Social Disadvantage and Family Violence: Neighborhood Effects on Attitudes about Intimate Partner Violence and Corporal Punishment

Social disorganization theory asserts that neighborhood composition affects levels of violence within the community. The purpose of this article is to analyze the bivariate effects of social disorganization, crime, and collective efficacy, in addition to the individual factors of gender, race, and a history of child maltreatment, on the acceptance of using violence within the family. Data from the Norfolk Police Department (2000–2004), 2000 Census, and 2006 Norfolk Residents’ Attitudes about Crime Survey were used to determine differences in approval of family violence. Results indicated that approval for family violence is an individual-level phenomenon as well as a community-level occurrence. Various aspects of family violence elicit different levels of tolerance by both micro- and macro-level characteristics. Implications are discussed.     

Parent–Child Interaction Therapy with Domestic Violence Populations

Domestic violence continues to be a significant social problem impacting our society. Battered women and their children experience a myriad of negative consequences as a result of domestic violence. Of the possible negative sequelae that mothers and children experience, the disrupted parent–child relationship has received relatively little attention in the literature. Though psychosocial interventions are available to treat women who experience violence and children who witness violence, few interventions focus on the parent–child relationship. This article describes parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT), a relationship-based intervention. Although not initially developed to treat domestic violence, PCIT has unique characteristics that make it a promising intervention with this population. A rationale for the use of PCIT with battered women and their children is presented.     

Spouse Abuse and Child Abuse by Army Soldiers

This study analyzed data collected by the U.S. Army’s Family Advocacy Program, the group primarily responsible for family violence prevention, identification, evaluation, treatment, and follow-up on Army installations. Patterns of spouse abuse and child abuse perpetrated within a five year period (2000–2004) were examined in a sample of 10,864 Army Soldiers who were substantiated for family violence offenses. Three groups of family violence offenders were compared: (1) those who perpetrated spouse offenses only; (2) those who perpetrated child offenses only; and (3) those who perpetrated both spouse and child offenses. Results showed that the majority of substantiated family violence offenders were spouse offenders who had not committed child abuse (61%), followed by child offenders who had not committed spouse abuse (27%), and finally those who committed both spouse and child offenses (12%). The three groups of family violence offenders differed in terms of the types of abuse they perpetrated (neglect of children, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse), their experiences of being a spouse abuse victim, and sociodemographic characteristics. Twelve percent of all spouse abusers committed multiple spouse abuse incidents, and 10% of all child abusers committed multiple child abuse incidents.     

Michael H. v. Gerald D.

The author attempts to apply semiotic analysis to a question of family law. By examining the language used by the Supreme Court in the title case, Michael H. v. Gerald D., along with the case briefs, lower court opinions, other Supreme Court cases and prior legal scholarship, the author attempts to determine the requisite relationships between father–child and father–mother in order for a legal tie to exist between a father and his biological child. The author tries to not only determine the necessary circumstances but also the political ideology that distinguishes these familial ties. The author further attempts to analyze the goals of these underlying political ideologies.     

Variations in Behavior Problems of Preschoolers Exposed to Domestic Violence: The Role of Mothers’ Attunement to Children’s Emotional Experiences

The purpose of this study was to identify aspects of family relationships that may protect young children from the pathogenic effects of family violence. Using a sample of 30 preschool-age children whose mothers were physically abused by a partner, we investigated the associations between children’s externalizing and internalizing behavior problems and: (1) the quality of the mother–child relationship, and (2) mothers’ attunement to their child’s sad and angry emotions. Results indicated that clinician ratings of the mother–child relationship, and mothers’ attunement to their child’s experience of emotion each made a unique contribution to the prediction of children’s externalizing behavior. These relationships remained robust, even after taking the severity of domestic violence reported by mothers into consideration. Maternal attunement, however, did not mediate the relationship between marital conflict and children’s behavior problems. No significant link was found between children’s internalizing behavior and maternal attunement to their children’s sadness and anger. Additional findings suggested that mothers with a PTSD diagnosis tended to be less attuned to their child’s experience of sadness. This investigation was supported by grants from the Irving B. Harris Foundation, the Pinewood Foundation, the Miriam and Peter Haas Foundation, and a REAC Award from the University of California, San Francisco to the second author.     

A Critical Review of the Psychometric Evidence Base of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory

Screening for potential child abuse is an essential component of work in many child and family services. The Child Abuse Potential inventory (CAP; Milner 1986) is one measure developed to help in this task. The primary aim of this review is to critically evaluate studies reporting psychometric information of the CAP. A previous paper by Milner (Clinical Psychology Review 14(6): 547–583 1994) reviewed studies evaluating the psychometric properties of the measure up to 1994. Since then over 100 articles have been published that consider the measurement properties of this tool. This review considers 27 papers published since Milner’s (Clinical Psychology Review 14(6): 547–583 1994) review that clarify previous findings in relation to specific psychometric properties of the CAP. In particular, this review focuses on studies that provide information on the cross-cultural validity of the CAP, on the internal consistency of the CAP measure as a whole and its subscales, or on sensitivity and specificity classification rates. Studies providing information on the differential validity of the CAP (using at least two differentiated sample groups) or the efficacy of the CAP to identify change are also considered. Published evidence suggests that the CAP can help assess for a range of difficulties associated with increased risk for physical child abuse. The CAP scales have shown good internal consistency estimates across sample groups and cultures, with similar underlying themes for CAP factors reported for the different cultures studied. The differential validity of the CAP has also been shown, although sensitivity and specificity classification rates have varied. The CAP appears able to indicate some degree of pre—to post-intervention change, although further investigation is required to clarify what changes in CAP scores actually reflect. Further investigation of this measure in other countries is also required.     

Corruption and the South African Police

The literature on corruption in countries in the course of transition is likely to escalate in the light of changes in Eastern Europe (Holmes 1997, Varese 1997). The ‘end of empire’ is associated with the breakdown in the rule of law. Through a variety of subterfuges, both individuals and corporate bodies seek to ensure their own survival, within the matrix of the collapse of legal order. In South Africa, similar transformations, as epitomised by the hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, have provided a window of opportunity to unveil the mechanisms which maintained that apartheid regime for nearly half a century. Understanding that complex practice of state deviance entails recognising the different levels of state power and malpractice in that country. This article flows directly from the Foucauldian notion of the decentralisation of power in modern society. Power in the authoritarian state is not just a function of a clearly-defined state apparatus. Rather that locus co-exists with various sub-foci at lower levels of state and civil society, in which local interactions and power relations, contribute to the totality of control. Apartheid survived for many years not because it signified an authoritarian centralised state but because it could rely on individuals and agencies at lower strata of power to contribute their own efforts to sustaining that abnormal structure. Deviance by state personnel at different levels – to which the Nelson's eye was turned – was critical to the maintenance of white hegemony. The article focuses directly on one such nexus – the extent to which different interests – financial, organisational, and a commitment to racial hegemony – cooperated in a seamless web to ensure that the white rule was paramount in micro-level decision-making structures. Micro-level influences on police training and of police promotions – deviant by any conventional yardstick-served both state and individual interests. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Domestic Violence, Couple Interaction and Children’s Health in Latin America

This paper examines the relationships between several measures of couple interaction and children’s health. We hypothesize that more maternal input in decision-making, joint discussion of health issues, and the absence of violence and male control are conducive to better child health. Mortality and nutritional status are used as measures of child health. Analyses are based on Demographic and Health Surveys in five Latin American countries (Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Haiti and Nicaragua). Violence is the best interaction predictor of poor nutrition and lack of female autonomy is the best predictor of higher mortality. Joint discussion of family planning and joint decision-making about household issues are also predictive of child health. Male controlling behavior did not have a strong relationship with health outcomes in most countries. Overall, findings indicate that positive couple interaction is associated with improved health outcomes for children.     

Single Types of Family Violence Victimization and Externalizing Behaviors Among Children and Adolescents

Prior research has provided substantial evidence that child maltreatment and exposure to physical intimate partner violence (IPV) are associated with increased externalizing behavior problems among children and adolescents. However, little is known about the effects of exposure to psychological IPV and exposure to the physical abuse of a sibling. Using a total sample (N = 2,572) and subsample (n = 441) of children ages 3–18 years old, the purpose of this study was to assess whether cumulative types of family violence lead to higher mean externalizing behavior scores and to examine the effects of single types of indirect and direct family violence on children’s mean externalizing behavior scores. Results confirmed that children who experienced any type of family violence victimization had higher mean externalizing behavior scores compared to children with no history of family violence; however, few differences in externalizing behavior scores were found as the number of family violence types increased. Children who experienced indirect types of family violence (e.g., exposure to the physical abuse of a sibling) had higher externalizing behavior scores than children who experienced direct maltreatment (e.g., child physical abuse). Findings from this study suggest that researchers and service providers should adopt a broader conceptualization of family violence victimization and increase the amount of services provided to children who are indirectly victimized.     

Choice of Law in International Child Support Obligations: Hague or Vague, and Does it Matter?- An American Perspective

This article explores, through American eyes, the choice oflaw rules associated with the child support aspects of the proposedHague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Supportand Other Forms of Family Maintenance. It considers the rolethese rules play in capturing the "construct" that is the "family"for the purposes of child support by implicitly determiningwho is an acceptable claimant and who is an appropriate obligor.In addition, the rules determine which jurisdiction's law willestablish the amount of support and thus, implicitly, they determinewhich jurisdiction sets the standards for family "performance".American constitutional law demands a connection between theindividual to be burdened and the jurisdiction imposing thatburden. The proposed rules seem designed to take this into account,but doing so requires the scheme to abandon a preference forrelying on the law of the creditor's habitual residence. Americanchild support proceedings use pre-established guidelines todetermine the amount of any child support award. These guidelines,which are premised on economic conditions in the individualstates, are not suited to dealing with international disputes.The cases suggest that American courts are reluctant to abandonthe efficiency of the guidelines in favor of detailed fact basedanalysis, even if the result is an "inappropriate" order –certainty comes at a price.     

Private and public voices: Does family group conferencing privilege the voice of children and families in child welfare?

This article examines the use of family group conferencing in child protection and considers its ability to privilege the voice of children and families who reach the attention of statutory child protection services. The family group conference (FGC) is a process of family decision-making in child protection, originally developed in Aotearoa New Zealand, and now practised in many countries including the UK. Examining the literature and research relating to the FGC it considers whether the approach provides a genuine context of participation and partnership, or whether it has become an instrumental professionally led practice as families are charged with greater responsibilities for children at risk.     

Foreign direct investment and the volume of trade: the case of Poland

In this paper we study empirically the relationship between the volume of trade and foreign direct investment in Poland using the FDI augmented gravity equation derived from the modified Chamberlin–Heckscher–Ohlin model with multinational firms and complete specialization in production. We find that FDI contributes positively to the development of international trade between Poland and OECD countries, although the complete specialization C–H–O model with multinational firms does not find support in the data. In contrast, it seems that incomplete specialization H–O model better explains Poland’s trade with the OECD countries. The lack of support for the complete specialization model suggests that the vertical model of the multinational firm may not be appropriate for explaining trade and FDI patterns between Poland and the OECD countries. Therefore, other than labor cost reduction motives might explain the expansion of multinational firms’ activity in Poland. In the light of provided empirical evidence the fears of relocation of labor intensive assembly plants from the west to the east may not be fully justified.     

'Where the Parents are of the Same Sex': Quebec's Reforms to Filiation

To advance debates on legal responses to parenting by gay andlesbian couples, this article introduces reforms enacted bythe legislature of Quebec, a civil law jurisdiction with a codifiedprivate law, in 2002. Quebec's pioneering regime permits twopersons of the same sex to register as a child's parents frombirth, not only by adoption. They may do so if they conceivedthe child as part of a ‘parental project’. Moreover,a person alone may have a child via a parental project. Thearticle identifies the policy choices reflected in the amendmentsand highlights weaknesses in the drafting, instructive to policymakers in civil law or common law jurisdictions. It emphasizesthe structural difficulty of amending the civil law's fundamentalinstitution of filiation to recognize two parents of the samesex. Comparing with ad hoc judicial developments from a Canadiancommon law province, it underscores the potential in systematiclegislative reform. Conservative scholars have resisted thenew regime as an inappropriate departure from the pursuit offiliation's biological vocation. The study reveals how selectivelyjurists may remember the past and how swiftly they may characterizeinnovations relating to parentage – such as the earlierabolition of illegitimacy – as natural. The mingling ofbiological fact and fiction in the new regime underscores thesimilar blending in more traditional forms of filiation.     

Comparison of Parent and Child Reports on Child Maltreatment in a Representative Household Sample in Hong Kong

This study investigated and compared the rates of child maltreatment as reported by parents and children. Self-reports of 1,093 children aged 12 to 18, which were matched with both parents’ records, were compared and analyzed in the study. The levels of agreement between parent and child reporting of various kinds of parental child maltreatment were low to moderate. Factors affecting the disagreement in reports were also investigated. Social desirability and violence approval were the common predictors of disagreement in father-child and mother-child reports, respectively. The low agreement between parent–child reports found in the present study highlights the need for the inclusion of both parent and child reports on maltreatment in future clinical screening and intervention programs.     

What Is The Wrong Of Wrongful Disability? From Chance To Choice To Harms To Persons

The issue of wrongful disability arises when parents face the choice whether to produce a child whose life will be unavoidably flawed by a serious disease or disorder (Down syndrome, for example, or Huntington’s disease) yet clearly worth living. The authors of From Chance to Choice claim, with certain restrictions, that the choice to produce such a child is morally wrong. They then argue that an intuitive moral approach––a “person-affecting” approach that pins wrongdoing to the harming of some existing or future person––cannot account for that wrong since the choice to produce such a child cannot, under the logic of the nonidentity problem, harm that child. The authors propose that we supplement the person-affecting approach with an “impersonal” principle that takes the form of their well-known principle N. In this paper, I argue that the authors are mistaken to suppose that a plausibly articulated person-affecting approach cannot account for the wrong of wrongful disability. We can retain an intuitive, comparative, “worse for” account of harm and still identify serious harms imposed by the choice of wrongful disability. In particular, I argue that harm, both to the impaired child and to others, comes not in the form of that procreative choice’s procreative effect but rather in the form of its many distributive effects. I also argue that the rare, residual case in which a person-affecting approach would approve of the choice of wrongful disability does not function as a counterexample to that approach. As a separate matter, I address legal claims for wrongful disability, which are closely akin to claims for wrongful life. The legal claim is brought by the impaired child, not against the parents, but rather against health care providers whose negligent failure to diagnose or inform parents of an increased risk of a genetic or congenital impairment results in the birth of the impaired child. The authors’ treatment of the moral wrong that is done as impersonal in nature suggests that courts are correct to dismiss any such claim. Once we identify harm, however, the person-affecting approach can identify a clear foundation in the law for the wrongful disability claim.     

Child Justice in Canada and the Four Ps: Protection,Prosecution, Prevention,and Participation

This article provides an analysis of the flaws in the Canadian legal system with respect to child rights, in the light of the three Ps set forth by former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler (2004–2006): Protection, Prosecution, and Prevention. Contrary to the general trend of research on “youth” crime which focuses on the visible criminal activities of children and for which they are readily ascribed the status of “young offenders,” I examine whether the legal system is just as swift in giving child victims adequate Protection and Prosecution against their assailants. Six specific child victimization contexts have been identified, which are all characterized by invisibility: in the home, in care, in school and public spaces as well as by corporations and the criminal justice system. I explore why these victimizations are invisible and what legal protection is offered to affected children. Finally, I analyse the extent to which a fourth P, that of Participation, can strengthen the three Ps of Protection, Prosecution and Prevention in fighting crimes committed against children. The contents of this article reflect the author’s opinions only.

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Facing the Asylum-Enlargement Nexus: the Establishment of Asylum Systems in the Western Balkans

Within a remarkably short time, functioning asylum systems wereset up in the countries of the Western Balkans largely thanksto the joint advocacy of and co-operation between UNHCR andthe EU, and, in particular, to the realization of a joint regionalproject implemented by UNHCR 2004–5. This article examinesthe basis and rationale for the two organizations’ involvementin asylum matters in the region and assesses the progress madein relation to asylum building. It also identifies best practices,some of the challenges encountered and suggests the way forward.It argues that, although the international community did succeedin establishing fair and efficient asylum procedures, the realchallenges still lie ahead.     

当前强制执行法律制度中亟待修改完善的几个问题

The judgment enforcement in a legal framework is concerned with many principles that underlie and enrich macro-theory. The current theory has made progress in it, but few is related to the specific structure of the regime. This article analyzes the present problems of enforcing court’s judgment in China. In accordance with relevant theories and by reference to experiences of other countries and areas, it treats with the problems concerning enforcement body, enforcement jurisdiction, the term of enforcement application, enforcement notice, property investigation of the forced measures, enforcement assistance, enforcement termination, enforcement remedies, enforcement deterrence and so on, which are calling on to improve the enforcement framework. __________ Translated from Xiandai Faxue 现代法学 (Modern Law Science), 2007, 29 (2): 105–111     

FAMILY SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE: EMERGING ISSUES IN SOME DEVELOPING COUNTRIES WITH MIXED JURISDICTIONS

Family support and maintenance laws in several developing countries with mixed legal traditions derived from colonial and local laws are based on a litigation model. This model often fails to give adequate legal relief in the socioeconomic context of poverty. The situation is made worse by inequitable and gender‐biased inheritance laws. This article will use examples mainly from countries in South Asia and Commonwealth Africa to demonstrate how reformist legislation and constitutional jurisprudence in the area of public law and judicial activism highlight the issues that must be addressed if the legal system is to provide an effective system of family support and maintenance.