Family violence and depressive symptomatology among incarcerated women

This study examines the potential association between witnessing parental violence as a child and later adult depressive symptomatology within a population that has received limited attention in the scientific literature, namely, incarcerated women. The Conflict Tactics Scale and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale were administered to 60 women incarcerated in a maximum security prison in North Carolina. A majority of the women reported that they had witnessed verbally aggressive or physically violent interactions among the adult members in their families. Seventy percent of these women suffered from clinically relevant levels of depressive symptomatology. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis revealed that increasing levels of reasoning conflict resolution strategies used in the women's families of origin were associated with decreasing levels of depressive symptomatology of the women, whereas increasing levels of physically violent conflict resolution strategies were associated with increasing levels of depressive symptomatology.     

Competing conceptions of Taiwan's identity: The irresolvable conflict in cross‐strait relations

Supporters of unification and Taiwan independence advocates view Taiwan's status through radically different logical frameworks. Unification supporters are guided by historical determinism. They believe that because Taiwan was part of China in the past, and because the island's residents have ancestral ties to mainland China, Taiwan is therefore an unalienable part of Chinese territory that must be brought under the control of the mainland Chinese state. In contrast, advocates of Taiwan independence are guided by the logic of pragmatism. In their view, cultural identity does not dictate political identity, and decisions about Taiwan's status should be guided by the will of the island's people, rather than by an abstract notion of historic destiny. Both of these approaches are rooted in long‐standing concepts of Chinese identity. Chinese ethnicity has long included both a hereditary and a cultural component. In the past, the cultural component allowed China to absorb populations on its periphery. Today, it serves as an outlet for Taiwan independence supporters seeking to redefine Taiwan as a political entity separate from the mainland Chinese state.     

The Education of Chen Shui-bian: Taiwan's experience of divided government

From its founding, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party emphasized the role of the president. It advocated a variety of measures aimed at strengthening the presidency, including direct presidential elections. However, it was only when a DPP politician was elected president in 2000 that the party discovered just how weak Taiwan's president is. During his first year in office, President Chen Shui-bian repeatedly found himself stymied by an intransigent and uncooperative legislature. The conflict between the presidential office and the legislature climaxed in a confrontation over the executive's decision to cancel construction of Taiwan's fourth nuclear power plant. In the wake of the decision, some legislators attempted to recall Chen from office. In the second year of his presidency, Chen was more effective in working within the constraints of a divided government. Despite the difficulties its leaders faced in managing a divided government, however, the DPP has not changed its position in favor of presidentialism.     

Midlife,adolescence, and parental employment in family systems

Parents' midlife concerns and the resolution of those concerns were examined as a function of their children's adolescence and their involvement in employment via analyses acknowledging the interdependence of mothers and fathers. Multivariate analyses of variance results demonstrated that fathers' and mothers' midlife concerns were similar and modestly related to their children's pubertal development. There were significant differences between families of sons and of daughters. Mothers' and fathers' temporal and emotional involvement in paid work were differentially related to their own and to one another's midlife concerns. Finally, the relationships among parents' midlife concerns, work involvement, and children's pubertal status depended in part on the degree to which spouses felt supported by one another.Portions of this paper were presented at the annual meeting of the National Council on Family Relations, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 1989.Received Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University. Research interests: work-family relationships, men's and women's development during midlife, and work-family issues in small businesses.Received Ph.D. from Cornell University. Research interests: relationships between work and family life in families with school-aged and adolescent children.     

Hemolyzed blood and serum levels of delta 9-THC: effects on the performance of roadside sobriety tests

A pilot study was conducted to ascertain the range of induced hemolyzed blood/serum delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC) concentrations in 58 human subjects. Subjects were tested within 5 min of smoking a delta 9-THC cigarette and then at half-hour intervals to 150 min. The subjects initially demonstrated a broad range of delta 9-THC hemolyzed blood levels, which settled within an hour to levels comparable to those measured in California drivers who had been stopped for impaired driving, arrested, and tested for delta 9-THC. Serum levels, when correlated with performance or roadside sobriety tests, demonstrated a broad range (5 to 183 ng/mL) of delta 9-THC levels and an "adaptation" effect in the subjects' perception of their own impairment. Although this preliminary study was not a double-blind placebo experiment, the overall performance of human subjects demonstrated the "adaptation" effect, which may be a significant factor in making judgments while performing such complex tasks as driving. Also, the effects of the drug extended beyond the period of elevated delta 9-THC blood levels, perhaps because of THC metabolites that may contribute to impairment or the persistence of THC in the central nervous system. This pilot study will lay the groundwork for a program designed to determine the epidemiology and behavior correlates of marijuana use in motorists.