A simple test of symmetry about an unknown median

A simple test statistic for testing symmetry of a distribution function about an unknown value is presented. The asymptotic distributions under symmetry and asymmetry are derived. Using the normal as a “calibration” distribution, the critical values of the test are calculated by Monte Carlo methods. Comparisons with other tests indicate that this procedure performs well.     

Worksite e-mail health promotion trial: Early lessons

In preparation for an electronic mail (e-mail) and web-based health promotion intervention across multiple worksites, secure, regulatory-compliant, user-friendly e-mail and Internet applications were used to recruit potential participants across worksites, to enroll participants, and to collect baseline health assessment data. Specific hardware and software information technology environments were required of the 19 participating worksites. Sequential e-mails introduced the study and invited participation. Twenty-four percent of all employees (1106 of approximately 4600) provided consent. E-mail delivered a web link for the baseline study assessment, and reminder e-mails were sent to prompt completion. Of those who consented, 888 (80%) completed baseline health and behavior data surveys. An HTML-native web survey software was more stable across computing environments. Using e-mail and web assessment, this research recruited, enrolled, and collected data from more than 850 participants. Technical and operational challenges emerged at each step. Solutions and recommendations are discussed. Overall, this experience suggests that the use of e-mail and web software can facilitate recruitment, enrollment, and data acquisition through direct contact with study participants. This experience yields a series of lessons learned for using e-mail and the Internet to support multi-site trials.     

Violent crime and victim compensation: implications for social justice

Restorative justice offers several innovative methods designed to heal the injury that the offender may have caused to the victim. One of these innovative methods is victim compensation, a form of income redistribution designed to redistribute wealth from offenders to victims of crime. Restitution, particularly through the Victim of Crime Act (VOCA), is a needs-based form of justice designed to assist the most needy victims of violent crime. Recent studies suggest that while state-level compensation programs may target poor, young, African American men, compensation at the national level tends to be received more by older, White women who experienced domestic violence. The author suggests that this disparity between state and local resource distribution in the allocation of victim compensation is a reflection of the ideological differences between the established theoretical frameworks of liberalism and radical feminism.     

Treatment of Female Pathological Gambling: The Efficacy of a Cognitive-Behavioural Approach

Given that a substantial proportion of current pathological gamblers are female, it is evident that women are underrepresented in the treatment outcome literature. The current study was designed to redress the limited information on the treatment of female pathological gambling. Although the use of cognitive-behavioural therapy is the most highly recommended approach as ‘best practice’ for the treatment of pathological gambling, no attempt to date has been made to evaluate the efficacy of this approach for female pathological gambling. Nineteen female pathological gamblers with electronic gaming machine problems were treated with a cognitive-behavioural program. While pathological gamblers placed on a waiting list did not show significant improvement on gambling behaviour and psychological functioning measures, the female pathological gamblers showed significant improvement on these measures over the treatment period, and maintained this improvement at the 6-month follow-up evaluation. By the completion of the follow-up period, 89% of participants no longer met diagnostic criteria for pathological gambling. Although further scientific demonstration and replication are required, the outcomes of this study indicate that the therapy that is considered ‘best practice’ in the treatment of pathological gambling is effective for female pathological gambling.     

Hearing the voices of abused older women

This paper focuses on a qualitative research process that gathered responses from 64 older women aged fifty and older on their experience of violence and abuse. What older women said about abuse in their lives supports the use of a feminist framework as well as the age based analysis of the elder abuse field. Some respondents spoke of abuse from childhood into their later years. Some spoke of partners witnessing or experiencing abuse as children. Some women express concern about possible abuse by their adult children of their own children. Abused older women like younger women need a safe environment, emotional support, advocacy, information, and peer support. While it is important to consider the perspectives and knowledge of service providers when developing policy and practice on abuse of older women, it is critical to ask the women survivors of abuse or neglect what they believe would benefit them, and others in similar situations.