The Incidence and Impact of Family Violence on Mental Health Among South Korean Women: Results of a National Survey

This representative national survey examined incidence of husband-to-wife violence in the past year, lifetime exposure to parental violence, and the relationships between victimization experiences of family violence and mental health among South Korean women (N = 1,079). The major findings were that incidence rate of husband-to-wife violence among Korean women was 29.5%, which was much higher than those of other nations, and that their experiences of physical violence by husbands in the last year and lifetime verbal abuse by parents had strong associations with the mental health of victims. The findings suggest that preventive intervention programs for male perpetrators as well as domestic violence victims with mental health problems and comprehensive interventions for Korean couples are urgently needed. In addition, parents should be educated about how to modify their children’s behavior without physical punishment or verbal abuse.

Police crackdown on Christiania in Copenhagen

A recent change in Danish cannabis control policy has had significant implications for the structure of the retail-level cannabis market in Copenhagen. A process of restructuring following an crackdown on ‘Pusher Street’ has involved at least four people getting shot and killed in what police describe as struggles for market shares. Combating the retail cannabis market was a top three priority for the Copenhagen police. The shift in policy started in 2004 when possession for personal use was up-penalized, from a discriminatory warning to an obligatory fine of 70 euros which was quadrupled in 2007. The law was immediately followed by an extensive police crackdown on Christiania’s open retail-market. Christiania has had a cannabis market for 32 years. As cannabis use rates rose throughout the ‘90’s the market flourished. On a given day it’s estimated turnover was around 20 k, about twothirds of the total market in Copenhagen. On the 16th of May 2004 police raided ‘Pusher Street’ and arrested 60 dealers and their helpers along with 20 people accused of forming an organized lookout corps. After the initial raid police implemented a zero-tolerance zone in the area and targeted users in a deterrent effort issuing a total of 4834 fines in a year. Maintaining the zero tolerance zone has so far involved 12 big confrontations with the inhabitants of Christiania. 114 police officers have been injured and 29 formal complaints of police conduct have been lodged with the State Attorney. Following the crackdown the cannabis market adapted by dispersing and applying new methods for retail dealing.     

Cross border North Korean women trafficking and victimization between North Korea and China: An ethnographic case study

This is a case study on the trafficking of North Korean women via the interviewing of women trafficking victims. The study has an explorative nature. Its primary goal is to address the issues of the cross-border trafficking of North Korean women. In doing so, this research will describe the current picture of cross-border North Korean women trafficking operation between North Korea and China. It will uncover the identity and characteristics of traffickers, the identity and characteristics of victims and contributing factors of their victimization, and the cross-border trafficking routes and procedural networks of trafficking operation. The findings of the current study shows that the problem of North Korean women trafficking is worth being paid attention by the international community and that appropriate counter-measures need to be implemented. Also, this study hopes to facilitate more empirical research on this topic.     

Financial Stress and Depression Among African Refugees in the Southern United States: A Serial Multiple Mediation Analysis of Financial Self-Efficacy and Financial Anxiety

Abstract

As part of a larger community-based participatory research project exploring the postresettlement challenges of African refugees in the southern United States, our study investigated the phenomenon of financial stress and its relationship to mental health through a mediating chain of factors—financial self-efficacy and financial anxiety. Results revealed the mediating role of financial self-efficacy and financial anxiety on the relationship between financial stress and depressive symptoms. Findings provide discourses around financial stress and mental health in the migration context, critical to recognizing the unique experiences of African refugees and informing culturally responsive programs for financial inclusion and economic integration.     

韩国社会多元文化的现状与多元文化教育的兴起

在经济全球化大发展的趋势下,很多外国人涌入韩国这个由单一民族组成的社会成为移住民。为了让本国人跟外来移民和平共处,韩国政府改变了一如既往的同化主义政策,韩国学术界也陆续提出开展多元文化教育的必要性和具体建议。韩国的多元文化教育从仅针对少数弱势群体和种族进行教育,开始转向针对所有韩国民众进行以平等、自由、正义、尊严为哲学基础的公民素质教育。这种多元文化教育的目的是通过教育,让韩国社会的普通民众和新来的少数移民者及其子女们一起,共同建设平等和睦的和谐社会。本文研究了韩国多元文化社会的形成和多元文化教育的兴起过程,进而了解韩国多元文化社会的现状和多元文化教育的方向。     

The Dilemma of Nuclear Disarmament: The Case of North Korea

ABSTRACT

The Hanoi summit between the US and North Korea failed not because of North Korea’s brinkmanship strategy or its miscalculation of the US position on the denuclearisation talks, but because of a fundamental issue: a dilemma of how much to yield in giving up its military capabilities to expedite the lifting of sanctions. The leadership in Pyongyang has concerns about the ‘deliverability’ of its promises to its domestic audience to ensure deterrence capabilities and economic recovery. The two-level game model explains why both sides keep minimising the range of options for the negotiations, increasing the risk that the talks will break down.     

The mechanism of death in whole-body overheating

Data on anatomo-clinical analysis of 36 cases of death due to general overheating of a body are presented. On the basis of these data can be stated that in most cases the effect of high ambient temperature combined with great physical exercise and prolonged exposure to the caused death within short (up to 3 days) periods of time as a result of cessation of CNS functioning. Without physical exercise and direct insolation death usually occurred later (on the average of 5-9 days) from acute renal and renal-hepatic failure. Morphologic changes were unspecific.