Social Support Choices for Help with Abusive Relationships: Perceptions of African American Women

A recent national telephone study of the African American community found that over 90% of respondents would feel comfortable talking to a family member or friend who was being abused about the abuse, with the majority advising she get help from a domestic violence program. The purpose of this study was to understand how comfortable abused women would feel talking to members of her support system about the abuse and how comfortable women who have not experienced partner abuse would feel if they were abused. Over 70% of women who have experienced abuse reported at least some comfort getting assistance for abuse from a friend, clergy/spiritual leader, Black community member, family member their age, or physician. Women who reported never experiencing physical or sexual partner violence were less likely to perceive feeling comfortable getting assistance from their social support systems (both formal and informal) if they were abused. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Managing the Goal-Setting Paradox: How to Get Better Results from High Goals and Be Happy

Many negotiation teachers share the same tip early on: negotiators who set higher goals "do better." It turns out that one of the most empirically supported "truths" about negotiation comes with a big "but." Negotiators who set higher goals are likely to feel worse. In other words, negotiators who set optimistic goals are likely to obtain better objective outcomes but worse subjective outcomes.
We call this empirical finding the "goal-setting paradox." This article considers sources of and explanations for the goal-setting paradox and suggests how negotiators and negotiation teachers may better manage this paradox through mindfulness and other techniques.     

Illegal downloads: sharing out online liability: sharing files, sharing risks

Legal context: Until the Geneva Treaties provided the communication to thepublic right copyright law struggled to provide a coherent responseto filesharing of music and films. Liability for uploaders wasestablished but in practical terms this was not effective. Visitingliability on telecommunications networks and ISP's was not possiblein the light of the international consensus that such entitiesshould enjoy a measure of immunity. The music industry in particularhas launched successful actions against software providers andend users by resorting to either contributory infringement orauthorising infringement. Safeguards against invasion of privacyare put in place but these do not guarantee that the means ofcollecting evidence are necessarily lawful and the Dutch decisiondenying BREIN access to the identities of suspected filesharersbecause of data capture techniques is to be welcomed. Music,film and broadcast rightholders are now using Norwich Pharmacaland notice and take down proceedings to force ISP's cooperatein enforcing copyright law. Key points: Through use of copyright law the music industry in particularhas been successful in shutting down software providers andis still seeking to drag users and parents through the courts.Privacy considerations are not being clearly addressed in somecountries. The signs are that greater use of the criminal lawis intended in many jurisdictions. Practical significance: Decisions such as Sharman suggest that the most effective wayof dealing with filesharing is to go against software providersbut that even this will not stop this activity and that theexpansion of the legal download market and improved productsand services will be the best and most effective response tofilesharing. The writer thinks the increased use of the criminallaw is likely but that such a development is neither a proportionatereaction when civil law remedies are available nor is it a responsibleuse of public funds when law enforcement bodies face other moreserious challenges.