Realizing the Right to Access in France: Between Implementation and Activation

This article explores the realization of the right to access in France, based on biographical interviews with people with mobility or visual impairments. I lay out an original theoretical framework for studying rights realization at the individual level. Although rights activation is the horizon of most rights consciousness research, I argue that rights do not necessarily need to be activated in order to be made real. This realization may also derive from effective policy implementation. In France, however, disabled individuals are very active in realizing their right to access, in a context of insufficient implementation. Moreover, although there is limited collective mobilization, several types of policy feedbacks fuel rights activation and the emergence of grievances regarding the lack of accessibility. Studying the realization of the right to access thus opens up promising perspectives for sociolegal research.     

Family Context and Childhood Adjustment Associated with Intrafamilial Unwanted Sexual Attention

Unwanted sexual attention (UWSA) encompasses unsolicited verbal comments, gestures, stares, and other noncontact behaviors made regarding one's sexuality and physical appearance. The present study examined the correlates and impact of such UWSA perpetrated toward girls by family members. The first objective of the study was to explore whether family climate is associated with intrafamilial UWSA. This included looking at three types of dysfunctional parenting styles (unaffectionate, unavailable, and patriarchal) as well as exploring the co-occurrence of UWSA by adult and child relatives. The second objective was to then measure the impact of such intrafamilial UWSA on childhood emotional health, after controlling for parenting style and the experience of more traditional forms of child sexual abuse (CSA). Of the 296 university women (mean age = 19) who participated in the study, 70% (N = 206) reported UWSA from a family member prior to age 18. Whereas each dysfunctional parenting style was related to presence of UWSA, a simultaneous multiple regression analysis indicated that two of the parenting styles, patriarchal and parental unavailability, also predicted frequency of nonphysical UWSA within the family. Presence of UWSA from a child relative was significantly correlated with presence of UWSA from an adult relative. Additionally, a hierarchical multiple regression, entering the three parenting styles simultaneously in the first step, childhood sexual abuse in the second step, and familial UWSA in the last step, indicated that the frequency of UWSA by family members significantly predicted poorer childhood mental health when controlling for the other variables. Overall, results indicate that while the specific parenting styles which co-occur with UWSA may be detrimental in their own right, the impact of UWSA on girls appears to be above and beyond that of either parenting styles or CSA. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Alcohol,Policy and Politics in Kazakhstan

Alcohol consumption in post-communist Kazakhstan remains at high levels and episodic heavy drinking, characteristic of the spirits-drinking regions of the former USSR, is still the national drinking style. Reported levels of alcohol-related harm are rising but assessment of trends in levels of consumption and harm is hindered by the disruption to data collection in the post-independence period and the continuing poor availability of public information. There is evidence however that changes in the republic's ethnic profile are connected with a downward trend in overall consumption rates, though changes in lifestyles may be leading to more drinking amongst women and young people. The numbers undergoing treatment for alcohol problems are greater than ever before. Alcohol problems are still perceived as entrenched and non-urgent, but in the present climate of greater stability and prosperity they are beginning to attract more attention from government. Underlying policy trends will depend on the overall direction of Kazakhstan's political and cultural development. This article assesses drinking patterns and related problems in Kazakhstan, and examines government responses and policies. The article is based on documentary research, visits to organisations and interviews.     

Children in the environment: Forest day-care centers: Modern day care with historical antecedents

Some features of early child care are more prominent in Norway than in other countries, such as emphasis on the outdoor environment. Of general relevance and interest is the form of day care provided by forest day-care centers. Three ideas form the development of these centers placed in wild areas. First, throughout history, Norwegians have had a close attachment to nature and some parents want to provide their children with outdoor experiences at an early age. Second, urging children to play outdoors characterizes the image many parents have of a happy, healthy childhood. Third, provision of day care for children has always been restricted in western countries, forcing parents to invent types of service that can become part of an ecological system that promotes healthy development.The forest day-care centers developed recently represent a supplement to the wide typology of child care in the 21st century. The article outlines the connections between these ideas in general European and western history and Norwegian history and presents debate and decisions about a question dating from the last half of the 1980s. It concludes that the forest day-care centers are perhaps only a modern form of the original kindergarten concept, which started in Europe and America as gardens for children not gardens of children.