An examination of how youth understand their rights during the criminal process

In order for young people to meaningfully participate in the criminal justice system they must possess an understanding of their rights and legal procedures. To examine their understanding, 50 young people between the ages of 13-17 who received an extrajudicial sanction or were sentenced to probation, were recruited from the Finch Courthouse in Toronto, Ontario. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants regarding their understanding of their due process rights and their rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Youth who indicated involvement in plea bargaining were also asked about their experiences during this procedure. In addition, the present study examined youths' perceptions of power differences in their interactions with criminal justice officials working within an institution that has tremendous control over offenders' lives. The results indicate that while youth seem to have some understanding oftheir rights and legal procedures, they nevertheless feel ill-equipped to invoke their rights in an adult-led criminal justice system. Furthermore, while past literature has often conceptualized youth understanding based on age (e.g., Crawford & Bull, 2006) the findings of the present study demonstrate that while age plays some role, the lack of power experienced by youth vis-a-vis adults, and specifically criminal justice professionals, has the most bearing on the inability of youth to exercise their rights.

Physical access for persons with disabilities

For persons with disabilities, the activities that able-bodied people take for granted can be major, often insurmountable challenges. Attempting to enter a restaurant for lunch with friends can result in lengthy and adversarial litigation if the facility is not accessible to a person with a disability or other mobility impairment. This litigation would be initiated after the individual was effectively refused service; a refusal based on hislher personal physical characteristics. If a shopping mall is not equipped with "access amenities", then the disabled person may be excluded from shopping there and thus exercising consumer freedom. If workplaces are not equipped to accommodate the access needs of persons with disabilities, then those people are effectively barred from gainful employment there. If a municipal goveniment building is inaccessible to disabled persons, then they may be excluded from participating in council meetings. These are all activities that the majority of the population enjoys as a matter of course, in that they represent the functions of a free citizen in a free society. If a person is excluded from such activities because of some personal characteristic, then that person is subjected to differential or discr~minatory treatment. The guarantees provided in Canadian feden! and provincial rights legislation, are such that people are not to be discriminated againsL Where buildings and facilities othen\iise open to the public are not accessible for persens with disabilities, then those people are being discriminated against. To challenge these discriminatory practices, individuals initiate complaints through the administrative justice system. To address the extent to which this is a problem, many sources were consulted. Constitutional lawyers, tribunal members, advocates for the disabled and land use planners were interviewed. Case law and legislation were reviewed. Literature on citizenship theory, dispute resolution and dispute avoidance was compiled and assessed. And, the field of land use planning was analyzed (drawing on the WTiter's educational and experiential background) as a possible alternative method for effecting systemic access for persons with disabilities. The conclusion of this study is that there does exist a proactive method for assuring access, a method that can apply the systemic remedy needed to deal with this problem. The current method, which is an adversarial and piecemeal complaint process, has proven ineffective in remedying this discrimination problem~ Failure to provide an appropriate remedy means that persons with disabilities will not enjoy the degree of citizen status enjoyed by the able-bodied. This is the current circumstance, and since equity is the aim of rights legislation, and since such legislative and administrative frameworks have failed in that purpose, then an alternative method is necessary. An alternative model is the one in which land use planning is based. It has conflict avoidance and conflict minimization as underpinnings. And, most importantly, land use planning is already a proyen method of combatting discrimination.

Comprehensive school health, the social determinants of health, and the health status of children

As children are becoming increasingly inactive and obese, there is an urgent need for effective early prevention and intervention programs. One solution is a comprehensive school health (CSH) program, a health promotion initiative aimed at educating students about healthy behaviours and lifestyles, which also provides a link between the school, students, families, and the surrounding community. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between different components of CSH programs, as well as three determinants of health (gender, social support, socio-economic status), and physical activity, on the aerobic fitness and body mass index (BMI) of children. A newly developed and pilot-tested survey derived from Health Canada's fourpart CSH model (instruction, social support, support services, and a healthy physical environment) was sent to elementary school principals. Data on the gender, physical activity, parental education, and social support levels of students from these schools were gathered from a previous study. Multiple regression procedures were conducted to estimate the relationships between CSH components, the social determinants of health, physical activity, and BMI and aerobic fitness. Results showed that three CSH components were significantly associated with both BMI and aerobic fitness values in children, but accounted for less than 5% of the variance in both variables. Physical activity partially mediated the relationship between the significant CSH components, BMI, and particularly aerobic fitness. Furthermore, the social determinant and physical activity variables played independent roles in aerobic fitness values. No moderating effects of the social determinants were discovered.

Beyond child's play : wealth, status, and the death of children in the MH-LH I periods of the Argolid, Greece

This study explores the mortuary remains of children from the MH-LH I periods of the Argolid, Greece. This examination concentrates on how the child in death acted as a tool for wealth and status display. Here, children are understood to have perpetuated, maintained, and reinforced status distinctions between families in their community. The analysis of one hundred child burials that date to these periods illustrates how the burials of children were important opportunities used by the families of children to display wealth and status. Thus, children can be viewed as important factors in the reorganization of social structure in the transition from the Middle to Late Helladic.

Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections and Nutritional Status in School-age Children from Rural Communities in Honduras

Background: Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are endemic in Honduras and efforts are underway to decrease their transmission. However, current evidence is lacking in regards to their prevalence, intensity and their impact on children’s health. Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence and intensity of STH infections and their association with nutritional status in a sample of Honduran children. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was done among school-age children residing in rural communities in Honduras, in 2011. Demographic data was obtained, hemoglobin and protein concentrations were determined in blood samples and STH infections investigated in single-stool samples by Kato-Katz. Anthropometric measurements were taken to calculate heightfor- age (HAZ), BMI-for-age (BAZ) and weight-for-age (WAZ) to determine stunting, thinness and underweight, respectively. Results: Among 320 children studied (48% girls, aged 7–14 years, mean 9.7661.4) an overall STH prevalence of 72.5% was found. Children .10 years of age were generally more infected than 7–10 year-olds (p = 0.015). Prevalence was 30%, 67% and 16% for Ascaris, Trichuris and hookworms, respectively. Moderate-to-heavy infections as well as polyparasitism were common among the infected children (36% and 44%, respectively). Polyparasitism was four times more likely to occur in children attending schools with absent or annual deworming schedules than in pupils attending schools deworming twice a year (p,0.001). Stunting was observed in 5.6% of children and it was associated with increasing age. Also, 2.2% of studied children were thin, 1.3% underweight and 2.2% had anemia. Moderate-to-heavy infections and polyparasitism were significantly associated with decreased values in WAZ and marginally associated with decreased values in HAZ. Conclusions: STH infections remain a public health concern in Honduras and despite current efforts were highly prevalent in the studied community. The role of multiparasite STH infections in undermining children’s nutritional status warrants more research.

Children's rights and parenting beliefs : a study of attitudes, values and emotions

The conceptualization of childhood has changed over the centuries and appears to be undergoing further change in our post-modern culture. While the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child is designed to give children everywhere basic human rights while taking into consideration their special needs, no recent research has examined adult attitudes toward those rights. In an attempt to understand the attitudes adults hold regarding autonomy rights and to look for some factors that could predict those attitudes, the current study considers values, parenting style, emotions and the issue of parent status as possible predictor variables. A total of 90 participants took part in the research, which had both written and interview components. Results generally failed to establish a reliable set of predictors. However, some interesting information was obtained regarding the endorsement of children's autonomy rights and some general conclusions were reached about our view of children and their rights at the end of the twentieth century.

The effects of language complexity in a counterattitudinal appeal to laypeople : an application of the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion to a legal issue

The effects of a complexly worded counterattitudinal appeal on laypeople's attitudes toward a legal issue were examined, using the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of persuasion as a theoretical framework. This model states that persuasion can result from the elaboration and scrutiny of the message arguments (i.e., central route processing), or can result from less cognitively effortful strategies, such as relying on source characteristics as a cue to message validity (i.e., peripheral route processing). One hundred and sixty-seven undergraduates (85 men and 81 women) listened to eitller a low status or high status source deliver a counterattitudinal speech on a legal issue. The speech was designed to contain strong or weak arguments. These arguments were 'worded in a simple and, therefore, easy to comprehend manner, or in a complex and, therefore, difficult to comprehend manner. Thus, there were three experimental manipulations: argument comprehensibility (easy to comprehend vs. difficult to comprehend), argumel11 strength (weak vs. strong), and source status (low vs. high). After listening to tIle speec.J] participants completed a measure 'of their attitude toward the legal issue, a thought listil1g task, an argument recall task,manipulation checks, measures of motivation to process the message, and measures of mood. As a result of the failure of the argument strength manipulation, only the effects of the comprehel1sibility and source status manipulations were tested. There was, however, some evidence of more central route processing in the easy comprehension condition than in the difficult comprehension condition, as predicted. Significant correlations were found between attitude and favourable and unfavourable thoughts about the legal issue with easy to comprehend arguments; whereas, there was a correlation only between attitude and favourable thoughts 11 toward the issue with difficult to comprehend arguments, suggesting, perhaps, that central route processing, \vhich involves argument scrutiny and elaboration, occurred under conditions of easy comprehension to a greater extent than under conditions of difficult comprehension. The results also revealed, among other findings, several significant effects of gender. Men had more favourable attitudes toward the legal issue than did women, men recalled more arguments from the speech than did women, men were less frustrated while listening to the speech than were ,vomen, and men put more effort into thinking about the message arguments than did women. When the arguments were difficult to comprehend, men had more favourable thoughts and fewer unfavourable thoughts about the legal issue than did women. Men and women may have had different affective responses to the issue of plea bargaining (with women responding more negatively than men), especially in light of a local and controversial plea bargain that occurred around the time of this study. Such pre-existing gender differences may have led to tIle lower frustration, the greater effort, the greater recall, and more positive attitudes for men than for WOlnen. Results· from this study suggest that current cognitive models of persuasion may not be very applicable to controversial issues which elicit strong emotional responses. Finally, these data indicate that affective responses, the controversial and emotional nature ofthe issue, gender and other individual differences are important considerations when experts are attempting to persuade laypeople toward a counterattitudinal position.

Investigating the association between motor proficiency and body satisfaction in grade 5 children

The inverse relationships between motor proficiency and overweight, and between overweight and body satisfaction have been well documented. However, the association between motor proficiency and body satisfaction has been largely neglected in the literature. Knowledge of the influence that low motor proficiency may have on body satisfaction is essential if the full burden that those children with poor motor abilities face is to be fully recognized, as low body satisfaction has been linked to an increased risk for low self-esteem, depression, and disordered eating. The cohort investigated in this report included 1907 (971 males, 936 female) Grade 5 students from the Physical Health Activity Study Team (PHAST) project in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. Children were grouped as overweight or healthy weight (using BMI cut offs for age and gender), and as low motor proficiency or normal motor proficiency (cut-off set at lowest 10% Bruininks Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-short form (BOTMPsf). It was apparent from analyses of variance (ANOVAs) by gender that boys demonstrated significantly higher motor proficiency scores. As a result separate multiple logistic regressions by gender were used to determine the relationship between body satisfaction, BMI, and motor proficiency. There was a significant relationship between BMI and body satisfaction for both genders (p<0.01) and for males a significant relationship between motor proficiency and body satisfaction (p<0.03). Overweight females were less likely to be satisfied with their bodies with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.33 (CI: 0.23-0.47). The same trend was found in overweight males (OR: 0.42, CI: 0.29-0.59). Males with low motor proficiency were significantly less satisfied with their bodies (OR: 0.53, CI: 0.29-0.97). Males with poor motor proficiency were at greater risk for low body satisfaction regardless of their overweight status. Overweight is known to be prevalent among children with low motor proficiency and, these results indicate that low body satisfaction is also a significant concern. These findings confirm that attention needs to be paid to perceptions of body satisfaction among children with low motor proficiency. This is particularly true for boys, as their bodies may fail them in two common societal expectations, shape and skill and for whom their risk of low body satisfaction is heightened by their poor motor proficiency.

Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections, Nutrition and Growth in School-age Children from Rural Communities in Honduras

Background: Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are endemic in Honduras but their impact on children’s health is not well studied. Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence and intensity of STH infections and their association with nutrition and growth in a sample of Honduran children. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was done among Honduran rural school-age children in 2011. Blood and stool samples and anthropometric measurements were obtained to determine nutritional status, STH infection and growth status, respectively. Results: The STH prevalence among 320 studied children was 72.5%. Prevalence by species was 30%, 67% and 16% for Ascaris, Trichuris and 16% hookworms, respectively. High intensity infections were associated with decreased growth scores but regardless of intensity, co-infections negatively affected growth indicators. Conclusions: The health burden of STH infections is related to high parasitic load but also to the presence of low-intensity concurrent infections. The synergistic effects of polyparasitism in underprivileged children warrants more attention.

Unaccompanied minors in Canada: How social and legal services affect their lives in Ontario

This qualitative research examines how service provisions affect lives of unaccompanied minors in Canada. In this study I utilized a semi-structured individual interview method. Among thirteen participants in my study, five came to Canada as unaccompanied minors and eight are professionals involved with service providing organizations in the Niagara region. The unaccompanied children that I interviewed had mixed experiences. Social and legal supports were made available to some of them while one was deported. This paper employs Bhabha’s postcolonial perspective and Foucault’s governmentality to illustrate unaccompanied minors’ post-arrival situation in Canada. This paper also attempts to look at children’s rights from Hanson and Nieuwenhuys’s (2013) perspective of living rights, social justice and translations. This paper explores how the change in recent immigration law affects the lives of unaccompanied minors. Findings of this study suggest that it is important to have a consensus on the definition of an unaccompanied minor; improved data collection and record-keeping on the number of unaccompanied minors; and, having a government-approved follow up mechanism. The study recommends policy makers, service providers and scholars pay increased attention to the experiences of unaccompanied minors to ensure that adequate social and legal services are offered to an unaccompanied minor in Canada.

The Association of Energy Intake with Body Mass in Children With and Without Probable Developmental Coordination Disorder

Objective To determine if there is an association between energy intake (EI) and overweight or obesity status (OWOB) in children with and without probable developmental coordination disorder (p-DCD). Methods 1905 children were included. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency was used to assess p-DCD, body mass index for OWOB, and the Harvard Food Frequency Questionnaire for EI. Comparative tests and logistic regressions were performed. Results Reported EI was similar between p-DCD and non-DCD children among boys (2291 vs. 2281 kcal/day, p=0.917), but much lower in p-DCD compared to non-DCD girls (1745 vs.. 2068 kcal/day, p=0.007). EI was negatively associated with OWOB in girls only (OR: 0.82 (0.68, 0.98)). Conclusions Girls with p-DCD have a lower reported EI compared to their non-DCD peers. EI is negatively associated with OWOB in girls with p-DCD. Future research is needed to assess longitudinally the potential impact of EI on OWOB in this population.