Depressive Symptoms and Sexual Experiences Among Early Adolescent Girls: Interpersonal Avoidance as Moderator

Building on the growing body of research that supports the relationship between depressive symptoms and sexual activities in adolescence, we examined how individual differences in interpersonal avoidance and anxiety might moderate this association. Data were collected from 71 early adolescent girls (M age 13.45 years; SD = 0.68; 89% Caucasian) concurrently and 1 year later. Results indicated that greater depressive symptoms predicted a greater frequency of sexual intercourse both concurrently and 1-year later, particularly among more interpersonally avoidant girls. However, greater depressive symptoms predicted a greater frequency of non-intercourse activities 1-year later among less avoidant girls. Implications for understanding how individual differences in interpersonal style may serve as risk or protective factors in dysphoric girls’ sexual experiences are discussed.     

The mediating role of self-regulation between intrafamilial violence and mental health adjustment in incarcerated male adolescents

This article investigates the relation between history of intrafamilial violence and self-regulatory capacity, cognitive processing, and mental health adjustment in incarcerated adolescents. Adolescents were incarcerated at the time of the study for various violent offenses, ranging from persistent delinquency to sexual assault (n = 115). A model is proposed that posits that self-regulation, cognitive ability, and cognitive processing are integral to the relation between intrafamilial violence and mental health function. The primary hypothesis of the study tests this mediation model. The relations between mental health, cognitive processing, self-regulation, and intrafamilial violence are also examined. The study was conducted during two sessions at a juvenile facility in the Midwest using survey measures, academic and intelligence testing, and cognitive tasks. Youth were between the ages of 13 and 20. Approximately 70% were previously diagnosed with a disability. Significant Pearson's correlations were found between seven out of eight mental health subscales of the Youth Self-Report (YSR) and intrafamilial violence history. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the role of cognitive processing in the association between intrafamilial violence and mental health function. Nonverbal or performance deficits, a significant difference between verbal skills and nonverbal skills, were related to intrafamilial violence. Self-regulation partially mediated the relation between intrafamilial violence and mental health function. Self-regulation ability may be compromised by intrafamilial violence and be a precursor to both internalizing and externalizing mental health problem in incarcerated youth. Educational, clinical, and research implications are discussed.     

Towards community‐based monitoring in Manitoba's hog industry

Abstract: Rapid changes in the hog industry in Manitoba have resulted in a gap in the province's resource and environmental policy regime. Concerns about potential, uncertain environmental impacts and an outdated regulatory framework led to a moratorium on new hog industry operations and a provincial hearing. Based on extensive literature, documentary and legislative reviews, this article explores the role of monitoring, and the potential for community‐based monitoring specifically, to address these policy issues. Given the non‐point nature of the pollution in question, the social and economic conditions in southern Manitoba and the strengths of community‐based monitoring initiatives, this approach is a promising solution. Furthermore, the existing legal framework provides an existing grounding through which the program could be vested with authority. Sommaire: Des changements rapides dans l'industrie porcine au Manitoba ont entraîné un fossé entre la politique des ressources et celle de l'environnement de la province. Les inquiétudes au sujet d'éventuelles conséquences environnementales et d'un cadre de réglementation dépassé ont conduit à un moratoire sur les nouvelles opérations dans l'industrie porcine et à une audience provinciale. En s'appuyant sur une importante documentation et sur des études documentaires et législatives, cet article approfondit le rôle de la surveillance, et plus particulièrement le rôle possible de la surveillance communautaire, pour s'attaquer à ces questions de politiques. Étant donné la nature non ponctuelle de la pollution en question, les conditions sociales et économiques dans le sud du Manitoba et la force des initiatives communautaires, cette approche est une solution prometteuse. En outre, le cadre juridique actuel fournit une base existante qui permettrait au programme d'être investi d'une certaine autorité.     

JUDICIAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Judicial Dispute Resolution or JDR is a pre-trial settlement process involving judges as settlement facilitators. In October 2000 the Family and Youth Court in Edmonton, Alberta launched a yearlong JDR pilot project to determine whether JDR would help in resolving family and child welfare matters before the court. The project was very successful and has become a permanent program in Edmonton. This article explains how the Edmonton JDR polit project was set up and evaluated as well as its success as a permanent program. The article describes the JDR process in detail and discusses the current statistics from the program. The design and development of the new JDR Centre in the Edmonton courthouse is also addressed.     

Promoting awareness and prevention of child sexual victimization using the Red Flag/Green Flag program: An evaluation with follow-up

This study describes an evaluation of a school-based sexual abuse awareness and prevention program that featured the “Red Flag/Green Flag People” coloring book and included presentation of a film (“Better Safe than Sorry II”) and discussion of hypothetical and actual experiences involving inappropriate physical touching. Children, parents, and teachers from two experimental schools participated in the program and were compared to similar groups from a control school. Outcomes were evaluated using pre-post (2-month) assessment questionnaires. Among the findings obtained, experimental group children reported learning more about the differences between good and bad touching, and being more likely to both report instances of sexual victimization and utilize program-specific preventive skills, relative to controls. Parents exposed to program materials acknowledged greater improvements in knowledge about program goals and more positive communication at home about abuse. Although no significant differences were obtained for teachers, the ratings for one experimental group were consistently higher than those of the other groups. Staff volunteers evaluated the program as overwhelmingly positive and without adverse effects. Still, some children from all groups reported being touched inappropriately. Some of these improvements were also noted for the experimental group at 6-month follow-up assessment. The findings were discussed in the context of conceptual, clinical, training, and empirical considerations.     

Extending the Reach of Human Rights to Encompass Victims of Rape: M.C. V. Bulgaria

This note analyses a recent case of the European Court of Justice in which the applicant, a 14-year old rape victim, alleged that Bulgarian criminal law violated her rights under Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights in pursuing a practice of only prosecuting rape where there was evidence of the use of physical force and active resistance. In upholding the applicant’s claims, the Court re-affirmed the positive obligation on states to adopt measures to ensure that fundamental rights under the Convention were secured. In particular, in the case of rape, this required the enactment and application of criminal laws effectively prescribing all acts of non-consensual sex and not just those involving physical violence. In this way the Court affirmed not only that rape was, in essence, a violation of personal sexual autonomy but also that legal systems which failed adequately to protect against all forms of rape risked operating in breach of Convention obligations.Application no. 39272/98, 4 December 2003.     

"It's Darwinism – Survival of the Fittest:" How Markets and Reputations Shape the Ways in Which Plaintiffs' Lawyers Obtain Clients

The survival of a plaintiffs' lawyer's practice depends upon the generation of an ongoing flow of clients with injuries that the civil justice system will compensate adequately. If this requirement is not met, lawyers will leave this aspect of the legal market for more promising ones. If they do, legal services for injured people will be diminished as a result. In order to find out how this personal services legal market is defined and developed, we interviewed ninety‐five plaintiffs' lawyers in Texas. These lawyers use four major strategies to get clients: client referrals, lawyer referrals, direct marketing, and other referrals. What any particular lawyer does is shaped by the geographic market from which clients are drawn, and by the lawyer's reputation. Our findings provide fresh insights for the empirical literature on plaintiffs' lawyers, and they provide an empirical context for assessing the potential impact of changes in the civil justice system, like tort reform, on the ability of plaintiffs' lawyers to obtain clients.