Ethical Limitations on the State's Use of Arational Persuasion

Policy makers frequently use arational appeals and nudges—such as those relying on emotion, cognitive biases, and subliminal messaging—to persuade citizens to adopt behaviors that support public goals. However, these communication tactics have been widely criticized for relying on arational triggers rather than reasoned argument. This article develops a fuller account of the nonconsequentialist objection to arational persuasion by state actors, focusing on theories of decisional autonomy and metadecisional voluntariness. The article concludes by proposing ethically justifiable limitations on state communications that should be compelling to both critics and advocates of arational persuasion.     

Terrorists' personal constructs and their roles: A comparison of the three Islamic terrorists

It is hypothesized that individuals who play different roles in terrorist organizations will have different psychological processes underlying their activities. An innovative examination of the personal construct systems of terrorists explored this. As part of a larger study, three individuals convicted of Islamic‐related terrorist violence in India were interviewed using a semi‐structured life narrative procedure enhanced by a Repertory Grid (Kelly, 1955/1991). One was a senior leader of a terrorist group, one a subordinate, the third a person who planted a bomb without full knowledge of the larger design he was part of. Principal component analyses of these grids informed by comments from the life narratives were used to elaborate each man's conceptual system and how it related to his commitment to violence. Important differences among the three individuals' in their construct systems were found. This demonstrated that the forms of Jihadi commitment is embedded in the individual's personal construct system. So, although these three case studies can only be taken as providing indicative results, they do point to aspects of construct systems that reveal the potential for disengagement, being most likely present in the lower echelons of terrorist organizations. Those who are unable to reconstrue themselves as having a non‐terrorist future are unlikely to disengage. This is probably typical of those who lead these organizations. The results therefore contribute to the growing literature arguing for significant differences in terrorists' understanding of themselves and their roles and provide an original methodology for assessing a person's potential for deradicalization.     

Public and private health‐care systems: what the literature says

Abstract: Since policy‐makers and health‐care administrators across Canada are currently interested in using privatization as a method of health‐system reform, an analysis of public‐private health systems and privatization initiatives is relevant, if not critical, at this time. The widespread and long‐standing popularity and considerable successes of the Canadian health‐care system demand such an analysis. The many investigations and other evaluative reports describing the performance of health systems and privatization make this analysis possible. The author conducted an extensive review of research and other literature on health‐sector privatization and private‐ or public‐health systems. Three themes depicting various public‐private relationships were found: 1) public or private delivery, payment, and administration of health care; 2) integration or separation of public‐ and private‐health sectors; and 3) the conceptualization of health care as a commodity or a right. These themes are examined through the prism of the Canadian health‐care system and recent developments in Alberta. A discussion of their operational successes, failures, limitations and other issues follows. The literature review shows that privatization, particularly if undertaken in what has been an essentially “public” health system such as Canada's, needs to be approached ‐ if at all ‐ with caution. Increased controls such as new forms of legislation and regulation would clearly be necessary. Research to monitor the effect of privatization initiatives would also be needed. Sommaire:EAtant donné que les décideurs et administrateurs de soins de santé Canadiens s'intéressent actuellement à la privatisation comme méthode de réforme du système de santé, une analyse des systèmes de santé public et privé et des initiatives de privatisation est par conséquent pertinente sinon essentielle. La vaste popularité de longue date et le succès considérable du système de soins de santé canadien exigent une telle analyse. Cette analyse a été rendue possible grâce aux nombreuses enquêtes et autres rapports d'évaluation décrivant le rendement des systèmes de santé et la privatisation. L'auteur a mené un examen approfondi des documents de recherche et autres écrits concernant la privatisation du secteur de la santé et les systèmes de santé public et privé. Trois thèmes dépeignant diverses relations entreles systèmes public et privé sont ressortis de cet examen: 1) la prestation, le paiement et l'administration des soins de santé, publics ou privés. 2) l'intégration ou la séparation des secteurs de santé public et privé; et 3) la conceptualisation des soins de santé, en tant que produit ou droit. Ces thèmes sont examinés à travers le système canadien de soins de santé et certains faits récents survenus et Alberta. Un débat s'ensuit sur les succès opérationnels, les échecs, les limitations de ces systèmes respectifs et sur d'autres questions. L'analyse documentaire montre que la privatisation ‐ en particulier si elle est entreprise dans un systeme de santé essentiellement public °Comme c'est le cas au Canada ‐ doit être abordée avec prudence ou pas du tout. Il serait absolument nécessaire d'instaurer des contrôles accrus par le biais de nouvelles lois et de nouveaux règlements. Il serait également nécessaire de contrôler les répercussions des initiatives de privatisation.     

The 'sex war' and other wars: Towards a feminist approach to peace building

For more than a decade, resolutions from the UN and the European Commission havehighlighted women's suffering during wars, and the unfairness of their treatment upon thereturn to peace. Yet the injustices and the hypocrisy continue. Women are reified as thepeacemakers while they are excluded from peace processes. Women's suffering during war isheld up as evidence of inhumanity by the same organisations that accept, if not promote, themarginalisation of women's needs during peacetime. The author reviews the processes throughwhich these phenomena are perpetuated and outlines some ways forward which could help tobreak these cycles.     

Law Professors: A Profile of the Teaching Branch of the legal Profession

In the United States, law schools provide the principal route of entry into the legal profession. Indeed, education in a law school is the only experience that virtually all members of the modern legal profession have in common. The gatekeeping function of law schools places the nation's law teachers in a most influential position. Although law professors play a vital role in selecting and molding the members of the profession, little research has been done on them. This article presents the results of the American Bar Foundation's first major study of law teachers. The author finds them to be a most highly credentialed group of lawyers, the overwhelming majority of whom are graduates of a small group of elite law schools. She also finds that possession of a degree from one of these schools appears to be not only highly determinative of who become law teachers but also of the nature of teachers' academic careers.     

ONE CASE–ONE SPECIALIZED JUDGE: WHY COURTS HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO MANAGE ALIENATION AND OTHER HIGH-CONFLICT CASES

This article challenges the traditional approach to alienation and other high-conflict cases in which many different generalist judges deal with the case. The objectives of the judicial process, dealing with cases in a just, timely, and affordable way that instils confidence in the public and litigants, cannot be met unless high-conflict cases are actively managed by one specialist family law judge. Allowing parents in high-conflict cases to decide when and how often their case should come before the court exacerbates the negative effects of the litigation on children. This article concludes that, unless the litigation is properly managed by specialist judges, the justice system unintentionally causes harm to children.     

Integrating DSM-IV Factors to Predict Violence in High-Risk Psychiatric Patients

Abstract:  This study incorporated Axis-II and Axis-IV factors in DSM-IV to test the relationship between predicted risk for violence assessed in the psychiatric emergency room and actual violence during hospitalization. Psychiatric nurses lack an objective instrument to use during the acute psychiatric assessment. The retrospective study comprised consecutive psychiatric admissions ( n  = 161) in one tertiary veterans' hospital. Statistical testing for the predictive power of risk factors, relationships between variables, and violent events included nonparametric tests, factor analysis, and logistic regression. Of the 32 patients who committed violence during hospitalization, 12 had committed violence in the psychiatric emergency room. Statistical significance was shown for violent incidents and dementia, court-ordered admission, mood disorder, and for three or more risk factors. The 13-item Risk of Violence Assessment (ROVA) scale suggests validity and sensitivity for rating DSM-IV factors and psychosocial stressors to predict risk for violence during hospitalization. Replication studies are recommended to strengthen validity of the ROVA scale.