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.     

A DECADE OF DIVORCE MEDIATION RESEARCH

A decade of divorce mediation research has focused on outcomes such as settlement rates, cost efficiency, client satisfaction, effect on levels of conflict and cooperation, psychological adjustment, and compliance. Despite methodological problems limiting generalizations, most studies report mildly favorable to very positive findings. Research on the mediation process and mediator behaviors has received very limited attention, and should be the focus of the next decade of research to elevate the mediation field to a more sophisticated, effective level of practice.     

Reviews

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Corporate crime: State-owned enterprises in China

Conclusion A decade ago, the Chinese leadership frankly acknowledged that the model of a fully planned economy, with its system of state-owned and state-run enterprises, was what Lenin had called a bureaucratic dream. 86 Today, state-owned enterprises are enjoying far more freedom to operate, and the state is trying to control them with more law and fewer plans. The use of criminal law to confront corporate crime is part of the effort to import advanced management methods from the West. Nonetheless, in the context of state ownership and Party leadership, the appropriateness of this approach is questionable.The Company Law is a new instrument to bring about fundamental changes in China's system of business organizations. These changes will help determine the scope and limits of criminal law, as applied to corporate enterprises, in the next decade. In this context, I would suggest replacing the concept ofdanwei crime with the concept of corporate or company (gongsi) crime; distinguishing thosefaren that can independently bear criminal liability from those that cannot; and clearly defining the elements of corporate offenses. Corporate criminal liability is a concept applicable when the corporation not only commits the crime but also has the legal capacity to be liable in its own right. Individual liability is still the sole principle applicable to a government agency, even if the crime is collectively committed.Given the historic context of China's socioeconomic reform, criminal law reform can advance only gradually. To insure that Western concepts fit the Chinese setting, lawmakers must make certain that every new criminal statute or regulation is enforceable even where enterprises remain closely interconnected with the state and decision-makers in publicly owned enterprises are mainly appointees of the state.I gratefully acknowledge the invitation of Daniel Prefontaine, Director of the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and of the Hon. Josiah Wood of the British Columbia Court of Appeal, to present an earlier version of this essay at the eighth international conference of the Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, Hong Kong, December 4–8, 1994. Thanks are also due to Madeleine Sann, Director of Publication,Criminal Law Forum, for her excellent editorial comments.Postgraduate Diploma of Legal Studies, ECIPSL 1984, LL.M., Shanghai Academy of Social Science 1985; Ph.D. candidate, Simon Fraser University.