KIDS' TURN

Reported in this article is an innovative group program for children whose families are going through divorce. The Program is sponsored by the San Francisco court system. This program provides an orientation for children to help them cope with divorce. The program also involves the parents. The goals of the program are to demystify the separation process, provide a safe place for children and parents to discuss their feelings, provide a culturally sensitive context, provide information regarding other resources, and teach communication and problem-solving skills.     

Risk factors for peer sexual harassment in schools

This study introduces potential risk factors for victimization and perpetration of sexual harassment among teens not previously studied. The first set of analyses compared histories of perpetration and victimization by gender, as well as the relationship between risk factors and perpetration or victimization. For girls (r = .544) and boys (r = .700), the relationships between perpetration and victimization histories were very strong. Most proposed risk factors were also significantly related to perpetration and victimization histories for both genders, including alcohol use frequency, delinquency, histories of family violence and victimization, cultural and personal power, and retaliation, with all increasing as perpetration or victimization history increased. For girls, two direct paths were moderately related to victimization--delinquency and family victimization. For boys, only one variable--perpetration history--was related to victimization history. Four variables were directly related to greater sexual harassment perpetration-greater personal power, delinquency, family violence, and family victimization.     

Ambivalence of nonoffending guardians after child sexual abuse disclosure

A concern in the intervention with sexually abused children is the support of their nonoffending guardians after disclosure of the abuse. Approximately a third of nonoffending guardians respond with vacillation in support, and these nonoffending guardians are at greater risk for having their children removed. This article reconceptualizes vacillation in support as an ambivalent response. Drawing on the interdisciplinary literature, this article suggests that ambivalence in support reflects the confluence between the nonoffending guardian's valence toward the child and perpetrator. This article further proposes that ambivalence is normative when the costs of disclosure are high and when the nonoffending guardian is ambivalent/preoccupied in attachment. Ambivalence may also be both a precursor to and an effect of the traumatic experience of the disclosure on the nonoffending guardian. In a study of 30 nonoffending mothers whose partners sexually abused their children, these relationships were supported.     

'Caparo Under Fire': a Study into the Effects upon the Fire Service of Liability in Negligence

This article discusses a research project which aimed to analyse the relationship between judicial pronouncements over the likely effects upon a defendant of the imposition of a duty of care in negligence, and any effects in practice. Empirical research was carried out to ascertain the effect upon the fire service of the Court of Appeal decision in Capital and Counties and Digital Equipment v Hampshire County Council [1997] QB 1004. This decision imposed a duty of care upon fire services to avoid making mistakes whilst fighting fires which might cause the fire to become more serious. The findings of the project are drawn upon to make observations regarding how the courts presently apply the third limb of the three stage test of duty of care derived from Caparo v Dickman, which asks whether it would be fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty of care.     

The effect of mass legalization on US state-level institutions: Evidence from the immigration reform and control act

Public Choice - A new case for immigration restrictions argues that migrants may transmit low productivity to their destination countries by importing low-quality economic institutions. Using the...