Spaced cognitive interviewing: Facilitating therapeutic and forensic narration of traumatic memories

Abstract

The evolution of the cognitive interview (CI) is reviewed from the original package of memory-enhancing techniques through to the revised (or enhanced) CI, and the cognitive approach now taught to police officers in UK. Many officers are reluctant to apply CI, particularly to traumatised victims. The traumatising effects of crime are examined in terms of immediate response and the potential for an acute stress response and post-traumatic stress disorder, with subsequent re-experiencing of dissociated traumatic memories in the form of intrusive, unwanted imagery. Traumatic memories are described, particularly their accuracy, detail and persistence. The therapeutic potential of prolonged experience of distress while narrating the content of traumatic imagery is explained. An approach to maximising the disclosure of dissociated detail - spaced cognitive interviewing (SCI) - is described and case material presented illustrating its forensic and therapeutic application. The practice and practical implications of SCI are summarised.     

Second Elections and Democratic Consolidation: the Experience of Bhutan

This article examines the phenomenon of the second election after democratization in developing countries. Unlike the euphoria that often accompanies the immediate post-democratization election, the second election gives clear evidence of the progress of democratic consolidation or whether the new regime has incorporated authoritarian elements and become a hybrid. To measure the democratic gains or losses that are seen in the second election, an analytical framework has been adopted comprised of three dimensions: regularity, openness and acceptability. This framework is applied to Bhutan where the second election took place in 2013. The findings are that progress was made on all three dimensions of democratization in the election although some democratic shortfalls were still evident. For Bhutan, the overarching concern for political stability is seen to have greatly affected the design and implementation of its electoral system.     

The Structure of Utility in Spatial Models of Voting

Empirical models of spatial voting allow legislators' locations in a policy or ideological space to be inferred from their roll‐call votes. These are typically random utility models where the features of the utility functions other than the ideal points are assumed rather than estimated. In this article, we first consider a model in which legislators' utility functions are allowed to be a mixture of the two most commonly assumed utility functions: the quadratic function and the Gaussian function assumed by NOMINATE. Across many roll‐call data sets, we find that legislators' utility functions are estimated to be very nearly Gaussian. We then relax the usual assumption that each legislator is equally sensitive to policy change and find that extreme legislators are generally more sensitive to policy change than their more centrally located counterparts. This result suggests that extremists are more ideologically rigid while moderates are more likely to consider influences that arise outside liberal‐conservative conflict.     

Comment on Jill Khadduri's “should the housing voucher program become a state‐administered block grant?” A housing voucher block grant is a bad idea

Abstract

Khadduri argues for a well‐designed voucher block grant, phased in over several years. But proposals under consideration are more likely to undermine the effectiveness of vouchers than address their limitations. The most important advantage of housing vouchers is that they give recipients the freedom to choose the kind of housing and the location that best meet their needs. Although the current program is not living up to its potential, strategies for making it work better can be implemented without a block grant. Supporters of block grants claim welfare reform as a model, but none of the factors that contributed to declining caseloads under Temporary Assistance to Needy Families apply to housing. The single biggest problem with the housing voucher program is that federal spending for affordable housing is woefully inadequate. Instead of addressing this issue, a block grant would make housing hardship a state rather than a federal problem.     

Yunnan,China: minority peoples observed

An account of the time which the author spent among the Iban more than 30 years ago. He describes the customs, festivals and way of life of a people who were still headhunters in recent memory. More particularly he explains how people who lived in longhouses the way their ancestors had lived were slowly brought to change their traditional beliefs, thus enabling development to take place.     

Race, Income, and College in 25 Years: Evaluating Justice O'Connor's Conjecture

In Grutter v. Bollinger, Justice O’Connor conjecturedthat in 25 years affirmative action in college admissions willbe unnecessary. We project the test score distribution of blackand white college applicants 25 years from now, focusing onthe role of black–white family income gaps. Economic progressalone is unlikely to narrow the achievement gap enough in 25years to produce today’s racial diversity levels withrace-blind admissions. A return to the rapid black–whitetest score convergence of the 1980s could plausibly cause blackrepresentation to approach current levels at moderately selectiveschools, but not at the most selective schools.     

Coffee House: Habitus and Performance Among Law Students

Drawing on the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Judith Butler, we develop a detailed ethnography of a social space in a major law school and explore its socialization of the students there. "Coffee House" is a weekly social event sponsored by Canadian law firms and offering free drink and food to the students present. We argue that this event and the actors involved profoundly change student identities and alter educational aspirations. Although the students themselves insist that "nothing is going on," our ethnography suggests that in "Coffee House" identity is developed through performances, and in the accumulation of symbolic capital, until ultimately students come to feel their future career path is not a matter of choice, but destiny. We explore the important work of Bourdieu through this setting, but ultimately we resist his determinism, and suggest instead that, following the work of Butler, identity is a more complicated and fluid dynamic between space, repetition, and performance. It appears that a personal unconscious transformation among law students attending Coffee House is underway; yet opportunities to change the meaning of this space and these performances remain.     

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND AUSTRALIAN ENGAGEMENT WITH ASIA

Public Administration in Asia and the Pacific: Survey of Teaching and Research in Twelve Countries. Edited by L edivina C aring
Administrative Reform Towards Productivity in Bureaucratic Performance. Edited by Z hang Z hijian , R aul P. D e G uzman A nd M ila A. R eforma
Politics and Administration in Changing Societies: Essays in Honour of Professor Fred W. Riggs. Edited by R amesh K. A rora