The construction of allegedly abused children’s narratives in Scottish criminal courts

This study investigated lawyers’ use of social narratives surrounding child sexual abuse when questioning 66 5- to 17-year-old alleged victims in Scottish criminal courts using a mixed-methods approach. Thematic analysis found that the use of beliefs and stereotypes varied depending upon the lawyers’ role (defense/prosecution), children’s age, and the alleged victim-defendant relationship. These findings were investigated further using narrative analysis, which showed that, with increasing age and decreasing familiarity with defendants, narratives increasingly focused on the characteristics and actions of the victims rather than the defendants. Older children contributed more to narratives than younger children, but their contributions were only incorporated into the prosecutors’ narratives. Defense lawyers adopted more victim-blaming tactics as the narratives developed. Findings suggest that the criminal justice system, practitioners, and researchers must do more to recognize and guard against the reinforcement of stereotypes that may influence public rhetoric and jury decision-making.     

Exploring the social and emotional context of childhood animal cruelty and its potential link to adult human violence

ABSTRACT

Those who commit acts of animal cruelty may do so differently based upon how they individually experience such acts. These experiences may impact the link that exists between childhood animal abuse and later interpersonal violence. Limited research exists that examines how social and emotional factors such as being upset after committing animal cruelty may impact the progression from early acts of animal cruelty to later acts of adult violence against humans. Based on responses from 180 prison inmates in a Southern state, the current study examined the effects of onset and frequency of animal cruelty, covertness of animal cruelty, the commission of animal cruelty alone or in a group, and being upset after committing animal cruelty. Inmates who committed recurrent acts of childhood animal cruelty were more likely to commit recurrent acts of adult interpersonal violence.     

Grooming child victims into sexual abuse: a psychometric analysis of survivors’ experiences

This study sought to examine the psychometric properties of the Grooming subscale of the Computer Assisted Maltreatment Inventory (CAMI) in a sample of adult survivors of child sexual abuse. There are currently no other research measures that examine grooming events as experienced by survivors, which underscores the importance of a reliable and valid way of gathering this information. Participants (n?=?295) were adult survivors of child sexual abuse who completed this anonymous study online. The sample was collected through the use of adult survivor of child sexual abuse websites, trauma blogs, and survivor group pages on Facebook. Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and Cronbach’s Alpha were used to ascertain the reliability and validity of this subscale. These analyses suggest that the Grooming subscale of the CAMI is a reliable and valid measure. This measure is an important addition to the body of research instruments that measure adult survivor of child sexual abuse experiences, particularly since this is the only instrument that examines grooming from this perspective.     

Predictors of re-offending in German substance-abusers in legal detention: a prospective population-based cohort study

This study aimed to evaluate whether the elapsed time after release to first re-offense is longer for those who complete coerced forensic addiction treatment than for those who fail to complete the treatment. It is also aimed to identify predictors of re-offending for both those who complete such treatments as compared with those who do not. Two hundred and sixty-one patients discharged from five German forensic addiction clinics were investigated on 65 anamnestic, socio-demographic, and therapeutic process variables. One hundred and fifty-one patients were prematurely discharged and returned to prison (group A; time at risk [TAR] = 58.7 months), 110 finished treatment successfully (group B; TAR = 44.2 months). Federal Criminal Register data were used for follow-up. Univariate survival analyses and multivariate stepwise Cox-regression models were computed. Twelve predictors in group A revealed a four-factor model: age at admission to treatment, duration of concurrent prison sentence, number of entries in the criminal register, and attendance at prior substitution programs. The model for group B covered five out of eight predictors: regular working activities before first diagnosis of mental illness, type of main offense, (secondary) traffic offenses, outpatient rehabilitation treatments, and escapes during treatment. Successful completers of forensic addiction treatment are slower to re-offend than non-completers.     

农村集体土地征收与私权保护

本文就现行农村集体土地制度存在的土地所有权主体错位、土地所有权权能不全、土地所有权主体的权利得不到法律的有效保护、土地流失严重、土地承包关系不稳定等弊端进行了分析,并就如何建立科学、可行的农村集体土地所有权制度作了粗浅的探讨,以期更好地保护被征收人的合法权益。     

Modifying children's court care plans to acknowledge poverty and disadvantage

This think piece suggests that Children's Court Care Plans should include a new section that documents poverty and social disadvantage, especially of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, when they are under investigation for child abuse and neglect. New South Wales in Australia is used as the exemplar state, but this suggestion may find an echo elsewhere.

Points for practitioners

• As a general proposition social and economic circumstances should be considered in addition to parental dysfunction in child protection proceedings in Children's court.
• Care Plans prepared for hearings in the NSW Children's Court, often developed in response to serious harm report investigations, currently do not contain information about parents' poverty and social disadvantage and hence decontextualise family living circumstances.
• Consistent with international evidence, Care Plans should require information about parents' socioeconomic situation, including social disadvantage of residential neighbourhood, status and cost of household tenancy, and household income.
• Taking account of social and economic circumstances has the potential to generate savings in out-of-home care that can be re-allocated to support services to reduce poverty and social disadvantage and thereby reduce the need for removal of children from parental care.

     

有偿采供血或吸毒致艾滋病毒携带和艾滋病人群的舌象特点

目的 通过临床调查研究因有偿采供血、吸毒致艾滋病毒(human immunodeficiency virus, HIV)携带和(或)艾滋病(acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, AIDS)人群的舌象特点. 方法 运用舌象拍摄和专家分析相结合的方法,对有偿采供血或吸毒致HIV携带和(或)AIDS人群的舌象特点进行比较和分析. 结果 有偿采供血或吸毒致HIV携带和(或)AIDS人群中出现率较高的舌象有:热象舌色出现率分别为63.64%和65.71%,瘀象舌色出现率分别为33.64%和41.14%,胖大和(或)齿痕舌分别为40.45%和45.14%,裂纹舌分别为35%和26.86%;两类人群均以白苔居多,黄苔出现率分别是23.18%、28.00%,厚苔的出现率分别是40.45%和31.43%,腻苔出现率分别是65.91%和82.29%. 结论 两组人群的舌象表现较为一致,HIV携带者和(或)AIDS患者常见舌象特点是:舌质红;苔厚腻,以白腻居多;舌体胖大或有齿痕;有瘀象.