Justice and prisoners’ families

This is the final version of the paper. Available from the publisher via the link in this record.Previous research has shown that prisoners' families in the UK are greatly affected by imprisonment: financially, socially, emotionally and practically. Despite an ever-growing body of literature, however, the topic of prisoners' families has not yet become one of the key themes in criminology and the sociology of punishment. Criminal justice policy has also failed to engage with the needs of prisoners' families, with criminal justice discourse being largely focused on justice as defined by punishments and deserts. Building on the concept of social justice, this paper argues that a broader understanding of justice within criminal justice is sorely needed if social justice is to be achieved for prisoners' families. It then discusses four types of injustices that are highlighted by thinking of prisoners' families through a social justice lens. It concludes that to do justice for prisoners' families, there is a need to broaden the meaning of justice in criminal justice, and discuss social justice and the collateral consequences of imprisonment.I would like to thank the Sir Halley Steward Trust for funding my Ph.D project – 'Making love last: Maintaining intimate relationships with long-term prisoners'. This paper has developed as a result of my work on this project over the past year. All views expressed in this paper are mine alone and not necessarily those of the Trust. I also extend my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Rachel Condry, and to Dr. Joyce Arditti for their valuable feedback on an earlier draft of this paper

Asset and Liability Management for Insurance Products with Minimum Guarantees: The UK Case

Modern insurance products are becoming increasingly complex, offering various guarantees, surrender options and bonus provisions. A case in point are the with-profits insurance policies offered by UK insurers. While these policies have been offered in some form for centuries, in recent years their structure and management have become substantially more involved. The products are particularly complicated due to the wide discretion they afford insurers in determining the bonuses policyholders receive. In this paper, we study the problem of an insurance firm attempting to structure the portfolio underlying its with-profits fund. The resulting optimization problem, a non-linear program with stochastic variables, is presented in detail. Numerical results show how the model can be used to analyse the alternatives available to the insurer, such as different bonus policies and reserving methods

Biometrics and the United Kingdom National Identity Register: Exploring the privacy dilemmas of proportionality and secondary use of biometric information

Despite the obvious importance of privacy concerns in the information age, “privacy” remains a messy concept in the academic literature. Scholars are thus attempting to clarify and systematize the privacy concept. They have proposed two important dimensions of privacy concerns: 1) proportionality, or the adequate, relevant and non-excessive collection of personal data, and 2) secondary usage, or the prohibition of subsequent, unspecified uses of personal information. This paper takes measure of the proportionality and potential secondary uses of biometric data in the proposed United Kingdom (UK) National Identity Register (NIR). It argues that the UK Identity Cards Act 2006 fails to guard against violations of the principles of proportionality and secondary usage of biometric data. After reviewing the modern literature on informational privacy protection, I analyze biometrics and their privacy implications. I then discuss these implications in the context of the UK government’s NIR plans. The analysis yields insights into how biometrics on the proposed NIR interplay with purpose specifications, architectural concerns, knowledge asymmetries and public anxieties. I also explore potential secondary uses of the types of biometric data that could be stored in the NIR. Last, a brief note is offered about the possible means of regulating against privacy infringements

What do film teachers need to know about cognitivism? revisiting the work of David Bordwell and others

Abstract: In the pages of the inaugural edition of this journal, the work of film pedagogue Alain Bergala was discussed as means of exploring possible approaches to film education.  While Bergala offers many reasons why young people should be taught about film, there is very little discussion in his work  of how they learn. In the subject field of education more broadly, there is currently a great deal of attention given to this process, with classroom teachers in all disciplines being encouraged to consider the ways that cognitive science might inform both instructional design and teaching itself. The popularity of the work of psychologists such as John Sweller and Daniel Willingham can be seen as indicative of a wider, positivist trend in educational research and while historically, film educators may have seen their pedagogical and curricular activities  as being located in a more linguistic, and perhaps interpretivist domain, it is important to note that there is a cognitive tradition within both Film Studies and Film education, mainly arising from the work of David Bordwell. Bordwell’s seminal essay, “The Case for Cognitivism” (Bordwell, 1989) sets out some initial reasons why both students of film and film educators should be interested in the way that the brain comprehends the moving image. Drawing on and augmenting the work of other cognitivists such as Paul Messaris and Gavriel Salomon, Bordwell’s work makes for important re-reading in an educational environment in which there is both some agreement and some scepticism about the significance of the cognitive.  This article seeks to outline and critique the most relevant of Bordwell’s arguments, taking as its starting point some unanswered questions from the author’s own PhD studies which led him to the work of both Bordwell and Messaris, and subsequently identifying some ideas which film teachers may wish to reflect upon in terms of their own classroom practice, while at the same time, fitting his work into the wider field of cognitive perspectives in educatio

Functional biodiversity in the agricultural landscape: relationships between weeds and arthropod fauna

We reviewed studies aimed at understanding functional relationships between weeds and arthropods in agroecosystems as influenced by biodiversity at different scales, with the main goal of highlighting gaps in knowledge, research methods and approaches. We first addressed: (i) the regulation of arthropod communities by weed diversity at genetic, species and habitat levels, (ii) the regulation of weed communities by arthropods through seed predation and dispersal and (iii) belowground weed-insect interactions. We then focussed on methodologies to study weed–arthropod interactions in agricultural landscapes and discuss techniques potentially available for data analysis and the importance of joint weed–arthropod trend detection. Lastly, we discuss the implications of research findings for biodiversity conservation policies (agri-environmental schemes) and suggest some priorities for future work. Results showed that to date research has largely ignored weed–arthropod interactions in agricultural landscapes. No information is available on the role of weed genetic diversity as driver of weed–arthropod interactions, whereas studies on effects of species and habitat diversity often lack a functional perspective and ⁄ or a spatial component. Also, information on how management of the wider agricultural biotope might express positive weed– arthropod functional interactions is scarce. Another area worth being explored is the relationship between weed-leaf ⁄ root herbivores and beneficial arthropods. Tools for spatial data analysis might be useful for elucidating weed–arthropod interactions in agricultural landscapes, but some methodological aspects, e.g. the definition of the most appropriate experimental design and sampling scale ⁄ frequency, must be refined. New studies on weed–arthropod interactions should encompass an explicit spatial component; this knowledge is particularly important for improving IPM ⁄IWM systems and designing more targeted agri-environmental schemes

Persons with Disabilities: Entitled to Beg, not to Work. The Argentine Case

The article analyzes the structural unemployment that characterizes persons with disabilities from a social, economic and political perspective. As long as persons with disabilities continue to be defined as unable to perform productive work, they will remain condemned to poverty, begging, dependency and a life without projects to fulfill. With reference to the history and struggles of the disability rights movement in Argentina, it focuses on understanding this struggle as a collective endeavor, aimed at establishing the right to earn a living by working, i.e. via paid productive employment. It concludes by positing that in the long run, social inclusion can only be realized in a society that is organized so that each individual can contribute what he or she is capable of, with the necessary means put at his and her disposal; and that in return, his and her needs (as they may evolve over time) will be met.Fil: Joly, Eduardo Daniel. Fundación Rumbos; Argentina. Red por los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad; ArgentinaFil: Venturiello, María Pía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones "Gino Germani"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

The formal and informal tools of design governance

This paper takes a typological exploration of the ‘tools’ of ‘design governance’. It begins by exploring the generic literature that focuses on the range of instruments, approaches and actions ‒ the tools ‒ that policy makers deploy in order to steer public and private actors towards particular policy outcomes. Subsequently, how the notion of tools relates to practices of design governance is examined: first, encompassing three ‘formal’ categories of design governance tools ‒ guidance, incentive and control ‒ and second, by drawing on the work of the former Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) in England to introduce five categories of ‘informal’ design governance tools ‒ evidence, knowledge, promotion, evaluation and assistance. The result, and the key contribution of this paper, is a new and comprehensive (albeit evolving), design governance toolbox that extends from formal to informal tools and far beyond that which most policy makers recognize or use

Neurodiversity and Disability: An Analysis of Social Movement Framing in Dialog Between Parents and Autistic Self-Advocates

Neurodiversity, the idea that people experience the world differently based on their neurological attributes, is emerging as an understanding of autism and other disabilities as well as the basis of a social movement. This is an idea not without controversy. Using disability studies as the conceptual anchor, this dissertation looks closely at an online dialog between two key stakeholders in the neurodiversity debate: parents of children with autism and autistic adult self-advocates. Using frame analysis as an analytic tool, it explores social movement frames and framing practices utilized in the dialog. Both the particular dimensions of autism/disability representations that emerged and the practices used by dialog participants to construct them have implications for educators, which are discussed