Consumer perspectives of New Zealand community treatment programmes for sexually abusive youth

Abstract

The aim of this process evaluation was to identify consumer perspectives of strengths and weaknesses of programme delivery at three New Zealand community treatment programmes for sexually abusive youth. Qualitative methods were employed, with data being obtained from in-depth interviews with 24 sexually abusive youth and 23 caregivers across three sites. Results indicated that clients value good pre-entry information to reduce barriers to participation; engagement in treatment is facilitated by the quality of the client–therapist relationship, family involvement, culturally appropriate communication and creative and physical activities; and post-treatment support is important. Findings highlight the importance of engaging adolescents and their families actively during the intake period, the treatment phase and post-treatment transition. They also support the use of flexible and integrated approaches to treatment that attend to the cultural context for ethnic minorities. This suggests that programmes should aim to provide wraparound services that promote engagement during the referral phase and offer transitional programmes and aftercare follow-up. Recognition should also be given to issues of cultural difference by ensuring that cultural services for ethnic minorities are integrated into all levels of programme delivery.     

‘Too Much,too Indigestible,too Fast’? The Decades of Struggle for Abortion Law Reform in Northern Ireland

In July 2019, the UK Parliament voted by an overwhelming majority for fundamental reform of Northern Ireland's archaic abortion laws. Regulations implementing the reform came into effect on 25 March 2020. Drawing on extensive archival resources and a small number of interviews, we locate this extraordinary political moment in a broader historical context. We explore the factors that blocked the possibility of reform in either Westminster or Stormont for over five decades and consider what it was that had changed in 2019 to render it possible. While the measure passed in Westminster represents a radical rupture with the past, we suggest that it was anything other than sudden, rather representing the culmination of decades of sustained campaigning. We conclude by briefly discussing what this change is likely to mean for the future.     

Framed? Judicialization and the Risk of Negative Episodic Media Coverage

Activists on the left and right have increasingly turned to the courts to make policy, raising questions about the potential risks of judicialization. One possibility is that litigation is more prone to negative episodic media coverage than alternative modes of policymaking. Using across‐ and within‐policy area comparisons of stories about the Federal Black Lung Program, collective asbestos litigation strategies, and individual asbestos tort suits, we find that coverage becomes steadily more episodic and critical as it focuses on policy regimes that feature increasing amounts of adversarial legalism. Moreover, even the broadest coverage of asbestos litigation fails to explain why victims of asbestos turned to the courts, how powerful interests constrained their policy options, or how judges urged Congress to act. This limited and relatively critical anecdotal reporting implies that litigation may engender less favorable media coverage than its alternatives and that activists should weigh this risk when deciding to litigate.