An Evaluation of Malingering Screens with Competency to Stand Trial Patients: A Known-Groups Comparison

The assessment of malingering is a fundamental component of forensic evaluations that should be considered with each referral. In systematizing the evaluation of malingering, one option is the standardized administration of screens as an initial step. The current study assessed the effectiveness of three common screening measures: the Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M-FAST; Miller, 2001), the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS; Widows & Smith, 2004), and the Evaluation of Competency to Stand Trial-Revised Atypical Presentation Scale (ECST-R ATP; Rogers, Tillbrook, & Sewell, 2004). Using the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS) as the external criterion, 100 patients involved in competency to stand trial evaluations were categorized as either probable malingerers (n=21) or nonmalingerers (n=79). Each malingering scale produced robust effect sizes in this known-groups comparison. Results are discussed in relation to the comprehensive assessment of malingering within a forensic context.     

Mediation and Psychotherapy: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Some mediators believe that mediation and psychotherapy are quite similar, and that when doing mediation, the mediator also is practicing an art form similar to psychotherapy. On face value, some forms of mediation (e.g., evaluative) and some forms of psychotherapy (e.g., psychoanalysis) are so far apart in theoretical conception and in actual practice that they cannot be compared meaningfully. However, the forms of mediation known as facilitative and transformative and the forms of brief or focused psychotherapy that often involve families or couples do have considerable similarity. Overall, numerous resonances exist between these two approaches to mediation and to couples or family-oriented psychotherapies, especially when differences in terminology, licensure, and training requirements are not allowed to obscure commonalities.     

Economic Conditions,Economic Perceptions,and Public Support for European Integration

Political Behavior -     

Estimating the Effect of Elite Communications on Public Opinion Using Instrumental Variables

A central question in the study of democratic polities is the extent to which elite opinion about policy shapes public opinion. Estimating the impact of elites on mass opinion is difficult because of endogeneity, omitted variables, and measurement error. This article proposes an identification strategy for estimating the causal effect of elite messages on public support for European integration employing changes in political institutions as instrumental variables. We find that more negative elite messages about European integration do indeed decrease public support for Europe. Our analysis suggests that OLS estimates are biased, underestimating the magnitude of the effect of elite messages by 50%. We also find no evidence that this effect varies for more politically aware individuals, and our estimates are inconsistent with a mainstreaming effect in which political awareness increases support for Europe in those settings in which elites have a favorable consensus on the benefits of integration.     

The emergence and future of PPOs

A new development in the restructuring of American health care is the dramatic growth of preferred provider organizations (PPOs). Based on a national telephone survey, this paper assesses the future direction of PPOs by examining segments of the market that are believed to be lead indicators of future activity. It includes analyses of "new" versus "old" PPOs, the ten largest PPOs, and the entrance of hospital chains into the insurance market. We conclude that the dramatic growth of PPO enrollment in 1985 is likely to continue in the future, but with increased movement toward vertical integration and joint ventures among providers and insurers.     

Legal Entrepreneurship and the Strategic Virtues of Legal Uncertainty

The field of law and strategy (LAS) has advanced our understanding of the law's role in competitive advantage. To date, however, LAS has neglected low rule of law environments—countries characterized by expansive degrees of legal uncertainty. LAS should account for these settings, too, since environmental uncertainty is a strategically significant factor for any company. This article situates the strategic relevance of legal uncertainty in the Chinese context and fills an important gap by illustrating how LAS principles apply in low rule of law jurisdictions. Specifically, this article develops the construct of legal entrepreneurship—the notion that attorneys may apply an entrepreneurial mind-set and skill set to position the client favorably and legitimately within the uncertainties of the legal landscape, thereby creating legal competitive advantages for the client. Drawing upon interviews with expert attorneys and executives, this article presents a typology of legal strategies available to U.S. companies in China, uniquely modeling these approaches along the two fundamental dimensions of legal strategy. Additionally, this article identifies two basic types of legal uncertainty in the cross-border context and offers guidelines for the exercise of legal entrepreneurship. Together, these arguments demonstrate that legal entrepreneurship is an empirically viable construct within the LAS project. In low rule of law jurisdictions that have embraced foreign enterprise, legal entrepreneurship will generally optimize the American company's pursuit of both legal value creation and legal risk management.