Improving Father Involvement in Child Welfare Practice and Research: Conceptual Considerations from the Social Science Literature

The positive benefits to children of their fathers' involvement in their lives have been well documented in the social science literature. This article reviews related child welfare literature and argues that several important concepts informing father involvement research in the social sciences—the significance of the parents' relationship, the potentially dangerous behaviors of fathers, and emerging trends in low-income families—need to be incorporated into work on father involvement in the child welfare context, in order to maximize the effectiveness of involvement efforts as well as the potential benefits to children. Implications for child welfare practice include the need for intensive involvement efforts, attention to fathers' progress in treatment, services to strengthen parental relationships and improve coparenting, and expansion of service eligibility to all those who play parental roles in children's lives. Implications for research include the need for studies examining the different kinds of fathers in child welfare households, how parental dynamics influence child and parent outcomes, and the influence fathers' problems may have in moderating the effects of their involvement on children.     

Ethical Limitations on the State's Use of Arational Persuasion

Policy makers frequently use arational appeals and nudges—such as those relying on emotion, cognitive biases, and subliminal messaging—to persuade citizens to adopt behaviors that support public goals. However, these communication tactics have been widely criticized for relying on arational triggers rather than reasoned argument. This article develops a fuller account of the nonconsequentialist objection to arational persuasion by state actors, focusing on theories of decisional autonomy and metadecisional voluntariness. The article concludes by proposing ethically justifiable limitations on state communications that should be compelling to both critics and advocates of arational persuasion.     

Phenacetin and cocaine in a body packer

A case of acute intoxication of cocaine adulterated with phenacetin is reported. Twenty-four packages were found in the stomach and intestine of a 25-year-old male. The identification of phenacetin was performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis.