The Discourse of Sibling Violence

The present study sought to identify the discourses that exist with regard to physical violence among siblings. The sample consisted of 200 college students (60.5% female, 39.5% male) who completed a revised version of the Conflict Tactics Scales and a self-labeling measure of sibling violence. Findings indicated that while the vast majority of the sample had experienced sibling violence, they utilized terminology in a manner that failed to recognize their experiences as a form of violence. When the data were classified according to gender and level of violence within the sibling relationship, quantitative analysis indicated a difference in terminology. In an attempt to interpret these results from the theoretical perspective of discourse as an aspect of social constructivism it was postulated that the study identified both a dominant discourse that renders physical violence among siblings invisible and several subordinate discourses by which individuals reflect their varying characteristics. It was suggested that future research utilize qualitative analysis to clarify and expand upon this interpretation. This article is based on a master’s thesis conducted by Heather Hensman Kettrey. An erratum to this article can be found at     

TEACHING CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS

This essay, based on a presentation at the 2009 Future of Family Law Education conference at the William Mitchell School of Law, discusses strategies for teaching controversial topics, focused on reproductive rights and related gender issues.     

Healthcare Can Change from Within: Sustained Improvement in the Healthcare Response to Intimate Partner Violence

There is a great need to demonstrate sustained improvement in healthcare-based inquiry, intervention, and prevention provided to patients exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV). We evaluated implementation of the Healthcare Can Change from Within model (HCCW) in three primary care clinics and an emergency department within a large healthcare system, using two other primary care clinics for a usual-care comparison on selected variables. Outcome measures included individual-level variables (staff knowledge and attitudes) and system characteristics (clinic policies, procedures, patient education materials, and IPV documentation in patient records). Doctors and nurses reported increased self-efficacy, understanding of referral resources, and understanding of legal issues; IPV knowledge was unchanged. Intervention clinics implemented new policies and procedures, increased patient education, and increased documentation of IPV screening, an improvement which was sustained at 2-year follow-up. Results suggest HCCW is a promising practice for improving the healthcare response to IPV.     

Predictors of Death Sentencing for Minority,Equal, and Majority Female Juries in Capital Murder Trials

The relatively small body of prior research investigating whether the sex composition of juries impacts sentencing decisions has produced equivocal results. Exploring this topic further, the current study used a large sample of capital cases from North Carolina (n = 675) to examine (a) whether jury sex composition predicted jury capital punishment sentencing decisions; and (b) whether there were different models of sentencing for male-majority, equal male-female, and female-majority juries. When we controlled for a number of legal and extralegal factors, our findings indicated that jury sex composition was independently related to sentencing outcomes. Specifically, equal male-female juries were significantly more likely and female-majority juries were significantly less likely to choose the death penalty versus a sentence of life in prison. In addition, different models (predictors) of sentencing were revealed for each of the jury sex compositions. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.     

The Value of Art and Culture in Everyday Life: Towards an Expressive Cultural Democracy

ABSTRACT

Ever since the earliest forms of mass media, the dichotomy of mass culture/high culture has been a topic of debate. The concept of cultural democracy has developed as a way to acknowledge a variety of cultural activities. Despite attempts to develop a broader understanding of culture, cultural policy still seems to reproduce the dichotomies, and to value one over the other. In this article, we would argue for an expanded understanding of cultural democracy, which may serve as a starting point for a turn of perspective of arts advocacy and cultural policy—the perspective we call an expressive cultural democracy.