The experience of breast development and girls' stories about the purchase of a bra

Girls' experiences of secondary sexual characteristic development were explored via direct interview and protective techniques. In a pilot study (Study 1), 30 White middle to upper middle class 6th–8th-grade girls were interviewed about how they felt about breast and pubic hair growth, their comfort discussing these events, and their information acquisition. Breast growth was perceived as more important than hair growth, in part because the former is perceived as a more public event. Few girls reported intensely negative feelings to either change. Since responses to the direct questions were limited, 80 White 6th–9th graders were asked to tell a story (using a semi structured interview technique) about a picture of an adolescent girl, adult female, and adult male in which the adult female was taking a bra out of a shopping bag (Study 2). Affect, attitudes, and character alliances were coded. More girls attributed negative feelings to the father than to the mother character. Almost all girls describe the adolescent in the story as embarrassed. The daughter and father characters were described as uncomfortable more often than the mother character (50% vs. 10%). Positive maternal affect in the stories was associated with more advanced pubertal status, positive body images, more positive emotional tone, and lower anxiety scores. Affect ascribed to the father and daughter characters was less likely to be associated with girls' psychological functioning. Results are discussed in term sof the possible role of puberty upon parent-child relationships and communication.We wish to thank the W. T. Grant Foundation and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for their generous support of our research. This article was written while the first author was a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation; the support of the foundation is appreciated.Received Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.Received M.D. from Columbia University.     

Officer force versus suspect resistance: A gendered analysis of patrol officers in an urban police department

This study examined patrol officer use of force and exposure to resistance on a gendered basis in an urban police department. Using data from use of force reports for the year 2000, a weighted force factor value was calculated for each officer. These values were then compared by officer gender. The mean value for both females and males was positive, indicating a tendency to employ lower force levels in response to higher levels of resistance. The male officer weighted force factor value, however, was significantly larger than that for the females. Placed within the context of the use of force continuum, this result suggested that male officer use of force vis-à-vis subject resistance spanned a wider range. Alternatively, female officers could be viewed as operating within a narrower range of the force continuum. One interpretation of this finding was that female and male officers responded differentially to subject resistance levels.     

Defining Rights in Democratization: The Argentine Government and Human Rights Organizations, 1983–2003

Defining the rights that must be protected in a democracy is an integral component of the process of democratization. In the case of Argentina, the definition of these rights results partly from important debates between human rights organizations (HROs) and the state. Argentine HROs have framed their demands for state protection of human rights in terms of the need to protect the family. Yet HROs' successes in using international courts as arbiters may be reducing their need to present their demands in this framework.     

Parental Use of Physical Punishment as Related to Family Environment, Psychological Well-being, and Personality in Undergraduates

Childhood experiences of physical punishment were examined as related to perceptions of family environment during childhood and affective and personality outcomes of college students. From the 274 respondents who participated, scores were compared for the participants with the 75 highest and 75 lowest physical discipline scores based on the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTSPC-CA). Respondents who experienced the highest level of physical punishment in their families of origin reported higher family conflict, more negative parental relationships, greater family worries, more depressive symptoms, more perceived nonsupport, greater identity problems, and more negative social relationships. Respondents in the low physical punishment group reported higher positive family affect. Results suggest that experiencing physical discipline as a child may be related to one’s family environment and psychological well-being in young adulthood.     

Antisocial Personality Disorder and Physical Partner Violence Among Single and Dual Substance-Abusing Couples

The current study examined how antisocial personality disorder (APD) and substance use disorder contributed to partners’ reports of physical partner violence among single and dual substance-abusing couples. Participants were 69 heterosexual couples entering treatment in which one or both partners met criteria for substance use disorder. APD diagnosis of the male partner was linked to significantly higher male-to-female and female-to-male perpetration of physical partner violence and victimization. Female partner’s APD diagnosis was associated with women’s reports of victimization by their male partners. Dual substance use diagnosis emerged as a moderator, in which the effect of men’s APD diagnosis on men’s perpetration of physical partner violence and victimization was significantly reduced if both partners had substance use disorder. Findings underscore the importance of both partners’ APD diagnosis and substance use status for understanding physical partner violence among single and dual substance-abusing couples.     

Worsening Child Outcomes? Caregiver Imprisonment and Its Impact on Child Poverty,Health, Well-being and Education in Uganda

European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research - Increasingly, research investigates how the imprisonment of those with child care responsibilities may affect children and their outcomes....