THE CASE FOR ADOPTION ALTERNATIVES

In this article, the author takes a unique approach to adoption, criticizing the law's heavy emphasis on adoption while not promoting other permanency alternatives. The author advocates the use and promulgation of subsidized guardianship and cooperative adoption as positive alternatives to traditional adoption. First, the author considers the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). Discussions of therapeutic jurisprudence and preventive law follow. Then, she talks about family systems theory and cultural competence, leading to discussion of her two favorite alternatives. After examining these theories and approaches, she concludes that these options do a better job of maintaining family relations and correspond more closely with psychological theory.     

U.S. psychiatrists' beliefs and wants about involuntary civil commitment grounds

This article presents results of a national U.S. survey of psychiatrists' views about legal grounds for involuntary civil commitment. Data from 739 Respondents revealed strong support for "danger to self," "danger to others," and "grave disability" as grounds, but weak support for "illness relapse." Psychiatrists did not support commitment for addiction to drugs or alcohol nor for sexual predators. Logit regression revealed few significant associations between Respondents' choice of grounds and other variables, such as race, employment setting, experience with commitment, and political climate of the state. Respondents' support for the various commitment grounds was found to be most significantly associated with what Respondents believed the law to be in their state; Respondents tended to support the grounds they believed to be the law. The reasons for the strong association between Respondents' beliefs and wants concerning commitment grounds is explored. It is suggested that Respondents have adopted their states' commitment grounds as their preferences through a process of internalization of norms. Implications of this hypothesis are discussed.     

Vicarious trauma: a comparison of clinicians who treat survivors of sexual abuse and sexual offenders

This study compared vicarious trauma in a random sample of male and female clinicians who treat survivors (n=95) and those who treat offenders (n=252). A national survey was conducted with members of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) and the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC). These data were used to test the relative contribution of variables theorized to contribute to two vicarious trauma effects (avoidance and intrusions) using the Impact of Event Scale. The sample reported high levels of avoidance and intrusions. Variables associated with vicarious trauma differed based on client population served. Sequential regression analyses were used to examine theoretically derived variables. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.     

Differential effects of high‐quality child care

In policy research a frequent aim is to estimate treatment effects separately by subgroups. This endeavor becomes a methodological challenge when the subgroups are defined by post‐treatment, rather than pre‐treatment, variables because if analyses are performed in the same way as with pre‐treatment variables, causal interpretations are no longer valid. The authors illustrate a new approach to this challenge within the context of the Infant Health and Development Program, a multisite randomized study that provided at‐risk children with intensive, center‐based child care. This strategy is used to examine the differential causal effects of access to high‐quality child care for children who would otherwise have participated in one of three child care options: no non‐maternal care, home‐based non‐maternal care, and center‐based care. Results of this study indicate that children participating in the first two types of care would have gained the most from high‐quality center‐based care and, moreover, would have more consistently retained the bulk of these positive benefits over time. These results may have implications for policy, particularly with regard to the debate about the potential implications of providing universal child care. © 2002 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Globalization and Pension Reform in Latin America

While financial globalization has created powerful incentives for Latin American governments to privatize old age pension systems, reliance on short-term capital flows has also constrained the ability of cash-strapped governments to enact that reform. Analysis of the technocratic process of pension reform in Argentina and Brazil provides evidence. Instead of simply generating unidirectional pressures for structural pension reform, financial globalization has created a double bind for Latin America's capital-scarce governments, fostering long-term incentives to privatize pension systems while heightening the risk of punishment in the short term.     

Beyond Negativity: The Effects of Incivility on the Electorate

There is much concern among pundits and political observers that incivility undermines our electoral process. Yet we have little evidence that actually documents whether incivility has such pernicious effects. This article seeks to advance our understanding of the influence of incivility on the electorate. We argue that three dimensions are central to understanding both the perceptions and effects of different types of campaign messages: tone (negative versus positive); civility (civil versus uncivil); and focus (issue versus trait-based message content). Using an experimental manipulation on a large national sample that examines these three dimensions, we find that uncivil attacks in campaigns do not appear to be as worrisome as its detractors fear. While uncivil messages in general—and uncivil trait-based messages in particular—are usually seen by the public as being less fair, less informative, and less important than both their civil negative and positive counterparts, they are no more likely to lead to detrimental effects among the public. In fact, incivility appears to have some modest positive consequences for the political engagement of the electorate. These findings are important, since attacks and counterattacks will continue to shape the American political landscape.