Role of Culture and Context: Ethical Issues in Research with Asian Americans and Immigrants in Intimate Violence

Ethical principles are often presented as universal, immutable rules. However, when conducting research with ethnic minority groups, such as Asian Americans and immigrants, ethical issues need to be placed within a sociocultural context as ethical responses are filtered through the specific value orientations and belief systems of the ethnic group under study. Further, when the group is a marginalized population, power dynamics complicate ethical principles of autonomy. The complexities are further accentuated with sensitive topics such as intimate violence or domestic violence. Consequently, ethical questions about autonomy, informed consent, confidentiality, limits to confidentiality, and protecting participants’ safety and reducing distress need to be at the forefront when planning intimate violence research. An overview of sociocultural context of Western biomedical ethics is presented and specific ethical issues that emerge when conducting intimate violence are discussed.     

Interpersonal Violence in Alcohol Complicated Marital Relationships (A Study from India)

This study compared 75 wives of alcoholics with an equal number of wives of non-alcoholics matched on key socio-demographic variables, using a cross sectional ex-post facto research design. Instruments to assess the extent of conflict and danger perceived by them in their marital relationship, besides the communication apprehension experienced towards their partners were administered. Analyses showed that the wives of alcoholics as a group had higher levels of conflict, perceived more danger and experienced more apprehension in relating with their spouses, than the subjects of the reference group. Results indicate the need to consciously focus on the spouse of the alcoholic and to help her resolve various marital issues with which she is faced. Implications for therapeutic intervention with couples in alcohol complicated relationships to enable them overcome their marital life deficits are discussed. This study was funded by the University Grants Commission of India. An erratum to this article can be found at     

农村家庭“空巢”与留守青少年犯罪——以G市为例

随着我国工业化、城市化进程的不断加速，农村剩余劳动力向城市转移的规模也在不断扩大，由此出现了大量的空巢家庭和农村留守青少年。这些青少年由于缺少家庭的亲情关怀和父母的有力监管，很容易走上违法犯罪之路。因此，增强对留守青少年的家庭保护功能对于遏制青少年犯罪具有不可替代的作用。随着大量农村务工人员向城市的转移，农村家庭中普遍出现“空巢”现象，而由此带来的留守青少年犯罪现象也日益突出。本文以G市为例，对“空巢”家庭中留守青少年犯罪的家庭因素作些探讨。     

青少年犯罪预防理论的研究视角：从犯罪原因到犯罪断念的转向

断念是行为主体(特别是青少年越轨者或犯罪人)在一段稳定的时期内对犯罪偏好明显与确定的拒绝。现阶段犯罪预防措施通过控制青少年犯罪原因遏制青少年犯罪增长趋势,绩效前景颇为黯淡。从聚焦于犯罪原因分析到致力于犯罪断念研究的战略性转向将成为当代社会犯罪预防的重要突破。作为人生状态与行为过程的犯罪断念,在静态结构与动态运行的结合中发挥青少年犯罪预防的积极效果。     

Violent victimization among males and economic conditions

Research Summary In this article, we use data from the 1973 to 2005 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to estimate previously unknown trends in serious nonfatal violent victimization for Latino, non-Latino Black, and non-Latino White males in the United States. Past research has shown that Blacks and Latinos have been more susceptible than Whites to financial hardship during economic downturns and that economic disadvantage is an important correlate of violence in cross-sectional analyses. If significant declines in the national economy contribute to increases in violence, then crime trends disaggregated by race and ethnicity should show greater changes among minorities during periods of economic downturn. Although rates of violence have declined for all groups, we find that trends for Latino and Black males are similar and closely follow changes in consumer sentiment. In contrast, trends for White males display fewer fluctuations coinciding with changes in economic conditions. Continued disaggregation shows that these patterns appear primarily in stranger violence and not in violence by known offenders. The patterns also suggest that the association between changing economic conditions and male victimization trends might have weakened in recent years. Policy Implications The findings raise concerns about the potential impact of recent economic changes on the risk for serious victimization, particularly among Blacks and Latinos. In light of the possible recent weakening of the relationship between economic changes and crime, future research should assess whether criminal justice policies and other factors moderate the relationship between economic conditions and victimization and use group-specific measures of violence so that important variability across race and ethnicity is not masked. These analyses also should be expanded to consider the potential effects on violence of government policies designed to alleviate poverty and unemployment.     

少年司法中“宽严相济”刑事政策的应用——赵某、钱某故意伤害致人死亡一案的评析

青少年犯罪现象与日俱增，已经成为全社会共同关注的焦点问题。如何正确对待犯罪的青少年，怎样感化、引导他们，使他们重新回归社会、回归家庭，是司法工作人员所要面对的重要课题。在刑事审判中，要以法官为主导，正确贯彻“宽严相济”的刑事司法政策，通过个案达到法律效果和社会效果的统一，使“宽严相济”的刑事司法政策在构建社会主义和谐社会中发挥应有的作用。     

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.     

幼建鲤维生素B6缺乏的病理组织学观察及消化和免疫指标变化

选取450尾健康幼建鲤,随机分成3组,每组3个重复,分别饲喂维生素B6含量为0.20、1.71和6.32 mg/kg的饵料,研究了维生素B6缺乏对幼建鲤组织器官病理学变化及消化能力和非特异性免疫能力的影响。试验结果显示,维生素B6缺乏组的幼建鲤死亡率增加,出现肝细胞溶解,肠绒毛失去正常结构,脾拟淋巴细胞减少,头肾含铁血黄素沉积,肾小管上皮细胞变性、坏死,心肌纤维间隙增宽等病理变化;肝、胰消化酶活力和非特异性免疫指标显著下降(P<0.01)。表明,维生素B6缺乏会造成水生动物组织器官不同程度的病理损伤,消化能力和非特异性免疫力降低,死亡率增加。     

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。     

The Error in “Error Rate”: Why Error Rates Are So Needed,Yet So Elusive

Establishing error rates is crucial for knowing how well one is performing, determining whether improvement is needed, measuring whether interventions are effective, as well as for providing transparency. However, the flurry of activities in establishing error rates for the forensic sciences has largely overlooked some fundamental issues that make error rates a problematic construct and limit the ability to obtain a meaningful error rate. These include knowing the ground truth, establishing appropriate databases, determining what counts as an error, characterizing what is an acceptable error rate, ecological validity, and transparency within the adversarial legal system. Without addressing these practical and theoretical challenges, the very notion of a meaningful error rate is limited.