Family Experiences of Young Adult Sex Offender Registration

Since 1994, policies have been instituted throughout the United States that require sex offenders to register their personal information with law enforcement officials (Jacob Wetterling Crimes against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Program, 1994 Jacob Wetterling Crimes against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Program. (1994). Cornell University Law School, Legal Information Institute: U.S. code collection. http://www.law. cornell.edu/uscode/42/usc_sec_42_00014071----000-.html (Accessed: 4 April 2008).  [Google Scholar]). With the passage of additional laws, this information is now available to the public via the Internet or a request to a police department. These laws have brought about consequences for both the registrants and for members of their families. A focus group was held with four mothers who have sons listed on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry. Psychological and social consequences of registration were found and policy implications are discussed.     

Navigating Sex and Sexuality After Sexual Assault: A Qualitative Study of Survivors and Informal Support Providers

Qualitative interview data from 45 matched pairs of survivors disclosing sexual assaults and their primary informal support providers (e.g., friend, family member, significant other) were used to explore survivor and support provider perspectives on changes in sexuality postassault and how those close to them have been affected as a result. Changes in sexuality included loss of interest in sex, increase or change in sexual partners, engaging in sex work, and increased sexual behavior. Support providers generally regarded promiscuity as a risky sexual behavior. If the support provider was the survivor’s sexual partner, he or she discussed exercising caution when navigating sexual intimacy with the survivor. Not all sexual encounters with romantic partners were positive; some survivors discussed being triggered (i.e., with post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] flashbacks) or experiencing the dissolution of their relationships due to the sexual impacts of their assault. Counseling implications are discussed in the context of improving survivors’ sexual experiences in general and in romantic relationships postassault. Implications can also be applied to prevention, scholarship on sex work, and sexuality research.     

Voices of former foster youth: Supportive relationships in the transition to adulthood

As the adolescent development literature has recognized the importance of social supports in the transition to adulthood, child welfare research, policies, and programs have turned their attention to the relational needs of youth emancipating from the foster care system. This study builds on the extant literature on social support among transitioning foster care youth; it goes beyond the sole identification of relational networks, to explore how youth actually utilize their network members, and the overall quality of their support system. This study collects data from twenty qualitative interviews with foster youth, ages 18–21. We analyze the data using consensual qualitative research methods in order to develop core themes around shared youth experiences. We found that while foster youth did identify a wide network of both formal and informal supports during their transition to adulthood, there were “holes” in the form of support, especially appraisal and instrumental support, provided by informal network members. Additionally, an unrealistic perception of supportive and permanent relationships may be contributing to poor outcomes in emerging adulthood. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

FROM EL CAMPO TO EL BARRIO: MEMORY AND SOCIAL IMAGINARIES IN SANTO DOMINGO

In the social imaginaries of the Dominican Republic, national culture has its origins in el campo, the countryside. Country spaces and country people are viewed as embodying the past in the present, making them authentic contemporary carriers of national culture and moral order. By contrast, the city has long been viewed as the site of a modernity that takes its inspiration from outside of the nation but also as a site of social degeneration. In recent decades, representations of poor barrios as a threat to the city's moral order have intensified in reaction to rising crime rates and a series of economic crises. First generation migrants from the country to the city find that their status as carriers of culture and morality is compromised. They evoke positive memories of their rural pasts to position themselves as moral beings transposed to a corrupt urban milieu. At the same time, they develop urban identities that incorporate aspects of rural life while rejecting others. I argue that migrants' memories of their rural past resist their emplacement while allowing for the transformation of their present structural position.     

Family, Neighborhood, and Peer Characteristics as Predictors of Child Adjustment: A Longitudinal Analysis of Additive and Mediation Models

The purpose of this study was to test direct, additive, and mediation models involving family, neighborhood, and peer factors in relation to emerging antisocial behavior and social skills. Neighborhood danger, maternal depressive symptoms, and supportive parenting were assessed in early childhood. Peer group acceptance was measured in middle childhood, and data on antisocial behavior and social skills were collected when boys were 11 and 12 years old. Results were consistent with an additive effects model of child antisocial behavior. In contrast, peer relationships were stronger predictors of social skills than were family factors. Support for mediation was found in models involving neighborhood danger and supportive parenting. However, only peer group acceptance predicted change in antisocial and prosocial behavior. Implications for family and peer relations as socialization contexts are discussed.     

Effects of forest structure on the distribution of southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) in urban parks

Although southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) are present in many urban parks, squirrel-habitat relationships in such areas are poorly understood, limiting conservation efforts. Our objective was to quantify the effects of forest structure at multiple scales on flying squirrel distribution in New York City (NYC) parks. From 18 June–24 August 2001, we captured flying squirrels in 5 New York City parks and measured forest structure at the ground, shrub, understory, and overstory levels at trap sites. To examine the importance of forest structure to squirrels, we compared (1) habitat variables between trap stations where squirrels were captured and not captured and (2) habitat variables between parks with and without documented squirrel populations. Our data suggest that areas with forests containing smaller trees at higher densities, dense woody ground cover, and little herbaceous ground vegetation may not provide the food, cavities, ease of movement, or allow predator detection necessary to be used by or support flying squirrel populations. Other factors, such as the size and density of stumps and snags may be important to non-urban squirrel populations, but not populations in NYC parks. Because NYC parks contain almost all of the remaining woodlands within the City, forests within these areas should be a conservation priority.     

Mother–Son Positive Synchrony in Middle Childhood: Relation to Antisocial Behavior

The aim of the present investigation was to examine mother–son positive synchrony and its link to child and best friend antisocial behavior in middle childhood. Data were collected from 122 families with 10‐year‐old children during home assessments. Positive synchrony was rated during a parent–child discussion task. Data were also gathered on parent–child openness and conflict, harsh discipline, parental monitoring, and the child's social information processing. Four domains of child adjustment were assessed: antisocial behavior (ages 8 and 10), best friend antisocial behavior (ages 8 and 10), social skills (age 10), and anxiety/depression (age 10). The results indicated that observed positive synchrony was related significantly to measures tapping parenting, parent–child conflict, and child social information processing, as well as to youth and best friend antisocial behavior. The associations between synchrony and antisocial behavior remained significant after controlling for prior youth adjustment and other child and parenting factors. Developmental implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Creating SPOTs for Successful Aging: Strengthening the Case for Developing University-Based Retirement Communities Using Social-Physical Place Over Time Theory

Five elements are cited as being critical for a university-based retirement communities’ (UBRCs’) success: proximity to the university, two-directional programming, continuing care, a financial link to the university, and a minimum 10% resident connection to the university. We illustrate these criteria using examples from existing UBRCs. The comparisons are then contextualized in the broader framework of Social-Physical Place Over Time (SPOT) theory. SPOT theory focuses on the interactions between social and physical places among older adults. By analyzing the intersections between SPOT theory and UBRC criteria, we identify additional criteria to improve the definition of a UBRC: transportation support and facilitating activity. UBRCs offer value because they provide the social and physical place where older adults can live when they retire, thereby improving changes in individual agency and belongingness needs, which are key tenets of SPOT theory. The integration of the UBRC criteria and the SPOT theory framework builds on this relatively new meta-theory in environmental gerontology. SPOT theory effectively highlights how UBRCs benefit older adults and the community; UBRCs provide significant benefits not only to older adult residents, but also to the university communities that house them.