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Charles M. North

Bio: Charles M. North is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Tort & Malpractice. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 289 citations.

Papers
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01 Jan 1990
TL;DR: For the third time, Law and Contemporary Problems is devoting its attention to the topic of medical malpractice as mentioned in this paper, focusing on the growing influence of outside forces on the malpractice system.
Abstract: For the third time, Law and Contemporary Problems is devoting its attention to the topic of medical malpractice. The first medical malpractice issue of Law and Contemporary Problems explored how paradigms from contract law and private regulation of risk could be better incorporated into existing tort principles to improve the workings of the malpractice system or improve the quality of medical care. The second issue focused on legislative reforms and initiatives that were being actively considered and in some cases implemented by state legislatures or the Congress. This issue reports on the growing influence of outside forces on the malpractice system. Prior to the 1990s, interest in malpractice law was driven almost exclusively by the perception among medical care providers of a “crisis” in malpractice. The crisis mentality resulted in extensive legislative debates relating to a host of reform issues. Throughout the mid-1970s and 1980s, political interest and legislative activity in this area was high. Although the reform mentality has definitely cooled over the past few years, like a dormant volcano, the potential of another eruption remains ever possible should insurance rates or claims spike upwards. This current period of dormancy is due, in large part, to the general availability of malpractice insurance—the fuel for past tort reform efforts supported by physicians—at relatively constant if not decreasing costs. Over this same period, malpractice-specific legislation has also decreased, which may be due to the medical establishment’s resignation that tort reform

290 citations


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results suggest that applied risk assessments of sexual offenders should consider separately the offender's risk for sexual and nonsexual recidivism.
Abstract: reoffending than those who completed treatment. The predictors of nonsexual violent recidivism and general (any) recidivism were similar to those predictors found among nonsexual criminals (e.g., prior violent offenses, age, juvenile deliquency). Our results suggest that applied risk assessments of sexual offenders should consider separately the offender's risk for sexual and nonsexual recidivism. Assessing chronicity is crucial for clients whose sexual behaviors have brought them into conflict with the law. Many exceptional criminal justice policies, such as postsentence detention (e.g., Anderson & Masters, 1992), lifetime community supervision, and community notification, target those sexual offenders likely to reoffend. Clinicians need to judge whether the client's behaviors are truly atypical of the individual (as the client would like us to believe) or whether the client merits a virtually permanent label as a sexual offender.

2,253 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A meta-analysis of 82 recidivist studies identified deviant sexual preferences and antisocial orientation as the major predictors of sexual recidivism for both adult and adolescent sexual offenders.
Abstract: A meta-analysis of 82 recidivism studies (1,620 findings from 29,450 sexual offenders) identified deviant sexual preferences and antisocial orientation as the major predictors of sexual recidivism for both adult and adolescent sexual offenders. Antisocial orientation was the major predictor of violent recidivism and general (any) recidivism. The review also identified some dynamic risk factors that have the potential of being useful treatment targets (e.g., sexual preoccupations, general self-regulation problems). Many of the variables commonly addressed in sex offender treatment programs (e.g., psychological distress, denial of sex crime, victim empathy, stated motivation for treatment) had little or no relationship with sexual or violent recidivism.

1,648 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Four studies tested the impact of autonomous and controlled motivation for helping others on well-being and explored effects on other outcomes of helping for both helpers and recipients.
Abstract: Self-determination theory posits that the degree to which a prosocial act is volitional or autonomous predicts its effect on well-being and that psychological need satisfaction mediates this relation. Four studies tested the impact of autonomous and controlled motivation for helping others on well-being and explored effects on other outcomes of helping for both helpers and recipients. Study 1 used a diary method to assess daily relations between prosocial behaviors and helper well-being and tested mediating effects of basic psychological need satisfaction. Study 2 examined the effect of choice on motivation and consequences of autonomous versus controlled helping using an experimental design. Study 3 examined the consequences of autonomous versus controlled helping for both helpers and recipients in a dyadic task. Finally, Study 4 manipulated motivation to predict helper and recipient outcomes. Findings support the idea that autonomous motivation for helping yields benefits for both helper and recipient through greater need satisfaction. Limitations and implications are discussed.

1,145 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article presents a comprehensive review of empirical studies of sex offender recidivism, bringing together data from a wide variety of studies on both treated and untreated sex offenders of all types.
Abstract: The increasing recognition of the large number of people victimized by sexual assault has focused considerable attention on methods for deterring its perpetrators. In particular, law enforcement and mental health professions alike seek ways to prevent sex offenders from repeating their criminal behavior. Some evidence suggests sex offenders often continue offending even after incarceration or clinical treatment. However, recidivism rates for sex offenders are unusually hard to establish, owing to gross underreporting of sex crimes. This article presents a comprehensive review of empirical studies of sex offender recidivism. It brings together data from a wide variety of studies on both treated and untreated sex offenders of all types. Because of the variety and gravity of methodological problems in these studies, guidelines are discussed for sample selection and description, study design, criterion assessment, and data analysis. With these methodological principles in mind, the results of some 42 studies are examined for what they can tell us about sex offender recidivism and efforts to reduce it.

627 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined research and theory on three psychosocial aspects of maturity of judgment: responsibility, temperance, and perspective, and found that the greatest differences are found in comparisons between early adolescents versus middle and late adolescents.
Abstract: To date, analyses of differences between adolescents' and adults' judgment have emphasized age differences in cognitive factors presumed to affect decision making. In contrast, this article examines research and theory on threepsychosocial aspects of maturity of judgment: responsibility, temperance, and perspective. For several psychosocial dimensions of maturity that are likely to affect judgment, the existing pvidence, while indirect and imperfect, indicates that the greatest differences are found in comparisons between early adolescents versus middle and late adolescents. Developmental research on maturity that focuses specifically on mid-and late adolescence, that simultaneously examines both cognitive and noncognitive factors, and that investigates the relation between these factors and the ability to make good decisions is greatly needed.

538 citations