Independent Agencies: Hierarchy Beaters?

Abstract: The business of modern government is efficient policy-formation, regulation and implementation. In common with conventional Governments, the European Union may be facing a serious mismatch between the increasingly specialised functions of government and the administrative instruments at its disposal. Arguably, independent European Agencies might aid in combatting this mismatch, and in establishing efficient administration. Article 4 of the Treaty of Rome seems severely to curtail the possible use of independent agencies within Europe. Nevertheless, American constitutional experience may yet serve to demonstrate how this barrier might be overcome in the European setting: the development of novel and flexible means of governmental oversight might secure the independence of European agencies, whilst at the same time laying renewed emphasis upon traditional 'constitutional' principles such as the control of power and public accountability.     

Goal Conflict in Juror Assessments of Compensatory and Punitive Damages

Recent tort reform debates have been hindered by a lack of knowledge of how jurors assess damages. Two studies investigated whether jurors are able to appropriately compartmentalize compensatory and punitive damages. In Study 1, mock jurors read a trial summary and were asked to assess compensatory and punitive damages in one of three conditions: (a) compensatory damages only, (b) punitive damages for the plaintiff, or (c) punitive damages for the state treasury. Results suggest that jurors who did not have the option to award punitive damages inflated compensatory damages via pain and suffering awards. Jurors were marginally more likely to award punitive damages when the plaintiff was the recipient. Mock jurors in Study 2 read a similar case summary and were asked to assess compensatory and punitive damages. Two factors were varied in Study 2: (a) egregiousness of the defendant's conduct, and (b) the recipient of any punitive damages (the plaintiff vs. a consortium of state funds). Jurors were more likely to award punitive damages when the defendant's conduct was more egregious and when the plaintiff was the recipient. The results suggest leakage between compensatory and punitive damage judgments, contrary to the law's mandate.     

Modeling Risk for Intimate Partner Violence among Recent-Era Veteran-Partner Dyads

Using an actor-partner interdependence model, we examined whether veterans’ posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) contributed to partners’ drug abuse symptoms, whether partners’ drug abuse symptoms contributed to intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, and whether drug abuse symptoms mediated PTSS-IPV perpetration associations. Participants were recent-era veterans who participated in the Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center Post-Deployment Mental Health study. Veterans who took part at one site and their partners (N = 49 couples) completed a follow-up study in which drug abuse symptoms and IPV perpetration were assessed. Veterans’ PTSS contributed to veterans’ drug abuse symptoms. Veterans’ drug abuse symptoms were associated with their IPV perpetration (i.e., an actor effect) and their partners’ IPV perpetration (i.e., a crossover effect). Drug abuse symptoms mediated the association between veterans’ PTSS and partners’ reports of IPV perpetration. Findings suggest complex relationships between PTSS, drug abuse problems and IPV perpetration among these dyads.     

Ethnicity and risk for symptoms of posttraumatic stress following intimate partner violence: prevalence and predictors in European American and African American women

The present study uses a feminist theoretical framework to explore risk factors for the development of posttraumatic stress symptoms following intimate partner violence, with a community sample of 120 low-income European American and African American women. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to examine demographic, violence, and mental health variables that predict posttraumatic stress symptoms. The data reveal that African American women report lower levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms than do their European American peers. This difference was observed despite the presence of more empirically identified risk factors for African American women. Regression analyses show that symptoms of depression increase risk for posttraumatic stress for both groups. However, a difference was observed such that past victimization increase risk for only European American women, whereas amount of psychological violence in the previous year increases risk for only African American women. Potential explanations for observed ethnic differences are offered.