Sex differences within the family: Studies of adolescent and parent family interactions

Sex differences in verbal family interactions were investigated in a group of 79 adolescents and parents from normal and psychiatric settings. The analyses were designed to study these differences in both generations, parent and adolescent. Parent and adolescent interactions with one another were observed in a semistructured, revealed-differences family discussion. All of the individual speeches were then scored with our Constraining and Enabling Coding System (CECS). Initial predictions involved both adolescent and parent differences. These hypotheses were only partially confirmed. The strongest findings pertained to parent sex differences, as we found strikingly higher levels of cognitive enabling speeches expressed by fathers and significantly more speeches addressed to fathers. We discuss several alternative interpretations of these findings. Perspectives included in our considerations are direction of effect and influences of task/context upon the expression of family sex differences.This study was supported through a grant from the National Institute of Child and Human Development (NICHD Grant No. R01 HD18684-02) and a Research Scientist Development Award No. 5 K-02-MH-70178 (Dr. Hauser) from the NIMH.Received M.D. from Yale University and Ph.D. from Harvard University (psychology). Currently studying family contexts of adolescent development.Received B.A. from Michigan University. Currently graduate student in organizational behavior, Northwestern University. Current interests are women and work.Received his Ph.D. from Boston University. Research interests are in methodology and statistics.Henry A. Murray Research Center of Radcliffe College. Received Ed. D. from Harvard University (School of Education). Currently studying family coping processes in response to stressful events.Received Ph.D. from Ohio State University (psychology). Current interests in assessing ego development and family systems.Parent-Place, Judge Baker Guidance Center. Received Ph.D. from the University of Miami (clinical psychology). Research interests are in family studies and adolescent development.Received M.D. from the University of Chicago. Currently studying psychological consequences of diabetes mellitus.the Children's Unit of McLean Hospital. Received Diploma Psych. from Freie Universitat, Berlin (clinical psychology), and Ed.D. from Harvard University (School of Education). Currently studying relationships between psychopathology and development among adolescent psychiatric patients.     

Treating children fairly

She is also affiliated with the Institute for Research on Poverty and the La Follette Institute of Public Affairs. She is spending this year at the Russell Sage Foundation writing a book (with Robert Haveman) on intergenerational determinants of success of young adults. She is author of numerous articles on health, education, government policies, and economics of the disabled.     

Germany and the new Europe

where he directs the Europe-America and Global Security Projects. He has been Director of Studies of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and taught on the faculty of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He served the first Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and was staff member for Western Europe on the National Security Council. This article is a condensed version of his forthcoming book, America, Germany and the Future of Europe.     

ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY MAKING: ADJUDICATION BY THE BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS IN ASYLUM-RELATED APPEALS 1980–1987

This analysis examines the extent to which the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), from 1980 to 1987, complied with a new policy of Congress, set forth in the Refugee Act of 1980, which called for an elimination of bias in favor of aliens from hostile countries. Statistical analysis reveals that the BIA did not enforce the Refugee Act of 1980. I argue that Congress never intended to eliminate this bias since doing so would bring it into conflict with actors within the executive branch (including the President and the State Department) that have traditionally dominated policy-making relating to refugees and asylees. Instead, in the Refugee Act of 1980, Congress allowed these actors to retain control through a broad definition of "refugee" and by failing to clearly specify standards for political asylum and withholding of deportation. Simultaneously, Congress temporarily placated private and public "refugee rights" interest groups with statutory provisions that (presumably) eliminated the hostile country bias in U.S. refugee and asylum admis- sions, and granted increased federal aid to private organizations and units of state and local governments.     

中德社会保障争议处理制度比较研究

中德两国在历史发展过程中逐步形成了各自独特的社会争议处理制度和模式。德国社会法院作为专门审理社会保障争议的特殊行政法院，体现了法律保护的缜密性和司法的高度专业性，适应了社会保障争议多，内容纷繁复杂，技术性、专业性强的现实需要。中国社会保障争议处理法律制度则处于形成发展阶段，因争议种类、主体不同而设置了不同的解决争议的机构，采用了不同的法律制度、程序和处理原则。本文以两国现行社会争议处理法律规定作为比较标准，按照社会争议处理的程序，分别从社会争议的范围界定、行政处理程序和制度、法院处理程序和制度三方面进行了比较研究，为中国社会保障争议处理制度提供借鉴和启示。     

Comparing Self-Reports and Official Records of Arrests

We compared measures of self-reported arrests and official arrests for 676young adults with a history of child abuse and/or neglect and 520 nonabusedand nonneglected controls matched on age, sex, race, and approximate familysocial class. Findings reveal considerable concurrent validity between thetwo sources overall. But there is also evidence of differences by gender,race/ethnicity, age at time of arrest, conviction status, and type ofoffense. Abused and neglected subjects did not appear to differ from thecontrol group in the extent of underreporting of known offenses, however,the groups did differ in the degree of positive bias—offensesnot found in arrest records. Abused/neglected subjects self-reportedproportionately more offenses not known to police compared to controls. Thisresult suggests that findings from previous studies on the relationshipbetween childhood victimization and later criminality, as measured byarrests, may have underestimated the magnitude of this relationship.     

Police Charging Decisions in Child Maltreatment Investigations: Findings from the 2008 Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect

The objective of this study was to use logistic regression and examine factors that influence charging decisions by the police during child maltreatment investigations. An estimated 4,808 substantiated child maltreatment investigations that involved police were obtained from the 2008 Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect. Of the 4,808 cases examined, police laid charges in about one-third of the cases. Controlling for all other factors, police were 1.6 times more likely to lay charges in physical abuse cases and 2.5 times more likely to lay charges in sexual abuse cases. Other factors associated with police charging decisions include: older victim, cases with multiple types of maltreatment, cases opened for ongoing services, and cases of the child living in a house known to have drugs or household hazards. The article discusses the results and their implications for child welfare policy and practice.     

Foster Parent Strategies to Support the Functional Adaptation of Foster Youth

Individual interviews and focus groups with 35 experienced foster parents explored strategies that facilitate the functional adaptation of children transitioning into their care. Findings from this qualitative study suggest functional adaptation is enhanced by unconditional commitment by foster parents, “claiming” behaviors of foster children and parents, establishment of routines, support of birth family relationships, and advocacy for the youth across systems. Implications of this study support the vital role that foster parents have in helping children adapt to placement, and indicate that agencies can provide increased support for foster parents to better meet the needs of foster youth.