MDPs May Be Dead After Enron/Andersen, But Subsidiary Businesses Thrive

While some commentators believe that the Enron and Arthur Andersen affair that came to light in 2001 is responsible for the demise of multidisciplinary practices (MDPs), the notion of law firms engaging in MDPs lost most of its momentum during the American Bar Association (ABA) debate of 1999 and 2000. Enron and Andersen weakened whatever support remained for MDPs after the ABA defeat, during which MDP opponents raised legitimate concerns. But Enron and Andersen did not derail all models in which law firms successfully provide nonlegal services. In fact, the law-related services ancillary business model (as referred to by the ABA's Commission on Multidisciplinary Practice) is much more relevant post-Enron. Ancillary businesses, or subsidiary businesses as they are referred to at the authors' law firm of Bingham McCutchen LLP, are not MDPs. When structured and managed in compliance with fundamental principles and regulations, subsidiary businesses give progressive law firms the ability to deliver a comprehensive bundle of integrated services in response to client needs .     

The quality of doctoral programs in deviance,criminology, and criminal justice: An empirical assessment

While information regarding the doctoral programs in any discipline is of obvious and considerable relevance both to those in the discipline and to those seeking access to the best possible sites for graduate training, our knowledge about the quality of doctoral programs continues to be based on little more than speculation and highly ambiguous measures of institutional or departmental prestige. This study attempts to fill this gap for those who have special interests in the related fields of deviance, criminology, and criminal justice by ranking the thirty-six most significant doctoral programs in the nation by means of data derived from the Social Science Citation Index. Perhaps the most striking of our findings—and certainly to us the most distressing finding—is that those departments ranked by our measures as being the highest quality are consistently those which exist within the broader structure of departments of sociology. Given our firm conviction that the discipline of criminology is far, far more than that aspect of it which is closely related to issues of substantive significance to the field of sociology, we can only speculate that those in leadership positions in the growing number of independent schools or departments of criminology or criminal justice are not meeting their obligations to the discipline whose vitality and prospects depend so heavily on the quality of their judgment.     

Naturally Occurring Social Support in Interventions for Former Prisoners with Substance Use Disorders: Conceptual Framework and Program Model

Purpose

Naturally-occurring social support is underutilized in interventions with former prisoners with substance use disorders. This paper proposes a conceptual framework followed by a program model to inform the development of naturally-occurring social support interventions with former prisoners with substance use disorders.

Methods

We reviewed all published social support interventions designed for former prisoners and people with substance use disorders over a ten year period. Building on the implications of this review, empirical literature, professional experience, and theory, we propose a conceptual framework for naturally-occurring social support programs.

Results

Few published programs exist that actively incorporate social support providers into the program model. Of these, even fewer use naturally-occurring support. Expanding on gaps in theory and program approaches, the conceptual model posits that it is the appropriate match of support needs and provision that reinforces emotions, cognitions, and behaviors, that in turn, promote adaptive outcomes.

Conclusions

With mounting pressure to identify interventions that will reduce high re-incarceration rates, this paper draws attention to a neglected, potentially effective, and low cost resource - naturally-occurring social support. The described program, Support Matters, illustrates how social support interventions can be used with former prisoners to promote reduced relapse to substance misuse and crime.     

Characteristics of Abstainers from Substance Use and Antisocial in the United States

PURPOSE: Whether lifetime abstainer's antisocial behavior are maladjusted or well-adjusted is unresolved. The aim of this study was to compare abstainers (defined as persons with no lifetime use of alcohol and other drugs and non-engagement in antisocial or delinquent behavior) with non-abstainers across a range of sociodemographic and mental health characteristics in the United States. METHODS: Data were derived from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. Structured psychiatric interviews (N = 43,093) using the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule - DSM-IV version (AUDADIS-IV) were completed by trained lay interviewers between 2001 and 2002. RESULTS: The prevalence of abstaining was 11%. Abstainers were significantly more likely to be female, Asian and African-American, born outside the U.S., and less likely to be unemployed. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that abstainers were significantly less likely to evidence lifetime mood, anxiety, or personality disorder compared to non-abstainers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that abstainers are not maladapted and are comparatively more functional than non-abstainers.     

Relationship of School Context to Rural Youth’s Educational Achievement and Aspirations

Though the poverty encountered by many rural youth encompasses numerous developmental challenges and substantially increases the chances for educational problems, the school context is central to promoting and constraining their development. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of school characteristics and schooling experiences to the educational achievement and aspirations of youth from high-poverty rural communities. Differences in the relationship of school characteristics and schooling experiences to the educational outcomes of students from high- versus low-poverty rural communities were also examined. Participants included 6,247 high school students from 43 low-poverty and 21 high-poverty rural communities. Approximately 51.7% of participants were female and the sample was racially/ethnically diverse (66.4% White, 9.2% African American, 8.1% Hispanic/Latino(a), 4.4% Native American, and 11.8% Multiracial). After controlling for student and family background, school characteristics (e.g., lower student–teacher ratio) were predictive of achievement for rural youth from high-poverty communities. Schooling experiences (e.g., positive perceptions of their ability, a sense of school valuing and belonging, and preparation for postsecondary education) were predictive of educational achievement and aspirations for rural youth from high- and low-poverty communities. Overall, the study highlights unique ways schools can positively shape the educational outcomes for rural youth despite community poverty.     

ASSOCIATION OF FAMILY AND CONCILIATION COURTS WHITE PAPER GUIDELINES FOR COURT‐INVOLVED THERAPY: A BEST PRACTICE APPROACH FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

This article was written by the Honorable Linda S. Fidnick and Kelly. A. Koch, Esq. Judge Fidnick is an Associate Justice with the Hampshire Probate and Family Court. Prior to her appointment to the bench in 2008, Judge Fidnick was a partner in the Amherst law firm of Burres, Fidnick & Booth LLP, where she concentrated her practice in all areas of family law. Judge Fidnick is a graduate of Smith College and the University of Connecticut Law School, and she has been a member of the Massachusetts Bar for over thirty years. Judge Fidnick is past president of the Massachusetts chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) and currently serves on the national board of directors of AFCC. Judge Fidnick and Matthew Sullivan, Ph.D. are the co‐chairs of the AFCC Task Force on Court‐Involved Therapists. Attorney Koch is a graduate of Brandeis University and WesternNew England College School of Law. She served as a law clerk to the Justices of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court and is presently an associate attorney with the Springfield, Massachusetts firm of Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas. Matthew J. Sullivan, Ph.D. is a psychologist in private practice in California who has written articles, presented and done trainings at numerous national and international venues on interventions in high conflict divorce, Parenting Coordination and child alienation in family law cases. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at AFCC. Lyn R. Greenberg, Ph.D. is a family forensic psychologist practicing in Los Angeles, California. She serves as the reporter for the AFCC Court‐Involved Therapist Task Force and Co‐Chairs the Family Forensic Special Interest Group of Div. 43. She Co‐Chaired the APA‐ABA Working Group on Representation and Advocacy for Children. The AFCC Task Force on Court‐Involved Therapists was given the charge of defining guidelines for the professional practice of therapists working with court‐involved families. A draft of the Guidelines was presented for Comments in March 2010 and all comments were submitted to the Task Force Reporter, Lyn R. Greenberg, Ph.D. on May 1, 2010.     

Biopolitics and Movement: A History of Travellers and the Law

This article will briefly trace the travellers’ legal position in Britain from their sixteenth century emergence as a tangible (although imprecise) identity until now. It will be argued that although the position of the law has changed considerably in its waning severity, travellers’ legal status continues to be conditioned by enduring and shifting concerns around norms of labour and residence. Moreover, it is overly-simplistic to interpret their changing predicament as simply a more humane and multicultural relaxation of previously Draconian measures. Using Michel Foucault’s writings on discipline and ‘biopolitics’, it will be proposed that those extreme legal sanctions—which during certain periods included the death penalty—have been replaced by a much more nuanced matrix of regulation and control that seeks to assimilate traveller lifestyles into a mainstream understanding of human life and society.     

The Association Between Different Types of Intimate Partner Violence Experienced by Women

Those who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) are often subjected to multiple types of victimization such as physical violence, sexual violence, psychological aggression, and stalking. However, relatively few studies have used a national population-based sample and multivariate methods to analyze the associations between these different types of violence. This study uses multivariate methods to analyze a national population-based sample of women in order to document empirically the extent to which different types of IPV overlap, while controlling for personal and behavioral characteristics. Results indicated significant levels of overlap, with victims often experiencing more than one type of victimization by an intimate partner. Findings also indicated that women who had experienced violence by non-intimate partners were often more likely to experience violence by intimates. Finally, women who had experienced stalking by an intimate were more likely to experience more forms of IPV on average than those who had experienced physical violence, sexual violence, or emotional aggression.     

Envisioning the next generation of behavioral health and criminal justice interventions

The purpose of this paper is to cast a vision for the next generation of behavioral health and criminal justice interventions for persons with serious mental illnesses in the criminal justice system. The limitations of first generation interventions, including their primary focus on mental health treatment connection, are discussed. A person–place framework for understanding the complex factors that contribute to criminal justice involvement for this population is presented. We discuss practice and research recommendations for building more effective interventions to address both criminal justice and mental health outcomes.