Legal reforms appropriate for cohabitants and LATs

Cohabitants and LATs (couples who “live apart together”) do not fit the traditional categories and rules of our family law system. This article describes what we know about both cohabitants and LATs in the U.S., compares the two institutions, and makes recommendations about legal reforms with respect to each. For cohabitants the reforms would assimilate cohabiting couples to marriage after the passage of time, based on the evidence of their economic interdependence and the probability that there are children in their households. As to LATs, the reforms proposed are limited to those that would support the caretaking functions LATs perform for each other, resulting in benefits to society as a whole.     

Regulation of cognitive enhancement devices: commentary

Maslen et al. (2013) have provided us with a comprehensive overview of the current legislation regulating non-clinical cognitive enhancement devices (CEDs) in the European Union and have proposed a specific model whereby CEDs would be regulated in the same way as medical devices. An alternative model would be to require manufacturers to quantify risks only. Irrespective of the purported ‘benefits’ of a product, this would allow the consumer freedom of choice to use the product at their will and allow the periodic review of worthwhile indications and unexpected adverse events. Although this departs from the standard Cochrane-type assessment, it takes into account the facts that (i) the evaluation of clinically used cognitive enhancement techniques may not be as rigorous as one might expect, (ii) variations and case-by-case use might be widespread, and (iii) independent variables of significance and useful endpoints may not be obvious ab initio. We consider cerebrospinal fluid diversion techniques which are widely used clinically to enhance cognition in patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus despite any large-scale clinical studies demonstrating substantial benefit, and the real risks of paralysis and death from these invasive procedures. The risks of CEDs which have been available for some time need to be kept in perspective: are the risks really more than using conventional cognitive enhancement techniques such as imbibing too caffeinated drinks? Furthermore, the loss of Europe as a market for CEDs which do not comply with the proposed regulatory model implies a potential gain in the market for other parts of the world. This could impact on the ability of companies in Europe being able to compete in an evolving market demand for CEDs. Legislation to regulate CEDs should be guided by the principle of ‘do no harm’ and allow for innovation and competition.     

The Influence of Nondisclosure on the Mental Health of Urban African-American Adolescents Exposed to Community Violence

African-American youth residing in urban poverty have been shown to be at increased risk for exposure to violence and internalizing symptoms, but there has been little investigation of moderating processes that might attenuate or exacerbate this association. The current study examined nondisclosure as a possible moderator of the association between community violence and internalizing symptoms with a sample of 152 low-income urban African-American early adolescents using hierarchical regression analyses. Results revealed that nondisclosure for relationship reasons (e.g., adults could not be trusted to provide needed support) moderated the association between exposure to community violence and internalizing symptoms. Unexpectedly, however, results of simple effects analyses revealed a stronger association between exposure to violence and internalizing symptoms for youth who disclosed more to adults. Although unexpected, this pattern builds upon prior research indicating that adult–child relationships are compromised within the context of urban poverty and that protective factors may lose their power under conditions of extreme stress.     

The Likelihood of Arrest: A Routine Activity Theory Approach

Routine activities theory (RAT) is traditionally drawn upon to highlight the role of offender motivation, target suitability, and effective guardianship in explaining victimization patterns. While an extensive literature base supports RAT, prior studies have neglected to examine the impact of offender motivation, target suitability, and guardianship on diverse outcomes of violent crimes. The current study extends prior research grounded in RAT by exploring the role of indicators of the central elements highlighted by the theory in understanding the likelihood that an offender will be arrested. As such, this study adds to the growing body of literature on RAT by exploring its relevance to a more diverse set of outcomes. To do this, we draw on the wealth of data on offender, victim, and incident characteristics available in the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Results from the analysis offer a moderate to strong level of support for extending RAT to understanding variation in the likelihood that an offender will be arrested. The insights gained from a RAT framework were further discussed in relation to our findings.     

Structural Reform of Local Government in Australia: A Sustainable Amalgamation Model for Country Councils

Abstract. Council amalgamation has always been the major policy instrument for structural reform in Australian local government. While the Australian literature has spawned taxonomic attempts at classifying models of structural change in local government, a serious deficiency in this body of work has been the specification of amalgamation as an undifferentiated category embodying the unconditional merger of many small local authorities into a single larger entity. This paper seeks to remedy this problem by developing a model of sustainable amalgamation and contrasting it with unconditional amalgamation in using a stylised example derived from four existing Western Australian country shires contemplating consolidation.     

Defining Corruption Where the State is Weak: The Case of Papua New Guinea

Corruption is often defined as the abuse of public office for private gain. This article suggests that this is inadequate for understanding corruption in weak states and presents two broader definitions of the concept. It discusses findings from qualitative and quantitative research conducted in Papua New Guinea in light of these definitions. Respondents – particularly the poor and marginalised – saw corruption as tied to the actions of public officials as well as non-state actors. It is argued that applying broader definitions of corruption could help researchers and policy makers better understand citizens’ concerns about corruption, particularly where the state is weak.     

Establishing a compulsory drug treatment prison: Therapeutic policy, principles, and practices in addressing offender rights and rehabilitation

A Compulsory Drug Treatment Correctional Center (CDTCC) was established in Australia in 2006 for repeat drug-related male offenders. Compulsory treatment law is inconsistent with a therapeutic jurisprudence approach. Despite the compulsory law, a normative offender rehabilitation framework has been established based on offender moral rights. Within moral rights, the offender rehabilitation framework addresses the core values of freedom (supporting autonomous decision-making) and well-being (supporting support physical, social, and psychological needs). Moral rights are underpinned by a theory or principle which, in this instance, is a humane approach to offender rehabilitation. While a law that permits offenders to choose drug treatment and rehabilitation is preferable, the article discusses the establishment of a prison based on therapeutic policy, principles, and practices that respond to participants as both rights-violators and rights-holders. The opportunity for accelerated community access and a therapeutic alliance with staff has resulted in offenders actively seeking to be ordered into compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Random Activities Theory</Emphasis>: The Case for ‘Black Swan’ Criminology

In the United States, infamous crimes against innocent victims—especially children—have repeatedly been regarded as justice system “failures” and resulted in reactionary legislation enacted without regard to prospective negative consequences. This pattern in part results when ‘memorial crime control’ advocates implicitly but inappropriately apply the tenets of routine activities theory, wherein crime prevention is presumed to be achievable by hardening likely targets, increasing the costs associated with crime commission, and removing criminal opportunity. In response, the authors argue that academic and public policy discourse will benefit from the inclusion of a new criminological perspective called random activities theory, in which tragic crimes are framed as rare but statistically inevitable ‘Black Swans’ instead of justice system failures. Potential objections and implications for public policy are discussed at length.