The Synergy and Substance of Organizational and Community Change in the Response to Crime and Conflict: The Emergence and Potential of Restorative Justice

The story of the one-hundredth monkey has generated new ways of thinking about cultural transformation. Different experiences and new understandings of justice have emerged in a variety of cultural contexts and led to a rather sudden multi-national shift in thinking about the collective response to crime, harm and conflict that raises broader theoretical questions about restorative justice as a social movement or innovation. This article will describe the restorative justice movement in an historical context and its emergence into a worldwide phenomenon. The authors also examine the role of communities, or “instrumental communities” in public organizations.     

Intimate partner physical assault before and during pregnancy: how does it relate to women's psychological vulnerability?

Most studies of intimate partner violence tend to be behaviorally focused, with scant attention paid to women's perception of vulnerability in their relationships. Since past research has linked such feelings and cognitions to women's health problems, it is important to examine multiple aspects of relationships when studying partner violence. Therefore, this study examines women's perceptions of vulnerability as they relate to their experiences of physical assault by their partner before and during pregnancy. A sample of 86 prenatal care patients were interviewed. The women reported their experiences of partner physical assault using the Conflict Tactics Scale 2, and they reported their perceptions concerning their relationships using the Women's Experiences with Battering Scale. Bivariate and multivariate analyses found that experiencing intimate partner physical assault was highly predictive of women's perceptions of vulnerability and loss of control in their relationships, with women who have been in physically violent relationships for longer periods of time being the most likely to express such feelings. Given that previous research has found such perceptions tied to negative health outcomes, clinicians are urged to evaluate their female patients' feelings of vulnerability as well as their experiences of intimate partner physical assault.     

Investigation laws and practices in child protective services

This study was triggered by the experience of one state agency when a state audit found that its investigation response and completion rates of child abuse and neglect reports did not reach 100%. At compliance rates of 99.6% and 97.58%, respectively, the auditors and news media reported a lack of compliance by the state child welfare agency. This article reviews the approaches legislatures and agencies have used to address and resolve problems of ensuring agency responsiveness without setting standards and expectations that are impossible to meet.     

ATTENDING TO THE CONTEXT OF FAMILY TREATMENT: PITFALLS AND PROSPECTS

This paper argues that family therapy is failing to attend to the contexts in which family mental health services are provided and, therefore, is losing touch with the realities of family services in communities. We present a model for describing the institutional contexts of family mental health treatment in North America, and explore how these contexts influence family treatment. The model proposes that family mental health care can be categorized into three levels, analogous to the levels of the health care delivery system: (a) primary, (b) secondary, and (c) tertiary care. These levels represent systematically different contexts for family treatment; each has unique advantages and limitations. Translating treatment methods across levels can be hazardous because of differences in contexts. We argue that delineating the contextual levels of family mental health care can encourage more fruitful and respectful collaboration among the diverse professional groups working with families.     

Family treatment of a borderline personality

This article discusses family therapy as a complementary treatment modality with the adult borderline patient. According to theory, the separation-individuation process is the underlying conflict of the pathological adaptation of the adult borderline patient and the goal of therapy is often considered to be separation of the patient from the family. Family treatment can facilitate the process of separation-individuation as it allows for the concomitant enhancement of the separateness of the parents. Family treatment can also reduce anxiety about separation, minimize the development of a premature intense transference, and prevent the battle for control between the therapist and the parents. Moreover, the process of the family treatment itself, described in this article, reflects the developmental phase of symbiosis, followed by the subphases of the separation-individuation process, i.e., differentiation, practicing and rapprochement, with the groundwork being laid for moving into object constancy. The ego functioning of all family members has the potential of being enhanced and strengthened through this process.     

Disrespect,Tension, and Togetherness-Apartness in Marriage*

For a study of marital togetherness and apartness, the partners in 136 couples completed questionnaires. The role of disrespect, a factor that might serve as an abrasive in marriage, was investigated. Couples above average on disrespect spent more time apart on days when there had been a big fight, considerable annoyance, or anger; couples below average on disrespect spent more time together on days when there had been a big fight, considerable annoyance, or anger. This finding suggests that therapy for couples with a presenting problem of insufficient contact may first have to deal with abrasive factors.     

FAMILY ASSESSMENT IN CHILD CUSTODY DISPUTES*

This paper has operationalized family systems theory to explicate the interfacing dynamics between family dissolution and child custody disputes. The authors suggest that clinical assessment and intervention in these matters which focus solely on individual and marital, or child dimensions, fail to recognize the powerful influences of systemic family process. A family assessment model, evolved from clinical work with over 200 court-referred custody cases, is described. The model involves a cross-sex therapy team with each member responsible for a specific family subsystem. The role of each therapist and the functioning of the team is outlined. Specific criteria for determining custody recommendations are identified based on patterns of family process and dissolution.     

The development of gender identity: Making sense of the world

A Review of Gender Identities and Education: The Impact of Starting School , by Barbara Lloyd and Gerald Duveen.