Trousson, Raymond / Vercruysse, Jeroom (dir.), Dictionnaire general de Voltaire. (Champion classiques, references et dictionnaires 18) 1272 p. 2020:10 (Champion, FR) <670-9>
ISBN 978-2-38096-016-7 paper ¥7,064.- (税込) EUR 38.00

da Cal Seixas, Sonia Regina / de Moraes Hoefel, Joao Luiz, Quality of Life, Environmental Changes and Subjectivity: A Contribution to a New Line of Research on Climate Change. VI, 82 pp. 2021:11 (Palgrave Macmillan, UK) <672-890>
ISBN 978-3-030-39221-5 hard ¥15,798.- (税込) EUR 64.99

This volume analyzes human suffering from material and human losses through the lens of subjectivity. The authors consider how mental health should be assessed in the current debate on quality of life and environmental changes, which is often overlooked in discussions on the topic with the greater focus on physical well-being and displacement. Specifically, this volume explores how environmental changes caused by climate change, natural disasters, and socioeconomic upheavals have a significant impact on mental health internationally.

Deb, Sibnath / Gerrard, Brian A. (eds.), Handbook of Health and Well-Being: Challenges, Strategies and Future Trends. 749 pp. 2022:3 (Springer, GW) <672-332>
ISBN 978-981-16-8262-9 hard ¥53,478.- (税込) EUR 219.99

This evidence-based book focuses on contemporary issues related to human health and well-being. Drawing on the first-hand experiences of academics and researchers, it provides a holistic perspective on the importance of both mental and physical health for quality of life. It is divided into seven sections: changing perspectives on well-being; the mental health of students; the well-being of elderly people and marginalized populations; the role of family and teachers; psycho-social support; the right to health; and future perspectives. Covering current topics, such as the challenges posed by pandemics like COVID-19, the book discusses future strategies for addressing contemporary and emerging health issues and the overall well-being of the general public, an area not covered in any of the previous volumes. Furthermore, it explores the need for the involvement of multidisciplinary professionals in examining general health and well-being issues. Given its scope, it is an indispensable resource for a wide range of professionals and researchers from various fields, such as the social sciences, law, public health, medicine, education, and environmental studies. In addition, the book appeals to health policymakers, educational administrators, law enforcement agencies, as well as health workers, psychologists, and social workers dealing with clients in hospitals, educational institutions, and at the community level.

Blume, Arthur W., Colonialism and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives from indigenous Psychology. (International and Cultural Psychology) 240 pp. 2022:1 (Springer, GW) <672-1356>
ISBN 978-3-030-92824-7 hard ¥31,599.- (税込) EUR 129.99

This book views responses to the Covid 19 virus through the lens of indigenous thinking which sheds light on some of the failures in dealing with the pandemic. Colonial societies maintain beliefs that hierarchies are part of the natural order, and that certain people are entitled to privileges that others are not. These hierarchies have contributed to racism as well as health, and wealth disparities that have increased vulnerabilities to the virus. Indigenous societies, on the other hand, view individuals as interdependent, and hold an optimistic view that this tragedy can yield important lessons for future improvement. This book examines the legacy of colonial societies in contributing to existing vulnerabilities, and incorporates an indigenous perspective in re-imagining the problem and its solutions.

Guentert, Stefan T. / Wehner, Theo / Mieg, Harald A., Organizational, Motivational, and Cultural Contexts of Volunteering: The European View. (SpringerBriefs in Psychology) 54 pp. 2022:1 (Springer, GW) <672-1360>
ISBN 978-3-030-92816-2 hard ¥7,289.- (税込) EUR 29.99

This open access book offers a comprehensive view of the phenomenon of volunteer work: it examines motivational factors and questions of corporate organization and the social environment. In particular, this is the first book to present volunteer work in detail as a psychosocial resource and a source of well-being that should not be overused or abused. The book is based on the authors' 15 years of research into volunteer work in Europe. It provides clear instructions on designing volunteer work tasks, and on where boundaries must be respected. The findings include insights into cultural and national differences, and offer practical advice on the organization of volunteer work. This book answers questions like: How do we understand voluntary work? How essential is it that this kind of work remains unpaid and carried out by so-called laypersons with special motives? And what follows from this for the interaction between voluntary work and professionalized, paid employment? The analysis draws on perspectives from wellbeing research, organizational and industrial studies, social work, and related social sciences.

van Geert, Paul / de Ruiter, Naomi, Toward a Process Approach in Psychology: Stepping into Heraclitus' River. 300 pp. 2022:9 (Cambridge U. Pr., UK) <672-1361>
ISBN 978-1-108-49090-0 hard ¥27,379.- (税込) GB￡ 95.00 *

Psychological science constructs much of the knowledge that we consume in our everyday lives. This book is a systematic analysis of this process, and of the nature of the knowledge it produces. The authors show how mainstream scientific activity treats psychological properties as being fundamentally stable, universal, and isolable. They then challenge this status quo by inviting readers to recognize that dynamics, context-specificity, interconnectedness, and uncertainty, are a natural and exciting part of human psychology - these are not things to be avoided and feared, but instead embraced. This requires a shift toward a process-based approach that recognizes the situated, time-dependent, and fundamentally processual nature of psychological phenomena. With complex dynamic systems as a framework, this book sketches out how we might move toward a process-based praxis that is more suitable and effective for understanding human functioning.

Winner, Ellen / Drake, Jennifer E., The Child as Visual Artist. (Elements in Child Development) 75 pp. 2022:4 (Cambridge U. Pr., UK) <672-1362>
ISBN 978-1-108-94772-5 paper ¥4,899.- (税込) GB￡ 17.00 *

This Element focuses on the development of drawing (and painting) in childhood. The author begins by examining children's representational drawing, a topic that has received quite wide attention from the nineteenth century on. The author then turns to issues that have received far less attention and discusses the aesthetic property of expression, weighing the claim that young children's highly expressive drawings bear an affinity to twentieth century modernist art. The author then examines the function of drawing for children's emotional development. Next, looking at art prodigies, the author turns to the how of drawing, considering the relation of drawing talent to IQ and to visual-spatial skills. Finally, the author considers the relation between development and education in art and how educators can best nurture children's artistic development.

Dryjanska, Laura / Pacifici, Giorgio (eds.), Evil in the Modern World: International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives. 116 pp. 2022:2 (Springer, GW) <672-1008>
ISBN 978-3-030-91887-3 hard ¥34,030.- (税込) EUR 139.99

This interesting volume focuses on a set of phenomena which increasingly alarm the political world and public opinion: from the more obvious ones like torture, disease, human trafficking, abuse, genocide, displacement, to more subtle forms found in sports, technology and law. It looks at how and why these phenomena are universally condemned, and could be considered to threaten the very foundations of modern democracy; yet continue to be tolerated. The volume therefore goes beyond what Hannah Arendt has called the "banality of evil" and discusses the presence of condemned and heinous practices in society as fluid and chaotic but as non-trivial; capable of great transmutations through various epochs. Practices and actions considered as "evil" manifest in situations where individuals or groups hold power or seize power, and the contributions in this volume explore the close relation between power and evil. The volume draws upon sociology, psychology, cultural studies, political science, as well as philosophy, theology, anthropology, and neurology of the individual and of the group to provide a comprehensive understanding of the multiple facets of evil in the contemporary world.