Despite their vulnerability, adolescents are often excluded from health research due to ethical concerns about research with minors, especially in low-income regions like Sub-Saharan Africa. We enrolled adolescent girls aged 15–17 years and caregivers of girls of the same age. Using a 25-question Comprehension Score Sheet, we applied a quantitative approach to compare the comprehension of informed consent of 33 adolescent girls and 41 caregivers of adolescent girls aged 15–17 years. The assessments were audio-recorded and reviewed for quality check. The (...) results showed that adolescent girls were significantly better than caregivers in comprehending informed consent information overall and specifically on study procedures, voluntarism and study purpose. This suggests that adolescents can understand informed consent information at the same level as or better than caregivers who are entrusted with providing permission for adolescents to participate in research. (shrink)

En este trabajo presentamos una reflexión filosófica y psicoanalítica acerca de la democracia basándonos fundamentalmente en el legado de Sigmund Freud. En el segmento primero, intentamos fundamentar por qué el psicoanálisis es incompatible con el fascismo y, de modo inverso, por qué esta disciplina sólo puede trabajar bajo la forma de gobierno de un Estado de Derecho. Simultáneamente, el núcleo democrático del psicoanálisis revela su coherencia con la voluntad científica que su creador manifiesta, sin dejar de poner a prueba las (...) representaciones canónicas y de derribar algunas ilusiones idealistas acerca de la "democracia" y la "ciencia". En la segunda parte, pretendemos extraer del psicoanálisis y de cierta filosofía vinculada al mismo algunas claves para repensar la cultura democrática contemporánea. Los desarrollos freudianos conducen a radicalizar la idea básica de la libertad de expresión poniendo en evidencia algunas amenazas que pueden transformarla en una declaración narcótica de principios que se agote en sí misma. In this work we present a psychoanalytical and philosophical reflection on democracy, based mainly on Sigmund Freud's legacy. In the first section, we try to fundament why psychoanalysis is incompatible with fascism and, conversely, why this discipline only works in the environment of the Rule of Law. Simultaneously, the democratic core of psychoanalysis reveals its coherence with the scientific will manifested by its maker, even while testing canonical representations and demolishing some idealistic illusions about "democracy" and "science". In the second part, we aim at extracting from psychoanalysis, and from some philosophy related to it, some clues to re-think contemporary democratic culture. Freudian developments lead to a radicalization of the basic idea of freedom of speech, disclosing some threats that may turn it into a narcotic declaration of principles which would be exhausted in itself. (shrink)

The slow construction of the urban civilization: the socio-historic distances in the reading of an urban form.The post-Soviet city is generally envisioned as a city in transition, on a more or less direct course towards the market city. This observation recalls the reconstitution of the residential property stock through privatizations, the redefinition of the individual in countries shaped by collectivist references, the post-national reconstitution of the economy and the political structures (Dressier, Gatti, and Perez-Agote, 1999). L. Kogan's approach suggests that (...) we need a deeper analysis in the shaping of ‘urban civilization’ and the construction of urban policies, to change the way we look at the construction of urban permanence. (shrink)