Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

To Compensate without to Aggravate: On the Anti-Therapeutic Impact of InjuryCompensation Processes and the Responsibility of LawyersArno Akkermans, VU University Amsterdam (a.j.akkermans@vu.nl)Although there is some debate on the evidential power of the empirical studies involved, theweight of the evidence points clearly in the same direction: compensation processes have anegative effect on recovery from injury. This paper discusses current insights and explanatorytheories, and then focuses on the role of law and lawyers. What improvements could be feasible,both on the level of system design and within a given system. It is argued that there is a lot thatthe law and the legal profession could and should do to diminish the infliction of unintentionalharm in compensation processes.Breaking the Web of Needless DisabilityRobert Aurbach, Deakin University (Robert.Aurbach@deakinprime.com)Neuroscience has yielded new understandings of the way in which the mind adapts to stimuli andlearns new behaviours. This research has pointed the way toward a model of “acquired disabilitybehaviour” that both explains and guides corrective action.It is well known that some people recover uneventfully, whilst others descend into disabilityafter injury. Why does this happen?The presentation starts with an exposition of a model of how people adopt a “disabled persona”,based upon neuroplasticity research. Injured people experience sensations, thoughts and fearsthat become the center of their attention, particularly if they are left with time and circumstancesto focus on their injury and the claims process. As the person experiences these disparate inputslinked by temporal proximity, the brain forms connections of facilitated response linking them.“What wires together, fires together” has become the new mantra of neuroscience.Lawyers, doctors and claims managers all contribute to the development of this unintendedlearned behavior with additional inputs that help form a facilitated neural network of linkedmental processes and behaviours, often while completely unaware of the adverse consequencesof their actions. The traditional model of dispute resolution is a particular offender, engenderingtransference of the locus of control and prolonged modeling of disabled behavior that contributeto the formation of the mental “habit” of disability. Through these mechanisms, our systemsneedlessly disable a percentage of claimants by creating exactly those habits of thought weshould avoid. Lessons for professions engaged in the operation of claims systems are immediateand practical.477