Just compensation: a no-fault proposal for research-related injuries

Biomedical research, no matter how well designed and ethically conducted, carries uncertainties and exposes participants to risk of injury. Research injuries can range from the relatively minor to those that result in hospitalization, permanent disability, or even death. Participants might also suffer a range of economic harms related to their injuries. Unlike the vast majority of developed countries, which have implemented no-fault compensation systems, the United States continues to rely on the tort system to compensate injured research participants—an approach that is no longer morally defensible. Despite decades of US advisory panels advocating for no-fault compensation, little progress has been made. Accordingly, this article proposes a novel and necessary no-fault compensation system, grounded in the ethical notion of compensatory justice. This first-of-its-kind concrete proposal aims to treat like cases alike, offer fair compensation, and disburse compensation with maximum efficiency and minimum administrative cost. It also harmonizes national and international approaches—an increasingly important goal as research becomes more globalized, multi-site trials grow in number, and institutions and sponsors in the United States move to single-IRB review.     

Pain and disability under Social Security: time for a new standard

Some degree of pain is a part of every individual's life. Many people, however, live in chronic debilitating pain. This Article examines concepts of pain and its treatment and implications for victims of pain under the Social Security system. The Article discusses inconsistencies within the Social Security Administration and in the courts when attempting to set standards for evaluating pain and determining disability.     

森林生态效益补偿制度的产生、发展与依据

森林生态效益补偿制度是行政补偿制度的一种具体形式。作为理论思维和实践经验的成果,该制度的产生与发展有一个历史过程,有其存在的现实基础和理论依据。缓解森林生态功能衰退和解决我国生态公益林经营管理的尴尬状况是该制度提出的现实基础,而对财产权的保护和“公平负担原则”则是该制度存在的理论依据。     

Autonomy: A study of social exchange in a carceral setting

Marshaling ethnographic data from a county jail, this study introduces “autonomy”—a novel concept and measurement of the degree to which an actor's exchange initiations are regulated by other exchange relations. This study rearticulates mutual dependence arguments about the social order of penological living in terms of social exchange theory and offers several innovations: 1) the structural forms of exchange relations in a penal housing unit stratify “carceral autonomy” across members of a social order; 2) diminished carceral autonomy contributes to the buildup of “exchange frustration”—the mixture of discontent and sadness experienced when goals cannot be achieved due the structure of an exchange network; 3) deprivations, inefficacies, and imported cultural standards contribute to what is exchanged and with whom in a penological setting; 4) caretaking in penological housing units is as much about maintaining social order through a form of generalized exchange as it is about network members helping each other; and 5) the emotional landscape of penological living can be mapped, in part, by examining the distribution of carceral autonomy and exchange frustration.     

Mentally challenged patients in a forensic hospital: a feasibility study concerning the executive functions of forensic patients with organic brain disorder, learning disability, or mental retardation

The past years have seen an increasing number of patients of lower intelligence or with organic brain disorder being committed into our forensic psychiatry. Our clinic has an ongoing scientific project to investigate the possibilities of reducing costs while at the same time guaranteeing adequate treatment and enforcement practice in forensic hospitals. This current project did not take these kinds of patients into consideration initially. This feasibility study is intended to examine if and to what extent these patients can be part of the scientific project. All patients of forensic psychiatry in Rostock (Mecklenburg-Western-Pomerania) with an IQ<80 (learning disorder) or a primary or secondary organic brain dysfunction that have been committed to the clinic since 2009 are included. These patients went through an extensive battery of neuropsychological tests. Furthermore, the treating psychotherapists had to rate the prognoses for criminal re-offending at discharge. Patients affected by lower intelligence or an organic brain dysfunction achieve lower results in neuropsychological testing than other patients participating in the main project. Nevertheless, participation in neuropsychological testing does not appear to overtax them. Future examination of the patients will be conducted to investigate to what extent certain therapeutic methods have been of noticeable benefit to this problematic group.     

Adapting measures of social climate for use with individuals with intellectual developmental disability in forensic settings

The social climate of forensic settings is thought to impact on a number of important clinical and organisational outcomes and is, therefore, an important construct in relation to the successful functioning of forensic units. A variety of self-report questionnaires have been developed to objectively measure the social climate of forensic settings (e.g. the Correctional Institutions Environment Scale and the Essen Climate Evaluation Schema), however these questionnaires have not been validated for individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities (IDD). Given the prevalence of IDD in prison and forensic psychiatric settings and the potential impact of such cognitive deficits on the ability to complete a range of self-report questionnaires, it is important to consider the potential reliability and validity of existing social climate measures in IDD populations. This article will, therefore: (1) examine the cognitive, linguistic and response format difficulties that may arise when administering self-report measures of social climate in IDD populations; (2) consider potential adaptations to existing measures of social climate that might make them more suitable for use with IDD populations; and (3) identify important directions for future research in the area.     

Corporate governance and financial development: a study of the French case

This paper belongs to the growing body of the “Law and finance” literature based on time-series study. It carries out an empirical investigation of the role of corporate governance in financial development. We focus on French corporate governance reforms in order to examine whether these reforms are consistent with the reorganization of the French financial system, which took place during the period 1977–2004. This research aims at evaluating one proposition of the legal origin claims based on the idea that there is a strong and stable relationship between legal origin, investor protection and financial system. A key question the study addresses is how corporate governance rules and the French financial development have changed over time. Our study suggests that indicators related to investors’ rights (shareholders, employees, and bondholders) have been increasing over time, despite the specific legal origin of the French system. On the contrary the creditors’ rights have followed a less clear trend. Our econometric investigation is fairly new as the Law and finance literature has not until now provided corporate governance indicators suitable for French legislation. From that perspective, our work undergoes a multiple criteria analysis of corporate governance reforms. Following this approach, we suggest that the causality links between changes in the French legal environment and financial growth in France are more bidirectional than unidirectional.     

Dynamic risk and violence in individuals with an intellectual disability: tool development and initial validation

Without a violence risk assessment designed for people with an intellectual disability (ID), assessors are reliant upon tools developed for mainstream offenders or develop their own tools. This study describes the early stages of development of the Current Risk of Violence (CuRV), an informant-reported measure of dynamic risk for aggression in adults with an ID. The pool of items was generated from a multitude of sources. Predictive accuracy for aggression was tested prospectively among 64 adults with an ID and history of aggression. The 34-item CuRV was found to be a brief, uncomplicated risk assessment. Initial findings revealed good predictive validity over a five-month period: area under the curve (AUC) range from .72, 95% CI [.59, .85] to .77, 95% CI [.66, .89]. These preliminary findings suggest that the CuRV may assist staff to perform assessments of risk in busy clinical settings. Future research effort is needed to fully explore the psychometric properties of the CuRV.     

听力减退及相关残疾标准比较研究

听力减退的客观评估是法医临床鉴定中的难点之一.2017年1月1日《人体损伤致残程度分级》实施,其听力减退伤残评定与既往标准存在一定差异.本文比较了《伤残分级》与国内外其他残疾标准中听力残疾相关内容,探讨《伤残分级》标准的优点及不足.同时回述了近年应用较多的客观听力检测方法,比较了客观听力检测方法与纯音测听阈值关联性.国内外听力减退评定均是基于WHO的听力障碍分级,但在双耳听力伤残值的计算及耳鸣、年龄对听力伤残值的影响上均存在一定差异.     

膀胱功能障碍及相关残疾标准的比较研究

排尿功能状况的客观准确评估是法医临床学鉴定中的难点之一.2017年1月1日实施《人体损伤致残程度分级》标准,对膀胱损害残疾划分指标、原则与国外标准仍存在较大差异.本文比较了《人体损伤致残程度分级》与国内外其他伤残标准中膀胱损害的相关内容,提出了完善《人体损伤致残程度分级》标准相关内容的建议.同时介绍了尿流动力学检查在膀胱功能障碍鉴定中的价值.     

Time for a change: applying the good lives model of rehabilitation to a high-risk violent offender

In this article we operationalise the theoretical concepts of the Good Lives Model (GLM) of offender rehabilitation by providing a step-by-step framework for assessment, formulation, treatment planning, and monitoring with a high-risk violent offender residing in the community. The case study illustrates how the GLM can be applied to complement and enhance traditional Risk-Management interventions and shows how the GLM's clinical relevance extends from sex offending to broader offending typologies.     

Understanding motives for aggression in forensic psychiatric patients: a preliminary study

The primary aim of this study was to explore motivations underpinning aggression among men detained within conditions of high security. Thirty men residing at a high secure psychiatric hospital completed self-report measures, including the Aggression Motivation Questionnaire, Revised EXPAGG and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-IIr. The Historical items of the Historical, Clinical and Risk-Management (HCR-20) and the Psychopathy Checklist-Screening Version were rated. A subsample of participants agreed to complete a functional assessment on an aggressive incident that had occurred during their placement (n = 9). Increased psychopathy and impulsivity, and the presence of historical risk items were predicted to associate with higher levels of both aggression motivation and beliefs supportive of aggression. Young age at first violent incident and personality disorder related positively to aggression motivation. Thematic analysis conducted on the functional assessments identified social recognition, emotion regulation, communication and protection as functions underpinning aggression. Results are discussed with regards to their implication for violence treatment and assessment, with a focus on motivation recommended.     

Health and social care staff responses to working with people with a learning disability who display sexual offending type behaviours

Abstract

This study found that 59% of social care staff were currently supporting a client with a learning disability who had offended or displayed an offending type behaviour. The range of behaviours was similar to that displayed by clients in a secure health facility and included rape, sexual assault and exposure. Only 22.9% of social care staff had received training in this area, while none of the health staff had. Both groups expressed low levels of confidence in supporting this client group. The areas of difficulty were common to both groups and included personal attitudes and attitudes of others to the behaviour, and concerns over risk, responsibility and safety. In respect of attitudes, social care staff were found to be significantly more likely to hold negative attitudes towards the person's behaviour, while health staff were significantly more likely to feel negatively towards the person. Health staff were significantly more likely to identify training as a means of further support, while social care staff identified professional input. Both groups identified the need for theoretical training about working with this client group. Despite this no significant differences were found between those who had and had not received training and confidence, attitudes and the need for further support.     

退回补充侦查规范适用中若干问题之探讨

退回补充侦查是指人民检察院审查刑事案件,认为需要进一步侦查,以补充原侦查中未解决或解决得不好的问题,而将案件退回公安机关或自侦部门进行的一项诉讼活动。作为有权行使退回补充侦查权的检察机关应避免对权利的滥用,严格限制,慎重使用。正确、规范地适用退回补充侦查,对于保障公诉案件质量,加强对侦查机关(部门)的法律监督,更好地发挥公检执法机关分工负责、相互配合、相互制约作用,及时准确地打击犯罪、保障人权具有十分重要的意义。     

医患利益保护下的医疗纠纷赔偿

由于公民法律意识和服务意识的提高,医疗新技术的开展和应用,部分医护人员职业道德的下降,一些新闻媒体的片面报导,以及法院对医疗纠纷案高额赔偿的判决和判决的随意性等因素,近年来,医疗投诉和法院受理的医疗纠纷案逐年上升,且患方要求赔偿的标的额也越来越大,医患双方赔偿矛盾日趋激化.