Behind closed doors: the effect of pretrial publicity on jury deliberations

Abstract

Effective treatment of aggressive behaviour and accurate release decision making are necessary components of adequate clinical practice in forensic psychiatric units. Unfortunately, methods to identify treatment targets and ameliorate aggressive behaviour have developed at a slower pace than risk assessment technologies. Recent progress on the identification of offence paralleling or functionally equivalent behaviour offers a framework for individually tailored treatment and idiographic release decision making, although empirical scrutiny of this approach is inadequate. This paper describes an examination of the relationship between aggressive behaviour prior to admission with aggression during inpatient psychiatric treatment, and reconviction for violent offending following discharge. Results showed a relationship between pre- and post-admission aggression but no relationship between aggression during inpatient psychiatric treatment with either pre-admission aggressive behaviour or violent recidivism. These findings indicate the importance of state psychological variables, specifically those states affected by symptoms of psychiatric illness, as well as environmental activators and inhibitors of violence that operate within the hospital. These require inclusion in an adequate functional analysis of aggressive behaviour for forensic psychiatric patients.     

How does the economy shape policy preferences?

How do changes in the economy translate into shifts in aggregate preferences for a more or less activist government in the U.S.—a construct referred to as “policy mood”? Existing theories pose alternative explanations based on either a Maslow Hierarchy of Needs model, where citizens prefer an activist federal government to expand the social safety net when the economic future looks bright (Durr, 1993), or a Phillips Curve model (Erikson et al., 2002), in which the objective economic maladies of inflation and unemployment drive policy mood. We show that neither of these explanations withstands empirical scrutiny when analysis is extended beyond the time period of the original authors' work, suggest the existing wisdom tying the economy to policy mood is wrong, and offer some alternative avenues to pursue in search of an answer to the question: What moves policy mood?     

Changing the ‘front line’ to meet citizen needs

Public services need to be re‐designed to meet citizens’ needs and to become more accountable. The role of the ‘front line’ is crucial in this. It is the pivotal point on the ‘see‐saw’ connecting ‘the public’ and the ‘back line’ of national and local public service agencies. This article compares the experience of Sweden and the UK in designing new ‘front lines’ through ‘decentralisation’ and ‘one‐stop shops’. It concludes that these initiatives can help to meet citizen needs and that citizens notice the difference. Committed support from the ‘back line’ is crucial for success. Active democratic involvement of both politicians and local residents is also essential.     

Career Planning for SolicitorsWorking in Law 2014

This paper examines a teaching method in property law. It is a method that applies the use of tutorials to complement the traditional delivery of lectures. The tutorials are run using group teaching techniques, allowing the students to be engaged in active learning. Independent, individual and group research work is involved throughout the process. The paper explores the benefits and problems associated with the operation of this teaching method. Further, it examines the alignment of the problem-based learning strategy to the global vision of universities to push the boundaries of learning through teaching and research, enterprise and professional practice. The paper explains how using tutorials in this teaching method fits with the dimensions of the United Kingdom Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) for teaching and supporting learning, and the underpinning objectives of the named university’s learning strategy.     

Judgments of culpability in a filicide scenario

Previous research has indicated that potential jurors are likely to use personal biases, such as those based on gender and ethnicity, in their judgments of culpability of criminal defendants in addition to, or instead of, the facts of the crime. The present paper seeks to extend this literature to the crime of filicide; to examine whether male defendants are judged more harshly than female defendants, as is the case for domestic violence and sexual abuse. 214 participants were provided with a scenario of filicide in which the gender of the perpetrator, the gender of the child, and the family's social class were randomly assigned. Participants were asked to rate the culpability of the defendant in the case. Results indicated that, unlike for other violent crimes, participants did not use gender or social class biases in their judgments of criminal culpability.     

Family, Social Inequalities, and the Persuasive Force of Interpersonal Obligation

To date, the privatization of the costs of social inequalitiesfor women and children has been criticized predominantly froma policy perspective. This article seeks to make a strongercase against remedying social inequalities through private lawobligations by addressing the theoretical difficulties withsuch privatization with a particular focus on familial obligations.I take my core examples from the current Canadian understandingof the spousal and child support obligations. My analysis proposes and proceeds on the basis of a new discoursefor obligations traditionally grouped together as "Family Law"obligations: first, interpersonal obligations, which arise fromand tie together two citizens through either a single interactionor through their relationship as a whole; second, social obligations,which are owed by the community as a whole to individual citizens. I argue that the persuasive force of the focus on an individual'sresponsibility for another's financial need has obscured thereality of the state's obligation, the broader social obligation,to respond to this need. I conclude with a discussion of theconsequences of my analysis for the future of the spousal andchild support obligations. If we deny an expanded role to thesesupport obligations, can we do so in a way that avoids leavingthe impoverished in an even more precarious position?     

Prostitute homicides: a descriptive study

It has been estimated that women involved in street prostitution are 60 to 100 times more likely to be murdered than are nonprostitute females. In addition, homicides of prostitutes are notoriously difficult to investigate and, as such, many cases remain unsolved. Despite this large risk factor, little literature exists on homicides of prostitutes, and there is a lack of basic statistics and knowledge regarding this very specific victim group that could possibly help investigators. The aim of the current study is to conduct an exploratory study to explore the key characteristics of this group and how they differ from other subgroups of homicide. Forty-six cases of U.K. prostitute homicides are analyzed and compared to 59 male offender-female victim nonsexual homicide cases and 17 male offender-female victim sexual homicide cases.     

Executive Orders and Administrative Control

One of the key recommendations of the Winter Commission was the empowerment of governors over the executive branch. However, key institutions have not evolved in this direction; the long ballot still exists in most states, and the formal powers of governors have strengthened to their probable capacity. The authors suggest that a quasi‐formal power—the gubernatorial use of executive orders—may be a significant tool for empowering the governor in the state administrative realm. Analyzing all executive orders in 49 states for 2004 and 2005, they find variation in the aggregate use of and functions performed through these orders. Many executive orders do allow the government more direction and control of state bureaucracy. Finally, the authors suggest that the study of executive orders may be necessary to understand gubernatorial power in the executive arena and beyond.