Child sexual abuse and pornography: Is there a relationship?

Sexual abuse is now a major form of child maltreatment; however, the causes of such exploitation are obscure. A review of official reports and other research indicate that the circumstances surrounding sexual abuse are inadequately specified to allow specific causal interpretations. The role of pornography in contributing to such abuse is explored by reviewing laboratory studies and the circumstances of child sexual abuse. An assessment of the research literature suggests that pornography is a minor and indirect influence on child sexual maltreatment.     

Gatekeeping by Allegations: An Examination of Verified,Unfounded, and Fabricated Allegations of Child Maltreatment Within the Context of Resist and Refusal Dynamics

Allegations of child maltreatment and neglect, including child sexual abuse, in the context of child custody disputes pose particular challenges for child protection services, family law professionals and the courts to identify children at risk of harm, as well as children impacted and exposed to other risk factors. Accurately identifying child maltreatment requires assessing the background, the history and the context of the allegations in order to differentiate confirmed, unfounded, and fabricated allegations. The paper provides a review of the history and current understanding of allegations within the context of child custody disputes by considering the connections of fabricated allegations to the theory of alienation and the role of gatekeeping. The paper then examines the social science literature regarding allegations within child protection investigations (the prevalence, types of maltreatment, reporter of allegations, and case outcomes) and explores the factors that have contributed to the challenges faced by child protection services to investigate and make determinations regarding allegations within the context of child custody disputes. We argue for early assessment protocols for child protection services to screen child custody cases, to differentiate allegations of alienation from other types of harm, to enhance role clarity in these volatile situations, to refrain from “taking sides” and to work collaboratively with the family law community. Lastly, we offer legal implications to improve collaboration between child protection services and the family law field to better respond to these complex cases.     

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: an Assessment of Offender Characteristics

The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), specifically child trafficking, producers or consumers of child sex trafficking (i.e., prostitution), sexual abuse images, and enticement, has become a growing area of concern. The increasing profitability of CSEC, combined with the clandestine nature of the offenses, calls for immediate attention from international law enforcement and the mental health community. Paramount to the resolution of this global crisis is the identification of the perpetrators of various CSEC crimes. The research pertaining to these offenders is most frequently aggregated and limited to basic demographic data, providing a larger, more generalized picture of CSEC. The purpose of this study is to determine characteristics, within a sample of known CSEC offenders, that differentiate among offenders who engage in sex trafficking as trafficker; engage in sex trafficking as a producer or consumer; produce, distribute, or possess child sexual abuse images; and travel or use enticements to engage in illicit sexual contact with a minor. This observational, survey design includes a record review of 98 offenders who were processed through the FBI Miami Field Office. Results showed that males are more likely to engage in CSEC offenses compared to females. Offenders who collect child sexual abuse images tended to be employed, had no history of prior arrests, and were older than other CSEC offenders. Additionally, engaging in befriending strategies in order to gain access to a victim was also predictive of involvement in child sexual abuse images. Unemployment was the only statistically significant predictor of engaging in child sex trafficking as either a sex buyer or a producer. Finally, perpetrators who engaged in the traveling/enticement of victims were found to be younger, unemployed, single, and without a known history of contact offending. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Piercing the Family's Private Veil: Family Violence, International Human Rights, and the Cross-Cultural Record

International law does not take family violence seriously enough. Although reviews and commentaries of international law regularly ignore family violence, such violence increasingly becomes a central concern of modern international treaties and plans of action. This article details how international law, which still tends to limit itself to inter-state behavior, seeks to transform local cultural practices and forms of interpersonal relations that lead to family violence. Although these developments largely remain in their infancy, the article proposes that international human rights developments are both legitimate and necessary.     

前南国际刑事法庭刑事程序中的普通法和大陆法传统：油能溶于水吗

在前南刑事法庭刑事程序中,国际刑事案件的独特性使得越来越多的大陆法系传统因素开始注入普通法诉讼模式。两大法系之间的传统差异已经渐渐走向融合。这些不同的制度应灵活而和谐地相处,共同解决国际犯罪审判所特有的问题。     

International sex offender registration laws: research and evaluation issues based on a review of current scientific literature

In many jurisdictions, anyone convicted of a sexual offense is required to register with police, often for life. Nine different countries have now implemented sex offender registries in an attempt to protect the public from the perceived threat posed by sexual offenders. Yet such laws have been criticized as being overly inclusive, tying up limited law enforcement resources to track many offenders who pose little risk of sexual reoffending. This paper considers the available research evidence relevant to the effectiveness of such laws for the deterrence of sexual offending and the investigation of sex crimes. It is concluded that significant gaps persist in our knowledge of whether existing laws effectively reduce sexual offending or reoffending and that large-scale, well-designed studies of the impact of sex offender registration on rates of offending, the collateral consequences to offenders and their families, and the costs of such laws are needed.     

Maltreatment and Family Dysfunction in Childhood and the Subsequent Adjustment of Children and Adults

The adjustment problems associated with sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological maltreatment, neglect, and witnessing family violence during childhood were examined in three studies. Study 1 demonstrated significant overlap between maltreatment types in parent reports (N = 50) of maltreatment experiences of their child aged 5–12 years. Parental sexual punitiveness, traditionality, family adaptability and family cohesion significantly predicted scores on 4 maltreatment scales and children's externalizing behavior problems. Level of maltreatment predicted internalizing, externalizing, and sexual behavior problems. In Study 2, significant overlap was found between adults' retrospective reports (N = 138) of all 5 types of maltreating behaviors. Parental sexual punitiveness, traditionality, family adaptability, and family cohesion during childhood predicted the level of maltreatment and current psychopathology. Although child maltreatment scores predicted psychopathology, childhood family variables were better predictors of adjustment. Study 3 demonstrated that child maltreatment scores predicted positive aspects of adult adaptive functioning (N = 95).     

Child abuse and chronic pain in a community survey of women

This study examined the relationship between a self-reported history of child physical and sexual abuse and chronic pain among women (N = 3,381) in a provincewide community sample. Chronic pain was significantly associated with physical abuse, education, and age of the respondents and was unrelated to child sexual abuse alone or in combination with physical abuse, mental disorder (anxiety, depression, or substance abuse), or low income. Number of health problems and mental health disorders did not mediate the relationship between physical abuse and chronic pain. Despite considerable evidence from the clinical literature linking exposure to child maltreatment and chronic pain in adulthood, this may well be the first population-based study to investigate this relationship for child physical and sexual abuse independently. The significant association between childhood history of physical abuse and pain in adulthood calls for a greater awareness of the potential for chronic pain problems associated with this type of maltreatment. Further research is needed to understand the mechanism for this complex relationship.     

Domestic violence and dependency courts: the Greenbook demonstration experience

This field study reports on a cross-site evaluation of dependency courts in communities receiving federal funding to implement the Greenbook initiative, a multisite demonstration for community improvement of coordinated responses to families victimized by domestic violence and child maltreatment. This article focuses on the dependency court, where child maltreatment cases are heard, specifically court participation in collaborative activities and court practice improvements. Findings indicate that perceptions of judicial leadership varied considerably by site. Cross-training appeared to increase over time, particularly with court staff. Collaborative efforts emerged across the Greenbook initiative with regard to the courts, and some innovative practices appeared within Greenbook sites, such as separate case plans for perpetrators and victims of violence in families, reducing the likelihood of controversial failure to protect charges. Results also highlight challenges inherent in changing court practices. Research and practice implications are discussed, focusing on relevance to other communities attempting to work collaboratively with the court system.     

Methodological Issues in Assessing the Effects of Maltreatment Characteristics on Behavioral Adjustment in Maltreated Children

This paper explored methodological issues in examining the impact of maltreatment characteristics on behavioral adjustment in a sample of maltreated school-age children. Different approaches to assessing the effects of maltreatment type were used to determine whether maltreatment characteristics differed by type of maltreatment and whether relationships between maltreatment characteristics and child behavioral functioning differed according to type of maltreatment. Results revealed several differences among the three types of maltreatment subgroups (physical abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse) on characteristics of maltreatment experiences. Correlations between maltreatment characteristics and outcome measures for the sample as a whole obscured findings that relationships were often specific to particular types of maltreatment. Developing generic definitions for maltreatment characteristics applicable to all forms of maltreatment is difficult because of differences in meaning across maltreatment types. Findings suggest that the role of maltreatment characteristics in children's behavioral functioning should be examined separately for each form of maltreatment.     

The Effects of Low Self-Control and Childhood Maltreatment on Stalking Victimization among Men and Women

This study examines sex differences among stalking victimization using two theoretical perspectives: self-control and the intergenerational transmission of violence. A sample of 1,490 undergraduate students at a large southeastern university were surveyed and asked to report their experiences with stalking, childhood maltreatment, and self-control. Given that men and women may experience stalking, self-control, and child maltreatment differently, logistic regression models were estimated separately to disentangle sex differences. Findings indicate that women are more likely than men to be victims of stalking. Childhood maltreatment was significantly related to stalking victimization for both men and women whereas low self-control was significantly related to stalking victimization for women only. Implications for policy and directions for future research are discussed.     

论WTO争端解决机构对一般法律原则的借鉴与发展

一般法律原则作为国际法的渊源,在具体内容和适用上颇有异议,但在最新的国际立法和司法实践中其内涵已经逐渐明确。WTO争端解决机制在实践中创造性地适用了国内法理的一般原则,凸显了一般法律原则的法源意义。我国的涉外司法实践应当关注国际司法实践的发展,并采取积极的应对策略。     

The Influence of Case and Professional Variables on the Identification and Reporting of Child Maltreatment: A Study of Licensed Psychologists and Certified Masters Social Workers

All 50 states have laws requiring mental health and other professionals to report suspected maltreatment. Unfortunately, many professionals who are mandated to report suspicions of child maltreatment often fail to recognize potential maltreatment or fail to report their suspicions. The present study examines several factors that may influence identification and reporting of child maltreatment. Subjects were licensed psychologists in the Midwest and certified Masters social workers in Nebraska. Child maltreatment included neglect, physical abuse, psychological maltreatment, and sexual abuse. Characteristics associated with the family or “case” (race, socioeconomic status of family, age of victim, type of maltreatment) were manipulated and presented in hypothetical case vignettes. Characteristics of the professional (e.g., training and experience with identification and reporting, personal history of maltreatment and violence) were also investigated. Ratings of the severity of the potential maltreatment situation, suspiciousness that maltreatment is occurring, and likelihood of reporting maltreatment were completed after reading each case vignette. The results indicate that a variety of case and professional factors may influence identification and reporting of maltreatment. Implications for training professionals and further research are discussed.     

PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN FROM SEX OFFENDERS: HAVE WE GONE TOO FAR?

On July 27, 2006, U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. This federal statute was created to serve as a tougher, more modern improvement of its predecessor in the ongoing effort to protect children from dangerous sexual predators. However, the Act did not amend the controversial federal mandate that all 50 states include the crimes of kidnapping and false imprisonment against a minor, committed by a nonparent, and without any sexual motivation or misconduct, as a crime requiring a wrongdoer to register as a sex offender. This Note demonstrates how the kidnapping and false imprisonment requirements of the Adam Walsh Act have led to a misuse of state sex offender registries to the detriment of the children they claim to protect. The solution that this Note proposes will provide each individual state with the freedom to decide how, if at all, these contentious offenses will fit into its sex offender registry, taking into consideration the state's unique statutory language, available child protective resources, and constitutional limitations. As a result, petty criminals who do not pose any real or specific threat to children will no longer be grouped with the most dangerous and violent sexual predators, child protective funds will be better utilized, and the public's attention will be refocused on the real threats to children, thereby satisfying the spirit and purpose of the Adam Walsh Act.     

Combating Child Sex Tourism in South‐east Asia: Law Enforcement Cooperation and Civil Society Partnerships

Many states have enacted extra‐territorial child sex tourism (CST) offences. Despite the existence of these offences, some states, including Australia and the United Kingdom, continue to privilege territorial competence as the basis of criminal jurisdiction. However, many destination countries for CST in South‐east Asia lack the capacity to support prosecutions in this crime. This article explores the utility of partnerships between local and international law enforcement agencies and NGOs to facilitate prosecution in the jurisdiction of the offence. Through a case study of Cambodia, the article argues that such partnership arrangements provide the resources and integration required to enable sexual offences against children, by foreign offenders, to be prosecuted. NGOs undertake complex strategies to address the immediate needs of exploited children, while seeking to maintain their capacity to influence government policy. The risks, challenges, and sustainability of such partnerships are discussed, along with wider implications for South‐east Asia.     

Lowering the Bar: Privileged Court Filings as Substitutes for Press Releases in the Court of Public Opinion

In the civil lawsuit against Kobe Bryant for sexual assault, the judge admonished lawyers for engaging in “public relations litigation”—the use of pleadings to attract media attention and try cases in the court of public opinion. This article examines the legal ramifications of such practices and the doctrines of law that encourage some lawyers and litigants to use pleadings as a form of press release. These include the law of republication and the fair report and judicial privileges as well as the power of judges to gag trial participants. The article concludes that courts have adequate tools to control such practices, and lawyers and public relations professionals can responsibly use court documents to communicate with the public, so long as they do not abuse the judicial process.     

The Role of Shame in Predicting Adult Anger and Depressive Symptoms Among Victims of Child Psychological Maltreatment

Previous research on child maltreatment and adult outcomes has failed to consider affective reactions to the maltreatment, which may play a critical role in victim outcomes. One such affective reaction—shame—may help to explain this relationship. In the context of maltreatment, feelings of shame are seen as a natural extension of the helplessness experienced by many victims of child maltreatment [Finkelhor, D., and Browne, A. (1986). Initial and long-term effects: A conceptual framework. In Finkelhor, D. (ed.), A Sourcebook on Child Sexual Maltreatment, Sage, Newbury Park, CA, pp. 180–198]. The current study examined the moderating role of shame in the relationship between victim reactions to child psychological maltreatment and adult anger and depressive symptoms. Results showed that shame moderated between child psychological maltreatment and adult anger for men but not for women, whereas shame moderated between child psychological maltreatment and depressive symptoms for adult women. Presence of gender-related differences suggests that gender should be considered in the design and development of therapeutic techniques for the treatment and prevention of anger and depression in adult survivors of child psychological maltreatment.     

Severity of Partner and Child Maltreatment: Reliability of Scales Used in America's Largest Child and Family Protection Agency

This paper describes two studies investigating the interrater agreement of severity scales for family maltreatment used in America's largest child and family maltreatment agency: the U.S. military's Family Advocacy Program (FAP). The USAF-FAP Severity Index is a multidimensional rating system for clinicians' evaluations of the severity of seven forms of family maltreatment: partner physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; child physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; and child neglect. The first study evaluated the reliability of the scale as it is used in the field. The second study compared a generalizable sample of clinicians' ratings to an established gold standard of what the ratings should have been. The Severity Index demonstrated fair-to-good levels of reliability, suggesting that with minimal cost, investigating caseworkers can routinely assess, and make fairly reliable ratings of, the severity of seven forms of family maltreatment for each case they investigate.     

论植物人的法律人格及权利行使和保护

Although human vegetables lose their capacities of will and do not have the intrinsic attribute of civil subjects, they still have legal personalities and the status of civil subjects. The law has not provided for defects of their legal personalities, and thus civil law shall include human vegetables as objects of guardianship. The system of adult guardianship shall be constructed to supplement and correct the legal personalities of human vegetables. When human vegetables enter into a permanent vegetative state or state of brain death, law may declare the termination of legal personalities of the human vegetable. Due to the unique life state and capacity of act of human vegetables, the exercise of their civil rights faces a series of legal difficulties and challenges, mainly involving important issues such as the right of treatment for life rescue, marital right and reproductive right. The civil law shall ensure that the civil right of human vegetables can be fully enjoyed and effectively protected. Zhang Li, associate professor in civil and business law at Fujian Normal University, and also an invited researcher on civil law, international economic law and international private law, co-operated with Law School of Renmin University of China. Till now, she’s already released 23 theses in law journals and a monograph of the Survey of International Private Law. In addition, she was a member in doing studies (2006) on the legislation of Chinese tort law and presides over the researching (2007) of the legal personality and rights of disabled persons.     

论国际法与宪法的效力关系——《公民权利和政治权利国际公约》的视角

在有关国际法与宪法的效力关系的国内法制度中,有规定宪法的效力优于国际法的,也有规定国际法的效力优于宪法的.根据有关国际法与宪法效力关系的国际法,国际法的效力优于各国宪法,每个国家都有义务依据宪法或法律采取履行国际义务的措施、不得以宪法及其他国内法为理由不履行国际义务,但各国可以利用条约保留机制处理国际条约与宪法或法律的冲突.在国际关系中,违背国际法的宪法或法律规定不具有法律效力,削定或实施违背国际法的宪法或法律规定构成国际不法行为,产生国际责任.关于违背国际法的宪法或法律规定在其本国国内的效力,应当具体情况具体分析,违背一般国际法强制性规范、违背对整个国际社会的义务或违背<公民权利和政治权利国际公约>中的缔约国在紧急情况下也不得克减保障义务的强制性条款的宪法或法律规定,应当是自始无效的.