Suggests reassessing the value of being well-rounded and adopting a surrendered lifestyle as a way of achieving higher levels of self-direction. Presents examples of successful people who have surrendered themselves to their roles in life, empowered by being able to invest themselves in being somebody. (JAC)

Examines the debate over andragogy, including Knowles' influences; criticisms of it as a theory of adult learning; and social, philosophical, and other weaknesses. Considers the impact of social structures in shaping individual freedom, contrasting it to the andragogical emphasis on the isolated, autonomous self-directed learner. (SK)

Addresses and extends R. Garlikov's discussion (1998) of A. Rud's (1997) criticism of the Socratic dialogue to cover general notions of power and shows how these may affect Socratic discourse. In Socratic pedagogy the adverse effects of power are reduced, and the focus shifts from people to propositions. (SLD)

Followed inmates (N=120) at coeducational federal correctional institution while incarcerated to determine changes in ego-strength. Found significant increases among females. Whites had higher ego-strength than non-Whites at time of initial incarceration and at discharge. Results suggest that women may develop sense of autonomy after being…

Responses from 46 proteges (46 percent of sample) and 54 nonproteges (54 percent) in high technology service companies revealed that proteges have significantly higher needs for power and achievement. No differences appeared in need for autonomy or affiliation. Proteges' gender was not a significant factor. (SK)

A theory of ironic processes of mental control is proposed to account for the intentional and counterintentional effects that result from efforts at self-control of mental states. The theory holds that an attempt to control the mind introduces operating and monitoring processes that work together and separately. (SLD)

Compares American secular emphasis on individual rights and autonomous decision-making in "right to die" context with traditional emphasis on obligation in Orthodox Judaism. Explicates approach of Conservative and Reform Judaism to decision-making about life-sustaining medical treatments and considers proper balance and relative influence of…

Proposes that death anxiety is related to degree of individuation and self-actualization. Sees concerns about death increasing as people relinquish defenses, reach new levels of differentiation of self, and expand their lives and personal power. Notes that therapeutic progress poses existential dilemma. (Author/NB)

Critiques the codependency construct as it is currently applied and examines how the concept is used to blame and label women. The construct ignores economic and social reality, perpetuates victim-blaming, and uses the male emphasis on individuation and autonomy as normative. Codependency is reframed as a sense of social connectedness and…

Three studies analyzed stimulus feedback and the concept of control with three children and two adults having autism. The first study explored feedback from spinning tops, while the second and third emphasized control of various stimuli including spinning tops. Results indicate that autistic individuals' common interest in spinning tops is…

The greatest difficulties for caregiving families are transitions of autonomy. This article focuses on the roles that family therapists can play at key moments in the post-childrearing phases of the family life cycle when someone's capacity for autonomy is changing. (MKA)

Explores the relationship between progressivism, vocationalism, and General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs), concluding that GNVQs are not unequivocally progressive. Suggests that the cultural context of controlled vocationalism is antithetical to progressive tendencies toward learner autonomy. (SK)

Interviews with 102 British vocational students, 43 in General National Vocational Qualifications courses, indicated that knowledge and its sources are treated reductively in GNVQs. Although student projects, activity-based learning, and participative inquiry can be progressive, students' learning experiences were not liberating and did not…

Liberal theorists often link autonomy and identity together, since, these liberals argue, an education that bestows a particular identity on children undermines their autonomy. The charge of schools ought to be to teach children to be open to a variety of identities. Encounters with diversity and cosmopolitanism are good, since they encourage…

One hundred seventy U.S. (M=16.1 years) and 125 middle-class Japanese (M=16.6 years) adolescents completed a questionnaire assessing perceptions of who (adolescent or parent) controls the personal, conventional, prudential, and overlapping domain behaviors of the adolescent. Participants also completed an inventory assessing self-reported…