PARENTING COORDINATION (PC) PRACTICE: A SURVEY OF EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS

This study summarizes a survey of experienced North American parenting coordinators (PCs). The survey was modeled after a similar seminal study of child custody evaluators ( Keilen & Bloom, 1986 ) and seeks to establish a similar baseline standard in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) court‐sanctioned PC practices. Results reveal that PC is being practiced across North America by highly experienced practitioners that are multidisciplinary across legal and mental health professions who work by court order. These PCs work with a specific written PC agreement that specifies basis of authority, scope of authority, terms of service, retainer/fees, and grievance procedures. Results characterize PC as an increasingly established hybrid ADR court‐sanctioned role that is effective precisely because of accessibility to families, the unique knowledge base of the family law professional concerning the dynamics of divorcing families, and the court‐granted authority to help families resolve disputes that are generally more familial and psychological than legal in nature.     

Exposing evaluation: Using field projects to teach program evaluation

This paper describes the field prefect component of a program evaluation course. Small groups of students conduct evaluative studies for public agencies. Tech group selects a project, defines the research question, designs and executes a research proposal, gives an oral presentation of its findings to the agency, and writes a final report. The students learn how to cope with limited time and money and to conduct quantitative research that provides an agency with needed information. They also learn how political and administrative concerns affect program, research.     

Playing by the rules: Impact and implementation of children's educational television regulations among local broadcasters

This study explores the institutional process involved in the implementation of the 1997 Federal Communications Commission regulations regarding educational programs for children. Through open‐ended interviews with representatives from twenty‐eight stations, this study assessed local broadcasters' reactions to these new rules in the early stages of policy implementation, examining their understanding of the new regulations; the implementation strategies and structural constraints that guide the selection of educational programs and the implications of these strategies for the success of the rules in achieving their goals as stated explicitly by the FCC. All respondents indicated that they would comply with the regulations by providing the minimum three hours of educational programming per week, along with other reporting and public file obligations. However, the ultimate effectiveness of these rules in ensuring better television for children seems complicated by the institutional constraints on local broadcasters and the widespread belief among broadcasters that educational programs are not viable in the market. The authors argue that future research on national policy evaluation should consider the implementation of the policy within a complex web of institutional and social structures.     

Lifetime sexual victimization and poor risk perception: does emotion dysregulation account for the links?

The present study examined whether and which facets of emotion dysregulation serve an intervening role in the association between prior victimization and risk perception in an analogue sexual assault vignette. Participants were 714 university women who completed self-report measures of sexual victimization, emotion dysregulation, and a computer-administered written vignette of a college party scene that culminates in acquaintance rape. Approximately 42% of the sample reported lifetime sexual victimization during childhood, adolescence, or adulthood. Two individual aspects of emotion dysregulation, limited access to emotion regulation strategies and impulse control difficulties, mediated the association between lifetime victimization and leaving the scenario later. Findings suggest the importance of emotion dysregulation in predicting risk perception among victims and of improving victims' emotion regulation skills in revictimization risk reduction interventions.     

OVERCOMING BARRIERS FAMILY CAMP:A PROGRAM FOR HIGH‐CONFLICT DIVORCED FAMILIES WHERE A CHILD1 IS RESISTING CONTACT WITH A PARENT

Overcoming Barriers Family Camp is an innovative program designed to treat separating and divorced families where a child is resisting contact or totally rejecting a parent. Both parents, significant others, and children participate in a 5‐day family camp experience that combines psycho‐education and clinical intervention in a safe, supportive milieu. This article describes the components of the program, from referrals to intake to aftercare. Evaluation immediately following the camp experience is provided for the camps that ran in 2008 and 2009, and 6‐month follow‐up interview information is provided for the 2008 camp program as well as 1‐month follow‐up about the initiation of aftercare with the 2009 families. A discussion of the strengths and challenges of this approach with entrenched, high‐conflict family systems concludes the article.