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AbstractCan the evidence provided by software systems meet the standard of proof for civil or criminal cases, and is it individualized evidence? Or, to the contrary, do software systems exclusively provide bare statistical evidence? In this paper, we argue that there are cases in which evidence in the form of probabilities computed by software systems is not bare statistical evidence, and is thus able to meet the standard of proof. First, based on the case of State v. Loomis, we investigate recidivism predictions provided by software systems used in the courtroom. Here, we raise problems for software systems that provide predictions that are based on bare statistical evidence. Second, by examining the case of People v. Chubbs, we argue that the statistical evidence provided by software systems in cold hit DNA cases may in some cases suffice for individualized evidence, on a view on which individualized evidence is evidence that normically supports the relevant proposition (Smith, in Mind 127:1193–1218, 2018).

Die Einschätzung von Erwachsenen kann wichtig für die Erforschung von Interessen und Bedürfnissen von Kindern sein, aber auch Kinder sollten selbst als kompetente Informant:innen gesehen werden. Sozialwissenschaftliche Forschungsmethoden wurden üblicherweise für die Anwendung mit Erwachsenen entwickelt. Die somit implizierten Vorannahmen können aber mit Kindern als Forschungssubjekten problematisch sein. In der Forschung mit Kindern werden besondere Herausforderungen an Forschende und das Forschungsdesign gestellt, weil Kinder andere Bedürfnisse und Fähigkeiten als Erwachsene haben. Obwohl Kinder zunehmend Teil von Forschungsprojekten sind, wurden methodische und methodologische Überlegungen zu deren Inklusion bislang selten expliziert. In einer Studie zu digitalen Technologien im Leben von Kindern, gefördert von der Europäischen Kommission, haben wir Gruppendiskussionen mit Kindern im Vorschul- (5-6 Jahre) und Grundschulalter (8-10 Jahre) durchgeführt. Im vorliegenden Beitrag beschreiben wir unsere ursprünglichen methodischen Überlegungen und reflektieren unsere Erfahrungen, um allgemeine Empfehlungen für Gruppendiskussionen mit Kindern abzuleiten. Wir fokussieren auf das Setting, die formale Struktur des Leitfadens, das Modertor:innenverhalten, die Gruppendynamik, Altersunterschiede, Fähigkeiten der Kinder sowie ethische Implikationen. Abschließend fassen wir Herausforderungen und Potenziale von Gruppendiskussionen mit jungen Kindern zusammen.

In this article a critical reflection upon age limits applied in the law is provided, in light of the tension that exists in international children's rights law between the protection of children and the recognition of their evolving autonomy. The main research question that will be addressed is to what extent the use of (certain) age limits is justified under international children's rights law. The complexity of applying open norms and theoretically underdeveloped concepts as laid down in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, related to the development and evolving capacities of children as rights holders, will be demonstrated. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child struggles to provide comprehensive guidance to states regarding the manner in which the dynamic legal position of children should be applied in practice. The inconsistent application of age limits that govern the involvement of children in judicial procedures provides states leeway in granting children autonomy, potentially leading to the establishment of age limits based on inappropriate – practically, politically or ideologically motivated – grounds.

Numerous studies have explored parents' unequal involvement in care work, emphasising the formative power of the first period of parenthood. However, detailed knowledge of how care work is interlinked between parents in everyday practice during the transition to parenthood and how these linkages are related to gendered inequality is limited. Based on an Austrian qualitative longitudinal study with first-time parents (66 individual interviews with 11 couples during pregnancy, 6 and 24 months postpartum), we developed a typology of parental involvement in care that captures the relationality of parents' practices, their fluidity over time and that embraces six types of interrelated parenting practices. Results show how parental involvement is constituted by a complex interplay and sequence of parenting practices performed by both parents. With regards to gender inequality in care work, we demonstrate that parents are thus situated on a continuum between equality, dichotomy, ambiguity and inequality when doing care work. The results systematise the tremendous variety of parents' interrelated involvement in care work.