COMMENTARY ON WARSHAK'S "BLANKET RESTRICTIONS: OVERNIGHT CONTACT BETWEEN PARENTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN"

In a previous issue of this journal, Richard A. Warshak provided a summary of the developmental literature as it bears on overnight restrictions during custody arrangements. Here, the authors comment on points of agreement and disagreement with Warshak based on their reading of the theoretical and empirical literature on development. Particular reference is made to Warshak's interpretation of attachment theory and research. Points of agreement include the importance of fathers and all caregivers in the infant/young child's life as well as the overstatement in the literature of the significance of separation experiences and a "sensitive period" for attachment. Points of clear disagreement include what the author contends is an erroneous review of the empirical literature on overnights with other caregivers. Based on their review of the data on overnight visitation, the authors conclude on a more cautious note.     

Poverty reduction and violence against women: exploring links,assessing impact

In 1993 the international community acknowledged for the first time that violence against women (VAW) is a human rights issue, while VAW is also increasingly recognised both as a global public health issue and a barrier to sustainable development. However, even where they are committed to reducing VAW through their programmes and advocacy activities, development practitioners are sometimes unsure about where this fits into the poverty‐reduction agenda. This article tries to situate VAW in the poverty discourse, drawing from a range of documentary sources to outline the conceptual links between VAW, poverty, and human development. It then goes on to look at issues surrounding the impact assessment of programmes aimed at reducing VAW, and offers examples of how specific programmes have been evaluated.     

African American Mothers' and Daughters' Beliefs about Possible Selves and their Strategies for Reaching the Adolescents' Future Academic and Career Goals

The current study combines qualitative and quantitative data to examine beliefs and strategies related to possible selves within a sample of 22 rural African American female adolescents and their mothers. Mother–daughter pairs responded to interview questions pertaining to the adolescents' desired possible selves. Pairs also completed a possible selves Q-sort focusing on the personal attributes, roles, and life circumstances that might be expected for an adolescent's future adulthood. Academic and occupational selves were the most prominent possible selves discussed during the interviews. A mother's exposure to college influenced her strategies for helping her daughter reach academic and career goals. Findings from the Q-sort data indicated two distinctive mother–daughter groups, with one group emphasizing daughter's personal attributes and the other group putting greatest weight on the daughter's future occupations and life circumstances. The relative importance of possible selves was related to the strategies that mothers and daughters used to help the adolescent reach her goals.     

Retrospective reports of family-of-origin divorce and abuse and college student's pre-parenthood cognitions

This study examined the relationship between pre-parenthood cognitions and family-of-origin divorce and aggression. College students from divorced (N=46) and intact (N=66) families were asked to report their positive and negative pre-parenthood beliefs. Young adults from divorced families were found to anticipate more concerns about parenthood than those from intact families. Second, consistent with hypothesis, number of parenting concers differed by reported level of physical victimization from father. Level of witnessing father-to-mother violence was also significantly associated with pre-parenthood concerns, as individuals who witnessed severe levels of father-to-mother violence reported more concerns about parenthood than did those witnessing mild violence, emotional abuse, or no physical or emotional abuse. Victimization from mother and witnessing mother-to-father violence were unrelated to pre-parenthood concerns. None of the family-of-origin experiences was found to relate to positive reasons for children. These findings suggest that divorce and physical abuse by father in the family-of-origin may result in altered negative pre-parenthood cognitions. The findings were discussed in relation to theories about the intergenerational transmission of negative family events, as well in relation to gender sensitive models of family violence.     

Experimental Results of a Residential House Fire Test on Tenability: Temperature,Smoke, and Gas Analyses

A fire experiment conducted in a British 1950s‐style house is described. Measurements of temperature, smoke, CO, CO₂, and O₂ were taken in the Lounge, stairwell, and front and back bedrooms. The front bedroom door was wedged open, while the door to the back bedroom was wedged closed. Contrary to expectations and despite the relatively small fire load, analysis and hazard calculations show permeation of toxic fire gases throughout the property with lethal concentrations of effluent being measured at each sampling point. A generally poor state of repair and missing carpets in the upper story contributed to a high degree of gas and smoke permeation. The available egress time was calculated as the time before the main escape route became impassable. Given known human responses to fire, such an incident could have caused fatalities to sleeping or otherwise immobile occupants.