There can be little doubt that privacy emerges as one of the central problems of our times particularly so in the countries of the Western world. In some primitive cultures the opportunities for escaping almost continuous surveillance are very limited, but such is the resilience of human nature that the people in such societies seems able to adjust to this situation and not to be disturbed by it. The role of privacy in ancient civilizations aside, there is a long history of the esteem for the reality of privacy, even though the term itself may not have been used, in the religious traditions of both East and West, where withdrawal from the world into solitude has consistently been viewed as the most efficacious route to union with the Divine. With increasing attention to, and recognition of, human dignity in Western society in recent centuries and particularly in recent years, there ahs come a parallel emphasis on human rights, and central to the cluster of human rights is the right to privacy. It is doubtful whether individual privacy has ever been more highly esteemed than it is today in the democracies of the Western world.

This new book by Beate Rössler is a work of real quality and originality on an extremely topical issue: the issue of privacy and the relations between the private and the public. Rössler investigates the reasons why we value privacy and why we ought to value it. In the context of modern, liberal societies, Rössler develops a theory of the private which links privacy and autonomy in a constitutive way: privacy is a necessary condition to lead an autonomous life. The book develops a theory of freedom and autonomy which sees the ability to pose the “practical question” of how one wants to live, of what a person strives to be, at the centre of the modern idea of autonomy. The question of privacy is emerging as an increasingly important topic in social and political theory and is central to many current debates in law, the media and politics. The Value of Privacy will be widely recognised to be a classic contribution to the subject.

Concerns over privacy in America and the role of a free and responsible press have intensified in recent years. The Journal of Mass Media Ethics has worked with Poynter Institute for Media Studies in an effort to focus and broaden the discussion. This issue -- the second devoted to privacy matters -- features articles that the editors hope will add useful perspectives to the current discussions of privacy issues, particularly those raised by new technology.

This Handbook encapsulates the intellectual history of mass media ethics over the past twenty-five years. Chapters serve as a summary of existing research and thinking in the field, as well as setting agenda items for future research. Key features include: up-to-date and comprehensive coverage of media ethics, one of the hottest topics in the media community 'one-stop shopping' for historical and current research in media ethics experienced, top-tier editors, advisory board, and contributors. It will be an essential reference on media ethics theory and research for scholars, graduate students, and researchers in media, mass communication, and journalism.

Intimacy is a complex and heterogeneous concept that has generated a variety of definitions, theories, and philosophies over the years. Al though there is much disagreement about the essential meaning of the term, there seems to be a consensus that intimacy, whatever it may be, is of central importance in human relationships, and specifically, in the theory and practice of psychotherapy. One approach to intimacy focuses on an intrapsychic conception. Intimacy occurs when an individual achieves full self-knowledge, and is fully in touch with his or her feelings and wishes. From this viewpoint, an intimate act occurs when a person is willing to share these feelings and wishes with another, so that self-disclosure becomes an important index of intimacy. This definition also implies that intimacy need not be reciprocal, so that a therapeutic relationship can achieve a good deal of intimacy without the therapist engaging in self-disclosure. An alternate approach to intimacy stresses the interpersonal nature of the concept. Intimacy is seen as the product of an interaction, and can only occur between people. Each one is able to touch something meaningful in the other, whether at a conscious, behavioral level or an unconscious and inferential level. Therapists seeking intimacy in these terms would probably be a good deal more active, and consider it more important to reveal something of the substance of their own persons, if not the facts of their lives.

This collection of articles by Constance T. Fischer represents many of her major contributions to Collaborative Therapeutic Assessment. Fischer’s work on the conceptual foundations and practices for individualized/ collaborative psychological assessment are assembled in this volume. Also included are her thoughts about how to teach individualized assessment to students. This monograph will serve mental health professionals interested in Collaborative Therapeutic Assessment and instructors and students in graduate courses on psychological assessment.

Matters of privacy have profoundly changed since electronic storage of information has become the norm. Consequently, policy-makers and legislators are trying to keep up with privacy challenges in the workplace, in healthcare, in surveillance, and on social networking sites. With Privacy: Defending an Illusion, Martin Dowding fills a very important gap in policy analysis and the teaching of privacy issues at the senior undergraduate and early graduate student level. In the first section of this book, Dowding recounts historical interpretations of privacy in a wide variety of socio-cultural circumstances. In the second section, the author addresses how information and communication technologies have changed our conceptions about privacy and redirected our focus from keeping information private to sharing it with many more people than we would have even a few years ago. Dowding also examines a variety of possible options for the future of privacy. The appendixes include seminal readings on relevant topics that should encourage debates about the nature of privacy and its problems. Overall, this book provides a solid background for defining and understanding privacy in a wide variety of contexts.