Sexual abuse in Canadian university and college dating relationships: The contribution of male peer support

Using data from a Canadian national representative sample survey of male university and college students, this study tested three hypotheses from a theoretical model which attempts to explain the relationship between male peer group dynamics and sexual assault in dating relationships. Consistent with previous research conducted in the United States, the findings reported here show that male peer support is a significant predictor of sexual abuse in post-secondary school courtship. This article concludes with several suggestions for further research.     

Extreme value theory applied to police performance analysis

Extreme value theory is used to provide, according to one reviewer, a quantitative measure of the probability of a police dispatch operation going “haywire” under pressure. Convensional queuing theory that concentrates on measures of average performance is not readily adaptable to this application. In a major police department, average values of delay response were found to be acceptable, and preliminary analysis showed that sufficient resources were available to avoid excessive queuing at peak loads. Nevertheless, reports of occasional excessively delayed responses indicated the existence of serious problems. Extreme value theory concentrates on the statistically rare long delays that, because of the many repetitions of requests for service, can occur more frequently in time than is acceptable to police management. In the example discussed, the predicted magnitudes and frequencies of these long delays provided the justification for an immediate improvement program. In general, the straightforward methodology described would appear to have broad applications and great practical value. The subsequent analysis to identify causal factors is not a part of the discussion.     

RESEARCH UPDATE

In this report, overall findings from the most recent custody studies of children ages 3 to 16 years, made publicly available within the past 6 years, are briefly reviewed to establish a framework of general principles for decision making around custody and access issues. Most of the comparisons drawn are between joint and sole custody, with some attention being given to differences between mother and father sole custody. All of these studies are of children's adjustment to the physical custody, or residential arrangements, rather than to legal custody, which refers to parents' decision-making authority.