The Incidence and Impact of Family Violence on Mental Health Among South Korean Women: Results of a National Survey

This representative national survey examined incidence of husband-to-wife violence in the past year, lifetime exposure to parental violence, and the relationships between victimization experiences of family violence and mental health among South Korean women (N = 1,079). The major findings were that incidence rate of husband-to-wife violence among Korean women was 29.5%, which was much higher than those of other nations, and that their experiences of physical violence by husbands in the last year and lifetime verbal abuse by parents had strong associations with the mental health of victims. The findings suggest that preventive intervention programs for male perpetrators as well as domestic violence victims with mental health problems and comprehensive interventions for Korean couples are urgently needed. In addition, parents should be educated about how to modify their children’s behavior without physical punishment or verbal abuse.

Police crackdown on Christiania in Copenhagen

A recent change in Danish cannabis control policy has had significant implications for the structure of the retail-level cannabis market in Copenhagen. A process of restructuring following an crackdown on ‘Pusher Street’ has involved at least four people getting shot and killed in what police describe as struggles for market shares. Combating the retail cannabis market was a top three priority for the Copenhagen police. The shift in policy started in 2004 when possession for personal use was up-penalized, from a discriminatory warning to an obligatory fine of 70 euros which was quadrupled in 2007. The law was immediately followed by an extensive police crackdown on Christiania’s open retail-market. Christiania has had a cannabis market for 32 years. As cannabis use rates rose throughout the ‘90’s the market flourished. On a given day it’s estimated turnover was around 20 k, about twothirds of the total market in Copenhagen. On the 16th of May 2004 police raided ‘Pusher Street’ and arrested 60 dealers and their helpers along with 20 people accused of forming an organized lookout corps. After the initial raid police implemented a zero-tolerance zone in the area and targeted users in a deterrent effort issuing a total of 4834 fines in a year. Maintaining the zero tolerance zone has so far involved 12 big confrontations with the inhabitants of Christiania. 114 police officers have been injured and 29 formal complaints of police conduct have been lodged with the State Attorney. Following the crackdown the cannabis market adapted by dispersing and applying new methods for retail dealing.     

Cross border North Korean women trafficking and victimization between North Korea and China: An ethnographic case study

This is a case study on the trafficking of North Korean women via the interviewing of women trafficking victims. The study has an explorative nature. Its primary goal is to address the issues of the cross-border trafficking of North Korean women. In doing so, this research will describe the current picture of cross-border North Korean women trafficking operation between North Korea and China. It will uncover the identity and characteristics of traffickers, the identity and characteristics of victims and contributing factors of their victimization, and the cross-border trafficking routes and procedural networks of trafficking operation. The findings of the current study shows that the problem of North Korean women trafficking is worth being paid attention by the international community and that appropriate counter-measures need to be implemented. Also, this study hopes to facilitate more empirical research on this topic.     

Public and elite opinion on international human rights law: Completing the causal chain of the domestic compliance mechanism

Why do states comply with international human rights law? Scholars have looked to domestic politics to suggest a constituency-driven domestic compliance mechanism. However, it is unclear if strong public support for compliance leads to greater willingness to comply among elected officials. This study is the first to empirically demonstrate the complete causal chain of a constituency-driven domestic compliance mechanism. Using a survey experiment, this study first finds that a strong state commitment to UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations (RTNC) increases public support for compliance. Using a parallel lab-in-the-field experiment of sitting legislators, the study then finds that a strong state commitment to RTNC is similarly associated with increased elite support for compliance. Finally, the study finds that public demand for compliance is associated with even greater elite support for compliance. Public demand for compliance seems to elicit elite willingness to comply by raising reputational concerns.     

Are Charitable Giving and Religious Attendance Complements or Substitutes? The Role of Measurement Error

Government policies sometimes cause unintended consequences for other potentially desirable behaviors. One such policy is the charitable tax deduction, which encourages charitable giving by allowing individuals to deduct giving from taxable income. Whether charitable giving and other desirable behaviors are complements or substitutes affect the welfare benefit of the deduction—complements increase the benefit, while substitutes decrease the benefit. This paper focuses on the effect of the deduction on one behavior in particular: religious attendance. Using data from the Independent Sector Survey of Giving and Volunteering, I estimate a tax price elasticity for religious attendance of ?0.4, which implies that charitable giving and religious attendance are complements. I resolve the difference between my estimate and a recent estimate by W. S. Gruber (2004) that implies charitable giving and religious attendance are substitutes. While Gruber imputes itemization status, an important factor in calculating tax incentives, I use survey‐reported itemization status. This imputation creates a large amount of non‐classical measurement error. I show that the measurement error is responsible for the disparate results: If I also impute itemization status, I obtain similar results as Gruber.     

Financial Stress and Depression Among African Refugees in the Southern United States: A Serial Multiple Mediation Analysis of Financial Self-Efficacy and Financial Anxiety

Abstract

As part of a larger community-based participatory research project exploring the postresettlement challenges of African refugees in the southern United States, our study investigated the phenomenon of financial stress and its relationship to mental health through a mediating chain of factors—financial self-efficacy and financial anxiety. Results revealed the mediating role of financial self-efficacy and financial anxiety on the relationship between financial stress and depressive symptoms. Findings provide discourses around financial stress and mental health in the migration context, critical to recognizing the unique experiences of African refugees and informing culturally responsive programs for financial inclusion and economic integration.