The Kantian Liberal Peace (Revisited)

Democratic peace studies have traditionally identified Kantian "republicanism" with procedural democracy and largely ignored liberalism and constitutionalism, which are even more fundamental for Kant's reasoning behind the liberal peace. A closer look into his major political works reveals that peaceful relations are expected from states with the protection of individual freedoms (liberalism), the rule of law and legal equality (constitutionalism), and representative government (democracy). Only when all three constitutive elements are jointly considered can we uncover the multifaceted nature of Kant's approach to the domestic sources of international peace. In this way, we not only find that monadic and dyadic expectations are consistent with Kant's theory, but also that both normative and interest-based explanations for international peace can equally draw on Kant as their theoretical precursor. We further demonstrate that it is plausible to infer that the Kantian legacy is related to civil peace as well. The propositions we derive from our theoretical reexamination of the Kantian legacy are strongly supported in our quantitative empirical test. Moreover, constitutional liberalism, rather than democracy, shows to be both more central for Kant's theory and empirically more robustly related to international as well as domestic peace.     

Evaluation of a Health Care Provider Training Program to Identify and Help Partner Violence Victims

This study tested four hypotheses about the impact of a 3-h domestic violence training program with 752 health care providers on attitudes and values related to screening and helping partner violence victims. Hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 were that training would be related to: 1) increased self-efficacy to identify and help partner violence victims, 2) increased endorsement of the role of health care providers and settings for helping partner violence victims, and 3) increased comfort making appropriate community referrals to help partner violence victims. Hypothesis 4 was that training effects would be moderated by prior training and by prior experience with helping a victim. Following training, health care providers reported increased self-efficacy, increased comfort making appropriate community referrals, and increased valuation of health care providers and the health care system as having an important role in stopping domestic violence. Hypothesis 4 was also supported. Prior training and/or experience with an abuse victim predicted smaller changes in the dependent variables. These gains held at a 6-month follow-up. Implications for training curriculum design are discussed, in addition to institutional policy implications for determining the benefits versus costs of universal training, including staff who demonstrate prior training or experience with battered victims. Study limitations and future research directions, including the need to measure performance and policy compliance will also be outlined.     

Characterising stutter in forensic STR multiplexes

Stutter is an artefact seen when amplifying short tandem repeats and typically occurs at one repeat unit shorter in length than the parent allele. In forensic analysis, stutter complicates the analysis of DNA profiles from multiple contributors, known as mixed profiles, a common profile type. Consequently it is important to both understand and predict stutter behaviour in order to improve our understanding of the resolution and interpretation of these profiles. Whilst stutter is well recognised and documented, little information is available that identifies and quantifies what influences the formation of stutter. In this work we use a novel approach to examine this. We have used synthetic oligonucleotides comprising multiple repeat units to test; the influence of repeat number, the influence of repeat sequence and the impact of interruptions to the repeat sequence length. Using multiple replicates allows detailed statistical analysis. We have confirmed a linear relationship between stutter ratio and repeat number. We have shown that increased A-T content increases stutter ratio and that interruptions in repeating sequences decreased stutter ratios to levels similar to the longest uninterrupted repeat stretch. We also found that there was no relationship between stutter ratio and repeat number for a repeat unit with an A-T content of 1/4 and that half of the interrupted repeat sequences stuttered significantly less than their longest uninterrupted repeat stretches. We have applied the knowledge gained to examine specific features of the loci present in the AmpFlSTR^® SGM Plus^® multiplex kit used in our laboratory.     

“How an Ordinary Jury Makes Sense of it is a Mystery”: Barristers’ Perspectives on Rape,Consent and the Sexual Offences Act 2003

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 introduced significant reforms to the offence of rape, amid concerns regarding the low reporting and conviction rates for rape. One of the key aims of the Act was to improve the law relating to consent, in order to assist a jury in their decision making process. In addition, disquiet had been expressed with regards to the subjective nature of the mens rea of rape. Consequently, the 2003 Act reformulated the law so as to introduce an objective test. This article discusses the findings of a qualitative research project undertaken with 14 Barristers in the North West of England, in order to investigate counsels’ opinions regarding the 2003 reforms. Drawing upon data collected from semi-structured interviews, the article examines barristers’ perspectives with regards to the definition of consent, the ‘consent presumptions’, and the reformulated mens rea. In conclusion, it will be argued that while the barristers were not overly optimistic about the reforms introduced by the 2003 Act, they were also opposed to further reform to the substantive law and increased jury directions. Barristers argued that the law relating to rape should remain as simple as possible.     

Teaching Dissent in the Law School: Have Students Learned to Disagree?

This paper offers an analysis of the qualitative evidence obtained from a research project in relation to the teaching of a module on the Trials of Dissenters in the context of an undergraduate law degree. It will consider whether a pedagogically innovative course has encouraged and enabled undergraduate law students to think more creatively on the issues raised by specific historic trials and to be prepared to construct more critical and open ended arguments. The study of the Trials of Dissenters, we hoped, would encourage our students to dissent both from the standard model of legal education and from the acceptance of what lecturers say as “true”. We here consider the success of our project in relation to how students view dissent.     

Would John Stuart Mill have Regulated Pornography?

John Stuart Mill dominates contemporary pornography debates where he is routinely invoked as an authoritative defence against regulation. This article, by contrast, argues that a broader understanding of Mill's ethical liberalism, his utilitarianism, and his feminism casts doubt over such an assumption. New insights into Mill's approach to sex, sexual activity, and the regulation of prostitution reveal an altogether more nuanced and activist approach. We conclude that John Stuart Mill would almost certainly have accepted certain forms of pornography regulation and, in this light, we argue that Mill can provide the foundation for new, liberal justifications of some forms of pornography regulation.     

A Cross-cultural Validation of the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP)

The aim of this study was to provide preliminary findings on the cross-cultural validation and reliability of the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP) developed by Ondersma et al. (Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 2005). A community sample of 324 parents was recruited through schools from a range of socioeconomic areas in a large UK city. The BCAP appears to be a reliable instrument that is easy to use and shows promise as a brief screening tool for parental child abuse potential within the UK. Modifications are suggested to the validity scales and the conceptual structure based on this sample, however, detailed testing of the utility of this scale for clinical practice outside the US should be pursued.     

The United Kingdom Identity Cards Act 2006 Civil or Criminal?

After much controversy and debate, the United Kingdom Parliamentpassed the Identity Cards Act in March 2006. The new nationalidentity registration scheme established under the legislationwill be in operation in 2 years. Initially the scheme will notbe generally compulsory, though the intention is eventuallyto make it mandatory. The Act uses a mix of civil penalty andoffence provisions as part of its enforcement regime. This articleconsiders the approach of the legislation, particularly thepractical implications of authentication and verification ofidentity under the scheme and the potential impact on the effectivenessof the enforcement regime, having regard to the right againstself-incrimination under the Human Rights Act 1988 (UK) andArticle 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rightsand Fundamental Freedoms 1950, and the common law privilegeagainst self-incrimination.