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Full-Text Articles in Law and Psychology
Stigma In The Statute: When The Language Of The Law Injures, Stacey A. Tovino
Stigma In The Statute: When The Language Of The Law Injures, Stacey A. Tovino
William & Mary Law Review
Jurists frequently consider the extent to which a writer’s or speaker’s harmful statements may be actionable under the law. But what should be done when the law itself contains harmful language? Consider the case of individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Hundreds of federal and state statutes refer to these individuals as “addicts,” “abusers,” “alcoholics,” “drunkards,” “inebriates,” and “intemperates.” These statutes exist notwithstanding research showing that these words provoke negative thinking by others, including thinking that individuals with AUD are more deserving of punishment and less deserving of treatment. These laws persist in the face of research showing that these …
Trauma-Informed Advocacy: Learning To Empathize With Unspeakable Horrors, Susan Ayres
Trauma-Informed Advocacy: Learning To Empathize With Unspeakable Horrors, Susan Ayres
William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
During the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh as associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, Christine Blasey Ford testified regarding an alleged sexual assault by Kavanaugh that had occurred thirty-five years earlier. Although some viewed Blasey Ford’s testimony as a doomed repeat of Anita Hill’s testimony during the hearings on the nomination of Clarence Thomas, one significant difference was that the Kavanaugh hearings demonstrated an increased public awareness of the impacts of trauma. And just as senators hired a prosecutor trained in trauma-informed lawyering to question Blasey Ford, today’s lawyers must understand how trauma …