9150 research outputs found
Sort by
Corporate Wealth Over Public Health? Assessing the Resilience of Developing Countries\u27 COVID-19 Responses Against Investment Claims and the Implications for Future Public Health Crises
Get PDFIn the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, states around the world swiftly enacted a multitude of far-reaching emergency responses to contain the viruses’ spread and to cope with the economic repercussions of the ensuing crisis. However, these measures detrimentally impacted the operating conditions of many businesses or, at the least, decreased their profitability. As this inevitably affected foreign investments, investors could be tempted to invoke “Investor State Dispute Settlement” (“ISDS”) clauses in International Investment Agreements (IIAs) to initiate proceedings before arbitral tribunals and seek compensation for loss of profit caused by states’ Covid-19 responses. Due to the specific circumstances in most developing countries, they were hit particularly hard by the crisis and are especially vulnerable to the threat of investment claims. It is therefore important to enable developing countries to realistically anticipate the risk of investment arbitration by assessing the chances of success of foreign investment claims against those policies that were most frequently adopted by them amidst the crisis. Against this background, this paper assesses how likely developing countries’ Covid-19 responses breached substantive standards of investor treatment under typical IIAs and which defense strategies states may invoke to justify their regulatory action. Based on this analysis, this paper concludes by formulating policy recommendations on how developing countries may enhance the resilience of their emergency responses against foreign investors amidst future public health crises
Implementing Housing First Initiatives and Programs for the Persistently Homeless Individuals and Families in Iredell County, North Carolina
Get PDFThe purpose of this white paper study is to explore how Iredell County, North Carolina could effectively and efficiently implement housing first initiatives and programs for the persistently homeless using guidance from other counties that have successfully done so. The crisis of homelessness is growing at an alarming rate and current policy measures put in place to mitigate this issue are proving not to be as beneficial to the county of Iredell and the state of North Carolina as they could be. Iredell County North Carolina has not enacted Title V of the McKinney-Vento act which would allow for government properties to be used to house the homeless, and this study seeks to understand how this can be made possible in the county if it has already been implemented in other counties. There are several areas that this study will focus on to find that housing first initiatives are proven to be effective in placing homeless individuals and families in permanent housing and allowing them to become assets to society. These areas include the impact of homelessness on school aged children in Iredell County, policy, practices, and funding focused on this crisis in Iredell County, and how housing first initiative programs have been successfully implemented in other state’s counties as a model for Iredell County to follow. Findings from the research and interviews conducted for this white paper study found that individuals and families with children in Iredell County who face persistent homelessness would benefit greatly from housing first initiative programs. School aged children need the security of a home to have successful academic achievement, and housing families and individuals could alleviate the burden homelessness has on their cognitive development. Findings show that State Representatives in Iredell County are aware of the problem of homelessness and have knowledge of policy and funding focused on mitigating the crisis. State Representatives do not have knowledge regarding Title V programs or Housing First initiatives. Findings show that the Milwaukie County Housing First Program and the Vermont Pathways Housing First program were implemented and became a successful example for other counties to use as a basis of consideration and implementation. As the homelessness crisis is not one that can be remedied overnight, policy alternatives have been recommended for Iredell County using evaluative criteria to show that outcomes have the possibility to be successful if the strategic planning and implementation processes are carefully considered. It can be concluded that the crisis of persistent homelessness is an area where more research is needed to solve the problem and gain lasting solutions. Housing first initiative programs are a step in the right direction for this population in Iredell County who could benefit greatly from these programs that have proven to be a path forward toward permanent housing
The Development of a PTSD Scale for the Adolescent Version of the MMPI
No full textWhen hospitalized adolescents have a history of trauma, it can be challenging to determine whether their symptoms and deficits are due to the impact of the experienced trauma, other co-occurring diagnoses, or something entirely different in nature. Therefore, identification and rule-out of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is of crucial importance in the diagnosis of inpatient adolescents. Although the PK scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and MMPI-2 were modified and applied to the adolescent version (MMPI-A) to assess for PTSD in adolescents. Research suggests that this subscale’s ability to identify PTSD symptoms in adolescents is limited. Therefore, using a large sample of inpatient adolescents, the present study aimed to explore the viability of developing an embedded PTSD scale within the MMPI-A that will identify PTSD characteristics in adolescents. Using an archival sample of data, this study used a split-sample procedure. The embedded PTSD scale was developed by selecting those items that had clinically significant elevations on the PALA Traumatic Stress (ARD-T) and mean elevation on all Anxiety (ANX-C, ANX-P, ANX-A) subscales. Once these items were assembled into a scale, scale validation was carried out by determining the sensitivity, specificity, and correct classification rate for identification of this scale in the other half of the sample. A second effort at cross-validation took place by carrying out correlational and Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) analyses between this scale and a subsample of adolescents who had also been administered the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC). Finally, a comparison of this newly developed adolescent MMPI-A PTSD scale with those items from the adult PTSD (PK) scale that are also on the MMPI-A was carried out
Social Information Processing in Children: Cognitive and Rorschach Correlates in an Inpatient Psychiatric Setting
No full textSocial cognition refers to an individual’s ability to appropriately perceive and understand social information that drives communication and interpersonal relationships with others. Two primary skills involved in social cognition include Theory of Mind (ToM) and Affect Recognition (AR). Social cognition is typically measured in children using structured, neurocognitive tasks, although performance-based measures can also be utilized in order to evaluate a child’s skills in this area. Previous literature has found that the Rorschach is related to neurocognitive functioning in children and adults. This literature has not specifically focused on social cognitive abilities and is under-investigated in children. Therefore, the present study aims to further investigate the relationship between the NEPSY-II (ToM and AR subtests) and Rorschach in measuring social cognition among a sample of children in an inpatient setting through the use of archival psychological assessment data. A series of Spearman’s rank-ordered correlational analyses examining the relationship between ToM and AR performance with various Rorschach structural variables included in the IMP, Interpersonal, Affective Processing, and Self-Perception clusters, revealed a significant negative relationship between ToM and PTI, X-%, M-%, Afr, and WSumC, whereas a significant positive relationship was found between ToM and WDA/XA%, DQ+, Mp \u3e Ma, and FD. AR was significantly negatively correlated with X-%, PTI, and a High Afr, whereas AR was significantly positively related to WDA/XA%. Generally, results of the present study suggest that children with increased disinhibition of affect tend to exhibit poorer performance on ToM and AR, whereas children with more affective control and tendencies to engage in fantasy withdrawal display more advanced performance on ToM and AR. Furthermore, children with poor reality testing capabilities are prone to display social cognitive deficits on structured ToM and AR tasks
Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5) Traits and their Relationship to Suicidal Behaviors in an Adolescent Inpatient Population
No full textVERONICA MARSH GREGG, Examining the Motivational and Persistence Factors of Military Spouses Pursuing Degrees in Higher Education (under the direction of) Dr. Linda Wilson-Jones.The present study examined the relationship between personality factors and various aspects of suicidal behavior in an adolescent psychiatric sample. While there have been some studies focused on personality traits of individuals who have suicidal ideation or have made attempts, few have studied adolescents, and none have used the Psychopathology Five (PSY-5) scales from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - Adolescent (MMPI-A). This study focused specifically on several suicidal behaviors including suicidal ideation, as measured by the Personality Assessment Inventory - Adolescent (PAI-A) Suicidal Ideation Scale, presence of suicidal intent or a plan, history of suicide attempts (recency, number of attempts, lethality), and self-harm behavior. Suicide risk as measured by the Rorschach Suicide Constellation was also examined. Results indicated all five PSY-5 variables were found to be associated with suicidal behaviors. PSY-5 Aggressiveness, Psychoticism, Negative Emotionality/Neuroticism, and Introversion were found to be associated with suicidal ideation as measured by the PAI-A. Differences between gender were also found. Lower Aggressiveness scores, indicating passivity and lack of assertiveness, were found to be associated with several suicidal behaviors in females including suicidal intent, plan, attempt, both historically and recently, lethality, and multiple attempts. PSY-5 Disconstraint was found to be associated with history of suicide attempt, recent attempt, and multiple attempts in males. PSY-5 Negative Emotionality/Neuroticism was also found to be associated with suicidal intent, plan, and recent attempt, lethality, and self-injury. PSY-5 Psychoticism and Introversion were not found to have a particularly strong relationship with other suicidal behaviors in this study
Sustainable Business Law? The Key Role of Corporate Governance and Finance
Get PDFLawyers, law schools, and corporate entities have shown an increased interest in sustainable business strategies. This is reflected by the increase in sustainability practice groups, law school courses, and textbooks focusing on the relationship between sustainability and business law; lawyers moving into executive-level sustainability positions in the private sector; and the proliferation of corporate sustainability policies, as well as increased interest in mitigating climate risk and engaging in sustainable finance. But what exactly is sustainable business law, and what role do lawyers play in advancing sustainability in the corporate world? This Article argues that “sustainable business law” has emerged as a distinct area of law and serves as an introductory explanation to define and understand the growing subject matter at the intersection of sustainability, business, and the law, as well as explores the key role that corporate governance and finance play in achieving sustainability
As Long As I\u27m Me : From Personhood to Personal Identity in Dementia and Decision-making
Get PDFAs people, especially older people, begin to develop dementia, we confront ethical questions about when and how to intervene in their increasingly compromised decision-making. The prevailing approach in philosophically-inclined bioethics to tackling this challenge has been to develop theories of “decision-making capacity” based on the same characteristics that entitle the decisions of moral persons to respect in general. This Article argues that this way of thinking about the problem has missed the point. Because the disposition of property is an identity-dependent right, what matters in dementia and decision-making is an individual’s personal identity with their prior self, not their moral personhood. Therefore, in considering when and how we ought to intervene in the decision-making of those with dementia, we must look to the philosophy of personal identity rather than personhood
COVID-19 Pandemic, The World Health Organization, and Global Health Policy
Get PDFThe emergence and quick spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the focus and dynamics of the debates about global health, international law, and policy. This shift has overshadowed many of the other controversies in the international sphere. It has also highlighted the tensions that often exist in international affairs—especially in understanding the place and purpose of international institutions, vis-à-vis states, in the general schema of public international law. Central to the international response to the current pandemic is the World Health Organization (WHO)—a treaty-based organization charged with the overarching mandate of ensuring “the highest possible level of health” for all peoples. Interestingly, the WHO has also become entangled in a foreign policy spat between China and the United States of America. This work explores the public international law aspects of the WHO and why we should focus on its primary policy mandate and avoid unduly heaving the institution into perennial strategic policy games of states. It argues against turning such an illustrious institution, charged with a peculiar mandate, into an arena of zero-sum competitions amongst states. The hope is that this paper will provide crucial insights and assist legal and policy experts in understanding the organization, insulating it from unnecessary strategic games of powerful states, and ensuring the continued and effective delivery of global health policy through the WHO
Securing the Precipitous Heights: U.S. Lawfare as a Means to Confront China at Sea, in Space, and Cyberspace
Get PDFCompared to What? Menstruation, Pregnancy, and the Complexities of Comparison
Get PDFWhen crafting a sex discrimination argument, finding the right comparison can be crucial. Indeed, comparison-drawing has been a key strategy for advocates challenging the constitutionality of the tampon tax. In their 2016 lawsuit challenging New York’s tampon tax, the plaintiffs alleged that the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance had imposed a “double standard” when deciding which products would be considered tax-free medical items and which would not. Similar arguments were made in the subsequent challenge to Florida\u27s tampon tax. In both cases, the arguments had powerful rhetorical force, helping to effectuate legislative repeal of the tampon taxes in those states.
This piece explores the complexities of the comparative model as applied to sex discrimination claims that are connected to female biology. On the one hand, comparisons can be a useful and precise way to pinpoint discrimination. But the model also contains two traps. First, almost no comparison is perfect. There is often some potential for distinguishing and line-drawing, some way to argue that the comparison does not fully hold up. Second, the comparative model is itself inherently limiting. The biological processes of menstruation, menopause, and pregnancy (along with breastfeeding, which this piece does not address) are closely intertwined with female sex, with no obvious analogues. Indeed, these processes impose specific challenges and needs that are not borne equally across the sexes. Yet the comparative model reductively suggests that if no products receive tax-exempt status, or if no employees receive accommodations for their inability to work, there is no sex discrimination issue at all. Although advocates cannot escape the current comparative framework within which they must work—and indeed should use it to their advantage when possible—we should all remain mindful of the framework’s ultimate limitations.
The piece begins by analyzing Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., the 2015 Supreme Court case that grappled with how to apply the PDA’s comparison-based standard. I discuss how Young illustrates the complexities of comparison, and unpack the compromise approach that emerged. I then consider the potential usefulness of the Young approach to the tampon tax cases, while acknowledging that they arise under the Equal Protection Clause rather than Title VII. I conclude with some broader reflections