Patterns of childhood poverty: New challenges for policy

Poverty takes many forms. Using data from the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this article (1) distinguishes different kinds of childhood poverty, defined in terms of the spacing, severity, and duration of spells; and (2) establishes the extent and distribution of childhood poverty, employing new measures that take into account both duration and severity. Some strategies for targeting assistance on particular forms of poverty are briefly considered.     

Right-Libertarian Parties and the “New Values”: A Re-examination*

Among the most noted and studied societal tendencies of recent decades have been those associated with structural change in industrial societies becoming postindustrial. Within political science, much attention has been focused on the behavioural and institutional effects of value change accompanying that transition, and especially on the diminishing impact of class and ideology on politics. Among the institutional effects have been (at times and in some places) decline in support for “established” parties and the rise of alternative political organizations, including new parties on both the left and right. Many of the new parties of the left, and especially those labelled “left-libertarian”, are generally viewed as harbingers of things-to-come in the “new” politics - progressive vehicles, driven along by the tides of change. In contrast, the new parties of the right are generally viewed as conservative, authoritarian, materialist reactions to change - representing transitional efforts to stop change and its effects. The latter parties presumably tell more about the past, the present, and efforts to preserve them, than about the “new” in politics. The purpose of this article is to explore the possibility that some of the new right-wing parties - especially those in social democracies - might themselves be viewed more accurately (or at least as justifiably, based on reinterpretation of the available evidence) as reflections of new values and as vehicles of forward-looking change. If so, then those parties, like their left-libertarian counterparts, may tell us something about the future of postindustrial politics.     

Design and Crime: Proofing Electronic Products and Services against Theft

This paper introduces the work of Project Marc (an EU-funded project to develop mechanisms for assessing the risk of crime) and discusses both difficulties encountered throughout the project and progress made since the project ended. The authors introduce the papers contained within this special edition and summarise their relevance to crime-proofing. The paper discusses progress made within this field in the decade prior to Project Marc and makes recommendations to ensure that the ideas move forward.

Whose business is your pancreas? Potential privacy problems in New York City's mandatory diabetes registry

This article examines a recent New York City health regulation that mandates the compilation and storage of individual medical data from nearly all diabetics in a centralized registry. The authors distinguish this novel registry from prior health registries and scrutinize its potential to compromise individual privacy. In order to address privacy and other concerns, the authors offer suggestions for changes to the current statutory framework of the registry that will also be useful when considering the creation of similar public health registries in other cities.     

Defending the Criminal Law: Reflections on the Changing Character of Crime, Procedure, and Sanctions

Recent years have seen mounting challenge to the model of the criminal trial on the grounds it is not cost-effective, not preventive, not necessary, not appropriate, or not effective. These challenges have led to changes in the scope of the criminal law, in criminal procedure, and in the nature and use of criminal trials. These changes include greater use of diversion, of fixed penalties, of summary trials, of hybrid civil–criminal processes, of strict liability, of incentives to plead guilty, and of preventive orders. The paper will assess the implications of these changes for the function of the criminal law, assessing the reasons behind them, and examining whether or not they are to be welcomed. Identifying the larger import of these changes draws attention to the changing relationship between state and citizen as well as changes in the nature of the state itself. These can in turn be attributed to a jostling among the different manifestations of the authoritarian state, the preventive state, and the regulatory state. These changes have profound normative implications for a liberal theory of the criminal law that require its re-articulation and its defence. A modest start may be to insist that where the conduct is criminal and the consequences are punitive the protections of criminal procedure and trial must be upheld.

The new consumer and business protection regulations: another string to the brand owner's bow?

Legal context: This article assesses the impact of The Consumer Protectionfrom Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) (implementing theUnfair Commercial Practices Directive) and The Business. Protectionfrom Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 (BPRs) (implementingthe consolidated and codified Misleading and Comparative AdvertisingDirective) on areas of marketing and advertising in which IPrights often become involved and the impact of the recent ECJdecisionon their application in the O2 v Hutchison 3G referencebythe Court of Appeal. Key points: The CPRs govern advertising and promotional activities aimedat consumers. Much of the consumer and business protection legislationpreviously scattered amongst various Acts has been repealedand replaced by elements of the BPRs or CPRs. In total, 36 Regulationsand Orders and 41 Acts are affected. The BPRs now govern misleadingmarketing and comparative advertising, previously dealt withunder the Control of Misleading Advertising Regulations 1988.The article looks at how these Regulations may be applied insituations which interested parties currently attempt to resolveusing trade mark or passing off laws. Practical significance: The new Regulations are aimed at the protection of consumersand businesses from unscrupulous marketing and trade promotionpractices which affect their economic behaviour. Thirty-onepractices are specifically identified as automatically fallingfoul of the Regulations. Businesses will need to review theirpractices to avoid the possibility of criminal penalties includingfines and imprisonment for consenting, conniving, or recklessofficers of businesses involved in such practices. Until the ECJ decision in O2 v Hutchison 3G, it had been thought(from Jacob LJ's finding in his reference to the ECJ in thiscase) that trade mark law had no role to play in comparativeadvertising as it was specifically provided for under the ComparativeAdvertising Directive and hence under the BPRs. Since thesedid not provide an individual right of action (the OFT or TradingStandards alone may enforce), it left trade mark owners withlittle muscle in comparative advertising situations. However,the ECJ made clear that where practices fail to satisfy thecriteria set out in the Directive for legitimate comparativeadvertising, trade mark law may be invoked as a remedy. Thiswill be a relief to major brand owners for whom comparativeadvertising is commonly a concern.     

Debugging Decomposition Data—Comparative Taphonomic Studies and the Influence of Insects and Carcass Size on Decomposition Rate

Abstract:  Comparison of data from a variety of environments and ambient temperatures has previously been difficult as few studies used standardized measures of time/temperature and decomposition. In this paper, data from previous studies and recent experiments are compared using simple conversions. These conversions allow comparison across multiple environments and experiments for the first time. Plotting decomposition score against logADD allows the exponential progression of decomposition to be expressed as a simple linear equation. Data comparison from many environments and temperatures shows no difference in decomposition progression when measured using Accumulated Degree Days. The major effector of change in rate was insect presence, regardless of depositional environment, species, or season. Body size is significant when carcasses are accessed by insects; when insects are excluded, while bodies are indoors, submerged, or buried, then decomposition progresses at the same rate regardless of body size.     

Assessing Trauma-Related Dissociation in Forensic Contexts: Addressing Trauma-Related Dissociation as a Forensic Psychologist,Part II

Chronic dissociative reactions and dissociative disorders can occur following traumatic events and are associated with suffering and impaired functioning. Therefore, trauma-related dissociation could be part of the claims made in civil actions or contribute to mitigation or an insanity defense in criminal actions. Dissociative reactions to trauma, including dissociative disorders, are more common than most mental health professionals realize. Unfortunately, few professionals have training in the assessment of dissociation, and forensic experts may be unaware of research indicating that standard interpretations of well-regarded assessment instruments can result in inaccurate determinations of symptom exaggeration in cases with dissociation. This paper is the second paper of a two-part series that aims to expand assessors’ knowledge about trauma-related dissociation (TRD) and enhance their ability to assess and present information about dissociation. In this article, we focus on the forensic assessment of TRD and discuss: dissociative symptoms; complex trauma; trauma-related disorders; an approach to assessment of TRD; trauma-related reactions that can impede the detection of TRD; and differential diagnosis of genuine versus feigned dissociation. In addition, we review research related to the validity and appropriate interpretation of the following measures in use with persons with TRD: Dissociative Experiences Scale, Multiscale Dissociation Inventory, Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire, Trauma Symptom Inventory-2, Multidimensional Inventory of Dissociation, Structured Clinical Interview for Dissociative Disorders-Revised, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2, Personality Assessment Inventory, Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms, Test of Memory Malingering, and the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale.