Narrative Manhood Acts: Batterer Intervention Program Graduates' Tragic Relationships

We analyze how twenty graduates of a Batterer Intervention Program constructed autobiographical stories about their relationships with women they assaulted. We focus on the presentation of gendered selves via narrative manhood acts, which we define as self‐narratives that signify membership in the category “man” and the possession of a masculine self. We also show how graduates constructed self‐narratives as a genre that was oppositional to organizational narratives: rather than adopting the program's domestic violence melodrama or preferred conversion narrative, graduates used the larger culture—especially “bitch” imagery and sometimes racialized discourse—to construct tragedies. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of narrative analysis for research on batterers' accounts and manhood acts, and also shows how oppositional genre‐making can be a method to resist organizational narratives.     

Does Observed Conflict Recovery Play a Role in Adolescent Dating Aggression?

In a study of conflict recovery and adolescent dating aggression, 14- to 18-year-old couples (N = 209 dyads) participated in a 1-hr observational assessment. Negative behavior was observed during conflict-evoking “hot” tasks and in a “cooldown” task. Physical and psychological dating aggression were assessed via questionnaires. Negative behavior measured in the cooldown task was not associated with dating aggression after controlling for carryover effects of negativity from the hot to cooldown tasks. Moreover, cooldown negativity moderated the associations of hot task negativity and dating aggression. Actor and partner effects were disentangled via dyadic data analyses. Given the paucity of observational studies of dating aggression, our findings are an important contribution to the literature and in need of replication and extension.     

Teachers' Representations on Adoptive Families and Educational Practices: New Challenges in Teachers' Preparation

In Italy, as in Europe, the number of internationally adopted school-aged children is increasing. The school is the first place where they can meet their new context, enabling good achievement of the whole integration and adoption processes. The research uses a qualitative method to explore the representations and the strategies that guide the educational work of 268 teachers of eight primary schools in relation to the adoptive family. ATLAS.ti 7.0 software was used. The results show an ambivalent representation of the adoptive family, which is reflected in the contents and strategy used by teachers to address issues of adoption.     

Economic Self-Sufficiency Among Divorced Women: Impact of Depression,Abuse, and Efficacy

Understanding how to promote economic self-sufficiency, or the ability to sustain oneself financially, has important implications for programs that help support divorced and separated women and for government agencies hoping to reduce reliance on government aid. The following analysis focuses specifically on divorced and separated women utilizing services from agencies geared toward helping people with financial, career, and other forms of assistance. This study identifies factors that promote or hinder economic self-sufficiency among divorced women. Regression analysis indicates that age, economic self-efficacy, abuse, and difficulty living on income are important indicators of economic self-sufficiency.     

Hidden in the Margins: A Qualitative Examination of What Professionals in the Domestic Violence Field Know About Transgender Domestic Violence

This qualitative study endeavored to examine the views and experiences of individuals who work with, and those who consider issues related to, transgender domestic violence in an effort to determine what (if anything) is known about this construct. Using a phenomenological approach, ten interviews were conducted with individuals who professionally confront transgender intimate partner violence. Overall, the study found that many individuals from different disciplines were in agreement concerning the paucity of resources for this population, and future research would benefit from quantitative research to understand more about transgender domestic abuse. Furthermore, criminal justice organizations should take active steps within their own agencies to appropriately address this problem for transgender victims of abuse. Finally, all of the participants stated their beliefs that transgender domestic abuse is a very serious problem and believed that more research should be done to better understand it before it can be addressed.     

Child Protection and Child Custody

Abstract

A child'S need for safety should trump any and all other considerations in family law. Child-service agencies cannot be expected to both promote reunification and child protection simultaneously. The author asserts that legislatures need to change the laws such that it is clear to the court that children come first and that safety is paramount. Although visitation between child and parent is considered to be a fundamental right, this right can and should be abrogated when initial evidence shows that such contact poses a risk of danger to the emotional or physical health and safety of the child. A new and specially trained court dealing only with issues of family violence and abuse may need to be considered.     

Fighting Social Problems with Information

ABSTRACT

Computer technology enables communities to synthesize large, complex, and disparate datasets into a centralized database. Such integration can provide a community with essential information on rates, trends, and risk factors associated with a particular social problem. This article will discuss the development and implementation of the Violence Information Network, a community database devoted to the surveillance of violence and its related factors. The VIN development is presented as a prototype on which communities can design information databases tailored to their specific needs. The challenges encountered during development are discussed. Future directions for the VIN are also highlighted.     

中国主要出口商品汇率传递的国别比较——以美国和日本为例

在计算研究中国主要出口商品的年平均单价和名义有效汇率指数的基础上,控制国内生产者价格,实证分析了中国10种主要出口商品价格在美国和日本市场上的汇率传递情况.对时间序列数据的分析表明:中国出口到美国市场上的大部分研究商品价格的汇率传递程度相对于日本市场低;中国出口到美国和日本两个市场上的研究商品中,工业品的汇率传递程度较低,而农产品及其制成品的汇率传递程度有高有低,差别较大.     

Measuring what matters and guiding policy: An evaluation of the Genuine Progress Indicator

This article examines the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), which seeks to respond to the shortcomings of GDP and the main contemporary challenges to welfare. As a monetary indicator, the GPI is uniquely suited to evaluate the impact of policy proposals and its dashboard-like features are able to track changes in contributing variables. While the GPI is currently not available for use in cross-country analyses, it will be measurable using a standard methodology once certain data issues have been resolved and a consensus is reached on GPI 2.0. Currently, the main obstacles to its widespread use are lack of political leadership and institutional support.     

Fathers who use domestic violence: Organisational capacity building and practice development

It is well established in the literature that fathers who use violence harm women and children. Statutory child protection workers and other human service professionals now face strong injunctions to work with these men. However, insufficient attention has been given to considering the processes for intervening with fathers who use violence and the organisational context to support workers in refocusing their practice. Workers lack clear guidance, and organisations lack specific understandings of how to support workers in this complex area of practice. Australian research used co‐design with professionals in Communities of Practice supported by the Safe & Together Institute to explore the organisational context required to work with fathers who use violence. This paper presents findings of qualitative data gathered from surveys, focus groups, and ethnographic notes of 30 Community of Practice sessions. Working together, practitioners and researchers identified four essential elements to support organisational development and improve practice: leadership by senior managers; recognition that domestic violence work needs to strengthen collaborative working; extensive training, supervising, and coaching; and enhanced worker safety. Worker perspectives are critical in developing practice principles and identifying organisational mechanisms that support practitioners to work safely and effectively with fathers who use violence.