Can training improve eyewitness identification? The effect of internal feature focus on memory for faces

Evidence suggests that individuals rely on external features such as hair and face shape when processing and recognising unfamiliar faces. This is problematic in a forensic setting because hairstyle can be changed easily. In two studies we examined whether training individuals to focus more on the stable, internal features of the face (e.g. eyes, nose and mouth) and hence less on the changeable external features would improve identification accuracy. In Study 1, participants were instructed to focus on: (1) internal features, (2) external features, or (3) both internal and external features. Participants’ eye movements were monitored while they studied target faces, which they later tried to identify from an array that included the target with a changed appearance. In Study 2, participants were instructed to focus on: (1) internal features, (2) external features, or (3) given no instructions. Participants were required to identify target faces from line-ups, where they were presented either unchanged or with an altered hairstyle. Results suggested that training individuals to attend to internal features of unfamiliar faces may improve identification accuracy in the common situation where external features have changed between presentation and identification. However, internal feature focus may decrease identification accuracy when external features are unchanged.     

Early detection and early intervention in prison: improving outcomes and reducing prison returns

Our aim was to investigate whether early detection was feasible in prison and whether it could improve mental health outcomes in young prisoners. A secondary aim was to explore whether it can reduce returns to prison. Between 2011 and 2014, a total of 2115 young prisoners were screened, 94 (4.4%) met criteria for ultra-high risk for psychosis and were offered an intervention, 52 actually received it. Return to prison data were sought on the 52 participants, receiving a formal intervention. Of the 52 prisoners who received an intervention, 30.8% returned to custody compared to national average reconviction rates of between 45.4 and 66.5%. Our results suggest that early detection is a feasible option in a prison setting, improving mental health outcomes and reducing returns to prison. Mental health outcomes were recorded for a sub-sample of those receiving the intervention. The results indicated statistically significant improvements on measures of depression, anxiety and psychological distress.     

Computer says no: technology and accountability in policing traffic stops

The Road Traffic Act 1988 gives police in the United Kingdom the power to seize motor vehicles which they have reasonable grounds for believing are being driven without a valid driver??s licence or motor insurance. Drivers may then have to pay a fee to have their vehicles returned. When exercising this power of seizure, the police may rely on information contained on the Police National Computer (PNC) which is linked to the National Insurance Database (NID). Whilst these databases are undoubtedly invaluable in this endeavour, they are not always accurate, and incidents have occurred whereby motorists who are in fact driving with valid insurance have had their vehicles seized and retained. Focusing on the case of Lisa, whose vehicle was wrongly impounded by Merseyside Police in 2007, and other cases, we explore the legitimacy and legality of such activity. We question both the discretionary power of the police in taking such action, and the validity of their (over) reliance on technology. We posit that the taking of money in cases such as Lisa??s is evidence of the turn within public policing towards marketisation, and consider the capacity for harm to innocent individuals and the implications for justice and fairness. Ultimately, we contend that police accountability is compromised and that a new approach is required. We close the piece with some recommendations for improved police practice.     

Parenting Styles and Juvenile Delinquency: Exploring Gendered Relationships

We use the NLSY97 dataset to examine the parenting‐delinquency relationship and how it is conditioned by parents’ gender, controlling for youths’ gender. Generally, neglectful and authoritarian parenting styles were associated with the highest levels of delinquency in youths. When the sample was split by parent gender, authoritarianism held up across both groups, but permissive and neglectful parenting was only significant for fathers. Independent of parenting style, boys have higher delinquency levels than girls. The strength and magnitude of this relationship is nearly identical in separate equations for mothers and fathers. Parental attachment was not a significant protective factor against delinquency for either mothers or fathers.     

Using the cognitive interview with adults with mild learning disabilities

Abstract

Forty-seven adults with mild learning disabilities (mild intellectual disabilities) attending day-centres and thirty-eight adults from the general population viewed a videorecording of an accident. A day later the participants were interviewed using either a cognitive interview (CI) or a structured interview (SI, a control interview). Compared with their counterparts with learning disabilities, adults from the general population recalled more correct information and made fewer confabulations about persons and objects. Nevertheless, the type of interview had an impact. For both groups, the CI was more effective than the SI in enhancing recall although, for the ‘learning disabilities’ group, the CI also produced a disproportionate increase in the reporting of person confabulations. All the same, the accuracy ratios were similar across interview types (80% for the CI and 82% for the SI). It is suggested that the CI could be helpful in assisting people with learning disabilities to provide information about events they have seen.     

Nano‐Industry Operationalizations of “Responsibility”: Charting Diversity in the Enactment of Responsibility

The Collingridge dilemma—the problem of reacting to emerging technology either “too early” or “too late”—is one that is readily recognized by developers and promoters of nanotechnologies. One response can be found in the rise of a discourse of “responsible development” in the science and innovation policy landscape. While a number of commentators have discussed the potential of such initiatives, it remains unclear how responsible development is actually being configured “on the ground,” in private sector nanotechnology. This paper addresses this question by analyzing empirical engagements in Europe and the United States in order to map industry operationalizations of “responsibility” in these contexts. We show that a number of different articulations of “responsibility” are present, including as a response to public lack of trust and perceived public pressure, and as the management of risk. We close by relating these findings to the theoretical literature on responsibility, other contemporary accounts of the ways in which responsible development can be operationalized, and the possibilities that these articulations of responsibility may open up.     

Digital identity,privacy and the right to identity in the United States of America

This article analyses digital identity as an emergent legal concept in the United States of America, as a consequence of the move to place all federal government services on-line. The features and functions of digital identity and its legal nature are examined, and the consequences are considered.     

Educating towards ethical lawyers: a progress report

In 2010 in a conference paper on legal education and ethics, we addressed the proposition that exempting degrees offer a unique opportunity to inculcate students with the importance of ethical considerations throughout their legal education, incorporating such considerations in an integrated academic and vocational context. The paper included a detailed analysis of the practicalities of incorporating professional legal ethics into the undergraduate exempting law degree at Northumbria University. Since 2010, there has been relatively little written from a UK perspective on incorporating teaching of legal ethics at the undergraduate stage. Here we review our progress made towards achieving that goal. The article reveals that the results have been limited; we explore the reasons for this, and consider what alternative course(s) might have been followed. As such, our experiences may offer guidance for those intending to engage with the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) recommendations to incorporate some consideration of ethics into legal education.