Private Power, Public Interest: An Examination of Search Engine Accountability

As information becomes a critical commodity in modern society,the issue is raised whether the entities that manage accessto information, that are tools for public discourse and democracy,should be accountable to the public. The Internet has transformedhow we communicate, and search engines have emerged as managersof information, organizing and categorizing content in a coherent,accessible manner thereby shaping the Internet user's experience.This article examines whether search engines should have publicinterest obligations. In order to answer this question, thisarticle first examines comparative public interest regulatorystructures, and the growing importance of the Internet to publicdiscourse. Then examined is how the algorithmic designs andmanual manipulation of rankings by search engines affects thepublic interest without a sufficient accountability structure.Finally, the values necessary to a public interest frameworkare suggested.     

First-in-Human Trial Participants: Not a Vulnerable Population, but Vulnerable Nonetheless

The 21st-century translational science campaign could lead to an increase in first-in-human (FIH) trials. As tests of investigational interventions move from the laboratory to human research, scientists, officials, and review committees should address ongoing concerns about the ethics of FIH trials. In this article, I describe three ethical considerations relevant to all FIH trials: (1) the requirement for adequate preclinical research; (2) study design safeguards; and (3) choice of subject population. I also examine specific ethical considerations relevant to the three subject populations (healthy volunteers, seriously ill patients lacking standard treatment options, and stable patients) involved in FIH research. I recommend a variety of actions that could increase subject protection and the value of the information generated in FIH trials.     

A Website Content Analysis of Women’s Resources and Sexual Assault Literature on College Campuses

In an effort to examine how higher education institutions have provided women with resources to handle issues that disproportionately affect them, this study assessed the availability of women’s resource centers on college campuses within the United States, with a particular focus on sexual assault-related resources. A website content analysis was conducted, through which we coded to assess ease of use, clarity, and comprehensiveness of the programs and information made available to women. Although many universities had sexual assault literature, few had women’s resource centers. In addition, the quality of literature and programs varied greatly among the universities. Future research should attempt to explain organizational differences in college responses to the call for resources, as well as examine women’s experiences with resources on campus. Portions of this research were presented at the 2006 meetings of the American Society of Criminology in Los Angeles, CA and at the 2006 meetings of the Midwest Sociological Society in Omaha, NE.

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Off-Label Prescribing: A Call for Heightened Professional and Government Oversight

Under current U.S. law, physicians may prescribe drugs and devices in situations not covered on the label approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Those supporting this system say that requiring FDA approval for off-label uses would unnecessarily impede the delivery of benefits to patients. Patients do benefit from off-label prescribing that is supported by sound scientific and medical evidence. In the absence of such evidence, however, off-label prescribing can expose patients to risky and ineffective treatments. The medical community and federal authorities should more actively promote patients' interests in receiving beneficial off-label treatments. To exercise responsible self-regulation, members of the medical community must determine whether available evidence justifies specific off-label uses and must promote information-gathering when the evidence is inadequate. Physicians should also discuss with patients the uncertainties accompanying off-label uses. Federal authorities should more closely monitor the effects of off-label prescribing and adopt other measures to reduce harm and enhance benefits produced by off-label prescribing.     

The relationship between job status,interviewing experience,gender, and police officers' adherence to open‐ended questions

Purpose. The current study examined whether several factors related to the job and demographic profile of police officers are associated with adherence to best‐practice guidelines when interviewing children. Method. One hundred and seventy‐eight police officers completed a standardized (simulated) interview regarding an allegation of abuse by a 5‐year‐old child. Immediately prior to this interview, details were obtained from the officers' regarding their job status, gender, interview experience, the timing and nature of prior training/supervision, and experience outside the policing profession with young children. Results. The results showed that timing of training was the only factor that related to interview performance. The proportion of open‐ended questions among participants who completed their interviewer training course less than 1 month prior to the simulated interview was better than those who completed the training earlier. Interestingly, the performance of the latter group was identical to that of a group of participants who had not yet received any formal interview training. The implications of the findings are discussed, along with directions for future research.     

Witnesses in the special court for Sierra Leone: The importance of the witness–lawyer relationship

This study is concerned with the relationship between witnesses testifying in the Special Court for Sierra Leone and their legal teams. Other research conducted with witnesses in international war crimes tribunals suggests that this relationship has a significant impact on the experience of such witnesses. A structured interview was administered to 171 witnesses who had testified in the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Witnesses generally felt their lawyers' attitude towards them was extremely good. Emotional support and good preparation for testifying seem to be particularly important predictors of witnesses' relationship with their lawyers, as does the level of respect they felt they received from court staff. However, communication between witnesses and their legal teams after the testimony is over did not have a significant impact on witnesses' evaluations of their lawyers' attitude towards them.     

Judgments of culpability in a filicide scenario

Previous research has indicated that potential jurors are likely to use personal biases, such as those based on gender and ethnicity, in their judgments of culpability of criminal defendants in addition to, or instead of, the facts of the crime. The present paper seeks to extend this literature to the crime of filicide; to examine whether male defendants are judged more harshly than female defendants, as is the case for domestic violence and sexual abuse. 214 participants were provided with a scenario of filicide in which the gender of the perpetrator, the gender of the child, and the family's social class were randomly assigned. Participants were asked to rate the culpability of the defendant in the case. Results indicated that, unlike for other violent crimes, participants did not use gender or social class biases in their judgments of criminal culpability.     

Sex trafficking: an exploratory study interviewing traffickers

This paper presents the research methodology of an exploratory study interviewing human traffickers. Utilizing open-ended, semi-structured qualitative interviews with traffickers, exploratory research was conducted in 2003. With an overall goal of understanding the human trafficking phenomenon from the standpoint of those individuals who support, reproduce, and actively work to sustain it, our research questions focused on how traffickers make sense of their position within the illegal market of sex trafficking. Other thematic questions included characteristics and personal dimensions of the traffickers, reasons they entered the business, their perceptions of the business, and their opinions of those they traffic. For the purpose of this paper, we will address the difficulty and simplicity of conducting interviews with human traffickers. Information about the research project in general, methods used, ethical considerations, and thematic scope will also be addressed with a final discussion section highlighting advantages and disadvantages of methods used.

The political economy of local government financialization and the role of policy diffusion

By analyzing why English local governments have made extensive use of long-term market loans with embedded derivatives, this paper seeks to contribute to the growing literature on local government financialization. Using an original, large-N panel dataset for the period from 1998 to 2014, we show that the configuration of the local political economy is an important driver of financialization processes: a Labour Party majority as well as fiscal and economic stress make it more likely that councils adopt risky financial instruments. As the use of financial innovations has also diffused geographically, policy diffusion impacts local governments as well. Highlighting the conditional effect of finance sector power, which only increases the use of financial innovations in very large councils, as well as the temporal dimension of fiscal and economic stress, we create ample avenues for further research.