Assessing allegations of domestic violence in child custody evaluations

There has been an increased focus on child custody evaluations involving domestic violence allegations with much criticism of evaluators' training, practices, and procedures. A national survey of 115 child custody evaluators (doctoral and master's level) was conducted to explore these criticisms. Findings revealed adequate training, multiple sources of data collection, and practices/procedures that closely adhere to child custody guidelines. However, robust, specialized domestic violence instruments, tests, and questionnaires were underutilized. Respondents indicated that findings supporting domestic violence allegations had a substantial impact on their subsequent recommendations. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of assessing domestic violence when conducting custody evaluations and the need for developing practice standards in this domain. Generally, results did not support common criticisms of custody evaluation practice.     

Regulation of online pharmacy: an Australian perspective

This article argues that existing Australian regulations do not adequately cover online pharmacies or Internet advertising of medicines and that existing penalties and sanctions are often ineffective, potentially placing public health and safety at risk. Suggestions are made for future regulatory approaches. It is concluded that as well as an effective program of public education, cautious domestic legislative reform is necessary to ensure specific regulation of Australian online pharmacy practice and Internet advertising of medicines. In addition, the global nature of the Internet demands international co-operation and increased regulator and consumer vigilance.     

Measures of aggression and mood changes in male weightlifters with and without androgenic anabolic steroid use

Supraphysiologic doses of testosterone are associated with increased aggression that is hypothesized to be a function of testosterone serum concentrations, mood, and personality. The study attempted to characterize this relationship among weightlifters who were users (n = 10) and nonusers (n = 18) of anabolic steroids. Participants were interviewed using the Modified Mania Rating Scale and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression to assess mood, the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI) and Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP) to assess aggression, and the Personality Disorder Questionnaire (PDQ-R) to assess personality. Blood samples were obtained for the determination of total, free, and weakly bound testosterone. Comparisons of continuous variables between testosterone users and non-users were performed with a parametric (unpaired t-test) or non-parametric (Mann-Whitney) test where appropriate. Correlations with testosterone were examined separately for testosterone users and non-users, using Spearman rank correlation. The subjective (BDHI) and objective (PSAP) assessments of aggression found that supranormal testosterone concentrations were associated with increased aggression. However, the PDQ-R results suggest that this finding was confounded by the personality disorder profile of the steroid users, because steroid users demonstrated Cluster B personality disorder traits for antisocial, borderline, and histrionic personality disorder.     

Sovereignties: Westphalian, liberal and anti-utopian

Sovereignty remains the key concept and principle accordingto which the world is ordered. But sovereignty is also a disputedconcept and a contested social practice; it has come under fierceassault from a number of diverse sources. Sovereignty is paradoxicalin nature and hypocritically practised. States have differentempirical degrees and qualitative types of sovereignty, rangingfrom the merely formal to the substantial to the popular. Statesalso have different dispositions towards sovereignty, and areliable to project their own in different ways in pursuit ofconflicting objectives. Different groups of states attempt toimpose their understandings and beliefs on the internationalsystem. There are three ideal types which help us to understandthe issue of sovereignty and the interactions of sovereign states.These are respectively Westphalian, liberal and anti-utopian.The Westphalian paradigm has the maintenance and protectionof state sovereignty as its key concept. The liberal paradigmis conceived in terms of the concept of popular sovereigntyand controversies over the extent to which this ideal shouldbe promoted and exported. The anti-utopian paradigm is conceivedin terms of the concept of quasi-sovereignty or the loss ofsovereignty, and in terms of resistance to attempts to imposeglobalization and liberal values on recalcitrant states andcultures.     

The consequences of deregulation: A comparison of the experiences of UK building societies with those of US Savings and Loan Associations

It has been estimated that deregulation of US S&Ls will cost the US taxpayer ￡500bn in terms of the compensation paid out for the resulting scandals and failures. In contrast, the deregulation of UK building societies, although initially followed by a series of scandals and losses of ￡1bn., eventually resulted in substantially increased profitability. The social effects in the UK have been quite different to those in the US. As a result of the increased importance placed on profitability as opposed to mutuality, many homeowners have had their properties repossessed, and investors been mis-soId unsuitable investments. However, UK building societies, by a mixture of good luck and judgement, have avoided the principal regulatory pitfalls, which beset the S&Ls in terms of bankruptcies and fraud. This paper seeks to explain these different post-deregulation experiences. It extends to the UK the looting model of Akerlof and Romer (1993) and the managerial diversion model of Nichols (1972) which went so far to explain and anticipate, respectively, the US experience. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Enforcing the Minimum Wage

The introduction of the national minimum wage in the United Kingdom poses a new challenge for labour law because of its novel enforcement methods. This article examines carefully the possibilities for enforcing the new statutory minimum wage in the light of regulatory theory and the government's desire to make the wage 'self-enforcing'. It offers policy suggestions as to how the different enforcement strands can be best made to work together and highlights some of the dangers the government needs to be aware of in this area.     

The creation of Ohio’s ethnic intimidation law: Triggering events, media campaigns, and interest group activity

The majority of the research being conducted on hate crime laws deals with civil liberties issues; however, there has been little research conducted on the creation of these laws. In 1986, Ohio joined a growing number of states in enacting hate crime legislation. This article involves a historical analysis of the creation of Ohio’s ethnic intimidation law. Through the use of interviews and archival data, it was found that interest group activity, media campaigns, and a specific triggering event were all influential in the process of enacting this legislation in Ohio. While these findings cannot be generalized to the creation of laws in general, or hate crime laws in other states, this study does fill a gap in the knowledge about the process of enacting laws.     

Correlates of self-concept among black early adolescents

This study examines the self-concept of Black eighth-grade students from the Midwest in relation to Black acceptance, social intimacy, locus of control, and sex-role type. Twenty-eight students high in self-concept were compared with 31 students whose self-concept was low. As predicted, the high self-concept group scored higher than the low self-concept group in intimacy, internality, and acceptance of black identity. As also predicted, the high self-concept group had a significantly greater number of adolescents with masculine and androgynous sex roles than the low self-concept group; Black females with high self-concepts included a larger proportion of individuals with androgynous sex roles than low self-concept females. However, the prediction that high self-concept males would have a larger proportion of masculine sex roles than low self-concept males was not supported. The difficult situation of the low self-concept adolescents is discussed, along with the implications for intervention.On clinic internship at Smolian Psychiatric Clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. Major interests are clinical psychology and Black identity.Received Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Colorado. Major interests are the development of intimacy and identity in adolescence and young adulthood.