The main goal of this article is to present Negative Dialectics as a central theme in the Adorno’s thought. In this work Adorno develops the antinomies that there are in the concept of instrumental reason, in order to assert the necessity for a new notion of rationality: a dialectical, negative and materialistic reason, which holds, at the same time, the non identity between subject-object, thought and reality. In this way Philosophy becomes critique of Idealism because this philosophical system defends the (...) “identity thinking” and the irrational society that supports, making a true freedom impossible. Instead of this conception Adorno defines Metaphysics as “negative dialectics” and antisystem, whose method is the analysis of thinking’s models, as a result of his own critical epistemology. (shrink)

Despite the availability of evidence-based treatment models for adolescent behavior problems, little is known about the effectiveness of these programs for adolescents with callous-unemotional traits. Defined by lack of empathy, lack of guilt, flattened affect and lack of caring, CU traits have been linked to long-term anti-social behavior and unfavorable treatment outcomes and might be negatively related to outcomes in evidence-based programs such as Functional Family Therapy. This study used a single-group pre-post evaluation design with a sample of 407 adolescents (...) receiving FFT to investigate whether outcomes in FFT are predicted by CU traits and to what extent reliable changes in CU traits can be observed. The results showed that although CU traits are related to increased problem severity at baseline, they predicted neither treatment dropout nor post-treatment externalizing behavior and family functioning. CU traits were related to diminished improvement ratings, in particular with respect to parental supervision. Reductions in CU traits were observed across the time of treatment, and these were most profound among adolescents with elevated levels of CU traits at baseline. Further research should investigate whether certain evidence-based treatment components are more suited for adolescents with CU, and if the addition of specific intervention elements for reducing CU-traits could further improve outcomes for this high-risk population. (shrink)