Socioeconomic change and suicide: a time-series study from the Republic of Ireland

This ecological study examined the association between seven socioeconomic indicators (GDP, unemployment rate, female labor force participation rate, alcohol expenditure, marriage rate, percentage of births outside of marriage, and indictable crime rate) and total, male, and female rates of suicide and suicide plus undetermined death in Ireland during the period 1968-2000. Analysis of the data expressed as absolute values showed highly significant associations between the socioeconomic indicators and the total, male, and female suicide rates. However, these associations were explained by the strongly trended data. The trended nature of the data was removed by using year-to-year differences. Analysis of the first-differenced data showed that none of the socioeconomic indicators was associated with the total, male, or female suicide rates with the exception of indictable crime, which had a significant independent effect on the female suicide rate (coefficient = 2.0, p < .01) but not on suicide plus undetermined death. This study highlights the need to use econometric methods in time-trend analyses, the lack of age-sex specific exposure data in this area, and the challenge of understanding trends in suicide in their socioeconomic context.     

Irish 'Lipitor' litigation: High Court favours broad claim construction

In its first significant judgment on claim construction in over25 years, Ireland's High Court approved the principles laiddown by the English House of Lords in Kirin-Amgen, holding thatWarner-Lambert's ‘Lipitor’ patent is not limitedto a racemic mixture and refusing Ranbaxy a declaration of non-infringement.     

A cluster analysis of people on Community Treatment Orders in Victoria, Australia

This paper explores the clinical, social and demographic characteristics of 164 people on Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) in one area mental health service in Victoria, Australia. The results of an exploratory cluster analysis are presented to address the question of whether people on Community Treatment Orders can be categorised into statistically reliable, qualitatively distinct groupings. The data are presented in the context of key stakeholder perspectives on the current use and purpose of CTOs. Three stable clusters emerged and each potentially reflects how social dimensions, as well as clinical issues, influence decision making regarding the implementation of CTOs. These findings are important in the context of policy and practice in Victoria, where the use of CTOs is common practice, and orders are generally made for a 12 month period. The potential for improved targeting of CTOs and more specific treatment planning is identified.     

Child Maltreatment in Diverse Households: Challenges to Law, Theory, and Practice

In the United Kingdom relatively little attention has been paid to 'race' and racism and the role of cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity in care proceedings. This paper will look at the background, law, and guidance on diversity in this field and explore the impact of notions of diversity in evidence before the courts. It will look at their relevance in allegations of 'significant harm' to children and failures of parenting, and the coverage of diverse backgrounds in expert reports and parents' statements. It will argue that while there is no evidence that the threshold criteria for a care order require reassessing, there is room for considerable improvement in attention to issues of diversity in evidence and in the experiences of parents attending court. The paper will explore the implications of the studies for theorizing law and the duties of the state and look at notions such as cultural relativism and concepts imported from cultural anthropology for determining culturally acceptable parenting. It will highlight problems with these approaches and demonstrate why 'paradigms of intersectionality' is a more useful and robust approach.