Marital Satisfaction and Marital Discord as Risk Markers for Intimate Partner Violence: A Meta-analytic Review

A meta-analysis investigating the relationship between marital satisfaction/discord and intimate partner violence (IPV) in heterosexual relationships was conducted with 32 articles. Overall, a small-to-moderate effect size (r = −0.27) indicated a significant and negative relationship existed between marital satisfaction/discord and IPV. Moderator analyses found no differences between effect size based on construct examined (discord or satisfaction). However, the magnitudes of observed effect sizes were influenced by other moderator variables, including the use of standardized versus non-standardized measures, gender of the offender and victim, role in the violence (perpetrator versus victim), and sample type (clinical versus community). The data suggests that gender is an especially important moderator variable in understanding the relationship between marital satisfaction/discord and IPV.     

袭警罪中“暴力”的法教义学分析

自《中华人民共和国刑法修正案(十一)》实施以来,全国各地的袭警罪首案频发。司法实务人员对袭警罪中"暴力"的理解泛化以及入罪门槛过低,导致袭警罪大有成为我国继醉驾犯罪之后第二大犯罪的趋势,如何理解袭警罪中的"暴力"因此成为理论和实务中的难题。结合我国司法实务中部分地区发生的袭警罪的典型首案,根据刑法中"暴力"的含义以及袭警罪"暴力袭击"行为的规范内涵,袭警罪中"暴力"的性质仅限于"硬暴力"而不包括"软暴力";暴力的发生仅限于突袭性而不包括缓和及具有预见可能性的非突袭性暴力,暴力突袭性的具体特点包括突发性、瞬时性和意外性;根据袭警罪侵害警察人身安全、妨害公务正常执行从而侵犯公共秩序法益之逻辑关系,以及构成要件符合性与保护法益之间的共通性,应联系暴力袭警行为及其结果,通过法益甄别值得处罚的暴力袭警行为,从而将不具有可罚性的暴力袭警行为排除在刑法的适用范围之外。     

我国反对家庭暴力地方法规、政策比较研究

我国有27个省、自治区、直辖市制定实施了反对家庭暴力的地方法规或文件。通过对这些地方法规和文件的比较分析可以发现,各地在界定家庭暴力概念、明确法规实施主体、规定举证责任、进行首问责任制等方面进行了积极的尝试,为反家暴工作的开展提供了重要依据。同时,地方性法规和政策的天然不足和相互间的差异,又迫切呼唤国家出台专门法律以及相关方面对若干法律问题做更加深入的研究论证。     

第三代领导集体对邓小平理论的新发展

全球化已成为时代潮流，符合时代潮流发展的理论思维──邓小平理论也在不断丰富和发展。党的第三代领导集体在丰富发展邓小平理论中作出了重大贡献：第一，始终把着眼点放在解放思想、实事求是的思想路线上；第二，始终把着重点放在继续搞清“什么是社会主义”上；第三，始终把着力点放在全面把握“怎样建设社会主义”上；第四，始终把落脚点放在应对挑战和民族复兴上。     

群体性纠纷的构成与法院司法政策的选择

就中国法院处理群体性纠纷的司法政策，学界存在大相径庭的评价。通过观察我国当前群体性纠纷的构成，可以发现，我国群体性纠纷呈现明显的多元化特征，各类纠纷对于纠纷处理机制的要求和对法院的挑战也不同。而无论是法院现行司法政策的设计还是学者对此种司法政策的批评，莫不体现了一种一元化的思维方式。在未来的制度建设和理论研究当中，需要摈弃这种思维方式，倡导一种“类型化处理”的思路。     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Lockhart, Of Things of the Indies: Essays Old and New in Early Latin American History
Barman, Citizen Emperor: Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825–91
Harding, A Refuge in Thunder: Candomblé and Alternative Spaces of Blackness in Brazil
Buffington, Criminal and Citizen in Modern Mexico
Ochoa, Feeding Mexico: The Political Uses of Food since 1910
Clarke, Class, Ethnicity, and Community in Southern Mexico: Oaxaca's Peasantries
Rovira, Women of Maize: Indigenous Women and the Zapatista Rebellion
Assies, The Challenge of Diversity: Indigenous peoples and reform of the state in Latin America
Tulchin and Garland, Social Development in Latin America. The Politics of Reform
Gelles, Water and Power in Highland Peru: the Cultural Politics of Irrigation and Development
Starn, Nightwatch: the Politics of Protest in the Andes
Payne, Uncivil Movements: The Armed Right Wing and Democracy in Latin America
Silva, The Soldier and the State in South America: Essays in Civil-Military Relations
Roniger and Sznajder, The Legacy of Human Rights Violations in the Southern Cone, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay
Smith, Inevitable Partnership: Understanding Mexico-US Relations
Roniger and Sznajder, (eds.) Constructing Collective Identities and Shaping Public Spheres: Latin American Paths
Larraín, Identity and Modernity in Latin America
Caister, Mexico City: A Cultural and Literary Companion     

Developmental Antecedents of Interpartner Violence in a New Zealand Birth Cohort

This paper examines the developmental antecedents of interpartner violence (IPV) victimization and perpetration in a New Zealand birth cohort (n = 828). The study found: (a) IPV occurred in 70% of relationships, with conflict ranging from minor psychological abuse to severe assault; (b) men and women reported similar experiences of victimization and perpetration of IPV; (c) exposure to abuse in childhood, family dysfunction and adversity, childhood and adolescent conduct problems, and alcohol abuse/dependence were significant predictors of IPV victimization and perpetration at age 25; and (d) the antecedents of IPV were largely the same for males and females, although the specific effects of these risk factors differed according to gender. Conduct disorder was more strongly predictive of IPV for females, whereas family adversity was more strongly predictive of IPV victimisation for males.     

Does Intimate Partner Violence Epidemiology Differ Between Homes With and Without Children? A Population-Based Study of Annual Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors

We sought to determine whether intimate partner violence (IPV) risk factors differed depending upon the presence of children in the home, and to estimate the annual prevalence of IPV first in the general population and then in homes with and without children. We analyzed data from a cross-sectional random sample of 6,836 women in southeastern Pennsylvania interviewed by telephone in 2004. The magnitude of association between IPV and risk factors varied between homes with and without children for women’s alcohol problems (with children, odds ratio (OR) 7.7; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.9, 20.9; without children, OR 2.4; 95% CI 0.9, 6.0), and mental health problems (with children, OR 4.0; 95% CI 1.8, 8.9; without children, OR 3.0; 95% CI 1.6, 5.7). Poverty was significantly associated with IPV only in homes without children (OR 3.6; 95% CI 1.9, 7.2). Annual IPV prevalence was 1.2% overall, 1.4% in homes with children, and 1.1% in homes without children. One in 63 children lived in a home with IPV. Differences in IPV risk factors in homes with and without children suggest distinct underlying IPV mechanisms or consequences in these contexts.     

IF A THREAT OF VIOLENCE IS PRESENTED,WHEN DOES THE LAW REQUIRE FAMILY MEDIATORS TO BREACH CONFIDENTIALITY?

For a family mediator to protect his client, a third party, and/or himself from unlawfully disclosing a client's admission, the family mediator should use the principles set forth in Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California when a threat of violence is presented by one of his clients, since many states have adopted these principles through case law and statute to protect third parties from acts of violence. The two most significant factors in determining whether to breach confidentiality are the identifiability of the victim and the likelihood of the potential physical harm. If a jurisdiction has not explicitly done so via statute, the family mediator should nonetheless follow these principles since they are likely to be adopted by that jurisdiction through case law, because the probability of a court's finding a special relationship between a family mediator and a client is relatively high.     

Factors Associated with Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victimization

This study explored factors associated with a lifetime history of domestic violence and sexual assault in a sample of welfare recipients in Illinois. Results indicate that childhood exposure to domestic violence is a risk factor for both sexual assault and domestic violence victimization, but that childhood physical abuse is only a risk factor for domestic violence. Increased education and employment skills and having more children were also risk factors for domestic violence victimization. Domestic violence was significantly associated with depression, while sexual assault was associated with low social support and a greater perceived need for mental health services. Frequent alcohol and drug use were not associated with either type of victimization. Research implications are discussed.