Court‐Based Interventions in Spain for Families in Divorce Transition: Challenges in the Implementation of (Co)‐Parenting Coordination

Families facing separation or divorce in Spain encounter a number of obstacles, including a primarily adversarial and slow justice system, nonspecialized courts and judges, and a lack of resources to help them through the process. Recent legislation at the regional level (autonomous communities) is moving toward emphasizing shared parental responsibility and introducing parenting plans, while at the national level, legislation advances slowly. One of the main challenges professionals are facing in high‐conflict couple separation is protecting children from the effects of being in the middle of their parents’ conflict. Traditional psychological, legal, and social services are insufficient to support parents and protect their children from interparental hostile conflict—which can be exacerbated by litigation, professional intervention, domestic violence, or addiction. This article illustrates, through a case study, the implementation of parenting coordination in Spain. Different jurisdictions in Spain are slowly implementing (co‐)parenting coordination, an in‐depth intervention designed to support these families. The objective is to help families focus on children's needs and follow the court‐approved parenting plans or court orders, reduce relitigation, and improve parental communication and conflict resolution skills. This article analyzes different aspects and challenges relating to the implementation of parenting coordination in Spain. Recommendations are then made to address them.     

Depressive Symptomatology and Program Efficacy: Examining a Program to Improve Communication in Community Families

Destructive conflict is linked with adjustment problems over time, putting families at risk even when conflict behaviors have not reached levels of clinical concern. The Family Communication Project (FCP) is a psychoeducational program designed to improve communication in families with adolescent children. The present study examines the role of depression in program efficacy over time. Data were collected across four time points, assessing aspects of marital and family conflict, adolescent emotional security, and depressive symptoms in mothers, fathers, and adolescents. Results indicated improvements in conflict strategies for families who received the psychoeducational program (relative to controls), and point to a role of depressive symptomatology in adolescents in relation to treatment outcomes.     

附带民事诉讼制度的二元冲突及协调

同一事实所引起的刑事诉讼与民事诉讼存在一定的重合。这构成了民事诉讼"附带"于刑事诉讼中解决的基础,也使附带民事诉讼呈现出依附性与独立性的二元冲突属性。寻求这两种属性的适当平衡,并且对它们的冲突予以合理协调,是在附带民事诉讼制度的设计与运行过程中必须考虑的因素。但是,在我国的附带民事诉讼制度中,没有予以充分重视,导致出现了一系列的问题,需要及时解决。     

Security: Missing from the Northern Ireland Model

The Northern Ireland model is best defined as the framing of the political endgame of Northern Ireland’s conflict culminating in the 1998 Belfast Agreement, otherwise known as the Good Friday Agreement. The Northern Ireland model is popularly portrayed as a negotiated settlement. It focuses primarily on the bargain reached by Northern Irish political parties, assisted by British and Irish governments and mediated by US senator George Mitchell. Academics and officials alike use it to explain how the “Troubles” ended and peace was achieved. Conspicuously absent from this model is security. It also grossly understates the difficulty in dealing with a modern insurgency (the Provisionals) and leans too heavily toward skewed post-conflict thinking that views insurgents as “peacemakers” prevented from making peace because of a manifestly poor security response, particularly that of the police force and its intelligence agency (Special Branch). The perspective of politicians and diplomats who brokered the peace settlement prioritizes political negotiations at the expense of the security response; in so doing, the role of security is undermined and overlooked. Most contemporary academic works promote this outlook. Excluding security, however, thwarts a comprehensive analysis of the Northern Ireland conflict and renders any examination partial and unrepresentative. There is therefore a significant intellectual gap in our understanding of how peace was achieved, which this article redresses. Ultimately, it questions the Northern Ireland model’s capacity to assist in other relevant conflict contexts in any practical sense by arguing that a strategy where security pushed as politics pulled brought about peace. In other words, security played a crucial part because it forced the main protagonists into a situation out of which the Belfast Agreement emerged.     

Illiberal Democrats versus Undemocratic Liberals: The Struggle Over the Future of Thailand's Fragile Democracy

Abstract

This article examines the inter-related factors that underpin the fragility of Thailand's democracy. Uneven economic development, the high levels of income inequality, and unequal access to power and resources are significant drivers of Thailand's ongoing political conflict. Social divides across classes and regions, and populist exploitation of the rural poor's sense of alienation from the traditional ruling elites, provide a volatile backdrop to national politics. In addition, Thailand's unstable political history and the weakness of liberal institutions present risks to its democracy. The army, the revered monarch and the judiciary comprise elites whose periodic interventions in politics and reservations about electoral democracy further render the Thai polity fragile. Thailand's political situation represents a ‘slow-burning’ crisis of democracy: a long-term historical confrontation developing slowly, with the fundamental issues unresolved. It is undergoing a period of social turmoil fuelled by a power struggle between competing material interests and by an ideational contest to determine the country's constitutive political rules. This can be conceptualised as a struggle for control of Thailand's future between a heterogeneous populist-capitalist movement of illiberal democracy and conservative forces of undemocratic liberalism.     

What Generates,Constitutes and Causes Opportunity-driven Violence? The Case of West Kalimantan

Abstract

This article uses the example of West Kalimantan to show some new ways of studying opportunities for violence, contributing especially to the so-called ‘sons of the soil’ conflict debate. By showing that the opportunity structure in West Kalimantan was not primarily material, but social, related to ways to circumvent fear of and norms against violence, this article attempts to update the theoretical premises of the traditional security studies approach to obstacles to conflict and opportunities for violence. The intention is to show how socially constructed realities are relevant in offering and denying opportunities for violence, and how the study of the meanings of actions reveals ways in which opportunities for violent demonstrative argumentation are born in local conflict discourses. The case study shows how powerful narratives enable the justification of violent action and how identities and violent policies mutually constitute each other. This way the empirical evidence calls for understanding the generative and constitutive sources of violence, which are not simply mechanistic causes of conflict.     

The 'Good Wife': Struggles over Resources in the Kenyan Horticultural Sector

This paper examines how the contracting of French beans has engendered conflict over rights, obligations and resources in Meru District, Kenya. In response to pressure for agricultural diversification and the expanding European market for "gourmet" vegetables, horticulture, the historical domain of women, has been rapidly intensified, commoditized and in many cases, appropriated by men. Women have responded to the erosion of their rights in ways that appear paradoxical -- some undergoing Christian conversion while others poison their husbands -- practices that simultaneously affirm and contest the prevailing norms of the "good wife". In Meru, gender relations are key to the negotiation of household resources and the potential for capital accumulation in the export horticultural sector.     

An Experimental Evaluation of an Internet-Delivered Conflict Resolution Skills Curriculum in a Secondary School Setting

Abstract

Given the Internet's capacity to reach a wide audience and recent increases in violence-related episodes among our nation's youth, Internet-delivered, interactive conflict resolution programs may prove to be a powerful tool to prevent the growing phenomena of adolescent violence. In this study, we tested the efficacy of an Internet-delivered conflict resolution program. Specifically, the program emphasizes the development of conflict management skills, which may decrease future use of violent tactics to manage conflict. One hundred ninety-eight 9th grade students from a large urban area high school (64 = control; 134 = experimental) participated in the study. Results indicated that students exposed to the conflict management program reported an increase in knowledge of conflict management skills and negative attitudes toward violence.     

Dependency on natural resources: post-conflict challenges for livelihoods security and environmental sustainability in Goma,The Democratic Republic of Congo

High dependency on natural resources in post-conflict Goma caused severe damages to Virunga National Park (VNP) and Kivu Lake. Understanding the impacts of conflict on livelihoods and conservation activities is paramount in Goma. The main reasons for resource degradation here are heightened insecurity, theft, and uncertainty, which limit the use of far off land for agriculture. Consequently, most people depended on forest products and fish from protected areas, thereby causing higher risks of depletion of fish and park resources. High population density, few livelihoods alternatives, unpredictability, and weak state apparatus remain serious issues to be considered in resource conservation.

La dépendance aux ressources naturelles : les défis d'après-conflit pour la sécurité des moyens d'existence et pour la durabilité environnementale à Goma, République Démocratique du Congo

La haute dépendance aux ressources naturelles à Goma pendant la période après-conflit a provoqué des dégâts sévères au Parc National de Virunga (VNP) et au Lac Kivu. Il est de la plus haute importance que l'on comprenne les effets du conflit sur les moyens d'existence et sur les activités écologiques à Goma. Les causes principales de la diminution des ressources dans cette région sont une augmentation de l'insécurité, des vols, et l'incertitude ; ces facteurs réduisent l'exploitation de terres lointaines pour l'agriculture. Par conséquent, la plupart des gens comptaient sur ce qu'ils trouvaient dans les forêts et sur les poissons pêchés dans les zones protégées, ce qui a mené un risque élevé de diminution des ressources aquatiques et territoriales au parc national. La densité de la population, le manque d'autres moyens d'existence, l'imprévisibilité et la faiblesse de l'appareil de l'Etat restent des questions primordiales pour la protection des ressources.

Dependencia en los recursos naturales: retos del post-conflicto para la seguridad de los medios de vida y la sostenibilidad ambiental en Goma, República Democrática del Congo

En el escenario post-conflicto de Goma, se creó una fuerte dependencia de los recursos naturales, la cual provocó daños severos al Parque Nacional de Virunga y al Lago Kivu. Resulta de fundamental importancia comprender los impactos que los conflictos producen en los medios de sustento y en las actividades de conservación en Goma. La creciente inseguridad, el robo y la incertidumbre constituyen las razones principales de la degradación de los recursos debido a que inhiben el uso de tierras lejanas para la agricultura. En consecuencia, la mayoría de las personas depende de productos forestales y de la pesca en áreas protegidas, situación que provoca el aumento del riesgo tanto del agotamiento de peces como de los recursos del parque. Las políticas orientadas a la conservación de los recursos tendrán que considerar, además, otros temas graves, como lo son la alta densidad poblacional, las pocas alternativas para generar ingresos, la incertidumbre y la débil presencia del Estado.

Dependência de recursos naturais: desafios pós-conflito para a segurança dos meios de subsistência e sustentabilidade ambiental em Goma, República Democrática do Congo

A alta dependência de recursos naturais em Goma, no pós-conflito, causou graves prejuízos para o Virunga National Park (VNP) e Kivu Lake. Compreender os impactos do conflito sobre os meios de subsistência e atividades de conservação é algo crucial em Goma. As principais razões para a degradação dos recursos aqui são o aumento da insegurança, roubo e incerteza, o que limita o uso de terras distantes para a agricultura. Consequentemente, a maioria das pessoas dependia de produtos florestais e de peixe de áreas protegidas, causando assim maior risco de escassez de peixes e de recursos do parque. A alta densidade populacional, as poucas alternativas de meios de subsistência, a imprevisibilidade e o fraco aparato do estado permanecem sendo questões sérias que devem ser consideradas para a conservação de recursos.     

Restoring (dis)order: Sanctions,resolutions, and "social control" in anarchist communities

This essay explores the restorative implications of anarchist communities through an analysis of processes such as norm formation, sanctioning, conflict resolution, and economic exchange. The study explores ways in which anarchist communities employ various restorative measures to maintain group cohesion and achieve a modicum of social control through the application of natural phenomena such as diffuse power, fluid authority, community consensus and mutual aid. Drawing upon studies of communities manifesting anarchist tendencies--Aincluding utopian experiments, indigenous cultures, and the unique case of the Rainbow Family of Living Light--a picture begins to emerge wherein conceptions of property and the social dynamics that inhere within a community are inextricably linked, suggesting the propensity of anarchist communities to promote an organic synthesis of self, society, and nature. In the end, by exploring tenets associated with the nascent restorative justice paradigm, it is observed that anarchist communities manifest principles that challenge the dominant conceptions of criminality and legality, providing a framework for envisioning models of justice-in-practice that appear on the horizon of possibility and potentiality.