Prosecuting Domestic Violence without Victim Participation

This article explores the evidential challenges victim withdrawal presents in domestic violence cases. More specifically it examines innovative measures taken in the United States to overcome problems of proof typically associated with domestic violence prosecutions. These evidentiary initiatives have facilitated a shift towards so–called 'victimless' prosecution in the context of domestic violence which dispenses with victim participation. Drawing upon a 'freedom model' of criminal justice, this article examines whether recent developments in the United States might be emulated as a means of addressing the high rate of attrition in domestic violence cases in England and Wales.     

Consequences and dilemmas in therapeutic relationships with families resulting from mandatory reporting legislation

Mandatory reporting legislation has been adopted in every state to insure the protection of children from maltreatment. These statutes have become a significant factor in the lives of mental health professionals who work with children and families. Thirty psychotherapists who had made a recent report of child maltreatment on a client in treatment were interviewed about their experiences with reporting and the consequences of reporting for therapeutic relationships. Several potentially problematic consequences and dilemmas were identified by the therapists, including immediate and long-term effects on the therapeutic alliance and course of therapy, and conflicts of interest in working with children and families.     

Methodological problems in negotiation research

SUMMARY

Despite a decade or two of researching negotiation, little more is known about it than before. Since the research methods available in communication science are varied and powerful and there is no lack of information or crucial data, the major impediments to progress must be the inability to formulate the most pertinent questions and to construct the most useful integration of information. Comprehension of negotiation depends on the methods used to accumulate this knowledge, that is observation and theory building. As in the case of other human behavioural research methodology, negotiation methodology has problems concerning theoretical assumptions providing the frame for theory development, the theories forming the basis for the selection or development of research methods and the methods determining the data observed. Methodological problems unique to negotiation research are the complexity of the phenomenon, the multi-disciplinarity, the lack of time resulting from the crisis-nature of negotiation and the present lack of methods to measure relationships between variables.     

Development of a Technology Readiness Assessment Measure: The Cloverleaf Model of Technology Transfer

Successful technology transfer begins with the identification of appropriate candidate technologies for transfer. Technology transfer managers have few reliable tools to guide the process of determining when and which technologies are likely to be successful in the commercialization process. This paper describes a multi-stage process which incorporated ideas from the literature, materials in use, pretesting of a model, and the collective wisdom of practitioners to devise a technology transfer readiness tool, dubbed the Cloverleaf Model Tool for Technology Transfer Assessment, because of its identification of the four requirements for success. The tool has been customized for different environments. It can be used over time to compare technologies and adapted to the unique situation of users.