Research on nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has grown significantly over the last 15 years, with much of this work focused on factors that initiate and maintain NSSI among school-aged youth. Although this work is important, it does raise several ethical concerns. In this article we outline key ethical issues underlying NSSI research in schools and…

This commentary on "Motherhood in the Shadow of Incest" by Rachel Lev-Wiesel, is divided into three sections. In the first section, this author addresses the issue of the role of mothers in incest. Faller contends that, with regard to research findings on the role of mothers' own sexual victimization in her child's experience, previous research…

The author was invited to prepare a commentary in response to the Lev-Wiesel manuscript titled "Intergenerational Transmission of Sexual Abuse? Motherhood in the Shadow of Incest." Lev-Wiesel's stated intent in the study was to understand an important issue, namely how is intra-familial sexual abuse perpetuated across successive generations. This…

Examines why fathers tend to be underrepresented in research on child and family functioning. Recommendations for encouraging more nonsexist family research that includes both mothers and fathers are explored, and the implications for the inclusion of fathers in prevention and clinical interventions are discussed. (GR)

Critiques Bohannon and Stanowicz's (1988) conclusion that natural languages can be learned and that there is no need to postulate innate knowledge. Argues that Bohannon and Stanowicz's results disclose nothing about learnability or innateness. (RH)

Argues that although Radin and Sagi (1982) and Russell (1982) have generated interesting hypotheses about the origins and effects of increased parental involvement in childrearing, some issues must still be considered if these hypotheses are to be appropriately tested. (Author/MP)

Assesses the changing social fabric theory of adolescence. (RH)

In addition to problems of instrument selection and interpretation and problems associated with sampling procedures, psychologists' person-blame interpretations of social problems (interpretations that call for change in individuals and ignore needs for systemic change) and gender beliefs (such as assumptions about women and motherhood, men and…

The review of studies on parental language to language-impaired children cites methodological problems and discusses findings on the following topics: parental effects on language development, the importance of discourse contingencies, (semantic contingencies, acknowledgments, and parental self-repititions), sentence types and associated…

This editorial describes the role of early intervention programs in helping children with disabilities, focusing on parents' and infants' needs, the Family Service Plan, and the role of case managers. The editorial cautions that: early intervention's effectiveness is unproven, early is not always better, and more is not always better. (JDD)

After discussing the economic and social pressures which may impinge upon parental judgment in the experimental setting, the article reviews several divergent opinions on the ethics of child research. (Author)

Argues that research on father-adolescent relationships must move beyond demonstrations of links between father behavior and adolescent outcomes (phase 1 findings) to research in which the pathway or processes linking father variables to adolescent variables are explicitly spelled out and examined (phase 2 findings). Suggests areas of future…

Concludes that with regards to interventions for cultural disadvantage, the majority of the implications for education arising from research on the topic have been too broad based and etiologically oriented, resulting in goals for culturally disadvantaged intervention that are different from those of education as a whole. (Author/AM)

Uses an exploratory study, "Children, Parents and Risk," to examine some ethical and methodological issues specific to child-focused research. Focuses on gatekeepers who control access to parents and children, and on the interview process, asserting that the research process itself constitutes an important source of data on models of…