Advancing police use of force research and practice: urgent issues and prospects

Leading police scholars and practitioners were asked to reflect on the most urgent issues that need to be addressed on the topic of use of force. Four themes emerged from their contributions: use of force and de-escalation training needs to improve and be evaluated; new ways of conceptualizing use of force encounters and better use of force response models need to be developed; the inequitable application of force, and how to remediate biases, needs to be more fully understood; and misconceptions about police use of force need to be identified and corrected. The highlighted topics serve as an agenda for future research. Such research should provide greater insight into when, where, and why force is used by police officers, and how it can be applied appropriately. If implemented, the practical recommendations included in the contributions should have a positive impact on police performance, public trust and confidence in the police, and citizen and officer safety.     

认知询问技术探究

认知询问技术是以心理学理论为基础并为国外警方实践所广泛认可的询问证人的技术。其能有效引导证人进行更好的回忆，促使证人提供准确和完整的信息。但在我国侦查实践中这一技术却没有受到应有的重视。实验对比发现，与一般询问技术相比，认知询问技术在促进证人回忆时具有明显的效果，能够帮助证人回忆起更多细节。     

警察院校学生英语语言僵化原因分析与对策探讨

警察院校学生语言僵化现象尤为突出，笔者认为这主要是由学生特殊的认知和情感因素、学习环境、课程设置与教材、教学方法等内外因两方面共同作用而导致的。笔者提出，可以转变认知观念、提高文化涵养，克服情感障碍、树立积极的态度，改革课程设置、创新教育理念，开发学生自主学习、研究学习的能力四个方面着手，努力克服僵化，提高学习效果。     

Medical regulation of cognitive enhancement devices: some concerns

The authors present a cogent and detailed case for altering the Medical Devices Directive to allow regulation of cognitive enhancement devices (CEDs). Protection against significant risk of harm, especially for the vulnerable, and promotion of benefit through informed use of CEDs are all good features of the proposal. However, the pre-market approval process has limitations, which we explore. We raise the possibility of ‘risk compensation’ in response to the introduction of safety measures, which could alter its effectiveness. The proposal alludes to use of ‘formally trained practitioners,’ which provide a further tier of regulation for CEDs within the proposal. We consider some positive and negative implications of this aspect of the proposal that might warrant further consideration.     

Reflective political reasoning: Political disagreement and empathy

As political polarization increases across many of the world's established democracies, many citizens are unwilling to appreciate and consider the viewpoints of those who disagree with them. Previous research shows that this lack of reflection can undermine democratic accountability. The purpose of this paper is to study whether empathy for the other can motivate people to reason reflectively about politics. Extant studies have largely studied trait-level differences in the ability and inclination of individuals to engage in reflection. Most of these studies focus on observational moderators, which makes it difficult to make strong claims about the effects of being in a reflective state on political decision making. We extend this research by using a survey experiment with a large and heterogeneous sample of UK citizens (N = 2014) to investigate whether a simple empathy intervention can induce people to consider opposing viewpoints and incorporate those views in their opinion about a pressing political issue. We find that actively imagining the feelings and thoughts of someone one disagrees with prompts more reflection in the way that people reason about political issues as well as elicits empathic feelings of concern towards those with opposing viewpoints. We further examine whether empathy facilitates openness to attitude change in the counter-attitudinal direction and find that exposure to an opposing perspective (without its empathy component) per se is enough to prompt attitude change. Our study paints a more nuanced picture of the relationship between empathy, reflection and policy attitudes.     

The Reliability of Pattern Classification in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis,Part 1: Bloodstain Patterns on Rigid Non‐absorbent Surfaces

This study was designed to produce the first baseline measure of reliability in bloodstain pattern classification. A panel of experienced bloodstain pattern analysts examined over 400 spatter patterns on three rigid non‐absorbent surfaces. The patterns varied in spatter type and extent. A case summary accompanied each pattern that either contained neutral information, information to suggest the correct pattern (i.e., was positively biasing), or information to suggest an incorrect pattern (i.e., was negatively biasing). Across the variables under examination, 13% of classifications were erroneous. Generally speaking, where the pattern was more difficult to recognize (e.g., limited staining extent or a patterned substrate), analysts became more conservative in their judgment, opting to be inconclusive. Incorrect classifications increased as a function of the negatively biasing contextual information. The implications of the findings for practice are discussed.     

Communication in family court: financial remedy proceedings from the perspective of litigants in person

The article presents a rationale for communicative, conceptual, cognitive and procedural challenges experienced by litigants in person in financial remedy proceedings. The article also explores oscillation between written and spoken legal genres and narrative development strategies which litigants in person have to use throughout different stages (from the early stages of starting proceedings, filling in court forms and providing documentation, through the negotiation process to interaction in court). While legal professionals express themselves in paradigmatic legal mode influenced by legal acts and legislation, litigants in person tend to express themselves in narrative mode similar to everyday storytelling. The objective is to investigate obstacles litigants in person experience during the process originally designed by legal professionals for legal professionals. The article evaluates different options for empowering lay people involved in legal proceedings and argues for the need to provide more specific support for different stages of family proceedings.     

INFORMED CHOICE AND EMERGENT SYSTEMS AT THE GROWTH EDGE OF COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE

Integrated interdisciplinary team practice evolves over time as collaborative lawyers encounter the limitations of their own skill‐set in helping clients to reach consensual resolution outside the courts. Team collaboration represents the evolutionary growth edge of the collaborative practice movement. Working in teams with financial neutrals and mental health professionals who act as coaches and child specialists, collaborative lawyers become engaged in an emergent learning system called into being to assist each couple through their divorce. All professionals working on a collaborative team case participate in the process from the beginning and share responsibility for helping the clients achieve the values‐based goals identified by them early in the process. This shared professional engagement in the divorce conflict resolution process gives rise to a need for agreed roadmaps and protocols, sophisticated planning and debriefing sessions, case conferencing, and careful attention to the quality of communications at the negotiating table. None of this can happen at a “best practices” level without mutual trust between and among the professionals and a culture of transparency and accountability. These characteristics emerge over time as a natural outgrowth of working in teams.     

论犯罪心理与“留守儿童”违法犯罪

“留守儿童”违法犯罪问题已经引起了理论界与实务界的高度关注。我国目前对“留守儿童犯”进行的心理调研仅局限于对“留守儿童犯”的普遍性考察,缺乏有针对性的犯罪心理调查。实证分析法是犯罪学调研的基本方法。通过对“留守儿童犯”的认知心理和社会化环境两部分展开深入调研,在需求、自信与自我认同、行为模式、自控能力、违法犯罪认识性以及父母家庭关系、学校关系、同辈关系和其他人际关系等方面进行了全面系统分析,可以透视“留守儿童‘’’犯”的犯罪心理现状,同时为提出有针对性的预防措施提供事实依据。