Correlates of traditional bullying and cyberbullying perpetration among Australian students

This study investigated the associations of gender, age, trait anger, moral disengagement, witnessing of interparental conflict, school connectedness and the religious makeup of the school setting in the involvement in traditional bullying and cyberbullying perpetration. Five hundred Australian students completed an anonymous self-report, paper-based questionnaire. According to the results, 25.2% of the participants reported having engaged in traditional or cyberbullying perpetration. While trait anger and moral disengagement were associated with being a traditional bully, trait anger, interparental conflicts, moral disengagement and school connectedness were associated with being a traditional bully-victim. Additionally, trait anger and moral disengagement were associated with being a traditional-and-a-cyberbully. Our findings indicated that besides individual variables, the family and school environment have an impact on traditional and cyberbullying perpetration behavior. Results imply that any prevention attempts to reduce traditional and cyberbullying should consider students’ experiences both at home and at school.

Rights and wrongs of Australian government asylum seeker policy

Worldwide, no fewer than 50 million people a year are now fleeing dangerous and often life threatening situations in their countries of origin (UNHCR, 2014c). As one part of this movement, thousands risk journeys through dangerous waters hoping to obtain asylum in Australia. However, Australian Government policies adopted since 2013 aim to ensure that no asylum seeker nor any of the 3,500 detainees held in offshore detention centres will ever be settled on the mainland. To this has now been added a declaration that none of the recent refugees or 6200 asylum seekers waiting in Indonesia in centres run by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will gain entry (Whyte, 2014a). These immigration policies differ dramatically from those adopted in earlier decades that produced the country’s decidedly multicultural identity. This article reviews these changing perspectives of Australian governments and communities within the context of international obligations and expectations; the experiences of those directly involved in border policing practices and in detention centres; and the attitudes of national media. Relations and conflicts among the interests of the different parties are discussed and the scope for less punitive responses to the plight of asylum seekers is examined. The authors then focus on alternative processes to better address the interests and objectives of legitimately interested parties by processes which successively examine, optimise and reconcile the concerns of each. In so doing, they aim to demonstrate that such methods of sequential problem solving can respond effectively to the multiple concerns of the many significant stakeholders involved in increasingly significant global issues, whereas recourse to such single-goal, top-down programs as are expressed in the government’s current determination to “Stop the boats” at all costs are unlikely to prove sustainable.

Does adolescent's exposure to parental intimate partner conflict and violence predict psychological distress and substance use in young adulthood? A longitudinal study

Little is known about the extent to which parental conflict and violence differentially impact on offspring mental health and substance use. Using data from a longitudinal birth cohort study this paper examines: whether offspring exposure to parental intimate partner violence (involving physical violence which may include conflicts and/or disagreements) or parental intimate partner conflict (conflicting interactions and disagreements only) are associated with offspring depression, anxiety and substance use in early adulthood (at age 21); and whether these associations are independent of maternal background, depression and anxiety and substance use. Data (n = 2,126 women and children) were taken from a large-scale Australian birth-cohort study, the Mater University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP). IPC and IPV were measured at the 14-year follow-up. Offspring mental health outcomes – depression, anxiety and substance use were assessed at the 21-year follow-up using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Offspring of women experiencing IPV at the 14-year follow-up were more likely to manifest anxiety, nicotine, alcohol and cannabis disorders by the 21-year follow-up. These associations remained after adjustment for maternal anxiety, depression, and other potential confounders. Unlike males who experience anxiety disorders after exposure to IPV, females experience depressive and alcohol use disorders. IPV predicts offspring increased levels of substance abuse and dependence in young adulthood. Gender differences suggest differential impact.

Observations of road safety behaviours and practices of motorcycle rickshaw drivers in Lahore, Pakistan

Motorcycle Rickshaws (MRs) are an informal paratransit mode in Pakistan. They are locally manufactured and very popular but there are concerns about their crash involvement and overall safety. The first study of the current PhD program revealed that rickshaws (both MRs and auto-rickshaws) were involved in 51,992 road crashes attended by emergency ambulances in Punjab province, Pakistan between 2011-2013. This study aims to examine the road safety behaviours and practices of Motorcycle Rickshaw Drivers (MRDs) that may be contributing to these crashes. MRDs were observed at 12 major signalised intersections in Lahore. Vehicle characteristics and driver behaviours were recorded using a paper-based survey between 9am-7pm for a full week in May 2015. Of the 500 MRDs observed, about 23.4% appeared to be younger than the minimum driver licensing age of 18 years. More than half (52.6%) of the MRDs entered on the red light and 17.4% crossed when the signal was turning from yellow to green or red. MR traffic conflicts were observed in 62.8% of cases and one crash and 15 near-miss crashes were witnessed. Additionally, about half of MRs were overloaded, no MRD wore a helmet, and 3.8% were using a mobile phone while driving. This study provides the first scientific evidence to substantiate public concerns regarding the safety of MRs. It demonstrates that about a quarter of MRDs are underage,almost half of MRs are overloaded and more than half disobey traffic signals. This research could inform authorities to manage MR related transport and road safety issues.

Land grabs, bio-piracy and the inversion of justice in Colombia

The possibility of commercially exploiting plant, animal and human genetic resources unlocked by biotechnology has given rise to a wide range of cultural, environmental, ethical and economic conflicts. While supporters describe this activity as bioprospecting, critics refer to it as biopiracy. According to this latter view, international legal agreements and treaties have disregarded opposition and legalized the possibility of appropriating genetic resources and their derivative products through the use of patents. The legal framework that permits the appropriation of natural genetic products in Colombia also criminalizes aspects of traditional ways of life and enables a legally approved but socially harmful land-grabbing process. The article describes these processes and impact in terms of the inversion of justice and the erosion of environmental sustainability.

Veterans' Health

The Australian veteran population can be loosely grouped into the younger veterans that are currently serving in, or returned from recent conflicts, to the ‘young elderly’ (65 to 74 years of age) from the Cold War era, to the near centenarians and centenarians from the earlier conflicts of World War 1 and 2. In 2013, 58.2% of veterans receiving medical treatment under the Gold or White cards were males being on average 71.3 years of age, while the average age of females was 83.4 years. Overall, 51.5% were 80+ years of age (ranging from <30, to 90+ years of age)...

Policing online fraud in Australia: The emergence of a victim‐oriented approach

Online fraud is a global problem. Millions of individuals worldwide are losing money and experiencing the devastation associated with becoming a victim of online fraud. In 2014, Australians reported losses of $82 million as a result of online fraud to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Given that the ACCC is one of many agencies that receives victim complaints, and the extent of under‐reporting of online fraud, this figure is likely to represent only a fraction of the actual monetary losses incurred. The successful policing of online fraud is hampered by its transnational nature, the prevalence of false/stolen identities used by offenders, and a lack of resources available to investigate offences. In addition, police are restricted by the geographical boundaries of their own jurisdictions which conflicts with the lack of boundaries afforded to offenders by the virtual world. In response to this, Australia is witnessing the emergence of victim‐oriented policing approaches to counter online fraud victimisation. This incorporates the use of financial intelligence as a tool to proactively notify potential victims of online fraud. Using a variety of Australian examples, this paper documents the history to this new approach and considers the significance that such a shift represents to policing in a broader context. It also details the value that this approach can have to both victims and law enforcement agencies. Overall, it is argued that a victim‐oriented approach to policing online fraud can have substantial benefits to police and victims alike.

Tutoring with higher mathematics and the use of technology

We discuss three approaches to the use of technology as a teaching and learning tool that we are currently implementing for a target group of about one hundred second level engineering mathematics students. Central to these approaches is the underlying theme of motivating relatively poorly motivated students to learn, with the aim of improving learning outcomes. The approaches to be discussed have been used to replace, in part, more traditional mathematics tutorial sessions and lecture presentations. In brief, the first approach involves the application of constructivist thinking in the tertiary education arena, using technology as a computational and visual tool to create motivational knowledge conflicts or crises. The central idea is to model a realistic process of how scientific theory is actually developed, as proposed by Kuhn (1962), in contrast to more standard lecture and tutorial presentations. The second approach involves replacing procedural or algorithmic pencil-and-paper skills-consolidation exercises by software based tasks. Finally, the third approach aims at creating opportunities for higher order thinking via "on-line" exploratory or discovery mode tasks. The latter incorporates the incubation period method, as originally discussed by Rubinstein (1975) and others.

Legislating on biopiracy in Europe: too little, too late?

This Handbook considers the international struggle to provide for proper and just protection of Indigenous intellectual property. Leading scholars consider legal and policy controversies over Indigenous knowledge in the fields of international law, copyright law, trademark law, patent law, trade secrets law, and cultural heritage. This collection examines national developments in Indigenous intellectual property from around the world. As well as examining the historical origins of conflicts over Indigenous knowledge, the volume examines new challenges to Indigenous intellectual property from emerging developments in information technology, biotechnology, and climate change.

Communication and Political Crisis: Media, Politics and Governance in a Globalized Public Sphere

Communication and Political Crisis explores the role of the global media in a period of intensifying geopolitical conflict. Through case studies drawn from domestic and international political crises such as the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, leading media scholar Brian McNair argues that the digitized, globalized public sphere now confronted by all political actors has produced new opportunities for social progress and democratic reform, as well as new channels for state propaganda and terrorist spectaculars such as those performed by the Islamic State and Al Qaeda. In this major work, McNair argues that the role of digital communication will be crucial in determining the outcome of pressing global issues such as the future of feminism and gay rights, freedom of speech and media, and democracy itself.

Trade wars in the TRIPS Council: Intellectual property, technology transfer, and climate change

This Chapter considers the geopolitical conflicts in respect of intellectual property, trade, and climate change in the TRIPS Agreement 1994 under the World Trade Organization (WTO). In particular, it focuses upon debates in the TRIPS Council on the topic of patent law and clean energy in 2013 and 2014. The chapter highlights the development agenda of a number of developing countries who are keen for access to clean energy to combat climate change and global warming. It also considers the mixed contributions of members of the BRICS/ BASIC group – including Brazil, India, China, and South Africa. This chapter highlights the intellectual property maximalist position of a number of developed countries on intellectual property, climate change, and trade. Seeking to overcome this conflict and stalemate, this Chapter puts forward both procedural and substantial reform options in respect of intellectual property, trade, and climate change in the TRIPS Council and the WTO. It also flags that the TRIPS Agreement 1994 could well be displaced by the rise of mega-regional trade agreements – such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Warfare in stingless bees

Bees are well known for being industrious pollinators. Some species, however, have taken to invading the nests of other colonies to steal food, nest material or the nest site itself. Despite the potential mortality costs due to fighting with an aggressive opponent, the prospects of a large bounty can be worth the risk. In this review, we aim to bring together current knowledge on intercolony fighting with a view to better understand the evolution of warfare in bees and identify avenues for future research. A review of literature reveals that at least 60 species of stingless bees are involved in heterospecific conflicts, either as attacking or victim colonies. The threat of invasion has led to the evolution of architectural, behavioural and morphological adaptations, such as narrow entrance tunnels, mud balls to block the entrance, decoy nests that direct invaders away from the brood chamber, fighting swarms, and soldiers that are skilled at immobilising attackers. Little is known about how victim colonies are selected, but a phylogenetically controlled analysis suggests that the notorious robber bee Lestrimelitta preferentially attacks colonies of species with more concentrated honey. Warfare among bees poses many interesting questions, including why species differ so greatly in their response to attacks and how these alternative strategies of obtaining food or new nest sites have evolved.