The use of COVID-19 contact tracing app data as evidence of a crime

This commentary draws attention to the introduction of data collected by COVID-19 tracing apps as evidence in criminal proceedings and the novel considerations this evidence presents for criminal justice agents and digital forensics professionals.     

Trauma‐Informed Interventions in Parent–Child Contact Cases

Parent–child contact problems may arise in the context of high conflict separation/divorce dynamics between parents. In cases where there are parent–child contact problems and children resist or refuse contact with one of their parents, there may also be incidents of child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, or compromised parenting that can be experienced by a parent or child as traumatic. The circumstances around separation and/or post‐divorce often result in intense stress for families. In this paper we distinguish between the stressful circumstances that may arise as a result of high interparental conflict and pulls for alignment from a parent, and the real or perceived trauma as a factor which contributes to resistance or refusal of a child to have contact with a parent. Interventions to address both trauma responses and the resist‐refuse dynamics are differentiated and discussed. After screening and assessment, the intent is to treat trauma responses with short‐term, evidence‐based therapy, either before or concurrent with co‐parent and family intervention.     

The Application of the Polyvagal Theory to High Conflict Co‐Parenting Cases

Families, litigants, lawyers, advisors embroiled in cases of complex divorce with child contact issues, manage many stressors at once. Participants involved with these types of cases are often exhausted and burned‐out from the long‐term battles of prolonged litigation. The inability to problem‐solve or even communicate effectively reflects the chaos and traumatic stress of the experience and can be seen as a hallmark of this population. When people are consistently stressed, there is a breakdown of communication skills that can create an immunity to receiving help from any direction. Often all parties involved appear to be both hyper‐alert to potential threat, and hyper‐reactive to one another: no one feels safe. Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory is premised on the idea that neuroception plays a key role in the nervous system's ability to assess danger in the environment. Neuroception is a neurophysiological response that does not involve cognitive processing. When cognitive processing is not involved, the result may lead to misinterpretation of, and an inability to accurately assess situations: executive functioning including rational thinking and communication skills are lost to physiological response. Rather than evaluating families and individuals involved in the aforementioned complex divorce cases through the lens of pathology, Polyvagal Theory explains their behavior as an adaptive stress reaction. Utilizing Polyvagal Theory offers a promising path to treatment with these families and diminishing the poor communication and the heightened emotion, assisting practitioners in understanding the impact of neurobiological response in managing stress and trauma. Applying Polyvagal Theory to court involved populations can help both litigants and practitioners recognize the role of the autonomic nervous system, providing the opportunity to understand, to self‐regulate, and to improve communication and decision making.     

Online Virtual Supervised Visitation During the COVID‐19 Pandemic: One State's Experience

This paper describes how supervised visitation programs in Florida rapidly transitioned from in‐person supervised visits to virtual, online visits during the COVID‐19 pandemic to protect the health of families and staff. Structured telephonic interviews and an online survey revealed that although most program directors had not previously developed guiding policies or hosted such visits, within weeks they were providing hundreds of online “virtual visits” between children and their non‐custodial parents to maintain the crucial parent–child relationship in a safe manner. Vignettes from this data provide lessons regarding parent and child reactions to virtual visits, advantages and disadvantages of virtual visits from the programs' perspectives, and levels of enthusiasm for using virtual visits going forward. In addition, the data includes recommendations for new program guidelines and protocols for the ongoing use of virtual visits. Although it is too early to call these policies best practices, the study does offer insight into the challenges and opportunities afforded by virtual visits and can inform disaster planning that supervised visitation programs develop to prepare for inevitable future disruptions in services to families.     

从文字接触视角看汉字对水文的影响

“文字接触”问题在学术界尚未得到足够的重视,与之相关的一些重要的基本概念亦未得到科学的界定。研究“文字接触”问题,水文是一个极好的标本。汉字的传入对水文的结构方式、符号体态、性质等方面都产生了较大的影响。通过从文字接触视角对水文进行研究,不仅可以把水文文字本体研究推进一步,而且可以为其他文种之间的文字接触研究提供一个较好的范例。     

Prisoners' Families and the Regulation of Contact

This article explores HM Prison Service policy and the impact of case law on the rights of prisoners to family contact. First, state provision and policy for prisoner-family contact is reviewed and the constraints imposed on contact over the past decade are explored. A number of legal challenges to these constraints have been made recently and, drawing on domestic case law and challenges in the European Court of Human Rights we explore the nature of prisoners' rights of contact in prison. This analysis shows that while fathers' rights for indirect contact are upheld, their rights are not respected as much as those of mothers in cases of direct contact and also that men unable to establish family life have their rights further eroded. Drawing upon empirical research findings as well as case law, the relationship between the Prison Act 1952 and the Children Act 1989 is considered and policy recommendations are put forward.     

Intolerance Toward Immigrants in Switzerland: Diminished Threat Through Social Contacts?

Intolerance toward immigrants has recently reached noticeable highs in Switzerland. Referring to the conflict theory, the perception of a specific group as a threat tends to lead to intolerance toward that group. The expectation of a negative relationship between threat and tolerance is nevertheless not assumed to be universally valid for all members of society. In particular, the contact theory assumes that intercultural encounters should promote positive attitudes toward culturally different individuals and groups. Using a new and unique data set, our Heckman selection models reveal that Swiss who view rising immigration to mean a loss of economic privileges and an erosion of Swiss cultural values are less tolerant toward immigrants. Moreover, our results indicate that contact with immigrants may moderate this effect. However, not all group settings are able to reduce the perceived threats in a similar way, and not all sorts of social contact are able to foster tolerance toward immigrants.     

浅谈网络交往实践基础上的伦理

网络使人类的生产、生活及思维方式发生了重大的改变,形成了新的社会交往和联系,并给原有的道德规范和价值观念带来巨大的冲击。因此,尽快建立网络伦理,以规范网络行为,从而保持网络的健康、有序发展。     

Informal ad hoc groupings of states as alternative means of conflict resolution： The case of ＂Contact Group＂

This paper investigates the role of informal groups, such as ＂Contact Group＂, in modem-day practice of conflict prevention, mediation, and settlement. It further aims to examine the legal status of this ad hoc grouping of states under international law, analyzing the Contact Group＇s involvement and operation in cases of Namibia （formerly South West Africa）, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. This empirical survey is instrumental to delimit and define the relationship that is created between formal and informal processes and institutions at the planetary level, as a result of the emergence and proliferation of informal ad hoc groupings of states. The bases of authority, political effectiveness, and the place and position of the Contact Group within the existing UN system of collective security are used to understand the rationale behind the formation and existence, as well as contribution and utility of such informal structures.