Prescriptive and Elicitive Approaches to Conflict Resolution: Examples from Papua New Guinea

Negotiation Journal -     

Court Management of AIDS Disputes: A Sociolegal Analysis

Historically, disease scares reveal contradictions in the social order. We postulate that courts focus on depoliticizing social tensions revealed by AIDS, legitimating the routines of dominant parties in the AIDS sociolegal network. At the same time, courts deviate from their normal practices try upholding the claims of subordinate parties in this network, particularly people living with AIDS (PWAs) and their allies. Our analysis of 36 AlDS-related court rulings, published during the formative years of AIDS litigation in the United States, supports the notion that courts operate as "double-edged" institutions. To explain the duality of judicial decision making, we concentrate on the powers of social and cultural factors rather than on the doctrinal judgments of the courts. We trace how relational attributes, evident in contestants' characteristics (e.g., plaintiff/defendant, status differentials) and the nature of claims (i.e., restrictive/expansive), combine to account for wins for dominant parties and how other combinations of these attributes define wins for subordinate parties. We also show how judges combine specific interpretational attributes in the text of their rulings (e.g., use of divisive AIDS metaphors, deference to medical authority) to justify wins. We consolidate these findings to discuss how PWAs and their allies might use the courts to their advantage and point out the ways in which the changing epidemiology of AIDS in the United States limits the use of courts.     

The Employment Appeal Tribunal: October 2002-July 2005

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has been governed by theEAT Rules¹ since 1993 (amended in 2001), and in 1996, Sir JohnMummery, the then president, issued a Practice Direction whichenshrined the practice that had been developed and honed overthe 20 years of the EAT existence. The changes over the past3 years have now been reflected in the 2004 amendments to theEAT Rules and by two further Practice Directions, first in December2002, to implement the effect of the changes introduced in practiceas from October 2002 and then in December 2004, once they hadbedded in, to adjust to the amended Rules, which had also reflectedthose changes. This article is written for the purpose of summarisingthose changes and reflecting upon their effect.     

Drowning of a Friedreich's ataxia patient

We here report an unusual, apparently accidental death, in which weakness associated with a progressive neuromuscular disease, Friedreich's ataxia, apparently resulted in the drowning of the deceased. The possibility of neuromuscular disease as a rare cause of drownings should not be overlooked.     

Children’s Direct Exposure to Types of Domestic Violence Crime: A Population-based Investigation

Police officers served as public health sentinels to collect data on children exposed to domestic violence across an entire municipality for 1 year. This study extended research by investigating a typology of domestic violence crimes and children’s direct sensory exposure to these types. Police officers used a standard, validated protocol to collect data on all substantiated domestic violence. Findings revealed that almost half of all events had children present, and 81% of these children were directly exposed to the violence. Children under the age of 6 years old were at greater risk of exposure. Identified domestic violence households with children were more likely to be low-income, non-White, and headed by a single female, compared to households at large. Cluster analysis revealed seven domestic violence event profiles. Typology showed that children were disproportionately exposed to the most unstable and dangerous profiles including weapon use, mutual assault, and substance abuse.