The modern day bystander: Online and face-to-face bystander actions of adolescents in traditional bullying and cyberbullying

This study investigated whether bystanders of traditional bullying and cyberbullying used face-to-face methods, online methods or both methods when reporting, discouraging and providing support to the victims of traditional bullying and cyberbullying. A questionnaire was completed by 348 high school students (Years 7 – 12) from seven independent schools in Australia. Overall, students predominantly utilized face-to-face methods when reporting to others for both types of bullying. Older students were more likely to use online methods to discourage the traditional bully (i.e., asking the bully to stop). Males and older students were more likely to use online methods to support victims of traditional bullying. Females were more likely to use face-to-face methods to support victims of cyberbullying. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Shariah perspective on marriage contract and practice in contemporary Muslim societies

Forced marriages are worldwide phenomena and also exist in Pakistani society. It involves the lack of free and full consent of at least one of the parties to a marriage. Mostly, females are victims of forced marriages. It is prevalent in the name of religion in many Muslim countries; however, it is purely a traditional and cultural phenomenon which has nothing to do with religion. Forced marriages are different from arranged marriages in which both parties freely consent to enter into marriage contract and they have no objection on the choice of partner selected by their parents. This study will highlights different forms of forced marriages in Pakistani society.

Cardiovascular diseases and vulnerable plaques: data, modeling, predictions and clinical applications PREFACE

Introduction Two symposia on “cardiovascular diseases and vulnerable plaques” Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Huge effort has been made in many disciplines including medical imaging, computational modeling, bio- mechanics, bioengineering, medical devices, animal and clinical studies, population studies as well as genomic, molecular, cellular and organ-level studies seeking improved methods for early detection, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of these diseases [1-14]. However, the mechanisms governing the initiation, progression and the occurrence of final acute clinical CVD events are still poorly understood. A large number of victims of these dis- eases who are apparently healthy die suddenly without prior symptoms. Available screening and diagnostic methods are insufficient to identify the victims before the event occurs [8,9]. Most cardiovascular diseases are associated with vulnerable plaques. A grand challenge here is to develop new imaging techniques, predictive methods and patient screening tools to identify vulnerable plaques and patients who are more vulnerable to plaque rupture and associated clinical events such as stroke and heart attack, and recommend proper treatment plans to prevent those clinical events from happening. Articles in this special issue came from two symposia held recently focusing on “Cardio-vascular Diseases and Vulnerable Plaques: Data, Modeling, Predictions and Clinical Applications.” One was held at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Worcester, MA, USA, July 13-14, 2014, right after the 7th World Congress of Biomechanics. This symposium was endorsed by the World Council of Biomechanics, and partially supported by a grant from NIH-National Institute of Biomedical Image and Bioengineering. The other was held at Southeast University (SEU), Nanjing, China, April 18-20, 2014.

Inconsistencies in and the inadequacies of the family counselling and FDR confidentiality and admissibility provisions: The need for reform

In this article the author discusses issues arising from counselling and family dispute resolution (FDR) in relation to confidentiality and admissibility, such as whether an admission of abuse to a child, or a threat to harm the other parent, can be disclosed by the counsellor or family dispute resolution practitioner (FDRP) and used in court proceedings. It is found that the admissibility provisions in the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) are far more narrowly defined than the confidentiality requirements and have been interpreted strictly by the courts. There are competing policy considerations: the strict “traditionalist” approach, that people can have absolute faith in the integrity of counsellors and mediators and in the confidential nature of the process, must be balanced against a more “protectionist” stance, being the individual rights of victims to have all relevant information placed before the court and to be protected from violence and abuse. It is suggested that legislative reform is required to ensure that courts balance these considerations appropriately and don’t compromise the safety of victims of abuse and family violence.

The Trial of Homo Economicus: The Dollar Hunting Animal

This operetta /morality play is set in a court room in the town of Puddle on the Piddle. The court is presided over by Judge Jan whose main role is to "adjudicate" between the prisoners (Homo economicus) and the victims, the wild life of Australia. After evidence has been presented the audience acts as Jury and votes guilty or not guilty by secret ballot. The Puddle Police play an important role in accompanying the prisoners into court.

The ACA effect: Examining how current affairs programs shape victim understandings and responses to online fraud

In recent years, numerous current affairs stories on online fraud victimisation have been broadcast on Australian television. These stories typically feature highly organised, international ‘sting’ operations, in which alleged offenders are arrested and investigated by law enforcement. These portrayals of police responses influence the expectations that some online fraud victims have about how their individual cases will be handled by law enforcement. Based on interviews with 80 online fraud victims, this article argues that a narrow media portrayal of online fraud by television current affairs programs — termed the ‘ACA effect’ — informs victims’ understandings of online fraud and their responses to it. In particular, current affairs programs influence what victims of online fraud expect from police. The article further demonstrates that current affairs programs present themselves as de facto law enforcement agencies, to which victims who receive an unsatisfactory response from police might turn. Overall, the article highlights the importance of current affairs programs portraying a more realistic image of official responses to online fraud.

We need to support paedophiles to prevent child sex offending

The sexual abuse of children is, understandably, a key concern for the public. Child sexual abuse can cause long-lasting harms for victims, ranging from relationship difficulties to eating disorders. But misperceptions about those who perpetrate it abound in public debate. Although the terms “paedophile” and “child sex offender” are often used interchangeably, the two are distinct. Paedophiles are sexually attracted to young children. They have either acted on this attraction or fear they might. But not all paedophiles act on their attraction – and this is where support services can help reducing offending. Conversely, not everyone who offends sexually against a child is a paedophile. Some may have a sexual interest in and/or offend against both children and adults. Others do not have a sexual attraction to children but instead act opportunistically...

Book Review "Selling sex: a hidden history of prostitution", R. Frances, UNSW Press, Sydney, 2007

In the opening pages of Selling Sex we are introduced to 'Joy', a statue of a young female sex worker which stood in East Sydney for eighteen months during 1995- 1997. Following complaints by local residents, the statue was removed from public view and returned to its owner. Evidently, Joy was considered a reminder of the community's 'bad old days', when it was better known for prostitution than restaurants. In a nation in which almost every sizable community has proudly erected monuments to military men, the removal of Joy reveals much about labour and gender relations in Australia. For Frances, the removal of Joy is symbolic, our historical treatment of sex workers having parallels with our treatment of the convicts. This work sets out to give these women (male prostitutes do not figure in this history) a voice and break with the stereotypes of 'abandoned whores' or 'sad victims'. It also sets out to place the sex industry in the broader national and international context in which it has historically operated...

Reflections on the Research Students' 2015 Art Exhibition and Operetta/morality play "The Trial of Homo Economicus: The dollar hunting animal"

The paper outlines the process of organising research student participants and creating a public musical performance at QUT. The theme of the Operetta/Morality play is the clash between economic values of humans necessitating growth and the basic needs of the other life on planet earth. The one act play is set in a court room presided over by a judge who adjudicates the court proceedings.Homo economicus is in the dock and victims(various animals and birds) raise their grievances.

Social Influence and Blood Donation: Cultural Differences Between Scotland and Australia

People can be motivated to carryout behaviours which contribute to improvement of quality of life for reasons driven by cultural norms. There is a common perception that people within a cultural cluster, particularly one with a common language such as English, will exhibit similar consumer behaviours. However there is an emerging field of research investigating intra-cultural differences in marketing that challenges this perception. In particular, the role of peers and norms as drivers of altruistic behaviours that benefit society may differ between these countries. Altruism is an important motivation for pro-social behaviours such as blood donation, water conservation and peer counselling for health problems. Understanding the social influences for these behaviours assists marketers to develop programs that meet the needs of donors and potential donors. An ongoing foundation of altruistic consumers is essential for delivering services that improve quality of life for people. Without blood donors, there would be no blood products for cancer sufferers or accident victims, without a sufficient water supply the quality of life for residents would be compromised and without breastfeeding peer counselling, new mothers and their babies would have reduced quality of life. This chapter reports the findings of two online surveys with Scottish and Australian blood donors and demonstrates differences in the way social norms influence donation behaviour, and importantly different impacts of cultural factors in the two populations.

Violence against the adolescents of Kolkata: A study in relation to the socio-economic background and mental health

This study attempts to understand the nature of violence suffered by the adolescents of Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta) and to identify its relation with their socio-economic background and mental health variables such as anxiety, adjustment, and self-concept. It is a cross-sectional study covering a total of 370 adolescents (182 boys and 188 girls) from six higher secondary schools in Kolkata. The data was gathered by way of a semi-structured questionnaire and three standard psychological tests. Findings revealed that 52.4%, 25.1%, and 12.7% adolescents suffered psychological, physical, and sexual violence in the last year. Older adolescents (aged 17–18 years) suffered more psychological violence than the younger ones (15–16 years) (p < 0.05). Sixty nine (18.6%) adolescent students stood witness to violence between adult members in the family. More than three-fifth (61.9%) adolescents experienced at least one type of violence, while one-third (32.7%) experienced physical or sexual violence or both. Whatever its nature is, violence leaves a scar on the mental health of the victims. Those who have been through regular psychological violence reported high anxiety, emotional adjustment problem, and low self-concept. Sexual abuse left a damaging effect on self-concept (p < 0.05), while psychological violence or the witnessing of violence prompted high anxiety scores (p < 0.05), poor emotional adjustment (p < 0.05), and low self-concept (p < 0.05). This study stresses the need to provide individual counselling services to the maltreated adolescents of Kolkata so that their psychological traumas can heal and that they can move on in life with new hopes and dreams.

Romantic terrorism? Survivor narratives of psychological and emotional tactics of domestic violence

This paper draws on the theoretical arguments outlined in Hayes (2014) to frame critical analyses of two real life domestic violence narratives. The authors are both academic criminologists and victims/survivors of domestic violence, but within differing contexts – one a conventional heterosexual relationship, the other a female same-sex relationship. Their experiences are intertwined in an extensive collaborative auto-ethnographic analysis that spans seven years of working and socialising together, in which each provided a sounding board and support for the other. The analysis therefore documents two personal journeys. The academic and theoretical are intertwined with the personal and subjective to elicit an evocative and yet empirically validated study. The theoretical underpinnings of romantic love distortion, misogyny and sexism are used to frame these experiences of domestic violence and the differing sexualities of the authors provide a rich context for exploring the ways in which domestic violence victimisation experiences are impacted by gender, sexuality, and heteronormative discourses of love, sex and relationships.

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.

Constructing the ideal victim in the United States of America's annual trafficking in persons reports

Human trafficking as a global phenomenon continues to elude accurate quantitative measure, and remains a controversial policy domain significantly influenced by anecdotal evidence. Drawing on the policy analysis framework of Bacchi (1999; 2007) the problem representation of trafficking through narratives can be considered a direct antecedent of contemporary anti-human trafficking policy. This article explores the construction of human trafficking within the Trafficking in Persons Reports, published annually by the United States of America’s Department of State. An examination of the victim and offender narratives contained within the reports published between 2001 and 2012 demonstrates that human trafficking is predominantly represented as a crime committed by ideal offenders against idealized victims, consistent with Christie’s (1986) landmark criteria of ideal victimization. This representation of an ideal prototype has the potential to inform policy that diverts focus from the causative role of global socioeconomic injustice towards criminal justice policies targeting individual offenders.

IASDR 2015 Interplay Exhibition 2-5 NOV 2015

It has been said that we are living in a golden age of innovation. New products, systems and services aimed to enable a better future, have emerged from novel interconnections between design and design research with science, technology and the arts. These intersections are now, more than ever, catalysts that enrich daily activities for health and safety, education, personal computing, entertainment and sustainability, to name a few. Interactive functions made possible by new materials, technology, and emerging manufacturing solutions demonstrate an ongoing interplay between cross-disciplinary knowledge and research. Such interactive interplay bring up questions concerning: (i) how art and design provide a focus for developing design solutions and research in technology; (ii) how theories emerging from the interactions of cross-disciplinary knowledge inform both the practice and research of design and (iii) how research and design work together in a mutually beneficial way. The IASDR2015 INTERPLAY EXHIBITION provides some examples of these interconnections of design research with science, technology and the arts. This is done through the presentation of objects, artefacts and demonstrations that are contextualised into everyday activities across various areas including health, education, safety, furniture, fashion and wearable design. The exhibits provide a setting to explore the various ways in which design research interacts across discipline knowledge and approaches to stimulate innovation. In education, Designing South African Children’s Health Education as Generative Play (A Bennett, F Cassim, M van der Merwe, K van Zijil, and M Ribbens) presents a set of toolkits that resulted from design research entailing generative play. The toolkits are systems that engender pleasure and responsibility, and are aimed at cultivating South African’s youth awareness of nutrition, hygiene, disease awareness and prevention, and social health. In safety, AVAnav: Avalanche Rescue Helmet (Jason Germany) delivers an interactive system as a tool to contribute to reduce the time to locate buried avalanche victims. Helmet-mounted this system responds to the contextual needs of rescuers and has since led to further design research on the interface design of rescuing devices. In apparel design and manufacturing, Shrinking Violets: Fashion design for disassembly (Alice Payne) proposes a design for disassembly through the use of beautiful reversible mono-material garments that interactively responds to the challenges of garment construction in the fashion industry, capturing the metaphor for the interplay between technology and craft in the fashion manufacturing industry. Harvest: A biotextile future (Dean Brough and Alice Payne), explores the interplay of biotechnology, materiality and textile design in the creation of sustainable, biodegradable vegan textile through the process of a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). SCOBY is a pellicle curd that can be harvested, machine washed, dried and cut into a variety of designs and texture combinations. The exploration of smart materials, wearable design and micro-electronics led to creative and aesthetically coherent stimulus-reactive jewellery; Symbiotic Microcosms: Crafting Digital Interaction (K Vones). This creation aims to bridge the gap between craft practitioner and scientific discovery, proposing a move towards the notion of a post-human body, where wearable design is seen as potential ground for new human-computer interactions, affording the development of visually engaging multifunctional enhancements. In furniture design, Smart Assistive chair for older adults (Chao Zhao) demonstrates how cross-disciplinary knowledge interacting with design strategies provide solution that employed new technological developments in older aged care, and the participation of multiple stakeholders: designers, health care system and community based health systems. In health, Molecular diagnosis system for newborns deafness genetic screening (Chao Zhao) presents an ambitious and complex project that includes a medical device aimed at resolving a number of challenges: technical feasibility for city and rural contexts, compatibility with standard laboratory and hospital systems, access to health system, and support the work of different hospital specialists. The interplay between cross-disciplines is evident in this work, demonstrating how design research moves forward through technology developments. These works exemplify the intersection between domains as a means to innovation. Novel design problems are identified as design intersects with the various areas. Research informs this process, and in different ways. We see the background investigation into the contextualising domain (e.g. on-snow studies, garment recycling, South African health concerns, the post human body) to identify gaps in the area and design criteria; the technologies and materials reviews (e.g. AR, biotextiles) to offer plausible technical means to solve these, as well as design criteria. Theoretical reviews can also inform the design (e.g. play, flow). These work together to equip the design practitioner with a robust set of ‘tools’ for design innovation – tools that are based in research. The process identifies innovative opportunity and criteria for design and this, in turn, provides a means for evaluating the success of the design outcomes. Such an approach has the potential to come full circle between research and design – where the design can function as an exemplar, evidencing how the research-articulated problems can be solved. Core to this, however, is the evaluation of the design outcome itself and identifying knowledge outcomes. In some cases, this is fairly straightforward that is, easily measurable. For example the efficacy of Jason Germany’s helmet can be determined by measuring the reduced response time in the rescuer. Similarly the improved ability to recycle Payne’s panel garments can be clearly determined by comparing it to those recycling processes (and her identified criteria of separating textile elements!); while the sustainability and durability of the Brough & Payne’s biotextile can be assessed by documenting the growth and decay processes, or comparative strength studies. There are however situations where knowledge outcomes and insights are not so easily determined. Many of the works here are open-ended in their nature, as they emphasise the holistic experience of one or more designs, in context: “the end result of the art activity that provides the health benefit or outcome but rather, the value lies in the delivery and experience of the activity” (Bennet et al.) Similarly, reconfiguring layers of laser cut silk in Payne’s Shrinking Violets constitutes a customisable, creative process of clothing oneself since it “could be layered to create multiple visual effects”. Symbiotic Microcosms also has room for facilitating experience, as the work is described to facilitate “serendipitous discovery”. These examples show the diverse emphasis of enquiry as on the experience versus the product. Open-ended experiences are ambiguous, multifaceted and differ from person to person and moment to moment (Eco 1962). Determining the success is not always clear or immediately discernible; it may also not be the most useful question to ask. Rather, research that seeks to understand the nature of the experience afforded by the artefact is most useful in these situations. It can inform the design practitioner by helping them with subsequent re-design as well as potentially being generalizable to other designers and design contexts. Bennett et. al exemplify how this may be approached from a theoretical perspective. This work is concerned with facilitating engaging experiences to educate and, ultimately impact on that community. The research is concerned with the nature of that experience as well, and in order to do so the authors have employed theoretical lenses – here these are of flow, pleasure, play. An alternative or complementary approach to using theory, is using qualitative studies such as interviews with users to ask them about what they experienced? Here the user insights become evidence for generalising across, potentially revealing insight into relevant concerns – such as the range of possible ‘playful’ or experiences that may be afforded, or the situation that preceded a ‘serendipitous discovery’. As shown, IASDR2015 INTERPLAY EXHIBITION provides a platform for exploration, discussion and interrogation around the interplay of design research across diverse domains. We look forward with excitement as IASDR continues to bring research and design together, and as our communities of practitioners continue to push the envelope of what is design and how this can be expanded and better understood with research to foster new work and ultimately, stimulate innovation.