Key decisions in child protection services in cases of domestic violence: maintaining services and out‐of‐home placement

This paper looks at the response of the child protection services (CPS) system in cases where exposure to domestic violence occurs alone or together with abuse or neglect, focusing on the factors involved in decisions to maintain the case open for ongoing services or remove children from the home. The study is based on an analysis of clinical and administrative data from the files on children reported to a CPS agency in Montreal, Canada. A total of 1 071 substantiated reports were documented, including 337 cases of co‐occurrence (32%). Analysis of the data shows that domestic violence does not by itself constitute a factor liable to lead to more intrusive intervention. The CPS response appears to be influenced more by the existence of other forms of maltreatment and risk factors. Additionally, while domestic violence may be associated with more severe individual and family problems, it does not influence the decision to keep the case open because the child still need services. The lack of any connection between domestic violence and this decision is a cause for concern, as results indicate that such families need help. Knowing how to respond to their needs therefore remains a major challenge.     

Victim or Whore: The Similarities and Differences between Victim's Experiences of Domestic Violence and Sex Trafficking

This research review addresses the similarities and differences between domestic violence and sex trafficking victimization. While there is evidence that domestic violence and sex trafficking often co-occur, there is a large disparity in the understanding and interventions utilized by law enforcement as well as the services available for victims of each crime despite the considerable overlap of victimization. This article explores current research regarding domestic violence and sex trafficking with a focus towards identifying areas of overlap and areas distinct to sex trafficking.     

A six-year analysis of sex traffickers of minors: exploring characteristics and sex trafficking patterns

ABSTRACT

Few studies have explored the characteristics and arrest patterns of sex traffickers, particularly sex traffickers of persons under the age of 18 (minors) in the U.S. The purpose of this study is to understand the behavior and characteristics of a national cross sectional sample of sex traffickers of minors during a six-year period. This study explored cases involving the arrest of sex traffickers of minors or persons under the age of 18 in the United States from 2010 to 2015. Sex traffickers of minors was defined as a person who facilitates and/or benefits by receiving something of value for the commercial sexual exploitation of a minor (person under the age of 18) or attempts to do so. During a systematic online search, 1,416 sex traffickers of minors were identified. The arrests were found in 46 states in the United States, two U.S. territories, and Washington D.C. The sex traffickers of minors were mostly males (n = 1067, 75.4%), and of those with race identified (only 51.6%), 71.7% were African American. Their ages ranged from 15 to 70 years old (M = 28.5, SD = 8.54). Characteristics of the sex trafficker and the sex trafficking situation are analyzed and implications discussed.     

Adolescents Prefer More Immediate Rewards When in the Presence of their Peers

Adolescents take more risks in the presence of their peers, but the mechanism through which peer presence affects risky decision‐making is unknown. We propose that the presence of peers increases the salience of the immediate rewards of a risky choice. The current study examined the effect of peer presence on reward sensitivity in a sample of 100 late adolescents ages 18 through 20 (M=18.5) using a delay discounting task, which assesses an individual's preference for immediate versus delayed rewards. Participants were randomly assigned to complete the task alone or with 2 same‐age, same‐sex peers observing. Consistent with our prediction, adolescents demonstrated a greater preference for immediate rewards when with their peers than when alone. Heightened risk taking by adolescents in the company of their friends may be due in part to the effect that being with one's peers has on reward sensitivity.     

Three scenarios for the future of work

After presenting a historical overview of the concept of work and the different meanings that it has acquired over the centuries, the author analyses the value it holds for Europeans, and the impact on work and employment of the popular rhetoric about a technological revolution and its “inevitable” consequences. She then considers the future of work in the light of three scenarios: a “dismantling of labour law”, a “technological revolution” (where automation brings an end to employment), and an “environmental transition”. She argues that the latter is compatible with the imperative to take action on climate change and the expectations placed in work and employment.     

Immigrant Children: Their Experience of Violence at School and Community in Host Country

This article describes our qualitative sociological study of immigrant children's life experiences of violence. We conducted interviews with 42 first‐generation immigrant children from any country, aged 9–13 years old, living in the Quebec City region (Canada). Results from three main themes are presented: representations of violence and concrete violent acts experienced; perceived effects of violence on children health and well‐being; and reactions and coping strategies. Overall, the narratives show that they may experience racist peer violence in school that leads to suffering situations, and they consequently have to develop strategies to maintain their well‐being. Social implications are discussed.     

Scales of observation A micro‐sociological epistemology of social science practice∗

Often what is presented as conflict between schools of thought is more often based on a difference of scale of observation. Visual sociology is viewed as a way to understand the “scale issue” because the visual sociologist knows it is impossible to simultaneously photograph a macro and a micro phenomenon. We thus offer a critique of a prevalent fantasy in social science; that of catching at once all data coming from all scales.     

A Bayesian ordinal logistic regression model to correct for interobserver measurement error in a geographical oral health study

Summary.  We present an approach for correcting for interobserver measurement error in an ordinal logistic regression model taking into account also the variability of the estimated correction terms. The different scoring behaviour of the 16 examiners complicated the identification of a geographical trend in a recent study on caries experience in Flemish children (Belgium) who were 7 years old. Since the measurement error is on the response the factor 'examiner' could be included in the regression model to correct for its confounding effect. However, controlling for examiner largely removed the geographical east–west trend. Instead, we suggest a (Bayesian) ordinal logistic model which corrects for the scoring error (compared with a gold standard) using a calibration data set. The marginal posterior distribution of the regression parameters of interest is obtained by integrating out the correction terms pertaining to the calibration data set. This is done by processing two Markov chains sequentially, whereby one Markov chain samples the correction terms. The sampled correction term is imputed in the Markov chain pertaining to the regression parameters. The model was fitted to the oral health data of the Signal–Tandmobiel^® study. A WinBUGS program was written to perform the analysis.