The couple relationship when the female partner has an acquired physical disability

ABSTRACT

‘Whereas the couple relationship is described to be the relationship which is typically the most impacted by disability, spousal support is presented to be the most important form of support following such. To date little is known about the exchange of support and the impact of an acquired physical disability on the couple relationship, especially when considering the perspectives of both partners. Taking a feminist, a resilience and a systemic perspective, this paper seeks to address these gaps by presenting the stories told by three heterosexual couples in whom the females sustained an acquired locomotor disability in the course of the relationship. Individual and joint semi-structured interviews were held with each participating couple. The aim was to systemically understand how the beliefs, ideas and attitudes of each partner mutually contributed to the resilience and maintenance of the couple unit over time, taking also into consideration the contextual factors which helped or hindered the couples in this process.Thematic narrative analysis of the stories told showed how coping post-disability was brought about by mutual and reciprocal circular patterns of interaction initiated and maintained within the couple relationship and influenced by the socio-cultural context. Whereas it was difficult to decipher which party had started off these processes, their occurrence over time limited the burden experienced by both parties because of the disability. The females in this study were empathic and endowed with a sense of gratitude whilst the males were caring and supportive. Both parties were determined to help each other in times of need and to survive the disability ordeal as a couple even if this entailed self-sacrifice and adjustment. Such research presents novel insights about couples impacted by an acquired locomotor disability and the practices and interventions which practitioners, clinicians and policy makers can adopt in supporting couples following such’.     

Predictive Validity of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery-Screening Module for Assessing Real-World Disability in Patients with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

The present study set out to examine the ecological validity of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery-Screening Module (NAB-S) and to examine more specifically, whether performance on this test battery is related to real-world disability status in patients who have sustained a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) as a consequence of a motor vehicle collision (MVC). Seventy-nine patients were recruited from a random sample of litigating patients who incurred an mTBI and were referred for a neuropsychological examination due to subjective complaints of cognitive function. Of the total sample, 54 patients were categorized into the non-disabled group and 25 patients were categorized into the disabled group using the 4th edition of the American Medical Association (AMA) Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA; 1993). A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that performance on the NAB-S significantly differed between the two groups, and that memory and attention domains provided a more discriminative index of disability than general neuropsychological functions. In addition, discriminant function analyses revealed that the NAB-S correctly classified 73% of patients according to their group membership. The current findings provide evidence for the ecological validity of the NAB-S as a reliable index of real-world disability status as defined by the AMA Guides.     

Interpreting and Writing the Law in Digital Society: Remarks Made on a Shift of Paradigm

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique - In this article I discuss the nature and sense of legal reasoning as reasonableness, i.e. as...     

Negotiators as Mediators: The Case of 1987–1995 Korea–United States Bilateral Trade Negotiations

Despite their widely recognized benefits, integrative approaches to negotiation have seldom been effectively used in interorganizational negotiations. This study analyzes the 1987–1995 Korea–United States Trade Negotiations, identifying elements in those talks that could have moved the negotiations in a more integrative direction. The role of building relationships — especially between key negotiators — is examined. Informal negotiations between the key negotiators from both sides were crucial in building such relationships, which helped both sides create solutions for mutual gains. This process was realized, inter alia, by the dual role that the key negotiators took on as negotiators and as mediators.     

The Heat is On: Thermal Sensing and Newsgathering – A Look at the Legal Implications of Modern Newsgathering

Thermal imaging technology, which was once used primarily by the military, has made its way into the civilian world. Journalists have begun making use of the technology, and, as that use becomes more prevalent, concerns about legal issues also arise. This article, relying on tort privacy cases, Fourth Amendment case law, and theoretical conceptualizations of privacy, provides an in-depth examination of the legal implications surrounding the use of thermal imaging devices for newsgathering.     

The Effects of Legal and Extralegal Factors on Detention Decisions in US District Courts

The Bail Reform Act of 1984 changed the law dictating release and detention decisions in federal court. Since its passage, few studies have examined judicial decision-making in this context. Legal research enables us to account for the structure and interpretation of federal detention laws and to analyze previously neglected measures of legal factors in our analyses. We use US Sentencing Commission data on a sample of defendants who were sentenced in 2007 (N?=?31,043). We find that legal factors—particularly length of criminal history, having committed a violent or otherwise serious offense, and having committed the offense while under supervision of the criminal justice system—have the strongest relationships with the presentence detention outcome. A defendant’s age, race, and ethnicity have weaker relationships with detention. When we compare defendants who are similarly situated with respect to legal factors, the probability of detention is similar regardless of age, race, and ethnicity.     

The effects of different paraphrasing styles on the quality of reports from young child witnesses

The link between criminal attitudes and behavior is well established throughout the literature. We know, for example, that offenders have higher levels of criminal attitudes than non-offenders. However, it is also likely that individual differences in criminal attitudes exist among offenders. The aim of the study is to explore the unique contribution of (1) individual, (2) criminal career, and (3) social characteristics to individual differences in criminal attitudes. Data were used from the Prison Project, a large-scale study among prisoners in all Dutch remand centers (N = 1612). Hierarchical linear regression models were used to identify factors associated with two types of inmates' attitudes. Among the most salient relationships with criminal attitudes were having more agreeable personality traits, having a criminogenic social network, and having experienced more prior incarcerations. Criminal history and social characteristics had the most salient links with criminal attitudes. The results seem to support the idea that criminal behavior is learned in interaction with criminal others, which is in line with the ideas of differential association and reinforcement. The current study might serve as a starting point for individually oriented prison intervention strategies and rehabilitation efforts based on specific offender characteristics.