The mediating role of stigmatization in the mental health of adolescent victims of sexual violence in Eastern Congo

This study aims to explore the factors that explain the mental sequelae of war-related sexual violence and focuses in particular on the role of stigmatization. Drawing on a large-scale quantitative survey undertaken in the war-affected region of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, we analyze how stigmatization mediates the mental health impact of sexual violence on adolescent girls who were victims of rape. Twenty-two secondary schools were randomly selected out of a stratified sample in Bunia, Eastern Congo. In a cross-sectional, population-based survey, 1,305 school-going adolescent girls aged 11–23 completed self-report measures assessing war-related traumatic events, experiences of sexual violence, stigmatization, and mental health symptoms. Of the 1,305 participants, 38.2% (n = 499) reported experiences of sexual violence. Victims of sexual violence reported more war-related traumatic events and more stigmatization experiences. Several hierarchical regression analyses examined the mediating impact of stigmatization on the relationship between sexual violence and mental health outcomes, thereby controlling for sociodemographics (age, parental availability, and socioeconomic status) and war-related traumatic exposure. Our findings show that this stigmatization largely explains the mental health impact of sexual violence, in particular, on adolescent girls’ reported symptoms of depression (full mediation) and posttraumatic stress (avoidance and total PTSD: full mediation; hyperarousal: partial (40%) mediation). No evidence of mediation by stigmatization was found for symptoms of anxiety and intrusion. Stigmatization plays thus an important role in shaping the mental sequelae of sexual violence, a finding with major consequences for clinical practice.     

Preliminary impacts of the “Learning to Read in a Healing Classroom” intervention on teacher well-being in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

This article examines the impacts of a partial year of implementation of Learning to Read in a Healing Classroom (LRHC), a curricular and social-emotional teacher professional development intervention in southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on teacher professional well-being. Using a cluster-randomized control trial, this study assesses LRHC impacts on a sample of 346 teachers from 64 primary schools. We find statistically significant increases in job dissatisfaction for female teachers and increases in motivation for the least experienced teachers. Implications are discussed for the role of teacher professional development and well-being in improving education in low resource and conflict-affected contexts.     

Improving Primary Education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: End-Line Results of a Cluster-Randomized Wait-List Controlled Trial of Learning in a Healing Classroom

Abstract

We used a cluster-randomized, wait-list controlled trial to examine impacts of a school-based social-emotional learning intervention on Congolese students and teachers. Seventy-six school clusters in two groups (A and B) were randomized to treatment or control. The groups differed in geographic location, accessibility, exposure to violence, and external donor investment. We estimated causal impacts in Group A, tested whether those impacts were replicated in Group B, and conducted sensitivity analyses on the pooled sample. Pooled analyses had higher statistical power and were therefore more likely to represent the true average impacts of the program. Improvements in students’ perceptions of school predictability and in addition and subtraction, geometry, and reading performance were specific to Group B. Only the effect on addition and subtraction remained significant in the pooled analysis. Improvements in teachers’ sense of accomplishment were found in Group A and remained significant in the pooled analysis. We detected no impacts on other outcomes. School-based interventions embedding social-emotional learning principles into the academic curricula are a promising but not yet proven approach to improving children’s outcomes in low-income countries affected by war.     

论美国两党制度

文章论述了美国两党制形砀历史根源、现实基础和发展过程     

大学生课堂使用手机问题调查与引导路径——以南京某高校为例

随着经济的不断发展,手机功能的日益增多,大学生拥有智能化手机,并在课堂上使用已成常见现象.本文以南京某高校在校本科生为调查研究对象,采用问卷调查,对目前大学生课堂使用手机的基本情况作了分析,阐述了大学生课堂使用手机问题存在的原因,并有针对性地提出了加强对大学生课堂使用手机这一不良现象的教育策略和引导路径.     

“两德模式”与“一国两制”——德、中二战后在国家统一问题上的差异与不同道路

德中两国二战后其领土被分裂为两部分。由于被分裂的原因不同 ,完成统一的历史条件不同 ,制定的统一政策不同 ,最终形成了“两德模式”与“一国两制”。“两德模式”是特殊历史条件下的特殊产物 ,“一国两制”才是祖国统一的最佳选择。     

浅析父母子女关系的立法发展--兼议未成年子女权益的保护

父母子女关系的法律调整,经历了一个历史发展过程,其中对子女权益从漠视发展到尊重和维护.目前,在我国未成年子女的权益尚未得到有效的保护,因而必须加强司法保护的力度.     

Non-adult child supervision practices in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Researchers have paid little attention to non-adult child supervision and the prevalence and factors influencing this practice in low-income countries. A better understanding of this phenomenon is needed to inform the development and implementation of policies and interventions to enhance child supervision in those settings. This study explores the prevalence and factors associated with young children being home alone or under the care of another young child in Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Using the 2011–2012 Lao Social Indicator Survey (N = 10,740 for the subsample of ‘child was home alone’ and N = 10,539 for the subsample of ‘child cared by another child < 10 years of age’), multi-level Poisson regressions were performed to determine the number of days children under five years of age were home alone or under the care of another child younger than 10 years of age. Large discrepancies across provinces and between urban and rural populations within each province were found. Children living in rural areas were more than five times more likely to be unsupervised than children living in urban settings (incidence rate ratio, IRR 5.2; 95% CI: 1.8–15.2), and children living in rural areas were nearly twice more likely to be under the care of another child than children living in urban settings (IRR 1.9; 95% CI: 1.3–2.8). Age was also a common factor in explaining variation in both dependent variables. Policies aimed at facilitating adequate child care and supervision should consider rurality to increase children’s protection.     

A new age for child protection--General Comment 13: why it is important, how it was constructed, and what it intends?

Children continue to be subjected to high levels of violence (i.e., physical, psychological and sexual maltreatment) throughout the world. International concern about violence against children has increased significantly during the last decade. A Study on Violence Against Children, encouraged by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary General and reported in 2006, has become a rallying call to improve child protection. Child protection practices and systems have been judged to be generally inadequate and, in some cases, destructive. It is widely recognized that business as usual—more of the same—will not do. A General Comment (guide to fulfilling obligations) for Article 19, the central conceptualization of child protection of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, has the potential to promote a worldwide reformulation of child protection priorities, policies, and practices by virtue of the infusion of a child rights approach. It can be a mechanism for framing and promoting the transformational change needed – for a genuine paradigm shift. Here, explication is given for the historical context, rationale, centrality of child rights, process of development, holistic nature, and primary elements of General Comment 13 (GC13): The child's right to freedom from all forms of violence. GC13 embodies and champions a child rights approach to child protection entailing strong support for proactive primary prevention, promotion of good child care, and a commitment to secure the rights and well-being of all children. A child rights-based, comprehensive coordinating framework is recommended for the implementation of GC13.     

民国初期的文物保护政策与措施

民国初期,随着现代文物保护意识的逐渐形成,中国现代文物保护事业逐渐兴起。这一时期政府文物保护工作以颁发政策法规的形式迈出了中国现代文物保护事业的第一步,同时开始设立文物保护、管理机构,进行文物调查,限制文物出口,查办文物盗窃、盗运案件,为目后的文物保护工作奠定了基础。     

谈幼儿节能环保教育的途径

节能环保是21世纪的重要主题。在幼儿园实施节能环保教育,要渗透到教育管理与教学内容的日常行为中。幼儿园开展节能环保教育的主要途径有:创建绿色校园,营造育人氛围;敦促学生每日一行;自编环保教材,在课堂上培养学生探究能力;利用节假日加强学生的公益教育等。     

松下政经塾出身日本民主党年轻议员的外交理念评析

近年,从日本“政治家学校”——松下政经塾内走出了一群政治新星.这群年轻政治家们主要分布在民主党内,并在民主党领导层的新老交替过程中占据着越来越重要的地位.透析其外交主张与理念,对下一阶段中日关系的走向有着重要的参考意义.     

开展民国建筑旅游,丰富南京文化旅游内涵

南京是民国首都,留有大量民国文化遗存,而民国建筑是最为著名的文化遗存之一。本文以南京中山路为线,介绍了坐落在中山路两侧的民国建筑;通过对民国建筑遗存保护现状以及合理开发利用的分析,勾勒出南京民国建筑旅游线路的规划,以此促进对民国建筑遗存的进一步保护和适度利用,弘扬南京地方历史文化。     

Identifying and evaluating teachers’ knowledge in relation to child abuse and neglect: A qualitative study with Australian early childhood teachers

Child abuse and neglect are serious social problems that make extraordinary demands on teachers’ knowledge and professionalism. Yet the field of education has been slow to develop a discipline-specific knowledge base about child abuse and neglect for teachers and teacher education programmes and there is a paucity empirical research into teachers’ knowledge in relation to child abuse and neglect. This paper describes a qualitative study of eight purposively selected early childhood teachers. To identify and evaluate their child abuse and neglect knowledge, Grossman's [(1990). The making of a teacher: Teacher knowledge and teacher education. New York: Teachers College Press; (1995). Teachers’ knowledge. In L. W. Anderson (Ed.), International encyclopedia of teaching and teacher education (2nd ed., pp. 20–24). Tarrytown, NY: Pergamon] typology of teachers’ knowledge is used as an analytic framework on which to map the teachers’ interview data. Findings reveal that, in the absence of preservice and inservice education specifically about child abuse and neglect, early childhood teachers held and deployed knowledge in resourceful ways. They used, as a basis, their existing early childhood knowledge and adapted this knowledge by augmenting it with a range of personal and professional knowledge resources to fit their particular challenges and situations. This approach, however competent and innovative, also reveals shortfalls in knowledge. Implications of this research are drawn for child abuse and neglect curriculum development in initial and continuing teacher education including the case for specialist knowledge needed to establish teachers’ professional reputation for dealing capably with cases of child abuse and neglect.     

失败的革命?——中国革命意识形态中的辛亥革命评价

列宁、斯大林有关十月革命和民族与殖民地国家革命运动的理论,对于中国共产党人产生了两点深刻的影响:第一,为把中国民主革命划分为新旧两种类型的革命提供了理论依据;第二,为判断辛亥革命是软弱的资产阶级领导的失败的革命提供了理论前提。在1921年至1949年的28年间,在革命意识的支配下,共产党人大多对辛亥革命抱持批评态度。他们的批评意见,形成了根深蒂固的价值标准。这些看法,有合乎历史实际的性质,又带有根据革命形势需要,提出新的任务,指示新的方向的性质,从而与史学研究中的学术评价标准有相当差异。必须注意提高理论修养,科学地理解和运用这些看法,而不能照搬。新中国成立以来,一般认定辛亥革命属于旧民主主义革命;它有成功之处,又是一场失败的革命,这样的总体评价基本没有改变。笔者认为,辛亥革命是一场伟大的民族民主革命,是中国皇权专制社会向近代民主社会转折的关键,是中华民族走向民族独立、建设现代国家的重要开端,是亚洲民族解放运动的重大标志,是一个世界性的重大历史事件。对于辛亥革命失败论,应该进行必要的甄别和纠正。     

我国农村儿童权利保障问题研究

农村儿童,作为一个特殊的社会群体,受到了社会各方面的关注,但是农村儿童权利的保护在我国仍然存在很多方面的不足,如农村儿童的受教育权问题、监护权问题等。原因主要在于立法不够完善、执法不够到位、落后的传统观念。因此,完善相关的立法、加强执法、健全未成年人的监护制度是解决农村儿童权益保护问题的当务之急,而户籍制度的改革则是农村儿童权利保障问题得以解决的根本。