Analyzing decision-maker's justifications of care orders for newborn children: equal and individualized treatment.

Seeking insights into how decision-makers uphold obligations to equal and individualized treatment in decisions about state intervention, this study examines justifications by decision-makers in care orders for newborn children. Eighty-five care order judgments from eight European countries concerning children of mothers who misuse substances are analyzed to determine how decision-makers justify removing a newborn child from their mother's care. I find that the results display similarities in what risk factors they find relevant to these cases, but it differs which are deemed decisive. Protective factors are rarely important. Implications for the US context are commented on.

Validez Predictiva e Igualdad de Trato de la “Oposición” como Método de Selección para Inspectores de Hacienda y Técnicos de Hacienda del Estado / Predictive Validity and Equal Treatment of “Competition” as a Selection Method for State Treasury Inspectors and Treasury Technicians

La “oposición” es el método de selección de personal para los cuerpos superiores de la función pública española y cientos de miles de candidatos participan en las oposiciones cada año. A pesar de ello, permanece sin haberse estudiado su validez predictiva y sus potenciales efectos sobre la igualdad de trato para hombres y mujeres. Este artículo presenta dos estudios independientes dedicados establecer la validez predictiva y el grado de igualdad de trato de la “oposición”. En el primero se examinó con candidatos al Cuerpo de Técnicos de Hacienda. Los resultados indicaron una validez operativa ρ = .54 (N = 392) y un valor d de Cohen promedio de .14 para la igualdad de trato favorable a los hombres. El segundo estudio se realizó con candidatos al Cuerpo Superior de Inspectores de Hacienda y la validez operativa fue de ρ = .50 (N =.70) y la d de Cohen de .33 favorable a las mujeres. Los resultados indican que la “oposición” muestra una validez semejante o superior a la de los mejores instrumentos de selección de personal. Finalmente, se discuten las implicaciones para la práctica y se hacen recomendaciones para mejorar este sistema de acceso a la función pública.(AU)

The "competition” (“oposición” in Spanish) is the method of personnel selection for the higher Corps of the Spanish civil service, and hundreds of thousands of candidates participate in the competitive examinations each year. Despite this, its predictive validity and its potential effects on equal treatment for men and women remain unknown. This article presents two independent studies devoted to establishing the predictive validity and the degree of equal treatment of the "competition". In the first one, the validity was examined with candidates for the Corps of Treasury Technicians. The results indicated an operational validity ρ = .54 (N = 392) and an average Cohen's d value of .14 for equal treatment favorable to men. The second study was conducted with candidates for the Corps of Senior Treasury Inspectorate and the operational validity was ρ = .50 (N =.70) and Cohen's d of .33 favorable to women. The results indicate that the "competition" shows similar or superior validity to that of the best personnel selection instruments. Finally, implications for practice are discussed and recommendations are made to improve this system of access to the civil service.(AU)

Title IX's Unintended Consequences: The Female Athlete Triad and the Need for Special Treatment.

This Note examines the effects of Title IX's equal treatment framework on female collegiate athletes in the context of the female athlete triad. It describes the shortcomings of Title IX's equal treatment approach and its deleterious effects on the health of female student athletes. It argues for the adoption of the special treatment approach as a remedy.

Same-sex mothers' experiences of equal treatment, parenting stress and disclosure to offspring: a population-based study of parenthood following identity-release sperm donation.

STUDY QUESTION: What are the experiences of same-sex mothers following identity-release sperm donation regarding equal treatment in society, parenting stress and disclosure to child? SUMMARY ANSWER: Mothers predominantly reported equal treatment in society, low levels of parenting stress and early disclosure of the donor conception to the child, and half of the couples had also informed the child of his/her right to obtain the donor's identity. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: The number of two-mother families is increasing, and previous studies have reported about challenges related to heteronormativity, discrimination and the status of the non-birth mother. Same-sex mothers have been found to disclose the child's donor conception earlier than different-sex parents, but little is known regarding disclosure of the child's right to obtain identifying information about the donor. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: The present study concerns the fourth wave of data collection of a nation-wide longitudinal study. A total of 143 same-sex mothers (73% response rate) following identity-release sperm donation completed individual surveys when their donor-conceived child had reached age 7. These women represent a total of 82 couples who had undergone sperm donation treatment. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: The study is part of the longitudinal Swedish Study on Gamete Donation (SSGD). Couples accepted for gamete donation treatment at seven Swedish University hospitals were recruited between 2005 and 2008 and were requested to complete postal surveys during four waves of data collection. The present study sample includes same-sex mothers who completed a survey when their donor-conceived child had reached 7 years of age. Data were collected with the Swedish Parenting Stress Questionnaire (SPSQ), and study-specific items on experiences of treatment in society and disclosure behavior. Group comparisons (birth mothers vs non-birth mothers) were conducted using Chi2-tests, independent t-tests and Mann-Whitney U-tests, and written comments provided for open-response items were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. MAIN RESULTS AND ROLE OF CHANCE: The mothers were generally open about the child's donor conception and the large majority (>80%) reported being treated positively and in the same way as other parents. However, satisfaction with treatment in health care settings was significantly lower than that reported in contacts with the child's school and recreational activities (P < 0.001) and open-response comments indicate that this may be related predominantly to heteronormative language and assumptions. Birth mothers and non-birth mothers reported similar treatment in society and similar levels of parenting stress. All but one couple had already talked with their 7-year-old child about his/her conception with donor sperm. Half of the couples had also informed the child about his/her opportunity to obtain identifying information about the donor, and remaining couples planned later disclosure. Children's reactions were generally described as neutral, positive or characterized by interest and curiosity. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: The present study was performed within the context of the Swedish legislation on identity-release donation, which limits the generalizability to same-sex couples using anonymous or known sperm donors. Although no evidence of attrition bias was found, it is possible that those couples who initially declined participation in the SSGD (23%) or dropped out at the fourth wave of data collection (27%) differ from the study sample in terms of variables that we were unable to control for. WIDER IMPLICATION OF THE FINDINGS: The present finding that most same-sex mothers in a population-based sample experience equal treatment in society is encouraging and validates previous results from predominantly qualitative studies. Nevertheless, the fact that a subgroup experiences discrimination and less favorable treatment indicates that further action is needed, particularly in child health care settings. The present study is the first to report on the timing of parents' disclosure of the child's right to identifying donor information and suggests that disclosure during preschool ages is feasible and does not appear to be related to negative consequences. In view of the increased availability and use of identity-release donation, there is a pressing need to investigate parents' intentions, behaviors and needs with regard to talking with their child about his/her opportunity to obtain the donor's identity. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): Financial support from the Swedish Research Council (2013-2712) and the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (2014-00876). There are no conflicts of interest to declare. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: N/A.

Facing difficult but unavoidable choices: Donor blood safety and the deferral of men who have sex with men.

Blood service organizations employ various ways to ensure transfusion blood safety, including the testing of all donations for transfusion-transmissible infections (TTI) and the exclusion of donors who are at increased risk of a recent infection. As some TTIs are more common among men who have sex with men (MSM), many jurisdictions (temporarily) defer the donation of blood by sexually active MSM. This boils down to a categorical exclusion of a large group solely on the basis of their sexual orientation, which is seen as unduly discriminatory and stigmatizing. Blood service organizations in the U.K. and the Netherlands have recently changed their deferral policies for MSM. The problem of the MSM deferral involves a conflict between fundamental rights: the right of MSM to equal treatment and the right to health of the recipients of blood and blood products. We distinguish and discuss three broad alternative options to the current categorical deferral of MSM donations: (1) completely abandoning donor selection on the basis of sexual behavior, (2) individual risk assessment of the sexual activities of each potential donor, and (3) individual risk assessment of the sexual activities of MSM only. The new U.K. policy falls within the second category, and the new Dutch policy is in the third category. We argue that each approach comes with moral costs but that the most reasonable option is different from the policies of both the U.K. and the Netherlands.

Cultural diversity approaches in schools and adolescents' willingness to support refugee youth.

BACKGROUND: Culturally diverse schools contribute to adolescents' intergroup relations. Complex and inclusive social identities are mechanisms that can explain the link between structural school cultural diversity (i.e., proportion of students of immigrant descent and the number of different ethnic groups) and positive intergroup relations. We expected that similar mechanisms might be at play linking cultural diversity approaches in schools with adolescents' intergroup relations. AIM: We examined the link between two sub-dimensions of cultural diversity approaches (i.e., equal treatment; heritage and intercultural learning) and adolescents' prosocial intentions and behaviour towards refugee youth. Then, we explored the mediating role of identity inclusiveness (i.e., perceived similarity of the self with others). SAMPLE AND METHODS: We sampled culturally diverse eighth grade adolescents from 54 classrooms in Berlin (N = 503, Mage = 13.76 years, 50.6% female). Surveys measured perceived cultural diversity norms, adolescents' perceived identity inclusiveness with refugee youth, prosocial intentions to support refugee youth, and willingness to donate to a project for refugee youth. RESULTS: Multilevel models revealed that adolescents' perception of heritage and intercultural learning predicted adolescents' prosocial intentions towards refugee youth, but not their willingness to donate. Equal treatment was not a significant predictor of adolescents' prosocial intentions towards refugee youth, or their willingness to donate. Identity inclusiveness did not mediate the relation between cultural diversity approaches and prosocial intentions. However, identity inclusiveness did positively relate adolescents' prosocial intentions and willingness to donate. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that culturally diverse schools that engage in heritage and intercultural learning might help to promote positive relations between local and refugee youth in schools and society. Fostering inclusive identities may enhance local adolescent's prosocial intention and behaviour.

On the Difficulty of Budget Allocation in Claims Problems with Indivisible Items and Prices.

In this paper we study the class of claims problems where the amount to be divided is perfectly divisible and claims are made on indivisible units of several items. Each item has a price, and the available amount falls short to be able to cover all the claims at the given prices. We propose several properties that may be of interest in this particular framework. These properties represent the common principles of fairness, efficiency, and non-manipulability by merging or splitting. Efficiency is our focal principle, which is formalized by means of two axioms: non-wastefulness and Pareto efficiency. We show that some combinations of the properties we consider are compatible, others are not.

Incarcerated aboriginal women's experiences of accessing healthcare and the limitations of the 'equal treatment' principle.

BACKGROUND: Colonization continues in Australia, sustained through institutional and systemic racism. Targeted discrimination and intergenerational trauma have undermined the health and wellbeing of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, leading to significantly poorer health status, social impoverishment and inequity resulting in the over-representation of Aboriginal people in Australian prisons. Despite adoption of the 'equal treatment' principle, on entering prison in Australia entitlements to the national universal healthcare system are revoked and Aboriginal people lose access to health services modelled on Aboriginal concepts of culturally safe healthcare available in the community. Incarcerated Aboriginal women experience poorer health outcomes than incarcerated non-Indigenous women and Aboriginal men, yet little is known about their experiences of accessing healthcare. We report the findings of the largest qualitative study with incarcerated Aboriginal women in New South Wales (NSW) Australia in over 15 years. METHODS: We employed a decolonizing research methodology, 'community collaborative participatory action research', involving consultation with Aboriginal communities prior to the study and establishment of a Project Advisory Group (PAG) of community expert Aboriginal women to guide the project. Forty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2013 with Aboriginal women in urban and regional prisons in NSW. We applied a grounded theory approach for the data analysis with guidance from the PAG. RESULTS: Whilst Aboriginal women reported positive and negative experiences of prison healthcare, the custodial system created numerous barriers to accessing healthcare. Aboriginal women experienced institutional racism and discrimination in the form of not being listened to, stereotyping, and inequitable healthcare compared with non-Indigenous women in prison and the community. CONCLUSIONS: 'Equal treatment' is an inappropriate strategy for providing equitable healthcare, which is required because incarcerated Aboriginal women experience significantly poorer health. Taking a decolonizing approach, we unpack and demonstrate the systems level changes needed to make health and justice agencies culturally relevant and safe. This requires further acknowledgment of the oppressive transgenerational effects of ongoing colonial policy, a true embracing of diversity of worldviews, and critically the integration of Aboriginal concepts of health at all organizational levels to uphold Aboriginal women's rights to culturally safe healthcare in prison and the community.

The Legal Ethical Backbone of Conscientious Refusal.

This article analyzes the idea of a legal right to conscientious refusal for healthcare professionals from a basic legal ethical standpoint, using refusal to perform tasks related to legal abortion (in cases of voluntary employment) as a case in point. The idea of a legal right to conscientious refusal is distinguished from ideas regarding moral rights or reasons related to conscientious refusal, and none of the latter are found to support the notion of a legal right. Reasons for allowing some sort of room for conscientious refusal for healthcare professionals based on the importance of cultural identity and the fostering of a critical atmosphere might provide some support, if no countervailing factors apply. One such factor is that a legal right to healthcare professionals' conscientious refusal must comply with basic legal ethical tenets regarding the rule of law and equal treatment, and this requirement is found to create serious problems for those wishing to defend the idea under consideration. We conclude that the notion of a legal right to conscientious refusal for any profession is either fundamentally incompatible with elementary legal ethical requirements, or implausible because it undermines the functioning of a related professional sector (healthcare) or even of society as a whole.