Surviving a Lawsuit Against a Counseling Program: Lessons Learned From Ward v. Wilbanks

This article features information about a lawsuit brought by a former student against Eastern Michigan University and its counseling program. In addition to describing the major elements of the lawsuit, the authors reflect on lessons learned and offer recommendations for other counseling programs.     

Supplanting the venom of litigation with alternative dispute resolution: the role of counsellors and guidance professionals

This literature review attempts to interface counselling with alternative legal practice. The authors proceed by contrasting the adversarial nature of litigation with the conciliatory nature of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) with a view to encouraging seekers of dispute resolution to opt for ADR in lieu of litigation. The paper discusses the Ubuntu world view in conflict resolution in relation to ADR practices. While not presenting ADR as a replacement for litigation nor proscribing litigation in itself, this paper prescribes the use of ADR to arrive at settlements that are more satisfactory and longer lasting. The paper finally shows how counsellors and guidance professionals may be involved in ADR processes to effectively give succour to conflicting parties.     

Evaluation Study of Lawyers' Satisfaction with Expert Witness Reports

This study attempted to evaluate the satisfaction of personal injury lawyers with expert witness reports from psychologists and psychiatrists. A questionnaire was sent to 514 civil litigation lawyers and 79 (15.4%) were completed. It was found that most lawyers were satisfied with reports and that there was no difference between the standard and quality of expert reports of psychologists and psychiatrists. Criticisms were limited and focussed on the cost, length and lack of clarity of some of the reports. These criticisms are discussed within the context of the reforms within the legal aid system and it is concluded that expert reports are perceived by lawyers as being reasonably good value for money.     

Disproportionate Representation in Special Education: A Synthesis and Recommendations

Disproportionate representation of minority students in special education remains a very controversial, unresolved issue. This synthesis summarizes historical perspectives and current knowledge about disproportionate representation with respect to: (a) definitions of disproportionate representation and related issues of interpretation; (b) national and state-level estimates of disproportionality for four ethnic groups; (c) legal, policy, research and teacher education responses to disproportionality; and (d) hypothesized causes and predictors of disproportionality. Authors stress the need for: coherent and well-articulated conceptual frameworks, responsible use and representation of data, research dialog that is informed by appreciation of the complex sociopolitical history and current context, and the need for effective advocacy to improve the educational success of minority students.     

当前医患纠纷解决模式的法律与道德评价

我国医患纠纷的最终解决是通过传统的民事诉讼途径,然而,这种模式并不符合医疗案件本身的特点。从法律和道德的角度而言,我们必须对医疗诉讼的制度设计重新进行反思,并在此基础上进行变革。     

Social and medical influences on attributions and evaluations of chronic pain

Abstract

Previous research suggests that judgments of pain are subject to social influences, including characteristics of the person in pain, the judge, and the social context in which the judgment occurs. In this experiment, eight vignettes describing a person with chronic low back pain were varied as a function of patient ethnicity (Caucasian vs African-American), litigation status (litigant vs non-litigant), and medical evidence (strong vs weak). Participants (N= 116) read vignettes, made attributions of causality for the person's pain and disability, and evaluated the severity of the pain syndrome. Pain and disability were perceived as more legitimate when the person in pain was a non-litigant and when medical evidence was strong. Evaluations of syndrome severity were more extreme when evidence was strong. A three-way interaction indicated that judgments may have been influenced by ethnic stereotypes. These findings substantiate the influence of social variables in judgments of persons with pain.     

Professionalism,Ethics, and Value‐Based Conflicts in Counseling: An Introduction to the Special Section

This introduction to this special section of the Journal of Counseling & Development explores the importance of a code of ethics to the establishment and maintenance of a profession. Recognizing a code of ethics as a communication of a profession's collective values and expectations, the editors of this special section acknowledge the dilemmas that arise when a counselor's personal values do not align with the profession's collective values. The authors of each article address value‐based conflicts in counseling.     

从管辖权看医疗纠纷诉讼中的司法公正

管辖权是诉讼的基础,按我国民事诉讼法规定,医疗纠纷诉讼应该适用一般地域管辖,由医疗机构所在地人民法院管辖。但是由于部分司法界存在地方保护主义导致不当管辖,影响医疗争议案件的公正判决,司法界在处理法律效果与社会效果的关系应该以司法公正促进社会和谐,而不是不顾原则、不要正义来和谐。     

Sexual Abuse Litigation

Summary

Practicing psychologist Janet Sonne and attorney Julian Hubbard illuminate how the different aims and languages of psychotherapy and law can be either an asset or a liability in the emotionally-charged environment of sexual abuse litigation. Properly understood, these differences can optimize the ability of each professional to assist their common client, the sexual abuse survivor, in the litigation process and beyond. Dr. Sonne reviews the psychological and behavioral sequelae of childhood sexual abuse and identifies six elements of the client's psychological functioning key to the litigation process, as well as posing questions for the attorney's self-evaluation for the unique demands of sexual abuse litigation. Mr. Hubbard then addresses what survivors and therapists need to know about the litigation process, exploring dynamics of legal strategy that can exacerbate the client's psychological problems. In the final section, both offer tips to enhance professionals' focus on education and communication as a means to better serving the sexually abused client.     

Culture and collective argumentation

What are the mechanisms underlying the reproduction and change of collective beliefs? The paper suggests that a productive and promising approach for dealing with this question can be found in ontogenetic and cross-cultural studies on ‘collective argumentations and belief systems’; this is illustrated with regard to moral beliefs: After a short discussion of the rationality/relativity issue in cultural anthropology some basic elements of a conceptual framework for the empirical study of collective argumentations are outlined. A few empirical case studies are summarized; the results deliver some empirical evidence to the assumption that as the ‘logic of collective argumentations’ develops in children and adolescent there will be different and increasingly more complex constraints on the kinds of basic moral beliefs that can be collectively accepted. Most importantly, as children approach adolescence they may have acquired a ‘logic of argumentation’ which makes possible a collectively valid distinction between the ‘is’ and the ‘ought’ of some disputed particular moral issue. A comparison with a land litigation among Trobriands (Papua New Guinea) shows that the ‘logic of argumentation’ and the corresponding basic moral beliefs of Trobriands very much resemble the ‘logic of argumentation’ and moral rationality standards of (German) adolescents.