Exploring strengths-based approaches in the design of a family planning project in Kenya

This practical note explores the contribution that strengths-based approaches (SBA) can make to project design. The note outlines how SBA was understood and applied in the design of a family planning project by Marie Stopes in Kenya under the Australian Africa Community Engagement Scheme (AACES). Fieldwork findings demonstrate how SBA assists in bringing to the fore local initiatives and assets that can be built on by external resources. It further suggests that SBA can create a strong foundation for local partnership, honest appraisal, and learning.

Examen des approches basées sur les points forts dans la conception d'un projet de planning familial

Cette note pratique examine la contribution que les approches basées sur les points forts (ABPF) peuvent apporter à la conception des projets. La note décrit comment l'ABPF a été comprise et appliquée dans le cadre de la conception d'un projet de planning familial par Marie Stopes au Kenya, entrepris au titre du programme australien Africa Community Engagement Scheme (AACES). Les conclusions tirées lors d'une mission sur le terrain montrent la manière dont l'ABPF peut aider à mettre au premier plan des initiatives et atouts qui peuvent être développés par des ressources externes. Il est aussi suggéré que l'ABPF peut donner lieu à une fondation solide pour des partenariats locaux, à une estimation honnête et à l'apprentissage.

Explorando abordagens baseadas nos pontos fortes na criação de um projeto de planejamento familiar

Esta nota prática examina a contribuição que abordagens baseadas nos pontos fortes (SBA) pode dar na criação do projeto. A nota apresenta como o SBA foi compreendido e aplicado na criação de um projeto de planejamento familiar de Marie Stopes, no Quênia, sob o Esquema Australiano de Engajamento da Comunidade da África (AACES). Os resultados do trabalho de campo mostram como o SBA ajuda a colocar em evidência iniciativas locais e bens que podem ser construídos através de recursos externos. Ele sugere ainda que o SBA pode criar uma fundação sólida para parceria local, avaliação honesta e aprendizado.

Un análisis de métodos basados en las fortalezas para la elaboración de un proyecto de planificación familiar

Esta nota práctica analiza los aportes de los métodos basados en las fortalezas (MBF) para la elaboración de proyectos. Se revisa cómo Marie Stopes entendió y aplicó un MBF para elaborar un proyecto de planificación familiar en Kenia, en el marco del Plan para la Participación Comunitaria Australiano-Africana. Las conclusiones derivadas del trabajo de campo demuestran cómo el MBF puede ayudar a situar las iniciativas y los activos locales en primer plano, y a fortalecerlos con recursos externos. También revela que el MBF puede crear una sólida base para las asociaciones locales, las evaluaciones sinceras y el aprendizaje.     

Using multidimensional scaling for the analysis of sexual offence behaviour: A replication and some cautionary notes

Abstract

Crime scene profiling has received considerable attention, particularly in popular media. First, since low inter-rater reliability would affect the validity of profiling, we tested inter-rater agreement for 33 variables often used in manuals for the coding of crime-related behaviour. Thirty cases were chosen randomly from 146 cases of assault rape with unknown male offenders in Sweden during 1990–1994. Second, we used multidimensional scaling (MDS) with all 146 cases to replicate earlier work by Canter and Heritage (Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 1, 185–212, 1990) regarding motivational dimensions in unknown assault rapists. On average, inter-rater reliability was good; physical behaviours were more reliably coded than were verbal behaviours. However, a two-dimensional MDS solution with the motivational dimensions suggested by Canter and Heritage was not replicated. We argue for better empirical support for the inclusion of specific variables in coding formats for crime scene information. This is particularly important for analyses like the MDS, since the number, representativity, and intercorrelations of such variables could affect results considerably.     

A Multidimensional Approach to Ascertaining Individual Differentiation and Consistency in Serial Sexual Assault: Is It Time to Redefine and Refine?

Whilst investigative use of behavioural evidence to help link and solve serial offences has long been in use, the empirical and theoretical grounds for whether and how to use this evidence effectively have begun to emerge only in recent decades. The present study empirically tested (a) the potential for effectively differentiating between rape offence crime scenes using quantitative and qualitative distinctions within the behavioural dimensions of control, violence, and sexual activity, and (b) the extent to which redefining behavioural consistency more broadly to include dynamic trajectories of behavioural change may be more effective than limiting this definition to behavioural stability. Results confirmed that sexual offences can be successfully differentiated based on the specific degree and subtype of these behavioural dimensions present in each crime scene. The analysis of consistency and behavioural trajectories showed that whilst none of the offenders exhibited complete consistency across behavioural dimensions, a subsample of offenders remained fully consistent in at least one. Furthermore, of those who were not consistent, the vast majority followed an identifiable trajectory of change. Findings are discussed in the context of psychological theories of behavioural consistency as well as practical aspects of advancing the utility of behavioural linkage.     

Coercion and Contract at the Margins: Deportable Labor and the Laws of Employment Termination Under US Capitalism (1942–2015)

In 1917, Congress created the status of temporary labor migrant. A new kind of restricted worker born from nineteenth‐century free labor politics, employer and citizen worker demands under modern liberal capitalism, and state labor market regulation, temporary migrants have always had an employer‐dependent legal status and been subject to deportation. Yet, since 1942, changing rights and legal processes have governed migrant employment termination across sectors. By drawing on employment cases from archival and unpublished files made available to me under FOIA, and court decisions, I compare the impact of laws of employment termination on deportable laborers beginning in 1942, when government agencies planned migration, and under privatized migration after 1964. From agriculture and war to today's service and knowledge economies, I demonstrate how employment rights have always shaped deportable workers' legal status. Yet, I also show how today's rights and legal processes, in contrast to the past, hardly mitigate employer control over migrants under contemporary capitalism.     

Diversion from youth courts in five Asia Pacific jurisdictions: welfare or restorative solutions

Since the 1970s, there has been a trend to move away from punitive and retributive approaches to reintegrative practices. This article provides an account of how young offenders in five Asia Pacific jurisdictions are diverted from being prosecuted in the youth courts and of to where they are diverted. The five cases demonstrate that diversionary measures in the Australasian jurisdictions tend to be more restorative in their practices than are those in Chinese-dominated jurisdictions, which adopt welfare responses. It is concluded that although there is some progress in the areas of decarceration and delegalization, the diversion goals of decategorization and deprofessionalization in Chinese-dominated jurisdictions have yet to be achieved. Such diversionary strategies carry the risk that many more young people committing minor offences may be subject to more intrusive measures and disguised social control in the name of diversion, welfare, or the prevention of future offending.     

Social Norms and the Feeling of Justice about Unequal Family Practices

After briefly retracing the origins of the present day unbalanced division of family work, this paper article summarizes results from three studies conducted with married adults and unmarried young adults from northern Portugal. The data support the idea that (a) unequal family practices do not change because traditional practices are social norms that orientate individuals’ behavior; (b) individuals do not comply passively to these social norms but consider that the normative practices are fair; (c) normative family practices are considered to be fair because women, as well as men, seem to gain benefits from traditional family organization. The social consequences for women of the maintenance of normative family practices are discussed.

Risk factors for violent offending in autism spectrum disorder: a national study of hospitalized individuals

Little is known about risk factors for violence among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study uses data from Swedish longitudinal registers for all 422 individuals hospitalized with autistic disorder or Asperger syndrome during 1988-2000 and compares those committing violent or sexual offenses with those who did not. Thirty-one individuals with ASD (7%) were convicted of violent nonsexual crimes and two of sexual offenses. Violent individuals with ASD are more often male and diagnosed with Asperger syndrome rather than autistic disorder. Furthermore, comorbid psychotic and substance use disorders are associated with violent offending. We conclude that violent offending in ASD is related to similar co-occurring psychopathology as previously found among violent individuals without ASD. Although this study does not answer whether ASDs are associated with increased risk of violent offending compared with the general population, careful risk assessment and management may be indicated for some individuals with Asperger syndrome.     

The Sustainable Development Goals and REDD+: assessing institutional interactions and the pursuit of synergies

This paper analyzes potential synergies between two recent sustainable development initiatives, namely the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), a climate mitigation mechanism negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The paper elaborates a conceptual framework based on institutional interactions and distinguishes core, complementary, and supplementary synergies that may be realized between the SDGs and REDD+. Potential synergies are analyzed at the global level, as well as within two national-level contexts: Indonesia, with its long-standing REDD+ programme, and Myanmar, which is in the early stages of implementing REDD+. Both are now also engaging nationally with the SDG implementation process. Our research draws on literature review and document analysis, direct observations of global policy processes relating to REDD+ and SDGs, as well as extensive engagement (of one author) at national level in Indonesia and Myanmar. Our analysis reveals that there are currently significant opportunities to pursue synergies in the implementation of these international initiatives at the national level, although pro-active interaction management is necessary, especially to achieve complementary synergies.