Sarah is the detailed case history of a UCLA undergraduate, written by a UCLA psychology professor. It is a unique case of psychological survival. Despite vicious sexual abuse, Sarah has managed to adapt, survive, and grow.Balancing the intense emotional impact of Sarah's first-person account, Dr. Abramson's commentary is interpolated throughout the record of Sarah's life. Sarah's story was obtained from seven months of interviewing, plus her diaries, drawings, family photographs, and four years of follow-ups, correspondence, and observations. This book is significant in that it documents psychological resolution in the face of endless abuse and trauma. Dr. Abramson provides an unusual perspective by focusing less on the damage associated with abuse and more on Sarah's gradual development of successful means of coping and surmounting negative patterns. He writes:"If you read carefully, in between the abuse and self-destructive behaviors, Sarah emerges as an active, striving individual. Sarah does not give up-she is appalled, angry, depressed and confused, but she keeps fighting to maintain her integrity. The resolution of Sarah's existential dilemma was the emergence of faith in herself."
David’s Politics evaluates what we can learn about politics by studying David’s life as presented in the Books of Samuel through the first two chapters of 1 Kings. I begin by discussing the rules for kingship set forth in Deuteronomy and carry this through to the elders’ demand that the prophet Samuel appoint a king. Despite his reluctance he appoints Saul, who has many military successes. But when he fails when he fails to annihilate the Amalekites God withdraws his grace and Saul falls into a state of depression, which grows worse as the story progresses. David is called to Saul’s court as a musician. I argue that he has three roles, first as a servant to King Saul, second as a rebel against Saul, and third as king. As a servant to Saul, David establishes his credentials as a warrior and also becomes the king’s son-in-law. As a rebel against Saul, David again takes actions that solidify his future support in Israel and Judah. David has two opportunities to kill Saul, but refuses to kill him. He also cements his political support in Judah. After becoming king, David’s military successes are the prime reason for his support. He also administered justice, which may have further bolstered his legitimacy. Indeed, David did what was right “all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1 Kings 15:5). By committing adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, and by having Uriah murdered, David brings grief upon himself and his family: the rape of his only named daughter, the murder of Amnon, his first-born son and the death in battle of Absalom, who is probably David’s oldest surviving son. Throughout most of this account David displays remarkable political sagacity, and more can be learned studying his life than that of any other king of Israel or Judah.
Challenging everything from the mandates of the Catholic Church to the hotly debated ethics of pornography, and from the controversy surrounding gay rights to issues of gender and feminism, With Pleasure explores a new theory of human sexuality that ignites every hot topic in the public domain. What role, authors Paul Abramson and Steven Pinkerton ask, does sexual pleasure play in our lives? Is the pursuit of sexual enjoyment in our blood? Our brains? Our very nature? Regardless of the source, it can be agreed that the joys of sex are widely appreciated. Why, then, is pleasure so often overlooked in discussions of sexual behaviour, and why do cultural, historical, and religious treatises so often fail to emphasise, or outright ignore, this obvious aspect of human sexuality? Responding to these and many other questions about our most private affairs, With Pleasure provides a profoundly original challenge to the cherished truisms of human sexuality. Abramson and Pinkerton proclaim the paramount importance of pleasure, while at the same time overthrowing traditional ideas about gender, pornography, contraception, homosexuality, abortion, and much more. Supported by rigorous research and co-written by one of the foremost authorities on sex, With Pleasure argues that human sexuality cannot be understood if its significance is limited to reproduction alone. The authors posit that in humans reproduction itself occurs as a byproduct of pleasure--not the other way around--and that it is the strong drive for pleasure that makes people overcome many obstacles--and even life-threatening dangers such as AIDS--to have sex. Ranging from discussions about the church to current debates about pornography, and from evolutionary theory to questions about the future of sex and pleasure, Abramson and Pinkerton argue persuasively that the pleasurability of sex cannot be restricted to purely reproductive behaviour. With Pleasure advances a startling and original new theory about human sexuality, one which the authors believe will replace all existing notions about sex. The book, standing in direct and deliberate opposition to traditions that try to confine sexuality to procreation, is sure to ignite a firestorm of controversy.
Searching for the truth behind these accusations, while reconstructing this troubling tale from case interviews, trial transcripts, police reports, and other documentary sources, the authors find in this unusual case an ideal springboard for a serious consideration of the legal and psychological issues underlying the assessment and prosecution of incest cases, in particular of mother-daughter incest. A House Divided serves as a vivid reminder of the legal, moral, and social complexities surrounding cases involving sex crimes.
The Constitution of the United States guarantees all Americans certain rights, such as the freedoms of speech and religious expression. But what guarantees our sexual freedoms? Sexual Rights in America presents a bold and intriguing look at the constitutional basis of sexual rights in America. Resurrecting the "forgotten" Ninth Amendment, which guarantees those fundamental rights not protected elsewhere in the Constitution, Abramson and colleagues argue that the freedom to choose how, when, and with whom we express ourselves sexually is integral to our happiness. Their careful review of the historical record reveals the importance of the "pursuit of happiness" in the socio-moral philosophy underpinning the Constitution. Sexual freedoms, they assert, are cut from the same cloth as the other freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights, and therefore, should be covered by the Ninth Amendment. Using concrete examples such as prostitution and phone sex, Sexual Rights in America illustrates the scope and limitations of Ninth Amendment sexual rights.
To understand the challenges of political leadership and how top executives succeed in accomplishing an administration's objectives, business in government experts Paul R. Lawrence and Mark A. Abramson present the findings of a two year's study of top political appointees in the Obama administration. The participants—deputy secretaries and agency heads—provide case studies of how each approaches the management challenges and achieves the mission of their organization. Full of behind-the-scenes insights and practical advice from government political executives on how they face management challenges in real time, Paths to Making a Difference: Leading in Government offers indispensable insights to current and prospective political appointees and everyone interested in understanding how leaders work to make government agencies more effective.
To understand the challenges of political leadership and how top executives succeed in accomplishing an administration's objectives, business in government experts Paul R. Lawrence and Mark A. Abramson present the findings of a two year's study of top political appointees in the Obama administration. The participants—deputy secretaries and agency heads—provide case studies of how each approaches the management challenges and achieves the mission of their organization. Full of behind-the-scenes insights and practical advice from government political executives on how they face management challenges in real time, Paths to Making a Difference: Leading in Government offers indispensable insights to current and prospective political appointees and everyone interested in understanding how leaders work to make government agencies more effective.
Succeeding as a Political Executive: Fifty Insights from Experience is based on the real-life experience of 64 high-level executives who served in the Obama Administration. Most were at the agency head level. From 2009 to 2015, the authors conducted a series of interviews with these individuals, gaining insights into running government organizations. This book is aimed at those interested in the transition of power to the next presidential administration starting in 2017.
Succeeding as a Political Executive: Fifty Insights from Experience is based on the real-life experience of 64 high-level executives who served in the Obama Administration. Most were at the agency head level. From 2009 to 2015, the authors conducted a series of interviews with these individuals, gaining insights into running government organizations. This book is aimed at those interested in the transition of power to the next presidential administration starting in 2017.
Over a career spanning six decades, architect Paul Revere Williams came to define what gracious living looked like for the Hollywood elite. Williams mastered an array of architectural idioms—including American Colonial, Spanish Mediterranean, English Tudor, French Normandy, Art Deco, and, of course, the California ranch style—to create the sophisticated yet understated showplaces that are featured here in all new full-color photography.Among the most celebrated architects of his generation, Williams was also the first African-American member of the American Institute of Architects, and he was deeply involved in the black community in Los Angeles and in African-American affairs nationally. Williams moved among many worlds, and with celebrity clients such as Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Tyrone Power, and Barbara Stanwyck, as well as clients who made Hollywood run behind the scenes, not to mention members of Los Angeles high society, Williams left his mark in the city’s most glamorous and exclusive enclaves—Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Bel Air, and the Hollywood Hills.Paul R. Williams: Classic Hollywood Style is a dazzling tour of this prolific architect’s most spectacular houses, by his granddaughter Karen Hudson, with a special focus on their roles not only as places for high living but also as venues for world-class entertaining.
Janna Ireland, an award-winning photographer, presents a collection of stunning, intimate black-and-white photographs of the work of Paul Revere Williams, who was known as "Hollywood's Architect" and was the first black architect admitted to the American Institute of Architecture. Regarding Paul R. Williams: A Photographer's View is a photographic exploration of the work of the first AIA-certified African American architect west of the Mississippi River. Known as "Hollywood's Architect", Paul Revere Williams was a Los Angeles native who built a wildly successful and as an architect decades before the Civil Rights Movement. He designed municipal buildings and private homes as well as banks, churches, hospitals, and university halls. He designed public housing projects and mansions for celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball. In 1923, Williams became the first black member of the American Institute of Architects. In 2017, nearly forty years after his death, he became the first black recipient of the AIA Gold Medal. In her book Regarding Paul R. Williams: A Photographer's View, artist Janna Ireland explores the work and legacy of Williams through a series of intimate black-and-white photographs. Ireland gives the reader a vision of Williams that is both universal and highly personal. More than a book of architectural photographs, Regarding Paul R. Williams is the result of one artist's encounter with another, connecting across different generations within the same city. Janna Ireland was born in Philadelphia, but has chosen Los Angeles as her home. She holds an MFA the from UCLA Department of Art and a BFA from the Department of Photography and Imaging at NYU. Ireland is the 2013 recipient of the Snider Prize, presented by the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College Chicago. Her work has been shown in solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Chicago, and in group exhibitions across the United States and internationally. She has been published in Aperture, Harper's, Art Papers, Vice, and The Los Angeles Times.
Discover the remarkable story of an orphaned Black boy who grew up to become the groundbreaking architect to the stars, Paul R. Williams. A stunning nonfiction picture-book biography from the Caldecott Honor-winning author and NAACP Image Award-nominated artist. As an orphaned Black boy growing up in America in the early 1900s, Paul R. Williams became obsessed by the concept of "home." He not only dreamed of building his own home, he turned his dreams into drawings. Defying the odds and breaking down the wall of racism, Williams was able to curve around the obstacles in his way to become a world-renowned architect. He designed homes for the biggest celebrities of the day, such as Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball, and created a number of buildings in Los Angeles that are now considered landmarks. From Andrea J. Loney, the author of the Caldecott Honor Book Double Bass Blues, and award-winning artist Keith Mallett comes a remarkable story of fortitude, hope, and positivity.
