Interviewing child witnesses within Memorandum guidelines. A survey of police officers in England and Wales

Since 1991, the evidence‐in‐chief of child witnesses in United Kingdom (UK) criminal proceedings can be an initial video‐recorded interview between a police officer/social worker and the child witness. This paper reports on the results of a survey of the attitudes and opinions of police officers who conduct video interviews with child witnesses in 18 police forces in England and Wales. Notably, officers' views were sought on the conduct of interviews. This builds on previous surveys which have focused on general views of videotaping children's evidence (for example, Davies and others 1995) and training issues (for example, Davies, Marshall and Robertson, 1998). Our findings support previous reports in that police officers view current provisions for child witnesses as a step in the right direction (Davies and others, 1995) but there are some reported limitations for example, gaps in training (Davies, Marshall and Robertson, 1998). In addition, we highlight the difficulties that can arise in relation to language use and some differences of opinion amongst officers (for example, with respect to the use of props in interviewing). Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulation of stationary Gaussian vector fields

In earlier work we described a circulant embedding approach for simulating scalar-valued stationary Gaussian random fields on a finite rectangular grid, with the covariance function prescribed. Here, we explain how the circulant embedding approach can be used to simulate Gaussian vector fields. As in the scalar case, the simulation procedure is theoretically exact if a certain non-negativity condition is satisfied. In the vector setting, this exactness condition takes the form of a nonnegative definiteness condition on a certain set of Hermitian matrices. The main computational tool used is the Fast Fourier Transform. Consequently, when implemented appropriately, the procedure is highly efficient, in terms of both CPU time and storage.     

Seeking Justice: The Strategy of the National Social Action Program

Past efforts at law reform have taken years of consciousness raising. The resulting legislation has been ineffective in reducing men's sexual violence against women and children, in large part because most women are understandably reluctant to go to court. This reluctance comes from recognition of the fundamental failures of the legal doctrine. The judicial response to men's sexual violence can be reformed through the use of existing procedures (e.g., prosecution objections and appeals). This paper describes 3 local actions to start a fast and effective reform of the legal doctrine: Documenting the Outrageous, Challenging the Legal System, and Supporting Victims.     

The earnings of men and remarriage

Focusing on the effects of men's earnings, this paper analyzes remarriage. Previous empirical research has not established what theoretical aspects of men's earnings are important. Here, data for Wisconsin high school graduates that include male respondents' Social Security earnings history are analyzed. The results indicate that absolute earnings, earnings instability, and earnings relative to peers have minimal effects on a man's probability of remarriage, but that permanent income positively affects remarriage. However, studies of marital disruption often find permanent income is not as important as relative earnings measures. Concluding remarks speculate about the meaning of these contrasting findings for the economics of marriage.     

Adolescent Girls' Alcohol Use as a Risk Factor for Relationship Violence

This research examined the relation between female adolescents' general alcohol use and their experience of relationship violence. This relation was examined both cross‐sectionally and longitudinally, controlling for the proximal (i.e., situational) effects of alcohol use. One hundred and six female high school students reported on their experiences of physical violence and sexual coercion by boyfriends, general patterns of alcohol use, victimization experiences while drinking, and hypothesized covariates including demographic and relationship variables and illicit drug use. Variables were assessed at 2 time points 4 months apart. Results indicated that general alcohol use was related to victimization both cross‐sectionally and longitudinally, but different findings emerged for different forms of victimization (physical‐only victimization vs. both physical and sexual victimization).     

Power,policy and paperwork: The bureaucratic representation of interests

This article compares how five government documents evaluate a proposed dam in Central Arizona. One of the consequences of this dam would be to force a small Native American community from their ancestral land. Spanning almost forty years, these documents illustrate changes in how a federal agency legitimated these projects and their negative social impacts to different audiences. These records are used here to argue for the importance of careful textual analysis of bureaucratic paperwork, as an additional form of understanding the multiple dimensions of social, economic, and political power over disempowered groups.     

The Road to Gang Membership: Characteristics of Male Gang and Nongang Members from Ages 10 to 14

This study examined the stability of belonging to a gang in early adolescence, the behaviour profiles, family characteristics, and friendships of nongang and gang members. The subjects in the present study were originally part of a larger sample of boys. One hundred and forty‐two boys who had a complete data set at ages 11, 12, 13, and 14 were selected for the present study. Loglinear analyses indicated that gang membership was stable from ages 13 to 14, but not at earlier ages. Boys were divided into three groups: stable gang members (children who belonged to a gang at ages 13 and 14); unstable gang members (children who belonged to a gang at either age 13 or 14) and nongang members. Repeated analyses of variance indicated that stable gang members had significantly higher scores than nongang members on teacher ratings of fighting behaviour, hyperactivity, inattention and oppositional behaviour, and self‐reported delinquent activities (drug and alcohol use, stealing and vandalism). Peers rated gang members as more aggressive than nongang members. The results are discussed from a developmental perspective.     

Effects of social support from various sources on depression in elderly persons

Although global measures of social support demonstrate significant effects on psychological and physical well-being, the differential significance of various support sources is largely unknown. The present study examines differences in the effects of functional expressive support by source on depressive symptoms. This approach is contrasted with network interaction studies of elderly persons, which do not measure functional support but do suggest that friends are distinctly significant. Spouse, friends, and adult children were found to rank in descending order of importance; relatives show no effect. Low support may have stronger effects than unavailability of sources. Effects of supports and stressors are not conditioned by age, sex, or widowhood. Implications of findings and further research needs are discussed.     

Outside Expert Knowledge; An interview with Michael White

Michael White is an internationally renowned family therapist from Dulwich Centre in South Australia. In this interview, Michael discusses his ideas and experiences covering a wide range of topics including the re-authoring process, changing roles of therapists and persons in therapy, the reflecting team, training, and the future of family therapy.