Healthy Families America Research Practice Network: a unique partnership to integrate prevention science and practice

The goal of the Healthy Families America Research to Practice Network (RPN) was to foster communication among academic researchers, community-based evaluators, and practitioners to integrate science-based prevention practices into practice settings. The RPN goals were guided by and are a response to the limitations of past and current research paradigms in the social sciences. Accomplishments included creation of a 40-member researcher-practitioner council, development of a national Program Information Management System, and completion of a 4-year national Implementation Study, employing data from over 100 sites in nine states. The discussion examines what was learned about this rare experiment in creating practitioner-scientist partnerships and the impact of the RPN on child abuse and neglect prevention. A five-year plan to sustain and strengthen a practice-research collaborative is recommended.     

Emotional distress in African American women with HIV

This study identified factors associated with emotional distress in 109 African American women with HIV. The relationship of personal factors (demographic, social conflict, social support, and spirituality), health-related factors (perception of health, physical and mental health problems, and years diagnosed), and cognitive/coping responses (stigma, worry, and emotion focused coping) on depressive symptoms and mood state was examined. Younger age, more social conflict, less social support, lower perception of health, and more HIV worry were associated with higher depressive symptom scores. Variables most often affecting various mood states included personal factors (public housing, unemployment, and social conflict) and worry about having HIV worry.     

In Hot Pursuit of NRD Claims

Federal- and state-designated entities' ability to pursue claims for damages to the nation's natural resources have long existed under statutory and common law but, until recently, were placed on the back burner.

Pursuit of Natural Resource Damage (NRD) claims by federal and certain state governments have drastically increased. New Jersey and New Mexico have been among the most aggressive. Issues surrounding NRD claims such as allocation of liability, calculation of damages using formulas and technical factors, and causation are the focus of litigation. New Jersey's groundwater initiative and New Mexico's program are being watched closely to determine future success of NRD claims.     

Convincing the World of China’s Tradition to Pursue Universal Harmony

As China??s comprehensive national power grows, its efforts to reduce the ??China threat?? perception have become more challenging. In line with the Chinese leadership??s current theme of peace and harmony in China??s foreign policy line, Chinese scholars have been highlighting the same theme in their research on China??s traditional strategic culture. Their research criticizes Western cosmopolitanism and praises the peaceful nature of China??s traditional ??tianxia?? concept. The exploitation of traditional strategic culture to provide re-assurance to the international community has now been raised to the official level, as reflected by the White Paper on ??China??s Peaceful Development?? released by the State Council??s Information Office on September 6, 2011. This probably means that it will be a major element of China??s public diplomacy for the foreseeable future. These efforts, however, may not have a significant impact because of rising nationalism in the region and the moderate escalation of existing territorial disputes involving China and its neighbors.     

Pathologic evaluation of the cervical spine following surgical and chiropractic interventions

When patients die after chiropractic or surgical interventions of the cervical spine, pathologists tasked with the autopsy are frequently overwhelmed by the complicated anatomy, laborious dissections, complex operative procedures and surgical hardware, and the necessity to differentiate artifacts from trauma and disease. However, abundant data can be obtained from careful evaluation of the cervical spine in situ; extensive postmortem diagnostic imaging procedures; detailed dissections of the removed, formalin-fixed and decalcified spine; and histology. This study presents a regimented, stepwise approach to the evaluation of the cervical spine in these difficult cases, promotes uniform assessment, facilitates diagnoses, and supports the accumulation of otherwise hard-to-come-by reference material that can be of value in future cases. The resultant detailed autopsy findings may prove useful in the medico-legal death investigation process. Autopsy findings may also be of great value to health care providers involved in quality assurance processes.     

Surrogate decision-making for incompetent elderly patients: the role of informal representatives

Informal or unofficial representation refers to the practice (more common in some European jurisdictions than in others), that persons not designed by a court or by the patient himself, make medical decisions on the patient's behalf in case of their incompetence. If the law provides for this, it is usually next of kin (spouse, children, brothers and sisters, etc.) who are allowed to act in such a capacity. Informal representation raises several questions. Are family members always familiar with what their relative would have wished, ready to take responsibility, and not too much reigned by their emotions? The basic legal concern is whether there are sufficient procedural and other safeguards to protect the incompetent patient from representatives who do not serve their best interests. In addressing these issues, after a brief survey of the law in the Netherlands as compared with that in Belgium, Germany and England/Wales, we will argue that informal representation as such is not at variance with international and European standards. However, an 'informal' approach to surrogate decision-making should always go together with sufficient protection of the incompetent patient, including procedural safeguards with regard to the decision that the patient is incompetent, limits to the decision-making power of informal representatives and effective forms of conflict resolution.     

State Capacity and Terrorism: A Two-Dimensional Approach

Conventional wisdom suggests that dissident groups use terrorism when they face an overwhelmingly more powerful state, yet attacks in developing countries have predominated in the post-Cold War era, suggesting that terrorism is an increasingly weak state phenomenon. Cross-national studies of terrorism find mixed results for how common measures of state capacity influence terrorism. We argue that these indeterminate findings are due in part to a partial understanding of both what constitutes state capacity and how different aspects of state strength or weakness relate to the propensity of groups to use terrorism. We decompose state capacity into two dimensions that we theorize are particularly relevant to dissident groups: military capacity, or the ability to project conventional military force, and bureaucratic/administrative capacity. Our analysis supports the claim that terrorist attacks are more frequently targeted at states with large, technologically sophisticated militaries but less frequently targeted at states with higher bureaucratic and administrative capacity. We also compare two militarily capable states, France and Russia, that have had different recent experiences with terrorism to help illustrate the causal mechanisms involved. Evidence from our models and cases suggest that states can be capable in different ways, and these various capabilities create differing incentives for using terror as a strategic and tactical tool.     

Jurisdiction,Crime, and Development: The Impact of Public Law 280 in Indian Country

Public Law 280 transferred jurisdiction over criminal and civil matters from the federal to state governments and increased the extent of nontribal law enforcement in selected parts of Indian country. Where enacted, the law fundamentally altered the preexisting legal order. Public Law 280 thus provides a unique opportunity to study the impact of legal institutions and their change on socioeconomic outcomes. The law's controversial content has attracted interest from legal scholars. However, empirical studies of its impact are scarce and do not address the law's endogenous nature. We examine the law's impact on crime and on economic development in U.S. counties with significant American‐Indian reservation population. To address the issue of selection of areas subject to Public Law 280, our empirical strategy draws on the law's politico‐historical context. We find that the application of Public Law 280 increased crime and lowered incomes. The law's adverse impact is robust and noteworthy in magnitude.