Supporting Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Glasgow: The Role of Multi-agency Networks

The implementation of a dispersal policy in Britain has broughtasylum seekers to regions of the country which previously hadlittle experience of providing services for this group. Around10,000 asylum seekers have been resettled in the city of Glasgowsince 2000 as a result of the policy. Multi-agency networkshave been established in Glasgow as a medium for facilitatingco-operation across the voluntary and statutory sectors forthe provision of locally-based support services, while alsofacilitating community development. This paper explores theexperiences of these networks since their inception. While highlightingthe continuing importance of the voluntary sector in supportingasylum seekers and refugees, it raises concerns over the reactiveway in which services have been provided, where responsibilityhas fallen on voluntary and community organizations to fillgaps in statutory service provision. It further examines theimplications for social cohesion of housing-led resettlement,which has largely been in areas suffering from social deprivation.The findings highlight the frustrations of service providersworking within a disjointed policy framework, characterizedby contradictions between Scottish and UK policy goals.     

Strain,Crime, and Contingencies

Hypotheses from General Strain theory are addressed using data from a random sample of adults in Raleigh, NC. Analyses examine three issues: (1) whether strain predicts self‐projected criminal behavior; controlling for past self‐reported crime; (2) whether negative emotions mediate the relationship between strain and projected crime; and (3) whether social support and criminal peers serve as contingencies or mediators for strain in predicting criminality. Results are generally consistent with previous studies focusing on youth. Three of four measures of strain are found to predict the crime measures. However, that relationship is not mediated by negative emotion and the measures of social support and criminal peers do not act as contingencies or mediators. The results suggest that strain may not operate through negative emotions and that theoretical refinement is needed to identify which potential contingencies are likely to be operating under various circumstances.     

违约精神损害赔偿的理论障碍及其克服

精神损害赔偿问题在理论上至今仍然被认为是侵权行为法上的专门问题,与合同法中的违约责任问题关系不大。尽管我国合同法确立了责任竞合的有关规则,然而该规则并非万能,它无法解决仅仅因为违约但不侵权导致的精神损害后果的赔偿问题。对违约精神损害赔偿问题持反对意见者所提出的种种理由虽然值得重视,但均不足以成为立法政策上拒绝规定违约精神损害赔偿制度的真正法理依据。现实生活与司法实践迫切期待打破违约责任中不存在精神损害赔偿问题的理论神话,在严格限制其适用范围与构成要件的基础上,我们应当建立违约精神损害赔偿制度。     

DIVORCE AND THE FAMILY COURT: WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?

Approximately 50% of couples who have separated report being victims of violence and/or emotional abuse by their former intimate partners. Family courts can make an important contribution toward reducing the number of intimate partners who report being victims of domestic violence and abuse during and following their participation in divorce proceedings in three ways. First, increase opportunities for participation in nonadversarial procedures. Second, implement mandatory assessment/screening for domestic violence using field‐tested instruments that link subscores on sets of items (e.g., control motivated violence, conflict instigated violence/abuse, substance abuse associated violence/abuse) with appropriate community‐based treatments and/or resources. Third, educate family court judges, lawyers, mediators, and other court personnel in the dynamics of domestic violence generally, as well as the dynamics associated with separation/divorce.     

A NEW LOOK AT AN OLD ISSUE:

In 1997, the Office of Child Support Enforcement initiated the State Child Access and Visitation (AV) Grant Program, which involves annual awards of $10 million to states to promote the development of programs to alleviate access problems. Telephone interviews with 970 parents who used mediation, parent education, and supervised visitation programs funded by AV grants in nine states revealed that the programs are reaching diverse groups of parents including many low-income, non-White, and unmarried parents who receive no other type of access assistance. The programs also appear to be achieving the major objectives posited for them by the federal government. One-third to one-half of noncustodial parents in every program type reported that parent–child contact increased following program participation, with supervised visitation users who typically had the lowest levels of parent–child contact reporting a significant increase in the number of days of contact. A review of child support records for 173 program users in three states revealed that child support payments increased among participants following program participation, especially for never-married parents who paid a significantly higher proportion of what they owed. These findings are similar to results reported in a five-state study of mediation programs funded by AV grants that was conducted by the Office of the Inspector General. However, both studies have some serious limitations, including low response rates and the absence of a nontreatment comparison group.