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The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of innocent suspects to produce accurate alibis, as well as to identify procedures police interviewers can use to increase the probability of generating accurate alibis.

In Study 1, 54 university students had a lecture (target event) end at either the normal time (schema group) or 25 min early (non-schema group) and then attempted to generate an alibi for the target event after either a short, moderate or long delay. In Study 2, 20 students had a lecture end 25 min early and underwent an interview regarding their whereabouts using a reverse-order interview technique designed to disrupt schema usage.

Results from Study 1 suggested that participants relied on schemas to generate their alibis, which led to false alibis for the non-schema group, and this reliance was more pronounced as the delay between event and recall increased. In Study 2, all but one participant produced a false alibi, suggesting reverse order is ineffective in increasing accurate recall in alibi situations.

Results from the two studies revealed that people can produce false alibis easily in mock police interviews – a finding that appears to result from the reliance on schemas. These findings highlight the relative ease with which innocent individuals can produce false alibis. Further research, specific to the alibi generation process, is needed to give police interviewers the tools to produce more accurate and detailed alibis.

This research provides additional evidence regarding the role of schemas in alibi generation. Contrary to findings from the eyewitness area, reverse-order instructions failed to disrupt schema reliance and do not appear to be an effective alibi-elicitation technique.

The study aims to examine what laypersons expect those corroborating an alibi to remember about an interaction with an alibi provider.

Participants (N = 314) were presented with a mock crime scenario and answered questions about an alibi provider (i.e. the criminal suspect) and alibi corroborators. Participants also completed a lineup task based on the scenario and rated the likelihood of their own ability to corroborate the suspect’s alibi.

Overall, participants believed that it was moderately likely that an alibi corroborator with no prior relationship with the suspect would be able to vouch for the suspect, provide a description and to remember his general physical characteristics. Those who were inaccurate in their lineup decision demonstrated lower expectations of their own ability to corroborate the suspect’s alibi relative to those who were accurate in their decision.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first known study to assess what those judging an alibi expect when making a decision about the outcome of a case. Results demonstrate that laypeople have arguably unrealistic expectations of alibi corroborators, potentially jeopardizing innocent people’s ability to prove their innocence.

Purpose: We critically examine the idea of neurodiversity, or the uniqueness of all brains, as the foundation for the neurodiversity movement, which began as an autism rights movement. We explore the neurodiversity movement's potential to support cross-disability alliances that can transform cultures.

Methods/Approach: A neurodiverse team reviewed literature about the history of the neurodiversity movement and associated participatory research methodologies and drew from our experiences guiding programs led, to varying degrees, by neurodivergent people. We highlight two programs for autistic university students, one started by and for autistics and one developed in collaboration with autistic and nonautistic students. These programs are contrasted with a national self-help group started by and for stutterers that is inclusive of “neurotypicals.”

Findings: Neurodiversity-aligned practices have emerged in diverse communities. Similar benefits and challenges of alliance building within versus across neurotypes were apparent in communities that had not been in close contact. Neurodiversity provides a framework that people with diverse conditions can use to identify and work together to challenge shared forms of oppression. However, people interpret the neurodiversity movement in diverse ways. By honing in on core aspects of the neurodiversity paradigm, we can foster alliances across diverse perspectives.

Implications/ Values: Becoming aware of power imbalances and working to rectify them is essential for building effective alliances across neurotypes. Sufficient space and time are needed to create healthy alliances. Participatory approaches, and approaches solely led by neurodivergent people, can begin to address concerns about power and representation within the neurodiversity movement while shifting public understanding.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a qualitative investigation of family employment dynamics in the KwaMashu township economy.

Using a small area census research method, the researchers identified 1,556 businesses located in a settlement of 2 km². Of these enterprises, 694 (45 percent) traded in fast moving consumer goods, notably food and/or drink. The main retailers were small shops (spaza shops) and liquor outlets (bars or shebeens), greengrocers, sellers of meat and poultry products, house shops, restaurants, takeaways and tuckshops. Firm surveys were conducted with 270 businesses in four predominant sectors: liquor retail, grocery retail, early childhood educators and hair care businesses.

The research found that 40 percent of the surveyed firms in these sectors employ family members on a full-time basis, whereas merely 26 percent of firms employ family members on a part-time basis. In the grocery retail sector, about half of family employees are remunerated on a wage basis, the other half are paid in-kind (40 paper of the total) or on a profit share arrangement. In liquor retail and educare sectors, the majority of family members are paid wages. Female-run enterprises employ less family members on a full-time basis (except in the grocery sector), yet employ more family members on a part-time basis with a higher portion of wages paid in-kind.

Family plays an important role in township enterprises. Beyond direct employment, township enterprises fulfill an important social protection and neighborhood relationship function for business operators and their families. The familial relationship to micro-enterprises should be seen through the lens of bricolage (Gras and Nason, 2015).

In this respect, the authors confirm three benefits of family firms: the creation of social protection though family beneficiation, the provision of employment and work experience and the strategic use of family resources.

Purpose: Due to the developmental nature of autism, which is often diagnosed in preschool or elementary school-aged children, non-autistic parents of autistic children typically play a prominent role in autism advocacy. However, as autistic children become adults and adult diagnoses of autism continue to rise, autistic adults have played a more prominent role in advocacy. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the histories of adult and non-autistic parent advocacy in the United States and to examine the points of divergence and convergence.

Approach: Because of their different perspectives and experiences, advocacy by autistic adults and non-autistic parents can have distinctive goals and conflicting priorities. Therefore, the approach we take in the current chapter is a collaboration between an autistic adult and a non-autistic parent, both of whom are research scholars.

Findings: The authors explore the divergence of goals and discourse between autistic self-advocates and non-autistic parent advocates and offer three principles for building future alliances to bridge the divide between autistic adults and non-autistic parents.

Implications: The chapter ends with optimism that US national priorities can bridge previous gulfs, creating space for autistic adult and non-autistic parent advocates to work together in establishing policies and practices that improve life for autistic people and their families and communities.

Reviews the frequent doubts expressed about the ability of jurors to cope with the demands on them in fraud cases. Refers to the Roskill and Auld Reports and to the Criminal Justice Bill Clauses 36 and 37. Reviews the simulation experiments for the Fraud Trials Committee (Roskill), the research for the Auld Report, and the simulation and participant tasks for the Maxwell Trial, including giving a verdict on Kevin Maxwell’s guilt. Analyses the results in terms of reasoning in consideration of prosecution and defence evidence, reasoning that moved beyond consideration of the trial evidence, and comprehension of evidence. Concludes that the studies show that it is possible to establish indicators of competence in reasoning if people can be interviewed or will answer questionnaires.

The tendency to study autistic children has resulted in the lack of research about autistic seniors. This chapter begins by showing the results of two studies that have measured the volume of research about autistics based on age brackets. Two factors that have hampered research about autistic seniors are then presented. This chapter then concludes by highlighting seven topics where more research can be conducted about autistic seniors. These topics are research about their physical health, cognitive abilities, mental health, employment, transport, healthcare and specific issues relating to autistics residing in a nursing home/aged care facility.

The original contribution that this chapter makes to autism spectrum research is to examine the imbalance in research between autistic children and autistic seniors and to provide several suggestions where more research can be conducted about autistic seniors.

There has been a paradigm shift within research exploring autistic experience in recent decades towards greater participation, agency and voice for autistic researchers and the autistic community more generally (Fletcher-Watson et al., 2019). This approach has shown a greater focus on research oriented towards the priorities or preferences of the autistic community (Fletcher-Watson & Happé, 2019; Pellicano et al., 2014), curtails concerns regarding epistemic injustice and has influenced understandings of autistic ontology and neurology. Co-produced research, characterised by the inclusion of diverse stakeholders, builds trust between participants. Nonetheless, co-production in research requires careful planning and support (Stark et al., 2021), sometimes proving ‘turbulent’ and ‘challenging’ (Worsley et al., 2021). This chapter explores the experiences and reflections of a team of autistic and non-autistic researchers conducting co-produced research amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. With research practices and systems altered due to increased remote work, online communication and limited in-person interaction, this topic is especially pertinent. With the increasing emphasis on involving members of the autistic community in research at all levels of development, the impact of the pandemic on how participatory research is carried out may be complex. This chapter has implications for planning and conducting co-produced research in our new reality, considering both the opportunities and obstacles it presents.

Globally, jurisdictions have made several attempts to eliminate and minimize discrimination in employment. These include moral suasion, social justice arguments, business case arguments, and legislative enactments. Whilst the former has had limited success, the passage of legislation has proved instrumental, not only in containing the perpetration of discrimination based on protected grounds but also in increasing awareness of the disadvantages which result from the disparate treatment meted out to persons as a result of their immutable characteristics. Disabilities are one such grounds. Where legislation exists, it typically prohibits disparate treatment in relation to persons with disabilities in the areas of employment, education, and the provision of goods and services. This chapter analyses a sample of discrimination cases, with claimants who have alleged discrimination based on their diagnosis of autism or a related disorder within the autism spectrum. These cases are within the United Kingdom and have been decided by Employment Tribunals in England. The cases and decisions are held at the office of the Employment Tribunal Service in Suffolk and are accessible via their online repository. The sample of Tribunal cases presented here relate to various employment practices within British workplaces.

The purpose of this paper is to test how modifying one’s alibi statement interacts with exposure to deceptive interrogation techniques.

In all, 90 participants walked about a university building for 15 minutes and either stole an envelope from a staff pigeonhole (guilty condition) or put the envelope there along the way (innocent condition). Subsequently, participants were asked to provide an alibi for the past 15 minutes. Guilty and half of the innocent participants were instructed to omit that they had been in the vicinity of the pigeonholes. The rest of the innocent participants were asked to tell the truth. Several days later, participants were questioned about six statements taken from their alibis, three of which contained altered information.

As expected, participants were largely blind to our alterations, with detection rates ranging from 1 to 36 percent. Contrary to cognitive load predictions, detection rates did not vary as a function of truthfulness. Rather, guilty participants were less likely to detect alterations than innocents.

Memory distrust and guilty suspects’ aim to keep a low profile might be possible explanations for these findings.

It is recommended that law enforcement officers and other legal practitioners refrain from using deceptive interrogation techniques and such techniques that can cause inconsistencies in suspects’ reports. Researcher should make it their task to educate these professional groups about the natural occurrence of memory related, non-deceptive inconsistencies in successive statements.

This research uses a new methodology to study the effect of deceptive interrogation techniques on both innocent and guilty suspects. The findings are relevant for legal practitioners and researchers.