U.S. child custody outcomes in cases involving parental alienation and abuse allegations: what do the data show?

ABSTRACT

Family court and abuse professionals have long been polarized over the use of parental alienation claims to discredit a mother alleging that the father has been abusive or is unsafe for the children. This paper reports the findings from an empirical study of ten years of U.S. cases involving abuse and alienation claims. The findings confirm that mothers’ claims of abuse, especially child physical or sexual abuse, increase their risk of losing custody, and that fathers’ cross-claims of alienation virtually double that risk. Alienation’s impact is gender-specific; fathers alleging mothers are abusive are not similarly undermined when mothers cross-claim alienation. In non-abuse cases, however, the data suggest that alienation has a more gender-neutral impact. These nuanced findings may help abuse and alienation professionals find some common ground.     

Sociocultural Determinants of Policewomen–Taxi Drivers’ Interactions on the Major Highways in Ibadan Metropolis,Nigeria

This study investigated the sociocultural determinants of policewomen–taxi drivers’ interactions on the major highways in Ibadan metropolis. Purposive sampling technique was utilized for the selection of 11 policewomen and 35 taxi drivers. Data were generated through key informant interview and focus group discussion methods. Findings revealed that gender had no impact on the ability of policewomen to enforce traffic law. Policewomen were adjudged to be strict on traffic law enforcement. However, the size of the accolade generated by this feat has been slightly attenuated by the action of officers who habitually demand for bribe from apprehended taxi drivers.     

The development and pilot testing of a family treatment court best practices assessment: The model standards implementation scale

In 2019, the family treatment court (FTC) best practice standards (the Standards) were published to clarify attributes of FTC programs associated with superior child, parent, and family outcomes. The Standards cover the breadth of FTC operations including program structure and leadership, substance use treatment and complementary services, and behavioral responses to participants. This study aimed to develop an instrument (the Model Standards Implementation Scale; “MSIS”) that stakeholders can use to assess implementation of the Standards by individual FTCs. The MSIS balances usability with scientific validity. Interrater reliability (IRR), internal consistency, and several types of validity were assessed. Results indicated moderate to strong IRR, high internal consistency, mixed known groups validity depending on Standard, and high convergent and divergent validity. Initial findings suggest good validity and usability of the MSIS for evaluating FTC Standards' implementation. Notably, the process of using the tool functioned to educate FTC team members on the Standards. Although implementation of the MSIS is a resource-intensive process, the opportunity to receive constructive feedback proved to be an effective incentive for initial and subsequent participation in the evaluation among FTCs. Future research is needed to examine predictive validity, including association between Standards' implementation and family outcomes in FTCs.     

Race,Neighborhood, and Drug Court Graduation

This research examines the possibility that racial disparities in drug court graduation are attributable to individual-level employment or education or to neighborhood-level disadvantage. Individual-level data on 455 drug court clients and neighborhood-level census and police incident data are joined geographically. Drug court graduation is modeled using multilevel logistic regression. In a model with no neighborhood-level indicators, client race, employment, and education all predicted drug court graduation. When neighborhood-level variables are introduced, client-level race drops from significance but employment and education remain significant predictors of graduation. Client race, then, appears to be an indirect indicator of neighborhood disadvantage, while client employment and education remain important individual-level predictors of drug court graduation. These results support further analysis of neighborhood-based barriers to drug court graduation and the development of drug court programming that can address neighborhood-based challenges.     

Improving court-appearance rates through court-date reminder phone calls

Without a defendant’s appearance in court, the adjudication of criminal charges cannot proceed. The low defendant court appearance rates of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana were identified as a high priority to address. A pilot project was implemented, in which, Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office (LPSO) Information Officers would call defendants approximately 5–9 days before their pretrial court appearance. This process began in September 2014. LPSO staff attempted to call all non-incarcerated or diverted defendants with known contact information. LPSO staff documented when calls were made and the type of response (spoke to defendant, left a voicemail, no answer, inoperable phone or spoke to friend or family member). Calls were made to defendants with court appearances in arraignment hearings, misdemeanor pretrial and trial, felony pretrial and traffic court. Court appearance rates for all court hearings increased from 48 to 62%.     

道路交通事故中脑外伤所致人格改变与精神伤残评定

目的探索道路交通事故中颅脑损伤所致轻度精神伤残者人格改变的主要表现形式及其在伤残评定中的价值。方法运用《脑外伤后人格改变评定量表》量化评定道路交通事故所致颅脑外伤者后遗人格改变状况,并探讨人格改变与颅脑损伤程度、精神伤残程度的相关性。结果 271例样本中239例(88.2%)存在人格改变,其中178例(65.7%)为轻度,46例(17.0%)为中度,15例(5.5%)为重度。人格改变程度在不同颅脑损伤程度之间的构成比差异无统计学意义(P0.05),但各组之间量表总分差异具有统计学意义(P0.05),两两比较显示中型与重型颅脑损伤之间差异无统计学意义。人格改变程度越明显,精神伤残等级越高,轻度精神伤残不同等级者人格改变评定量表总分差异具有统计学意义(P0.05),除七级与八级之间差异无统计学意义外,其余各组之间差异均具有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论交通事故中提出精神伤残评定的脑外伤者中人格改变发生比例较高,人格改变严重程度与精神伤残程度相关,《脑外伤后人格改变评定量表》能有效量化评定交通事故中脑外伤所致人格改变程度,量表总分与颅脑损伤程度具有相关性。     

美国青少年法院的形成与发展

美国的青少年法院在预防青少年犯罪,打击和保护美国青少年群体中起到了重要作用,具有重要意义。文章将系列介绍美国从十九世纪起,至二十世纪九十年代,青少年法院建立及发展的情况,并通过经典案例分析了早期青少年法院存在的司法程序问题,以及各时期美国涉及有关打击青少年犯罪政策变化。     

道路交通事故中民事赔偿责任的立法解读——以我国交通法与国外立法的比较为视角

道路交通事故中的民事赔偿责任的立法需要明确归责原则、免责事由,以及过失相抵等问题。我国《道路交通安全法》第76条确立了混合责任原则,将受害人故意作为加害人唯一的免责事由,并许可在一定的条件下适用过失相抵。该条的规定顺应了保护受害人权益的立法思潮,但在某些方面仍存在不足。     

区域道路交通事故紧急救援服务体系的构建

近年我国道路交通安全的总体趋势虽然在转好,但仍然呈现出交通事故总量大、死亡人数多的特点。为切实改善这种状况,应借鉴国外经验,在我国构建区域道路交通事故紧急救援服务体系,提高交通事故信息传递、现场急救和急救转运等方面的综合反应和处理能力。