Effects of impulsive sensation seeking, aggression and risk-taking behavior on the vulnerability of motorcyclists

While extensive research efforts have been devoted to improve the motorcycle safety, the relationship between the rider behavior and the crash risk is still not well understood.The objective of this study is to evaluate how behavioral factors influence crash risk and to identify the most vulnerable group of motorcyclists. To explore the rider behavior, a questionnaire containing 61-items of impulsive sensation seeking, aggression, and risk-taking behavior was developed. By clustering the crash risk using the medoid portioning algorithm, the log-linear model relating the rider behavior to crash risk has been developed. Results show that crash-involved motorcyclists score higher in all three behavioral traits. Aggressive and high risk-taking motorcyclists are more likely to fall under the high vulnerable group while impulsive sensation seeking is not found to be significant. Defining personality types from aggression and risk-taking behavior, “Extrovert” and “Follower” personality type of motorcyclists are more prone to crashes. The findings of this study will be useful for road safety campaign planners to be more focused in the target group as well as those who employ motorcyclists for their delivery business

The Punitive Turn in Juvenile Justice: Cultures of Control and Rights of Compliance in Western Europe and the USA

Separate systems of justice for children and young people have always been beset by issues of contradiction and compromise. There is compelling evidence that such ambiguity is currently being `resolved' by a greater governmental resort to neo-conservative punitive and correctional interventions and a neo-liberal responsibilizing mentality in which the protection historically afforded to children is rapidly dissolving. This resurgent authoritarianism appears all the more anachronistic when it is set against the widely held commitment to act within the guidelines established by various children's rights conventions. Of note is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, frequently described as the most ratified human rights convention in the world, but lamentably also the most violated. Based on international research on juvenile custody rates and children's rights compliance in the USA and Western Europe, this article examines why and to what extent `American exceptionalism' might be permeating European nation states.

Risk taking by motorcyclists : rider training and stages of change

Motorcyclists in Australia have been found to be 30 times more likely to be killed per kilometre travelled than car occupants and 40 times more likely to be seriously injured. One approach to preventing motorcycle-related injury is through training and education. While there is traditionally a major focus on developing riding skills during training for motorcyclists, there is also a need for training to promote safe riding to reduce subsequent risk taking. The Transtheoretical Model, commonly known as the ‘Stages of Change’ model, provides a rationale to support incremental behaviour change for risky riding that may be facilitated through motorcycle rider training and education. A sample of 438 learner motorcyclists attended a rider training program in Queensland, Australia, with the stages of change to adopt a safe riding mindset and safe riding practices being measured upon commencement of the course (Time 1) and then again upon completion (Time 2). A small subset of the original sample (n=45) responded at follow up 24 months post training (Time 3). Consistent with the aims of training, results showed a significant shift from the contemplation stage to the subsequent stages of change for participants between Time 1 and Time 2. Progression to the later stages in the model was found for the subset of participants that responded at the Time 3 follow up. Issues of questionnaire design and the utility of the Transtheoretical Model for motorcycle rider training are discussed.

Performance evaluation of onsite sewage treatment : results of soil investigations

Background The onsite treatment of sewage and effluent disposal is widely prevalent in rural and urban fringe areas due to the general unavailability of reticulated wastewater collection systems. Despite the low technology of the systems, failure is common and in many cases leading to adverse public health and environmental consequences. It is important therefore that careful consideration is given to the design and location of onsite sewage treatment systems. This requires an understanding of the factors that influence treatment performance. The use of subsurface absorption systems is the most common form of effluent disposal for onsite sewage treatment, particularly for septic tanks. Also, in the case of septic tanks, a subsurface disposal system is generally an integral component of the sewage treatment process. Site specific factors play a key role in the onsite treatment of sewage. The project The primary aims of the research project were: • to relate treatment performance of onsite sewage treatment systems to soil conditions at site; • to evaluate current research relating to onsite sewage treatment; and, • to identify key issues where currently there is a lack of relevant research. These tasks were undertaken with the objective of facilitating the development of performance based planning and management strategies for onsite sewage treatment. The primary focus of this research project has been on septic tanks. By implication, the investigation has been confined to subsurface soil absorption systems. The design and treatment processes taking place within the septic tank chamber itself did not form a part of the investigation. Five broad categories of soil types prevalent in the Brisbane region have been considered in this project. The number of systems investigated was based on the proportionate area of urban development within the Brisbane region located on each of the different soil types. In the initial phase of the investigation, the majority of the systems evaluated were septic tanks. However, a small number of aerobic wastewater treatment systems (AWTS) were also included. The primary aim was to compare the effluent quality of systems employing different generic treatment processes. It is important to note that the number of each different type of system investigated was relatively small. Consequently, this does not permit a statistical analysis to be undertaken of the results obtained for comparing different systems. This is an important issue considering the large number of soil physico-chemical parameters and landscape factors that can influence treatment performance and their wide variability. The report This report is the last in a series of three reports focussing on the performance evaluation of onsite treatment of sewage. The research project was initiated at the request of the Brisbane City Council. The project component discussed in the current report outlines the detailed soil investigations undertaken at a selected number of sites. In the initial field sampling, a number of soil chemical properties were assessed as indicators to investigate the extent of effluent flow and to help understand what soil factors renovate the applied effluent. The soil profile attributes, especially texture, structure and moisture regime were examined more in an engineering sense to determine the effect of movement of water into and through the soil. It is important to note that it is not only the physical characteristics, but also the chemical characteristics of the soil as well as landscape factors play a key role in the effluent renovation process. In order to understand the complex processes taking place in a subsurface effluent disposal area, influential parameters were identified using soil chemical concepts. Accordingly, the primary focus of this final phase of the research project was to identify linkages between various soil chemical parameters and landscape patterns and their contribution to the effluent renovation process. The research outcomes will contribute to the development of robust criteria for evaluating the performance of subsurface effluent disposal systems. The outcomes The key findings from the soil investigations undertaken are: • Effluent renovation is primarily undertaken by a combination of various soil physico-chemical parameters and landscape factors, thereby making the effluent renovation processes strongly site dependent. • Decisions regarding site suitability for effluent disposal should not be based purely in terms of the soil type. A number of other factors such as the site location in the catena, the drainage characteristics and other physical and chemical characteristics, also exert a strong influence on site suitability. • Sites, which are difficult to characterise in terms of suitability for effluent disposal, will require a detailed soil physical and chemical analysis to be undertaken to a minimum depth of at least 1.2 m. • The Ca:Mg ratio and Exchangeable Sodium Percentage are important parameters in soil suitability assessment. A Ca:Mg ratio of less than 0.5 would generally indicate a high ESP. This in turn would mean that Na and possibly Mg are the dominant exchangeable cations, leading to probable clay dispersion. • A Ca:Mg ratio greater than 0.5 would generally indicate a low ESP in the profile, which in turn indicates increased soil stability. • In higher clay percentage soils, low ESP can have a significant effect. • The presence of high exchangeable Na can be counteracted by the presence of swelling clays, and an exchange complex co-dominated by exchangeable Ca and exchangeable Mg. This aids absorption of cations at depth, thereby reducing the likelihood of dispersion. • Salt is continually added to the soil by the effluent and problems may arise if the added salts accumulate to a concentration that is harmful to the soil structure. Under such conditions, good drainage is essential in order to allow continuous movement of water and salt through the profile. Therefore, for a site to be sustainable, it would have a maximum application rate of effluent. This would be dependent on subsurface characteristics and the surface area available for effluent disposal. • The dosing regime for effluent disposal can play a significant role in the prevention of salt accumulation in the case of poorly draining sites. Though intermittent dosing was not considered satisfactory for the removal of the clogging mat layer, it has positive attributes in the context of removal of accumulated salts in the soil.

Motorcycle Safety Research Project Interim Summary Report 3 : Training and Licensing Interventions for Risk Taking and Hazard Perception for Motorcyclists

Motorcycle trauma is a serious road safety issue in Queensland and throughout Australia. In 2009, Queensland Transport (later Transport and Main Roads or TMR) appointed CARRS-Q to provide a three-year program of Road Safety Research Services for Motorcycle Rider Safety. Funding for this research originated from the Motor Accident Insurance Commission. This program of research was undertaken to produce knowledge to assist TMR to improve motorcycle safety by further strengthening the licensing and training system to make learner riders safer by developing a pre-learner package (Deliverable 1), and by evaluating the QRide CAP program to ensure that it is maximally effective and contributes to the best possible training for new riders (Deliverable 2). The focus of this report is Deliverable 3 of the overall program of research. It identifies potential new licensing components that will reduce the incidence of risky riding and improve higher-order cognitive skills in new riders.

Teachers’ perceptions of school connectedness and risk-taking in adolescence

School connectedness has been shown to be an important protective factor in adolescent development, which is associated with reduced risk-taking behaviour. Interventions to increase students’ connectedness to school commonly incorporate aspects of teacher training. To date, however, research on connectedness has largely been based on student survey data, with no reported research addressing teachers’ perceptions of students’ connectedness and its association with student behavior. This research attempted to address this gap in the literature through in depth interviews with 14 school teachers and staff from two Australian high schools. Findings showed that teachers perceived students’ connectedness to be important in regards to reducing problem behavior, and discussed aspects of connectedness, including fairness and discipline, feeling valued, belonging and having teacher support, and being successfully engaged in school, as being particularly important. This research enables the development of school-based intervention programs that are based on both student and teacher-focused research.

On the impact of the "linguistic turn" on research in information systems

The linguistic turn within philosophy has recently gained increased attention within social sciences. It can be seen as an attempt to investigate traditional philosophical problems by analysing the linguistic expressions used for these investigations. More generally, the phenomenon of language itself must be considered because of its (constitutional) impact on the investigation of phenomena in social sciences. In order to understand the consequences of the linguistic turn, its origins in philosophy are important and will be discussed. Within social sciences the linguistic turn already had significant impact. As an example, we will therefore discuss what directions the linguistic turn enabled for organizational analysis. Information Systems as a discipline must face the consequences of the linguistic turn as well. We will discuss how the linguistic framework introduced impacts the development of knowledge management and that of managerial and organizational support systems. This example shows what different perspectives the linguistic turn can provide for investigations within Information Systems. In addition, we will briefly outline the impact of the linguistic turn with respect to methodologies in Information Systems research.

Risk-taking, harm and help-seeking : reported by young people in treatment at a youth alcohol and drug counselling service

Regarded as a normative component of development, risk-taking by young people is a well-researched subject, and some risk-taking behaviours, such as substance use, are particularly well covered because of their potential to adversely affect health and wellbeing. What has remained unclear is the extent of young people's risk-taking while engaged in alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment, their awareness of the related harms of risk-taking behaviours, and their prior help-seeking for these harms - information which may have a significant impact on the quality and relevance of the care they receive. This paper reports the findings from a brief pilot study exploring those factors in a clinical sample of young people engaged in ongoing AOD counselling.

The value of books : the fantastic flying books of Mr. Morris Lessmore and the social hieroglyphic of reading

The late eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of new technologies of subjectivity and of the literary. Most obviously, “the novel as a literary form appeared to embody and turn into an object the experience of life itself” (Park), and the novel genre came to both reflect and shape notions of interiority and subjectivity. In this same period, “A shift was taking place in the way people felt and thought about children and the accoutrements of childhood, including books and toys, were implicated in this change” (Lewis). In seeking to understand the relationships between media (e.g. books and toys), genres (e.g. novels and picture books), and modes of subjectivity, Marx’s influential theory of commodity fetishism, whereby “a definite social relation between men, that assumes, in their eyes, the fantastic form of a relation between things”, has served as a productive tool of analysis. The extent to which Marx’s account of commodity fetishism continues to be of use becomes clear when the corollaries between the late eighteenth-century emergence of novels and pictures books as technologies of subjectivity and the early twenty-first century emergence of e-readers and digital texts as technologies of subjectivity are considered. This paper considers the literary technology of Apple’s iPad (first launched in 2010) as a commodity fetish, and the circulation of “apps” as texts made available by and offered as justifications for, this fetish object. The iPad is both book and toy, but is never “only” either; it is arguably a new technology of subjectivity which incorporates but also destabilises categories of reading and playing such as those made familiar by earlier technologies of literature and the self. The particular focus of this paper is on the multimodal versions (app, film, and picture book) of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, which are understood here as a narrativisation of commodity fetishism, subjectivity, and the act of reading itself.

The consequences of not taking reasonable steps to obtain finance

In Hauff v Miller [2013] QCA 48 the Queensland Court of Appeal considered an issue that has not previously arisen at appellate level. The case concerned the interaction of the well-known subject to finance clause and other standard contractual provisions...

In their own words : adolescents strategies to prevent friend's risk taking

Injury is a significant public health problem among youth. A primary cause of adolescent injury is risk-taking behavior, including alcohol use, interpersonal violence and road-related risks. A novel approach to prevention is building on friendships by encouraging adolescents to intervene into their friends’ risk taking. Fifty-one early adolescents (13-14 years) and 44 older adolescents (16-17 years) from two Australian schools participated in focus groups, aiming to explore stories of intervening. Findings showed preference for talking to friends; however, participants also spoke to adults, monitored friends’ behavior and planned ahead. Close friendships, perceived harm, and self-efficacy influenced the likelihood of intervening. These findings have implications for the design of risk and injury prevention programs, by suggesting strategies to promote adolescents’ communicative ability for risk reduction. The findings also highlight the language and dialogue of adolescents and suggest that methods for increasing intervening behavior should focus on building social connectedness and increasing self-efficacy.

Improving the ability of guarantors to make a real choice : lenders' practices in taking third party guarantees

This article considers recent cases on guarantees of business loans to identify the lending practices that led the court to set aside the guarantee as against the creditor on the basis that the creditor had engaged in unconscionable conduct. It also explores the role of industry codes of practice in preventing unconscionable conduct, including whether there is a correlation between commitment to an industry code and higher standards of lending practices; whether compliance with an industry code would have produced different outcomes in the cases considered; and whether lenders need to do more than comply with an industry code to ensure their practices are fair and reasonable.

Blog research : the 'computational turn' [Blogforschung: Der 'Computational Turn']

ForscherInnen aus Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaften interessieren sich seit nunmehr einem Jahrzehnt für Blogs, Online-Tagebücher und Online-Journale. Auch wenn die Zuwachsrate der Blogosphäre seit der Blütezeit des Bloggens in den 2000ern stagniert, bleiben Blogs doch eines der bedeutendsten Genres der internetgestützten Kommunikation. Tatsächlich ist nach der Massenabwanderung zu Facebook, Twitter und anderen erst in jüngerer Zeit entstandenen Kommunikationsmitteln eine etwas kleinere, aber umso stärker etablierte Blogosphäre von engagierten und eingeschworenen Teilnehmenden übriggeblieben. Blogs werden mittlerweile als Teil einer institutionellen, persönlichen und Gruppen-Kommunikationstrategie akzeptiert. In Stil und Inhalt liegen sie zwischen den statischeren Informationen auf konventionellen Websites und den ständig aktualisierten Facebook- und Twitter-Newsfeeds. Blogs ermöglichen es ihren AutorInnen (und deren KommentatorInnen), bestimmte Themen im Umfang von einigen hundert bis zu einigen tausend Wörtern zu durchdenken, in kürzeren Posts ins Detail zu gehen und ggf. intensiver durchdachte Texte anderswo zu publizieren. Zudem sind sie auch ein sehr flexibles Medium: Bilder, Audio-, Video- sowie andere Materialien können mühelos eingefügt werden - und natürlich auch das grundlegende Instrument des Bloggens: Hyperlinks.

Taking culture seriously : the case of Indigenous knowledge and food security

Mainstream discourse on the revolving around food security is often portrayed by macro level indicators on nutrition, consumption and food production. While these indicators may prove significant in addressing food security in the national and regional levels, it falls short in addressing it among the indigenous peoples’ (IP) communities in the Philippines. Reflecting through the experiences in agricultural production, indigenous knowledge and socio-political institutions are relevant factors that must be seriously considered when food security among IPs are concerned. It is argued that disregarding micro level interactions over macro development policies will not address the issue of food security among marginalized sectors. The paper presents policy recommendations in taking cultural systems seriously in addressing food security among indigenous peoples.