Reporting under International Human Rights Treaties: Perspectives from Timor Leste's Experience of the Reformed Process

This article explores Timor Leste's experience of reportingunder the reformed international human rights treaties reportingsystem during the period 2004–2007. Whilst consciousnesshas grown of the difficulties faced by states by the duplicationof treaty reporting processes and the resource burden representedby reporting, the reforms instituted to date have been comparativelyminor. Timor's experience with the new Common Core Document(CCD)/treaty-specificdocument format affirms that reporting serves useful purposes,particularly in stimulating human rights education initiatives,government/NGO collaboration and awareness of human rights gapsin practice. The reformed process highlights cross-cutting humanrights matters. Yet, significant challenges remain, particularlyfor developing, post-conflict states, before reporting willattain its desired potential of support for improved human rightspromotion and protection at the national level. The CCD itselfraises complex conceptual difficulties needing resolution. Thereremains a paucity of appropriate methodological tools to supportthe reporting process and facilitate the integration of humanrights and development goals. Further work is thus needed toshape a sustainable process for reporting.     

Positive Resolution of Childhood Sexual Abuse Experiences: The Role of Coping,Benefit-Finding and Meaning-Making

Resolution of the trauma of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), and the current adjustment of 60 adult female CSA survivors were explored through qualitative and quantitative analyses of their coping strategies, perceived benefits, and meaning-making attempts. While the majority of the women (87%) perceived at least some benefit resulting from coping with the CSA experience, many (29%) found it impossible to make any meaning of their trauma. Specific benefits that were associated with various aspects of positive adjustment (marital satisfaction, better physical health, less isolation) included improved relationships with others, religious or spiritual growth, and improved parenting skills. Some perceived benefits were actually associated with a negative outcome. Increased knowledge of sexual abuse was associated with more isolation and lower marital satisfaction. When positive meaning could be derived from the coping process, the women reported less isolation. Avoidant coping was strongly associated with more depressive symptoms and poorer resolution of abuse issues. Results highlight the importance of considering coping strategies and cognitive restructuring efforts in designing therapeutic interventions with this population. Portions of this paper were presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Psychological Association, May 2004, Chicago, IL.     

Distributive Justice Norms and Family Work: What Is Perceived as Ideal,What Is Applied,and What Predicts Perceived Fairness?

Members of married couples rated how ideal communal, exchange, and equality rules were for their marriages. They also reported on whether they and their spouses followed each norm in general in their marriages and in the domains of housework and child care. Both men and women considered a communal norm to be more ideal than the other norms and reported that they and their spouse followed a communal norm to a greater extent than an exchange or equality rule, both in general and in the domains of housework and child care. In addition, links between reports of actual division of labor in each domain, as well as reports of norm use, and perceived fairness of the division of family work were examined. Greater inequalities in the division of labor were linked to decreased perceptions of fairness. Controlling for reports of division of labor, women's reports of the self and of the spouse following a communal norm were linked with increased perceptions of fairness as were women's reports of the spouse following an equality rule. In contrast, and again after controlling for reports of division of labor, women's reports of the self following an exchange rule and men's reports of the self and of the spouse following an exchange rule were associated with greater perceived unfairness of the division of family work.     

Factors affecting information utilization and change: The case of recreation research and river management in the public sector

The Journal of Technology Transfer - This research looked at the information transfer process between recreation researchers and managers. The objective was to identify personal and organizational...