Parents' perception of adolescent behavior problems

Fifty-seven parents, usually mothers, rated their adolescent sons and daughters on the Walker Checklist at the time of their initial clinic appointment. Parents perceived this group of adolescents as more disturbed than the elementary school age normative group on three of the scales, Immaturity, Acting Out, and Distractibility. The results support an increase in behavior problems at adolescence which is more marked for the younger females and younger males. Neither gender nor age, separately, determines the degree of behavioral disturbance, with one exception. The scores of both the younger and older male groups are significantly higher than the scores of their corresponding female groups on the school-related Distractibility scale.Received her Ph.D. from University of Washington 1959. Interests are adolescent development, personality, and evaluative research.Community Practice student in the Adolescent Clinic.     

The spectrum of sexual abuse in daycare: An exploratory study

Findings from an exploratory study of 48 children sexually abused in daycare centers and daycare homes are presented. About two thirds were female and one third male. Approximately half of victims were maltreated by a single perpetrator and about half by more than one perpetrator, in the latter instance almost always by both men and women. On average, the children were subjected to 5.3 types of sexual abuse, experienced 2.1 different sorts of threats to obtain their cooperation or prevent disclosure of their victimization, and suffered from 3.7 symptoms regarded as sequelae of sexual abuse. Differences in the characteristics of offenders, victims, the sexual abuse, threats, and sequelae were found based upon the daycare context, that is, whether children were victimized in a center with multiple perpetrators, a center with a single perpetrator, or a daycare home.     

Biology, childhood trauma, and murder: rethinking justice

This article reviews recent findings in the developmental neurophysiology of children subjected to psychological trauma. Studies link extreme neglect and abuse with long-term changes in the nervous and endocrine systems. A growing body of research literature indicates that individuals with severe trauma histories are at higher risk of behaving violently than those without such histories. This article links these two research areas by discussing how severe and protracted child abuse and/or neglect can lead to biological changes, putting these individuals at greater risk for committing homicide and other forms of violence than those without child maltreatment histories. The implications of these biological findings for forensic evaluations are discussed. Based on new understanding of the effects of child maltreatment, the authors invite law and mental health professionals to rethink their notions of justice and offender accountability, and they challenge policymakers to allocate funds for research into effective treatment and for service delivery.     

Contemporary challenges to the German vocational training system

The German vocational training system has played a central role in sustaining the competitive strength of German manufacturing. This article provides an analysis of contemporary developments in this system to assess its likely future trajectory. I begin by underscoring the differences and similarities of the German system to alternative arrangements that have emerged in other countries. I then turn to recent trends in Germany that have caused concern among policy‐makers about the continued strength and viability of the vocational training system. I discuss reforms undertaken in the past few years that point to incremental, though possibly transformative, changes in the system designed to reduce costs and increase flexibility through renegotiations on two fronts: between general training standards and firm needs and training practices, and between the in‐plant and school‐based components of training.     

Does New Book on Beauty Go Only Skin-Deep Into the Issue?

Wang Yajun, a security guard at the Central Academy of Drama, one of China’s top art institutions, from which many of the country’s renowned actors and actresses have sprung, unveiled a book on people’s outer appearances in April. The book,which sets out criteria for judging looks, points out that good-looking people tend to acquire more social resources and thus looks can help secure job promotions, wealth and increased social status.