Editorial on PIL’s First Year: Growing Pains and Growing Prospects

The first year in publishing a new journal is an exciting but difficult one. The editorial enumerates the journal’s growing pains and growing prospects.     

Psychological Injury and Law: Editorial on What Mental Health Clinicians/Practitioners Need to Know

Mental health clinicians and practitioners often deal with cases of psychological injury (e.g., PTSD, pain, TBI), but frequently remain unprepared for the intricacies of providing adequate quality of service and of potential legal challenges of such cases. The editorial lists the areas in which specified knowledge is needed in working with cases of psychological injury and the dangers of being unprepared for court. At the same time, the list constitutes guides to central topics of the journal, Psychological Injury and Law, and its parent organization, the Association for Scientific Advancement in Psychological Injury and Law (ASAPIL). Professionals in mental health should be aware of the risks inherent in working in the field, as well as remedies, such as this journal.     

Causality and Causation in Law, Medicine, Psychiatry, and Psychology: Progression or Regression?

In this article, I review recent developments in the areas of law, medicine, psychiatry, and psychology concerning causality and causation. I analyze the validity of the 2008 edition of the American Medical Association (AMA)’s guides to the evaluation of permanent impairment and its accompanying volume on causation. I conclude with recommendations for a synthetic approach to causality in the legal field and a more consistent model of impairment in the mental health one. The AMA’s book on medical causation needs careful revision.     

Causes in the construction of causal law: A psycho-ecological model

The article presents an integrated psycho-ecological model of the construction of law, with implications for practice in law and mental health. The model is based on a series of concentric circles, each representing a layer of influence on the construction of law. The circle furthest removed from the center represents the influence of culture, society and industry, in particular, and the circle at the center of the circle represents the case at hand, for example, about individual complainant or mass action. The article begins by arguing that basic terms in relation to cause need clarification and also work is needed to disambiguate the concepts involved. After dealing with these issues, the article examines science and mental health. Is the scientific evidence presented by the expert sufficiently reliable and valid to meet admissibility standards of good compared to poor or junk science? Is the research undertaken for court or presented to court biased, with factors hidden, such as links to industry. Are individual evaluations conducted with biased science serving to justify partial conclusions? The dangers of powerful influences on the construction of law are highlighted, for example, related to the individual complainant malingering and the insurance industry protecting its financial interests at the expense of genuinely injured patients. In conclusion, suggestions for empirical research are offered.     

打造生态珠海,把珠海建设成为实践科学发展观先行示范市

把珠海建设成为实践科学发展观的先行示范市,是广东省委书记张德江同志对珠海提出的新目标.为了更好地实现这一目标,为生态珠海的建设出谋划策,本课题组以科学发展观为指导对生态城市建设进行了研究,从构筑生态环境强市平台出发,在分析珠海市生态环境主要问题的基础上,积极探索如何把珠海市建设成为实践科学发展观的先行示范市.     

Psychological Injury and Law: A Biopsychosocial and Forensic Perspective

The articles in the present special issue on the area of psychological injury and law broaden understanding of the area by considering topics outside the range of the seven major areas that mark the field. In the articles in this special issue, common themes include: (a) having comprehensive, recent literature reviews, (b) presentation of models related to psychological injury and law in which existing models are integrated, (c) integration of biopsychological and forensic perspectives, and (d) consideration of development or change processes, and examination of causality. (e) All the articles discuss possible improvements to the DSM-IV; for example, there should be a separate, sixth axis pertaining to causality.     

CEPA条件下珠港澳经济合作思考

CEPA条件下的珠港澳经济合作,极大地促进珠江西岸经济发展,珠海将成为新的亮点.制造业与现代服务业是CEPA条件下珠港澳产业合作的重点,CEPA对珠海产业发展产生重要影响.CEPA条件下三地经济合作的设想和积极建议.