<Emphasis Type="Italic">Miranda</Emphasis> Comprehension in Adults with Mental Retardation and the Effects of Feedback Style on Suggestibility

Interrogations present several major challenges to persons with mental retardation (MR). Sixty adults with mild MR completed measures of Miranda comprehension and tendency to yield to leading questions. In addition, suggestibility was assessed based on whether participants revised answers to questions in response to unfriendly, friendly, or neutral feedback to original responses. Furthermore, we examined how expressed confidence in answers to repeated questions varied with the type of feedback received. Results revealed that participants demonstrated marked difficulties understanding their Miranda rights and greater likelihood of changing answers to questions for which they received friendly feedback than for questions for which they received unfriendly or neutral feedback. Most participants who received positive reinforcement for their answers on a second trial expressed confidence about improvement from trial 1 to trial 2, although accuracy did not improve. Implications of these results are reviewed.     

The Portuguese adaptation of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS1) in a sample of inmates

This paper comprises two studies which address the validity of the Portuguese adaptation of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale, GSS1. In study 1, the means and standard deviations for the suggestibility results of a sample of Portuguese inmates (N = 40, M_age = 37.5 years, SD = 8.1) were compared to those of a sample of Icelandic inmates (Gudjonsson, 1997; Gudjonsson & Sigurdsson, 1996). Portuguese inmates' results were in line with the original results. In study 2, the means and standard deviations for the suggestibility results of the sample of Portuguese inmates were compared to those of a general Portuguese population sample (N = 57, M_age = 36.1 years, SD = 12.7). The forensic sample obtained significantly higher scores in suggestibility measures than the general population sample. ANOVA confirmed that the increased suggestibility in the inmates sample was due to the limited memory capacity of this latter group. Given that the results of both studies 1 and 2 are in keeping with the author's original results (Gudjonsson, 1997), this may be regarded as a confirmation of the validity of the Portuguese GSS1.     

The problem of interviewing drug addicts in custody: A study of interrogative suggestibility and compliance

Abstract

The interrogation of drug addicts in custody presents a problem. The reliability of confessions made either under the influence of drugs or during drug withdrawal may be adversely affected. This study explores the effect of drug use and drug withdrawal on interrogative suggestibility and compliance. These two psychological factors are relevant to erroneous testimony. The interrogative suggestibility and compliance of heroin addicts on an inpatient drug unit were measured on opiates, whilst withdrawing from opiates and drug free. The interrogative suggestibility and compliance of the group of subjects as a whole did not differ significantly in these three conditions. However the results did suggest that a subgroup of vulnerable individuals may have been more suggestible when under the influence of opiates. Further work is needed to clarify these results and to aid professionals assessing fitness for interview and cases of retracted confessions.     

Offenders' lies and truths: an evaluation of the Supreme Court of Sweden's criteria for credibility assessment

Abstract

The criteria used by Swedish courts for assessing credibility of plaintiffs' accounts were for the first time scientifically evaluated. Furthermore, unlike much previous deception detection research, we used offenders as participants instead of college students. False and truthful confessions by 30 offenders were analysed, and few significant effects were obtained. Truthful confessions were rated as having a higher degree of clarity than false confessions. Women's truthful confessions were rated as more credible than their false confessions. The offenders who were most experienced in being interviewed by the police gave a stronger impression of talking about something self-experienced in their false than in their truthful confessions; hence, it seems that offenders with more police interview experience have developed a kind of expertise in telling a convincing lie about crime. Overall, the criteria for credibility assessment used by Swedish courts had very limited usefulness in discriminating truthful and false confessions. A critique of the current status of evaluating statements in Swedish courts is provided.     

Counteracting Identity Fraud in the Information Age: The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act

The advent of the information age has created new challenges to the ability of individuals to protect the privacy and security of their personal information. One such challenge is that of identity theft, which has imposed countless hardships upon its victims. Perpetrators of this fraud use the identities of others to steal money, obtain loans, and generally violate the law. The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 makes the theft of personal information with the intent to commit an unlawful act a federal crime in the United States with penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000. The Act designates the Federal Trade Commission to serve as an advocate for victims of identity fraud. This article first examines the problem of identity fraud and the inadequacy of existing remedies, and then assesses the need for and likely impact of the Act, as well as issues relating to the effectiveness of its future enforcement.     

The Suggestibility of Children's Memory for Being Touched: Planting,Erasing, and Changing Memories

Investigates recent claims that it is relatively easy to suggestively plant false memories in children, by comparing the relative vulnerability to suggestibility of changed, planted, and erased memories. 80 4-year-olds and 80 10-year-olds either were touched in a specific way or were not touched at all, and it was later suggested that a different touch, a completely new touch, or no touch at all had occurred. The suggestibility effect occurred only in the changed memory condition; the difference between the experimental changed condition and the corresponding control condition was significant. In the planted and erased memory conditions no suggestibility effect occurred; there was no significant reduction in the experimental groups relative to the corresponding control conditions. Thus, although it is relatively easy to suggest to a child a change in an event that was experienced, it is less likely that an event can be planted in or erased from memory. It is thus inappropriate to provide courtroom testimony regarding the probability of suggestively planting false memories based on the classic suggestibility research, which has largely been restricted to the study of suggestively changing memories.     

The Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013: an Act of Encouragement,not Enforcement

The Human Transplantation (Wales) Act became law in Wales in September 2013. The Act aims to increase deceased donor organ and tissue donation in Wales by introducing a ‘soft opt‐out’ system to replace the previous requirement of express ‘appropriate’ consent under the Human Tissue Act 2004. Adults dying in Wales (with certain exceptions) will be ‘deemed’ to consent to donation, unless evidence of their objection is produced, and a duty is imposed on Ministers to promote transplantation and inform the public through awareness campaigns about how to choose the deemed status or opt out. Although a welcome development, these campaigns may obscure the effects of deemed consent, especially in the context of generally rising UK donation rates. There may also be problems of legal interpretation and of integration with the ‘opt‐in’ laws in the rest of the UK. In the absence of any statutory duty to retrieve all lawfully donated organs, the apparently restricted influence of donor relatives is likely to remain effectively dominant.     

论财政体制与我国环境法的实施责任——以丹江口市为例

财政体制是环境法的实施责任得以落实的核心保障,随着环境法实施压力的不断增加,政府之间根据生态关联建立起来的环境关系与现有行政区划的错位越来越普遍,法律实施导致的财政压力亦在一定程度上再次分配.如果财政工具配置不当,一方面会冲击政府的财政关系,另一方面也会导致环境法的实施不完全、不充分、不可持续.我国应该根据财政学上公共产品配置的一般原理,结合法律规定,具体划定环境法的实施责任,并据此配置财政工具,以确保环境法的实施责任得以充分兑现.     

To Spank or Not To Spank: The Effect of Situation and Age of Child on Support for Corporal Punishment

This study examined college students' attitudes toward spanking as a function of the situational context and age of the child. As expected, respondents were more likely to find spanking appropriate for preschool (ages 3–4) and early school age children (ages 7–8) than for older children (ages 11–12). Physical punishment was also viewed as more suitable when the child's misbehavior was disrespectful (talking back to a parent), or violated strongly held norms (hitting a playmate, stealing), and less appropriate for age-related or less serious misbehavior. Gender and race differences emerged, with males and blacks showing more support for corporal punishment than females and whites. In general, findings revealed strong support for spanking, although there was evidence of some ambivalence, especially among white and female respondents. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Juvenile-Perpetrated Sex Crimes: Patterns of Offending and Predictors of Violence

Criminal record reviews were conducted on 126 juveniles arrested for sex offenses against children (n = 62) or peers and adults (n = 64). Peer/adult offenders were found more consistently to offend against females who were strangers or acquaintances, more frequently to commit their crimes in a public area, and more often to act in a group with other offenders. Peer/adult offenders were also more likely to commit the sex crime in association with other criminal activity, and they evidenced higher overall levels of aggression and violence. In general, the aggression of child molesters tended to intimidation rather than physical force, whereas the aggression of peer/adult offenders was more injurious, and perhaps gratuitous. Violence in peer/adult offenders, but not of child molesters, was predicted by the interactive influence of the victim's gender, age, and level of resistance.     

相对刑事责任年龄人的刑法处遇

我国刑法学界对相对刑事责任人应承担刑事责任的范围和罪名与犯罪行为产生较为激烈的争论,导致这种争论产生的主要原因是刑法条文规定的不明确以及不严密造成的。对刑法典第17条第2款的解释和适用,应遵行行为+罪名的限定方式,即17条第2款的规定虽是八种犯罪行为,但在确定罪名时,必须以立法所体现出的八个罪名为限。在此基础上通过对相对负刑事责任年龄阶段立法缺陷的分析,提出刑法第17条第2款规定的重构思路。     

International Organisations and States Within an Agency Relationship: The Distribution of Responsibility

Netherlands International Law Review - This article first examines the entire range of agency relationships between an international organisation, acting as a principal, and one or more states,...     

Between Self-Regulation and the Alien Tort Claims Act: On the Contested Concept of Corporate Social Responsibility

Using Alien Tort Claims Act suits against multinational corporations as an immediate context for discussion, this article explores the emerging field of corporate social responsibility. The article argues for an understanding of concrete legal struggles as part of broader competing strategies for regulating corporate obligations to a multitude of stakeholders. By identifying and analyzing the positions of concrete actors who operate in the field, the main thesis of this article is that the field strongly tilts in the direction of voluntary and self-reliant models of corporate responsibility. The article identifies this process as consistent with the privatization of regulative structures in general and with extant modeling of corporate governance in particular, and points at the correlation between these trends and the interests of multinational corporations.     

Why People Waive Their Miranda Rights: The Power of Innocence

In a laboratory experiment, 72 participants who were guilty or innocent of a mock theft were apprehended for investigation. Motivated to avoid prosecution and trial, they were confronted by a neutral, sympathetic, or hostile male "detective" who sought a waiver of their Miranda rights. Later, 72 other participants watched videotapes of these sessions and answered questions about the detective and suspect. Strikingly, results showed that although the detective's demeanor had no effect, participants who were truly innocent were significantly more likely to sign a waiver than those who were guilty. Naively believing in the power of their innocence to set them free, most waived their rights even in the hostile detective condition, where the risk of interrogation was apparent. The conceptual and policy implications of these results are discussed.     

The Children Act 1989: Some implications for management and practice

Conclusion Given that the Government has accepted much of the research evidence as indicative of poor performance of local authorities in making and implementing plans for helping children and families, and of the unwillingness or inability to involve parents and children in identifying needs, it is clear that some authorities will need to engage in a major re-think of policies, procedures and practices. Moreover, the idea of a mixed economy culture may be a difficult pill to swallow but the medicine must be taken. It is evident from the account presented here that much will be gained by authorities undertaking an audit utilising not only the provisions of the Act but also an appreciation of developments which have influenced its form.Whether one agrees with its philosophy or not the Children Act 1989 represents a very clear statement of Government intentions. All concerned with the care and upbringing of children should take it seriously. Paradoxically, while encouraging private ordering, its success in promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children may only be measured through the resolution in court of conflicts between families and public authorities about what constitutes good parenting. That these issues raise ideological and economic questions, particularly about the availability of services, should not divert us from the clear messages in the legislation.General Editor. Principal Lecturer in Law, Liverpool Polytechnic.     

舆论与刑法的偏差式互动:刑事责任年龄个别下调的中国叙事

降低刑事责任年龄的舆论诉求与刑法回应已然发展成为一对既密切关联、又有所区别,甚至存在矛盾冲突的新力量,深度嵌入未成年人罪错行为治理的复杂格局之中。引入长短期记忆网络(LSTM)对14058条新浪微博相关评论文本进行情感分类,分别统计正向、中性、负向情感的高频词,可以数据化呈现社会舆论的具体诉求与刑法回应的实际效果。面对社会舆论对刑法功能的过度期许、对保护理念的极度排斥、对规范设置的明确否定,刑法采用了分散式功能叙说、不能“一放了之”的话语体系置换、年龄整体下调与多重限制并行的回应策略。然而,这一回应策略导致社会舆论对刑法的功能期许不降反升、保护与惩戒的理念认可度更加失衡、限制性规范存在异化风险。刑法应在理解、尊重社会舆论的演化逻辑与核心诉求的前提下,逐步缩小功能诉求与治理供给的偏差,以惩戒理念的强调带动保护理念的培植,寻找支持个别下调的正当性基础,探索“舆论诉求—刑法引导—社会互动”的“杜鹃—鸳鸯模式”。