title: Risky business: Developmental neuroscience and the culpability of young killers

authors: Midson, Brenda

subjects: adolescence

abstract: Children and young people who kill do not always act with the mental acuity expected of someone who has reached full maturity, yet when they are charged with murder or manslaughter they are often tried as adults. This contradicts the basic principle of criminal responsibility that criminalisation is based upon moral blameworthiness. A conviction for murder requires at least a conscious appreciation of a real risk of death. Recent research by developmental neuroscientists shows that adolescence is a developmental stage and that the adolescent brain is not capable of the same level of reasoning expected in the average adult. This article suggests that the criminal justice system can adapt to these recent advances in knowledge via specific defences of a diminished capacity class, or by allowing evidence of general adolescent brain development to support defence arguments that a young accused did not form the mens rea required for murder.

text: Risky business: Developmental neuroscience and the culpability of young killers Children and young people who kill do not always act with the mental acuity expected of someone who has reached full maturity, yet when they are charged with murder or manslaughter they are often tried as adults. This contradicts the basic principle of criminal responsibility that criminalisation is based upon moral blameworthiness. A conviction for murder requires at least a conscious appreciation of a real risk of death. Recent research by developmental neuroscientists shows that adolescence is a developmental stage and that the adolescent brain is not capable of the same level of reasoning expected in the average adult. This article suggests that the criminal justice system can adapt to these recent advances in knowledge via specific defences of a diminished capacity class, or by allowing evidence of general adolescent brain development to support defence arguments that a young accused did not form the mens rea required for murder.

year: 2012

title: Coming out of the closet: From single-cell classrooms to innovative learning environments

authors: Whyte, Barbara

subjects: Collaboration

abstract: The New Zealand Ministry of Education encourages schools to update to flexible learning spaces and activate teaching approaches that augment such physical settings. Many schools have embraced the concept of innovative learning environments (ILE) and team teaching, motivating a trend fast gaining popularity in New Zealand primary schools. However, apart from positive self-reporting documentaries from enthusiastic schools, there is a dearth of New Zealand-based information available to assist prospective schools to consider the complexities of adopting this trend. As they venture ‘out of the single-classroom closet’ into a collaborative ‘community of learners’, the staff of one primary school in the Bay of Plenty has been researching their own ILE practices and processes through inquiry, regular appraisal and self-review monitoring. While the school’s experience is contextual and unique to its own specific situation and community, it provides a representation of some affordances and constraints that other schools might contemplate when they similarly venture into ILEs.

text: Coming out of the closet: From single-cell classrooms to innovative learning environments The New Zealand Ministry of Education encourages schools to update to flexible learning spaces and activate teaching approaches that augment such physical settings. Many schools have embraced the concept of innovative learning environments (ILE) and team teaching, motivating a trend fast gaining popularity in New Zealand primary schools. However, apart from positive self-reporting documentaries from enthusiastic schools, there is a dearth of New Zealand-based information available to assist prospective schools to consider the complexities of adopting this trend. As they venture ‘out of the single-classroom closet’ into a collaborative ‘community of learners’, the staff of one primary school in the Bay of Plenty has been researching their own ILE practices and processes through inquiry, regular appraisal and self-review monitoring. While the school’s experience is contextual and unique to its own specific situation and community, it provides a representation of some affordances and constraints that other schools might contemplate when they similarly venture into ILEs.

year: 2016

title: Indigenous voices

authors: Daya-Winterbottom, Trevor

abstract: Indigenous people and their communities have a vital role in environmental management and development, and states should (in accordance with principle 22 of the Rio Declaration 1992) recognize and duly support their identity, culture and interests and enable their effective participation in the achievement of sustainable development. This paper will critically analyse the normative influence of tikanga Māori, non-doctrinal methods for discovering tikanga Māori, the special rules for interpretation of tikanga, and the wider application of customary values.

text: Indigenous voices Indigenous people and their communities have a vital role in environmental management and development, and states should (in accordance with principle 22 of the Rio Declaration 1992) recognize and duly support their identity, culture and interests and enable their effective participation in the achievement of sustainable development. This paper will critically analyse the normative influence of tikanga Māori, non-doctrinal methods for discovering tikanga Māori, the special rules for interpretation of tikanga, and the wider application of customary values.

year: 2022-07-11