Law, Discretion, Gender and Justice in Out-of-Court Financial Settlements

This paper presents some of the findings of our Mapping Paths to Family Justice research with regard to out-of-court settlements in financial cases, considering what parties and practitioners respectively bring to the process of dispute resolution, and how outcomes are influenced by practitioners’ and parties’ contributions. Practitioners play an important role in determining the extent to which the ‘shadow of the law’ falls on out-of-court dispute resolution, and this might vary by the type of dispute resolution process and the individual practitioner’s views, but is also complicated by the fact that the law’s shadow in a highly discretionary system may be distinctly hazy. Parties, in turn, bring to the process their own normative conceptions of a fair outcome, which are markedly gendered. Outcomes thus tend to be a function of the interaction between the respective norms of the parties, their respective needs to settle and willingness or compulsion to compromise, and the nature and direction of practitioner (non-) intervention. Despite these complexities and the range of individual circumstances, some clear patterns of outcomes were observed, some of which gave rise to concerns about systematic disadvantages for women in financial dispute resolution

The moral order in family mediation: Negotiating competing values

We used Discourse Analysis to study how mediators and parties negotiate competing priorities and values during the family mediation process. We drew on understandings of practical morality, and specifically the concept of a moral order, to study UK mediation session talk. Our analysis highlighted the contradictory moral orders drawn on by parties and mediators. The saliency of moral categories and concerns in parenting is demonstrated, and we consider the problems this causes in the “no fault” context of mediation

Applying Bayesian model averaging for uncertainty estimation of input data in energy modelling

Background Energy scenarios that are used for policy advice have ecological and social impact on society. Policy measures that are based on modelling exercises may lead to far reaching financial and ecological consequences. The purpose of this study is to raise awareness that energy modelling results are accompanied with uncertainties that should be addressed explicitly. Methods With view to existing approaches of uncertainty assessment in energy economics and climate science, relevant requirements for an uncertainty assessment are defined. An uncertainty assessment should be explicit, independent of the assessor’s expertise, applicable to different models, including subjective quantitative and statistical quantitative aspects, intuitively understandable and be reproducible. Bayesian model averaging for input variables of energy models is discussed as method that satisfies these requirements. A definition of uncertainty based on posterior model probabilities of input variables to energy models is presented. Results The main findings are that (1) expert elicitation as predominant assessment method does not satisfy all requirements, (2) Bayesian model averaging for input variable modelling meets the requirements and allows evaluating a vast amount of potentially relevant influences on input variables and (3) posterior model probabilities of input variable models can be translated in uncertainty associated with the input variable. Conclusions An uncertainty assessment of energy scenarios is relevant if policy measures are (partially) based on modelling exercises. Potential implications of these findings include that energy scenarios could be associated with uncertainty that is presently neither assessed explicitly nor communicated adequately

Visual Exploration and Object Recognition by Lattice Deformation

Mechanisms of explicit object recognition are often difficult to investigate and require stimuli with controlled features whose expression can be manipulated in a precise quantitative fashion. Here, we developed a novel method (called “Dots”), for generating visual stimuli, which is based on the progressive deformation of a regular lattice of dots, driven by local contour information from images of objects. By applying progressively larger deformation to the lattice, the latter conveys progressively more information about the target object. Stimuli generated with the presented method enable a precise control of object-related information content while preserving low-level image statistics, globally, and affecting them only little, locally. We show that such stimuli are useful for investigating object recognition under a naturalistic setting – free visual exploration – enabling a clear dissociation between object detection and explicit recognition. Using the introduced stimuli, we show that top-down modulation induced by previous exposure to target objects can greatly influence perceptual decisions, lowering perceptual thresholds not only for object recognition but also for object detection (visual hysteresis). Visual hysteresis is target-specific, its expression and magnitude depending on the identity of individual objects. Relying on the particular features of dot stimuli and on eye-tracking measurements, we further demonstrate that top-down processes guide visual exploration, controlling how visual information is integrated by successive fixations. Prior knowledge about objects can guide saccades/fixations to sample locations that are supposed to be highly informative, even when the actual information is missing from those locations in the stimulus. The duration of individual fixations is modulated by the novelty and difficulty of the stimulus, likely reflecting cognitive demand

Sperm competition and the evolution of sperm design in mammals

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The influence of sperm competition upon sperm size has been a controversial issue during the last 20 years which remains unresolved for mammals. The hypothesis that, when ejaculates compete with rival males, an increase in sperm size would make sperm more competitive because it would increase sperm swimming speed, has generated contradictory results from both theoretical and empirical studies. In addition, the debate has extended to which sperm components should increase in size: the midpiece to accommodate more mitochondria and produce more energy to fuel motility, or the principal piece to generate greater propulsion forces.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study we examined the influence of sperm competition upon sperm design in mammals using a much larger data set (226 species) than in previous analyses, and we corrected for phylogenetic effects by using a more complete and resolved phylogeny, and more robust phylogenetic control methods. Our results show that, as sperm competition increases, all sperm components increase in an integrated manner and sperm heads become more elongated. The increase in sperm length was found to be associated with enhanced swimming velocity, an adaptive trait under sperm competition.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We conclude that sperm competition has played an important role in the evolution of sperm design in mammals, and discuss why previous studies have failed to detect it.</p

Children's Voices: Centre-Stage or Sidelined in Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution in England and Wales?

File embargoed for 12 months.The UK Government recently announced that children aged 10 and over should have the opportunity to be consulted on their views in both family court proceedings and family mediation. Drawing on data from the ESRC-funded ‘Mapping Paths to Family Justice’ project, this article examines the extent to which children’s voices are currently heard within out-of-court family dispute resolution (FDR) processes in England and Wales. The paper documents practitioners’ and parties’ views and experiences of child consultation, as well as evidence of the ways in which adult disputes may become the dominant concern and children’s welfare marginalised in FDR processes. It argues that the government’s proposals would represent a significant change in current practices. To achieve such a cultural shift would require better training and accreditation for FDR professionals, adequate funding of child-inclusive mediation, reframing of children’s participation in terms of rights to have their views heard and correspondingly, modification of the central principle of party autonomy in FDR processes.The research on which this article is based forms part of the ERSC funded 'Mapping Paths to Family Justice' project