THE WAY WALKED WITH CHILDREN: MEDICAL TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION

Due to obstacles in expression and communication, as well as a societal lack of humanitarian spirit and deficiencies in system design, children with intellectual disabilities are confronted with various problems when seeking medical treatment. The dilemma of medical treatment seriously restricts the survival and development of disabled groups. By reviewing the way in which a mother accompanied her disabled child for 28 years together, this article analyzed the reasons for the dilemmas of medical treatment, and appealed to improve the living conditions of persons with intellectual disabilities to guarantee their rights for rehabilitation. In addition, by introducing the recreational and sports activities that parents’ spontaneous organization created for children with intellectual disabilities, it put forward the proposal to prevent in advance the possible deterioration of conditions caused by social isolation, which is definitely a preferable remedy for persons with disabilities.     

PRACTICE ISSUES, STRATEGIES, AND MODELS

A recent Canadian study begins to address the lacuna in family mediation process research identified by Kelly. This study generated important data previously not available on a broad range of issues and concerns regarding the process and practice of family mediation and the extent of variability of current family mediation practice. The study focused on where family mediators position themselves in relation to salient issues and debates in the field; the interventions, methods, procedures, techniques, and strategies they find most useful and effective in their work; and the theories that guide them in their practice and the models of practice that they use. This article reports the key findings of the study and begins to discuss the implications of the research for mediation practice and sociolegal policy.     

SCOPE AND CONCEPTUAL ISSUES IN TESTING THE RACE–CRIME INVARIANCE THESIS: BLACK,WHITE, AND HISPANIC COMPARISONS*

Our goal in this article is to contribute conceptually and empirically to assessments of the racial invariance hypothesis, which posits that structural disadvantage predicts violent crime in the same way for all racial and ethnic groups. Conceptually, we elucidate the scope of the racial invariance hypothesis and clarify the criteria used for evaluating it. Empirically, we use 1999–2001 averaged arrest data from California and New York to extend analyses of the invariance hypothesis within the context of the scope and definitional issues raised in our conceptual framing—most notably by including Hispanic comparisons with Blacks and Whites, by examining the invariance assumption for homicide as well as the violent crime index, by using discrete as well as composite disadvantage measures, and by using census place localities as the study unit. The mixed findings we report from our comparisons (across Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics; offense types; and type of disadvantage) suggest caution and uncertainty about the notion that structural sources of violence affect racial/ethnic groups in uniform ways. We conclude that the hypothesis should be regarded as provisional, and its scope remains to be established as to whether it applies only under narrow conditions or is a principle of general applicability.     

"GETTING HIGH AND GETTING BY": DIMENSIONS OF DRUG SELLING BEHAVIORS AMONG AMERICAN MEXICAN GANG MEMBERS IN SOUTH TEXAS

This article discerns the role that Mexican American gang members play in drug markets, and the relationship between gang members'drug use and drug selling in South Texas. A four-part typology based on the two dimensions of gang type and gang member emerged from this qualitative analysis of 160 male gang members: Homeboys, Hustlers, Slangers, and Ballers. Major findings include the following: (1) many gang members are user/sellers and are not profit-oriented dealers, (2) gangs commonly do extend "protection" to drug-selling members, and (3) proximity to Mexican drug markets, adult prison gangs, and criminal family members may play important roles in whether these gang members have access and the profit potential to actually deal drugs. This research contributes to our complex intersections between gangs, drug using, and drug selling.     

INFORMAL SURVEILLANCE AND STREET CRIME: A COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP*

The systemic crime model predicts that informal surveillance of space reduces street crime. Conversely, community decline theory posits that street crime reduces informal surveillance by increasing residents' perception of risk and fear. Moreover, functions of crime theory suggests that some types of crime may increase surveillance. Using data for 100 urban neighborhoods, the analysis examines these predictions and disentangles reciprocal effects. Baseline recursive equations indicate that informal surveillance is inversely associated with robbery/stranger assault, and that robbery/stranger assault is inversely associated with informal surveillance. In contrast, burglary rates are not affected by informal surveillance, but burglary has a positive effect on surveillance when robbery/stranger assault is controlled. Simultaneous equations indicate that robbery/stranger assault has a moderately strong inverse effect on informal surveillance, and that it is mediated by residents' perceptions of risk. When risk perception is controlled, informal surveillance has an inverse effect on robbery/stranger assault. The latter analysis also indicates that burglary increases surveillance, suggesting that some types of crime serve positive functions. The results, therefore, lend support to systemic, community decline, and functions of crime theory, and they suggest that the relationship between informal surveillance and crime is complex. Implications for community crime research are discussed.