The Taboos in legal research ‐ a personal case history

As accused or defendant in three trials and their appeals, the present writer has had the misfortune of contributing materially to the drastic narrowing down of the freedom of speech in the administration of justice, and hence of the freedom of scientific enquiry in that field. The question of race particularly has become a subject which is now substantially off‐limits to the researcher and critic of the South African administration of justice. The relevance of these court cases is assessed, both for the permissibility of research in sensitive areas and the fostering of the kind of intellectual climate in which such research would be possible.     

Propositionwise judgment aggregation: the general case

In the theory of judgment aggregation, it is known for which agendas of propositions it is possible to aggregate individual judgments into collective ones in accordance with the Arrow-inspired requirements of universal domain, collective rationality, unanimity preservation, non-dictatorship and propositionwise independence. But it is only partially known (e.g., only in the monotonic case) for which agendas it is possible to respect additional requirements, notably non-oligarchy, anonymity, no individual veto power, or extended unanimity preservation. We fully characterize the agendas for which there are such possibilities, thereby answering the most salient open questions about propositionwise judgment aggregation. Our results build on earlier results by Nehring and Puppe (Strategy-proof social choice on single-peaked domains: possibility, impossibility and the space between, 2002), Nehring (Oligarchies in judgment aggregation: a characterization, 2006), Dietrich and List (Soc Choice Welf 29(1):19–33, 2007a) and Dokow and Holzman (J Econ Theory 145(2):495–511, 2010a).     

Evaluation of a group-based social skills training for children with problem behavior

This study evaluated a group-based training program in social skills targeting reduction of problem behaviors in N = 161 children between 7 and 13 years of age. The effects of the intervention were tested in a quasi-experimental study, with a follow-up assessment 12 months after an optional continuation camp. At the post-test, both the experimental and control group showed less social problems and internalizing problems, whereas only the experimental group showed a small and positive change in social anxiety. After a 12 month follow-up, a subsample of the experimental group (children who followed a continuation camp) showed large positive changes for all outcome measures, except for externalizing problems, showing a small effect.     

A new criterion function for exploratory blockmodeling for structural and regular equivalence

We present a new criterion function for blockmodeling two-way two-mode relation matrices when the number of blocks as well as the equivalence relation are unknown. For this, we specify a measure of fit based on data compression theory, which allows for the comparison of blockmodels of different sizes and block types from different equivalence relations. We arm an alternating optimization algorithm with this criterion and demonstrate that the method reproduces consensual blockings of three datasets without any pre-specification. We perform a simulation study where we compare our compression-based criterion to the commonly used criterion that measures the number of inconsistencies with an ideal blockmodel.     

Cognitive‐behavioral bibliotherapy for sexual dysfunctions in heterosexual couples: A randomized waiting‐list controlled clinical trial in the Netherlands

In a randomized waiting‐list controlled clinical trial cognitive‐behavioral bibliotherapy was investigated in heterosexual couples with sexual dysfunctions. After a 10‐week treatment participants (N = 199 couples) reported fewer complaints of low frequency of sexual interaction and general improvement of their sexual problem, and lower male posttreatment ratings of problem‐associated distress. At follow‐up gains with respect to frequency of sex and problem‐associated distress had eroded. Female participants with vaginismus posttreatment reported less complaints of vaginismus. However, female participants with dyspareunia reported more complaints of vaginal discomfort. These differences were maintained at follow‐up. An “intention‐to‐treat” analysis showed that the effects were robust to participant attrition. Treatment compliance was positively associated with outcome in females at posttreatment.     

Labour,Legality and shifts in the Public/Private divide

This article discusses the changing role that work performed in private homes has played, and continues to play, in migration law in the Netherlands and at the EU level. It explores to what degree work performed in the home is defined as (exploitative) contractual labour or as inherent to family life, and what this means for claims to residence rights as a precursor to citizenship. It does this by reviewing case law of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) and of the European Court of Human Rights (EctHR) against the background of the Dutch case. It reveals tension between how citizenship is constructed and reproduced at the national level and how it is constructed and reproduced at the EU level. Following Adam McKeown, this article concludes that different perspectives on (reproductive) labour as a qualification for citizenship may reflect different perspectives on (reproductive) labour and the quality of citizenship.

Policy Implications

• Third Country Nationals must be allowed to reside in the EU with their EU children, to ensure the latter's effective enjoyment of fundamental rights.
• Policies to combat trafficking of domestic workers must respect family life.
• Family migration policies must allow individual family members enough scope to resist exploitation within families.
• Policies concerning labour protection, social protection and migration should no longer take the breadwinner‐citizen as point of departure, but the current reality of flexible labour relations in which the distinctions between home and work, and between employment and self‐employment, are no longer sharply defined.

     

Intergenerational Transfers to Adult Children in Europe: Do Social Policies Matter?

Understanding the role of social policies in intergenerational transfers from old to young people is especially important in times of population aging. This paper focuses on the influences of social expenditures and social services on financial support and on practical help from older parents to their adult children based on the first two waves from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, N = 60,250 dyads from 13 European countries). Multilevel models showed that social policy plays an important role for intergenerational transfer patterns: The more public assistance was provided to citizens, the more likely parents supported their adult children financially and practically, but this support was less intense in terms of money and time given. Thus, the analyses support the specialization hypothesis that posits a division of labor between family and state for downward intergenerational transfers.     

Who Is in the Stepfamily? Change in Stepparents' Family Boundaries Between 1992 and 2009

Guided by trends of increased prevalence and social acceptance of stepfamilies, the authors argue that stepparents are more likely to include stepchildren in their personal network in recent times. Data are from observations by 2 studies: (a) the Living Arrangements and Social Networks of Older Adults Study and (b) the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam in 1992–2009 of 247 Dutch stepparents age 54–91 years. The results revealed that in 1992, 63% of the stepparents had stepchildren in their personal network, and this percentage increased to 85% in 2009. The network membership of stepchildren was less likely for stepparents from living‐apart‐together partnerships. Stepmothers less often included stepchildren in their personal network than stepfathers. Both effects may be understood in terms of family commitment. Stepfamily boundaries have become more permeable over time, suggesting that there is an increased potential for support exchange and caregiving within stepfamilies.