Exploring family experiences of missing persons inquests through the eyes of professionals and the lens of therapeutic jurisprudence.

In some Australian and international jurisdictions, coroners can deliver a legal determination of death whilst a person remains missing. Empirical attention to this unique area of law is sparse. Semi-structured interviews with 22 coronial professionals in New South Wales (NSW), Australia revealed their views about suspected death inquests, the impact of this judicial process on family well-being and measures to support and inform relatives in the coroner's court. Thematic analysis yielded five themes: (1) Information to the greatest extent possible; (2) Timeliness; (3) Opportunity to share their views; (4) In the public arena; and (5) Treat people like human beings. The professionals believed that relatives derive therapeutic benefit from timely, sensitive, comprehensible proceedings with opportunities for ritual, meaningful participation and fresh evidence whereas insensitive, incomprehensible and/or untimely proceedings magnify distress. Our findings promote understanding of trauma-informed practices which could mitigate harm to court participants and benefit other courts and jurisdictions.

An Opportunity to Be Heard: Family Experiences of Coronial Investigations Into Missing People and Views on Best Practice.

Experiences of 15 family members and friends of missing people of a coronial investigation into the suspected death of a missing person in New South Wales (NSW), Australia were examined via in-depth interviews. This study explored participant perceptions of the impact of coronial proceedings on well-being, and views on best practice approaches to families in the Coroner's Court. Transcripts were thematically analysed, yielding six key themes in participant experiences of inquests: (1) Opportunity to be heard, (2) A chance for education, (3) If you are human with me (sensitive treatment and language), (4) Timely investigations, (5) A public and formal court environment, and (6) Coronial outcomes. Overall, families benefitted from opportunities to have input and feel heard, compassionate treatment, and appropriate education about the process and available support services. A detriment on well-being was described when these factors were precluded. Some participants perceived positive outcomes arising from public awareness of cases of missing people, formalities that conveyed respect, and timeframes that enabled further investigation or preparation for the inquest. Others reported distress and trauma in response to significant delays that led to a loss of evidence, intrusive media and unknown persons in court, and unwelcoming, formal court environments. Some participants were profoundly distressed by a finding of death and by the procedures that followed the inquest, emphasising the need for post-inquest debriefing and ongoing support. These findings deepen our understanding of coronial practices, and of measures to prevent harm, that will be instructive to other coronial jurisdictions. Further research should examine family experiences in contexts where there are variable coronial proceedings or procedures that result in legal findings of death.

The coronial investigation of suspected deaths: Prevalence and outcomes in New South Wales.

In Australia, the investigation of a missing person who remains unlocated may be reported to the coroner as a suspected death. In the first study of its kind in Australia, archival records on suspected deaths investigated by New South Wales coroners from 2000 to 2013 were aggregated to assess the number of inquests, investigation timeframes, findings, recommendations and responses thereto. Of 322 suspected deaths, 96% resulted in an inquest, with the majority (94%) yielding a finding that the missing person was deceased with the cause (81%) and manner (73%) of death predominantly unknown. In one-third of the cases, more than 20 years lapsed from the date of disappearance to closure of the coronial investigation. Formal recommendations were made in 15% of the cases. These findings on the processes and outcomes of suspected death investigations are of particular import to relatives of missing people. Challenges in accessing records and the broader implications of the findings are discussed.

Apparatus exposure produces profound declines in conditioned nictitating-membrane responses to discrete conditioned stimuli by the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

The present experiments demonstrated that in the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) nictitacing-membrane (NM) preparation, exposure to the experimental apparatus produces profound declines in conditioned responding to a discrete conditioned stimulus (CS; Experiments 1, 2A, and 3). Moreover, this decremental effect is at most attenuated in only a minor way when the unconditioned stimulus (US) is presented during exposure to the apparatus (Experiment 2B). Controls for retention loss (Experiments 1 and 3) and for handling and placement in a different context (Experiment 3) did not produce significant declines in responding. These findings challenge theories of extinction that rely primarily on context-US associations but are more consistent with theories that assume context-CS-US associations.