An experimental comparison of adversarial versus inquisitorial procedural regimes

This article reports the results of a multiyear series of economicexperiments comparing the two dominant types of legal proceduresused in adjudication: (1) the 'adversarial' model of party-controlledprocedure versus (2) the 'inquisitorial' model of judge-controlledprocedure. The principal finding is that the relative fact-findingefficiency of the two systems, in terms of both the 'revelation'of hidden facts and the 'accuracy' of decision, depends significantlyupon the information structure. Under a 'private' informationstructure, inquisitorial procedure is relatively more efficient,whereas under a 'correlated' information structure, adversarialprocedure is relatively more efficient.     

‘Nationalising Hundreds and Thousands of Women’: a domestic response to a national problem

The wartime evacuee has become a symbol of the home front in World War Two. However, behind the iconic image lie more complex histories. The government evacuation scheme both encouraged and enforced many homeowners to share their private domestic space with strangers. The preparation, organisation and monitoring of this scheme led to unparalleled public interference into the private space of the home. The enforced domestic intimacy this led to resulted in the voluntary and governmental agencies becoming increasingly entangled in a complex, shifting understanding of ideas of the family, domestic labour, motherhood and the home during wartime.     

Socioeconomic Stress and Academic Adjustment Among Asian American Adolescents: The Protective Role of Family Obligation

Socioeconomic stress has long been found to place youth at risk, with low family income conferring disadvantages in adolescents’ school achievement and success. This study investigates the role of socioeconomic stress on academic adjustment, and pinpoints family obligation as a possible buffer of negative associations. We examined direct and interactive effects at two time points in the same sample of Asian American adolescents—early high school (N = 180 9th–10th graders; 60 % female) and 2 years later in late high school (N = 156 11th–12th graders; 87 % of original sample). Results suggest that socioeconomic stress is indeed associated with poor academic adjustment, measured broadly through self-reported GPA, importance of academic success, and educational aspirations and expectations. Family obligation was positively related to adjustment, and also was found to buffer the negative effects of socioeconomic stress, but only during adolescents’ later high school years. Adolescents reporting more family obligation experienced less of the negative effects of financial stress on academic outcomes than those reporting lower obligation. Cultural and developmental implications are discussed in light of these direct and moderating effects.