The 2015 National Elections in Switzerland: Renewed Polarization and Shift to the Right

The 2015 election to the Swiss Parliament marks a return to an already observed trend that was only interrupted in 2011: a shift to the right and an increase in polarization. The vote share of the nationalist-conservative Swiss People's Party (SVP) has now reached a historical height of 29.4% (+2.8). This note discusses why cantons matter in the Swiss national elections, and to what degree elections have become nationalized. Institutionally, the 26 cantons serve as electoral districts. This leads to a highly disproportional electoral system and has magnified the minor vote shifts to a slightly more pronounced shift in seats, with the right now holding a tiny majority of 101 of 200 seats in the first chamber. The two winners, the SVP and the Liberals, also had most campaign funds at their disposal. They were able to guide an extensive nationwide campaign in which they advocated their core issues instead of candidates. Other parties only advertised at the cantonal level.     

Qualitative Exploration of the Influence of Domestic Violence on Motherhood in the Perinatal Period

The perinatal period may include domestic violence (DV). In this study, the perinatal period extends from the start of pregnancy to the end of the child’s second year of life. DV places the safety of both mother and child at risk and undermines the mother–child attachment bond. In this article, we look at the challenges for motherhood in a context of domestic violence during the perinatal period (DVPP). In semi-directed interviews, 17 mothers shared their stories of DVPP. Interview questions focused on the trajectory of DVPP, perceptions and occupation of motherhood within two years of childbirth and the associated challenges. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and discussed in a feminist conceptual framework and a parental theoretical model. DVPP negatively influences the experience and practice of motherhood, in addition to increasing parental responsibility to protect the child. Three main themes were noted: 1) A parental experience impoverished by the context of DVPP, caused by an increase in tasks, a weakened bond with the child and a loss of self-confidence; 2) Parenting responsibility in a context of DVPP is expressed as greater vigilance and the need to protect the child from violence; and 3) Parenting practices: the children as targets and victims of violence, resulting in additional child needs that mothers must meet. The results underscore the need for early detection of DVPP and a trauma-informed approach in health services. Specialized support services should be provided to help mothers cope with violence.

     

Promoting Postsecondary Education in Low-Income Youth: The Moderating Role of Socio-Behavioral and Academic Skills in the Context of a Major Educational Reform

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Governments around the world are pressed to invest in postsecondary education. However, little research exists to document whether large-scale educational reforms...     

Psychological assistance to victims throughout difficult trials

In France, only very recently have victims begun to be assisted throughout "difficult" trials. We have developed different hypotheses to think over the function of psychologists when they step in to help out victims of criminal offences. Moreover, we have developed an argument for the need to set up units of medical and psychological assistance for certain difficult trials. Among other topics, we discuss the victims' expectations for psychic and/or affective reconstruction during trials. We suggest that penal trials can "potentially" heal victims, but more often than not they are "potentially" traumatic. We support our arguments with clinical examples that come from our personal experience of providing psychological assistance to victims.     

A nine-year follow-up study on the predictive validity of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire for predicting violent and nonviolent recidivism

The effectiveness of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ) in providing estimates for predicting violent and nonviolent recidivism over a 9-year period is examined. The SAQ is a quantitative risk/need instrument consisting of 72 items that compose eight subscales. There were 657 federally sentenced Canadian male offenders who completed the SAQ prior to their release and were followed up for 9 years (108 months) at 4-month intervals. Consistent with previous predictive studies, the results presented here demonstrate that the SAQ has adequate predictive validity.     

Predictors of adult attitudes toward corporal punishment of children

This study identifies predictors of favorable attitudes toward spanking. Analyses were performed with survey data collected from a representative sample of 1,000 adults from Quebec, Canada. According to this survey, a majority of respondents endorsed spanking, despite their recognition of potential harm associated with corporal punishment (CP) of children. The prediction model of attitudes toward spanking included demographics, experiencing or witnessing various forms of family violence and abuse in childhood, and perceived frequency of physical injuries resulting from CP. Spanking was the most reported childhood experience (66.4%), and most violence and abuse predictors were significantly and positively correlated. Older respondents who were spanked in childhood and who believed that spanking never or seldom results in physical injuries were the most in favor of spanking. On the other hand, respondents who reported more severe physical violence or psychological abuse in childhood were less in favor of spanking. Findings are discussed in terms of prevention of CP and family coercion cycle.     

Identification of some factors influencing soil transfer on shoes

In criminal activities, soil can be transferred from a crime scene to items linked with a perpetrator; for example, shoes, cars or tools. Several parameters will influence the quantity of soil transferred in a given scenario. The knowledge of the most influential factors can help the expert to assess the evidence using a logical approach at the activity level or to predict the amount of soil that can be expected in a given scenario. The influence of five chosen parameters, namely the shoe profile, shoe size, walker's weight, soil type and soil humidity were assessed using Design of Experiment (DOE) in order to understand their influence on soil quantity transferred on shoes.The Faced Central Composite Design (FCCD) using a quadratic model was found to be highly significant, thus they could be adequately used to model and to interpret the amount of soil recovered from one shoe.These designs demonstrate that the characteristics of the donor (soil type and soil humidity), as well as a combination of these two factors have a very significant impact on the soil transfer. The characteristics of the receptor (shoe profile, shoe size and walker's weight) also have an impact on the transfer but to a lesser extent.Globally, this research provides valuable information for the forensic scientist both in investigative mode: evaluation of the soil quantity possibly transferred on shoes, and in the evaluative steps: is the quantity of soil found on the suspect shoes in accordance to the proposition/scenario given by the prosecution and the defence?     

Ink dating part II: Interpretation of results in a legal perspective

The development of an ink dating method requires an important investment of resources in order to step from the monitoring of ink ageing on paper to the determination of the actual age of a questioned ink entry. This article aimed at developing and evaluating the potential of three interpretation models to date ink entries in a legal perspective: (1) the threshold model comparing analytical results to tabulated values in order to determine the maximal possible age of an ink entry, (2) the trend tests that focusing on the “ageing status” of an ink entry, and (3) the likelihood ratio calculation comparing the probabilities to observe the results under at least two alternative hypotheses. This is the first report showing ink dating interpretation results on a ballpoint be ink reference population.In the first part of this paper three ageing parameters were selected as promising from the population of 25 ink entries aged during 4 to 304 days: the quantity of phenoxyethanol (PE), the difference between the PE quantities contained in a naturally aged sample and an artificially aged sample (R_NORM) and the solvent loss ratio (R%). In the current part, each model was tested using the three selected ageing parameters. Results showed that threshold definition remains a simple model easily applicable in practice, but that the risk of false positive cannot be completely avoided without reducing significantly the feasibility of the ink dating approaches. The trend tests from the literature showed unreliable results and an alternative had to be developed yielding encouraging results. The likelihood ratio calculation introduced a degree of certainty to the ink dating conclusion in comparison to the threshold approach. The proposed model remains quite simple to apply in practice, but should be further developed in order to yield reliable results in practice.