Few and far between: understanding the role of the victim in federal environmental crime prosecutions in the United States

Efforts to gather systematic data and undertake empirical studies on the extent of environmental crime, the magnitude of environmental victimization, and the punishment of environmental offenders in the United States remains elusive in the criminological literature. We take a novel approach to studying these gaps in the literature, by examining federal environmental crime prosecutions. While not all encompassing, this approach advances the literature by providing valuable insights into what types of human victimization occur, the role victims play in prosecutions, and how offenders are punished. What is the nature and extent of case-documented environmental victimization with regard to human victimization in the U.S. over the past decade? We address this question through a content analysis of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) criminal investigation cases, 2001–11. Out of 972 total criminal cases, we find that only 3 % of cases involve acute or identifiable victimization. Environmental crime victims, unless immediately harmed, are not likely to play a major role in environmental crime cases; thereby limiting potential political and public attention to victims of environmental crime.     

Caught in the Act: States Doing Some Things Right in Juvenile Justice

Bashing of juvenile justice systems in the United States is commonplace. We wondered if this is justified. As a product of our everyday practice and academic assessment, this article draws attention to salutary developments on several fronts, including reduced confinement, systematic assessment of child risks and needs, including use of structured decision‐making tools, evidence based services, and construction of comprehensive service plans. Our goal is to draw attention to best practices such as these that can lead to further advancements in juvenile justice systems.     

Behavior Problems in Sexually Abused Children of Depressed Versus Nondepressed Mothers

Children's psychological adjustment following stressors, such as sexual abuse, is impacted by environmental variables. One such factor is parental support, which can be hampered when a caregiver suffers from psychopathology. The purpose of this study was to determine whether maternal depression would impact the children's adjustment to sexual abuse. It was hypothesized that depressed mothers would report more behavior difficulties for their sexually abused children than nondepressed mothers. Participants were 58 children (and their mothers) who were referred for trauma symptoms related to sexual abuse. Mothers completed the Beck Depression Inventory as a measure of their depression and rated their children's behaviors on the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist. The children completed the Children's Depression Inventory and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale. Results revealed that depressed mothers reported more conduct problems, inattention/immaturity, and psychotic behavior than nondepressed mothers. Differences were not observed for mothers' report of depressive or anxious behaviors across groups. The children of depressed mothers reported increased levels of depression, but not anxiety, when compared to children of nondepressed mothers. Although both groups of mothers reported symptoms to be clinically significant, the children did not endorse their symptoms in clinically significant ranges.     

The Cognitive Demands of a Negotiation Curriculum: What Does It Mean to “Get”Getting to YES?

A leading theory of human development — constructive-developmental theory — posits that people make meaning in qualitatively different ways through the course of their lives and that their meaning-making capacities continue to evolve even in adulthood. This article begins with a brief introduction to constructive-developmental theory, including its roots in Jean Piaget's work on child development and Robert Kegan's more recent work on adult development. The author then explores the different ways in which students at different developmental stages might make sense of the same negotiation concepts. The article discusses some implications of these diverse understandings for negotiation teachers in terms of goal setting, evaluation, teaching methods, and transformational learning. It then concludes with a suggestion for more research on the connections between constructive–developmentalism and negotiation pedagogy.     

Working with boards: The experiences of Australian managers in performing arts organisations

Corporate governance has long been a feature of the arts and cultural sector and is a requirement for all cultural organisations seeking public funding, regardless of their size. However, despite the ubiquity of corporate governance in the arts and cultural sector, there is little research addressing the experiences of managers. This study examines the experiences of managers in performing arts organisations in working with their boards, based on data collected across 20 performing arts organisations in Australia using a stakeholder salience lens. Our results indicate that while the board is seen as a key organisational stakeholder, managers have a range of concerns about the governance role of boards, and in particular their limited effectiveness on the dimensions of legitimacy and urgency. We find that arts managers often must wrestle with competing agendas around creative autonomy and the low‐risk appetite of their management boards. Our findings highlight the need to re‐align, particularly in small‐ and medium‐sized organisations, the organisational needs of arts managers with corporate governance arrangements, without detracting from creative endeavours.