Persons at risk during interrogations in police custody:Different perspectives on vulnerable suspects

A false confession given by a suspect has major implications for the suspect himself or herself, the criminal investigation and ultimately the credibility of police and justice. Mentally vulnerable suspects in particular may give false confessions. This study shows that police officers frequently deal with vulnerable suspects – much more frequently than they are aware of. Therefore, Geijsen argues in favour of every suspect being treated as a vulnerable suspect and recording interrogations. He also argues in favour of the introduction of investigative interviewing in the Netherlands. Finally, he concludes that police cell complexes equipped according to the basic principles of environmental psychology may contribute to the mental wellbeing of suspects

The BG News August 25, 1993

The BGSU campus student newspaper August 25, 1993. Volume 76 - Issue 2https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/6553/thumbnail.jp

Diaspora organisations, transnational practices and development:Ghanaians in the Netherlands

This study, which was undertaken in the Netherlands and Ghana, contributes to the migration and development-nexus debate by using a combination of concepts – ‘agency’, ‘policy window’, ‘here and there’ and ‘win-win-win’ – to shed light on the transnational practices and the impact of these activities in the country of residence and origin. Empirically, the study addresses the challenges inherent in diaspora engagement initiatives by policy makers, aimed at harnessing the development potential of migration through remittances. It emphasises the collective dimensions of diaspora development potential by bringing to the fore the transformative role of diaspora organisations, with all their different organisational capacities. The findings of this study show the relevance of diaspora collective organising and their impact from ‘here and there’ and ‘win-win-win’ perspectives. Research methods used The study used a qualitative methodological approach and a multi-sited ethnographic lens to enhance an in-depth examination of the historic, political, socioeconomic context and the social relationships influencing diaspora transnational collective activities at the local and national levels both in the country of residence and origin. Data collection, included in-depth interviews, focus groups discussion, participant observations, process tracing and analysis of secondary sources. Key conclusions • Associational life among diasporas is mainly for the welfare of its members in the host society (‘here’), linked to integration, participation and safety nets against vulnerabilities, ties with the country of origin (‘there’), individual and collective interests to improve the conditions of those left behind. These undertakings in these areas resolve socio-economic and emotional issues that would otherwise constitute political and policy problems for institutions in the country of residence and origin. • The three main significant categories of diaspora organisations are hometown associations, migrant development NGOs and umbrella organisations. Their activities have a ‘here and there’ orientation focused on public service delivery, have the potential for broad impact, and are relatively inclusive in nature (broad reach – both direct and indirect) within a ‘win-win- win’ framework. • A combination of political opportunity structures and policy windows in the countries of residence and origin and the dual identity and multiple layers of belonging of members of the diaspora, which are constantly being reconstructed and renegotiated, are central to diaspora transnational collective activities and their transformative potential. • Agency within diaspora organisations is crucial to how they seek to influence the policy agenda through collective action aimed at various streams (problem, policy and political) with a ‘here and there’ orientation. This also applies to the meanings attached to existing opportunities or emerging policy windows for access to opportunities (resources and space for influencing policy agenda). • Diaspora transnational collective activities constitute part of the social development processes in multiple contexts and inherently have ‘here and there’ and ‘win-win-win’ orientations in terms of the impact felt at different levels (individual, family, community, local, national and international). Key recommendations • Create an enabling political, institutional and policy environment : Conditions (migration regimes) need to be created that open up opportunities for diasporas to return to their country of origin and facilitate circular transfer through transnational collective activities between the country of residence and the country of origin, which requires coherence among the different institutions at the different levels at which diasporas operate. • Institutionalise diaspora participation in policy processes in the country of residence and origin : Inclusive consultation mechanisms can tap into the complementary, bridging and interlocutory role of diasporas and collective organising in its diverse forms within migrant communities. • Scale-up innovative and policy relevant diaspora collective initiatives : A menu of policy options for scaling-up the best practices and embedding them in local policy frameworks for diaspora engagement. This include rethinking of strategies for sustaining diaspora collective initiatives that add value to local policies on immigrant integration and participation and that harness the development potential of migration. • Develop policy frameworks that promote reciprocity and ‘win-win-win’ scenarios : Diaspora contribution to development in their country of residence and their country of origin, can derive from diaspora entrepreneurship and other forms of reverse flows through transnational linkages, facilitated by multiple layers of belonging. This calls for a complementarity framework in which initiatives taken by diaspora organisations are linked to the priorities of government, municipalities and local communities. • Extend and enhance diaspora capacities : Different categories of diaspora organisations as part of civil society possess ideas, skills, expertise, experience and cross-cultural knowledge that, if recognised, could be leveraged innovatively for collaborations and partnerships that enhance development cooperation projects and promote investment in emerging markets. This requires structured institutional support and sustained funding for diaspora initiatives within the framework of public-private partnerships

Strengthening Fairness and Funding in the Canada Pension Plan: Is Raising the Retirement Age an Option?

This paper seeks to contribute to a forward-looking debate on possible reform options for the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP). Even though it focuses on the CPP, most of its analysis applies to the QPP as well since the two programs are largely identical. This paper does not provide a broad survey of all possible reform options, but rather analyzes one vital option that has received insufficient attention in previous debates: raising the normal retirement age from 65 to 67 years. A discussion of this option is warranted not only because it could prevent future financing problems in Canada’s public pension insurance programs, but also because it could improve fairness across generations. The significant increase in life expectancy raises the question of whether the current retirement ages of 60 years, for earliest CPP and QPP benefits, and 65 years, for full benefits, are too low. Should future generations pay for the longevity increases of the current generation of workers, or should current workers share the costs by retiring at a later age? We conclude that raising the normal age from 65 to 67 years—and the earliest age from 60 to 62 years—is a financially effective, intergenerationally fair, and politically acceptable option for improving the CPP and for addressing the QPP’s problems. We suggest that the option of raising the retirement age needs to be discussed well before longevity increases or funding problems occur and that a broad consultation with stakeholders and citizens would be an essential part of a debate on raising the retirement age in Canada.pension systems, pensions, retirement, retirement age, life expectancy, Canada

Populism

Populist movements, parties and leaders have gained influence in many countries, disrupting long-established patterns of party competition, impugning the legitimacy of representative institutions and sometimes actively weakening or coarsening government capabilities. By positing an acute contrast between the will of the people and established elites, and advocating simplistic policy solutions careless of minority rights, populists have challenged the development and even the maintenance of liberal democracy on many fronts. Social scientists’ attention to populism has grown rapidly, although it remains somewhat fragmented across disciplines. Many questions remain. Are populism’s causes economic or cultural? National or local? Is populism a threat to liberal democracy? If so, what kind of threat? And what can be done about it? Employing a range of conceptual toolkits and methods, this interdisciplinary book addresses in a critical and evidence-based way the most common diagnoses of populism’s causes, consequences and policy antidotes

Populism: origins and alternative policy responses

Populist movements, parties and leaders have gained influence in many countries, disrupting long-established patterns of party competition, impugning the legitimacy of representative institutions and sometimes actively weakening or coarsening government capabilities. By positing an acute contrast between the will of the people and established elites, and advocating simplistic policy solutions careless of minority rights, populists have challenged the development and even the maintenance of liberal democracy on many fronts. Social scientists’ attention to populism has grown rapidly, although it remains somewhat fragmented across disciplines. Many questions remain. Are populism’s causes economic or cultural? National or local? Is populism a threat to liberal democracy? If so, what kind of threat? And what can be done about it? Employing a range of conceptual toolkits and methods, this interdisciplinary book addresses in a critical and evidence-based way the most common diagnoses of populism’s causes, consequences and policy antidotes

Forest resource management in Ghana : an analysis of policy and institutions

Despite claims by many developing countries that they have adopted sustainable forest policies in return for bilateral and multilateral donor grants, deforestation rates are still quite high. In order to understand this problem, it has been suggested that forest policies of individual countries should be critically examined. Yet there is no comprehensive theoretical framework for analysing, in an integrated way, forest policy formulation and implementation in the developing world. To help fill this gap, an integrated policy network model is devised. This addresses the main weaknesses of the existing policy network approach, especially its negligence of power differentials and failure to analyse micro-interactions. The new model also provides a framework for analysing the influence of complex power relations and informal networks on actual forest policy outcomes. In order to test the robustness of the new model, it is applied to analyse forest policy formulation and implementation in Ghana. The analysis reveals that actual forest policy in Ghana has historically been exploitative. In response to international pressures, a new Forest Policy, with sustainable and participatory goals, was formulated in 1994. However, this has been poorly implemented, due to complex interdependencies and informal networks between state officials and forest exploitative groups. While local communities are marginalised, patronage networks among the political elite, top forestry officials and "big timber men" negatively affect revenue collection and checking illegal logging. Similarly, complex interdependencies and networks among guards, small-scale chainsaw operators and some farmers contribute to poor implementation of forest protection policies in the countryside. Based on these findings, it has been suggested that strengthening of the Forestry Department must be accompanied by social change and greater transparency on the part of state officials, if forest policy could ever be well implemented in Ghana. Donor pressures alone cannot ensure sustainable resource management, due to the ability of the executive to contest such pressures through the use of policy ambiguities. A change driven by civil society, and a strong local media should help improve governance and forest management in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa

Powering Accra: Projecting Electricity Demand for Ghana‘s Capital City

The purpose of this research was to create an agent-based urban simulation based on land use at the plot level for projecting the disaggregated electricity demand of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA). A simulation system comprised of location choice, regression, and simple models were used to project household, employment and land development decisions. Households, persons, and jobs tables were synthetically generated from GLSS5 (Ghana Living Standards Survey 2005) data using Stata, built in a MySQL database and incorporated for use in the Open Platform for Urban Simulation (OPUS). Electricity demand was projected for each of the simulation years based on a regression model. Numerous geospatial datasets were projected and edited in ArcGIS which describe the physical composition of Accra in its totality, including buildings, roads and electricity infrastructure. Household mobility was estimated from a modified Cox Regression of residential mobility in Accra (Bertrand et al.) and applied to the GLSS5 for use in the location choice model, while employment coefficients and parameters describing land value were derived from literature (Buckley et al.). The model has been applied for projecting the electricity demand of the Korle Bu district in terms of high, medium and low economic and population growth rates for the time period 2006 until 2025, based on monthly electricity consumption per meter. An additional phase of this research envisions including all 12 GAMA districts (using data which has been obtained); infrastructure models to project demand for transportation, water & sewer, and solid waste facilities; as well as comparing weak and strong sustainability scenarios with the business-as-usual development path for cost-benefit analysis of proposed public policies