Parens Patriae, Punishment, and Pandemics: The State's Responsibility for Incarcerated Persons During a Public Health Emergency.

This article looks at the nation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020 and explores the commonalities and differences of states' actions to protect their citizens, especially the most vulnerable populations. The article discusses the government's obligations to jailees and prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic and how incarcerated persons have been consistently failed by the institutions that are required to protect them. The article examines possible remedies for these governmental and institutional failings under the Eighth Amendment and §1983 civil rights claims. Ultimately the article proposes that monetary damages would provide relief to incarcerated individuals and their families where other remedies have often failed. Additionally, monetary damages will send the message that those under the protection of the state need tangible justice and that the government needs rigorous accountability during a public health emergency.

Effects of experimental situation on group cooperation and individual performance: Comparing laboratory and online experiments.

With the spread of online behavioral experiments, estimating the effects of experimental situations and sample heterogeneity is increasing in discussions of the generalizability of data. In this study, we examined how the experimental situations (laboratory/online) affected group cooperation and individual performances. The participants were Japanese university students, randomly assigned to laboratory or online experiments. For the group cooperation task, they were asked to perform the public goods game with or without punishment, but no effect of the experimental situation was found both for cooperative and punitive behaviors. For the individual tasks, participants were asked to perform tasks including a creative task and a dull task. We manipulated the presence or absence of an external incentive. As a result, there was no significant difference between the experimental situations with one exception: only in the laboratory situation was the performance of the difficult creative task lower in the presence of an external incentive. Furthermore, we conducted as an additional experiment using the same treatments for a Japanese online-worker sample. This sample was less cooperative in the public goods game than the student sample, both with and without punishment. In addition, the presence of external incentives facilitated performance of the online-worker sample only for the dull task. We discuss the similarities and differences with previous studies that examined the effects of experimental situations and sample heterogeneity, and the implications for remote work in the real world.

Linking Safety-Specific Leader Reward and Punishment Omission to Safety Compliance Behavior: The Role of Distributive Justice and Role Ambiguity.

Background: Although positive safety leadership has attracted increasingly academic and practical attention due to its critical effects on followers' safety compliance behavior, far fewer steps have been taken to study the safety impact of laissez-faire leadership. Objective: This study examines the relationships between safety-specific leader reward and punishment omission (laissez-faire leadership) and followers' safety compliance, and the mediations of safety-specific distributive justice and role ambiguity. Methods: On a two-wave online survey of 307 workers from high-risk enterprises in China, these relationships were tested by structural equations modeling and bootstrapping procedures. Results: Findings show that safety-specific leader reward omission was negatively associated with followers' safety compliance through the mediating effects of safety-specific distributive justice and role ambiguity. Safety-specific leader punishment omission was also negatively associated with followers' safety compliance through the mediating effect of safety-specific role ambiguity, while safety-specific distributive justice was an insignificant mediator. Originality: The study addresses and closes more gaps by explaining how two contextualized laissez-faire leadership measures relate to followers' safety behaviors, following the contextualization and matching principles between predictors, mediators and criteria, and by revealing two mechanisms behind the detrimental effects of laissez-faire leadership on safety outcomes.

Towards an Integrated Healthcare System: Evolutionary Game Analysis on Competition and Cooperation Between Urban and Rural Medical Institutions in China.

Background: The game of interest is the root cause of the non-cooperative competition between urban and rural medical and health institutions. The study investigates competition and cooperation among urban and rural medical institutions using the evolutionary game analysis. Methods: With the evolutionary game model, analysis of the stable evolutionary strategies between the urban and rural medical and health facilities is carried out. A numerical simulation is performed to demonstrate the influence of various values. Results: The result shows that the cooperation mechanism between urban and rural medical Institutions is relevant to the efficiency of rural medical institutions, government supervision, reward, and punishment mechanism. Conclusions: Suggestions for utilizing the government's macro regulation and control capabilities, resolving conflicts of interest between urban and rural medical and health institutions is recommended. In addition, the study again advocates mobilizing the internal power of medical institutions' cooperation to promote collaboration between urban and rural medical and health institutions.

Association between maternal perceived capacity in life and physical punishment of teenage children: a longitudinal analysis of a population-based cohort in Tokyo, Japan.

OBJECTIVES: Perceived capacity denotes a subjective sense of having resources to cope with strains and hardships, and hence maternal perceived capacity may be protective against risk factors for child maltreatment. This study investigated the longitudinal association between maternal perceived capacity in life and child maltreatment. DESIGN: This population-based longitudinal study used self-reported questionnaires from the Tokyo Teen Cohort study (TTC), a large community-based cohort study conducted in Japan between 2014 and 2019. SETTING: Mother-child pairs were randomly recruited from the resident registries of three municipalities in Tokyo, Japan. METHODS: A total of 2515 mothers participated. Mothers' perceived capacity in life was evaluated using the self-reported TTC wave 2 survey when their children were 12 years old. Mothers rated the extent to which they had capacity in terms of time, finance, physical well-being, mental well-being and life in general. Physical punishment, which is linked to more severe childhood maltreatment, was assessed using a question about the use of physical punishment at the wave 3 survey when children were 14 years old. RESULTS: After controlling for baseline covariates (including maternal social support, age, marital status, annual household income, educational attainment, child's age, gender, sibling and birth order, and behavioural difficulties), higher perceived capacity in finance (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.99, p=0.026) and mental well-being (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.98, p=0.005) were associated with less frequent use of physical punishment with 14-year-old children. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal perceived capacity in finance and mental well-being may decrease the risk of frequent use of physical punishment at the 2-year follow-up. Child maltreatment prevention strategies should aim to empower mothers and promote their perceived capacity in financial management and mental health.

Frequency of enforcement is more important than the severity of punishment in reducing violation behaviors.

External enforcement policies aimed to reduce violations differ on two key components: the probability of inspection and the severity of the punishment. Different lines of research offer different insights regarding the relative importance of each component. In four studies, students and Prolific crowdsourcing participants (Ntotal = 816) repeatedly faced temptations to commit violations under two enforcement policies. Controlling for expected value, we found that a policy combining a high probability of inspection with a low severity of fines (HILS) was more effective than an economically equivalent policy that combined a low probability of inspection with a high severity of fines (LIHS). The advantage of prioritizing inspection frequency over punishment severity (HILS over LIHS) was greater for participants who, in the absence of enforcement, started out with a higher violation rate. Consistent with studies of decisions from experience, frequent enforcement with small fines was more effective than rare severe fines even when we announced the severity of the fine in advance to boost deterrence. In addition, in line with the phenomenon of underweighting of rare events, the effect was stronger when the probability of inspection was rarer (as in most real-life inspection probabilities) and was eliminated under moderate inspection probabilities. We thus recommend that policymakers looking to effectively reduce recurring violations among noncriminal populations should consider increasing inspection rates rather than punishment severity.

COVID-19-Related Assault on Asians: Economic Hardship in the United States and India Predicts Diminished Support for Victim Compensation and Assailant Punishment.

Background: There has been an alarming increase in discrimination and violence towards Asians during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic amid reports that the virus was first detected in China. In an incident involving a COVID-19-related physical assault, this study examined whether economic hardship experienced by participants during the pandemic and the race of the victim (Chinese, White) would influence support to compensate a victim and punish the assailant. The study also explored whether the perception that the victim experienced emotional and physical suffering due to the assault would mediate the relationships. Method: Participants in India and the United States reported on their own economic hardship due to the pandemic. They then read about an incident in which an innocent person suffered a COVID-19-related physical and verbal attack, and indicated if they would support punishing the assailant and financially compensating the victim. Results: When the victim was Chinese, participants experiencing a high degree of COVID-19 economic hardship were less likely to support financially compensating the victim or punishing the assailant compared to when the victim was White. Furthermore, when the victim was Chinese, the negative associations between economic hardship and financially compensating the victim and punishing the assailant were mediated by reduced recognition that the victim suffered emotional trauma and pain as a result of the attack. Conclusions: COVID-19-driven economic hardship experienced by participants predicted an array of reactions that reflected reduced recognition of the civil and human rights of a victim of a COVID-19-related assault. These findings have significant implications for mental health, public health, and the justice system, and underscore the pressing need for prompt action to mitigate economic hardship and to address racism and discrimination.

Stress, alcohol use, and punitive parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Emerging research suggests that parents are experiencing heightened stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parental stress is a risk factor for harsh or punitive parenting, and this association may be exacerbated by the use of alcohol. OBJECTIVE: We examine whether parental stress is associated with use of punitive parenting, as well as whether this association is modified by drinking pattern. PARTICIPANTS & SETTING: We used advertisements and word-of-mouth to recruit 342 parents living in Central Ohio during the initial stay-at-home order for COVID-19. METHODS: We used geographic ecological momentary assessment (gEMA) to measure parental stress and punitive parenting during three time periods (10 a.m., 3 p.m., and 9 p.m.) over a period of fourteen days using an app downloaded to their cellular telephone. Participants also completed a longer baseline survey. We used nested multilevel ordinal regression models, where at-the-moment assessments (Level 1) were nested within individuals (Level 2) to analyze data. RESULTS: Higher levels of parental stress [OR = 1.149 (95 % CI = 1.123, 1.176)] and later time of day [OR = 1.255 (95 % CI = 1.146, 1.373)] were positively related to odds of punitive parenting. Drinking pattern was not significantly related to punitive parenting in models with demographic covariates. Parents who drank alcohol both monthly and weekly and had higher levels of stress had greater odds of punitive parenting than parents with high levels of stress who abstain from alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol may be an accelerant in the use of punitive parenting for parents experiencing stress. As alcohol use increases during COVID-19, children may be at higher risk for punitive parenting.

Experiences With COVID-19 Stressors and Parents' Use of Neglectful, Harsh, and Positive Parenting Practices in the Northeastern United States.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate household exposure to COVID-19 related stress and the association with parent report of neglectful, harsh, and positive discipline practices. METHODS: Cross sectional survey data was collected from 2,068 parents in the Northeastern US. Parents reported personal and household experiences of COVID-19 stressors, their level of distress, and use of neglectful parenting and discipline practices for a randomly selected child in their home. Analyses estimated rates of COVID-19 related stress and parenting practices. Logistic regression was used to assess the relation of COVID-19 stress to parenting behaviors. RESULTS: Individual and household stressor level, as well as distress were each positively associated with likelihood of neglect. Personal exposure to stressors was minimally related to discipline, but household stressor level and parents' distress were positively associated with harsh and positive discipline. DISCUSSION: Indicators of COVID-19 stress (e.g., exposure to stressors and distress) each uniquely predicted parents' use of neglect, particularly physical and family-based sub-types, and use of harsh and positive discipline practices. Results suggest that parents may require additional support to provide appropriate care for their children while coping with the increased rates of stress associated with the pandemic and the resulting public health response.

Impact of COVID-19 on Child Maltreatment: Income Instability and Parenting Issues.

Introduction: Children are widely recognized as a vulnerable population during disasters and emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic, like a natural disaster, brought uncertainties and instability to the economic development of the society and social distancing, which might lead to child maltreatment. This study aims to investigate whether job loss, income reduction and parenting affect child maltreatment. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of 600 randomly sampled parents aged 18 years or older who had and lived with a child under 10 years old in Hong Kong between 29 May to 16 June 2020. Participants were recruited from a random list of mobile phone numbers of a panel of parents. Of 779 recruited target parents, 600 parents completed the survey successfully via a web-based system after obtaining their online consent for participating in the survey. Results: Income reduction was found significantly associated with severe (OR = 3.29, 95% CI = 1.06, 10.25) and very severe physical assaults (OR = 7.69, 95% CI = 2.24, 26.41) towards children. Job loss or large income reduction were also significantly associated with severe (OR= 3.68, 95% CI = 1.33, 10.19) and very severe physical assaults (OR = 4.05, 95% CI = 1.17, 14.08) towards children. However, income reduction (OR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.15, 0.53) and job loss (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.28, 0.76) were significantly associated with less psychological aggression. Exposure to intimate partner violence between parents is a very strong and significant factor associated with all types of child maltreatment. Having higher levels of difficulty in discussing COVID-19 with children was significantly associated with more corporal punishment (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.05, 1.34), whereas having higher level of confidence in managing preventive COVID-19 behaviors with children was negatively associated with corporal punishment (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.76, 0.99) and very severe physical assaults (OR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.58, 0.93). Conclusions: Income instability such as income reduction and job loss amplified the risk of severe and very severe child physical assaults but protected children from psychological aggression. Also, confidence in teaching COVID-19 and managing preventive COVID-19 behaviors with children was significantly negatively associated with corporal punishment during pandemic.

Modelling the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on violent discipline against children.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic could increase violence against children at home. However, collecting empirical data on violence is challenging due to ethical, safety, and data quality concerns. OBJECTIVE: This study estimated the anticipated effect of COVID-19 on violent discipline at home using multivariable predictive regression models. PARTICIPANTS: Children aged 1-14 years and household members from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) conducted in Nigeria, Mongolia, and Suriname before the COVID-19 pandemic were included. METHODS: A conceptual model of how the COVID-19 pandemic could affect risk factors for violent discipline was developed. Country specific multivariable linear models were used to estimate the association between selected variables from MICS and a violent discipline score which captured the average combination of violent disciplinary methods used in the home. A review of the literature informed the development of quantitative assumptions about how COVID-19 would impact the selected variables under a "high restrictions" pandemic scenario, approximating conditions expected during a period of intense response measures, and a "lower restrictions" scenario with easing of COVID-19 restrictions but with sustained economic impacts. These assumptions were used to estimate changes in violent discipline scores. RESULTS: Under a "high restrictions" scenario there would be a 35%-46% increase in violent discipline scores in Nigeria, Mongolia and Suriname, and under a "lower restrictions" scenario there would be between a 4%-6% increase in violent discipline scores in these countries. CONCLUSION: Policy makers need to plan for increases in violent discipline during successive waves of lockdowns.

To punish or to assist? Divergent reactions to ingroup and outgroup members disobeying social distancing.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, societies face the formidable challenge of developing sustainable forms of sociability-cumsocial-distancing - enduring social life while containing the virus and preventing new outbreaks. Accordant public policies often balance between retributive (punishment-based) and assistance (solidarity-based) measures to foster responsible behaviour. Yet, the uncontrolled spreading of the disease has divided public opinion about which measures are best suited, and it has made salient group disparities in behaviour, potentially straining intergroup relations, elevating heated emotions, and undercutting coordinated international responses. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment, British citizens (N = 377) read about national in-group or outgroup members (categorical differentiation), who were either conforming to or deviating from the corona regulations (normative differentiation). Participants then reported moral emotions towards the target national group and indicated support for public policies. In general, support for assistance policies outweighed support for retributive measures. Second, however, norm deviation was associated with less positive and more negative moral emotions, the latter category further relating to more punitiveness and less assistance support. Finally, respondents who read about norm-violating outgroup members especially reported support for retributive measures, indicating that people might use norm deviation to justify outgroup derogation. We discuss implications for policymakers and formulate future research avenues.