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The purpose of this paper is to introduce Advance Decisions, address low uptake and examine fundamental issues that can inform the development of policy and practice in this area.

This paper discusses findings from a research project with the charity Compassion in Dying (analysing calls to its telephone helpline) and practical experience of working with the charity Advance Decisions Assistance (helping people write Advance Decisions and training healthcare professionals).

Older people themselves identify the issues of autonomy, identity and efficacy as key challenges in writing Advance Decisions and having them respected.

This paper shows how addressing the “real world” challenges of advance decision making can inform policy and practice.

The aim of the paper is to present some events in the life of ex‐child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in relation to the social policy in place and the social representation of child soldiers and childhood in the country. The paper presents an overall picture of the different interventions used with child soldiers in Kinshasa, some elements of the social representation of the child soldier, and finally three stages in a child soldier's life, which bring into question those representations.

The study used a qualitative approach including general informal observation, semi‐directive interviews, focus groups based on drawings and inquired‐investigator exercises with 45 ex‐child soldiers in three towns in DRC. Finally 12 interviews, based on the image classification exercise were carried out with Congolese adults belonging to the middle class in Kinshasa.

The paper suggests that child soldiers are represented as passive victims, while the reality of their life shows their capacity for action and decision.

Because of the continuing fighting inside DRC, part of the population is not accessible.

The paper includes implications for actions by the NGO sector or other kinds of aid organization.

First, the paper uses new tools for collecting data from children. Second, it presents a study of a subject that, whilst being widely popularized through the media, lacks adequate scientific research. Third, the paper brings into question the Western point of view of the experience of child soldiers.

Investigates the differences in protocols between arbitral tribunals and courts, with particular emphasis on US, Greek and English law. Gives examples of each country and its way of using the law in specific circumstances, and shows the variations therein. Sums up that arbitration is much the better way to gok as it avoids delays and expenses, plus the vexation/frustration of normal litigation. Concludes that the US and Greek constitutions and common law tradition in England appear to allow involved parties to choose their own judge, who can thus be an arbitrator. Discusses e‐commerce and speculates on this for the future.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how autonomy, moderated by employment status, impacts the relationship between entrepreneurial mentoring (EM) and entrepreneurial intentions (EI) among three countries (Germany, Kenya, and Uganda); as informed by both theory of planned behavior and self-determination theory.

A convenient sample of 1,509 youth from Germany, Kenya, and Uganda consisting of final-year university students, wage-employed, and unemployed was identified and studied. A multi-group analysis was conducted to test for differences in the impact of EM and autonomy on EI.

The findings indicate that mentoring and autonomy are positively correlated with EI. EM and intentions were lower among German participants than for the East African countries. The moderated moderation results revealed that EM is related to higher EI among students and the unemployed, and when individuals have higher levels of autonomy. Country-level analysis showed the effects of EM and autonomy are highest in Germany and lowest in Uganda.

Mentoring and self-determination play an important role in the development of EI. Entrepreneurship mentors should specifically support their protégées to develop the ability to act autonomously as an important entrepreneurial competence. The results further indicate that effectiveness of EM varies according to employment status and among countries. This is particularly important for targeting and designing of EM interventions. EM resources should be applied to youth with high autonomy, who are in either in insecure wage employment or who have no jobs. Protégés with low levels of autonomy should be supported to appreciate autonomy and develop the ability for autonomous action. Future EI research should also examine the impact of the availability of attractive positions in wage employment; and the effects of the availability of social safety nets on the need for autonomy.

A major challenge in EI research is the predominant focus on student populations. Using a multi-group analysis, the present paper tested for differences in the impact of EM and autonomy on EI. EM and EI were lower in German participants that in Kenyan and Ugandan participants. Whereas EM was generally positively correlated to EI, the moderated results showed that EM is related to higher EI among students and the unemployed, and when participants have higher autonomy. The study implies that EM and EI are highly correlated when participants need to work but have not or cannot find work or whey they do not need salaried employment to survive.

Legalists and social scientists have not been able to explain the expansion of gay rights in a conservative age because they refuse to respect the special qualities of judicial decision making. These qualities require the Supreme Court to look simultaneously at the past, present, and future, and, most importantly, to determine questions of individual rights through a consideration of how citizens are to live under a continuing rights regime. Unless scholars understand how and why Supreme Court decision making differs from that of more directly politically accountable institutions we can expect no greater success in explaining or predicting individual rights in the future.

Drawing on the work of Niklas Luhmann, the paper argues that technology can be viewed as a self-referential system which is autonomous from both human beings and other function systems of society. The paper aims to develop a philosophy of technology from the work of Niklas Luhmann. To achieve this aim, it draws upon the systems-theory work of Jacques Ellul, a philosopher of technology who focuses on the autonomous potential of technological evolution.

The paper draws on the work of Niklas Luhmann and Jacques Ellul to explore the theme of autonomous technology and what this means for our thinking about technological issues in the twenty-first century. Insights from these two thinkers and researchers working in the Luhmannian sociological tradition are applied to remote work.

The sociological approach of Luhmann, coupled with Ellul's insights into the autonomous nature of technology, can help us develop a systems theory of technology which takes seriously its irreducibility to human functions.

The paper contributes to the growing sociological literature that thematizes the Luhmannian approach to technology, helping us better understand this phenomenon and think in new ways about what technological autonomy means.

The paper brings together the work of Luhmann, Ellul and contemporary researchers to advance a new understanding of technology and technological communication.

The purpose of this paper is to expose practical and theoretical problems with the range of reasonable responses (RORR) test as applied in UK unfair dismissal law, and to propose an alternative interpretation of the test that would resolve these problems.

Through a close analysis of the purpose and structure of UK unfair dismissal law, and a careful reading of the leading cases in the area, the paper questions whether the law as it is currently interpreted achieves the goals of the underlying legislation. The current interpretation of the law being found lacking, alternatives are considered and evaluated.

The RORR test, as delineated in the most recent Court of Appeal cases, holds that dismissals are fair unless they are based on a reason for which no reasonable employer would dismiss. This interpretation of the test is internally incoherent; moreover, it fails adequately to promote the goals of unfair dismissal law, which are to protect the dignity and autonomy of employees. An alternative and superior interpretation of the test would hold a dismissal to be outside the RORR if no rational theory of management would condone dismissal on the grounds given by the employer.

The paper draws attention to fundamental incoherence in the current interpretation and application of unfair dismissal law, and suggests a new and better approach. If the new approach were accepted by the courts or by Parliament, it could lead to reform in unfair dismissal law.

The paper provides a detailed analysis of the RORR test, a long‐standing and well‐recognized problem in UK unfair dismissal law, and suggests a novel solution that would improve the coherence and function of unfair dismissal law.

This cross-sectional study investigated differences in the learning styles of 127 undergraduate architectural students (first year through to final year) to examine the relationship between learning styles and learning autonomy.

For the investigation, the Felder and Solomon index of learning styles and the Macaskill and Taylor autonomous learning scale were used to identify how these variables relate to one another and how this relationship differs by gender and level of study.

The study provides evidence of a statistically significant impact of studio-based learning on both learning autonomy and style. Our findings, in conjunction with the absence of consistent findings from literature, provide suggestions for making learning in the studio more inclusive for all students. The authors also suggest that looking for learning style differences in the design studio is redundant. This is not intended to ignore the importance of learning styles, but when differences of learning preferences are apparent in one design studio, such finding would provide support for that specific learning setting, and only then conclusions can be drawn and suggestions can be introduced to help its learners, but not to be generalized to other studios.

Learning styles in the design studio literature has revealed only a few fragmentary and sometimes contradicting evidence that cannot be generalized. Although previous studies have explored learning styles in architecture in some detail, much uncertainty still exists about the relation between learning styles and other learning concepts such as autonomy, especially within studio-based subjects. In this research, the authors interrogated and critically review learning styles as applied to different design settings from different countries.