Doing Harm While Doing Good: The Child Protection Paradox

Every Australian citizen expects state and territory governments to protect children from child abuse and neglect. Protecting children from harm is seen as good. This however is not a simple matter. The ultimate act in protecting children is to remove them from parental care. This causes trauma for the child and pain and distress for parents no matter how inadequately they may have been caring for their children. In that respect removing a child from parental care does harm to parents and children. This article explores the paradox of doing harm while doing good. The article has an Australian focus but the authors think that this issue affects child protection services in many countries.     

A Trojan Horse? Unionism, Trust and Truth-telling in Northern Ireland

The aim of this article is to examine the relationship betweentrust, testimony and truth recovery processes as part of post-conflicttransition. The paper uses the case study of unionist attitudestoward a community-based truth-telling project in Northern Irelandto demonstrate the impact an absence of trust can have uponwhat the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur has described as the‘space of controversy’ that emerges between the‘certification’ and the ‘accreditation’of testimony. The paper suggests such distrust is a legacy,not only of conflict, but also of the particular circumstancesof transition and the specific mechanisms of truth recoveryadopted. Ultimately the paper argues for a holistic, community-centredapproach towards truth-telling and raises issues relevant toother violently divided societies undergoing transition andgrappling with ways in which to deal with the legacy of politicalconflict.     

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.     

THE STATES AND DEREGULATION: THE CASE OF SURFACE MINING

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), passed to correct the abuses of surface mining, assigned key implementation roles to the states. While the federal government originally enforced SMCRA, states could operate the program themselves. Once states decided to run their own program the federal government would oversee them to insure they properly enforce the Act. This research examines the enforcement behavior of states in the 1980s. The results indicate that early in the Reagan administration eastern states enforced the SMCRA less stringently than other states. Eastern states increased their level of enforcement later in the 1980s in response to pressures for increased federal oversight from Congress, interest groups and others.     

Local justice in the allocation of college admissions: A statistical study of beliefs versus practice

This study examines admission decisions at a highly selective private university. A statistical analysis of 300 admission decisions is used to compare admissions officers' beliefs about how the admissions process works with their actual pattern of decisions. As a group, the officers underestimate the effect of applicant race, gender, alumni status, and athletic ability on their academic and personality ratings and final admission decisions. Individual officers place different weights on the decision-making criteria, with the model explaining less variation in the ratings of officers with more years of experience. The comparison of beliefs with practice has implications for evaluating the distributive and procedural fairness of the college admissions process.