A psychosocial approach to understanding young Australians' mobile phone behaviour

This thesis by publication contributes to our knowledge of psychological factors underlying a modern day phenomenon, young people’s mobile phone behaviour. Specifically, the thesis reports a PhD program of research which adopted a social psychological approach to explore mobile phone behaviour among young Australians aged between 15 and 24 years. A particular focus of the research program was to explore both the cognitive and behavioural aspects of young people’s mobile phone behaviour which for the purposes of this thesis is defined as mobile phone involvement. The research program comprised three separate stages which were developmental in nature, in that, the findings of each stage of the research program informed the next. The overarching goal of the program of research was to improve our understanding of the psychosocial factors influencing young people’s mobile phone behaviour. To achieve this overall goal, there were a number of aims to the research program which reflect the developmental nature of this thesis. Given the limited research into the mobile phone behaviour in Australia, the first two aims of the research program were to explore patterns of mobile phone behaviour among Australian youth and explore the social psychological factors relating to their mobile phone behaviour. Following this exploration, the research program sought to develop a measure which captures the cognitive and behavioural aspects of mobile phone behaviour. Finally, the research program aimed to examine and differentiate the psychosocial predictors of young people’s frequency of mobile phone use and their level of involvement with their mobile phone. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used throughout the program of research. Five papers prepared during the three stages of the research program form the bulk of this thesis. The first stage of the research program was a qualitative investigation of young people’s mobile phone behaviour. Thirty-two young Australians participated in a series of focus groups in which they discussed their mobile phone behaviour. Thematic data analysis explored patterns of mobile phone behaviour among young people, developed an understanding of psychological factors influencing their use of mobile phones, and identified that symptoms of addiction were emerging in young people’s mobile phone behaviour. Two papers (Papers 1 and 2) emanated from this first stage of the research program. Paper 1 explored patterns of mobile phone behaviour and revealed that mobile phones were perceived as being highly beneficial to young people’s lives, with the ability to remain in constant contact with others being particularly valued. The paper also identified that symptoms of behavioural addiction including withdrawal, cognitive and behavioural salience, and loss of control, emerged in participants’ descriptions of their mobile phone behaviour. Paper 2 explored how young people’s need to belong and their social identity (two constructs previously unexplored in the context of mobile phone behaviour) related to their mobile phone behaviour. It was revealed that young people use their mobile phones to facilitate social attachments. Additionally, friends and peers influenced young people’s mobile phone behaviour; for example, their choice of mobile phone carrier and their most frequent type of mobile phone use. These papers laid the foundation for the further investigation of addictive patterns of behaviour and the role of social psychological factors on young people’s mobile behaviour throughout the research program. Stage 2 of the research program focussed on developing a new parsimonious measure of mobile phone behaviour, the Mobile Phone Involvement Questionnaire (MPIQ), which captured the cognitive and behavioural aspects of mobile phone use. Additionally, the stage included a preliminary exploration of factors influencing young people’s mobile phone behaviour. Participants (N = 946) completed a questionnaire which included a pool of items assessing symptoms of behavioural addiction, the uses and gratifications relating to mobile phone use, and self-identity and validation from others in the context of mobile phone behaviour. Two papers (Papers 3 & 4) emanated from the second stage of the research program. Paper 3 provided an important link between the qualitative and quantitative components of the research program. Qualitative data from Stage 1 indicated the reasons young people use their mobile phones and identified addictive characteristics present in young people’s mobile phone behaviour. Results of the quantitative study conducted in Stage 2 of the research program revealed the uses and gratifications relating to young people’s mobile phone behaviour and the effect of these gratifications on young people’s frequency of mobile phone use and three indicators of addiction, withdrawal, salience, and loss of control. Three major uses and gratifications: self (such as feeling good or as a fashion item), social (such as contacting friends), and security (such as use in an emergency) were found to underlie much of young people’s mobile phone behaviour. Self and social gratifications predicted young people’s frequency of mobile phone use and the three indicators of addiction but security gratifications did not. These results provided an important foundation for the inclusion of more specific psychosocial predictors in the later stages of the research program. Paper 4 reported the development of the mobile phone involvement questionnaire and a preliminary exploration of the effect of self-identity and validation from others on young people’s mobile phone behaviour. The MPIQ assessed a unitary construct and was a reliable measure amongst this cohort. Results found that self-identity influenced the frequency of young people’s use whereas self-identity and validation from others influenced their level of mobile phone involvement. These findings provided an important indication that, in addition to self factors, other people have a strong influence on young people’s involvement with their mobile phone and that mobile phone involvement is conceptually different to frequency of mobile phone use. Stage 3 of the research program empirically examined the psychosocial predictors of young people’s mobile behaviour and one paper, Paper 5, emanated from this stage. Young people (N = 292) from throughout Australia completed an online survey assessing the role of self-identity, ingroup norm, the need to belong, and self-esteem on their frequency of mobile phone use and their mobile phone involvement. Self-identity was the only psychosocial predictor of young people’s frequency of mobile phone use. In contrast, self-identity, ingroup norm, and need to belong all influenced young people’s level of involvement with their mobile phone. Additionally, the effect of self-esteem on young people’s mobile phone involvement was mediated by their need to belong. These results indicate that young people who perceive their mobile phone to be an integral part of their self-identity, who perceive that mobile phone is common amongst friends and peers, and who have a strong need for attachment to others, in some cases driven by a desire to enhance their self-esteem, are most likely to become highly involved with their mobile phones. Overall, this PhD program of research has provided an important contribution to our understanding of young Australians’ mobile phone behaviour. Results of the program have broadened our knowledge of factors influencing mobile phone behaviour beyond the approaches used in previous research. The use of various social psychological theories combined with a behavioural addiction framework provided a novel examination of young people’s mobile behaviour. In particular, the development of a new measure of mobile phone behaviour in the research program facilitated the differentiation of the psychosocial factors influencing frequency of young people’s mobile phone behaviour and their level of involvement with their mobile phone. Results of the research program indicate the important role that mobile phone behaviour plays in young people’s social development and also signals the characteristics of those people who may become highly involved with their mobile phone. Future research could build on this thesis by exploring whether mobile phones are affecting traditional social psychological processes and whether the results in this research program are generalisable to other cohorts and other communication technologies.

Radiological aspects of petroleum exploration and production in the sultanate of Oman

This thesis is a study of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) activity concentration, gamma dose rate and radon (222Rn) exhalation from the waste streams of large-scale onshore petroleum operations. Types of activities covered included; sludge recovery from separation tanks, sludge farming, NORM storage, scaling in oil tubulars, scaling in gas production and sedimentation in produced water evaporation ponds. Field work was conducted in the arid desert terrain of an operational oil exploration and production region in the Sultanate of Oman. The main radionuclides found were 226Ra and 210Pb (238U - series), 228Ra and 228Th (232Th - series), and 227Ac (235U - series), along with 40K. All activity concentrations were higher than the ambient soil level and varied over several orders of magnitude. The range of gamma dose rates at a 1 m height above ground for the farm treated sludge had a range of 0.06 0.43 µSv h 1, and an average close to the ambient soil mean of 0.086 ± 0.014 µSv h 1, whereas the untreated sludge gamma dose rates had a range of 0.07 1.78 µSv h 1, and a mean of 0.456 ± 0.303 µSv h 1. The geometric mean of ambient soil 222Rn exhalation rate for area surrounding the sludge was mBq m 2 s 1. Radon exhalation rates reported in oil waste products were all higher than the ambient soil value and varied over three orders of magnitude. This study resulted in some unique findings including: (i) detection of radiotoxic 227Ac in the oil scales and sludge, (ii) need of a new empirical relation between petroleum sludge activity concentrations and gamma dose rates, and (iii) assessment of exhalation of 222Rn from oil sludge. Additionally the study investigated a method to determine oil scale and sludge age by the use of inherent behaviour of radionuclides as 228Ra:226Ra and 228Th:228Ra activity ratios.

The nature and extent of policing alcohol related crime and reducing violence in and around late night entertainment areas

The misuse of alcohol is well documented in Australia and has been associated with disorders and harms that often require police attention. The extent of alcohol-related incidents requiring police attention has been recorded as substantial in some Australian cities (Arro, Crook, & Fenton, 1992; Davey & French, 1995; Ireland & Thommeny, 1993). A significant proportion of harmful drinking occurs in and around licensed premises (Jochelson, 1997; Stockwell, Masters, Phillips, Daly, Gahegan, Midford, & Philp, 1998; Borges, Cherpitel, & Rosovsky, 1998) and most of these incidents are not reported to police (Bryant & Williams, 2000; Lister, Hobbs, Hall, & Winlow, 2000). Alcohol-related incidents have also been found to be concentrated in certain places at certain times (Jochelson, 1997) and therefore manipulating the context in which these incidents occur may provide a means to prevent and reduce the harm associated with alcohol misuse. One of the major objectives of the present program of research was to investigate the occurrence and resource impact of alcohol-related incidents on operational (general duties) policing across a large geographical area. A second objective of the thesis was to examine the characteristics and temporal/spatial dynamics of police attended alcohol incidents in the context of Place Based theories of crime. It was envisaged that this approach would reveal the patterns of the most prevalent offences and demonstrate the relevance of Place Based theories of crime to understanding these patterns. In addition, the role of alcohol, time and place were also explored in order to examine the association between non criminal traffic offences and other types of criminal offences. A final objective of the thesis was to examine the impact of a situational crime prevention strategy that had been initiated to reduce the violence and disorder associated with late-night liquor trading premises. The program of research in this doctorate thesis has been undertaken through the presentation of published papers. The research was conducted in three stages which produced six manuscripts, five of which were submitted to peer reviewed journals and one that was published in a peer reviewed conference proceedings. Stage One included two studies (Studies 1 & 2) both of which involved a cross sectional approach to examine the prevalence and characteristics of alcohol-related incidents requiring police attendance across three large geographical areas that included metropolitan cities, provincial regions and rural areas. Stage Two of the program of research also comprised two cross sectional quantitative studies (Studies 3 & 4) that investigated the temporal and spatial dynamics of the major offence categories attended by operational police in a specific Police District (Gold Coast). Stage Three of the program of research involved two studies (Studies 5 & 6) that assessed the effectiveness of a situational crime prevention strategy. The studies employed a pre-post design to assess the impact on crime, disorder and violence by preventing patrons from entering late-night liquor trading premises between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. (lockout policy). Although Study Five was solely quantitative in nature, Study Six included both quantitative and qualitative aspects. The approach adopted in Study Six, therefore facilitated not only a quantative comparison of the impact of the lockout policy on different policing areas, but also enabled the processes related to the implementation of the lockout policy to be examined. The thesis reports a program of research involving a common data collection method which then involved a series of studies being conducted to explore different aspects of the data. The data was collected from three sources. Firstly a pilot phase was undertaken to provide participants with training. Secondly a main study period was undertaken immediately following the pilot phase. The first and second sources of data were collected between 29th March 2004 and 2nd May 2004. Thirdly, additional data was collected between the 1st April 2005 and 31st May 2005. Participants in the current program of research were first response operational police officers who completed a modified activity log over a 9 week period (4 week pilot phase & 5 week survey study phase), identifying the type, prevalence and characteristics of alcohol-related incidents that were attended. During the study period police officers attended 31,090 alcohol-related incidents. Studies One and Two revealed that a substantial proportion of current police work involves attendance at alcohol-related incidents (i.e., 25% largely involving young males aged between 17 and 24 years). The most common incidents police attended were vehicle and/or traffic matters, disturbances and offences against property. The major category of offences most likely to involve alcohol included vehicle/traffic matters, disturbances and offences against the person (e.g., common & serious assaults). These events were most likely to occur in the late evenings and early hours of the morning on the weekends, and importantly, usually took longer for police to complete than non alcohol-related incidents. The findings in Studies Three and Four suggest that serious traffic offences, disturbances and offences against the person share similar characteristics and occur in concentrated places at similar times. In addition, it was found that time, place and incident type all have an influence on whether an incident attended by a police officer is alcohol-related. Alcohol-related incidents are more likely to occur in particular locations in the late evenings and early mornings on the weekends. In particular, there was a strong association between the occurrence of alcohol-related disturbances and alcohol-related serious traffic offences in regards to place and time. In general, stealing and property offences were not alcohol-related and occurred in daylight hours during weekdays. The results of Studies Five and Six were mixed. A number of alcohol-related offences requiring police attention were significantly reduced for some policing areas and for some types of offences following the implementation of the lockout policy. However, in some locations the lockout policy appeared to have a negative or minimal impact. Interviews with licensees revealed that although all were initially opposed to the lockout policy as they believed it would have a negative impact on business, most perceived some benefits from its introduction. Some of the benefits included, improved patron safety and the development of better business strategies to increase patron numbers. In conclusion, the overall findings of the six studies highlight the pervasive nature of alcohol across a range of criminal incidents, demonstrating the tremendous impact alcohol-related incidents have on police. The findings also demonstrate the importance of time and place in predicting the occurrence of alcohol-related offences. Although this program of research did not set out to test Place Based theories of crime, these theories were used to inform the interpretation of findings. The findings in the current research program provide evidence for the relevance of Place Based theories of crime to understanding the factors contributing to violence and disorder, and designing relevant crime prevention strategies. For instance, the results in Studies Five and Six provide supportive evidence that this novel lockout initiative can be beneficial for public safety by reducing some types of offences in particular areas in and around late-night liquor trading premises. Finally, intelligent-led policing initiatives based on problem oriented policing, such as the lockout policy examined in this thesis, have potential as a major crime prevention technique to reduce specific types of alcohol-related offences.

Show me a bad kid and I’ll show you a lousy parent : making parents responsible for youth crime in Australian and Canadian Contexts

This article surveys literature bearing on the issue of parental liability and responsibility for the crimes of young offenders, with a particular focus on comparing different approaches to dealing with the issue in Australia and Canada. This comparative analysis of Australian and Canadian legislative and policy approaches is situated within a broader discussion of arguments about the “punitive turn” in youth justice, responsibilisation, and cross-jurisdictional criminal justice policy transfer and convergence. Our findings suggest that there are significant differences in the manner and extent to which Australia and Canada have invoked parental responsibility laws and policies as part of the solution to dealing with youth crime. We conclude by speculating on some of the reasons for these differences and establishing an agenda for additional needed cross-jurisdictional research. In particular, we argue that it would be fruitful to undertake a cross-jurisdictional study that examines the development and effects of parental responsibility laws across a larger number of different Western countries as well as across individual states and provinces within these national jurisdictions.

The Criminal Codes : Commentary and Materials

This edition has been substantially revised to increase overall clarity and to ensure a balanced examination of the criminal law in the 'Code' states, Queensland and Western Australia. The work has been brought up-to-date in all areas and provides valuable comment on the recent wide-reaching reforms to the law of homicide in Western Australia. Significant developments in both states discussed in this edition include: The abolition of wilful murder and infanticide, and the new definition of murder (WA); The introduction of the new offence of unlawful assault causing death (WA); The abolition of provocation to murder (WA), and whether this excuse still has a part to play (Qld); The reformulation of the excuse of self-defence, and the introduction of excessive self-defence (WA); The creation of offences for drink spiking (Qld and WA); and Current and proposed sentencing considerations (Qld and WA). Fundamental principles of the criminal law are illustrated throughout the book by selected extracts from the Codes and case law, while additional materials foster critical reflection on the law and the need for reform.

Butterworths Questions and Answers : Criminal Law in Queensland and Western Australia

Criminal Law in Queensland and Western Australia is a new title in the Butterworths Questions and Answers (BQA) series, focusing on the criminal law in the main code states – Queensland and WA.

Biomechanical aspects of bone microstructure in vertebrates : potential approach to paleontological investigations

The biomechanical or biophysical principles can be applied to study biological structures in their modern or fossil form. Bone is an important tissue in paleontological studies as it is a commonly preserved element in most fossil vertebrates, and can often allow its microstructures such as lacuna and canaliculi to be studied in detail. In this context, the principles of Fluid Mechanics and Scaling Laws have been previously applied to enhance the understanding of bone microarchitecture and their implications for the evolution of hydraulic structures to transport fluid. It has been shown that the microstructure of bone has evolved to maintain efficient transport between the nutrient supply and cells, the living components of the tissue. Application of the principle of minimal expenditure of energy to this analysis shows that the path distance comprising five or six lamellar regions represents an effective limit for fluid and solute transport between the nutrient supply and cells; beyond this threshold, hydraulic resistance in the network increases and additional energy expenditure is necessary for further transportation. This suggests an optimization of the size of bone’s building blocks (such as osteon or trabecular thickness) to meet the metabolic demand concomitant to minimal expenditure of energy. This biomechanical aspect of bone microstructure is corroborated from the ratio of osteon to Haversian canal diameters and scaling constants of several mammals considered in this study. This aspect of vertebrate bone microstructure and physiology may provide a basis of understanding of the form and function relationship in both extinct and extant taxa.

Traceability : retracing law and public policy on measurement standards

This presentation outlines key aspects of public policy in broad terms insofar as they relate to establishment, implementation and compliance with legal measurement standards. It refers in particular to traceability of a legal measurement unit from its source in a single international standard as a compliance issue. It comments on accreditation of legal measurement and liability concerned with errors in measurement.

Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment : criminal responsibility for established medical practice?

The law recognises the right of a competent adult to refuse medical treatment even if this will lead to death. Guardianship and other legislation also facilitates the making of decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment in certain circumstances. Despite this apparent endorsement that such decisions can be lawful, doubts have been raised in Queensland about whether decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment would contravene the criminal law, and particularly the duty imposed by the Criminal Code (Qld) to provide the “necessaries of life”. This article considers this tension in the law and examines various arguments that might allow for such decisions to be made lawfully. It ultimately concludes, however, that criminal responsibility may still arise and so reform is needed.

Engagement with information and communication technology and psychological well-being

The impact of technology on the health and well-being of workers has been a topic of interest since computers and computerized technology were widely introduced in the 1980s. Of recent concern is the impact of rapid technological advances on individuals’ psychological well-being, especially due to advancements in mobile technology which have increased many workers’ accessibility and expected productivity. In this chapter we focus on the associations between occupational stress and technology, especially behavioral and psychological reactions. We discuss some key facilitators and barriers associated with users’ acceptance of and engagement with information and communication technology. We conclude with recommendations for ongoing research on managing occupational health and well-being in conjunction with technological advancements.

“Show me a bad kid and I’ll show you a lousy parent” : making parents responsible for youth crime in Australian and Canadian contexts

In this article we survey relevant international literature on the issue of parental liability and responsibility for the crimes of young offenders. In addition, as a starting point for needed cross-jurisdictional research, we focus on different approaches that have been taken to making parents responsible for youth crime in Australia and Canada. This comparative analysis of Australian and Canadian legislative and policy approaches is situated within a broader discussion of arguments about parental responsibility, the ‘punitive turn’ in youth justice, and cross-jurisdictional criminal justice policy transfer and convergence. One unexpected finding of our literature survey is the relatively sparse attention given to the issue of parental responsibility for youth crime in legal and criminological literature compared to the attention it receives in the media and popular-public culture. In Part I we examine the different views that have been articulated in the social science literature for and against parental responsibility laws, along with arguments that have been made about why such laws have been enacted in an increasing number of Western countries in recent years. In Part II, we situate our comparative study of Australian and Canadian legislative and policy approaches within a broader discussion of arguments about the ‘punitive turn’ in youth justice, responsibilisation, and cross-jurisdictional criminal justice policy transfer and convergence. In Part III, we identify and examine the scope of different parental responsibility laws that have been enacted in Australia and Canada; noting significant differences in the manner and extent to which parental responsibility laws and policies have been invoked as part of the solution to dealing with youth crime. In our concluding discussion, in Part IV, we try to speculate on some of the reasons for these differences and set an agenda for needed future research on the topic.

Psychological predictors of young adults' use of social networking sites

Young people are increasingly using social networking sites (SNSs), like Myspace and Facebook, to engage with others. The use of SNSs can have both positive and negative effects on the individual; however, few research studies identify the types of people who frequent these Internet sites. This study sought to predict young adults’ use of SNSs and addictive tendency towards the use of SNSs from their personality characteristics and levels of self-esteem. University students (N = 201), aged 17 to 24 years, reported their use of SNSs and addictive tendencies for SNSs use, and completed the NEO Five-Factor Personality Inventory 1 and the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory.2 Multiple regression analyses revealed that, as a group, the personality and self-esteem factors significantly predicted both level of SNS use and addictive tendency but did not explain a large amount of variance in either outcome measure. The findings indicated that extraverted and unconscientious individuals reported higher levels of both SNS use and addictive tendencies. Future research should attempt to identify which other psychosocial characteristics explain young people’s level of use and propensity for addictive tendencies for these popular Internet sites.

Legal aspects of Web 2.0 activities : management of legal risk associated with use of YouTube, MySpace and Second Life

This Report, prepared for Smart Service Queensland (“SSQ”), addresses legal issues, areas of risk and other factors associated with activities conducted on three popular online platforms—YouTube, MySpace and Second Life (which are referred to throughout this Report as the “Platforms”). The Platforms exemplify online participatory spaces and behaviours, including blogging and networking, multimedia sharing, and immersive virtual environments.