Family Violence and Children’s Behavior Problems: Independent Contributions of Intimate Partner and Child-Directed Physical Aggression

Using data from a diverse sample of 581 families living in predominantly low-income, rural communities, the current study sought to investigate the longitudinal associations among father-perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) and child-directed physical aggression perpetrated by the mother. The unique contributions of each of these types of family violence on children’s behavioral problems at school entry were also examined. Results confirm bidirectional associations between father-perpetrated IPV and maternal physical aggression directed toward the child, and indicate that both types of physical aggression contribute to child behavior problems at school entry.     

Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and their Social,School, and Activities Competence: Latent Profiles and Correlates

This study examined patterns of intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure and three domains of competence among 288 children recruited from community-based domestic violence agencies. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was performed to identify subgroups of children who differed based on levels of social, academic, and extracurricular competence and exposure to IPV. Five distinct latent profiles were identified: Frequent IPV Exposure-Low Activity Competence (39 % of children), Frequent IPV Exposure-Average Global Competence (31 % of children), Frequent IPV Exposure-High Global Competence (13 % of children), Low IPV Exposure-Compromised School Competence (11 % of children), and Low IPV Exposure-Compromised Global Competence (6 % of children). Covariates distinguished between the profiles (e.g., yearly household income, maternal education, number of children in the household) and the groups were characterized by statistically significant mean differences in total behavior problems. Implications for future research and community-based preventive intervention efforts are discussed.     

Use of a Social–Ecological Framework to Understand How and Under What Conditions Family Violence Exposure Affects Children’s Adjustment

The proportion of children experiencing violence in the home is disturbingly high, with many also being victims of violence outside the home. Therefore, smaller, innovative or preliminary studies were invited in order to better understand how exposure to violence across different ecologies independently or interactively influences the risk for maladaptive outcomes. This special issue is predicated on the notion that risk for maladaptive outcomes is contextualized by one’s individual traits (e.g., self-regulatory capacities), characteristics of the abuse (e.g., duration), exposure to multiple forms of violence (both within and outside the home), as well as parenting and familial resources (e.g., parents’ mental health and abuse history, familial social support). Two of the articles focus on dual victimization in the home, two address factors that modify the relation between child sexual abuse and adjustment, and the last two articles focus on mediators of the relationship between abuse or exposure to IPV and adjustment. Taken together, these articles reflect efforts at elucidating modifiable targets for prevention and intervention purposes, as well as qualities of the individual, family, or the abuse that may aid in tailoring interventions to be maximally effective.     

Impact of Chinese Parenting on Adolescents’ Social Bonding,Affiliation with Delinquent Peers,and Delinquent Behavior

Using data collected from 615 middle- and high-school students in rural and urban areas in China, this study examines how different parenting styles such as warmth, coercion, monitoring, and permissiveness affect children’s delinquent behavior, both directly and indirectly through bonds with conventional others (i.e., parents, school, and peers) and affiliation with delinquent peers. The results show that only parental coercion has a direct effect on delinquency. All parenting styles, except for parental monitoring, affect delinquency indirectly through mediating processes of social control and social learning in predicted directions. Despite different pathways to delinquency, variables of social control and social learning play an important role in mediating the relationship between parenting and delinquency. The implications of the results are discussed.     

Improving Children’s Interviewing Methods? The Effects of Drawing and Practice on Children’s Memories for an Event

In the present experiment, we were interested in the effects of drawings and practice on children’s memory performance. Younger (6/7-year-olds; n = 37) and older (11/12-year-olds; n = 44) children were presented with two videos that differed in complexity. Half of the children had to practice recalling an experienced event (i.e., last holiday) before remembering the two videos. The other half was not presented with such practice. Then, all children had to tell what they could still recollect about the first video. For the second video, all children were allowed to draw and tell during the recollection of the event. As expected, we found that for the complex video, making a drawing increased the completeness of children’s statements, but also reduced the accuracy of their statements. Although we found that including practice reduced the completeness of statements, it did not negatively impact the accuracy of children’s memory reports. Taken together, our results imply that interviewers should be cautious in using drawings as an interviewing method as it might elevate the production of incorrect information.     

The Relationship of Personal, Family, and Abuse-Specific Factors to Children’s Clinical Presentation Following Childhood Sexual Abuse

Past literature has proposed potential variables (e.g., age, gender, attributional style) that may relate to clinical presentation following childhood sexual abuse (CSA). However, few studies have tested these relationships. The current study examined multiple factors related to clinical presentation following CSA in 101 children and adolescents presenting for treatment at Project SAFE, a parallel group treatment for children/teens and their nonoffending parents. Using clusters developed in a previous study, relationships between proposed variables and pretreatment clinical presentation were examined. Results indicated that attributions about the abuse, parental mental health, and severity of abuse related to the differentiated clinical presentation. These results are important because pinpointing correlates to clinical presentation following CSA helps elucidate differences among those with a history of CSA and gives greater insight into the impact sexual abuse has on children. Knowing these differences may also benefit treatment providers in the development of individual treatment goals during therapy.     

Seeking Help to Protect the Children?: The Influence of Children on Women’s Decisions to Seek Help When Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has a detrimental effect on the wellbeing of victims and their children. Situational as well as individual factors shape victims’ responses to the experiences of IPV in many ways. This study uses a quantitative approach to examine the factors that influence victims’ decisions on whether and where to seek help. The role of (unborn) children has been examined together with other demographic and situational factors to reveal their influence on victims’ help-seeking decisions. Two items were used to measure the role of children, including victims’ pregnancy at the time of the abuse and children residing with the victim and witnessing the abuse. Relevant findings derived from the analysis of a sub-sample of women interviewed in the process of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS) 2002/03 are discussed throughout this paper with a specific focus on the role of children. While the presence of unborn children (i.e., pregnancy) had no effect on victims’ help-seeking decisions, children witnessing the abuse emerged as the strongest predictor of general and more formalized help-seeking decisions.     

China,the Chinese Representative,and the Use of International Law to Counter Japanese Acts of Aggression: China’s Standpoint on UNWCC Jurisdiction

This article discusses China’s influence on the United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC). It describes China’s participation in the discussion of war crimes investigation and punishment, emphasizing the particular influence of Chinese Representative Wellington Koo. The article examines Koo’s application of international law to address Japanese atrocities committed towards China, particularly in using the UNWCC as a means of ensuring that Japanese aggression did not go unpunished. Despite the inability to hold many Japanese war criminals accountable, the author emphasizes China’s remarkable impact on the UNWCC, and maintains that China continues to remain a strong force in international law.     

Young Children’s Competency to Take the Oath: Effects of Task,Maltreatment, and Age

This study examined maltreated and non-maltreated children’s (N = 183) emerging understanding of “truth” and “lie,” terms about which they are quizzed to qualify as competent to testify. Four- to six-year-old children were asked to accept or reject true and false (T/F) statements, label T/F statements as the “truth” or “a lie,” label T/F statements as “good” or “bad,” and label “truth” and “lie” as “good” or “bad.” The youngest children were at ceiling in accepting/rejecting T/F statements. The labeling tasks revealed improvement with age and children performed similarly across the tasks. Most children were better able to evaluate “truth” than “lie.” Maltreated children exhibited somewhat different response patterns, suggesting greater sensitivity to the immorality of lying.     

The Consequences of Social Inequality for the Health and Development of India’s Children: The Case of Caste,Sanitation, and Child Height

Social Justice Research - The links among social inequality, economic inequality, and health have long been of interest to social scientists, but causal links are difficult to investigate...     

A Hunter’s Moon: the Effect of Moon Illumination on Outdoor Crime

We use National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data and an AutoRegressive Integrative Moving Average (ARIMA) study design to investigate the effect of moon illumination on reported crime occurring outdoors between the hours of 10 pm to 2 am in 13 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Prior research analyzed a confounded dependent variable that amalgamated indoor and outdoor crimes. This situation is problematic in that there is little reason to speculate a relationship between moon illumination and indoor crime because artificial illumination is used within dwellings. Findings show that while moon illumination has little influence on total crime and indoor crime, the intensity of moonlight does have a substantive positive effect on outdoor criminal activity. As moon illumination intensifies, outdoor crime increases markedly. Plausible explanations for this relationship are discussed.     

The Dragon’s shadow: an introduction to the special issue on ‘Chinese organized crime’

This paper provides an introduction to the articles submitted to the special issue of Trends in Organized Crime bringing forward numerous empirical research findings and theoretical accounts on Chinese organized crime in China and beyond.     

The Evolution of the CPC’s Conception of Association and Regulation of Social Organizations in China

Freedom of association and all institutions coming with it have not been accepted by the Chinese government. Instead, Chinese social organization administration is based upon the concept of association held by the Communist Party of China (CPC). The Chinese government had adopted a “total control” model of social organization administration in the era of totalitarianism before the “Opening-up and Reform”, leaving almost no room for social organizations to survive, because the CPC had regarded social organizations as “revolutionary” and “deconstructive”. The Chinese has adopted a graduated control system to administrate social organizations in the era of authoritarianism after the “Opening-up and Reform”, treating social organizations differently according to their threats to the ruling order and their utilities for economic development, because the CPC has viewed social organizations as a “challenging” but “auxiliary” power. The on-going “innovation of registration and administration of social organizations” is not a return to international standard regarding social organization administration in China, but only partial reform of the graduate control system still based upon the CPC’s conception of association as “challenging” but “auxiliary”. Social organizations capable of providing public goods in areas of economic development and social services are given more favorable treatment by the government while political and religious organizations are still tightly controlled by the government.     

Adults Usually Believe Young Children: The Influence of Eliciting Questions and Suggestibility Presentations on Perceptions of Children’s Disclosures

Do people realize the danger of asking misinformed children yes–no questions? Study 1 confirmed that disclosures children made during free recall in an earlier suggestibility study were more accurate than disclosures following “yes” responses to yes–no questions, which in turn were more accurate than disclosures following “no” responses. In Studies 2 and 3, college students watched interviews of children and judged the veracity of these three disclosure patterns. Participants generally believed false reports representing the first two patterns, although watching expert testimony that included a videotaped example of a false report reduced trust in prompted disclosures. Results document the need to inform forensic decision-makers about the circumstances associated with erroneous responses to yes–no questions.     

The Influence of the Social Bond on Self-control at the Moment of Decision: Testing Hirschi’s Redefinition of Self-control

Hirschi (2004) redefined self-control as the tendency to consider the “full range” of potential costs relevant to a criminal act, suggesting that such costs vary in number and salience based on one’s level of self-control. He also suggested self-control, as expressed at the moment of decision, was influenced by the individual’s level of social bonding; those with fewer bonds would exhibit less self control by considering fewer costs and finding them less salient when making a decision. This study presents an initial attempt to examine Hirschi’s theoretical statement linking concepts from the two theories. Presented with a hypothetical drunk driving scenario, participants were asked to identify perceived costs and salience as a measure of self-control, as Hirschi (2004) suggested. Results support Hirschi’s assertion demonstrating that the social bond impacts offending likelihood through its relationship to self-control expressed within the decision. Future theoretical and empirical directions are outlined.     

Positive Obligations and the International Criminal Tribunals’ Law of Detention: Funding Family Visits and the ICC Presidency’s Ngudjolo Decision

This article addresses the issue of whether the international criminal tribunals are under an obligation to fund family visits for indigent detainees. It examines the concept of positive obligations and its relation to the detention situation and describes the practice of funding family visits as it has developed at the International Criminal Court. It further analyses relevant developments in the Court’s case law. It argues that the Court is indeed obliged to fund family visits. In this regard, the mere recognition of a detainee’s right to family visits in the tribunals’ legal frameworks andin international soft-law penological standards can be said to inadequately reflect the particularities of international detention.

     

A Hero’s Welcome? Exploring the Prevalence and Problems of Military Veterans in the Arrestee Population

The potential for veterans to end up in the criminal justice system as a result of physical and psychological problems that may be combat‐related has generated much interest, illustrated most recently by the development of specialized veterans’ courts. However, little is known about how often veterans are arrested and incarcerated, the nature of their problems, or the extent to which their military service has contributed to their criminality. Using interview data from 2,102 arrestees booked in Maricopa County (AZ) during 2009, this paper examines the problems and prior experiences of arrested military veterans and compares veteran and non‐veteran arrestees along a range of measures. Results indicate that veterans comprise 6.3% of the arrestee population, and that more than 50% of veterans report suffering from at least one combat‐related problem including physical injury, post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other mental health problems, and substance abuse. Multivariate analysis indicates that veteran arrestees differ from non‐veterans on a number of key measures, most notably more frequent arrests for violent offenses and greater use of crack cocaine and opiates. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for the potential link between military service and criminality as well as for criminal justice policy and practice.