ; Domestic Violence* ; Female ; Humans ; Power (Psychology) ; Prevalence ; Public Relations ; Punishment* ; Spouses ; Violence

On April 28, the National Assembly passed 3 bills revising the Medical Act, Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, and Medical Instruments Act which are related to the so-called 'dual punishment system' at its 9th plenary session of the 289th provisional meeting. According to the government timetable, beginning November of this year (2010), doctors will be subject to imprisonment for up to two years or face fines of up to 30 million won when found to have taken financial or non-financial benefits from drug companies. Their license could also be suspended for one year. Interactions between industry and physicians are vital to public health. However, they must be principled partnerships effectively managed to sustain public trust in both partners' commitment to patient welfare and the improvement of health care. Mounting scientific evidence indicates that gifts, favors, and other marketing activities, both explicit and implicit, prejudice independent judgment in unconscious ways. Physicians who receive free gifts from the pharmaceutical industry must consider the ethical dilemmas posed by this practice. These dilemmas are conflict of interest, impairment of objectivity, and the impact of these free gifts on the cost of health care. In order to minimize the likelihood of biased decisions by physicians, pharmaceutical companies should comply with their code of ethics for fair competition, while medical societies should establish an influence-free culture for physicians and optimize the benefits inherent in the principled relationships between medical society and industry.
Bias (Epidemiology) ; Codes of Ethics ; Conflict of Interest ; Delivery of Health Care ; Drug Industry ; Gift Giving ; Humans ; Judgment ; Licensure ; Marketing ; Prejudice ; Public Health ; Punishment ; Societies, Medical ; Unconscious (Psychology)

OBJECTIVETo ascertain the prevalence of childhood corporal punishment by teachers in students, to explore the influencing factors and associations between childhood corporal punishment and psychological problems.

METHODSFive hundred and twenty-eight students from a college and a technical secondary school in Hebei province were surveyed by self-administered questionnaire anonymously in Dec. 2004. The questionnaire used for this survey mainly included (1) general demographic information; (2) 5 forms of childhood corporal punishments, in this study, cases of teachers' corporal punishments were defined as those who answered positively one or more of the 5 questions relating to childhood corporal punishment by school teachers occurring before the age of 16 years; (3) Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90); (4) Youth Risk Behaviours.

RESULTSOverall, 57.6% of students reported having been corporally punished at least one time, one of four forms of corporal punishment by teachers before age of 16 years, the four forms corporal punishment were non-contact corporal punishment, e.g., running for punishment, repeat-doing homework many times for punishment, standing for punishment, kneel down for punishment, not allowing to eat, sending outside in winter, etc. (53.4%), hitting/kicking/pushing very hard with open hands/fist/feet/other part of body (16.1%), beating with an object (10.2%), and locking in a small compartment/tying with rope (0.2%). No students reported having been choked, or burned/scalded, or stabbed with a sharp object by the teachers. Males had a significantly higher overall prevalence rate than females (66.4% vs. 46.6%, chi(2) = 21.01, P = 0.000). There was no statistically significant association between a history of childhood corporal punishment and the three other demographic indicators, which included residence region (rural and non-rural area) prior to 16 years of age, parental education level, and whether the respondent lived in a single or multiple children family. Compared with their peers who had not experienced childhood corporal punishment by teachers, the students with two or more forms of corporal punishments by teachers showed significantly higher scores (punished group vs. unpunished group) of psychological symptoms of somatization (0.78 vs. 0.42), obsessiveness (1.22 vs. 0.98), interpersonal sensitivity (1.24 vs. 0.89), depression (1.06 vs. 0.76), anxiety (0.90 vs. 0.64), hostility (1.11 vs. 0.68), paranoid ideation (1.11 vs. 0.71) and psychoticism (0.84 vs. 0.56), and showed significantly higher rates in sadness (54.7% vs. 26.3%), drunk (37.2% vs. 20.1%), involving in physical fighting (15.1% vs. 3.6%) in the past year and current smoking (36.0% vs. 14.5%).

CONCLUSIONSThe problem of corporal punishment by teachers is common in schools, and the problem has a significant correlation with youth mental health problems. The results highlighted urgent needs to increase public awareness on children rights, creating learning-friendly environment in school.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child Abuse ; psychology ; statistics & numerical data ; China ; epidemiology ; Faculty ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mental Disorders ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Punishment ; psychology ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Sex Factors ; Students ; psychology ; statistics & numerical data ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo study the life events which are correlated with adolescent's emotion and behavior problems, and to provide evidence for clinicians and school staff to develop intervention for those problems.

METHODSYouth's Self Report (YSR) and Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List (ASLEC) were used to assess adolescent's emotional and behavioral problems and life events by 'spot' study. The referred group consisted of 585 patients from 11 to 18 years old in a Mental Health Centre of West China Hospital of Sichuan University from July in 2002 to March in 2004. Level of IQ was above 5th grade of primary school among the study subjects who were willing to fill in the YSR and ASLEC. The non-referred group was selected in a 1280 students cluster-sample from the schools of Chengdu city, whose sex, age and father's career were matched with the referred group. Variance inflation factor (VIF) was used to verify that there was no collinearity to each other in the 6 factors of ASLEC: interpersonal relationship, learning pressure, being punished, losing good adaptation and other. Linear stepwise regression was adopted.

RESULTSThe YSR scores in referred group were higher than those in non-referred group, and the referred group had more emotional and behavioral problems than the non-referred one. Partial correlations ranged from 0.124 to 0.418 in referred group, and from 0.104 to 0.388 in non-referred group. Unsatisfied interpersonal relationship, heavy learning pressure, having been punished and poor adaptation were likely to increase the risk of youth's emotional and behavioral problems.

CONCLUSIONMore attention should be paid to help adolescents in the following areas: solving intrapersonal affairs, relieving pressure from learning, avoiding punishment, and improving ability to fit themselves to their surroundings.

Adaptation, Psychological ; Adolescent ; Adolescent Behavior ; Child ; Child Behavior Disorders ; epidemiology ; psychology ; China ; epidemiology ; Emotions ; Female ; Humans ; Interpersonal Relations ; Linear Models ; Male ; Mental Disorders ; epidemiology ; psychology ; Psychological Tests ; Punishment ; Stress, Psychological

OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed to understand the life and development of adolescents in North Korea. METHODS: The authors interviewed North Korean adolescent defectors on the past life history in North Korea, and also collected information by questionanire from North Korean adult defectors on their views about the life and development of North Korean adolescents. RESULTS: The lives of adolescents in North Korea seem to be poor, tough, dry, and monotonous. However, familial bonds seem to be strong, which is contrast to the general impression that family is not important anymore in a socialist nation. Social pressure seems to be strong enough to force adolescents to leave home at an early age. The school education seems to be focused on shaping them according to socialist ideology and national policy. The social atmosphere seems to be authoritative and of patriarchy, probably influenced by traditional confucian philosophy. In general, filial piety for the father figures(including a national father, the late president, Kim Il Sung and the current leader, Kim Jung Il) altruism, social contribution, patriotism, and a moral socialist personality are strongly emphasized in education. The effectiveness of teaching methods mainly based on a punishment system and public criticism seems to be very limited in being integrated to true mature personality development. Recently, the life view and behavior pattern of adolescents in North Korea seem to be changing according to the severe economic crisis and expanding knowledge about the outside world. Particularly, their interest in making money is increasing with a parallel increase of delinquent behavior. Physical development seems to be delayed along with a delay in psychosocial development. Their cognitivefunctioning looks also to be delayed due to the uniformity of education andlimitations in intellectual and psychosocial stimulation. In contrast to the literal equality in the rights of men and women in socialist countries, girls' rights are usually ignored by boys. Establishment of psychosexual identity seems delayed and theopportunity for relations with people of the opposite sex seems to be limited. Rather, peer relationships with the same sex and group loyalty are considered to be more valuable. This group orientation seems to lead to national loyalty, loyalty for the Communist Party and eventually its leader in adult life. Pervasive violent political oppression seems to be the dominating social power. Whole social authorities(father, teacher, Party, nation, leader)seem to be power-oriented figures. Adolescents have been programmed to bow down and resign to oppression rather than to protest against it. And this compliant behavior has become stereotyped. Identity crises, which so often characterize the adolescent period, seem not to be so turbulent, develop later and finish early with resignation because of the limitation mainly inposed by the political status of their family origin. Ideological morality seems to develope in unbalanced form, related with school education and repeated stereotyped self-criticism. However, their daily lives do not seem to be really moralistic. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the life and development of adolescents in North Korea are different in many aspects from those in South Korea. However, compared with the individualism and egocentricism which are known to be personality characteristice of adolescents in South Korea, those of adolescents in North Korea, such as simple mindedness, compliant behavior, strong familial bond, group orientation and loyality and altruism, are considered to make a positive contribution along with a proper education for the future construction of the nation after reunification. These findings also suggest that mutual adaptation problem between people of South and North Korea after reunification will not be simple and both Koreans have to prepare themselves in advance for future problems through prior studies.
Adolescent* ; Adult ; Altruism ; Atmosphere ; Cooperative Behavior ; Democratic People's Republic of Korea* ; Education ; Family Characteristics ; Fathers ; Female ; Human Rights ; Humans ; Identity Crisis ; Korea ; Male ; Morals ; Personality Development ; Philosophy ; Power (Psychology) ; Punishment ; Self-Assessment ; Teaching