Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
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As Registrars become Fellows, there is the opportunity to question the role of the College in the community, and the role of Fellows within the College. The process of entry into the College can lead to a misunderstanding of the role of the College and the value of the achievements of new Fellows. Exploring the complex nature of the relationship between Fellows, the College and the community can lead to new opportunities for the College to demonstrate professional leadership across the mental health sector in Australia and New Zealand. ⋯ All Fellows, and particularly new Fellows, are encouraged to mark their achievement in becoming Fellows by helping to shape the future direction of the College.
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The aim of this paper is to revisit the controversial issue of the association of violent video games and aggressive behaviour. ⋯ Several lines of evidence suggest that there is a link between exposure to violent video games and aggressive behaviour. However, methodological shortcomings of research conducted so far make several interpretations of this relationship possible. Thus, aggressive behaviour may be a consequence of playing violent video games, an expression of hostile traits that existed before exposure to these games, and/or it may be a result of several possible combinations of these and other factors. Mental health professionals need to be aware of these potentially negative effects of violent video games when assessing patients who present with aggression. There is a need for prospective, long-term studies similar to those evaluating the effects of television and film violence on children and adolescents.
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Australas Psychiatry · Oct 2007
Overview of psychiatric ethics V: utilitarianism and the ethics of duty.
The aim of this paper is to describe the ethical theories of utilitarianism and the ethics of duty (Kant's ethics) and to evaluate their value as theoretical bases of psychiatric ethics. ⋯ Utilitarianism is a well-established moral philosophy and has significant instrumental value in dealing with common ethical problems faced by psychiatrists. Despite its capacity to generate solutions to ethical problems, utilitarianism requires a process of what Rawls described as 'reflective equilibrium' to avoid morally repugnant choices, based on utility. The criticisms of utilitarianism, such as the problems of quantifying utility and the responsibility for consequences, are very relevant for psychiatry. Singer's model of utilitarian thinking is particularly problematic for our profession. Kant's ethics provides the pretext for duty bound codes of ethics for psychiatrists, but suffers from problems of flawed claims to the universalizability prescribed by Kant's 'categorical imperative'. Kant's valorization of reason as the core of the autonomy of persons is a valuable insight in understanding psychiatrists' ethical obligations to their patients.
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Supervision is central to psychiatry training, yet it has been poorly defined and has attracted little research attention. In this study we explore supervisors' perceptions of their role. This paper is the second of two, with the first exploring trainees' perceptions of supervisors and supervision. ⋯ Supervisors need a clear definition of their role and responsibilities, and should be monitored and mentored. This is particularly important, given the central role that supervisors are expected to perform at college level.
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The aim of this paper is to describe some potential innovations in clinical mental health practice using modern communications technologies. ⋯ Iterative adaptations of technology to clinical mental health practice as well as more speculative interventions are possible within the framework of building evidence-based interventions and maintaining humane engagement.