For better or for worse? The dilemmas of unmarried motherhood in mid-twentieth-century popular British film and fiction

This article investigates representations of unmarried motherhood in the late 1940s and early 1950s through readings of popular British film and fiction. These sources are used to illustrate contradictions and conflicts in the meanings afforded to unmarried motherhood and, in turn, to highlight how the unmarried mother was used as a motif for exploring post-war normative boundaries around marriage, motherhood, and female sexuality. The article draws upon Raymond Williams's idea of a 'structure of feeling' to make connections between these representations and issues and debates about the role and status of women and mothers more generally in post-war Britain.     

Assessing civil society in Putin’s Russia: The plight of women’s crisis centers

The article assesses civil society in Putin’s Russia through the lens of the small social movement working against gender violence. Based on questionnaires distributed to movement organizations in 2008-2009, we find significant retrenchment among the NGO segment of the movement, adding evidence to the claim of Russia’s turn toward authoritarianism. However, this innovative, midlevel analysis--not the typical society-wide surveys nor the small number participant observation--also shows that the women’s crisis center movement has made some in-roads in transforming the state, revealing that some democratic opportunities remain at the local level.     

Too Close for Comfort: Exploring Gender Differences in Inmate Attitudes Toward Homosexuality in Prison

Since the inception of the Prison Rape Elimination Act in 2003, there has been increased interest in not only sexual victimization among incarcerated populations, but all aspects of prison sexuality. Correctional policies have focused on the homosexual population in attempts to protect these individuals from victimization and in attempts to decrease sexual relationships between inmates. While recent research has focused on the prevalence of homosexual behavior and the prevalence of sexual victimization among incarcerated populations, there has been little research on inmate attitudes toward homosexuality and same-sex sexual encounters in prison. The present study adds to the literature base by examining gender differences in attitudes toward inmate homosexuality among a sample of male and female inmates in a large Southern prison system. Findings revealed that male inmates, older inmates, and heterosexual inmates had significantly more negative attitudes toward homosexual inmates. Implications based on these findings are discussed.     

Why Listening to Children and Young People is Important in Family Justice

During the last 30 years, there has been a growing body of evidence indicating that children and young people often feel marginalized when their parents are making critical decisions that will shape their young lives, and they are calling for family justice professionals to hear their voices. This article explores the research evidence, examines the relevant theories about child development, and demonstrates how a focus on age‐related competency fails to take account of children's subjective meanings about their lives. The authors consider a model of participation first designed to understand adult participation in government and show how this can be usefully applied to understanding children's participation in family justice.     

The Influence of Actuarial Risk Assessment in Clinical Judgments and Tribunal Decisions about Mentally Disordered Offenders in Maximum Security

Research has shown that actuarial assessments of violence risk are consistently more accurate than unaided judgments by clinicians, and it has been suggested that the availability of actuarial instruments will improve forensic decision making. This study examined clinical judgments and autonomous review tribunal decisions to detain forensic patients in maximum security. Variables included the availability of an actuarial risk report at the time of decision making, patient characteristics and history, and clinical presentation over the previous year. Detained and transferred patients did not differ in their actuarial risk of violent recidivism. The best predictor of tribunal decision was the senior clinician's testimony. There was also no significant association between the actuarial risk score and clinicians' opinions. Whether the actuarial report was available at the time of decision making did not alter the statistical model of either clinical judgments or tribunal decisions. Implications for the use of actuarial risk assessment in forensic decision making are discussed.     

Lesson-Drawing in Family Policy: Media Reports and Empirical Evidence about European Developments

Since 1980, the U.S. press has painted a vivid picture of widespread welfare state dismantling in Europe. Yet our analysis of social expenditures in 14 European countries from 1980–1995 finds a pattern of resilience and, with respect to family benefits, a pattern of expansion. Our review of qualitative research on policy reforms upholds the expenditure-based findings. We conclude that U.S. media misrepresentation of social welfare developments in Europe is likely to impede lesson-drawing from abroad by U.S. policymakers. This constitutes a lost opportunity, as the U.S. is now engaged in social policy reformulation, especially with respect to programs for families.     

A storage study of ethanol in rabbit and human bone marrow

The study reports the effect of storage on ethanol concentrations in bone marrow.