Proof of illegitimacy and identifying the true father after 70 years

A man born during the First World War doubted his legitimacy and believed his true father to be his mother's (since deceased) cohabitant. His and his sister's findings in less than or equal to 24 blood group systems produced a probability of sibship of W = 33%. The probability of half-sibship between the proband and two of the cohabitant's legitimate children was W = 82%, between him and two other children W = 70%, and between him and yet another two children W = 73%. These values raised doubts about the legitimacy of the cohabitant's six children. By means of serostatistics, using the blood group findings of 8 individuals it was established that it is "highly probable" that two of the six children are not the legitimate children of the cohabitant, but that their father is an unknown man. It was "practically proven", W = 99.97%, that the four legitimate children of the cohabitant are half-siblings of the proband, i.e. they all have the same father. The probability that the initial situation is correct--the proband and the cohabitant's six children are all legitimate-is "practically refuted": W = 0.03%. The probability that the position established on the basis of the blood group findings--the proband is the child of the cohabitant; two of the cohabitant's children are in fact illegitimate--is "practically proven": W = 99.97%.     

Labor Policy and the Social Meaning of Parenthood

The article explores an aspect of the debate over the place of women in the paid labor force. Focusing on disputes over "protective" labor policies, "fetal protection" policies in particular, the essay discusses the implications of such policies for the social meaning of parenthood. Using data from inter-views with 49 mothers and 37 fathers of children in neonatal intensive care units, the essay presents evidence suggesting that traditional social values in-herent in female-exclusive labor policies are inadequate when one is dealing with the practical needs of parents. A policy that views women as nurturing and men as economically active resides in assumptions that women have the sole biological connection to children and overly determines a narrow conception of parenthood. The parents in this sample demonstrate the ongoing and complex negotiations involved in parenting, negotiations that labor policies have often ignored.     

Frequency of Parental Violence Against Children in Chinese Families: Impact of Age and Gender

The present study examines the impact of child and parent gender on parental violence across age span of children and their parents in Hong Kong Chinese families. A randomly selected community sample of 1,019 households was surveyed. Results indicate that, in general, boys experience more frequent parental violence than girls and mothers engage in more violent behaviors against their children than fathers. Parental violence shows a curvilinear pattern with age of children, peaking at age 8 for boys and age 3 for girls. There is a pattern of declining frequency of parental violence as parental age increases across child gender. Fathers exhibit an inverted U pattern of violent behavior against their children, with a peak around age 31–40, while mothers have a steadily declining trend until age 46. Separate parental violence indices are constructed for boys and girls.     

Medicaid and access to child health care in Chicago.

In this article we examine how increasing the reimbursement of physicians and expanding Medicaid eligibility affect access to care for children in Cook County, Illinois, which overlies Chicago. Using Medicaid claims and other data at the zip-code level, we compare the places where Medicaid children live with the places where all the physicians who treat children and those who accept Medicaid patients have their practices. Our findings suggest that the recent changes in legislation are unlikely to benefit extremely poor children, who are more likely to live in depressed inner-city areas, where there are few physicians. "Near-poor" children whose homes are dispersed throughout the county, who are now eligible for Medicaid as a result of the recent changes, are likely to see improvements in their access to care. Further changes in policy, aimed at enhancing the capacity of institutions providing care, could improve access for the children of the inner city.     

The Right to a Family Environment for "Children Living in Exceptionally Difficult Conditions"

Building on earlier, non-binding international instruments, the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides a right to a family environment for children in general, but it also elaborates this right in a variety of contexts in which children are in especially difficult conditions. These provisions are legally binding in the scores of countries that have ratified the Convention. Such provisions are also illustrative of the Convention's conceptual coherence and comprehensiveness, its broad "constitutional" language, and its establishment of structures for monitoring and implementation.     

Resuscitation injuries complicating the interpretation of premortem trauma and natural disease in children

Minor soft tissues injuries are common in both adults and children who have had cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Potentially life-threatening injuries are rare. The pre-arrest history in a resuscitated adult often assists the pathologist to interpret autopsy findings. In contrast, an infant or child may not have a reliable history. In this situation, it may be difficult if not impossible to distinguish resuscitation injuries from pre-existing accidental or inflicted trauma. I describe two children who had significant autopsy-documented injuries initially attributed to abuse. The State filed murder charges against the caretaker in each case. However, further history and review of the medical records suggested that resuscitation rather than pre-arrest trauma caused almost all of the injuries. The State dismissed the charges in the first case. A jury returned a "not guilty" verdict in the second. It is essential to consider the entire history and not just autopsy findings when performing a death investigation.     

GRANDPARENT VISITATION RIGHTS

In recent years, legislators in all fifty states have given grandparents rights to petition for visitation privileges with grandchildren that can be enforced over parental objections. Grandparent visitation rights reflect an effort to protect meaningful relationships children enjoy with nonparental caregivers, enlist the assistance of extended family when the child's nuclear family is disrupted, and defend the interests of grandparents themselves. This psycholegal analysis explores the direct and indirect consequences of grandparent visitation statutes for family functioning. Statutory provisions are summarized, and the effects of these statutes are evaluated in light of what is known about the role of grandparents in child development, how courts evaluate children's "best interests" in grandparent visitation disputes, and how these statutes can alter family functioning in informal ways. The authors conclude that there are risks as well as benefits to children and families in grandparent visitation statutes, and suggest directions for procedural and statutory reform.     

A CALL TO CONGRESS TO GIVE BACK THE FUTURE: END THE "WAR ON DRUGS" AND ENCOURAGE STATES TO RECONSTRUCT THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM

While the "War on Drugs" has been criticized in many respects, there has been little attention given to the detrimental impact it has had on children. Fortunately, both state and federal governments are recognizing the problem and have begun taking steps to combat the negative effects the "War on Drugs" has had on children. More work however, still needs to be done. This Note advocates for Congress to amend the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act to induce states to offer rehabilitation to nonviolent youth drug offenders, rather than incarceration, which will reduce incarceration and its detrimental effect on children, promote public safety and save money. As a funding stipulation, the amendment will require states to develop and implement deinstitutionalization programs for nonviolent juvenile drug offenders.     

The lay component in Scottish juvenile justice

A recently completed study of the Scottish juvenile justice system, employing a variety of methodological approaches, is used as a source of information on the behavior and attitudes of the lay volunteers who make up children's panels and are responsible for decisions concerning young people who are alleged to have committed an offense or are believed to be in need of care and protection. The reported data relate to the beliefs of panel members as to the causes of delinquency and the objectives of intervention and alternative disposals; the topics they raise for discussion in children's hearings and the factors which influence the decisions they make; and the manner in which they are perceived by the children and parents who have appeared before them.     

音乐特长儿童的智力结构特点及其与学业成绩的关系

作者对音乐特长儿童和普通儿童的智力测验结果进行了比较,分析了音乐特长儿童在智力和智力结构上的特点,并考察了这种特点与学业成绩之间的关系。结果发现,音乐特长儿童的总体智力位于中等智力水平。他们的智力结构表现为,词汇、常识方面的发展较为突出。他们学业成绩与普通学生相比,语文、英语成绩要明显在优于普通生,而数学成绩则与普通儿童之间没有显著差异。进一步分析表明,这种学业成绩的表现与其智力结构的特点是相一致的。     

Young children as regenerative tissue donors: considering the need for legal reform in light of divergent ethical approaches

In Australia, young children who lack decision-making capacity can have regenerative tissue removed to treat another person suffering from a severe or life-threatening disease. While great good can potentially result from this as the recipient's life may be saved, ethical unease remains over the "use" of young children in this way. This article examines the ethical approaches that have featured in the debate over the acceptability and limits of this practice, and how these are reflected in Australia's legal regime governing removal of tissue from young children. This analysis demonstrates a troubling dichotomy within Australia's laws that requires decision-makers to adopt inconsistent ethical approaches depending on where a donor child is situated. It is argued that this inconsistency in approach warrants legal reform of this ethically sensitive issue.     

REFUSING TO BLAME THE VICTIM FOR THE AFTERMATH OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

This note addresses the decision of Nicholson v. Williams and the significant impact it will have on the rights of domestic violence victims. Victims are faced with unique challenges with regards to protecting their children from witnessing domestic violence. The Nicholson decision recognizes that the dynamics of domestic violence require special consideration in "failure to protect" cases and that removal from the home is not necessarily the best alternative for the well-being of the children. This note attempts to explain that the abuser, not the victim, is responsible for the effects that domestic violence has on the children who witness it and that it is important to keep the victim and children united to cope with the effects of domestic violence.     

Social Security Ruling, SSR 98-1p; Title XVI: determining medical equivalence in childhood disability claims when a child has marked limitations in cognition and speech--SSA. Notice of Social Security Ruling

In accordance with 20 CFR 402.35(b)(1), the Commissioner of Social Security gives notice of Social Security Ruling, SSR 98-1p. This Ruling results from the "top-to-bottom" review of the implementation of changes to the Supplemental Security Income childhood disability program necessitated by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-193). It provides a policy interpretation that children who have a "marked" limitation in cognitive functioning and a "marked" limitation in speech have an impairment or combination of impairments that medically equals Listing 2.09. It also provides guidance for determining when a child has a "marked" or an "extreme" limitation in each of these areas.     

Families and future children: the role of rights and interests in determining ethical policy for regulating families

"Rights" and "interests" are key ethical concepts in the debate on the regulation of Assisted Reproductive Technology. This article examines some of the ways in which these terms have been used in the debate, concentrating on their application to the situation of the potential children resulting from the technology. The article argues that, while there have been many misuses of these terms by the parties to the often acrimonious debate, nevertheless ethical regulation depends on maintaining the concepts as of central importance, but at the same time clarifying their use.     

PRIVATIZATION OF CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES

Florida is a state in flux in terms of its child protective services organization. The Department of Children and Families has suffered numerous failures in protecting children in its care. Publicity surrounding these defects have led to major overhauls in the agency itself, as well as a concerted effort to move forward toward privatization of virtually all services currently administered by the department. Many of the initial attempts at privatization have already failed; others have had to be revamped to allow for unforseen problems. It is appallingly true that Florida, like any other state with serious issues in child protective services, has an absolute obligation to search for the "miracle cure" for its ailments. But only serious attention to the mistakes of the past and the will to correct them will allow Florida to finally put its children first in its citizens' hearts and minds, where they belong.     

论成年在校大学生对父母的抚养费请求权——兼论《婚姻法司法解释(一)》第20条的缺陷与完善

在司法实践中,对于在校成年大学生起诉父母索要抚养费的相似案件,不同法院的判决往往截然不同。主要原因在于《婚姻法司法解释(一)》第20条对"不能独立生活的子女"的规定存在缺陷。在《婚姻法》相关内容细化之前,有必要通过司法解释作出明确规定,一是明确"父母有给付能力"为成年子女请求父母给付抚养费的前提;二是细化对"不能独立生活的子女"的解释,甄别情况肯定或否定在校成年大学生对父母的抚养费请求权。     

Vanishing vaccinations: why are so many Americans opting out of vaccinating their children?

Vaccinations against life-threatening diseases are one of the greatest public health achievements in history. Literally millions of premature deaths have been prevented, and countless more children have been saved from disfiguring illness. While vaccinations carry unavoidable risks, the medical, social and economic benefits they confer have led all fifty states to enact compulsory childhood vaccination laws to stop the spread of preventable diseases. Today, however, vaccines are becoming a victim of their success--many individuals have never witnessed the debilitating diseases that vaccines protect against, allowing complacency toward immunization requirements to build. Antivaccination sentiment is growing fast in the United States, in large part due to the controversial and hotly disputed link between immunizations and autism. The internet worsens fears regarding vaccination safety, as at least a dozen websites publish alarming information about the risks of vaccines. Increasing numbers of parents are refusing immunizations for their children and seeking legally sanctioned exemptions instead, apparently fearing vaccines more than the underlying diseases that they protect against. A variety of factors are at play: religious and philosophical beliefs, freedom and individualism, misinformation about risk, and overperception of risk. State legislatures and health departments now face a difficult challenge: respecting individual rights and freedoms while also safeguarding the public welfare. Nearly all states allow vaccination exemptions for religious reasons and a growing number provide "philosophical" opt-outs as well. However, in all but a handful of jurisdictions, neither objection is seriously documented or verified. Often, the law requires a parent to do no more than simply check a box indicating she does not wish her child to receive immunizations. The problem is exacerbated by financial incentives schools have to encourage students to opt out of vaccinations. The rise in parents opting out has caused the AMA grave concern, with many experts decrying the rise of so-called "exemptions of convenience." In some areas, nearly one out of five children have not received their recommended vaccines. The consequences are serious not only for those unprotected children, but for the rest of society as well. "Herd immunity" is threatened as more and more parents free ride off of the community's dwindling immunity, and outbreaks of diseases thought to have been conquered have already occurred. Lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers threaten them with bankruptcy, costs are being externalized onto the healthcare and legal systems, and vulnerable populations are suffering harm or even death. In the interests of social welfare, state legislatures and health departments should consider methods to ensure that the exemption process is carefully tailored to prevent check-the-box opt-outs of convenience, while still allowing exemptions for those with earnest and informed convictions or medical reasons.     

Effects of Social Support on Children's Eyewitness Reports: A Test of the Underlying Mechanism

Research on children's eyewitness testimony demonstrates that interviewer-provided social support given during a mock forensic interview helps children resist an interviewer's misleading suggestions about past events. We proposed and tested 1 potential mechanism underlying support effects: Resistance Efficacy, or children's perceived self-efficacy for resisting an interviewer's suggestions. Eighty-one 6- and 7-year-old children experienced a play event, then were interviewed about the event with misleading and specific questions. Consistent with prior research, children interviewed by a supportive person were more resistant to misleading suggestions than were those interviewed by a nonsupportive person. Although Resistance Efficacy did not mediate the effects of interviewer support in the full sample, additional analyses revealed that Resistance Efficacy may be a mediator for older, but not younger, children. Contrary to predictions, children's preexisting social support reserves were not related to children's interview accuracy nor to perceived Resistance Efficacy. Implications for psychological theory are discussed, as well as implications for understanding and improving children's eyewitness reports.     

中日儿童孤独感的跨文化比较研究

以448名中国、日本小学4-6年级儿童为被试,采用Asher等人研制的儿童孤独感量表和日本田研式精神健康诊断调查表,考察了中国和日本儿童在学校和家庭生活中所存在的孤独感.结果表明:日本儿童在学校和家庭中的孤独感均高于中国儿童.中日两国儿童在家庭里的孤独感都高于在学校不能融入群体时的孤独.中国和日本男生的孤独感均高于女生.中国的男生随着年级的升高,孤独感慢慢减少,而日本的男生则相反.     

教育权之争——“孟母堂事件”的法理学思考

“孟母堂事件”是一场发生在国家与公民之间关于教育权的争执,我国现行法律规定了国家作为教育权主体的地位,而未对父母的教育权做出具体规定。缺少制约的国家教育权力的膨胀造成诸多弊端。父母基于自然,有权主张自己对子女的教育权,有权监督让渡给国家和社会的教育权,家庭教育应有其合法的地位。当然教育权作为公民的自由权的同时,又具有社会性,家庭教育必须接受国家、社会、法律、法规的监督与指导,国家也有义务保障家庭教育的实现。这样,父母的教育权利与国家的教育权力(利)之间应该互相制约,以保障受教育人受教育权的完美实现。