Legal skills and the SQE: confronting the challenge head on

Whether the teaching and assessment of practical legal skills and professional conduct should be focused at the academic or vocational stage of legal education has been considered numerous times, with recommendations made and varying degrees of implementation carried out. With the approval of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination being granted by the Legal Services Board this issue is once again being brought into focus. The end of the Legal Practice Course will result in the required compulsory teaching and assessment of core practical legal skills and professional conduct being removed from legal education. The question therefore is whether legal education should incorporate practical legal skills and professional conduct into teaching and assessment at the academic stage and, if so, how can this be achieved in a way that complements rather than distracts from the study of academic law. This study will consider the recommendations made in relation to practical legal skills and professional conduct over the last five decades and identify possible options for the embedding of practical legal skills and professional conduct in the law curriculum at undergraduate level.     

Risk Assessment for Juvenile Justice: A Meta-Analysis

Risk assessment instruments are increasingly employed by juvenile justice settings to estimate the likelihood of recidivism among delinquent juveniles. In concert with their increased use, validation studies documenting their predictive validity have increased in number. The purpose of this study was to assess the average predictive validity of juvenile justice risk assessment instruments and to identify risk assessment characteristics that are associated with higher predictive validity. A search of the published and grey literature yielded 28 studies that estimated the predictive validity of 28 risk assessment instruments. Findings of the meta-analysis were consistent with effect sizes obtained in larger meta-analyses of criminal justice risk assessment instruments and showed that brief risk assessment instruments had smaller effect sizes than other types of instruments. However, this finding is tentative owing to limitations of the literature.     

Arts districts,universities, and the rise of digital media

In the last decade, arts and culture have been placed at the center of attention when discussing economic growth. In particular, studies on the “creative class” have been using arts and culture as an important factor impacting local economies. In addition, studies on local economic development have frequently viewed universities as a major factor in economic growth. In the middle of this discussion is new economic growth via creativity, via new recipes and new combinations of local capital, and via innovation centers. Combining these disparate literatures brings to center stage both clusters of arts and culture and concentrations of research and human capital development. Hence, the focus of this paper is to analyze the dual impacts of universities and arts districts on innovation and economic growth through employment in digital media. The results indicate that cultural districts have a consistently positive effect on local digital media economic activity—employment and innovation. The same cannot be said for research universities.     

Using self- and peer assessment at honours level: bridging the gap between law school and the workplace

Growing awareness and interest in pedagogical issues permit greater experimentation with the design and delivery of law teaching. While employability skills are now commonplace within the law curriculum, the development of graduate attributes can also be enhanced through assessment methods requiring students to apply clearly understood criteria to their own performance. Where students are allocated work-related tasks, moderated self- and peer assessment can also help replicate the sense of “real” situations and act as an even more powerful stimulus to learning. The article considers staff and student perceptions of group-based learning in which assessment is considered both a means to “deep learning” and an end in itself insofar as students are allocated the task of formally recommending grades for coursework. Recognising that student-led learning and student-driven assessment are still relatively unorthodox in law teaching, the article concludes that this form of assessment method can clearly assist learning and the enhancement of graduate attributes and moreover can be justified objectively by reference to standard assumptions of validity, reliability, convenience and integrity.     

Psychometric Markers of Genuine and Feigned Neurodevelopmental Disorders in the Context of Applying for Academic Accommodations

The article reviews systemic and context-specific challenges of psychoeducational assessment using two case studies: a 19-year-old woman with feigned attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and a 50-year-old man with genuine dyslexia. These cases demonstrate that providing a thorough evaluation of performance validity is an essential component of determining eligibility for academic accommodations in both clinical and higher education settings. At the same time, discounting failure on certain performance validity tests may be necessary to protect against false positive errors. In addition, empirically based test selection and interpretation has the potential to enhance the clinical confidence during differential diagnosis. Examining the internal consistency of a given neurocognitive profile provides valuable clinical information to determine both the credibility of the overall presentation and applying established diagnostic criteria. Although clinical research has yet to identify definitive markers of non-credible neurocognitive profiles, a multivariate approach to performance validity assessment that combines empirically validated indicators and sound clinical judgment can improve detection rates while simultaneously protecting against false positive errors.     

The personality assessment inventory as a selection device for law enforcement personnel

The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) is a recent development in psychological assessment which has attracted attention because of the breadth of its coverage and the fact that it includes a four-point scale of item agreement. Matrix, Incorporated, is a psychological assessment center that specializes in the assessment of law enforcement personnel. Matrix has collected performance variables on 800 police officers who had taken the PAI prior to being hired. Correlational analysis was performed and there was a significant effect in the data. Discussion focuses upon the criteria in relation to the PAI variables, particularly with regard to aggression, antisocial characteristics and the validity scales. The data clearly demonstrate that the PAI has good potential for the selection of law enforcement officers. Emily DeCoster-Martin was an undergraduate psychology major at The University of Evansville at the time this paper was written     

Entrepreneurship research centers around the world: research orientation,knowledge transfer and performance

This work investigates entrepreneurship research centers, and analyzes their research performance. Studies on the determinants of performance of research centers have mainly focused on science and technology, while entrepreneurship has been so far neglected. Through an analysis of 46 centers worldwide, we focus on entrepreneurship research and the role of centers, by discussing how knowledge transfer mechanisms and research orientation affect research performance. Our findings contribute to shed light on the divergence of methodologies and approaches characterizing entrepreneurship research; they also corroborate the view that centers enable a “compound Matthew-effect”, according to which knowledge transfer to external stakeholders, after controlling for research orientation of the center, does foster and enrich research performance.     

Training parenting plan evaluators: Looking towards the future

Standards of practice for parenting plan evaluations continue to evolve, informed by advances in research and the development of innovative, evidence-based approaches to assessment and intervention. Parenting plan evaluators are asked to inform the court, parents, and other professionals on how to address the complex needs of increasingly diverse families amid reorganization, high conflict, and crisis. How can we attract and properly train new mental health professionals to do important work in an increasingly strained adversarial system? How can evaluators keep up with these advances over the course of their careers? How can they deepen and refine their skills to work with a diverse array of individuals, family constellations and an enormous range of family circumstances? And how can evaluators care for their own well-being and their colleagues? In this article, the authors describe a multi-dimensional approach to training both new and experienced custody evaluators that includes imparting baseline knowledge on how to conduct quality parenting plan evaluations as a starting point. We discuss a variety of modalities and approaches that can enable evaluators to deepen and expand their skills over the years, contribute to the diverse community of family law professionals, and manage the exceptional demands of working in this field.     

Improving police officer training

This paper presents the results of procedures whereby police agencies can develop a training program which will most accurately fulfill the agency's needs, and also a technique to accurarely assess the trainee's progress in the training program. The Critical Incidem Job Analysis technique was used to develop the training program, and an assessment center procedure was described for the purpose of assessing the trainee's progress in the training program. The use of the assessment center in a training program represents a new use for assessment centers. The advantages of using these procedures for police training are disctassed.     

A Comparison of Logistic Regression,Classification and Regression Tree,and Neural Networks Models in Predicting Violent Re-Offending

Previous studies that have compared logistic regression (LR), classification and regression tree (CART), and neural networks (NNs) models for their predictive validity have shown inconsistent results in demonstrating superiority of any one model. The three models were tested in a prospective sample of 1225 UK male prisoners followed up for a mean of 3.31 years after release. Items in a widely-used risk assessment instrument (the Historical, Clinical, Risk Management-20, or HCR-20) were used as predictors and violent reconvictions as outcome. Multi-validation procedure was used to reduce sampling error in reporting the predictive accuracy. The low base rate was controlled by using different measures in the three models to minimize prediction error and achieve a more balanced classification. Overall accuracy of the three models varied between 0.59 and 0.67, with an overall AUC range of 0.65–0.72. Although the performance of NNs was slightly better than that of LR and CART models, it did not demonstrate a significant improvement.     

Age assessment by magnetic resonance imaging of the knee: a preliminary study

The authors developed an original magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) staging system for epiphyseal fusion of growth plate maturation of the knee and evaluated its reliability and validity for age assessment of living individuals. A total of 290 MRI scans of the knee were reviewed retrospectively in patients aged from 10 to 30 years old (138 males, 152 females). Five original MRI stages were defined to assess the degree of maturation of the distal femoral and proximal tibial epiphyses. Intra-observer variability was excellent and inter-observer variability was good, demonstrating the reliability and the validity of this original MRI staging system. In both sexes, the changes of growth plates (proximal tibial or distal femoral) were associated with age (p<0.001). Our results agreed with classic data on skeletal maturation of the knee, with globally earlier maturation in females than in males, and also earlier maturation of the proximal tibial epiphysis than of the distal femoral epiphysis. MRI of the knee is an efficient non-invasive method of age assessment, without the disadvantage of X-ray exposure. Further studies with larger groups are needed to support our results.     

Psychological Assessment of Symptom and Performance Validity,Response Bias,and Malingering: Official Position of the Association for Scientific Advancement in Psychological Injury and Law

Evidence-based forensic psychological opinions require thorough and accurate information about examinees. Psychometric instruments can facilitate diagnostic decision making, but they rely on examinees to respond honestly to questions and put forth good effort on cognitive tests. Given the strong incentives for examinees in psychological injury cases to minimize prior problems and emphasize postaccident or posttrauma problems, the assessment of validity as part of forensic psychological evaluations is essential. Best practices in forensic psychology have their foundation in ethical principles. The purpose of this position statement is to promote ethical psychological practice in legal contexts by reviewing validity assessment issues and their ethical foundations. Because no previously published document focused specifically on symptom and performance validity assessment in psychological injury evaluations performed in forensic contexts, such a position statement provided by a professional organization devoted to the interface of psychological injury and law was needed to inform and guide practitioners and to educate other interested parties. The position statement emphasizes (a) the need for ethical practice in assessing validity, (b) consideration of factors such as culture and functional limitations, and (c) the importance of adopting a comprehensive, impartial, and scientific approach to validity assessment. The position statement acknowledges areas of differing opinions and the need for further research.     

Examination of the stability and consistency of investigative interviewer performance across similar mock interview contexts

Purpose. Three studies examined the degree to which investigative interviewers' adherence to best‐practice guidelines is consistent across similar mock interviews. Method. In each study, two interviews were administered within a period of several hours. Further, group and individual stability of interviewer performance was analysed, and performance was measured by calculating the proportion of open‐ended and leading questions as well as the presence of predetermined problem behaviours. The studies varied depending on the type of interview paradigm employed. Interviewer performance in Study 1was measured in a group context where participants rotated between the role of interviewer, child respondent, and observer. In Study 2, an adult played the role of a child recalling abuse but this occurred in isolation (participants did not observe others or play the child). Study 3 was similar to Study 2 except that in each interview an unfamiliar child aged 5–7 years recalled an innocuous event. Results. Interviewer performance was relatively stable across tasks, although the strength of the relationship between measures varied across analyses. Improvement in open‐ended question usage occurred in Study 1 but not Studies 2 and 3. Irrespective of the assessment context, the dichotomous rating scale yielded greater consistency than when questions were tallied. Further, group stability overestimated individual stability. The practical implications of these findings for trainers and researchers are discussed.     

Law Enforcement Fusion Centers: Cultivating an Information Sharing Environment while Safeguarding Privacy

The national network of fusion centers, of which there are currently 78 nationwide, was created in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and continue to play an integral role in contemporary law enforcement. Their mission, put simply, is to facilitate information sharing across disparate agencies and organizations. Despite a significant presence within the law enforcement landscape, fusion centers have received relatively minimal scholarly attention. This limited literature alludes to operational challenges and public concerns that inhibit fusion center effectiveness. More specifically, little information is known about how fusion centers develop relationships with external partners as well as institute mechanisms to safeguard against violations of individual privacy. The present research employs a combination of national survey data and three in-depth case studies of fusion centers in Florida, Nevada, and Michigan to provide initial answers to these questions. Implications for improved policy and practice are discussed.     

Teaching police ethics: An experiential model

Attempts have been made in recent years to decrease police misconduct and improve police performance in areas of ethical decision-making. One attempt has been to provide ethics instruction to police officers at training academies and in-service training sessions. Experiential case studies have been used to help students apply theoretical concepts to practical situations. An evaluation of the experiential teaching model for police ethics was made in a quasiexperimental research design with two groups of police officers. The results supported the experiential approach for teaching police ethics. Police officers were found to better differentiate between ethical and unethical conduct in both an idealistic and realistic manner.     

Validity and reliability of the VRAG in a forensic psychiatric medium security population in Flanders

Since the development of the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG), one of the most widely used actuarial risk assessment instruments, numerous replication studies have shown its usefulness in predicting (violent) recidivism among various offender populations. It is not clear, however, whether these findings can be generalized to forensic psychiatric patients admitted to a medium security forensic psychiatric unit in the Flemish part of Belgium. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to test the predictive validity and reliability of the VRAG in a sample of 191 Flemish medium security patients. The mean follow-up period was 2.4 years. Contrary to the expectations, the VRAG was unable to significantly predict any kind of outcome. Possible explanations are discussed and further research with the VRAG in Flanders, and its recently revised version, is recommended.     

Predicting outcome with the Level of Service Inventory-Revised: The importance of implementation integrity

Correctional agencies face increasing pressure to provide more services for increasing caseloads with fewer resources. The Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) is a risk/need assessment instrument that was designed to assist correctional agencies in classifying offenders based upon risk of re-offending, thereby allowing agencies to assign appropriate levels of risk/need and develop intervention/case-plans accordingly. Although predictive validity of the LSI-R has been demonstrated, very little attention has been paid to the effect that staff training and agency experience have on the validity of this comprehensive, dynamic risk/need assessment tool. The use of formalized training and agency experience were found to be important factors that may determine the validity of the risk/need scores that are gleaned from the LSI-R assessment process.     

Exploring the validity of the Level of Service Inventory-Revised with Native American offenders

The use of actuarial risk/need assessment tools is an increasingly important part of the correctional landscape. Actuarial tools ideally will provide a valid, dynamic assessment of an offender's overall risk/need level, and will identify their most prevalent criminogenic needs. What results is typically a number or score that can be used to assign an offender to a risk level that is associated with an assumed likelihood of recidivism. Testing the predictive validity of actuarial risk/need assessment tools is of paramount concern, particularly when they are utilized with new (and under-researched) populations. The current study assessed the predictive validity of the Level of Service Inventory-Revised using a sample of Native American and White offenders in a northern midwestern state. Results showed the instrument to have modest predictive validity utilizing the entire sample of offenders, with varying results for subsequent subgroups.     

Assessing Callous-Unemotional traits across different groups of youths: further cross-cultural validation of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional traits

The Inventory of Callous-Unemotional (CU) Traits (ICU) is a self-report questionnaire which was developed to measure the affective features of psychopathy in children and adolescents. Previous studies reported both support and difficulties with this promising new measure. The present study investigated the psychometric and discriminating qualities of the Dutch questionnaire across different groups by examining its structure, distribution and correlates. The ICU was administered to young clinical offenders (detained, N=127), healthy controls (community, N=172), non-clinical offenders (not detained, N=42) and an externalizing non-offender group (under treatment for behavioral problems, N=42). The age range for all groups was 13-20years. Since confirmatory factor analysis of models from earlier research did not yield an acceptable fit, exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Five factors were extracted: Lack of Conscience, Uncaring, Unemotional, Callousness and Lack of Empathy. The results indicated moderate to good test-retest stability and adequate internal consistency. CU traits correlated well with measures of conduct problems and aggression, indicating a good criterion and convergent validity. Results indicate weak associations with expert (Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version, PCL:YV) and informant (Antisocial Process Screening Device, APSD) measures of psychopathic traits. Although groups could be differentiated on a statistical basis, no meaningful distinction based on CU traits alone was possible. Results of this study cast doubt on the validity of the current ICU. Suggestions are made for improvement.     

The Application of the Transcendental Meditation Program to Corrections

In 1976, Lockheed Corporation was charged with making secret payments of at least $25 million to Japanese officials during the early 1970s. It was alleged that these payments were made in order to secure aircraft sales contracts with several Japanese airlines. At that time, Lockheed executives claimed that Japanese officials insisted that consideration of Lockheed as a contractor would require advance payments to several government officials. In spite of this claim, Congress passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977 which treats these payments as bribery, rather than extortion, and prohibits them with the threat of criminal penalties. During the last 10 years, Japan has tried and convicted 15 former government officials of bribery and other crimes in the Lockheed affair. This paper assesses the effects of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in regulating business conduct, and the validity of the claims by Lockheed and the Japanese officials 10 years later, now that the trials are over.