Psychology

There's a point Ervin Mears Jr. wants people to understand, and it's the reason he filed a federal lawsuit when his son was ousted from the high school track team: "Children have rights," Mears, 68, said, "just like any adult. " In this case, he said, it's the right to run. On May 6, Mawusimensah Mears, a sophomore at Sterling Regional High School in Camden County, was kicked off the team, the suit says. Eleven days later, his father sued in Camden, naming the coach, athletic director, principal, superintendent, and school board.

Player             School          Class             Major Karen Boyle        Rosemont          Sr.        Psychology Alli Dickey           Rowan             Sr. Mech. engineering Josie Ferri           Haverford          Jr.           Psychology Allison Furman       Ursinus             Sr.      Exercise & sport Jennifer James     Holy Family       Sr.

The idea of "honor among thieves" may have become somewhat of a cliche in the movies since the days Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson doubled-crossed their own, but there's little familiar or commonplace in the merits of two new video releases this week that take a rigorous look at "the heist" and the men and women who pull them. In the running for an Academy Award next week, Ben Kingsley gives a riveting portrayal of malevolence in the British thriller "Sexy Beast" (VHS: priced for rental; DVD: $29.99)

Murray Benimoff, 72, a professor emeritus of Glassboro State College and a longtime leader in the Eastern Psychological Association, died Thursday at West Jersey Hospital-Marlton. A Cherry Hill resident for the last 40 years, he was born and raised in New York City, where he was a 1947 graduate of City College of New York. He received his master's and doctoral degrees from Ohio State University. Dr. Benimoff was a professor of psychology at Glassboro State College, now Rowan University, from 1956 until 1988.

This is a Philadelphia story of courts and connections. It stars Margaret Jean Sosnowski, former nun, Frank Rizzo appointee, Democrat for Reagan. It seems her professional background includes being fired from a private medical office for not having a psychologist's license. And being forced out of a state welfare job after allegations of improper insurance billing. And claiming a psychology degree she doesn't have. No matter. A couple of years ago Family Court created a new job with an important title: assistant chief of the medical branch.

Let us now praise Martin E. P. Seligman, who has just completed a banner year crusading against what he perceives as the twin evils of victimology and the self-esteem movement. This is not the story of some maverick taking on the psychological establishment. Quite the contrary. Seligman, a professor of psychology at Penn, is president of the American Psychological Association, and is widely known for research he has done on what he calls "learned helplessness," along with his work validating the effectiveness of psychological therapy.

A Montgomery County woman who police said worked illegally as a clinical psychologist was sentenced yesterday to five years of probation after pleading guilty in court to practicing psychology without a license. Jacquelyn Cushman, 42, of the 8500 block of Trumbauer Drive, Springfield, also was fined $500 and ordered to pay court costs and restitution to four former clients by Common Pleas Court Judge William W. Vogel. Under the terms of Cushman's probation, which was negotiated by Montgomery County District Attorney Michael D. Marino and Cushman's attorney, Jean B. Green, Cushman is required to receive psychiatric counseling.

The dreams and aspirations of boyhood can lead to success and achievement in manhood. That's one observation that Daniel Hart makes in his new book, Becoming Men: The Development of Aspirations, Values, and Adaptational Styles, which sifts through the complex passage from youth to manhood. Hart, 36, an associate professor in psychology at Rutgers University since 1984, has been intrigued with the stages of human development since his days as an undergraduate at Bates College in Maine.

Mildred Eckhardt Hamilton, 83, a retired professor of psychology, died Thursday at her residence in the Cadbury, Cherry Hill. Born in York, Pa., she resided in Philadelphia for more than 50 years before moving to Cadbury in 1994. Mrs. Hamilton was an associate professor of child psychology at Queens College in New York City from 1949 until retiring in 1974. She was particularly remembered for her expertise in the areas of child psychology and intelligence tests, and taught courses in both fields.

HARRISBURG - A number of Pennsylvania state legislators are opposing a Department of Corrections plan to outsource mental health services at 27 state prisons, saying it could put prison workers and communities at risk. The state could contract out as many as 187 positions now filled by Department of Corrections employees to save money and improve services, according to corrections spokeswoman Susan McNaughton. The positions include licensed psychologist managers, licensed psychologists, and psychological services specialists.

A psychologist who has spent her professional career at Bryn Mawr College has been appointed interim president following last month's surprising resignation of Jane McAuliffe. Kimberly Wright Cassidy, 49, joined the faculty of the elite women's college in 1993 and was appointed provost in 2007. She has worked on initiatives including the creation of courses, majors, and digital programs. "I feel my responsibility is to keep that forward momentum going," she said. "We're not in a pause mode.

By Eric A. Zillmer As Boston recovers from a week of terror, the questions remain: Why did this happen? What could have motivated the suspects, 19-year-old Dzhokar Tsarnaev and his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan, to terrorize a city, creating the kind of warlike turmoil that led their family to move to the United States? While the investigation unfolds, there are several themes present that are familiar to those who study the psychology of terrorists. One aspect of terror is that it is often perpetrated on foreign soil.

GROWING UP IN Philadelphia during the Great Depression, Robert Perloff knew what it was like to hustle for a buck. He peddled newspapers, worked as a soda jerk and movie usher and took other menial jobs to help his family get through the desperate financial times. When he was 12, his father, Meyer Perloff, committed suicide. It was a wrenching loss that he later described in a touching newspaper essay after he had become a distinguished professor of business administration and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Raymond P. Hill Jr., 27, of Havertown, a former research assistant at the University of Pennsylvania, died Wednesday, Jan. 9, in San Francisco of an overdose of prescribed medication. A lively man who showed great promise, Mr. Hill had struggled with depression and addiction for several years, his family said. On Dec. 31, he went to California on a spiritual journey to clear his head, he told his family in an e-mail. He planned to enter a Caron Foundation drug-rehab center in January, said his mother, Cass.

The recession is over and the job market is improving, albeit barely, but the psychological aftermath of the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression persists, according to a sweeping national survey by Rutgers University. The majority of those surveyed say they believe that there has been a permanent and painful change in the nation's economy. Gone forever, they say, are the ability of the young to afford college, of employees to feel secure, and of workers to land good jobs at good pay. "What this reflects is how wide and deep the whole shock was," said Carl Van Horn, director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers, one of the study's coauthors.

In his 1973 play Equus , Peter Shaffer tells a detective story, based on an actual event, about a reluctant psychiatrist attempting to unravel the case of a 17-year-old boy who blinded six horses. The play's confrontation of religion with psychiatry helped set the tone for pop culture's understanding of mind and behavior. Forty years later, books by Oliver Sacks, shows on NPR, and hit TV shows and movies ( The Silence of the Lambs , Criminal Minds ) have fleshed out the genre and broadened popular knowledge of aberrant psychology.

Patrick J. Rowan Jr., 64, of Oaklyn, a longtime teacher and administrator at Paul VI Catholic High School in Haddon Township, died Friday, Nov. 23, of a blood disease at his home. Mr. Rowan was born in Gloucester City and graduated from Gloucester Catholic High School in 1966. He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Villanova University in 1970 and a master's degree in education from Glassboro State College in 1976. Mr. Rowan's passion was teaching psychology to high school students.

Jerry Sandusky will not go directly to a permanent cell in Pennsylvania's prison system, a corrections official said after his sentencing Tuesday. First, he must undergo a 30-day assessment at Camp Hill Correctional Facility that will decide his ultimate placement among the state's 27 prisons. Sue Bensinger, deputy press secretary for the Department of Corrections, said Sandusky was being remanded to Camp Hill to face the same diagnostic and classification process as any other prisoner.