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.     

Banking on reform in 2010: is regulatory change ever enough and will the general election hold the answers for the financial services industry?

Over the past three years the financial service industry within the United Kingdom has undergone a major crisis. No part of the industry has gone untouched and even the regulators and the Government have come under fire for their part in promulgating the financial crisis, along with the financial service providers themselves. What has developed has been a plethora of policy documents issued and this has culminated in four major new legal updates for the financial services industry occurring during just one year. The Banking Act 2009, the Turner Review, the Walker Review, the White Paper on Reforming Financial Services and the Financial Services Bill 2009 have all increased the burden on financial services firms in light of the financial crisis sweeping not only the UK but the globe. This paper provides an oversight of these four important papers and pieces of legislation so as to shed light on what the new requirements for financial services firms are. Given the fast pace of the financial crisis, its respective regulation is also just as quick and as such it has been hard for practitioners and academics alike to keep pace with the evolving saga of the crisis. This paper therefore provides an overview of what happened and how the regulation has responded to the challenges it now faces.     

Gambling on compliance with the new 2005 Act: Do organisations fulfil new regulations?

Gambling is not a new phenomenon. Indeed gambling has been seen to be omnipresent throughout history and culture. However gambling has taken a new path. Online gambling is fast becoming a major pastime for many of society. The ease of access and convenience of play has led to an increase in the numbers of people gambling, and not just online. Within the increase of online gambling there has also been an increase in the regulation surrounding this industry. This paper explores the regulatory approach to online gambling within the UK. The researchers explore the Gambling Act 2005 (UK) and provide an empirical analysis of the UK major gambling organisation to determine what regulatory aspects they adopt and what safety measures they have in place to protect minors and to protect against financial crime. The researchers finally looks at policy implications for UK governments when regulating future online gambling.     

A fatal complication of a vena caval filter associated with pulmonary thromboembolism

Vena caval filters are increasingly used for the prevention of pulmonary thromboembolism in patients with deep vein thrombosis ever since the introduction of the stainless steel Greenfield filter in the 1970s. Although complications associated with their use are rare, they can be fatal, and therefore it is important for forensic pathologists to be aware of their occurrence. Because of the ramifications of a medical device failure, a thorough documentation of the autopsy findings is essential. We describe an unusual case of a 75-year-old woman who developed a fatal pulmonary thromboembolism with concurrent migration of a lesser known type of vena caval filter to the right ventricle occurring 19 days after filter placement. A review of the types of vena caval filters in current use, and their complications, are discussed.     

IMPROVEMENT OF CLINICAL AND LEGAL DETERMINATIONS IN CASES OF ALLEGED CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

Mental health and legal professionals have struggled, too often isolated from each other's disciplines, to establish methods to assess and demonstrate whether a particular child has been abused and whether a particular adult is, in fact, the perpetrator. Complete, accurate, and neutral assessment must be the first step in the healing process; however, barriers imposed by professionals often interfere with the assessment process. This article critiques these barriers and suggests improvements for both good clinical practice and effective use in increasingly adversarial legal proceedings.     

Pregnancy dismissals and theWebb litigation

Conclusion It is generally accepted that women have the right to participate in the workplace, although only if replicating the traditional male mode of working. To this extent, the right to formal equality with men is generally agreed to be a legitimate goal for legislation. However, where the limitations of such assimilation to a male norm come into sharp focus, as they do in the context of pregnancy, the restrictions placed on improving the position of women are evident. The courts seek to accept the arguments of employers that some limitation on the rights of women to participate fully in the workplace is necessary, with the unarticulated assumption that pregnancy constitutes a real difference between the sexes, incompatible with their notion of (formal) equality. Thus, it is argued, that the advances so far gained in the relation to pregnancy dismissals do not represent a cultural shift in attitudes towards accommodating pregnant women and women with children into the workplace. They have been adopted only reluctantly by the UK courts and legislature, with limitations still being placed on their effect particularly in respect of dismissals on account of pregnancy-related illness. The rights of women not to be discriminated against solely on the basis of their biological ability to give birth must continue to be advocated and given attention; complacency will likely see those rights progressively restricted.     

Placing Indigenous Rights to Self-Determination in an Ecological Context

In this paper the author focuses on Australian land management and in particular on the environmental management issues that could have been prompted by the High Court recognition in 1996 (in Wik Peoples v. The State of Queensland ) that native title to land and pastoral leaseholdings can co-exist. Drawing on themes of self-determination and co-existence, the paper looks at more specific topics such as aboriginal title to land—what has been called land rights or native title in Australia—and some implications of that for land, sea and resource management. Central to this analysis are competing theories of Aboriginal land management and links between Aboriginal traditional knowledge and conservation of species. These are illustrated through the marine mammal, the dugong. The Australian debates lead to the Canadian debates and then to Scandinavia and the role of the Sami people in protection and management of the Arctic region. Issues of indigenous self determination inevitably provide an overall theme to these discussions. As a matter of global concern, the paper asks, but does not decide, whether indigenous peoples may manage fragile eco-systems more effectively than outsiders. It maintains that what is important in this context is a broader question. This concerns how culturally inclusive land and resource management can emerge from recognition of indigenous land and human rights and how comparative developments can provide crucial cross-jurisdictional information for future developments and opportunities in the interests of environmental conservation.