People, Place and Party: Describing Party Activism

The aim of this article is to present a structure for the historical study of party activism. Based on research carried out on the activities of the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) between 1884 and 1911, the article puts forward the case that current understandings of that organisation should be reassessed to include the notion of the 'political journeys' of the activists. Instead of focusing exclusively on ideology, the article suggests that other poles or features such as locality and collective biography should be used. If the organisation is viewed from a wider perspective and with a longer exposure time, then, this article argues, a clearer picture presents itself.     

Psychological Injury and Law: Introduction to the First Issue

In this introductory article to the special series of articles written to initiate the new journal, Psychological Injury and Law, I provide the background and impetus for this fast-growing area as a distinct field of scientific study. Professionals working in the area need to be aware of its diverse components, from evidence law and forensic psychology to disability and assessment, to its three core areas of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and other distress, chronic pain, and traumatic brain injury, as well as issues such as malingering. I provide summaries of the articles in this special series that appear in this inaugural issue. The remaining articles of the special series of articles to introduce the journal are presented in the next two issues.     

The Regulation of Government Advertising in Australia: The Politicisation of a Public Policy Issue

In Australia, there is a laissez faire approach to regulating government advertising but, over the past ten years as accusations of misuse for partisan purposes have grown, many external policy actors have tried to achieve a change in policy. This article traces the history of these (failed) reform attempts. This case study is of interest because it is an example of a government demonstrating long‐term resistance to reforms that are quite modest by international standards and despite attempts by usually influential policy actors to propel reform. This article draws particular attention to the role of the Auditor‐General and demonstrates the growing politicisation of the issue in an environment where those who seek to investigate and comment upon government advertising are severely discouraged.     

Psychological Injury and Law: Defining a Field

This article elaborates definitional and conceptual issues relevant to the field of psychological injury and law. It reviews the literature in the major areas that mark the field—law, forensic psychology, disability, and assessment/malingering. To meet admissibility requirements of testimony in court, psychologists and other mental health professionals need to maintain a comprehensive, impartial, and scientifically informed approach to assessments based on a state-of-the-art knowledge, such as made available in this journal.     

How staff attitude and support for inmate treatment and rehabilitation differs by job category: An evaluation of findings from Pennsylvania's Department of Corrections' employee training curriculum ‘Reinforcing Positive Behavior’

In July 2006, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections began delivering a training session titled Reinforcing Positive Behavior to all new employees. The training educated staff about the department's philosophy on inmate treatment programming and about staff responsibilities for reinforcing treatment concepts. Findings from a survey administered immediately after the training revealed that treatment and clerical staff strongly agreed that how they treat inmates and how they behave in a correctional facility impacts inmate rehabilitation efforts, and that reinforcing positive behavior among inmates was a requirement of their profession. Also, treatment and clerical staff, more so than correctional officers, recognized that staff support of treatment programs impacted inmate rehabilitation outcomes and that staff actions and interactions with other staff and inmates can make a correctional facility a more positive place.     

Law for Life: Preliminary Thoughts

Law for Life is a training programme in contract law, unfair dismissal law and the English court system. It is aimed specifically at employees who in the course of their work are required to underdstand and apply the law regardless of whether or not they have received any formal legal training. One of the primary reasons for developing Law of Life was to provide training to the SME sector. Very often such companies do not have any in-house legal advisors and research has estimated that 70% of them do not provide any training for their employees in any aspect of their work. This suggests that smaller companies are relying on informally training, and even untrained personnel, in areas requiring legal expertise. Research carried out in the Luton area had indicated that SMEs tended to adopt a pragmatic approach to legal matters, addressing them as and when they arose. Law for Life was developed as a direct response to these findings. Recognizing that the SME sector is highly competitive, operates at minimum staffing levels and that SMEs are not generally in a position to release employees for staff training Law for Life had to be tailored to suit the needs of the SME sector. This meant that in order for Law for Life to be accessible to SME employees it had to be offered as a distance-learning package.     

In Defence of Due Deference

The doctrine of deference permeates human rights review. It plays a role in defining Convention rights, in determining the nature of the proportionality test applied when analysing non-absolute rights, as well as in deciding the stringency of its application. The role of deference has recently been subjected to both judicial and academic criticism, some of which advocates the demise of the doctrine. This article develops a contextual account of deference that is justified for epistemic reasons, rather than reasons of relative authority. This conception is able to withstand current criticism and is modest enough to play a role in a range of different justifications and understandings of judicial review under the Human Rights Act. The article then provides a more detailed account of deference, taking account of the relative institutional features of the legislature, executive and judiciary, without running the risk that the court fails to perform its constitutional function of protecting individual rights.