Subjective Invulnerability,Optimism Bias and Adjustment in Emerging Adulthood

The relationship between subjective invulnerability and optimism bias in risk appraisal, and their comparative association with indices of risk activity, substance use and college adjustment problems was assessed in a sample of 350 (M _age = 20.17; 73% female; 93% White/European American) emerging adults. Subjective invulnerability was measured with the newly devised adolescent invulnerability scale (AIS). Optimism bias in decision-making was assessed with a standard comparative-conditional risk appraisal task. Results showed that the danger- and psychological invulnerability subscales of the AIS demonstrated strong internal consistency and evidence of predictive validity. Subjective invulnerability and optimism bias were also shown to be empirically distinct constructs with differential ability to predict risk and adjustment. Danger invulnerability and psychological invulnerability were more pervasively associated with risk behavior than was optimism bias; and psychological invulnerability counter-indicated depression, self-esteem and interpersonal problems. Results support recent claims regarding the “two faces” of adolescent invulnerability. Implications for future research are drawn.     

关于量刑建议的若干问题

量刑建议是检察机关在指控犯罪时就被告人应当判处的刑罚向人民法院提出的意见.量刑建议权本质上属于公诉权,同时,量刑建议也是检察机关履行审判监督职能的有效方式.检察机关提出量刑建议,有利于促进量刑公开、公正,保障司法公正,提高诉讼效率,加强审判监督,提高公诉人素质.从目前检察机关探索量刑建议的情况看,各地做法并不统一,因此,需要明确量刑建议的原则、适用范围、提出时机和形式、方法、内部审批和变更程序以及量刑问题的法庭审理程序等问题.     

Teaching legal techniques

Starting from the position that it is necessary to have some model of the learning process, if legal education is going to respond to pressures for change in a useful way, the article introduces John Dewey and his model of learning. It identifies shared concerns and techniques that informed Dewey's understanding of the learning process and that inform legal processes. Traditional and clinical approaches to legal education are mapped against the model of learning supplied by Dewey, with the hope of providing an intermediate level linkage between his learning theory and the task of curriculum design in legal education at institutions of Higher Education in the UK.