Revictimizing the victims? Interviewing women about interpersonal violence

Research on women's experiences of interpersonal violence has grown dramatically and, as a result, the ethical issues surrounding this research are a concern. Although regulatory procedures ensure that research participants are protected from undue risk, little is known about the impact of victimization research on participants. In this study, the authors examine the differences in the abilities of a "vulnerable" population (142 incarcerated women) to complete interviews about the extent and nature of their violent experiences. Using quantitative and qualitative analysis, the authors assess whether the prevalence and incidence of women's victimization experiences, other stressful life events, and personal backgrounds are related to response rates to specific questions and completion rates. The authors find that the cumulative effect of violence over the life course has a significant relationship to women's disclosure of sensitive issues and that providing multiple avenues for disclosure of prior victimization is critical for facilitating a positive outcome for research participants.     

Predicting the occurrence of stalking in relationships characterized by domestic violence

A high correlation has been found between domestic violence and stalking. However, very few studies have examined what factors predict the occurrence of stalking in relationships characterized by domestic violence. Using in-depth interviews with victims of domestic violence whose cases have gone through the criminal justice system, this article explores this issue. It was found that experiences of stalking by their abusers were very prevalent in this group of domestic violence victims. In terms of predicting stalking, domestic violence victims who were not in a relationship with their abuser, whose abusers had an alcohol or drug problem, who experienced more controlling behaviors by their abusers, and who had experienced prior stalking by their abusers were at the greatest risk of experiencing more severe stalking. Implications for intervention are discussed.     

“Plug into Choice”? The Trouble with Common-Sense Participation in a Smart Electric Grid

Smart electric grids add digital technologies to the grid. While some suggest that they offer many environmental and social benefits, others remain critical and call them a neoliberal project. Considering smart grids a boundary object [Star, Susan L., and James R. Griesemer. 1989. “Institutional Ecology, Translations and Boundary Objects: Amateurs and Professionals in Berkeley’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907–39.” Social Studies of Science 19 (3): 387–420], I examine how multiple social groups come together in cooperation and conflict in the installation of one smart grid. In what follows, I first argue that participation is Gramscian common sense (1971), a taken-for-granted good in producing a smart grid. Gramsci points out that common sense can be used to reinforce oppressive ideologies of a hegemonic status quo, but that it also contains “good sense” that can be developed into counter-hegemonic narratives and movements. Second, I argue that in the course of cooperation and conflict, the smart grid indeed becomes more neoliberal, and this occurs through participation. While the utility often seeks or accepts public participation, the meaning of participation gradually becomes limited to individualistic and financially motivated “choice.” In the discussed case, many of the (less neoliberal) social and environmental benefits of the grid and more collectivist forms of participation were precluded. This article offers a grounded examination of a smart grid and a sympathetic critique of common-sense participation.     

Assuming Free Speech

Free speech is commonly seen in negative terms as a limitation on government action that restricts speech. Although there have long been arguments that government also has an obligation to act in support of free speech – in part because common free speech rationales appear to involve more than a negative right – much free speech law adopts a negative understanding. This article examines assumptions within negative approaches to free speech and finds little reason to support the idea that free speech exists primarily when the state is not directly limiting speech. On this analysis, arguments about free speech should be reframed. New questions would emerge about what legal limitations and obligations should be applied in the name of free speech and through what methods. The limited recognition given to positive free speech by, for example, the European Court of Human Rights would warrant further development. Free speech would have important positive and negative aspects.     

Female Overweight and Obesity in Adolescence: Developmental Trends and Ethnic Differences in Prevalence, Incidence, and Remission

Despite substantial increases in the prevalence of adolescent overweight and obesity documented in recent decades, few studies have prospectively tracked their development during the entire adolescent period. The aims of this study were to characterize developmental trends in prevalence, incidence, and remission of overweight and obesity using annual data collected from ages 12 to 19 for 496 adolescent females. Ethnic differences between African American (n = 37), Latina (n = 96), and European American (n = 348) adolescents were also compared. The prevalence of overweight decreased slightly across adolescence and remission rates exceeded incidence (onset). Obesity was more chronic, with increasing incidence accompanied by decreasing remission rates. Middle through late adolescence was the period of greatest risk for the transition from overweight to obesity. African American and Latina females had higher overweight and obesity prevalence than European American females throughout adolescence. Differences in prevalence were driven by higher onset rates for African American and Latina females, whereas remission rates were comparable across ethnic groups. Results suggest that adolescence is not a high-risk period for onset of obesity for European American adolescent females, but is for African American and Latina adolescent females.     

Family formation and everyday travel in Britain since c.1850

This paper focuses on the extent to which everyday travel behaviour in Britain changes in relation to family responsibilities, and examines how this has altered over the past century and a half. It is argued that prior to the mid-twentieth century changes in the family such as increased child-care responsibilities barely influenced the modes of transport used for everyday travel, but that increasingly in the later twentieth century people adjusted their travel behaviour during the family formation phases of the life cycle. In particular, parents of young children have become more car-dependent and less likely to walk or cycle. Data are drawn from two separate projects, one that collected travel life histories from the past half-century as context for research on cycling in later life, and one that uses personal diaries to reveal everyday mobility strategies of people in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is argued that the observed changes are due not only to increased access to a wide range of different transport forms, especially the motor car, but also to changes in societal perceptions of risk and norms of travel behaviour. In conclusion, it is suggested that more awareness of past travel behaviours could aid the development and implementation of more sustainable transport policies in the UK.     

What Makes an Adult? Examining Descriptions from Adolescents of Divorce

The present study examined conceptions of “what makes an adult” within a sample of adolescents (13–19 years) from divorced families. Arnett’s (2003) seven criteria-of-adulthood categories (independence, interdependence, role transitions, norm compliance, biological transitions, chronological transitions, and family capacities) were used as an initial framework for grouping open-ended written responses, while inductive content analysis was employed to analyze all other responses. Although the majority of responses (N=568) fit into Arnett’s categories, 35.2% of responses were coded into eleven newly created categories (e.g., knowledge/wisdom, role model/leader). The present study confirmed that independence qualities are believed to be most important. However, role transitions (e.g., marriage) were considered more significant than in previous research. The qualitative findings and their specific pattern should inform existing quantitative measures of adulthood criteria. Doctoral Student at the University of Arizona. She received her MS in Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona. Her major research interests include parent–adolescent relationships, adolescent development, and the transition to adulthood. Doctoral Student at the University of Arizona. She received her MS in Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona. Her major research interests include adolescent social development; adolescent romantic relationships and risk-taking behaviors; psychological approaches to the transition to adulthood; and developmental methods and statistics Associate Professor at the University of Arizona. She received her Ph.D. in Child and Family Studies from University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her major research interests include post-divorce parent–adolescent relationship, adolescent development and adjustment, and psychological/physical well-being of adults caring for elderly family members Doctoral Student at the University of Arizona. She received her MS in Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona. Her major research interests include parental divorce and its impact on adolescents’ future relationships, adolescent development, and mixed methodology