Measuring the severity of physical injury among assault and homicide victims

Criminologists seldom have attempted to measure the severity of physical injury to victims of aggravated assault and homicide, even though it is significant to many of their research efforts. Previous attempts have been neither medically accurate nor medically acceptable. In this paper the author discusses the shortcomings of these efforts and introduces an alternative method which is valid, reliable, and medically acceptable. In addition, the author discusses its applicability to research the impact of medical intervention on violent criminal assault, on factors which contribute to the severity of assaultive injury and the lethal outcome of violent assault, on specific questions regarding the patterns of offending and victimization, and on the administration of criminal justice.     

The Future of Social Policy in Scotland: Will Further Devolved Powers Lead to Better Social Policies for Disabled People?

Scotland has laid claim to being ‘different’ from the rest of the UK with regards to disability policy. This article examines the evidence for that with regard to long‐term and social care, and discusses the possibilities opened up by the devolution of disability benefits. It asks whether Scotland will demonstrate policy divergence from the rest of the UK, and whether that is likely to be beneficial for disabled people. It argues that Scotland has the potential to create better social policies for disabled people, but faces significant challenges in doing so.     

Residential Aged Care Policy in Australia – Are We Learning from Evidence?

The residential aged care industry in Australia will expand rapidly over the next 10 years leading to substantial increases in government expenditure. Recent and future reforms are likely leading to changes in the structure of the industry with a potential impact on quality of care. The purpose of this paper is to stimulate broader public debate, based on the available evidence, about the preferred structure of this important industry. It examines the literature on the impact structure has on the quality of services and compares this with a fresh analysis of current trends. The paper argues that future policy should be evidence based and explicit about the structure of the industry that will emerge from current policy reforms.     

论医疗事故罪的主观方面

本文从医务人员的注意义务、注意能力以及法学理论与司法实践的冲突三个角度论述了医疗事故罪的主观方面。对医务人员诊疗中注意义务及其程度的制定标准应当综合考量多种因素 ;在认定医务人员的注意能力时 ,应采用客观说 ;并建议在医疗事故罪的主观定性方面 ,应以危害结果的发生不违背行为人的本意作为区分故意与过失的界限     

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。     

Long-Term Follow-Up of Young Children Placed in Foster Care: Subsequent Placements and Exposure to Family Violence

This study examined the quality or characteristics of permanent placements at 6 years of age for 254 children who had been removed from their homes prior to attaining 3.5 years of age (mean = 13 months). Although the primary objective when removing children is protection, subsequent permanent placements are prioritized by federal legislation with a stable family environment, especially one with the biological parent(s), being preferred. Three a priori comparisons (i.e., reunified vs. nonreunified, adopted vs. foster care, relative vs. nonrelative foster care) were conducted for caregiver and child reports of exposure to family violence. The results indicate that both reunified children and their parents report more family violence (witnessed and child victimization) than do nonreunified children and their caregivers. Adoptive parents did report that they used more minor violence in disciplining their children than did foster caregivers, but their children reported witnessing significantly less physical violence in the home. Recognizing that the development of children removed from their homes because of maltreatment is likely a function of both the maltreatment as well as the quality of subsequent family experiences (i.e., violence exposure), implications of the findings for determining placements are discussed.     

论小区停车法律责任的认定

由于对小区停车法律关系性质的理解存在巨大差异,无论理论界或实务界对小区停车法律责任的认定始终没有形成统一的意见。文章通过对小区停车法律关系性质的分析,以小区停车场的不同权属为切入点对小区停车法律责任的认定分三个方面进行讨论。     

马来西亚华裔新生代的“祖籍记忆”初探

调查表明,马来西亚华裔新生代的国民认同和族群认同均表现出相当的强度,我们倾向于把这种“双强”的特征看作是走向多元文化主义的马来西亚华裔集体自我意识的结构特征。而“祖籍记忆”正是华裔构建其族群认同的意识和文化基础。一方面,华裔可能通过和祖籍国建立更多的联系来维持和加强祖籍记忆,以达到强化族群意识的目的;另一方面,在多元文化主义的政治背景下,为立足当地生存和发展,将祖籍国“对象化”也成为其策略。     

Distributive justice and willingness to pay for municipality child care

With the aim of investigating factors affecting willingness to pay for municipality child care, a survey was undertaken in Sweden of 1840 parents living in five municipalities of different sizes. On the basis of the greed-efficiency-fairness hypothesis (Wilke, 1991) which is supported by results from experimental social dilemma research, it was hypothesized that perceived fairness of how the quality of child care is distributed (equal, proportional to need, or proportional to payment) as well as of method of payment (collectively by taxes or proportional to use by fees) would be important determinants of willingness to pay. Results showed that perceived fairness of how quality of child care is distributed played some role but that other factors had stronger effects. Perhaps also reflecting fairness considerations, willingness to pay by fees was on average higher than willingness to pay by taxes. Predicted from previous research, willingness to pay by taxes was furthermore found to increase with income and degree of use. However, willingness to pay by taxes showed an increase rather than the predicted decrease with municipality size.     

STRICTLY LIABLE: GOVERNMENTAL USE OF THE PARENT–CHILD RELATIONSHIP AS A BASIS FOR HOLDING VICTIMS LIABLE FOR THEIR CHILD'S WITNESS TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Studies estimate that between three and ten million children in the United States witness domestic violence annually. Although studies have demonstrated a co‐occurrence of domestic violence and child abuse, there is no concrete evidence to support the assumption that a child's exposure to domestic violence increases the risk to the child of abuse or neglect. Recently the New York State Court of Appeals determined that a child's witness to abuse does not suffice, in and of itself, to show that removal of the child is necessary or that removal is in the “best interests” of the child. Programs which have developed alternatives to presumptive removal understand the importance of viewing the interests of the battered parent and children as being in accord with each other rather than in opposition. Private and government sponsored programs have demonstrated some success in protecting the parent‐child relationship, ensuring the safety of both parent and child, and increasing accountability of batterers while reducing the necessity for removals. Alternative programs are less costly to the state than foster care, and emotionally less costly to the families.