Men and Sex Equality: What Have They Got to Lose?

This paper explores the gains and losses that might be involved in a shift to greater sex equality. It argues that in addition to practical changes, genuine equality would displace men and their needs as the unquestioned standard of humanity. Men are likely to find this deeply threatening. They could, however, benefit in the long run. Some men might, therefore, support sex equality on the grounds of self-interest as well as justice; they will, however, also experience short-term losses, and women cannot rely on their support.     

Am I my brother's (or customer's or tenant's) keeper? Economic and ethical aspects to the California Supreme Court's struggle with the issue of landowner's standard of care.

The Supreme Court of California has ruled on several cases involving the question of to what extent a possessor of land is liable for the harm to customers or tenants occurring when a third party commits a criminal act against the customers or tenants present on the land. This paper reviews the historical development of this aspect of negligence law and analyzes the ethical and economic efficiency implications of ascribing legal responsibility for such crimes to: a) local government, b) the possessor of land, c) the customer, and d) the criminal. For example, is there an effort by the judicial system to substitute deterrence from criminal acts provided by possessors of land (i.e., specific deterrence) for the general deterrence traditionally provided through the use of police powers by local government? Analysis indicates that specific deterrence may be more effective in changing the location of criminal acts than in reducing the level of criminal activities. Also, the expense of complying with the legal responsibilities of protecting customers and clients may be especially high in high-crime, low-income areas, thus forcing commercial establishments to move or go out of business. Thus, we have a troubling tradeoff: compensating individual crime victims in a high-crime area could ultimately deprive the residents of basic economic opportunities.     

School Smoking Policy Characteristics and Individual Perceptions of the School Tobacco Context: Are They Linked to Students’ Smoking Status?

The purpose of this study was to explore individual- and school-level policy characteristics on student smoking behavior using an ecological perspective. Participants were 24,213 (51% female) Grade 10–11 students from 81 schools in five Canadian provinces. Data were collected using student self-report surveys, written policies collected from schools, interviews with school administrators, and school property observations to assess multiple dimensions of the school tobacco policy. The multi-level modeling results revealed that the school a student attended was associated with his/her smoking behavior. Individual-level variables that were associated with student smoking included lower school connectedness, a greater number of family and friends who smoked, higher perceptions of student smoking prevalence, lower perceptions of student smoking frequency, and stronger perceptions of the school tobacco context. School-level variables associated with student smoking included weaker policy intention indicating prohibition and assistance to overcome tobacco addiction, weaker policy implementation involving strategies for enforcement, and a higher number of students smoking on school property. These findings suggest that the school environment is important to tobacco control strategies, and that various policy dimensions have unique relationships to student smoking. School tobacco policies should be part of a comprehensive approach to adolescent tobacco use.     

KEY LINKAGES BETWEEN CHILD WELFARE AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT: SOCIAL FUNCTIONING IMPROVEMENTS AND CLIENT SATISFACTION IN A FAMILY DRUG TREATMENT COURT*

This article summarizes early findings regarding social functioning and client satisfaction from a longitudinal study of women receiving treatment in a family drug treatment court located in the Midwestern United States (N = 33). Drug treatment court participants were interviewed at program entry and when they had completed 6 months of treatment. Family drug court participants reported significant improvements in employment status and increases in earned income after 6 months of treatment. Respondents also reported improved social functioning and high overall levels of satisfaction with treatment. Findings and implications for future research are discussed.     

BEST PRACTICES FOR AN INTERNAL WHISTLEBLOWING PLATFORM (WP)

Whistleblowing is one tool, among many others, to prevent, deter and detect violations of the law or of the firm’s own ethical norms. This article presents proposals to set up an effective internal whistleblowing platform within a firm. These proposals outline the procedures that should be followed to handle whistleblowing reports. In addition, the article explains how an internal department or an externalized service should be set up to process these reports. The purpose of these proposals is to reach a satisfactory compromise between the interests of the firm in having its own values upheld, the interests of the State in securing compliance with the laws, the interests of the employees in working in an honest and safe environment, the interests of other stakeholders to be treated fairly and finally, the interests of denounced parties not to be wrongly accused.     

Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of Narrative Exposure Therapy to Address IPV-related Mental Health in Parenting and Pregnant Adolescents

Many urban, low-income adolescents experience violence, often resulting in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) facilitates therapeutic processing of traumatic memories. This purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility of NET among adolescents at-risk for PTSD and depression. Two community-based agencies hosted five focus groups with adolescents (n = 28), aged 18–21, predominantly African- American (71 %) and female (61 %) and one with adolescent service providers (n = 11). Pope’s coding framework (2000) and the Socio-Ecological Model for violence prevention (Krug et al. in The Lancet, 360(9339), 1083–1088, 2002) elicited perceived barriers and facilitators to NET. Individual, relationship, and community level barriers and facilitators to NET therapy engagement were identified. The findings indicate participants have favorable attitudes about NET and the provision of the therapy within trusted community agencies. The results will inform the next steps of NET implementation, training, and psychoeducation.     

Enhancing the Foster Care Review Process: The Case of Kentucky's Interested Party Review Program

In order to promote timely permanency for children in out‐of‐home care, citizen foster care review programs employ volunteers to monitor progress for children in the child welfare system. In addition to case file reviews, Kentucky implemented an Interested Party Review system in which foster care review board members meet with family members and child welfare staff in order to glean more detailed and multi‐faceted information to submit to the court. This article describes a mixed‐methods program evaluation demonstrating the contribution of such a review process to judicial decision making and child outcome, as well as recommendations for program improvement.     

Malingering and Pain: is this a Major Problem in the Medicolegal Setting?

The term malingering has a negative connotation, in that it is considered to intentionally project exaggerated physical and/or psychosocial symptoms for the purpose of gaining some external rewards/secondary gain. The present article will review a number of misconceptions about malingering, as well as the inherent problem in objectively measuring this construct. It will be suggested that a more comprehensive biopsychosocial approach should be used to evaluate potential barriers to recovery, as well as suboptimal performance that may delay, or prevent, recovery over an expected time period for musculoskeletal pain disorders. Such an approach will eliminate the common misuse and misdiagnosis of the construct of malingering.     

Disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system: An investigation of ethnic disparity in program referral at disposition

Historically, minority youth have experienced harsher punishments and more negative outcomes than White youth even when risk assessment is used. The current study investigated the role of ethnicity in an understudied dispositional decision–program referral–and the outcomes associated with said referral using a sample of juvenile offenders (N = 2,678). The study used the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) to determine (1) if ethnicity predicted program referral when accounting for risk assessment and (2) if program referral predicted recidivism. Results indicated that ethnicity predicted program referral, and program referral predicted recidivism. Future directions for Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) research and implications for court officials are discussed.