Predictors of Early Engagement in Home Visitation

Predictors of engagement in mothers receiving home visitation in the first year of service was examined. Early engagement was studied in three ways: (1) length of time active in the program during the first year of service (duration), (2) number of visits received (quantity), and (3) gaps in service between visits (consistency). Examined visits received in 515 first-time mothers in a Healthy Families America (HFA) program. Parameters of engagement were investigated, and predictors of engagement were identified using demographics and the Kempe Family Stress Inventory. Inclusive of the Assessment Visit, 31.8% of mothers disengaged prior to the first month of service. Remaining active in the program was associated with being Caucasian, and increased parenting risk (mental health/substance abuse history, low social support, increased stress). Most mothers had fewer home visits than prescribed. Gaps in prescribed service were common, with 89.4% of mothers experiencing gaps between visits of 1 month, and dropping to 16.4% having gaps of 2 months. In contrast to findings from clinic-based interventions, early engagement in home visitation is associated with lower levels of functioning and acute needs. These findings add to a growing body of literature suggesting that increased adversity promotes engagement in prevention programs in general, and home visitation programs in particular. To the extent that mothers who are actively engaged in home visitation are likely to have increased psychosocial needs, curricula may require modification and augmentation to address these needs and optimize program effectiveness.     

RATIONALISM VERSUS INCREMENTALISM IN CRIMINAL SENTENCING

Rationalism in management science tends to mean attempting to determine the benefits and costs of the alternative decisions under consideration, and then picking the one that is best on benefits minus costs. Incrementalism tends to mean determining the decisions that actually get made under various circumstances, and then working with those existing decision rules as the basis for making adjustments to consider special or changing circumstances. Those two approaches can be well illustrated with the problem of attempting to determine what criminal sentences should be legislated to cover given crimes and prior records. The analysis tends to show that a rationalist approach is more effective in achieving societal goals when (1) alternative policies can be meaningfully related to those goals, and (2) existing decisions reflect individual goals which are generally in conflict with societal goals. An incrementalist approach is more effective when either of those criteria is absent, which is so when seeking to arrive at legislatively determined nondiscretionary criminal sentencing.     

Attitudes toward victims of rape: effects of gender, race, religion, and social class

Although previous literature focusing on perceptions of victims of rape has examined how gender, race, and culture influence the attitudes one holds toward victims, these studies have yielded mixed results. This study compared perceptions of victims of rape across a wide range of ages, educational backgrounds, religions, and income levels, while focusing on gender and racial differences. Results indicate (N = 220) that victims of rape are generally viewed more sympathetically by females than by males and by Whites than by African Americans. However, the effect of race disappears when socioeconomic variables are controlled, suggesting a more complex relationship. Also, a hierarchical regression indicates that age, sex, education, and income are significant predictors of attitudes toward victims. This study builds on existing research that examines such attitudes from a cultural perspective and extends this literature by examining the interactive effects of several demographic variables within a community sample.     

Organizational Readiness for Change in Correctional and Community Substance Abuse Programs

Significant needs exist for increased and better substance abuse treatment services in our nation's prisons. The TCU Organizational Readiness for Change (ORC) survey has been widely used in community-based treatment programs and evidence is accumulating for relationships between readiness for change and implementation of new clinical practices. Results of organizational surveys of correctional counselors from 12 programs in two states are compared with samples of community-based counselors. Correctional counselors perceived strong needs for new evidence-based practices but, compared to community counselors, reported fewer resources and less favorable organizational climates. These results have important implications for successfully implementing new practices.     

Barriers to successful treatment completion in child sexual abuse survivors

Child sexual abuse (CSA) often requires psychological treatment to address the symptoms of victim trauma. Barriers to entry and completion of counseling services can compromise long-term well-being. An integrated medical and mental health evaluation and treatment model of a child advocacy center (CAC) has the potential to reduce barriers to mental health treatment. Objective: (a) to describe characteristics between CSA patients who engage versus those who do not engage in mental health treatment and (b) to identify factors associated with successful completion of mental health treatment goals. For design/setting, a retrospective cohort study was conducted of CSA patients (ages 3-16 years) referred to mental health services following a CAC assessment. Outcome variables included linkage with treatment and completion of treatment. Independent variables included demographics, abuse characteristics, and therapist characteristics. Data were abstracted from the CAC and billing databases. Results: Four hundred ninety subjects were evaluated. Subjects were as follows: predominately female (74%), White (60%), and more than half received Medicaid (56%). Mean age was 8.4 years. About 52% linked with mental health services and 39% of patients that successfully linked with mental health services completed therapy. Successful linkage was independently associated with referrals to other counseling services (AOR 8.4 [2.5, 27.7]). Successful completion of therapy was independently associated with caregiver participation in therapy (AOR 3.2 [1.8, 6.0]) and if the patient was referred to other counseling services (AOR 4.1 [1.9, 8.5]). There were no differences between subjects that linked and/or completed therapy and those that did not with regard to demographic characteristics or abuse severity. Conclusion: In contrast to previous reports, efforts at our CAC seem to overcome linkage barriers in this population. However, there remain challenges in achieving successful completion of treatment goals in this population. Engaging caregivers' involvement in therapy services had a positive effect with successfully achieving treatment goals.     

Preparing children for cross-examination: do the practice questions matter?

Research has shown that a brief intervention involving practice and feedback can help children maintain accuracy when challenged with cross-examination-style questions. To date, however, researchers have prepared children using the same cross-examination challenges that they would encounter during the subsequent cross-examination interview. It is unknown whether the intervention will still be effective when children later face novel cross-examination-style questions. Six- to 11-year-old children (n?=?132) took part in a staged memory event, and were then interviewed with analogues of direct-examination (1–2 days later) and cross-examination (6–8 weeks later). One week prior to the cross-examination interview, some children participated in a preparation session, where they were given practice answering cross-examination-style questions about an unrelated topic, and feedback on their responses. For half of these children, the cross-examination-style challenges they encountered during the preparation session were the same as the challenges they subsequently faced during cross-examination; for the others, there was no overlap. Relative to a control group that did not receive the intervention, the preparation session resulted in better performance during cross-examination, regardless of the degree of overlap. These findings are encouraging given that we can never predict the questions that cross-examining lawyers will ask children.     

The Double Delegitimatisation of Julia Gillard: Gender,the Media,and Australian Political Culture

This article explores Australian media coverage of Julia Gillard's leadership. It employs a comparative discourse analysis of the gendered nature of media reporting on her sexism and misogyny speech and eventual demise. The article places these gendered framings within two contexts: that of the more general gendered expectations of the double bind facing all women leaders; and the more specific challenge to Australia's women leaders, posed by exclusivist national identity narratives. These narratives — of mateship, the ANZAC myth, and various apparently ideal‐type masculinities — serve to further disassociate Australian women from positions of national leadership. Together, we argue that the twin constraints of gender expectations and exclusivist national identity narratives amounted to a double delegitimisation of Julia Gillard's leadership, on the basis of her being a woman leader, generally, and an Australian woman leader, specifically.