Demultilateralisation: A cognitive psychological perspective

This contribution seeks to illuminate the looming phenomenon of demultilateralisation and the return of and to the nation state, i.e. closure. Whereas many reasons for opening and closure have been discussed by Habermas in his eminent essay, we aim at providing an additional dimension, taking a psychological point of view and analysing this proclivity from a behaviourally informed perspective. Following a short recapitulation of the evolution towards postnationalism, we briefly sketch the current phenomenon of demultilateralisation and renationalisation. We then contribute to the current debate by providing cognitive psychological insights drawing on well‐researched biases that offer the greatest potential to explain the current outbreak of closing tendencies, namely prospect theory, including the endowment effect, framing, the availability bias and so‐called hawkish biases. This may add an explanatory dimension to why nationalistic politics have become again the beguiling sanctuary of the people. We attempt to define scope conditions of closure.     

Unaccompanied refugee children and adolescents: the glaring contrast between a legal and a psychological perspective

Unaccompanied refugee children and adolescents are a vulnerable group: they live not only in a relatively difficult situation as minor refugees staying in another country, but also face other risks due to the absence of their parents, such as traumatic experiences, exploitation or abuse. The difficult living situation of these unaccompanied refugee children and adolescents might therefore threaten their emotional well-being, resulting in important emotional and behavioural problems. This 'psychological' perspective shows the necessity of a strongly elaborated reception and care system for these children and adolescents in order to meet their specific situation and needs. Nevertheless, the case study of unaccompanied refugee minors living in Belgium, as explored in this paper, shows that the legal perspective on these youths - considering them as 'refugees' and 'migrants', not as 'children' - is predominantly the starting point to build the care system on. Moreover, this legal perspective contrasts sharply with the psychological perspective, as such that these children and adolescents do not receive appropriate support and care as they need.     

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-III: a perspective from family court

The third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-III) is evaluated from the standpoint of forensic science experience in a family court setting. The importance of diagnosis in developing pertinent recommendations within an adversarial system is discussed, with particular emphasis on difficulties in coordinating the Manual with the mental disorders frequently found in such a population. The limitations of the current criteria of the developmental disabilities are noted, and problems of reconciling incest and child abuse with the nomenclature are investigated. Some inconsistencies in the conceptualization of the conduct disorders and antisocial personality disorder are explored in terms of the needs of the juvenile justice system. An additional coding procedure is proposed for DSM-III, in order to identify more easily prodromal or emerging disorders of clinical significance.     

The critical perspective in psychological jurisprudence theoretical advances and epistemological assumptions

The critical perspectives of psychological jurisprudence identified above, along with their corresponding epistemological assumptions, reflect a radical agenda for change at the law-psychology divide. Although not exhaustively reviewed, the individual theories represent different approaches by which structural reform can be enacted and citizen well-being can therefore be realized. Collectively, the critical perspectives and their attending presuppositions challenge conventional wisdom about prospects for transforming (i.e., humanizing) the legal apparatus. I submit that the future viability of the law-psychology movement, and its overall utility for society, considerably depends on its capacity to facilitate and secure such widespread change. By focusing on critical theoretical inquiry, this article makes painfully clear that much of what is wrong with the legal system, especially in its interactions with and interpretations of people, cannot be amended or solved through it. Indeed, as Roesch (1995) observed, "changes in the justice system will never be sufficient to create a just society, nor will within system changes by themselves ever have much of an impact on individuals who come into conflict with the law" (p. 3). I agree. Accordingly, it is time to move on and, where necessary, to look elsewhere for guidance. The radical agenda in psychological jurisprudence represents a provocative strategy, providing a meaningful basis for critique and a sustainable basis for reform. Both are integral to the call for justice embodied in the founding of the AP-LS decades ago. Realizing this challenge, however, remains an unfulfilled dream. Thus, the task that awaits is to apply the insights of critical psychological jurisprudence to relevant areas of research and policy. I submit that the academy can ill afford to dismiss this task. Indeed, in the final analysis, to do so would not only defer prospects for justice but would destroy its very possibility, especially for citizens disillusioned by the status quo and desperate for change that makes a difference.     

Bioethics from a social perspective: European Biopolitics Conference]

The European Congress on biopolitics entitled "Connecting civil society implementing basic values" was held in March 2006 in Berlin. It was organised by the Heinrich B?ll foundation and the Institut Mensch, Ethik und Wissenschaft. The aim of the Congress was to provide a forum for discussion on the ethical and social aspects derived from biotechnology and genetics on human beings. This work summarises some of the aspects that reveal the international interest and relevance of this meeting.     

Public capabilities and health care effectiveness: implications from a comparative perspective

This article examines inter-relationship between "centers" and "peripheries" within political, professional and health care systems. It seeks to determine which conditions tend to improve the capacity of public authorities to further such measures of effectiveness as access to, quality of, and complementarity of health care delivery. Examples are selected from the experience of the United States and West European countries.     

A psychological perspective on vulnerability in the fear of crime

Abstract

This paper examines vulnerability and risk perception in the fear of crime. Past studies have often treated gender and age as proxies for vulnerability, and on the few occasions that vulnerability has been operationalized, there has been little agreement on the mechanisms that underpin perceived susceptibility. To develop a more theoretically-driven approach, the current study examines whether markers of vulnerability are associated with higher levels of fear through mediating assessments of likelihood, control and consequence. Females are found to worry more frequently than males partly because (a) they feel less able to physically defend themselves, (b) they have lower perceived self-efficacy, (c) they have higher perceived negative impact, and (d) they see the likelihood of victimization as higher for themselves and for their social group. Younger people are also found to worry more frequently than older people, but differential vulnerability does not explain this association. Finally, structural equation modelling shows that the effects on worry of physical defence capabilities, self-efficacy and perceived consequence are mostly mediated through judgements of absolute and relative risk. Conclusions focus on the implications of this finding for debates about the rationality of the fear of crime.     

Civil commitment from a systems perspective

Responsibility for the civil commitment process currently is shared between the justice and mental health systems. Neither system, however, owes substantial loyalty to the goals of civil commitment. The result, as documented in numerous empirical studies, is that the ostensible goals of the process are routinely subverted in favor of other systemic interests. Most reform efforts to date, focused on altering legal rules to conform to doctrinal desiderata, have ignored this problem, leading to uneven and disappointing outcomes. A systems perspective on these problems suggests that one means of dealing with systems whose loyalty to a task is questionable is to create an independent system with the incentives to give primacy to the task in question. The implications of this analysis for civil commitment are explored.     

Empathy from a police work perspective

The purpose of this paper is to identify an appropriate conceptual model of empathy from the perspective of police work. This paper draws on the existing literature from two areas of research: (a) the literature describing the characteristics of the ideal police officer from a general perspective, as well as in a specifically Swedish context and (b) the literature analysing empathy as a theoretical construct. It is found that theoretical interdisciplinary approaches in the fields of social psychology and social cognitive neuroscience are relevant. The suggested conceptual model of empathy appropriate for the policing profession incorporates the typically antagonistic nature of police–citizen contacts, personal traits as expressed in interpersonal relations, and the social and cultural context. Because of the diversity and multicultural nature of modern societies, the values guiding police–citizen encounters are given special attention and related to the empathy research tradition. The proposed conceptual model of empathy aims at guiding future research in police–citizen interaction and, ultimately, supporting police practices regarding recruitment, career advancement and fieldwork.     

Beauty and the Beast: Animal abuse from a non-speciesist criminological perspective

Although interactions between people and other animals play an important part in the social arena, this topic has until recently largely been neglected by criminologists. Recent developments in ethical theory on the moral status of animals require a reconsideration of speciesist attitudes and practices permeating our dealings with animals. Hence, a non-speciesist criminology is called for. The most evident topic that comes to mind from a criminological point of view, namely ‘animal abuse’, is dealt with from such a non-speciesist angle in this paper. In a review of publications dealing witth the link between animal abuse, domestic violence and child abuse, two points are discussed: the neglect or selectivity in giving a definition of ‘animal abuse’ and the one-sided attention of criminlogists for individual instances of cruelty to animals of animal abuse, neglecting institutionalised instances of animal abuse. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Automatism: comparison of common law and civil law approaches--a search for the optimal

This article reviews common and civil law approaches to automatism with discussion of legal definitions and the conditions in which automatism occurs. The common law approach to sane (exogenous) and insane (endogenous) automatism is examined. Despite a change in the law, which obviates mandatory incarceration for all persons found not guilty on the basis of insane automatism, the stigma of insanity remains. A number of Continental jurisdictions, though, have adopted an approach divorced from judgmental labels, whereby acts, which result from automatism, are classified under the rubric of unconsciousness. The article draws upon this approach, analyses alternatives to insane automatism and proposes instead an analysis by reference to "cognitive dysfunction", thereby removing all reference to the concept of insanity.     

Review of Laura Bui and David P. Farrington,Crime in Japan: A psychological perspective

Asian Journal of Criminology -     

Assisted reproduction and mental illness: a human rights perspective from New Zealand

Developments in our ability to artificially assist reproduction have led to new and more social applications for medicine. Parallel to this has been an increasing acceptance and understanding of mental illness. Yet it may be argued that mental illness should preclude an ability to parent by means of state-involved artificial reproductive technologies. Through examination of current New Zealand human rights law, it is argued that such practice would be discriminatory. While there is some room to grant an exception to allow such discrimination, it is doubtful that such a decision would ever be made. Any reasons to justify an exception are unlikely to meet the high threshold demanded by current law.     

Salaried lawyers and billable hours: a new perspective from the sociology of work

The work of legal professionals is changing rapidly, but the changes have not yet been thoroughly investigated from the perspective of the sociology of work. This paper draws on a research project that examined the work of solicitors in private practice in Melbourne, Australia. It uses in-depth interviews, results of secondary surveys and other data sources in order to describe the dominant working-time patterns. The evidence points to a common pattern of rigid and demanding schedules, which can be traced back to the indirect pressures exerted by the widespread system of ‘billable hours’. The paper takes up the challenge to examine the operation of this system. We argue that the billable hours system, initially just a technique for billing clients, has been transformed into a tool for measuring and controlling the work of salaried solicitors, through setting of targets, close time recording, careful monitoring, and a supple set of sanctions.     

Low self-control and parole failure: An assessment of risk from a theoretical perspective

Due to high levels of probation and parole failure, a substantial body of research in criminology, psychology, and criminal justice focused on pinpointing those factors that indicate the highest risk of recidivism and recommitment. The majority of the risk assessment tools that were currently utilized, however, were not theoretically based. This research was an attempt to examine parole failure from a theoretical perspective-that of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime. Results showed that low self-control was a significant, although not the only, predictor of parole failure. Low self-control, however, did not appear to significantly impact the length of time before the failure occurred. Future research suggestions and policy implications are provided.     

Dilemmas and consequences of prior criminal record: a criminological perspective from England and Wales

This article considers the contemporary architecture of criminal record usage in England and Wales. We focus upon impact on ‘employment status’, partly because work is often now seen as key to good health and other self-esteem indicators in the modern world. First, we examine in the context of England and Wales, (a) the development of the contemporary criminal record system and extent of availability of prior record information in terms of employment (and other licensing purposes) and (b) the factors that helped shape the current architecture. Second, this article outlines what is known from the British criminological literature on employment and conviction records and what more is needed in terms of criminological research. Finally, we consider how convictions become ‘spent’ – in particular the English approach to ‘expungement’/sealing of the criminal record according to the 1974 Rehabilitation of Offenders legislation.     

Eosinophilic myocarditis from a forensic histopathological perspective

Eosinophilic myocarditis (EM) is a rare and potentially fatal form of myocarditis characterized by infiltration of the myocardium with eosinophil leukocytes, often accompanied by eosinophilia. Although the exact underlying cause remains unknown, it has been shown to be associated with hypersensitivity reactions, immune-mediated disorders, infections, or cancer. Due to the differences in symptomatology, it is often diagnosed by postmortem histopathological examination. We aimed to retrospectively examine the histopathological findings of rare cases of EM and to detect accompanying cardiac and other organ pathologies. The histopathological findings of the cases that underwent autopsies between 2012 and 2020 and were diagnosed with EM were assessed. Demographic features, symptoms, causes of death, macroscopical findings at autopsy, toxicologic and microbiological analysis results, accompanying cardiac pathologies, and histopathological findings in other organs were evaluated. Myocarditis was detected on histopathologic examination in 558 (1.1%) of 49,612 forensic autopsies. There were 12 (2.3%) EM cases. There were nine males and four females. The mean age was 42.3 (3–83) years. Heart weights ranged from 82 to 564 g. The most common finding on macroscopic examination was the mottled discoloration and scarring in the myocardium. Microscopic examination revealed perivascular and interstitial infiltration of eosinophils in all of the cases accompanied by myocyte necrosis in four of them. EM was reported as the cause of death in four cases. EM remains a challenging heart disease with its obscure etiopathogenesis and varying clinical presentation and a rare entity diagnosed by postmortem histopathological examination in sudden and unexpected deaths.