A STUDY OF CLIENT SATISFACTION WITH FAMILY COURT COUNSELLING IN CASES INVOLVING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

The Family Court of Australia provides conciliation counselling to couples who are involved in disputes regarding their children following separation. In situations where domestic violence has occurred, the appropriateness of providing counselling to such couples has been seriously questioned This study examines the experience of clients attending counselling at the family court. Two groups of clients are studied—one group who reports domestic violence as a significant issue and a comparison group who does not report domestic violence. The results indicate that the two groups do not differ in their expressed level of satisfaction with the counselling they have received and that both groups consider counselling to have been helpful in resolving their issues. The preliminary results of this study have implications for the provision of postseparation counselling/mediation to couples when domestic violence has occurred.     

关于成人网络游戏玩家与未成年网络游戏玩家的比较研究

尽管网络游戏日益流行,但一直没有关于成人游戏者与未成人游戏者的比较性调查。为此,我们对EverQuest(简称EQ,中文名称为“无尽的任务”,是由美国索尼在线娱乐公司开发的知名网络游戏——译者注)游戏者(n=540)的相关特征进行了网上问卷调查。该调查主要考察了游戏玩家基本的人口学特征、游戏的频率、玩游戏的历史、游戏的偏好及玩游戏的代价等。结果表明未成年的游戏者多为男性,相较于成年游戏者,他们更不喜欢变换角色性别,更愿意牺牲学习和工作的时间。在游戏偏好的比较中,成年与非成年游戏群体的最大区别在于更多的未成年人认为他们喜好…     

Remedies for Breach of Trust

The decision of the Supreme Court in AIB Group (UK) Plc v Mark Redler & Co confirms the approach taken by Lord Browne‐Wilkinson in Target Holdings Ltd v Redferns: where a trustee misapplies trust assets, a beneficiary is limited to a claim for equitable compensation for losses caused by the trustee's breach of duty. This seems to be a departure from traditional equitable doctrine, which held that the beneficiary could falsify the trustee's unauthorised disbursement and bring a claim for an ‘equitable debt’. This note considers the impact of the decision of the Supreme Court, and how the law regarding ‘equitable compensation’ might continue to develop.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this issue. Carlos Eduardo Poggio Teixeira, Brazil, the United States, and the South American Subsystem: Regional Politics and the Absent Empire. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2014. Abbreviations, bibliography, index, 169 pp.; hardcover $80, paperback $36.99, ebook $22.07. Matthew E. Carnes, Continuity Despite Change: The Politics of Labor Regulation in Latin America. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2014. Tables, figures, bibliography, index, 256 pp.; hardcover $65. Tasha Fairfield, Private Wealth and Public Revenue in Latin America: Business Power and Tax Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Figures, tables, acronyms, appendixes, bibliography, index, 364 pp.; hardcover $99, ebook $79. Eduardo Moncada, Cities, Business, and the Politics of Urban Violence in Latin America. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2016. Bibliography, index, 248 pp.; hardcover $65, ebook. Teri L. Caraway, María Lorena Cook, and Stephen Crowley, eds., Working Through the Past: Labor and Authoritarian Legacies in Comparative Perspective. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2015. Photographs, illustrations, notes, bibliography, index, 296 pp.; hardcover $79.95, paperback $27.95. Elin Skaar, Camila Gianella Malca, and Trine Eide, After Violence: Transitional Justice, Peace, and Democracy. New York: Routledge, 2015. Figures, tables, index, 232 pp.; hardcover $145, paperback $54. David A. Steinberg, Demanding Devaluation: Exchange Rate Politics in the Developing World. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2015. Illustrations, figures, tables, appendix, notes, bibliography, index, 288 pp.; hardcover $45. UN Women, Progress of the World's Women 2015–16: Transforming Economies, Realizing Rights. New York: United Nations, 2015. Figures, tables, maps, notes, index, bibliography, 342 pp.; web version, http://progress.unwomen.org/en/2015     

Respectful Inter-Group Interactions: A Method for Revising Group Attachment?

In the present study, we investigated whether respectful treatment shaped participants’ perceptions of procedural justice during interactions with out-group authorities, and whether the effects of respectful treatment would extend to participants’ attachment to their in-group and to the authority’s social group. We hypothesised that the nature of the relationship between the out-group and a participant’s social group (diametrically opposed vs. not opposed to one another) would moderate the effect of respect on participants’ procedural justice judgements, attachment to the in-group, and attachment to the out-group. Participants (n = 186) read a short, fictitious news story describing an interaction between a fellow in-group member (the subordinate) and an authority. As predicted, respectful treatment increased perceptions of procedural justice and also led participants to feel more attached to the authority’s social group. Contrary to expectation, participants’ attachment to their in-group was not affected by treatment, but instead by authority group membership: interactions with an authority from a social group diametrically opposed to the participant’s social group led participants to become significantly more attached to their in-group, regardless of the authority’s behaviour (respectful vs. disrespectful) in the interaction. Results are discussed in terms of practical strategies for authorities to effectively manage interactions with out-group subordinates.     

Changes in staff confidence and attributions for challenging behaviour after training in positive behavioural support,within a forensic mental health setting: a replication study with follow-up

Positive behavioural support (PBS) is a proactive approach to managing challenging behaviour. Staff in a forensic mental health service were provided training in PBS. The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of training by measuring changes to staff confidence and attributions for challenging behaviour before training, post training and at six-month follow-up. Qualified and unqualified staff were compared, as were male and female staff. Confidence was measured using an adapted version of the Confidence in Coping with Patient Aggression Instrument. The Challenging Behaviour Attributions Scale and the Causal Dimension Scale II assessed staff attributions. Staff confidence levels in working with challenging behaviour increased following PBS training, and this increase was maintained at six-month follow-up, for unqualified, qualified, male and female staff. Changes in attributions for challenging behaviour were observed post training; however changes were not maintained at follow-up. Limitations and clinical implications were outlined.     

The new architects: Brazil,China, and innovation in multilateral development lending

Recent academic works have shed light upon the motives and negotiation dynamics leading to the creation of the New Development Bank (NDB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). We know less about their day‐to‐day activities and if (and if so why) they are being innovative in the field of multilateral development lending. This article evaluates novelty in the two banks. It uncovers and suggests an explanation to the puzzle of why the NDB appears more innovative (in terms of institutional design, staffing, and lending policy guidelines) than the AIIB by exploring the cases of China and Brazil. The two countries played central roles in the set‐up of each the AIIB and NDB. Drawing on extensive field research, the article proposes that their preferences and capability to engage in institutional innovation depend on interests, status, economic power, and regulatory capacity.