Perspective and procedural justice: Attorney and litigant evaluations of court procedures

A comparison of the procedural justice judgments of attorneys and those of lay people judging the same procedures offers an opportunity to generate new information on what factors affect judgments of fairness. In a survey of reactions to conventional and innovative procedures in a United States district court, attorneys and lay people involved in tort and contract cases were asked to judge the overall fairness of court procedures and the fairness of specific procedures used in arbitration hearings. The respondents were also asked for their judgments concerning the favorability of the procedure's outcome, the opportunity to have the case heard and decided by an impartial third party, and their side's control over what happened in the case, all of which are factors found in previous studies to affect procedural fairness judgments. The results showed that, while attorneys gave higher overall fairness ratings than did litigants, the difference was not affected by the procedure assigned to the case. In addition, attorneys and litigants appeared to use the same standards to evaluate the fairness of procedures, although they disagreed about where the procedures they experienced fell on these dimensions. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.     

Internalizing Symptoms in Latinos: The Role of Anxiety Sensitivity

Latin American youth in the United States tend to report more internalizing symptoms than white non-Latino youth, yet little is known about the factors that may contribute to such differences. The present study examined the role that anxiety sensitivity, gender, and ethnic minority status may play in the expression of internalizing symptoms across Latin American adolescents (n = 116) and white non-Latino adolescents (n = 72) in the United States and Colombian adolescents in Colombia (n = 163). Results provide evidence that because fear of anxiety related phenomena and physiological symptoms of anxiety in particular may be normative in Latino culture anxiety sensitivity does not amplify somatic complaints for Latin American and Colombian youth as it does for white non-Latino youth. Results further suggest that anxiety sensitivity and being female predicted anxiety and depressive symptoms independent of cultural background. Implications of the findings to our understanding of cultural variability in internalizing symptoms are discussed. R. Enrique Varela, PhD, is an assistant professor of psychology at Tulane University. He received his PhD from the University of Kansas Clinical Child Psychology Program. His research interests are cross cultural manifestations of childhood anxiety and parenting practices in Latin American families. He is also interested in adherence issues in chronically ill children. Carl F. Weems, PhD, is an associate professor of psychology at the University of New Orleans. He received his PhD from Florida International University and did post doctoral work at Stanford Medical School. His research focuses on the developmental psychopathology of anxiety and depression. In particular, his research integrates developmental, cognitive, biological and behavioral theories in attempting to understand the etiology and course of internalizing disorders in childhood. Special areas of interest include the assessment and treatment of childhood anxiety disorders, the role of cognitive behavioral development, brain function, and cognitive processing in anxiety and depression. Steven L. Berman, PhD, is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Central Florida. He received his PhD from Florida International University. His research interests are identity development including associated anxiety and distress, cross-national comparisons, and the development of identity interventions. Lauren Hensley, MS, is a graduate student in psychology at Tulane University. Her main research interest is anxiety development, with a focus on anxiety sensitivity and children’s responses to traumatic events. Maria Clara Rodriguez de Bernal, MS, is an assistant professor of psychology at Universidad de la Sabana, Bogota, Colombia. Her research interests are in the area of program evaluation dealing with anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder in particular.     

An Unusual Case Showing Fatal Rupture of a Gastric Ulcer or Gastromalacia? The Importance/Role of Histology for Differential Diagnosis

Gastromalacia is the acute autolytic erosion of the gastric wall. It generally occurs postmortem, and it appears as a slimy brownish black region of the wall which occurs principally in the gastric fundus. A 59‐year‐old woman died in the Emergency Department following a 2‐day period of mild abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. A forensic autopsy was performed which revealed a rupture of the gastric fundus that had caused leakage of gastric content into the abdominal cavity. There was no macroscopic evidence of peritonitis, and the stomach wall adjacent to the rupture site showed marked thinning. The gross appearance was typical of gastromalacia. In contrast, histological observations revealed the presence of an ulcer at the site of perforation and a severe acute inflammatory reaction indicating a robust reaction with an antemortem rupture.     

Security cooperation,counterterrorism, and EU–North Africa cross-border security relations,a legal perspective

The EU is clearly in the process of developing an external dimension to the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). This paper focuses on ex. Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters (PJCCM) provisions. These developments pose specific legal basis issues for the EU, given its complex EU–member state legal relationship, and the inter-institutional balance, all reflected in the treaty framework post-Lisbon. New Court of Justice rulings are now emerging which will assist in this issue. Equally the approach to be taken in developing these relationships will be crucial. This paper proposes the adoption of an Onuf style constructivism in order to best capture the reality of the process that is developing, and has developed for the ex. PJCCM measures internally. This then needs to be allied with a constitutionalism model to ensure a balanced development of all three aspects of the AFSJ.     

Impacts of Heading Home Hennepin's Housing First programs for long-term homeless adults

This paper evaluates the impact of Heading Home Hennepin’s Housing First programs for long-term homeless individuals with work-limiting disabilities. These programs combine subsidized housing and extensive case management services to help program participants maintain stable housing. Using a matched comparison of housing-first participants and nonparticipants residing in public shelters, this study finds that housing-first placement is associated with a substantial decrease in public shelter use, an increase in public health insurance coverage, and a decrease in arrests and incarceration. Most of the decline in arrests is due to decreases in arrests for livability and drug-related charges and not for violent or property crime.     

From “sensed” to “complex”: some reflections on borders throughout history

The concept and definition of borders has evolved significantly over time. In Europe the twentieth century alone has seen remarkable changes. At the beginning of the century borders represented the clear end of the sovereignty of one state and the beginning of another while the second half of the same century brought revolutionary concepts of state borders. This article aims to contribute towards the conceptual discussion of borders, tracing some of the journey of this concept, from centuries ago when they were perceived as more ”sensed”, to more recent interpretations of ”solid” and “liquid” borders to today's “complex” borders.     

The profession of deputy. The idea of political representation in liberal Spain

This article attempts to provide insights into the concepts of political representation developed by Spanish liberalism during the middle of the nineteenth century, contextualised by comparison with other European models. The study of electoral legislation, parliamentary debates, essays about suffrage, and other less theoretical publications (press, propaganda) gives information about the prosopographical profile of those members of parliament who were highly involved in the development of electoral legislation, a dynamic group especially concerned about bringing meaning to the representative system and giving legitimacy to parliament. A second group of conclusions relates to the concepts of political representation which they developed. The concept of representation in liberal discourse rested on three components: the political capacity of electors and candidates, the influences which were considered legitimate and necessary, and the implementation of the right to vote along with the institutions deemed to command and to channel it. The arguments may have varied depending on the ideological profile of the parties, but they also shared certain common features because of the dominant political culture of the time.