Qualitative Differences Among Rural and Urban Intimate Violence Victimization Experiences and Consequences: A Pilot Study

Relatively little is known about rural women's intimate violence experiences in comparison to urban women's experiences, partly because of the difficulty in accessing rural women. This pilot study used a protective order sample of 23 women (15 urban and 8 rural), which provides an access point that is relatively similar for comparisons across rural and urban areas. The number of participants is low and, therefore, results are preliminary. However, several significant findings emerged. Rural women reported significantly less social support, less education, less income, more physical abuse in the preceding year, more childhood physical and sexual abuse, and worse overall health and mental health, as well as encountering abuse earlier in the relationship. Both groups reported higher rates of illegal drug and cigarette use than those among the general population. The findings highlight some overall important themes in examining rural and urban intimate violence victims by suggesting that rural and urban intimate violence victims have different victimization experiences and service needs. Implications for further research and intervention are discussed.     

农村留守儿童的心理健康:一个生态学的视角

农村留守儿童的心理健康是人们关注农民工问题的一个视角。性格缺陷与行为偏差、人生观与价值观偏移等是留守儿童常见的心理健康问题。社会工作生态学理论强调“环境中的人”的理念,其中的“社会环境”、“事件与能量”、“适应与应对”、“互相依赖”等理论视角对留守儿童心理健康问题产生的原因提供了解释。同时,以生态学理论为依据,社会工作在应对问题的策略选择上,也更注重学校、社区、社会政策等环境因素的不断改善以适应留守儿童健康成长的需要。     

当代大学生心理问题及教育对策

影响大学生心理健康的因素主要包括:环境变迁、学业期望、人际关系、自我认知、生活事件、家庭环境、网络因素等。我们要针对这些因素采取相应的教育对策。     

论刑事警察的心理健康

根据心理健康的生理、心理和社会模式,结合刑事侦查工作的职业特点,刑事警察的心理健康标准应归结为以下八条:身体健康;智力超常;客观地认识和评价自己;具有较强的社会适应能力;善于处理人际关系;成就动机强;情绪稳定;其他与刑侦工作相匹配的心理品质。     

高校教职工心理健康工作探讨

根据当前高等学校教职工的身心健康状况,开展高校教职工的心理健康工作是十分必要的。为了搞好高校教职工的心理健康工作,应明确高校教职工心理健康工作的理念模式和实践策略,并且要了解工作中应注意的问题。     

Sanctioning risky life-styles: Attitudes toward solidarity or equitable distribution of health care

Rising costs of medical care and increasing knowledge about behavior-related health risks favor the use of the equity principle in health care allocation. This paper deals with attitudes to the question of whether or not one's payments should be contingent upon the risks one takes. From an explorative analysis of arguments espoused by letter writers from a Dutch health magazine, it becomes apparent that equity plays a major role in the respondents' views of the distribution of health care facilities. Next, the role of attribution in adopting attitudes toward risky life-styles is studied on the basis of a survey using a representative sample of Dutch households. Beliefs about the individual ability to influence health have no effect on risk solidarity, whereas beliefs about the proper amount of effort to avoid health risks do have an effect.     

Developmental states,civil society,and public health: Patent regulation for HIV/AIDS pharmaceuticals in India and Brazil

While both India and Brazil are seriously affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, each country has chosen a different approach to providing affordable pharmaceutical treatment. Whereas the Indian government has paved the way for market-driven solutions, Brazilian public authorities are strongly involved in the research and production of HIV/AIDS medication. Brazilian regulations permit comprehensive and free provision of HIV/AIDS drugs, whereas the majority of the affected population in India does not receive adequate pharmaceutical treatment. To explain the different policy outputs, we draw on the developmental state literature. Efficient decisionmaking structures, a devoted bureaucracy, and effective policy instruments enable public authorities to provide public goods even in the context of relative scarcity. We show that the assumptions of developmental state theory have to be complemented by the assessment of civil society actors' potential to trigger governmental interventions in the market.     

Mental Health Court Outcomes: A Comparison of Re-Arrest and Re-Arrest Severity Between Mental Health Court and Traditional Court Participants

Mental health courts have been proliferating across the country since their establishment in the late 1990's. Although numerous advocates have proclaimed their merit, only few empirical studies have evaluated their outcomes. This paper evaluates the effect of one mental health court on criminal justice outcomes by examining arrests and offense severity from one year before to one year after entry into the court, and by comparing mental health court participants to comparable traditional criminal court defendants on these measures. Multivariate models support the prediction that mental health courts reduce the number of new arrests and the severity of such re-arrests among mentally ill offenders. Similar analysis of mental health court completers and non-completers supports the prediction that a "full dose" of mental health treatment and court monitoring produce even fewer re-arrests.     

Justice Beliefs in School: Distinguishing Ultimate and Immanent Justice

This paper combines two recent developments in just world research: the conception of belief in a just world (BJW) as a resource for coping and well-being in everyday life, and the distinction between two different facets of BJW, namely belief in immanent justice (BIJ) and belief in ultimate justice (BUJ). Moreover, these two aspects are adapted to the school context and educational psychology. Scales for measuring ultimate and immanent justice in schools were developed within a German pilot reform project with a sample of 1274 pupils. The two facets could be distinguished by means of factor analysis. The reliability of the two scales is satisfactory, and their validity is confirmed by their differential correlational patterns. Results show that not every form of BJW automatically functions as a coping resource. In fact, only BUJ is able to protect pupils' mental well-being, whereas immanent justice can actually jeopardize well-being. Similarly, BUJ is associated with the perception of solidarity and learning enjoyment in class, whereas BIJ is more closely associated with the experience of rivalry and competition in class. Finally, the socialization of the two justice beliefs is considered. The cross-sectional data provide some evidence to suggest that friendly and supportive parenting styles can promote BUJ, whereas strict parenting styles may further BIJ. More longitudinal research is needed to obtain further insights into these phenomena.