The teacher's tale: On teaching women's studies

The teaching of Women's Studies is beset with difficulties as much as rewards: in this brief article some reflections are offered on the experience of being a teacher on a Women's Studies course. It is suggested that teaching Women's Studies often differs from teaching more conventional disciplines, but that this offers a chance for academic innovation.     

The current status of medical malpractice countersuits

The dramatic growth of medical malpractice litigation in recent decades has contributed significantly to an overall increase in health care costs in this country. Although lawmakers, physicians, and other responsible citizens have proposed numerous solutions in an effort to curb the crisis, these proposals have generally been ineffective. In this Article the Author endorses countersuits as the most appropriate response to frivolous medical malpractice actions. The Author also suggests that contingent fee systems, coupled with the economic motivation of private insurers to settle claims quickly, provide incentive for plaintiffs to initiate frivolous claims. This Article analyzes the general legal approaches available for countersuits, emphasizing recent successful actions based on malicious prosecution and abuse of process, and proposes more widespread use of these approaches.     

Knowing voices: From silence to wisdom

Mary F. Belenky, Blythe McV. Clinchy, Nancy R. Goldberger, & Jill M. Tarule, Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice and Mind (Basic Books) New York, 1986.     

The politics of the national assessment of chapter 1

This article describes the events associated with the National Assessment of Chapter 1, a study mandated by Congress in December 1983 in anticipation of its 1987 reauthorization of Chapter 1. The assessment occurred at the time the Reagan Administration was seriously challenging many of Congress's favorite educational programs, including Chapter 1. Despite their serious differences in views about Chapter 1, both Congress and the administration expected the assessment to serve their own needs and each group was worried that the other would have undue influence on the assessment. The article illustrates the politics associated with evaluation by describing the activities of the assessment, the responses of each of these two audiences, and the efforts of each side to control the assessment's agenda. It raises questions about whether an evaluation can really serve multiple audiences.     

Wife assault theory,research, and treatment: A literature review

Treatments for wife assaulters and their victims have been based on a variety of psychological and sociological theories. Tests of theory based on investigation of assailant and victim characteristics as well as evaluation of treatment effects based on empirical outcome studies have yielded diverse results. In reviewing the literature it appears that development of assailant typologies based on extent of psychopathology, severity of violence, and context of violence has potential utility in guiding future treatment decisions for assaulters. Further development of similar typologies for classifying responses of assaulted women could yield similar results. Population screening and matching programs to individual characteristics could be expected to improve clinical outcomes.