An Examination of the Relationship Between Competency to Stand Trial,Competency to Waive Interrogation Rights,and Psychopathology

This study compared the legal abilities of defendants (N = 212) with current primary psychotic disorders (n = 44), affective disorders (n = 42), substance abuse disorders (n = 54), and no diagnosed major mental illness (n = 72). Defendants with primary psychotic disorders demonstrated more impairment than did other defendants in their understanding of interrogation rights, the nature and object of the proceedings, the possible consequences of proceedings, and their ability to communicate with counsel. Psychosis was of limited value as a predictor however, and high rates of legal impairment were found even in defendants with no diagnosed major mental illness. Sources of within-group variance were examined to further explain this finding. Policy and clinical implications of these results are discussed.     

IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES

This article will examine several of the more difficult issues raised by the Freeman case, including the potential conflict between a parent's rights and a child's rights, the concern over legislative intervention in family autonomy, and the obvious struggle the courts are having in making consistent decisions in this area. The focus will be on Canadian child welfare legislation, with particular emphasis on the Nova Scotia legislation, as it relates to the refusal to consent to the medical treatment of a child. Similarly, the case law considered will also be primarily Canadian. The article will concentrate on situations in which the withholding of medical treatment would threaten the life of a child and will discuss the withholding of treatment as it relates to an unborn child, a mentally and/or physically challenged child, and a normal child.     

The Risks and Needs of the Returning Prisoner Population

There is a growing interest in the threat posed by the increase in the number of prisoners released from prison each year. Some have argued that unless new services and programs are funded, the increasing waves of released prisoners will pose a major threat to public safety in general. This paper reexamines these and other issues and finds that a significant portion of released prisoners pose little if any threat to public safety and that the current parole supervision system often serves to increase rather than reduce recidivism. While released prisoners have significant social, economic, residential, and family needs, they are not sufficient to restrict their release from prison.     

Past and Present Utilization of Interstate Compacts in the United States

This research examines the frequency of utilization and theusefulness of interstate compacts as a contemporary instrumentof intergovernmental relations. Beginning with a discussionof the legal status of compacts, the author then reviews historicand current scholarship on compacts. Changes over time in theenactment of compacts are observed, together with changes inthe types and scope of compacts. The procedures of the Stateof Maryland are used as a case study in evaluating the benefitsof compact membership. In conclusion, the author discusses recentacademic interest in this aspect of intergovernmental relations.     

Toxic chemical regulation in Canada: preliminary estimates of costs and benefits

Abstract. This paper makes an assessment of the impact of toxic chemical regulation in Canada. Ranges of costs and benefits, supplemented by survey information, analogous American data, interviews and case studies have been used to demonstrate the general usefulness of a cost-benefit framework for public sector decision-making even where information availability is constrained and complete analysis is not feasible. It is concluded that, with few exceptions, the impact of environmental regulation on chemical producers in Canada is neither excessive nor unduly onerous. Sommaire. Les auteurs de cette étude évaluent l'impact de la réglementation se rapportant aux produits chimiques toxiques au Canada. Des gammes coûtsrendements, étoffées par une enquête, des données américaines de même nature, des entrevues et des études de cas ont servi de base pour démontrer l'utilité générale d'un cadre coêts-rendements au niveau de la prise de décision dans le secteur public, même lorsque l'information est limitée et qu'une analyse complète est impossible. lls concluent qu'à quelques exceptions près, les règlements sur la protection de l'environnement ne sont, pour les fabricants de produits chimiques au Canada, ni excessifs ni trop onéreux.     

Health habits and depression in adolescence

In a study of the relationship between health habits and depression, 80 high school students, selected on an availability basis, were administered a Health Behaviors Questionnaire (HBQ) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The HBQ and the BDI significantly correlated (r=0.43p<0.01). Those who smoked were more frequently depressed than those who did not (X ²=10.5p<0.05), and those who used drugs other than marijuana were depressed more frequently than those who did not (X ²=9.2p<0.01). Mildly overweight boys (overweight by more than 5% of their ideal weight) and mildly under-weight boys (underweight by more than 5% of their ideal weight) were moreThis research was supported in part by a grant from the American Diabetes Association and by National institute of Health Grant MH 15529.Received his M.D. at George Washington School of Medicine. Major interest is interface of child psychiatry and pediatrics.Received his M.D. at Downstate Medical Center, State University of New York. Major interest is metabolic changes in adolescence.Received her M.A. from Queens College, New York. Major interest is measurement of human behavior.Received his M.D. from the University of Wisconsin. Major interest is adolescent sexuality.Received her Ph.D. in psychology from Hofstra University. Major interest is evaluation of clinical programs. depressed than boys of normal weight (p<0.02). The more pounds underweight the girls were, the more depressed they were (r=0.482, p<0.05). The closer the weight of a girl who perceived herself as overweight was to her ideal weight, the more depressed she was (r=–0.428,p<0.05).