EU accession and the hardening of soft budget constraints: some macro evidence

The hardening of soft budget constraints (SBCs) is a central element in transforming the economies of Central and Eastern Europe into market economies. This paper presents macro evidence on budget hardening of transition economies comparing the performance of EU accession countries relative to non-accession countries. We estimate SBC hardening for 21 transition economies in a partial adjustment model by measuring the reaction of employment to output changes over a 10-year period. The paper finds that accession candidates have reduced excess labour demand substantially relative to non-accession countries.

Elements Needed for Quality Batterer Intervention Programs: Perspectives of Professionals Who Deal with Intimate Partner Violence

Batterers intervention programs (BIPs) constitute a primary intervention for perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV). There is little understanding as to what elements are necessary for a good intervention program. We conducted 36 individual semi-structured interviews with professionals working with BIPs. Our results yielded three thematic categories: (1) optimal BIP structure—group size and program duration should foster change and interaction, (2) facilitator characteristics—co-facilitation is ideal, and facilitators should have IPV training, and (3) program approaches–programs should challenge their clients on their behavior, promote an environment of safety and openness, and strive to adapt to clients.     

American Adversarialism Reviewing Robert A. Kagan's Adversarial Legalism: The American Way of Law

Adversarial Legalism: The American Way of Law. By Robert A. Kagan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. 339 pp. Hardcover $49.95. ISBN: 0-674-00621-6.     

Assessment of assertion and problem-solving skills in wife abusers and their spouses

The present study provided an assessment of assertion and problem solving skills in couples characterized by wife abuse. A role play test and problem solving interaction task were administered to couples who were (a) physically abusive, (b) maritally discordant but nonviolent, and (c) satisfactorily married. Results indicated that members of abusive dyads exhibited deficits on selected behavioral components of assertion. However, few differences were observed between these dyads and the maritally discordant, nonviolent condition. Findings are discussed in terms of (1) the need for further evaluation of interpersonal skill variables in physically abusive males, (2) issues in selection of measures and subjects, and (3) the need to consider the possible interactive effects of multiple factors in family violence research.     

SITUATED IDENTITIES OF YOUNG, AFRICAN AMERICAN FATHERS IN LOW-INCOME URBAN SETTINGS

Young, low-income, African American fathers have been at the center of research, practice, and policy on families over the past decade. This article uses a "voicing" analytic technique to examine identities among young, low-income, African American fathers living in an urban setting; the intersections of these identities; and the fathers' perceptions of the influences of familial, peer, and legal systems as barriers and resources in their development as fathers and the sustainability of their fathering roles. The primary questions addressed urban fathers' representations of their transition to fatherhood, intergenerational relationships, transformative events, and visions of a possible self. Results from a survey, focus groups, and interviews suggest that the fathers seek to reinvent themselves and reconstruct their identities by separating from street life, redefine home as a place of stability, and challenge the practices of social and legal systems that appear to work against their responsible fathering.