What progress has been made in meeting the needs of seriously maltreated children? The course of 200 cases through the Boston Juvenile Court

OBJECTIVES: The study examined child, parent, and case characteristics in a sample of 200 cases of serious child maltreatment brought before the Boston Juvenile Court (BJC) on Care and Protection petitions in 1994. Whether recent changes in Massachusetts law have been effective in reducing delays in adjudication and helping children achieve permanent placements more quickly was also examined. METHOD: Data were abstracted from court records by the research team. The 200 cases were followed prospectively for 4 years. Retrospective data on the families' previous involvement with the protective service system were also abstracted from the records. Data from the 1994 cases were compared to that obtained from a sample of cases brought before the BJC in 1985-1986. RESULTS: Children permanently removed from parental custody in the 1994 sample required less time post-disposition to achieve permanent placements. However, overall, time frames for the 1994 cases remained remarkably similar to those in 1985-1986: children were in the protective service system an average of 5 years; cases required an average of 1.6 years in court; and half of the children permanently removed from parental custody were still in "temporary" foster care at 4-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Although some improvements have occurred since 1985-1986, the system still fails to meet the needs of seriously maltreated children to achieve permanent placements promptly. The implications of the findings for system reform are discussed.     

Central auditory processing ability in children with ADHD with and without learning disabilities

A few studies have shown more central auditory processing deficits in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than in nondisabled children. Because these studies failed to screen participants with ADHD for learning disabilities (LD), it is not clear whether these deficits are correlates of ADHD or LD or both. In the present study, the central auditory processing ability of children with ADHD, ADHD with LD, and no disabilities was examined. Results indicated lower central auditory processing ability, and significant correlations between reading and ADHD symptoms and reading and central auditory processing ability in the ADHD with LD group compared with the other two groups. These findings suggest that central auditory processing deficits are more likely to be associated with LD than ADHD.     

Dynamic prediction characteristics of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory

OBJECTIVES: Risk measures are commonly used to evaluate outcomes in child abuse prevention and intervention programs. This study examined whether pre-intervention to post-intervention changes on the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAP) Abuse Scale corresponded to actual changes in risk for future reports of maltreatment and evaluated the validity of several algorithms for classifying clinically significant change. METHOD: Participants in the study were 459 parents participating in any one of 27 community-based family preservation and family support programs. Most parents were low-income mothers with a variety of social risk indicators, about a third of whom would be classified as high-risk by the CAP Abuse Scale. Participants were administered the CAP at program enrollment, then at completion of the intervention (median time=150 days), then followed for an average of approximately 2 years for future official maltreatment reports. Dynamic predictive validity of the CAP Abuse Scale was modeled by comparing survival models using a time-dependent structure of pre- and post-intervention scores to identically structured models using only a pre-intervention score. RESULTS: Pre-intervention CAP Abuse Scale scores demonstrated incremental future predictive validity. However, score changes failed to correspond to changes in likelihood of future abuse. Models using pre-intervention scores only were more predictive than time-dependent score models, and pre-intervention scores were better predictors than post-intervention scores of post-intervention CPS referrals. Common algorithms for classifying clinically significant change yielded results that could be counter-intuitive and misleading. For example, participants classified as improved on these algorithms were actually at similar or even higher risk than those classified as unchanged or worse. CONCLUSIONS: The results strongly supported the static predictive validity of the CAP and the use of the CAP for screening purposes. The results did not support the dynamic predictive validity of the CAP. Results of exploratory analyses suggested the possibility that the changes observed on the CAP Abuse Scale reflected changes in subscales assessing subjective distress or parenting attitudes, which may be markers for initial risk but when changed, do not necessarily translate into actual changes in future maltreatment behavior. Although replication and extension are needed before drawing firm conclusions, the current study raises questions about the common practice of using risk instruments as proxy measures for child maltreatment risk in intervention and prevention programs.     

Victimization and problems of behavior. Two components of profile types of runaway adolescents

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the relationship between two explanatory factors connected to the phenomena of runaways and the homeless among adolescents: behavioral problems of youths and parental violence to which they are subjected. The study demonstrates that these two factors are independently related to the different categories of homeless and runaway adolescents. METHODOLOGY: The data was collected from 130 adolescents (12 to 17 years of age) who were runaways for short periods on a recurring basis. Two subgroups were formed: Group A consisted of 79 adolescents who did not exhibit behavioral problems; Group B consisted of the other 51 who did exhibit them. The two groups had certain similar family characteristics (income levels, parents' occupations, structure and stability of the family). RESULTS: The bivariate analyses reveal significant differences between the two groups of runaways relating to: (1) gender, (2) a diagnosed conduct disorder, (3) affiliations with deviant peers, and (4) experiences of parental violence. The discriminant analysis demonstrates that these four variables clearly differentiate the two groups of runaways and predict the appropriate group membership for 84% of the cases. Therefore, the members of Group B have a higher probability of being diagnosed as having a conduct disorder, being male, and associating with delinquent peers. This group had not experienced a higher level of parental violence. The opposite is true for the members of Group A. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that parental violence and behavioral problems are variables that are independently related to the defined categories of runaways. Therefore, these variables do not constitute, as some thinkers have claimed, the components of a unique dynamic able to explain the phenomenon of the runaway. Our results vitiate the doubts sometimes expressed by researchers about the importance of parental violence to the phenomenon of adolescent runaways.     

Major findings from the Canadian incidence study of reported child abuse and neglect

OBJECTIVE: To present key findings from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Maltreatment (CIS) in sufficient detail to provide a basis for international comparisons in terms of forms and severity of maltreatment and the age and sex of victims. METHOD: A survey conducted in a random sample of 51 child welfare service areas across Canada tracked child maltreatment investigations conducted during the months of October to December 1998, produced a national sample of 7672 child maltreatment investigations. Information was collected directly from investigating workers on child and family background, perpetrator characteristics, severity and types of maltreatment and service and court outcomes of investigations. RESULTS: Forty-five percent of investigations were substantiated and in a further 22% of investigations maltreatment remained suspected. Primary reasons for investigation were physical abuse (31%), sexual abuse (11%), neglect (40%), and emotional maltreatment (19%). A larger proportion of physical abuse cases are isolated incidents involving older children and are more likely to lead to injuries. Sexual abuse, neglect and emotional maltreatment involve more chronic situations with children showing signs of emotional harm. Rates of investigated and substantiated maltreatment are lower in Canada compared to the United States, but are higher than rates reported in Australia. CONCLUSIONS: The CIS provides much needed information for developing a better understanding of the profile and needs of children and families investigated by child welfare authorities in Canada. The study also serves as a point from which international comparisons can be made.     

博物馆之夜

战争令牌转瞬间,汉堡包和土豆条在嘴里味同嚼蜡。远处的赫兹劳鲍特里仿佛在龇牙咧嘴地狞〔nínɡ〕笑。几个阿兹特克人打开了笼子。“他们现在就要动手吗?”我问。“现在不,所有的程序都必须尽善尽美。”瓦尔迪兹回答,“你们得穿戴得体面点。”“嗨!这是我最棒的牛仔裤了,衬衣也是最好的。”贾森说。瓦尔迪兹不理他。最后我们都爬出了笼子。“事实上你们该以此为荣。”瓦尔迪兹说,“许多被献祭的阿兹特克人都是自愿地高高兴兴地奉献自己,因为他们所想的全是世界那一头等待着他们的事情。”“我可不想有此荣幸。”贾尼丝说。瓦尔迪兹翻翻眼珠…     

GA and PSO culled hybrid technique for economic dispatch problem with prohibited operating zones

This paper presents an efficient and reliable genetic algorithm (GA) based particle swarm optimization (PSO) tech- nique (hybrid GAPSO) for solving the economic dispatch (ED) problem in power systems. The non-linear characteristics of the generators, such as prohibited operating zones, ramp rate limits and non-smooth cost functions of the practical generator operation are considered. The proposed hybrid algorithm is demonstrated for three different systems and the performance is compared with the GA and PSO in terms of solution quality and computation efficiency. Comparison of results proved that the proposed algo- rithm can obtain higher quality solutions efficiently in ED problems. A comprehensive software package is developed using MATLAB.     

Infant emotional and cortisol responses to goal blockage

This study examined the relation of infant emotional responses of anger and sadness to cortisol response in 2 goal blockage situations. One goal blockage with 4-month-old infants (N = 56) involved a contingency learning procedure where infants' learned response was no longer effective in reinstating an event. The other goal blockage with 6-month-old infants (N = 84) involved the still face procedure where infants' reactions to their mothers' lack of responsivity were not effective in reestablishing interaction. For both blockages, sadness was related to cortisol response, though anger was not--the greater the sadness, the higher the cortisol response. This differential relation is consistent with other evidence indicating the more positive role of anger as opposed to sadness in overcoming an obstacle.     

博物馆之夜

上期回顾就在阿兹特克人要用我们祭祀的危急时刻,我在卡拉的配合下,成功地夺了战争令牌,逃到了博物馆的一楼。在这里,我们竟然意外地遇到了马斯顿博士!老师来了“马斯顿博士!”我叫道,“诺福克博士在哪儿?”马斯顿博士猛地回过头,他眨着眼睛,注视着我们,突然朝问讯台那一边的楼梯跑去。“追上他!”我大喊一声。“托尼!卡拉!贾森!贾尼丝!”这时,卡尔森小姐和同学们走进了博物馆。跟他们一起来的还有个警察。他们一看见我们就全都朝我们跑过来。“哇,终于得救了!”我叹了一口气。“这回是真的了。”卡拉说。“原谅我,都是我不好,是我劝大家来…     

美国营利性高等教育的特征

过去,教育与营利似乎是一对相斥的概念教育属于公立机构,通过政府财政预算获得经费,而营利活动则属于企业行为。在新的经济和社会环境下,这种格局开始发生变化,一方面部分大学组织的性质发生了变化,营利性机构渐渐涉足过去公立机构的职能范围;另一方面公立大学不再完全依靠政府拨款,开始向学生收取学费,并且从事一些营利性的活动。《民办教育促进法》在制定过程中,也无法绕开教育与营利性这对矛盾。为了解决《教育法》对教育机构属性的规定与现实情况之间的矛盾,《民办教育促进法》对于教育机构的营利问题进行了模糊处理,“合理回报”就是妥协的结果。目前人们在“教育产业化”认识问题上依然存在着较大的分歧。在国外虽然没有“教育产业化”这样的提法,但遇到的问题却是相同或相似的,因此高等教育市场化、商品化、私有化等是学术界十分关心的问题。特别是营利性高等教育机构的出现和迅速发展,更引起人们的高度关注。为此,本刊特别组织了这次笔谈,邀请国内外研究者分别从各个角度发表自己的看法。