Expressing Conflict, Neutralizing Blame, and Making Concessions in Small‐Claims Mediation

This research examines the link between the way small‐claims mediation participants express their conflicts and their willingness to engage in concession‐making. Observations of seventy‐seven mediation participants suggest that a significant factor in this relationship is the way participants manage the issue of blame. The research identifies three categories of mediants: individuals named in a civil suit who represent themselves; agents, usually lawyers, who represent the interests of other parties in a civil suit; and business owners or managers who represent the interests of their establishments. The study depicts some of the differences in the way these participants describe their conflicts. In particular, the research suggests that the manner in which mediation participants handle the issue of blame – by either justifying, excusing, or denying it – constrains their willingness to engage in concession‐making, a fundamental aspect of the mediation process. I discuss implications for future research and for developing strategies that might improve the effectiveness of mediation for some participants.     

“In the Best Interests of the Child”: Mapping the (Re) Emergence of Pro‐Adoption Politics in Contemporary Australia

This article seeks to understand, in historical and international perspective, recent governmental initiatives that aim to reinstate adoption as a viable policy option for the care and placement of children in Australia, with reference to two recent reports of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Human and Family Services, Overseas Adoption in Australia: Report of the Inquiry into Adoption of Children from Overseas (2005), and The Winnable War on Drugs: The Impact of Illicit Drug Use on Families (2007) which raises adoption as a policy option for children of drug‐addicted parents. These reports appear to signal a discursive shift away from the anti‐adoption attitudes that have characterised the post‐1970s period in response to the Stolen Generations and other past adoption practices. It is argued that this change can be understood as having been pushed to the fore by the conservative family policy of the Howard era and further fostered by international trends in adoption policy.     

Palliative sedation in the Netherlands: starting-points and contents of a national guideline

In December 2005 the first national guideline for palliative sedation in the Netherlands was published. This guideline was developed by a committee of the Royal Dutch Medical Association, at the request of the Dutch government. The guideline defines palliative sedation as 'the intentional lowering of consciousness of a patient in the last phase of his or her life'. According to the guideline the objective of palliative sedation is to relieve suffering, and lowering consciousness is a means to achieve this. It is very important that palliative sedation is given for the right indication, proportionally, and adequately. It is the degree of symptom control, not the level to which consciousness is lowered, which determines the dose and combinations of the sedatives used and duration of treatment. The assessment and decision-making processes must focus on adequate relief of the patient's suffering, so that a peaceful and acceptable situation is created. Palliative sedation is given in the last phase of life, in the imminently dying patient. Palliative sedation raises several legal questions. In this article we describe the structure and contents of the guideline, with special attention for the main legal issues involved, like the distinction between palliative sedation and euthanasia and the process of informed consent.     

“Forced Adoption” in the Australian Story of National Regret and Apology*

This essay places the long‐standing campaign for redress and apology of women separated from their children through adoption in an historical and political context, tracing the rise of the single mother as a political voice through the Council for the Single Mother and her Child and the emergence of birth mother advocacy groups. The political actions of these mothers must be seen alongside the two national apologies already delivered and the political activism which led to them. Activism for apologies for past wrongs ought be understood in terms of the contemporary Australian politics of apology in which, in the words of Hannah Arendt, “pity is elevated to the level of a political principle”. However, in the case of these mothers, the Australian story of national regret and apology is complicated by issues of gender and sexuality. The women, unlike the Stolen Generations, child migrants and institutionalised children, do not easily or readily fit within the terms of national apology as formulated in the apologies of 2008 and 2009 which were addressed primarily to wronged and innocent children. If and when an apology is addressed to these women, its terms will necessarily differ from the earlier apologies.     

Correlates of Ideal Body Size Among Black and White Adolescents

Cultural differences have been found in body image perceptions among Black and White adolescents, however little is known about the factors associated with perceptions of an ideal body size (IBS). This study examined differences in correlates of IBS among 265 Black (116 girls and 62 boys) and White (63 girls and 24 boys) adolescents. IBS for White girls and boys was related to perceptions of how their parents wanted them to look, while IBS for Black girls was related to perception of how peers look and would like to look. IBS for Black boys was significantly related to perceptions of their current size, how peers would like to look, how parents think they look, and depressive symptoms. Findings suggest cultural differences in the factors related to body image perceptions and have implications for educational programs promoting healthy body image development among Black and White adolescents.Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center. Received PhD in Counseling Psychology from University of Missouri-Kansas City. Research interests include environmental and cultural correlates of obesity, obesity prevention, nicotine and tobacco addiction, and health promotion interventions.Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota. Received medical degree from Christian Medical College, Punjab, India, and Master of Public Health from University of Kansas School of Medicine. Research interests include diet and physical activity behaviors, role of the environment in obesity and obesity prevention, especially among children and adolescents.Research Associate, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center. Completing PhD in clinical psychology from University of Kansas and Master of Public Health from University of Kansas School of Medicine. Research interests include obesity prevention, smoking cessation, and positive psychology.Assistant Professor and Director, MPH Program, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center. Received MPH from Boston University and PhD in epidemiology from the University of California/San Diego State University. Research interests include behavioral epidemiology of tobacco use among adolescents and ethnic minorities.Professor of Medicine and School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Associate Director, Midwest Center for Health Services and Policy Research, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Director, Section of Health Promotion Research, Department of Medicine, University of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago. Received PhD in clinical psychology from Long Island University. Research interests include obesity prevention, binge eating, and cultural differences in eating behavior.Medical Epidemiologist, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Received MD and MPH from Tongji Medical University, Wuhan, China and PhD from University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Research interests include the etiology, epidemiology, and prevention ofobesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.Research Instructor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center. Received MBBS from Allama Iqbal Medical College, Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan and MPH from University of Kansas Medical Center. Research interests include smoking cessation, database design, implementation, data management and analysis, and use of information technology in health care settings.Professor Department of Medicine and Office of Clinical Research, University of Minnesota School of Medicine. Received MD/MPH from Tulane University and MS from Harvard School of Public Health. Research interests include disparities in healthcare; smoking cessation among underserved populations, specifically African Americans; diet, nutrition, obesity, and physical activity.