Longitudinal Associations Between Sibling Relational Aggression and Adolescent Adjustment

Sibling relational aggression is an important but understudied dimension of sibling relationships that has potential implications for adolescents’ adjustment. This study examined the longitudinal associations between being the target of sibling relational aggression and adolescent adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms, risky behavior, self-worth, and romantic competence) among younger and older siblings over a three-year period in adolescence. The moderating roles of birth order, sibling gender, and sibling dyad gender constellation also were tested. Participants were 196 European American adolescent (firstborn-secondborn) sibling pairs who were 16.47 years (SD?=?0.80) and 13.88 years (SD?=?1.15) of age, respectively, at the onset of this study. Data were collected separately from each sibling during home interviews. Multilevel models revealed that being the target of sibling relational aggression was associated with all four adjustment outcomes at the between-person level, and with risky behavior and romantic competence at the within-person level. However, some of these effects were moderated by sibling dyad characteristics. Although often overlooked in the literature on adolescence, sibling relationship dynamics play a key role in youth development and adjustment.     

Feminist Judgments Projects at the Intersection

Feminist Legal Studies -     

Abusing Vulnerability? Contemporary Law and Policy Responses to Sex Work in the UK

There has been an exponential rise in use of the term vulnerability across a number of political and policy arenas, including child protection, sexual offences, poverty, development, care for the elderly, patient autonomy, globalisation, war, public health and ecology. Yet despite its increasing deployment, the exact meaning and parameters of this concept remain somewhat elusive. In this article, we explore the interaction of two very different strategies??one in which vulnerability is relied upon by those seeking improved social justice as a mechanism by which to identify, problematise and compel state responses to a universal condition of precarious dependency, and the other in which it is used as a category of neo-liberal governance which legitimates state encroachment whilst constructing ??vulnerable?? individuals as ??risk-managers?? who must behave ??responsibly?? in the face of disadvantage. We suggest that the co-existence of these divergent approaches highlights the fluidity and malleability of the concept of vulnerability. Using sex work as a specific case study, we explore the ways in which vulnerability bears multiple meanings, and has been used in recent times in the furtherance of moralistic and regressive agendas, which collude with, rather than challenge, state power. Without seeking to reject the label or normative import of vulnerability, we call, therefore, for a more circumspect approach to its usage, and a more critical evaluation of recent claims which hail it as a mechanism, preferable to the conventional use of equality paradigms, by which to secure progressive feminist outcomes.     

Civil society,the market and democracy in Latin America

‘Civil society’ has been used in a confusing variety of ways in Latin America by academics, policy‐makers, non‐governmental organizations and activists. This article explores the ambiguities in the usages of the concept over the last decade in a bid to rescue it from the danger of abandonment for having become all things to all people. If used rigorously, the concept remains a useful analytical tool for exploring the process and progress of democratization and capitalist development in Latin America. It encourages us to ask what difference a vibrant associational life can make to building more inclusive and sustainable democracies in Latin America. The case of Chile is used as an example of how ‘civil society’ opens up new questions for research in a country which many hail as the most successful example of economic and political liberalization in Latin America.     

Outcome measurement in forensic mental health research: an evaluation

Abstract

Measuring change resulting from healthcare interventions is critical to evaluating their usefulness. The choice of outcome measure is an important part of such evaluations and is driven by assumptions about what is likely to change and how best to capture this. Despite its importance, forensic mental health has paid little attention to determining which are the best measures of outcome. This study used a panel of relevant professionals to (i) assess the relative importance of different areas of potential outcome measurement and (ii) evaluate specific instruments used currently as outcome measures in forensic mental health research. Although a wide range of potential outcomes were endorsed as appropriate, few corresponding instruments have been used consistently. Only three psychiatric instruments deemed by our panel as feasible, relevant and psychometrically adequate have been used in five or more studies (the Beck Depression Inventory; the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and the Symptom Checklist-90–Revised). Significant measurement gaps were noted in areas such as social and emotional functioning. Although instruments exist that could capture most areas, none were sufficiently developed for routine use as outcomes. Further research to develop robust, sensitive and diverse outcome measures is needed. This is an essential precursor to extending the evidence base for forensic mental health interventions.     

Reviews

Joseph Fewsmith Dilemmas of Reform in China. Political Conflict and Economic Debate Armonk, NY and London: M.E. Sharpe, 1994. 289 pp. £44.00. ISBN 1–56324–327‐X.

Tani E. Barlow Gender Politics in Modern China: Writing and Feminism Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1993. 307 pp. £15.95. ISBN 0–8223–1389–8.

William A. Joseph (ed.) China Briefing, 1994 Boulder CO: Westview Press, 1994. 234pp. £10.50. ISBN 0–8133–2057–7.

Y.Y. Kueh and Robert F. Ash (eds) Economic Trends in Chinese Agriculture. The Impact of the Post‐Mao Reforms Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993. xii + 405 pp. £45.00. ISBN 019–828753–4.

X.L. Ding (Ding Xueliang) The Decline of Communism in China: Legitimacy Crisis, 1977–1989. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 230 pp. £30.00. ISBN 0–521–45138–8.

Minxin Pei From Reform to Revolution. The Demise of Communism in China and the Soviet Union Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 1994. 253pp. £29.95. ISBN 0–674–32563‐X.

Julia F. Andrews Painters and Politics in the People's Republic of China 1949–1979 Berkeley CA: University of California Press, 1994. xv + 568 pp. $75.00. ISBN 0–520–07981–7.

E. Wayne Nafziger, Learning From the Japanese: Japan's Pre‐war Development and the Third World, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1995. xv + 221pp. ISBN 1–56324–485–3, paperback 1–56324–486–1.

Richard J. Samuels ’Rich Nation Strong Army'; National Security and the Technological Transformation of Japan Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1994. 455 pp. £38.50. ISBN 0–8014–2705–3.

Alan Burnett The Western Pacific: Challenge of Sustainable Growth London: Earthscan, 1993. 276 pp. £15.95. ISBN 1–85383–1581

Tom Wells The War Within: America's Battle Over Vietnam Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994. 706 pp. £27.50. ISBN 0–5200–8367–9.

Ross Garnaut, Peter Drysdale and John Kunkel (eds) Asia Pacific Regionalism: Readings in International Relations Sydney: Harper Educational, 1994. 433 pp. ISBN 0–06–312140–9.

Atu Emberson‐Bain Labour and Gold in Fiji Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 270 pp. £40.00. ISBN 0–521–36372–1.     

Harbouring the illicit: borderlands and human trafficking in South East Asia

The unique environment of borderlands in mainland and insular South East Asia has facilitated the growth of human trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation. Organised crime groups have seized upon opportunities offered in these geographic locales to develop this illicit industry. This article examines the dynamics of human trafficking in three diverse border areas in the region: the Cambodian-Thai border; Indonesia-Singapore-Malaysia border; and the Thai-Burmese border. An examination of the unique social and power dynamics of the borderlands and a comparative history of these areas will illustrate how organised crime groups have flourished and engaged in human trafficking to support local border sex industries. This trade preys upon the vulnerable and impoverished living on the fringes of border communities. Weak State institutions, entrenched patronage networks, and distance from central control have made these borderlands ideal for criminals to establish themselves and their illicit activities. These same conditions have made it easy for regional tourists to engage in illicit sex in neighbouring countries with little chance of recrimination.