Safety First

Abstract

A substantial percentage of contested child custody cases involve allegations of domestic violence. The impact on the psychological health and physical safety of the child exposed to domestic violence has only recently become a focus of the courts' and child custody evalu-ators' attention. Currently, the majority of state statutes include consideration of domestic violence in “best interests” child custody criteria. However, many of the statues do not provide the child custody evaluator the specific criteria to consider, especially if the domestic violence allegations have not been previously reported to authorities prior to the commencement of separation and divorce proceedings. This article presents the first three steps of the six-step Safety First Model, designed to assist the legal and psychological professions to focus on the priorities on the safety of children exposed to domestic violence.     

First Things First: a framework for successful secondary school reform

If youth development initiatives are going to focus on outcomes that we know are important in settings that we know can change these outcomes, the first outcomes should be educational, and the first setting should be school. School reform presents the most feasible, defensible, and informed opportunity for public policy to improve the life chances of children and youth in disadvantaged communities. This chapter introduces First Things First (FTF), a school reform framework grounded in research about how young people develop and how schools promote students' engagement and learning. The chapter explores four critical features of FTF that focus on students: (1) continuity of care; (2) increased instructional time; (3) high, clear, and fair standards; and (4) enriched opportunities for students. The critical features of FTF are implemented through three strategies: small learning communities, a family advocate system, and instructional improvement.     

初识的黎波里

"世界上有两个的黎波里,一个是我们现在参观的黎巴嫩西北部港口城市,一个是利比亚首都."80年代,我们在黎巴嫩工作时,两位陪同我们参观的黎波里旧城的历史学教授向我们介绍说.从他们那里,我们知道黎巴嫩的的黎波里在地中海东部,俗称东的黎波里(今译成特里波利);而另一个的黎波里在地中海西部,俗称西的黎波里.     

What Parents Learn From Experience: The First Child as a First Draft?

This study sought evidence for the proposition that experiences with earlier‐born adolescents will improve parents' interactions with and parenting of later‐born adolescents. Participants were mothers, fathers, and both first‐ and second‐born siblings from 392 families participating in a longitudinal study. To collect information on siblings' family experiences, family members were interviewed individually in their homes. During the subsequent 2 to 3 weeks, 7 evening telephone interviews were also conducted, which focused on siblings' daily activities. Findings suggest that when parent‐adolescent relationships were measured at the same age for both siblings, parents experienced less conflict with their second‐born as compared with their firstborn adolescent offspring and exhibited greater knowledge of their second‐born offspring's daily activities as compared with their firstborns' daily experiences. These results are consistent with the notion that parents may learn from their childrearing experiences.     

First Ladies in the States

ABSTRACT

Observers have long speculated about the influence of first ladies. We offer a systematic examination of the political and private roles of the women who are married to the nation's governors. Using survey responses from governors' spouses, we found these women to be politically active in a variety of arenas. Though most governors' spouses sought to use the influence afforded by their position, the issues they choose to target remain within the realm of traditional women's issues. Additionally, the institutionalization of the political first lady as evidenced here indicates that these may be the first in a long line of publicly active political spouses.