Understanding child,family, environmental and agency risk factors: findings from an analysis of significant case reviews in Scotland

This paper presents the findings from an analysis of 56 significant case reviews (SCRs) in Scotland. In contrast to England and Wales where national analyses have been undertaken for many years, until this study was undertaken, the findings from SCRs had not previously been collated nationally. The paper discusses child, parent, environmental and agency factors that were identified in the SCRs and, whilst noting that the pathways to death or harm will be unique in individual cases, tries to further our understanding of the ways in which these different factors may interact to result in death or harm. A significant finding was the high number of SCRs that relate to the care and protection of children living in families whose lives are dominated by drug use and the associated issues this brings, including criminality and neighbourhood problems. Another challenging finding was the lack of suitable resources for the placement and support of troubled teenagers. Finally, a number of SCRs involved long‐term neglect and/or sexual abuse of school or nursery age children who had been known to statutory services for many years.     

Alternating-Offer Bargaining and Common Knowledge of Rationality

This paper reconsiders Rubinstein's alternating-offer bargaining game with complete information. We define rationalizability and trembling- hand rationalizability (THR) for multi-stage games with observed actions. We show that rationalizability does not exclude perpetual disagreement or delay, but that THR implies a unique solution. Moreover, this unique solution is the unique subgame perfect equilibrium (SPE). Also, we reconsider an extension of Rubinstein's game where a smallest money unit is introduced: THR rules out the non-uniqueness of SPE in some particular case. Finally, we investigate the assumption of boundedly rational players. Perpetual disagreement is excluded, but not delay. Furthermore, we cannot use the asymmetric Nash bargaining solution as an approximation of the alternating-offer bargaining model once the players are boundedly rational ones.     

Sinic conundrum: A history of HIV/AIDS in the people's republic of china

China's HIV/AIDS case rate continues to grow despite national and World Health Organization efforts. Reports in Western journals are nearly nonexistent, and what is in print does not provide evidence of the infection's historical progress. I traced progress of the infection since my last report (1991) and based current findings on unobtrusive data [HIV blood screening (assays)] provided by State epidemiology‐prevention stations and on ethnographic interviews conducted with public health officials from the Center for AIDS Surveillance, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, and epidemiology personnel in Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Shanghai during fieldwork in China in 1992 and 1993. Cultural, social, economic, and political factors involved in China's historical attempts to manage a growing HIV case rate are discussed. Together, data reveal a widening geographic and social distribution of the virus over time, which, in conclusion, should now qualify China's HIV status as epidemic.     

The rationality of social structure: Cooperation in social dilemmas through investments in and returns on social capital

We develop a game-theoretic model of how social structure in the sense of a network of relations between actors helps to mitigate social dilemmas. We simultaneously endogenize the network by modeling actors’ incentives to establish the network. Since the network of relations helps to mitigate social dilemmas, it constitutes social capital. We thus analyze investments in and returns on social capital in social dilemmas and characterize the value of social capital. Our model covers a class of social dilemma games including the Trust Game, the Investment Game, the Prisoner's Dilemma, the two-actor Public Goods Game, and others.     

Joint Physical Custody in The Netherlands and the Well-Being of Children

The frequency of contact with fathers and mothers and the amount of parental support for boys and girls is an important issue after divorce, from emotional, legal, and empirical points of view. In the Netherlands between 1998 and 2008, joint physical custody after divorce (when children actually have shared residences) has increased from 5% to 16%. It is therefore interesting to compare the effects growing up in the following different kinds of families actually has on children: (a) mother families with low contact frequency with the father; (b) mother families with high contact frequency with the father; (c) co-parenting families (joint physical custody); and (d) father families. The main conclusion is that, on average, the effects of joint physical custody for children, mothers, and especially for fathers, are slightly positive.     

A Case Study Approach to Reducing the Risks of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)

ABSTRACT

The risk of child sexual exploitation is a growing concern, both within community and child care settings. Within community services working with vulnerable young people, the risks of exploitation are pervasive and present a constant management problem for professionals. This makes the need for focused educational interventions within such settings all the more vital. This case study aims to describe the assessment, formulation, intervention, and outcomes of a young female considered to be at risk of sexual exploitation. It was hypothesised that, after completion of a psychoeducational group designed to enhance knowledge and skills around child sexual exploitation, positive outcomes would be seen in psychometric assessment, risk-taking behavior, and risk awareness. Results demonstrated no clinically significant change for measures of impulsivity, resourcefulness, or self-reported difficulties. A significant increase was seen for self-reported self-esteem, and all outcomes revealed a positive direction of change. Observational accounts of behavioral and attitudinal change produced more positive results, revealing an increase in prosocial behaviors and a reduction in risk-taking behaviors. Outcomes are discussed in relation to the individual’s history and the residential care environment. Implications for future research and practice are outlined, and the study limitations are considered.     

Racial Conflict and Identity Crisis in Wartime Peru: Revisiting the Cañete Massacre of 1881

This article subjects the historiography and evidence of the massacre of Chinese immigrants in the Cañete valley by Afro-Peruvian peasants, led by women during the War of the Pacific, to critical analysis in light of recent discussions of the nexus of race, culture and nation. It validates the motives of the peasants who carried out the massacre by examining the event as an aspect of racial and cultural identity formation. The study highlights the self-serving character of contemporary evaluations, and it gives attention to the cultural tensions and ambiguous meanings present in the massacre which illustrate the character of national identity projects in late nineteenth-century Peru.