Post-Separation Abuse of Women and their Children: Boundary-Setting and Family Court Utilization among Victimized Mothers

Continued abuse of themselves and their children is a concern for many mothers leaving intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrating husbands. This research examines women’s responses to abuse committed by ex-husbands with whom they had undergone custody disputes. In-depth, qualitative interviews were conducted with 19 mothers who had divorced IPV-perpetrating husbands between 1 and 3 years prior. Participants were located through publicly available family court divorce records and interviews were examined using analytic induction. Women’s strategies to protect themselves and their children from abuse involved setting boundaries to govern their interactions with ex-husbands. Mothers often turned to family court for assistance in setting boundaries to keep children safe, but found that family court did not respond in ways they believed protected their children. Conversely, when women turned to the justice system for restraining orders or called the police for help against IPV, they generally found the justice system responsive.     

Differentiating patterns of substance misuse by subtypes of antisocial traits in male offenders

Among criminal offenders, two subtypes of antisocial traits, psychopathy and externalizing-only, are associated with an especially elevated risk for substance use disorders (SUDs). The present study examined the associations of these traits with patterns of substance misuse. In a sample of 1410 male offenders, we used diagnoses for alcohol, cannabis, opioids, and stimulants to examine the association between antisocial traits and SUD severity, as well as, age at substance use initiation. Results indicated that externalizing-only, but not psychopathic, traits predicted greater severity of SUDs (i.e. increased likelihood of dependence) across all substances. By contrast, psychopathic, but not externalizing-only, traits predicted earlier initiation of use across all substances. These differential patterns of substance misuse may be a reflection of distinct psychobiological processes. Ultimately, parsing the patterns of substance use across a continuum of clinically heterogeneous samples, rather than within circumscribed diagnostic categories, might help to refine the phenotype and improve the prediction of substance-related problems.     

An empirical examination of product counterfeiting crime impacting the U.S. military

Counterfeit parts in the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) supply chain threaten national security by compromising critical military operations and placing the lives of military service members at risk. With the goal of illustrating the nature of the risk as it relates to types of counterfeit parts, how they entered the supply chain, and were identified and processed through the criminal justice system, we assemble and analyze open-source information on criminal schemes involving counterfeits in the DOD supply chain. We utilize the Product Counterfeiting Database (PCD) to capture every indicted scheme linked to the DOD and describe characteristics of the schemes, offenders, and victims. These data provide empirical insights into the counterfeiting of parts and equipment in the DOD supply chain. We conclude with an overview of key issues to consider when weighing opportunities for product counterfeiting as well as implications for policy and practice.     

An Eight State Study on the Relationships Among Domestic Violence Shelter Services and Residents’ Self-Efficacy and Hopefulness

Survivors of intimate partner violence have myriad reasons why they turn to domestic violence shelter programs. While all are seeking immediate safety and feel a pressing need to leave their homes to obtain it, safety is rarely the only issue survivors are grappling with upon shelter entry. Other concerns are particular to each person’s history and circumstances, and include but are not limited to employment, counseling, social support, health care, addiction recovery services, immigration help, housing, and services for their children. The current study involved secondary analysis of survey data completed at two points in time by 565 shelter residents. The original research involved 215 domestic violence programs across eight states in the U.S., and surveys were completed by shelter residents shortly after they arrived in shelter and again as they were close to exiting. Results confirmed that survivors had numerous needs in addition to safety when entering shelter. Residents’ overall rating of how helpful their stay at shelter had been for them was predicted by how much help they had received across their presenting needs, as well as how they were treated by staff. The amount of help received, as well as treatment by staff, also related to survivors’ hopefulness at shelter exit, as well as the extent to which they felt better able to do things on their own. The study findings provide further evidence that domestic violence shelter staff assist residents with a variety of complex needs in addition to safety, and that this assistance is related to positive outcomes for survivors.     

Muslim marriage (non) recognition: implications and possible solutions

Differences between traditional Muslim marriage practice and the statutory formalities required for entry into a legally recognised marriage in England and Wales have resulted in serious question-marks hanging over the legal status of a seemingly significant proportion of Muslim marriages. This article places the spotlight on the vulnerability of spouses who remain unaware of the lack of legal status which may attach to their marriage or who may have been misled by their spouse as to the latter’s intention to obtain legal recognition for the marriage. The article first considers the statutory formalities required under English law for entry into a legally recognised marriage before drawing on the most up-to-date empirical research to highlight the apparently widespread non-compliance with the formalities within the Muslim community. The article then reflects on the various practical implications which may arise for parties to an unrecognised Muslim marriage before considering how the situation may be ameliorated.     

Sudden cardiac death due to giant cell inflammatory processes

Granulomatous inflammation of the myocardium may occur in a number of systemic disease processes including those with infectious etiologies such as fungal, mycobacterial and parasitic infections, as well as hypersensitivity reactions, and rarely autoimmune disorders. In many of these disorders, giant cells are components of the inflammatory infiltrate. Systemic granulomatous processes of unknown pathogenesis, most notably sarcoidosis, may also be associated with involvement of the myocardium. Occasionally, these disorders are associated with sudden death due to pathologic involvement of the heart. In contrast, giant cell myocarditis, also known as idiopathic myocarditis, a rare, frequently fulminant and fatal disorder of unknown etiology, is isolated to the heart and lacks systemic involvement. This disorder is most commonly diagnosed at autopsy. We present two cases in which sudden death resulted from a giant cell inflammatory process affecting the myocardium. Both individuals lacked antemortem diagnoses and collapsed at their respective places of employment. These cases compare and contrast the clinical and pathologic issues involved in the differential diagnoses of the subgroup of sudden cardiac deaths resulting from giant cell inflammatory processes that affect the myocardium, as well as the value of histologic examination and immunohistochemical studies.     

EU GDPR or APEC CBPR? A comparative analysis of the approach of the EU and APEC to cross border data transfers and protection of personal data in the IoT era

This article examines the two major international data transfer schemes in existence today – the European Union (EU) model which at present is effectively the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Cross Border Privacy Rules system (CBPR), in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT).While IoT data ostensibly relates to things i.e. products and services, it impacts individuals and their data protection and privacy rights, and raises compliance issues for corporations especially in relation to international data flows. The GDPR regulates the processing of personal data of individuals who are EU data subjects including cross border data transfers. As an EU Regulation, the GDPR applies directly as law to EU member nations. The GDPR also has extensive extraterritorial provisions that apply to processing of personal data outside the EU regardless of place of incorporation and geographical area of operation of the data controller/ processor. There are a number of ways that the GDPR enables lawful international transfer of personal data including schemes that are broadly similar to APEC CBPR.APEC CBPR is the other major regional framework regulating transfer of personal data between APEC member nations. It is essentially a voluntary accountability scheme that initially requires acceptance at country level, followed by independent certification by an accountability agent of the organization wishing to join the scheme. APEC CBPR is viewed by many in the United States of America (US) as preferable to the EU approach because CBPR is considered more conducive to business than its counterpart schemes under the GDPR, and therefore is regarded as the scheme most likely to prevail.While there are broad areas of similarity between the EU and APEC approaches to data protection in the context of cross border data transfer, there are also substantial differences. This paper considers the similarities and major differences, and the overall suitability of the two models for the era of the Internet of Things (IoT) in which large amounts of personal data are processed on an on-going basis from connected devices around the world. This is the first time the APEC and GDPR cross-border data schemes have been compared in this way. The paper concludes with the author expressing a view as to which scheme is likely to set the global standard.     

The Short-Term Dynamics of Peers and Delinquent Behavior: An Analysis of Bi-weekly Changes Within a High School Student Network

Objectives

To analyze short-term changes in peer affiliations, offending behavior and routine activities in order to evaluate three different processes: peer selection, peer socialization and situational peer influences.

Methods

The short-term longitudinal TEENS study was conducted among a cohort of students from one mid-sized high school in Kentucky, as part of the larger Rural Substance Abuse and Violence Project. The study sample consists of one complete network of 155 ninth graders who completed surveys about their peer affiliations, routine activities and offending behaviors over the course of five waves of data collection during the beginning of the school year. The measurement intervals were no more than 2 weeks long. Longitudinal network analysis (SIENA software that enables actor-oriented stochastic modeling) was used to estimate peer selection, socialization, and situational effects.

Results

Peer networks, offending, and routine activities appeared to be very volatile over the research period. Peer selection effects were found for structural network properties, demographics and delinquent values, but not for peer delinquency. We did not find significant peer socialization effects within the research period, but instead found that changes in offending were related to situational changes in unstructured socializing, alcohol use and marijuana use.

Conclusions

The results suggest that traditional time lags of one year or six months between measurements may fail to capture short-term relations between peers and behavior. Long-term peer influence processes like socialization may be less important in the short run, while situational peer effects might be more salient.