The fair process effect and procedural criteria in the resolution of disputes between intimate same-sex friends

This series of studies extended procedural justice research to the informal domain of dispute resolution in intimate same-sex friendship. The first study identified the types of disputes that occur between friends and the concerns that friends have when choosing dispute resolution procedures. Seven dispute types and 11 procedural criteria were found relevant to dispute resolution in friendship. Study 2 assessed the importance of procedural criteria for resolving several dispute scenarios. As expected, ratings of criterion importance were affected by subject and disputant sex. Females rated four criteria as more important than did males, and one criterion was rated as more important in disputes involving a male and a female than in disputes involving two females. The importance of procedural criteria was also influenced by the type of dispute, but this effect was qualified by an interaction with the dispute version. It was suggested that the importance of procedural criteria is generally defined by the context of friendship and specifically defined by the dispute topic. In Study 3, the relations among subject sex, traditional fairness variables, and criterion-based measures of process control were examined. Consistent with studies in other domains, process control predicted procedural justice, and decision control predicted distributive justive. Moreover, the hypothesized fair process effect emerged as a function of speed, a criterion-based measure of process control.     

Will the law come running? The potential role of "brain fingerprinting" in crime investigation and adjudication in Australia

A major feature of the Australian criminal justice system is that jurors assess witness credibility and are the ultimate finders of fact. Recognising the occasional fallibility of humans in detecting truth and deception, the jury's function may be assisted by highly regulated expert evidence about a variety of scientific techniques. A recent scientific development has been the invention of "brain fingerprinting" (BF) by Dr Larry Farwell in the United States. Brain fingerprinting measures brainwave functioning to detect awareness of crime-relevant information in order to distinguish between guilty and innocent suspects. This article considers whether BF could be used for crime investigation and adjudication in Australia. By examining the rules of expert evidence and the principles relating to "novel scientific evidence", the admissibility of BF in the various Australian jurisdictions is evaluated. The utility of BF in criminal investigations and counter-terrorism initiatives is also canvassed. The authors conclude that, at the present time, it is unlikely that expert testimony on BF will be admitted in Australian criminal trials. However, the technique potentially offers other benefits to the criminal justice system, thereby warranting its consideration as a "criminal and investigative tool of the future".     

Cognitive-behavioral rehabilitation for high-risk violent offenders: an outcome evaluation of the violence prevention unit

Rehabilitation programs for adult violent offending are still novel, and few published studies examine the recidivism outcomes of those who complete such programs. This study describes a New Zealand prison program for high-risk violent men. The program is intensive and cognitive behavioral. Preliminary outcome data are presented for three indices during 2 or more years of follow-up: nonviolent reconviction, violent reconviction, and subsequent imprisonment. In comparison with untreated offenders, treated men were less likely to be reconvicted of a violent offense, and those who were took longer to fail. There was also a 12% difference in favor of the treated men on the two other indices, nonviolent reconviction and reimprisonment. The authors conclude that the program shows early promise and that further evaluation with a larger sample of treated men will be important in clarifying whether the program is having a differential impact on violent versus nonviolent offending.     

Understanding the Roles of Context,Frequency, and Quantity of Alcohol Consumption in Child Physical Abuse: Risks for Mothers and Fathers

Alcohol use is related to child physical abuse, although little is known about gender-specific risks factors. This study examines the relationships between alcohol outlets, context-specific drinking, dose–response drinking and child physical abuse for mothers and fathers. Telephone interviews were conducted with 1973 female and 1050 male respondents in 50 California cities. Weighted negative binomial models were used to calculate the frequency of physical abuse in the past year. Drinking more often at restaurants was related to higher frequency of physical abuse for fathers, while mothers who drank more frequently at bars and parties used physical abuse more often. There were no significant dose–response drinking relationships for fathers. Drinking higher amounts at bars, parties, and restaurants was associated with less frequent physical abuse for mothers. Our findings suggest that a focus on drinking contexts may reveal heightened risk for many mothers who do not consume large amounts of alcohol.     

Psychic investment in cruelty: three parables on race and imprisoning the mentally ill

Drawing on ethnographic and activist work in New York, I analyze three contemporary cases of mentally ill people charged violent crimes. State violence against them can be characterized as a differential and differentiated set of racial and gendered practices. The case studies offer something between a parable, a field report, and a cautionary tale of the dystopian tendencies already embedded within the criminal justice system in the United States. Based on these cases, I will argue that despite recent liberal reform, scant evidence suggests any deep shift in the web of agencies that pipe people, especially the mentally ill, into prison and jail, or a shift in the cruel and humiliating practices these agencies embody. For the society to achieve what Du Bois called an abolition democracy, the affective infrastructure and psychic investment in debasing subordinated others would have to be abolished.     

Perceived and Observed Maternal Relationship Quality Predict Sexual Debut by Age 15

Early sexual behaviors during adolescence have the potential to lead to unhealthy outcomes. This study explored the association between specific dimensions of maternal relationship quality and adolescent sexual debut by age 15. We hypothesized that adolescents who have poor maternal relationships are at greater risk of early sexual debut than those who have a more supportive relationship. These hypotheses were examined using both adolescents’ perception of their maternal relationship quality and observed relationship quality. A sample of 268 adolescents (142 girls; 90% European American) were followed longitudinally from age 13 to age 15. The results indicate that adolescents with sexual debut by age 15 report significantly worse relationships with their mothers compared with other adolescents. Furthermore, behavioral observations of lower maternal support and higher observed displays of externalizing affect towards the mother also were related to early sexual debut. The significance of maternal relationship quality remained after controlling for family structure, race, and socioeconomic status. These findings suggest that mothers have a significant role in the timing of their adolescents’ sexual debut.     

Transgender Family Law

Transgender people face unique issues in parentage, custody, and divorce cases. Many transgender people are raising children or wish to do so. This article examines the main legal issues facing transgender people who become parents by giving birth or impregnating a partner, through assisted reproduction, through marriage, by raising a child, or through adoption. In the past, some courts viewed a parent's gender transition as a sufficient reason to terminate parental rights. Today, the law has shifted to provide much more security for transgender parents, though significant bias still remains, particularly in divorce and child custody cases. In addition, many states have not yet fully addressed how to determine the legal parentage of children born through assisted reproduction. I analyze the legal landscape for transgender parents and spouses and offer critical suggestions to ensure that transgender people are able to protect their families and their parental rights.     

Regent developments in Anatolia and the Caucasus

Saudi Arabia. By H. St. John Philby. London : Ernest Benn. 1955. Pp. 393 + xix. Ill. 30s.

Representative Government in South‐East Asia. By Professor Rupert Emerson. Institute of Pacific Relations. 1955. Pp. 192. Index. $3.50.

Liang Ch'i Ch'ao and the Mind of Modern China. By Joseph R. Levenson. Harvard University Press. 1953. (Harvard Historical Monographs XXVI.)

Chinese Calligraphy. An Introduction to its Æsthetic and Technique. By Chiang Yee. 2nd edition, with a Preface by Sir Herbert Read. London : Methuen. 1954. Pp. xvi +230; 6 plates and 155 text illustrations. 30s.

Western Enterprise in Far Eastern Economic Development: China and Japan. By G. C. Allen and Audrey G. Donnithorne. George Allen and Unwin, Ltd. 1954. Pp. 253.

Shanghai: Key to Modern China. By Rhoads Murphey. Harvard university Press. 1953. Distributed in U.K. by Oxford University Press. Pp. 246, and maps. 36s.

The Prospects for Communist China. By W. W. Rostov and others at the Centre for International Studies, Mass. London : Chapman and Hall. 1954. Pp. 400; inside cover maps and index.

Government and Administration in Communist China. By S. B. Thomas. Institute of Pacific Relations, New York. Pp. 196.

The Wise Man from the West. By Vincent Cronin. Rupert Hart‐Davis. 1955. 300 pp. Ill. 18s.

Stalin's Russia and After. By Harrison Salisbury. London : Macmillan. 1955. Pp. 329. 21S.

The Red Carpet. By Marshall MacDuffie. Cassell and Co. Ltd. 1955. Pp. 330. Ill. Index. 18s.

Muhammad's People. A Tale by Anthology. By Eric Schroeder. The Bond Wheelwright Co., Portland, Me., U.S.A. pp. 838. $10.00.

The Economic Development of Japan. By Professor W. W. Lockwood. Princeton University Press. (London : Geoffrey Cumberledge.) Pp. 592 and Index. 63s.

The Art of Asia in the Francis Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts in Budapest. By Tibor Horváth. Budapest. 1954. 112 plates.

Treasures of Indian Miniatures in the Bikaner Palace Collection. By Basil Gray. Bruno Cassirer, Oxford. Distributed by Faber and Faber. 1955. 12s. 6d.

A Glossary of Chinese Art and Archaeology. By S. Howard Hansford. London : The China Society. 1954. Pp. 104. 15s.

Elizabethan and Yuan: A Brief Comparison of some Conventions in Poetic Drama. By James Liu. London : The China Society. 1955. Pp. 12. 3s.

Wild Flowers of Kuwait and Bahrain. By Violet Dickson, M.B.E., F.Z.S. London : George Allen and Unwin. 1955. Pp. 143; maps. Ill. 25s.

The Waterless Moon. By Elizabeth Balneaves. Lutterworth Press. 1955. Pp. 175, with 15 plates and a map. 15s.

Take These Men. By Cyril Joly. Constable. 1955. 8”×5½”. Pp. x +357 and maps. 15s. net.

This is Kashmir. By Pearce Gervis. Cassell. 1954. Pp. 330; 2 colour plates, 24 pp. of photographs, and a map. 25s.

Man of Everest. By James Ramsay Ullman. G. G. Harrap : London, Toronto, Sydney and Wellington. 1955. Pp. 320. 8½” × 6½”. 18s.

An Innocent on Everest. By Ralph Izzard. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1954. Pp. 256. 111. Bibl. 16s.

Kanchenjunà Challenge. By Paul Bauer. London : William Kimber. 1955. Pp. 202. 12 illustrations. 9½”×6½”. 18s.

The Savage Mountain. By Charles Houston and Robert Bates. Collins. 1955. Pp. 192; 23 illustrations; maps and line drawings. 8½” x 6”. 25s.

The Narrow Smile. By Peter Mayne. John Murray. 1955. Pp. 254. 111. 18s.

September Monkey. By Induk Pahk. Victor Gollancz. 1955. Pp. 283. 15s.

My Several Worlds. By Pearl S. Buck. Methuen. 1955. Pp. 467. 21s.

Mandarin Red. By James Cameron. Michael Joseph. 1955. Pp. 287 approx. Ill. 15s.

One Man in His Time. By N. M. Borodin. Constable, London. 1955. Pp. 343. 21s.