Institutional interplay in global environmental governance: lessons learned and future research

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - Over the past decades, the growing proliferation of international institutions governing the global environment has impelled...     

The causal relationship between gang joining and violent victimization: A critical review and directions for future research

Purpose

This article provides a critical review of the state of research on the gang membership-violent victimization relationship.

Methods

This study examines a comprehensive list of published quantitative studies that have assessed the relationship between gang membership and violent victimization.

Results

By examining strengths and weaknesses of the design features of various studies, this article identifies theoretical, conceptual, methodological, and statistical issues that should be considered when interpreting the causal effect of gang membership on violent victimization. Some of the methodological and design issues discussed include, but are not limited to, consequences of failing to establish temporal order, failure to conduct sensitivity analyses to determine treatment effects, use of bootstrapping methods with propensity score analysis, measurement of violent victimization, and corrections for dependence in matched samples of gang and non-gang members.

Conclusion

Suggestions for future research are provided that will help advance the empirical study of the gang membership-violent victimization nexus.     

Mental disorder in violent women in secure settings: Potential relevance to risk for future violence

The relevance to women of common violence risk factors identified in men has in many instances yet to be established. Consequently, there is a reluctance to accept without question the application to women of practices relating to violence risk assessment and management developed from research into men. This study examines mental disorder in women who are violent in order comment on its relevance to the practice of violence risk assessment and management. A sample of 95 violent women in high secure prison and forensic psychiatric care were assessed. Structured assessments of Axis I and II mental disorders and psychopathy were undertaken on all women and conviction histories were recorded. Very high levels of psychiatric morbidity were noted and patterns in comorbidity were detected. Among Axis I conditions, psychotic disorders and disorders of mood co-occurred at a very high rate. Among the Axis II conditions, dimensional ratings of borderline personality disorder (PD) correlated with dimensional ratings of avoidant, dependent and paranoid PDs while ratings of antisocial PD correlated with those of narcissistic, histrionic and obsessive–compulsive PDs. Women who had been incarcerated for a major violent offence were four times more likely to have a diagnosis of borderline PD than women whose index offence was one of minor violence. A number of the findings reported are in contrast to those reported in similar studies of men. Findings suggest that practitioners are right to question the application to women of knowledge derived from research into men. The practice of violence risk assessment and management with women should emphasise the development of individual risk formulations and responding to psychiatric comorbidity should be the rule rather than the exception with this population.     

HIV vaccines: current challenges and future directions

Volume seven of the Review will mark the tenth anniversary of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network with a series of articles that describe past developments and future directions in several areas of policy and law related to HIV/AIDS. The following article is the first of these, discussing current challenges and future directions in the development of and access to HIV vaccines. It argues that governments are under public health, ethical, and legal obligations to develop and provide access to HIV vaccines. It further explains what is required for governments to fulfill their obligations: additional commitment and resources for HIV vaccine development in the context of increased global research and development regarding diseases of the poor; increased support and advocacy for partnerships to develop HIV vaccines; enhanced regulatory capacity in every country to review, approve, and monitor HIV vaccines; and assurance of global supply of, procurement of, delivery of, and access to vaccines in the context of efforts to increase global access to public health measures and technologies.     

Patterns of victim marginalization in victim-offender mediation: some lessons learned

This article discusses issues that restorative justice programs may face during implementation and lessons learned from an exploratory study. We examined various perspectives of multiple participants who experienced a Victim-Offender Mediation (VOM) program in a mid-sized Midwestern city in the U.S. The primary data source comprised 34 interviews with 37 participants including adult crime victims, juvenile offenders and their parents, mediators, and representatives from referring agencies. Observations complemented the interview data. Findings revealed patterns of victim marginalization during the processes used: victims were not prepared appropriately; were at times pressured by mediators to behave in certain ways; and, occasionally felt intimidated by offenders and/or their families. We discuss some factors that may have influenced the emergence of these patterns. This study revealed gaps between the guiding principles of restorative justice theory and field practices, particularly sensitivity toward victims to meet their needs. We suggest that restorative justice programs should consider using a monitoring system to ensure that the processes used remain consistent with the values and principles of restorative justice.     

Thoughts on interpersonal violence and lessons learned: fact or fiction

Although interpersonal violence is evident in all strata of society, every geographical area in the country, and across each gender, it takes courage to acknowledge our passivity about the phenomena, particularly when people of color are involved. Thus, the mass incarcerations of African American men and women and data citing the overrepresentation of African American children not being adequately served in the child welfare system are highlighted to address the three questions posed to authors: What have we learned about violence and trauma over two decades? What should be learned over the next 10 years about violence and trauma? What methodologies exist that show promise of affecting a better understanding of violence and trauma?     

Theory and racial profiling: Shortcomings and future directions in research

The volatile political environment that surrounds the issue of “racial profiling” has led local and state police agencies across the nation to start collecting information about traffic and pedestrian stops. The controversy over this issue is overwhelmed by the unsupported assumption that all race-based decision making by police officers is motivated by individual police officers' racial prejudice. This article reviews recently published studies on racial profiling and critiques both their methods and conclusions. Using the conceptual framework for police research presented by Bernard and Engel, it reviews a number of theories that may explain racial disparities in the rates of police stops. The authors argue that to explain police behavior better, theoretical models must guide future data collection efforts.     

Online child exploitation: Challenges and future research directions

Given the relatively new phenomenon of online child exploitation – an important area of criminological and policy concern – it is difficult to obtain long term trend data on reported convictions. Existing legislative and prosecution-based approaches, while important, are unlikely to be adequate. This analysis of the legislative and prosecution-based responses in five Commonwealth countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and United Kingdom), highlights the need for clear national and international definitions as the lack of consistency in the international legislative environment creates opportunities for sexual exploitation of children. To provide a multi-faceted and non-prosecutorial approach to address online child exploitation including the commercial exploitation of children, this paper identifies five potential research questions.     

Implications of genetic testing: discrimination in life insurance and future directions

This article examines the possibility of genetic discrimination in life insurance and discusses the inability of current Australian legislation to deal adequately with genetic test result information. Genetic information has certain features that distinguish it from other medical information and thus a specialist legislative package is required to regulate its use. This article outlines how current practices in the life insurance industry are inconsistent with notions of human rights. Several legislative options are suggested and examined. Given the negative and damaging impact that adverse selection is likely to have on the life insurance industry should the use of all genetic test results be prohibited, an approach which modifies the current regime is recommended. This includes a comprehensive review scheme and the introduction of additional insurance products tailored to individuals suffering from various genetic illnesses or predispositions to future disease.     

International terrorism and mental health: recent research and future directions

International terrorism has become a major global concern. Several studies conducted in North America and Europe in the aftermath of terrorist attacks reveal that international terrorism represents a significant short-term and long-term threat to mental health. In the present article, the authors clarify the concept and categories of terrorism and then present central findings from studies conducted in the United States and Europe, which mainly focus on negative impacts on mental health, such as emotional stress and PTSD. Furthermore, the authors outline experiments that focus on social interaction processes thought to be triggered by international terrorism and which are assumed to be related indirectly to mental health processes. Next, they highlight the potential positive outcomes on the resilience side, in line with the current theory on posttraumatic growth in adversity. Finally, theoretical and practical implications as well as limitations and future directions are discussed.     

Hospital utilization review: past experience, future directions

Utilization review (UR) programs seek to determine whether specific services are medically necessary and whether they are delivered at an appropriate level of intensity and cost. Although UR programs have been operating for more than 40 years, they have changed dramatically during the past two decades. Today, many health care providers, analysts, and policymakers view UR as a possible solution to hospital inpatient cost and quality problems. This paper addresses how UR has evolved, how UR is used today by different delivery mechanisms (i.e., Medicare, health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations, Blue Cross, and commercial insurers), the cost effects of various UR approaches, and how UR will be used in the future.     

The community health care center: current status and future directions

This paper presents an assessment of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Municipal Health Services Program, a demonstration in five major cities of neighborhood-based health care delivery for inner-city residents, started in 1978 and supported until 1984. The program was successful in achieving higher levels of clinic utilization, as well as in integrating preventive and therapeutic services; it was less successful in reducing the dependence of inner-city residents on hospital-based ambulatory services. Although the neighborhood centers provided care at substantially lower cost than that of other public facilities, they remained dependent on outside financial support. The viability of the community health care centers at the end of the grant period is discussed, in terms of the changes that have affected the health delivery system in the seven years since the program was started, and in terms of expected changes over the next few years that will affect their future usefulness and stability. A series of alternatives that might provide for the health care needs of the indigent are also discussed.     

Criminological research in contemporary China: challenges and lessons learned from a large-scale criminal victimization survey

This article discusses research experience gained from a large-scale survey of criminal victimization recently conducted in Tianjin, China. The authors review some of the more important challenges that arose in the research, their responses to these challenges, and lessons learned that might be beneficial to other scholars who are interested in conducting criminological research in China. Their experience underscores the importance of understanding the Chinese political, cultural, and academic context, and the utility of collaborating with experienced and knowledgeable colleagues "on site." Although there are some special difficulties and barriers, their project demonstrates the feasibility of original criminological data collection in China.     

Crafting the Greenbook: framers reflect on the vision, process, and lessons learned

Guided by research and the experiences of judges nationwide, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges made a commitment in 1998 to improve community response to families experiencing domestic violence and child maltreatment. A year later, the council's work culminated in a set of recommendations commonly called the Greenbook, which summoned child welfare agencies, domestic violence service providers, and dependency courts to implement internal changes and collaborate to address co-occurring domestic violence and child maltreatment. In 2000, the federal government funded six community-based demonstration programs to implement the Greenbook recommendations. As part of the evaluation of the Greenbook initiative, the evaluation team asked the national experts who helped frame the Greenbook to reflect on the processes used and the decisions that shaped the document. In addition, the experts were asked to describe their expectations for the systems and communities that implemented the recommendations, including anticipated challenges.     

Understanding rape and sexual assault: 20 years of progress and future directions

During the past 20 years, researchers have documented the widespread problem of rape in American society. Approximately one in four women are raped in their adult lifetime, which causes severe psychological distress and long-term physical health problems. The impact of sexual assault extends far beyond rape survivors as their family, friends, and significant others are also negatively affected. Moreover, those who help rape victims, such as rape victim advocates, therapists, as well as sexual assault researchers, can experience vicarious trauma. Future research and advocacy should focus on improving the community response to rape and the prevention of sexual assault.     

Strategies to enhance price and quality competition in health care: lessons learned from tracking local markets

Drawing on observations from tracking changes in local health care markets over the past ten years, this article critiques two Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice recommendations to enhance price and quality competition. First, we take issue with the notion that consumers, acting independently, will drive greater competition in health care markets. Rather we suggest an important role remains for trusted agents who can analyze inherently complex price and quality information and negotiate on consumers' behalf. With aggregated information identifying providers who deliver cost-effective care, consumers would be better positioned to respond to financial incentives about where to seek care and thereby drive more meaningful competition among providers to reduce costs and improve quality. Second, we take issue with the FTC/DOJ recommendation to provide more direct subsidies to prevent distortions in competition. In the current political environment, it is not practical to provide direct subsidies for all of the unfunded care that exists in health care markets today; instead, some interference with competition may be necessary to protect cross subsidies. Barriers can be reduced, though, by revising pricing policies that have resulted in marked disparities in the relative profitability of different services.