旅游城市建设中的生态经济系统

城市的发展集中反映了人类的进步与文明,但同时又集中了人类经济、社会发展中发生的一切矛盾和问题.这些问题既是经济问题,又表现为生态问题,仅从单方面去审视和处理这些问题是不行的.从旅游城市建设和发展的要求出发,对当代旅游城市建设中的生态经济问题进行分析,从生态经济的角度去寻求解决问题的新途径,以期旅游城市的建设与生态经济的发展能够相互协调.     

Buy Today,Pay Tomorrow: Formal Credit Supply and Domestic Electrical and Electronic Goods Consumption in São Paulo's Urban Periphery

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, expansion of the formal credit supply in Brazil has promoted the ‘financial inclusion’ of the low-income population, especially through instalment plans offered by large retail chains. This article aims to analyse the impacts of formal credit availability on the consumption of electrical and electronic goods by residents of Jardim Helena, a neighbourhood in São Paulo's periphery. Through the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, this study reveals how the instalment plan can stimulate consumption among the low-income population, with a significant impact on household budgets, raising the risk of indebtedness.     

Navigating adolescent depression and anxiety in the context of parenting plan evaluations

This article touches upon theories accounting for the rise in adolescent anxiety and depression and how the prevalence of adolescent anxiety and depression affects how we navigate parenting plan evaluations. This article also discusses the importance of screening youth for depressive and anxious symptoms and assessing family, parental, and youth risk and protective factors related to adolescent depression and anxiety. This article also highlights the importance of assessing for mediating factors that increase the risk of anxiety and depression in youth in the context of parental separation, such as interparental conflict, financial difficulties, and limited contact with one parent. This article also identifies various methods of assessing depression and anxiety, including the adolescent interview, observations during the interview, and self-report measures. Additionally, this article discusses potential interventions that address mediators of the impact of divorce, such as parenting problems, family conflict, or the parent–child relationship.     

Training parenting plan evaluators: Looking towards the future

Standards of practice for parenting plan evaluations continue to evolve, informed by advances in research and the development of innovative, evidence-based approaches to assessment and intervention. Parenting plan evaluators are asked to inform the court, parents, and other professionals on how to address the complex needs of increasingly diverse families amid reorganization, high conflict, and crisis. How can we attract and properly train new mental health professionals to do important work in an increasingly strained adversarial system? How can evaluators keep up with these advances over the course of their careers? How can they deepen and refine their skills to work with a diverse array of individuals, family constellations and an enormous range of family circumstances? And how can evaluators care for their own well-being and their colleagues? In this article, the authors describe a multi-dimensional approach to training both new and experienced custody evaluators that includes imparting baseline knowledge on how to conduct quality parenting plan evaluations as a starting point. We discuss a variety of modalities and approaches that can enable evaluators to deepen and expand their skills over the years, contribute to the diverse community of family law professionals, and manage the exceptional demands of working in this field.     

Identifying and managing evaluator biases in parenting plan evaluations

Psychologists and other professionals are often appointed by the courts to assist families in resolving post-separation disputes and to assist judges in making orders on behalf of the best interests of the child(ren). Although these evaluations provide valuable information to the court, they require assessing areas of human behavior that are imprecisely defined or lacking professional consensus. As parents separate, their disputes may become more challenging, and they may act in uncharacteristic and unpredictable ways. Families that cannot solve their own challenges outside of court often show high levels of conflict and/or have issues that are extremely complex, including domestic violence allegations, resist-refuse family dynamics, and relocation requests. Evaluators and judges, being human, tend to oversimplify complex issues due to the limitations of the human brain. Evaluators are subject to cognitive biases that result from the use of mental heuristics, leading to shortcuts and errors in their reasoning and judgment. Other biases, such as implicit and explicit cultural biases, often influence evaluators' reasoning and conclusions. This article explores various biases that affect and potentially diminish the quality of an evaluator's work. We conclude by addressing “de-biasing” strategies that can reduce, but not negate, the risks associated with such biases.     

The admissibility and persuasiveness of expert evidence

Parenting plan evaluators are expert witnesses who offer their opinion. Courts in common law jurisdictions generally do not accept evidence of an opinion as it is not considered to be reliable evidence from which to establish a fact. An exception to that general principle is expert opinion evidence. In short, an opinion from a person with specialized knowledge or expertise about the area in which they are an expert may be sufficiently reliable to form an evidentiary basis from which to make a finding of fact, provided the opinion meets certain criteria. These criteria will be discussed in this article, as well as what is relevant, reliable and persuasive evidence. The relevant legal principles will be examined in an historical and contemporary, theoretical and practical context. The authors reflect on their considerable experience as consumers of expert evidence and apply this to parenting plan evaluations, as well as considering future challenges in the field.