Enhancing school connectedness to prevent violence and promote wellbeing

School connectedness is “the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported by others in the school social environment” (Goodenow, 1993, p. 80). It is an important predictor of school violence, as well as related outcomes such as health risk behaviors and mental health. Connectedness reduces initial incidents of violence, buffers the effect of violence exposure, and promotes an anti-bullying culture. School violence and bullying have also been associated with a subsequent decrease in school connectedness. Several theories contribute to our understanding of these relations but the construct, theoretical underpinnings, and pathways in and out of school connectedness require further examination. Despite numerous promising interventions, this line of research is in its infancy. Interventions harnessing this protective factor may have a ubiquitous positive impact on adolescent development.

Home sustainability policy and mandatory disclosure. a survey of buyer and seller participation and awareness in Qld

Sustainability Declarations were introduced by the Queensland State Government on 1 January 2010 as a mandatory disclosure measure for all dwelling sales in the State. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact this policy decision has had in the homebuyer decision-making process in the first year since its introduction and to consider the effectiveness of the legislation in meeting its policy objectives. This quantitative research comprised a two-part process: the first stage surveyed the level of compliance by the real estate industry with the legislative requirements. Stage two comprised an online survey of Real Estate Institute of Queensland members to determine what impact the Sustainability Declaration has had on home buyer decision making and how effective the legislative mechanisms have been in achieving the policy objectives. This paper assesses the initial impact of this initiative over its first year in operation. These preliminary findings indicate a high level of compliance from the real estate industry, however results confirm that sustainability is yet to become a criterion of relevance to the majority of homebuyers in Queensland. These quantitative findings support anecdotal evidence that the objectives of the legislation to increase homebuyer awareness and relevance of sustainability issues in the home are not being achieved. Sustainability Declarations are a first step in raising homebuyer awareness of the importance of sustainability in housing. Further monitoring of this impact will be carried out over time. This is the first research undertaken to assess the impact of this new mandatory disclosure legislation in Queensland, Australia. The findings will inform policy makers and assist them to assess the effectiveness of the current legislation in achieving its policy objectives.

Anatomy of a Sub-tropical Positive Energy Home (PEH)

Zero energy buildings (ZEB) and zero energy homes (ZEH) are a current hot topic globally for policy makers (what are the benefits and costs), designers (how do we design them), the construction industry (can we build them), marketing (will consumers buy them) and researchers (do they work and what are the implications). This paper presents initial findings from actual measured data from a 9 star (as built), off-ground detached family home constructed in south-east Queensland in 2008. The integrated systems approach to the design of the house is analysed in each of its three main goals: maximising the thermal performance of the building envelope, minimising energy demand whilst maintaining energy service levels, and implementing a multi-pronged low carbon approach to energy supply. The performance outcomes of each of these stages are evaluated against definitions of Net Zero Carbon / Net Zero Emissions (Site and Source) and Net Zero Energy (onsite generation vs primary energy imports). The paper will conclude with a summary of the multiple benefits of combining very high efficiency building envelopes with diverse energy management strategies: a robustness, resilience, affordability and autonomy not generally seen in housing.

Review of "Violence, Prejudice and Sexuality" by Stephen Tomsen (Routledge, New York and London, 2009)

Tomsen’s book Violence, Prejudice and Sexuality engages with important questions about sexuality and anti homosexual sentiment that criminologists have grappled with for some time. Tomsen’s work refines these questions in the context of essentialism, and notes how this concept has enabled only very specific ways of thinking about and analysing violence, prejudice, and sexuality. Indeed, thinking about the nexus between these three concepts are now almost taken for granted. As Tomsen demonstrates in his discussion of historical understandings of sexual desire, although social constructionism and queer perspectives have challenged essentialist notions of sexuality, research has in many respects upheld a binary understanding of heterosexuality as normal and homosexuality as abnormal. Interestingly, essentialist binaries like this have been conveniently employed in more recent times when activists align with minority status to gain basic human rights. While no one could deny the importance of access to rights and justice, Tomsen notes the danger inherent in arguments like this that draw on essentialism. He argues we are working through similar dichotomies of heterosexuality as normal and homosexuality as abnormal set up in very early research on sexual desire. The key difference now is that, in the rush towards public and political citizenship, ‘heterosexuals are recast as “perpetrators” and homosexuals as “victims”’ (Tomsen 2009: 16). Violence, Prejudice and Sexuality importantly notes this is no less an essentialist dichotomy and no less divisive....

Child welfare policy and practice on children’s exposure to domestic violence

There are emerging movements in several countries to improve policy and practice to protect children from exposure to domestic violence. These movements have resulted in the collection of new data on EDV and the design and implementation of new child welfare policies and practices. To assist with the development of child welfare practice, this article summarizes current knowledge on the prevalence of EDV, and on child welfare services policies and practices that may hold promise for reducing the frequency and impact of EDV on children. We focus on Australia, Canada, and the United States, as these countries share a similar socio-legal context, a long history of enacting and expanding legislation about reporting of maltreatment, debates regarding the application of reporting laws to EDV, and new child welfare practices that show promise for responding more effectively to EDV.

Accounting at home in developing economies : Current practices and implications for the accounting professional

We determine the extent of accounting at home in developing economies in this research. We then consider the role of the accounting profession may have in promoting accounting values at home. A language of business, accounting today plays a fundamental support role within the business community to evaluate the impact past decisions, and foresees directions for future initiatives. Sound accounting practices are fundamental to ensure symmetrical information dissemination across various stakeholders. Accounting literature has sought to investigate a number of questions that attempt to improve the practice of accounting in the corporate world. Equally, we must obtain adequate understanding of how we use accounting in our everyday life, and how accounting could assist the people most affected by the effects of accounting scandals, economic conditions, and corporate collapses.

Family literacy practices and home literacy resources : an Australian pilot study

The combined impact of social class, cultural background and experience upon early literacy achievement in the first year of schooling is among the most durable questions in educational research. Links have been established between social class and achievement but literacy involves complex social and cognitive practices that are not necessarily reflected in the connections that have been made. The complexity of relationships between social class, cultural background and experience, and their impact on early literacy achievement have received little research attention. Recent refinements of the broad terms of social class or socioeconomic status have questioned the established links between social class and achievement. Nevertheless, it remains difficult to move beyond deficit and mismatch models of explaining and understanding the underperformance of children from lower socioeconomic and cultural minority groups when conventional measures are used. The data from an Australian pilot study reported here add to the increasing evidence that income is not necessarily related directly to home literacy resources or to how those resources are used. Further, the data show that the level of print resources in the home may not be a good indicator of the level of use of those resources.