I could have called it violence! : a conversation with Maria Takolander

Kate Middleton interviews Maria Takolander for Sydney City Poet

Deakin University Library : an active partner in the implementation of the new generation e-learning platform Desire2Learn

Deakin University has a long association with e-learning platforms, utilising the functionality of various Learning Management Systems (LMS) over a period of years. Transforming learning and teaching is a key priority of the University and moving to a new generation e-learning platform that supports engaging learning experiences through quality course design is a strategic imperative.

In 2010 Deakin University selected Desire2Learn as its replacement LMS, an innovative platform that offers next generation functionality. The University is investing significant resources in 2011 to implement the new system. The Library is harnessing the opportunity to embed search and discovery and information access throughout the LMS, including presence at the highest level of navigation. A Library widget providing students with clear pathways and immediate access to key library collections, services and features is being developed by the Library in conjunction with the Faculties‟ academic champions and educational developers. Liaison Librarians are negotiating with academic staff to create context-specific pathways, to utilise Desire2Learn Web2.0 capabilities and to imbed more personalised resources and LibGuides aligned with units of study. This is happening at a time when libraries are introducing new approaches to information discovery.

This paper describes Deakin University Library‟s journey in partnering with academic staff and others across the University to implement Desire2Learn as a vital new e-learning platform. It reports on many outcomes including: value created by embedding quality information in learner-centred course delivery; increased awareness of library subscription resources when accessible within students‟ workspace; strong and continuing relationships built with academic staff; enhanced Library staff engagement with flexible learning principles and new technologies. The question of where embedding information access in online courses and units fits with the Library‟s exploration of web scale solutions is also touched upon. And finally, an insight into how recent research undertaken by Deakin University Library has influenced our approach to information discovery solutions suggests an opportunity for many more questions to be explored.

The continued importance of a feminist analysis: gendered inequalities visible through a critique of Howard government policy on domestic violence

This paper argues that feminist analyses remain crucial to any critical analysis of social policy. From the outset, it needs to be said that we are not suggesting that other critical analyses are less important, such as anti-racist analysis, for example (Dominelli 2002a, 2002b). We also acknowledge the significance of intersectionality theory which identifies the ways in which race and racism may compound gender inequality to shape experiences of oppression or privilege (Mullings & Schultz 2006; Weber 2006). Having said this, in this paper we argue that feminist analyses remain as important as ever, in challenging dominant patriarchal/capitalist discourse currently informing social policy in Australia.

As a counter discourse, feminism puts women’s experiences and the unequal relationships of patriarchy at the forefront of analysis, highlights gender inequalities entrenched in social institutions and policy, and draws attention to the organisation of society along gender specific lines and the inequalities resulting from the relegation of women to the private sphere (Dominelli 2002a).

Specifically, we will demonstrate that the Howard government’s policy responses to the issue of family violence have reflected a renewed attack on previous gains made by women, and exemplify a neo-liberal, neo-conservative approach to social policy that demands a critical feminist analysis. Given the recent federal election, it seems particularly timely to reassert the importance of a feminist analysis of social policy and to direct the attention of the new federal government towards reversing recent trends to de-politicise violence towards women.

Virtuosos of violence

Review : Larissa McGowan's Skeleton at Beckett Theatre, The Malthouse

Rejecting sexual violence in conflict: significant progress; ongoing challenges

Conflicts in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia and the work of related criminal tribunals established legal bases for rejecting tactical rape and sexual violence in war as violating international humanitarian and human rights law. The UN Security Council has acknowledged security threats posed by these violations. There remain significant challenges.

Commentary on Stuart et al. (2013): Domestic violence and interventions to reduce alcohol use

This study, reported by Gregory Stuart and colleagues, offers empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that perpetrators of domestic violence who receive a brief intervention to address alcohol use in addition to a 40-hour group batterer programme will not only consume fewer drinks (and on fewer days) than those who only receive the batterer programme, but will also be less likely to be aggressive and violent.Although these effects fade over time, these findings are significant in the context of an area in which the efficacy of many behaviour change programmes has yet to be demonstrated adequately [2], and in which there is a pressing need to develop more effective interventions.

Changing provocation law could legitimise lethal acts of domestic violence

The O'Farrell government must reconsider their recommendation to retain a restricted version of the controversial partial defence of provocation. The government has released a draft exposure bill recommending reform of a partial defence that has long attracted criticism and community concern. Under the proposed reform, the defence will be significantly restricted and will be renamed the "partial defence of extreme provocation".

Violence against women in Delhi: a sustainability problematic

Violence against women (VAW) has traditionally been of concern to feminists and cultural sociologists, and in recent decades, has also begun to be diagnosed and understood as a development problem. However, 20 women practitioners and scholars of development in Delhi have raised this issue explicitly as a sustainability problem while referring to the high rate of gender violence in the city’s public spaces. Sustainability is one of the most problematic political notions and scholars have been justifiably concerned that it has been hijacked to legitimise a variety of agendas, including unsustainable ones that contravene principles of social justice. However, it is also a compelling and powerful political concept and therefore, it is important to reconceptualise and reclaim from a feminist perspective, and from within the theoretical and empirical framework of equity, one of the central tenets of sustainability, and social justice. Therefore in this article, employing the primary research from Delhi, I use the notion of equity to frame the VAW in the city as a sustainability problem—the lack of which has an impact on urban design, which can constrain a city’s capacity to be sustainable.

Reliability and vailidity of self-reported questionnaires related to adolescent violence and consequences, Thailand

In Thailand physical violence among male adolescents is considered a significant public health issue, although there has been little published research into the aetiology and functions of violence in Thai youth. Research in this area has been hampered by a lack of psychometrically sound tools that have been validated to assess problem behaviours in Asian youth. The purpose of this paper is to provide validity and reliability data on an instrument to measure violence in Thai youth. In this study, reliability and validity data for a sample of adolescent Thai youth are reported for the Communities That Care Youth Survey (CTC-YS), a measure of risk and protective factors for violent behaviour, and the STAXI-II, a measure of angry experience and expression. The findings showed overall high internal consistency for both questionnaires, and there was evidence of construct validity. It is concluded that these measures are appropriate for use in research that seeks to investigate youth violence among adolescents in Thailand.