Patterns of Risk and Protective Factors in the Intergenerational Cycle of Maltreatment

This study investigates the continuation and discontinuation of the intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment within the first 13 months of the child’s life. Differences in risk factors and parenting styles between families who initiate (Initiators), maintain (Maintainers) or break (Cycle Breakers) the intergenerational cycle of child maltreatment are explored in comparison to control families (Controls). One hundred and three Health Visitors were trained to assess risk factors and parenting styles of 4,351 families, at both 4–6 weeks and 3–5 months after birth. Maintainers, Initiators and Cycle Breakers had a significantly higher prevalence for the majority of risk factors and poor parenting styles than Controls. Protective factors of financial solvency and social support distinguished Cycle Breakers from Maintainers and Initiators. Therefore, it is the presence of protective factors that distinguish Cycle Breakers from families who were referred to Child Protection professionals in the first year after birth. A conceptual, hierarchical model that considers history of abuse, risk and protective factors, in turn, is proposed to assess families for the potential of child maltreatment.     

Who’s Your Daddy?

This paper provides a brief explanation and illustration of the phenomenon of semiotics. It then describes the conceptual tools of semiotics and how lawyers can use semiotics in law to create compelling arguments. Last, the paper applies the tools of semiotics to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case Ferguson v. McKiernan, 940 A.2d 1236 (Pa. 2008), to reveal the shift in social context that made the lines of legal reasoning behind the outcome appear “self-evident.”     

Are transformational and transactional types of leadership compatible? A two‐wave study of employee motivation

Transformational and transactional leadership strategies have become prominent in public administration research, but it is unclear whether they are compatible or whether they could undermine each other. We examine the combined and interactive effects of transformational and three types of transactional leadership (contingent verbal rewards, material rewards, and sanctions) on employee work motivation, conceptualized as work engagement and intrinsic motivation. Panel analyses using repeated measures of 385 leaders and 3,797 employees show that transformational leadership and contingent verbal rewards increased employee motivation. However, simultaneous use of contingent material rewards undermined the benefits of transformational leadership. Thus, the motivational potential of service‐ or community‐oriented visions was undercut when leaders also appealed to extrinsic material motives. This could help explain why financial incentives do not always have the expected benefits in public organizations. We therefore argue that research and practice should pay more attention to how different leadership strategies work in combination.     

Feelings of Safety In The Presence Of the Police,Security Guards,and Police Volunteers

Uniformed presence is commonly thought to create feelings of safety in people. However, do differently uniformed people contribute to an equal amount of safety and are there situation-dependent differences? The present study examined the association between various types of uniformed presence and people’s feelings of safety through a questionnaire among 352 respondents (18–86 years) (49.1 % women). The questionnaire contained pictures of situations perceived as relatively safe and unsafe with or without uniformed presence. The respondents estimated how safe they thought they would feel in these situations with no uniformed presence, two police officers, six police officers, a police vehicle, two security guards, or two police volunteers. Results showed that uniformed presence did not increase feelings of safety in a situation perceived as relatively safe, making patrol unnecessary. In situations perceived as relatively unsafe however, all types of uniformed presence increased feelings of safety. Foot patrolling police contributed to the greatest increase in feelings of safety. Security guards and police volunteers created similar amounts of feelings of safety making police volunteers a cost-effective alternative. All types of foot patrol were better than vehicle patrol, making non-police groups an alternative to vehicle patrol. Some situational, gender, and age differences were found.     

Policy processes sans frontières: interactions in transnational governance of global health

Policy Sciences - National policy on global health (NPGH) arenas are multisectoral governing arrangements for cooperation between health, development, and foreign affairs sectors in government...