Sexuality,Technology, and Sexual Scandal in The Good Wife

Inspired by the CBS drama The Good Wife, this article explores sexuality, new media, and scandal in contemporary American culture. Focusing on real life sex scandals as well as those fictionalized on the show, it argues that sexuality is lived and experienced in mediated terms. The Good Wife focalizes these understandings by concentrating on the experiences of the wronged wife, yet at the same time pushes back against the notion that sexual publicity can arrive at a “truth” of sex, using a literal language of negation and a visual language of barriers and blockages in order to make this case. By emphasizing the enigmatic qualities of personal desire and sexual exchange, The Good Wife reformulates silence as a strategy, transmuting it into an ethos of deliberate unknowability.     

Evaluating a multiple-family group access intervention for refugees with PTSD

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a multiple-family group in increasing access to mental health services for refugees with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study investigated a nine-session multiple-family group called Coffee and Families Education and Support with refugee families from Bosnia-Herzegovina in Chicago. Adults with PTSD (n = 197) and their families were randomly assigned to receive either the intervention or a control condition. The results indicated that a multiple-family group was effective in increasing access to mental health services and that depression and family comfort with discussing trauma mediated the intervention effect. Further well-designed studies of family interventions are needed for developing evidence-based interventions for refugee families.     

Suicide in Gaol: The Construction and Measurement of a Phenomenon

The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody has brought the issue of inmate death, especially suicide, to public attention. This paper examines theoretical accounts and existing research on suicide during imprisonment. Current international findings on the characteristics of inmate suicide are discussed and compared with the findings from the first Australian study of death in prison. It is argued that the extant research on suicide presents a fragmented and incomplete account of the phenomenon. Further, the theoretical construction of suicide within international and local research and the methodological approach to its measurement contribute to the obfuscation of specific aspects of the phenomenon. In particular, attention is deflected from the policies and procedures within the institution. Suggested remedies for reducing the incidence of inmate suicide are thus constrained by the initial construction of the issue. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges posed for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. This is contrasted with the need for comprehensive accounts of death in custody which apply to all inmates.     

Television Reports of Forensic Hypnosis: What's on the News?

This paper presents a content analysis of television news and current affairs reports of forensic hypnosis focusing on the information conveyed about the nature of hypnosis, the introduction of hypnosis to criminal investigation, the impact of hypnosis on memory, the usefulness of hypnosis in criminal investigation, and the recognition of potential problems associated with forensic hypnosis. Findings indicate that the reports conveyed simplistic notions about hypnosis and memory, and were encouraging and uncritical in their presentation of forensic hypnosis. The research is discussed in terms of the possible influence of the reports on public opinion.     

Predictors of substance use and family therapy outcome among physically and sexually abused runaway adolescents

There is a dearth of research that examines the impact of family systems therapy on problems among sexually and/or physically abused youth. Given this void, differential outcome and predictors of substance use change were evaluated for abused, as compared with nonabused, runaway adolescents who were randomly assigned to family therapy or treatment as usual. Abused adolescents reported lower family cohesion at baseline, although both abused and nonabused adolescents showed similar substance use reductions. Utilizing hierarchical linear modeling, we found that substance use changed with change in cohesion over time. These findings link change in family functioning to change in adolescent substance use, supporting fiamily systems theory. Findings suggest that a potent target of intervention involves focus on increasing positive communication interactions.     

Indian Family Exception Doctrine: still losing children despite the Indian Child Welfare Act

Since 1982, the Indian Family Exception Doctrine has been circumventing the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. Although not clearly defined, the doctrine has been pivotal in several American Indian child welfare cases in the United States. Over time, the doctrine continues to evolve and self-define. Several phrases have become part of the definition, such as Indian family and culture. This doctrine presents major concerns and implications in the field of child welfare.     

A Note on SERVQUAL Reliability and Validity in Information System Service Quality Measurement

Today's information system function includes a large service component. Recent research has examined the SERVQUAL instrument as a possible measure to assist managers and researchers in evaluating service quality. To further examine the appropriateness of the SERVQUAL measure, a large industry sample serves to verify the anticipated structure of the instrument. In addition, a high correlation with a common measure of user satisfaction indicates that the SERVQUAL metric may indeed represent accurate views of user perception. As such, the SERVQUAL instrument can serve as a useful indicator for information system managers attempting to identify areas of needed service improvement and to researchers seeking a success measure of information system services.