Children's Psychological Distress Following the Death of a Parent

The death of a parent in childhood represents a profound psychological insult. Although a number of studies have examined rates of depression and anxiety in bereaved children, less attention has been given to understanding predictors of children's adjustment to the loss. Data are presented from 83 families with school-age children in which a parent had died of cancer in the preceding 18 months. The surviving parent and one randomly selected child completed individual interviews conducted by a clinician in the families' homes. Using multiple regression, potential predictors of children's psychosocial adjustment to parental death are examined and their relative importance is discussed. Among the predictors considered were child's age, child's gender, deceased parent's gender, time since death, length of illness, presence of siblings, and parental communication patterns. The child's perception of the surviving parent's level of openness in parental communication was found to be significantly correlated with lower levels of depressive symptoms and state anxiety in bereaved children. Boys reported lower levels of depressive symptoms than did girls, and older children reported lower levels of state anxiety than did younger children.     

Identifiability,state repression,and the onset of ethnic conflict

Public Choice - When do persecuted ethnic minority groups choose to assimilate into the dominant majority group, rather than differentiate from it, and how do states respond? We argue that any...     

Women in transnational organized crime

The last two decades have seen a number of publications showing that women play an important role in transnational organized crime. The recent focus on this subject has revealed a growing body of evidence to suggest that women have been active as members and leaders of criminal organizations around the world in various periods of history. This evidence has cast doubt on the prevailing idea of a ‘sudden rise’ of female power and could provide us with new explanations for the rise of women to the top of the criminal world. This article shows that the transnational and fluid opportunities and the attractive image of crime (associated with wealth, power and freedom) seduce women into entering the criminal world. The changing character of organized crime provides women with new criminal markets and clients.