Why procedural justice in organizations?

This article reviews the existing research and theory on procedural justice and considers how it may be applied to the study of organizational behavior. It begins by distinguishing between the concepts of distributive justice and procedural justice and noting the historical contexts within which they emerged. Existing conceptual contributions and the research inspired by them are reviewed. The few existing studies applying procedural justice notions to organizational contexts are summarized, and the contributions of the articles to the present issue of this journal are reviewed relative to these efforts. The article closes by discussing the dual benefits of studying procedural justice in organizations: the enhanced understanding of the concept of justice and the behavior of people in organizations.     

Teaching forensic psychiatry to medical students

Are separate courses on forensic psychiatry available for medical students? During the 1985 to 1986 academic year, the authors surveyed all U.S. medical schools to identify courses on forensic/legal psychiatry. A minority of schools included separate courses or practicums on forensic psychiatry or mental health law. In a follow-up telephone survey, instructors of each of these courses were interviewed. Information was obtained on format of course, duration, discipline of instructor or instructors, topics covered, reading materials, institutional settings, and the number of students who took the course. The results are discussed and compared with earlier surveys.