Escape from the Laboratory: Ethnographic Methods in the Study of Elder and Family Court Mediation

The randomized control trial and pre/post research designs are commonly used in applied research and provide common standards for mediation evaluation research. These approaches have many benefits, particularly for evaluating whether mediation as an experimental intervention works or not. Scholars and practitioners, however, want to know not only whether mediation can work as expected but also how it works in a range of real‐world contexts over time. In these contexts, ideal experimental conditions are less likely to occur. Challenges include such circumstances as the following: the number of cases suitable for statistical comparison is insufficient; researchers lack control over how mediation is implemented; researchers lack clear, objective variables to measure; and the variability of mediation outcomes when studied over time makes it difficult to draw conclusions about them. My research has involved each of these challenges, and I have used ethnographic research as a way to evaluate mediation in these contexts. In this article, I explain ethnographic methods and present two studies as examples of mediation evaluation research that began with a standard program evaluation design, and then incorporated ethnography to allow more complete data collection and analysis. My purpose here is not to argue that experimental methods in mediation evaluation research should be displaced but rather to demonstrate how ethnographic methods can be used when the conditions necessary for standard evaluation cannot be met. The two studies used as examples are from an elder mediation study in Ghana and a family court mediation study in the United States.     

The emperor has no clothes: A systemic view of the status and future of child custody evaluation (CCE)

For all of the time, effort, and money invested in child custody evaluation (CCE) and for all of evaluators' emphases on collecting empirically sound data, CCE is not itself an empirically robust process. The reliability, validity, efficacy, and efficiency of CCE has never yet been adequately demonstrated. The science has yet even to define and measure the variables that constitute a healthy family, much less how one is to measure and recommend changes for conflicted systems in the midst of tectonic transitions. This article proposes five ways in which family law professionals and the culture at large should work to better serve the needs of our children: (1) the establishment of proactive parenting and co-parenting education intended to diminish the frequency and magnitude of family conflict and improve the quality of child and family functioning; (2) the introduction of organized incentives that motivate healthy parenting and co-parenting practices as opposed to negative consequences that do too-little, too-late; (3) a greater emphasis on social equity, cultural humility, and universal professional training; (4) the creation of ethical guidelines that disconnect continuing conflict from professional income; and (5) outcome research that feeds back into the evolution of these and related processes.     

羁押必要性审查实证分析简

羁押是剥夺犯罪嫌疑人人身自由最严厉的强制措施,使用羁押手段必须慎之又慎。《刑事诉讼法》明确规定了人民检察院逮捕犯罪嫌疑人后需继续对羁押必要性进行审查的制度。文章从捕后羁押的实际情况出发,对现实中存在的问题进行了多层次的分析,提出完善羁押必要性审查制度的具体措施。     

涉外婚姻离婚案件儿童抚养权纠纷问题初探

随着涉外婚姻数量的逐年上升,儿童抚养权纠纷案件逐步受到国际社会的广泛关注.目前,儿童利益最大化原则是解决涉外婚姻儿童抚养权纠纷的主流趋势.我国应尽早加入海牙国际私法一系列公约,使相关立法与国际统一法律相衔接,同时更好地获得跨国离婚的法律预期和诉求,及时有效地保护儿童的权益.     

基层检察机关实施羁押必要性审查制度的难题与对策

在基层检察机关的实际工作中,羁押必要性审查制度并未在办案工作中得以有效实施。羁押必要性审查制度在实施过程中存在阻滞问题并非个案,其在实施过程中存在程序、协调、人员等一系列问题,这使得羁押必要性审查制度设计的初衷没有得到很好地体现。研究羁押必要性审查制度施行难题,探讨解决对策,有利于促进法律得到正确有效实施,体现立法本意。     

Prison Suicides in South Australia: 1996–2010

Forty‐eight deaths occurring in prisons in South Australia were identified between January 1996 and December 2010, including 25 cases of suicide (mean age = 37 years; median age = 34 years; age range = 24–70 years). Most suicides were due to hanging (23/25; 92.0%) with victims using bedding, belts, or shoelaces attached to cell shelves, air vents, doors, or other accessible projections. There were no suicides attributed to drug overdose or sharp force injury. Over a third of all suicides (39.1%) occurred during the first month of confinement, with 26.1% of cases occurring within the first week. There was one suicide reported after 2 years of imprisonment. Given that suicide in state prisons currently occurs at a rate approximately eight times that of the general South Australian community, it appears that the subset of incarcerated individuals represents a group in need of effective preventive strategies to enable more appropriate provisions of existing prisoner resources.     

Student conduct,restorative justice,and student development: findings from the STARR project: a student accountability and restorative research project

The STudent Accountability and Restorative Research (STARR) Project is a multi-campus study of college student disciplinary practices in the USA, comparing traditional conduct hearings that use restorative justice practices alongside traditional college student misconduct hearings. A coherent set of learning goals in college student conduct administration and a robust data-set capable of measuring student learning across different types of disciplinary practice, in particular, comparing traditional ‘model code’ practice with emerging restorative justice processes are examined. Integrating several student development theories, we identify six student development goals: just community/self-authorship, active accountability, interpersonal competence, social ties to institution, procedural fairness, and closure. The STARR Project includes data from 18 college and university campuses across the USA. We analyzed 659 student conduct cases based on surveys of student offenders, conduct officers, and other participants in the conduct processes. Using multiple regression to control for a variety of influences, we determined that the type of conduct process used is the single most influential factor in student learning. In addition, restorative justice practices were routinely found to have a greater impact on student learning than model code hearings.     

羁押必要性司法审查机制探究

2012年修订的《刑事诉讼法》设立了逮捕后对羁押必要性继续审查的制度,凸显了刑事诉讼保障人权措施的中国特色。羁押必要性的继续审查既强化了检察机关的法律监督职能,同时又明确了刑事诉讼各阶段办案机关对羁押必要性审查的职责。     

论离婚后未成年子女的最佳被监护利益

我国婚姻家庭法关于离婚后未成年子女监护的立法中已经注意到对未成年子女利益的保护问题,但是保护的力度不大,有些立法甚至没有从未成年子女利益出发。未成年子女最佳利益原则在1989年《儿童权利公约》中得以确立。为了实现离婚后监护问题上未成年子女最佳利益原则,我国在立法上还需完善。     

FUTURE CHILD'S RIGHTS IN NEW REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY:THINKING OUTSIDE THE TUBE AND MAINTAINING THE CONNECTIONS

This article considers whether children born through assisted human reproduction are entitled to information about their biological origins. It examines the issue both from a clinical perspective, citing social science research and the personal narratives of donor‐conceived children, and from a legal perspective, outlining the extent of a child's “right to know” in different jurisdictions. The article suggests that a uniform legal approach is needed that will recognize the right of all children to access details about their identity and conception, for the sake of their psychological well‐being. The article includes a fact scenario that considers the situation of a donor‐conceived child who has become the subject of a custody dispute, and who has not been told the circumstances of his conception.