Police interviews with vulnerable people alleging sexual assault: Probing inconsistency and questioning conduct

Reporting sexual assault to the authorities is fraught with difficulties, and these are compounded when the complainant is hindered by an intellectual disability (ID). In a study of 19 U.K. police interviews with complainants with ID alleging sexual assault and rape, we found that most interviewing officers on occasion pursued lines of questioning which not only probed inconsistencies (which is mandated by their guidelines), but implicitly questioned complainants’ conduct (which is not). We detail two main conversational practices which imply disbelief and disapproval of the complainants’ accounts and behaviour, and whose pragmatic entailments may pose problems for complainants with ID. Such practices probably emerge from interviewers’ foreshadowing of the challenges likely to be made in court by defence counsel. As a policy recommendation, we suggest providing early explanation for the motivation for such questioning, and avoiding certain question formats (especially how come you did X? and why didn't you do Y?).     

The Impact of Family Transitions on Child Fostering in Rural Malawi

Despite the frequency of divorce and remarriage across much of sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about what these events mean for the living arrangements of children. We use longitudinal data from rural Malawi to examine the effects of family transitions on the prevalence and incidence of child fostering, or children residing apart from their living parents. We find that between 7 % and 15 % of children aged 3–14 are out-fostered over the two-year intersurvey period. Although divorce appears to be a significant driver of child fostering in the cross-sectional analysis, it is not significantly associated with the incidence of out-fostering. In contrast, maternal remarriage has both a lagged and an immediate effect on the incidence of out-fostering. Furthermore, the likelihood of out-fostering is even higher among children whose mother remarried and had a new child during the intersurvey period. Using longitudinal data collected from living mothers rather than from children’s current foster homes offers new insights into the reasons children are sent to live with others besides their parents.     

Experiences of rural male caregivers of older adults with their informal support networks

More male caregivers are assuming primary caregiving roles for older adults with chronic health conditions. One of the main sources of support for many caregivers is the assistance that is provided by members of their informal support network. Little is known about the relationship between male caregivers and their informal support networks. This qualitative study examines the experience of male caregivers with their informal support networks, specifically looking at two phenomena: (1) Perceptions of the male caregivers about the willingness of their informal support networks to provide caregiving assistance and (2) Willingness of the male caregivers to ask their informal support networks for assistance. Twenty male caregivers were recruited across a rural Midwestern state. Each male caregiver engaged in two interviews that lasted between 60 and 120 minutes. Seven themes emerged from the data about the male caregivers experience with their informal support networks. Results from this study have implications for geriatric health professionals who work with male caregivers to obtain the necessary amount of caregiving assistance.     

Internet Paradox Revisited

Kraut et al. (1998) reported negative effects of using the Internet on social involvement and psychological well-being among new Internet users in 1995–96. We called the effects a "paradox" because participants used the Internet heavily for communication, which generally has positive effects. A 3-year follow-up of 208 of these respondents found that negative effects dissipated. We also report findings from a longitudinal survey in 1998–99 of 406 new computer and television purchasers. This sample generally experienced positive effects of using the Internet on communication, social involvement, and well-being. However, consistent with a "rich get richer" model, using the Internet predicted better outcomes for extraverts and those with more social support but worse outcomes for introverts and those with less support.     

Long-term care in Spain: Difficulties in professionalizing services

The aim of this article is to analyze the difficulties in professionalizing the long-term care system in Spain. Since 2006, the new Spanish law has recognized care as a subjective right, and regulations are being designed to create a framework for its professionalization. Nowadays, family remains the most important group of providers who care for their elders, and women remain the main informal caregivers. Why do families resist using public long-term care services and professional carers included in the new law? The hypothesis highlights sociocultural factors as an obstacle to professionalization of long-term care services in addition to political and economic factors. The results show qualitative data about expectations, preferences, and discourses that women caregivers have in relation to their responsibility. The empirical material includes 25 interviews with different profiles of caregivers and six focus groups with family caregivers. The article suggests that the Spanish ideal of care is a problem for the professionalization of services because the family remains as the main provider of care—without specific skills, knowledge, and abilities.     

Health Outcomes and Volunteering: The Moderating Role of Religiosity

In this paper, we examine whether and what extent public and private forms of religiosity act as moderators of the volunteering and well-being relationship in mid- to later-life. We use data from the second wave of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (n = 1,805). We analyzed the relationships between volunteering and indicators of well-being (self-rated physical and mental health), and tested the moderating effects of public and private religiosity on the volunteering and well-being relationship. Our findings suggest that salubrious effects of volunteering on the self-perceived physical and mental health of middle- aged and older- aged adults varied by their participation in different forms of religiosity. In particular, volunteers who engaged in more public forms of religiosity reported significantly better physical and mental health than non-volunteers who engaged in these forms of religiosity. In other words, individuals who were actively engaged public forms of religious practices and who volunteered, maximized the associated health benefits.     

Associations between hope and trajectories of critical consciousness among U.S. youth of color

We examined associations between hope as an internal asset that supports positive youth development, and growth trajectories of three critical consciousness components. Using five waves of data collected over the course of high school (N = 618), we modeled growth trajectories of awareness of inequity (critical reflection), a sense of agency about taking sociopolitical action (critical agency), and behaviors targeting systems of oppression (critical action). Hope was highest among those with high trajectories of critical agency and critical action. Clear associations with hope emerged at the last time point for critical reflection, suggesting that sustained growth in critical reflection is associated with hope. When supporting the critical consciousness development of youth of color, concurrent support for hope may be instrumental.     

Fragmented selves in late modernity: making sociological sense of multiple personalities

Sociological responses to the increase in recent years of psychiatric reports of multiple personality (latterly redefined as Dissociative Identity Disorder) have focused upon its discursive production as a diagnostic category. Drawing on life-history interviews with survivors of extreme childhood abuse - some of whom defined themselves as having 'multiple personalities' - this paper suggests that an adequate sociological account needs to combine analysis of the popular and clinical discourses of dissociation/multiplicity, with an understanding of the relationship between these and particular individual auto/biographies. The production of a narrative of fragmented subjectivity is considered as an active engagement with previously denied and silenced autobiographical experience and with the dominant contemporary discourse that allows for the episodic denial of self-reflexive selfhood. In the light of DID diagnoses being largely applied to/adopted by women, questions are raised con-cerning the possible impact of the adoption of a multiple identity on individual integrity and autonomy.     

DEMAND/WITHDRAW INTERACTION PATTERNS BETWEEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF BATTERERS AND THEIR SPOUSES

The investigation of subtypes of violent men could provide invaluable information to researchers and clinicians. In earlier studies, investigators examined whether subtypes of male batterers could be identified based on physiological markers in combination with observational and self-report perspectives. In a sample of batterers and their wives, they found a physiological marker that discriminated between two groups of violent men on several interesting dimensions. To highlight the importance of studying batterer typologies, the present study examined differences in marital interaction patterns across the two groups of batterers. Analyses revealed clinically relevant patterns of interaction in the two groups, and effect sizes indicating the possibility of differences between the two types of batterers. Implications for future research as well as therapy are discussed.