The Status and Characteristics of Couple Violence in China

A couple’s relationship is very important to marital well-being as well as the harmony of family and society. Violent behaviors in marriage have bad effects on people’s physical and mental health and cause large social burdens. In this study, we investigated 194 couples in Beijing to explore the status and characteristics of couple violence from three aspects by using Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2). We conclude that: (1) Couple violence is universal, although the frequency is not so high. Prevalence and frequency of psychological violence are higher than physical and sexual violence; rate of wives’ victimization is significantly higher than that of husbands; frequency of the perpetration of sexual violence by husbands is significantly higher than that by wives. (2) There is concurrence of different types of couple violence. Specifically, physical and sexual violence are usually accompanied by psychological violence; however, psychological violence exists independently. (3) Couple violence is often bidirectional, especially in psychological violence. (4) Marital length is negatively correlated to wives’ perpetration of physical violence and their victimization of sexual violence.     

Conceptualization and measurement of criminal thinking: initial validation of the criminogenic thinking profile

This article describes two studies concerning the development of a new measure of criminal thinking, the CriminogenicThinking Profile (CTP), influenced by the construct of psychopathy, and traditional models of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). An experimental item pool based on verbalizations from offenders served as the pilot version of the instrument. Principal components analysis of the items resulted in a 62-item, eight-factor scale that was internally consistent. In terms of content, six of the resulting factors were conceptually related to psychopathy, one to CBT, and one to neutralization theory. The factor structure and internal reliability was supported by a subsequent confirmatory factor analysis. Initial support for the CTP's convergent validity was indicated by its positive correlations with psychopathy and personality disorders associated with criminal, aggressive, and impulsive behaviors. The CTP's divergent validity was supported by its inverse correlations with indices of healthy personality functioning. The CTP offers a somewhat different constellation of thinking patterns than those found on previously published criminal thinking instruments. The utility of the CTP to identify relevant cognitive targets for offender treatment is a recommended area of future research.     

Basic concepts and issues: a primer on distribution and sales representative agreements in the medical device and durable medical equipment industries

Counsel for a manufacturer of medical devices or durable medical equipment must have working knowledge of various legal disciplines to draft contracts with intermediaries (sales representatives and distributors) for the marketing and sale of the manufacturer's products. If the manufacturer wishes to sell its products abroad, counsel must become familiar with the laws and business practices of the target country, and methods of gaining access to the foreign market. This Article gives readers an overview of the applicable legal principles, under U.S. and foreign laws, in the areas of agency, contracts, healthcare regulation, consumer protection, intellectual property protection, and dealer protection. To aid counsel in drafting intermediary agreements, specific contractual terms and issues are explored in depth, including: appointment clauses, performance provisions, provisions concerning pricing and payment, protective clauses (shielding the manufacturer from liability), term and termination provisions, independent contractor clauses, export control clauses, recordkeeping and audit provisions, choice of law clauses, and dispute resolution clauses.     

Life Constraints and Psychological Well-Being of Domestic Violence Shelter Graduates

Psychosocial adjustment and life constraints of 81 domestic violence shelter graduates were examined via field interviews in the community, assessing womens current life status, satisfaction with core life domains, and violence experience, pre- and post-shelter. Psychometric scales for depression and trauma symptoms were also administered. Participants had received extensive services in either an emergency or a transitional living shelter. Although fairly satisfied across life domains, many had serious post-shelter financial hardships. Most importantly, they reported remarkably little post-shelter violence exposure, either within or outside of romantic relationships. Despite now living independently, 43% and 75% reported clinical levels of depression and trauma symptoms, respectively. In hierarchical stepwise regressions, depression was related to womens childhood sexual abuse, dissatisfaction with housing and their own parenting, and experience of financial difficulties conjoined with public assistance. Trauma symptoms were associated with childhood sexual abuse and post-shelter financial difficulties. The impaired psychosocial functioning and life difficulties of these predominantly successful domestic violence survivors highlights the need for specialized shelter intervention and continuity of care in the community.     

Psychological Distress of Children and Mothers in Domestic Violence Emergency Shelters

Abused mothers and their school-aged children who recently entered domestic violence emergency shelters were assessed by individual interview and psychometric measures. Children had positiveviews of the shelter residence. Mothers and children reported high-quality relationships with eachother. Children came from highly violent homes, and the majority had attempted to intervene in theinteradult violence. Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted on child PTSD symptoms, child behavior problems, and maternal depression, anxiety, and anger. Child PTSD symptoms were associated with amount of physical violence. Child behavioral problems were related to mother anxiety andanger. The predictors of maternal emotional distress varied. Depression was associated with sexualabuse, child physical intervention, and quality of mother–child relationship; anxiety was related to witnessing child abuse, child age, and child internalizing behaviors; anger was associated with abuse-related injuries, violence frequency, and child internalizing behaviors. Augmentationof shelter-based interventions for children's trauma, maternal emotional distress, and parenting are discussed.     

Temporal Linkages in Violent and Nonviolent Criminal Activity

Research on the temporal distribution of criminal behavior has highlighted two distinct mechanisms—population heterogeneity and state dependence. Most of this work indicates that long-term patterns of criminal offending reflect a mixture of stable individual differences and the causal effect of life events and experiences. Yet several ambiguities remain. Among the most important of these problems is whether both population heterogeneity and state dependence processes operate for different types of offending. We use longitudinal official record and self-report data for violent and non-violent offending activity from the Rochester Youth Development Study to address these ambiguities.     

B: Reviews: review articles

THE OTTOMAN GULF: THE CREATION OF KUWAIT, SAUDI ARABIA AND QATAR. By Frederick F. Anscombe. New York, Columbia University Press, 1997. 270 pp., maps, $21.00/£14.00 (pb), $55.00/£38.00 (hb).

THE BLOOD‐RED ARAB FLAG: AN INVESTIGATION INTO QASIMI PIRACY, 1797–1820. By Charles E. Davies. Exeter, University of Exeter Press, 1997. 453 pp., illustrations, maps, £40.00.

THE POLITICS OF REGIONAL TRADE IN IRAQ, ARABIA AND THE GULF, 1745–1900. By Hala Fattah. SUNY Series in the Social and Economic History of the Middle East (11). Albany, NY, State University of New York Press, 1997. 254 pp., maps.

AN OTTOMAN CENTURY: THE DISTRICT OF JERUSALEM IN THE 1600s. By Dror Ze'evi, edited by Jere Bacharach. SUNY Series in Medieval History. Albany, NY, State University of New York Press, 1996. xii + 258 pp.

FABRICATING ISRAELI HISTORY: THE ‘NEW HISTORIANS’. By Efraim Karsh. London and Portland, Frank Cass, 1997. 210 pp., £25.00 (hb).

ISLAM AND MODERNITY: MUSLIM INTELLECTUALS RESPOND. Edited by John Cooper, Ronald Nettler and Mohammed Mahmoud. London and New York, I. B. Tauris, 1998. xii + 228 pp., £39.50.

DEFINING ISLAM FOR THE EGYPTIAN STATE: MUFTIS AND FATWAS OF THE DAR AL‐IFTA. By Jakob Skovgaard‐Petersen. Leiden, New York and Koln, Brill, 1997. vii + 420 pp.

CIVIL SOCIETY, DEMOCRACY AND THE MUSLIM WORLD. Edited by Elisabeth Özdalga and Sune Persson. (Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul Transactions Vol. 7.) Richmond, Curzon Press, 1997. 143 pp., £15.00.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN YEMEN: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF ACTIVISM IN MODERN ARABIA. By Sheila Carapico. (Cambridge Middle East Studies 9.) Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 1998. 256 pp., map, 14 tables, £35.00.     

Decentralization and Corruption: Evidence from U.S. Federal Transfer Programs

While some recent evidence suggests that more decentralizationis associated with reduced corruption, no empirical work hasexamined whether different types of decentralization havedifferential effects on corruption. The theoretical literaturehas emphasized that expenditure decentralization will only beeffective if accompanied by the devolution of revenuegeneration to local governments. In this paper we examine thishypothesis empirically, by studying the mismatch betweenrevenue generation and expenditure in U.S. states. Largerfederal transfers are associated with higher rates ofconviction for abuse of public office, supporting the theorythat soft-budget constraints created by federal transfers arepotentially problematic.     

Partisanship and principle: Voters and the New Zealand electoral referendum of 1993

Abstract. In a two–stage referendum process, in 1992 and 1993, New Zealand voters authorised a radical change from a plurality electoral system to proportional representation. Although ad hoc groups, not the major political parties, led the debate for and against the change, the nature of the issue ensured that partisanship had a strong effect on voters' choices. Yet many voters were also guided by their political principles and values, including fairness of representation on one side, and preference for single–party, decisive governments on the other. Experience of proportional representation since 1996 has resulted in a fairly high level of uncertainty toward electoral change, independent of partisanship. Values and partisanship, however, remain the two stabilising influences.