Lawyers rapport building practices with child witnesses.

BACKGROUND: Existing literature on rapport building in forensic interviews with children has primarily focused on police or social workers (Collins et al., 2002); overlooking the lawyer-child relationship. OBJECTIVE: The present study was a novel exploration of the rapport building process between lawyers and child witnesses during the interview stage of a criminal proceeding. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: A total of 67 Canadian lawyers (Mage = 41.69, SD = 11.19; 51 % female-identifying) with experience questioning child witnesses (i.e., under 18 years old) were surveyed on their rapport building with child witnesses. METHODS: A self-report survey was used to assess how lawyers conceptualize and engage in rapport building with child witnesses. RESULTS: Lawyers were found to perceive rapport building as an important element when working with child witnesses; however, the lawyers' self-reported rapport building techniques overlooked several important elements of rapport building identified in forensic interviewing literature. Overall, the role of the lawyer (i.e., prosecution or defence), but rarely gender, influenced their self-reported rapport building methods. Prosecution lawyers tended to report behaviors that were more aligned with creating an interpersonal connection during the rapport building phase with the child, such as creating an environment where the child feels safe and comfortable. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide insight into how lawyers conceptualize and engage in rapport building with child witnesses. Overall, the lawyers perceived rapport building as an important element with child witnesses, but only some of the techniques mentioned are considered best practices to build rapport with children.

Child welfare predictive risk models and legal decision making.

BACKGROUND: Child welfare agencies around the world have experimented with algorithmic predictive modeling as a method to assist in decision making regarding foster child risk, removal and placement. OBJECTIVE: Thus far, all of the predictive risk models have been confined to the employees of the various child welfare agencies at the early removal stages and none have been used by attorneys in legal arguments or by judges in making child welfare legal decisions. This study will show the effects of a predictive model on legal decision making within a child welfare context. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Lawyers, judges and law students with experience in child welfare or juvenile law were recruited to take an online randomized vignette survey. METHODS: The survey consisted of two vignettes describing complex foster child removal and placement legal decisions where participants were exposed to one of three randomized predictive risk model scores. They were then asked follow up questions regarding their decisions to see if the risk models changed their answers. RESULTS: Using structural equation modeling, high predictive model risk scores showed consistent ability to change legal decisions about removal and placement across both vignettes. Medium and low scores, though less consistent, also significantly influenced legal decision making. CONCLUSIONS: Child welfare legal decision making can be affected by the use of a predictive risk model, which has implications for the development and use of these models as well as legal education for attorneys and judges in the field.

Professional Values and Mental Health Tribunals: How Healthcare Professionals' and Lawyers' Views Are Shaped by Values, and How This Might Impede Reform.

Most countries that provide for compulsory treatment for mental illness have a system by which this treatment is subject to independent legal oversight. Many countries use a special type of legal body for this purpose, called a mental health tribunal. Mental health tribunals have been subject to criticism from the points of view of both legal professionals and mental healthcare practitioners. Similar themes have manifested in these criticisms and have been consistent across several decades; legal professionals tend to focus on the tribunals being biased toward the medical opinion, and acting as a 'rubber stamp', whereas healthcare practitioners tend to focus on the adversarial nature of the trial, and the adverse effect that this can have on clients. However, empirical studies of the tribunals have not separated and directly compared these perspectives. This study aimed to explore this dynamic between lawyers' views and healthcare practitioners' views of mental health tribunals. We used thematic analysis to re-analyse data from two previous research studies, one which looked at lawyers' views of the tribunals, and one which looked at healthcare practitioners' views. Our results are divided into three themes: views of the problems with tribunals, professional roles in relationship to the tribunals and professional values demonstrated through these views and roles. We then consider if the 'clash of values' represented by these findings, and found in the literature, may pose an impediment to tribunal reform. Identifying and exploring this barrier is an important step to moving beyond critique to reform.

Forensic Professionals' Stress Inventory (FPSI): Development and psychometric properties.

Professionals in the justice system are particularly susceptible to occupational stress and burnout due to factors intrinsic to their profession. The Forensic Professional's Stress Inventory (FPSI) was designed to assess stress and psychological distress specifically in justice system professionals. A preliminary 41-item scale was administered to a sample of 690 forensic professionals (i.e., judges, lawyers, and attorneys). Exploratory factor analysis, exploratory structural equation modeling, and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted to find the most interpretable and parsimonious factor solution for FPSI. The 25-item bifactor model (with four first-order factors) demonstrated the most adequate fit to the data. Overall, FPSI revealed adequate psychometric properties and would be a useful instrument for assessing psychological strain and stress in forensic professionals.

Estresse, ansiedade, crenças de autoeficácia e o desempenho dos bacharéis em Direito / Stress, anxiety, self-confidence beliefs and the performance of Law Bachelors / Estrés, ansiedad, creencias de autoeficacia y el rendimiento de Licenciados en Derecho

Foram avaliados os níveis de estresse, ansiedade e as crenças de autoeficácia de 237 bacharéis em Direito, em fase de preparação para ingresso na Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil - OAB. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar as relações entre estresse, ansiedade e crenças de autoeficácia com o desempenho, nas duas fases do exame da Ordem. Os participantes responderam aos inventários de Ansiedade Traço-Estado do Spielberger - IDATE, ao Inventário de Stress de Lipp - ISSL e a um Inventário de Autoeficácia. Foram encontradas correlações positivas entre os níveis de estresse, ansiedade e crenças de autoeficácia. As correlações entre os parâmetros obtidos nesses inventários e o desempenho nos exames foram positivas para os graus de estresse e de ansiedade-traço. Os resultados deste estudo demonstraram que candidatos sem sintomas de estresse têm duas vezes mais chance de serem aprovados em relação a candidatos com estresse.

Stress, anxiety and the self-efficacy beliefs levels were evaluated in 237 Law bachelors in preparation phase to be admitted at Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil - OAB. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the relationships between stress, anxiety, and self- efficacy beliefs related to the performance on both phases of the OAB. The subjects who answered this research were students of preparatory courses to the OAB exam. The Shait-Trait Anxiety Inventory of Spielberger, Inventário de Sintomas de Stress de Lipp - ISSL and Self-Efficacy were employed. Positive correlations were found between levels of stress, anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. The correlations between the parameters obtained in these inventories and examinations performance were positive for the stress index and trait anxiety. The results of this study showed that candidates without stress symptoms have a twofold chance to be approved on the test than the candidates with stress symptoms.

Fueron evaluados los niveles de estrés, ansiedad y las creencias de autoeficacia de 237 licenciados en Derecho, en fase de preparación para ingreso en la Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil (OAB). El objetivo de esta pesquisa fue evaluar las relaciones entre estrés, ansiedad y creencias de autoeficacia con el desempeño, en las dos fases del examen de la OAB. Los participantes respondieron a los inventarios de Ansiedad Trazo-Estado del Spielberger - IDATE, al Inventario de estrés de Lipp - ISSL y a un Inventario de Autoeficacia. Fueron encontradas correlaciones positivas entre los niveles de estrés, ansiedad y creencias de autoeficacia. Las correlaciones entre los parámetros obtenidos en esos inventarios y el desempeño en los exámenes fueron positivas para los grados de estrés y de ansiedad-trazo. Los resultados de este estudio demostraron que candidatos sin síntomas de estrés tienen dos veces más chances de seren aprobados en relación a candidatos con estrés.

Estresse, ansiedade, crenças de autoeficácia e o desempenho dos bacharéis em Direito / Stress, anxiety, self-confidence beliefs and the performance of Law Bachelors / Estrés, ansiedad, creencias de autoeficacia y el rendimiento de Licenciados en Derecho

Foram avaliados os níveis de estresse, ansiedade e as crenças de autoeficácia de 237 bacharéis em Direito, em fase de preparação para ingresso na Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil - OAB. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar as relações entre estresse, ansiedade e crenças de autoeficácia com o desempenho, nas duas fases do exame da Ordem. Os participantes responderam aos inventários de Ansiedade Traço-Estado do Spielberger - IDATE, ao Inventário de Stress de Lipp - ISSL e a um Inventário de Autoeficácia. Foram encontradas correlações positivas entre os níveis de estresse, ansiedade e crenças de autoeficácia. As correlações entre os parâmetros obtidos nesses inventários e o desempenho nos exames foram positivas para os graus de estresse e de ansiedade-traço. Os resultados deste estudo demonstraram que candidatos sem sintomas de estresse têm duas vezes mais chance de serem aprovados em relação a candidatos com estresse.(AU)

Stress, anxiety and the self-efficacy beliefs levels were evaluated in 237 Law bachelors in preparation phase to be admitted at Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil - OAB. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the relationships between stress, anxiety, and self- efficacy beliefs related to the performance on both phases of the OAB. The subjects who answered this research were students of preparatory courses to the OAB exam. The Shait-Trait Anxiety Inventory of Spielberger, Inventário de Sintomas de Stress de Lipp - ISSL and Self-Efficacy were employed. Positive correlations were found between levels of stress, anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs. The correlations between the parameters obtained in these inventories and examinations performance were positive for the stress index and trait anxiety. The results of this study showed that candidates without stress symptoms have a twofold chance to be approved on the test than the candidates with stress symptoms.(AU)

Fueron evaluados los niveles de estrés, ansiedad y las creencias de autoeficacia de 237 licenciados en Derecho, en fase de preparación para ingreso en la Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil (OAB). El objetivo de esta pesquisa fue evaluar las relaciones entre estrés, ansiedad y creencias de autoeficacia con el desempeño, en las dos fases del examen de la OAB. Los participantes respondieron a los inventarios de Ansiedad Trazo-Estado del Spielberger - IDATE, al Inventario de estrés de Lipp - ISSL y a un Inventario de Autoeficacia. Fueron encontradas correlaciones positivas entre los niveles de estrés, ansiedad y creencias de autoeficacia. Las correlaciones entre los parámetros obtenidos en esos inventarios y el desempeño en los exámenes fueron positivas para los grados de estrés y de ansiedad-trazo. Los resultados de este estudio demostraron que candidatos sin síntomas de estrés tienen dos veces más chances de seren aprobados en relación a candidatos con estrés.(AU)