The failures of neo-liberal state building in Iraq: assessing Australia's post-conflict reconstruction and development Initiatives

This article examines Australia's post-conflict reconstruction and development initiatives in Iraq following the intervention of 2003. Overall, it finds that Australia privileged the neo-liberal model of post-conflict state building by investing in projects that would enhance the capacity of the new Iraqi state, its key institutions and the private sector towards the imposition of a liberal democracy and a free-market economy. To demonstrate, this article documents the failures of the Australian government's stated aims to "support agriculture" and "support vulnerable populations" via interviews conducted in Iraq with rural farmers and tribal members and those working in, or the beneficiaries of, Iraq's disability sector. It concludes by noting that such failures are not only indicative of the inadequacy of the neo-liberal state building model, but also that these failures point the way forward for future post-conflict reconstruction and development projects which ought to be premised on a genuine and sustained commitment to addressing the needs of those made most vulnerable by war and regime change.

Filicide and parental separation and divorce

This paper discusses the findings of a ten-year study of filicide in Victoria, Australia, using the data from selected case files held in the Victorian coroner's office for the period 2000–09. The study sought to examine whether separation is a factor in filicide cases, as well as the role of other factors, such as domestic violence and mental illness. Also, the study sought to identify whether filicide perpetrators had contact with support services, including family and friends, general practitioners, mental health services and child protection services, in order to ascertain how these services might more appropriately identify those families most at risk prior to the filicide. The study found that while separation was a factor identified in a significant number of cases, more cases analysed showed evidence of mental illness, mainly depression. These findings suggest the need for improved strategies in preventing filicide by identifying risk factors and improving service responses for victims prior to these tragic events.

An abominable crime: filicide in the context of parental separation and divorce

The victims of filicide in the context of parental separation and divorce have recently been identified as the largest group among all filicide victims in Australia. Nevertheless, research into this group of victims has been sparse, fragmentary and contradictory, with the consequence that confusion has prevailed. This article critically reflects on the existing research on filicide and argues that it has been insufficiently comprehensive and reliable and, therefore, is not suitable for use as a knowledge base for professional individuals, programmatic and policy interventions, and prevention. The article suggests ways of developing more reliable research for knowledge building and details the data developed so far that underpins their recommendations for a national programme of research.

Aid in post-conflict states: The relief-development relationship.

This thesis explores how aid can be most effectively implemented in the post-conflict transition from emergency to development assistance, across three sectors: water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health, and nutrition and food security. Perceptions of transition are examined and recommendations are made for aid implementation in the field.

A mechanism to end conflict in Aceh

On 15 August 2005, the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed an agreement to end almost 30 years of conflict between them over claims to independence. After a series of failed ceasefires, this was the first comprehensive peace agreement, and contained within it the potential to settle the political and economic claims that fuelled a desire for separation in Aceh. The talks that led to the peace agreement followed the devastating tsunami of 26 December 2004, which killed over 100,000 people in Aceh, and an escalated military campaign by the Indonesian military against GAM forces. The talks were brokered by an international mediation organisation and supported by the European Union (EU). Despite some opposition within Jakarta, the talks were ultimately successful, producing an agreement that addressed many of the fundamental concerns of the Acehnese, especially around economic redistribution and local political representation. The EU agreed to monitor the agreement by sending a 200 strong Aceh Monitoring Mission (AAM), supported by monitors from ASEAN states. The main purpose of the AMM was to oversee the decommissioning of GAM weapons and the withdrawal of most Indonesian troops and police. It was thereafter expected to retain a smaller presence in order to monitor the implementation of other aspects of the agreement. The Aceh peace agreement faced a number of hurdles, including whether or not the Indonesian military would work to undermine the peace agreement, and over the continuing presence in Aceh of the military’s proxy militias. There were also concerns that the legislation required to secure aspects of the peace agreement might not be passed by the Indonesian legislature or would be diluted to the point that they would no longer be acceptable to GAM. However, as a politically negotiated agreement to end the conflict, the peace agreement was seen as establishing the model for peace in the region, and was touted by some observers as providing the basis for a model for peace in other parts of Indonesia’s sometimes troubled archipelago.

The separation of ownership and control under a happiness-based theory of the corporation

Explores the happiness-based theory of the corporation, suggesting that there is no conflict between the pursuance of economic and social objectives on the basis that their interplay is required to facilitate shareholder happiness. Considers: (1) the Berle-Means hypothesis and the separation of ownership and control, the dominant governance structure for large companies; (2) a happiness-based perspective on the separation; and (3) law reform applicable to a happiness-based theory. Argues that the separation of ownership and control is not in shareholders' best interests because the structure is not conducive to the happiness of individual shareholders and should be reformed.

Assessing adult adjustment to relationship separation : the Psychological Adjustment to Separation Test (PAST)

Relationship separation is associated with substantial adult adjustment problems. The Psychological Adjustment to Separation Test (PAST) was developed as a self-report measure of 3 key dimensions of separation adjustment problems: lonely negativity, ex-partner attachment and coparenting conflict. Two independent samples (n = 219 and n = 169, respectively) of recently separated adults, 60% of whom had children, completed the PAST and other measures of general adjustment. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated a replicable 3-factor structure, with each factor showing satisfactory test–retest and internal reliability and good convergent and discriminant validity. The PAST meets initial criteria for a potentially useful new measure of adult separation adjustment.

Wrestling with `conflict of interest` in sport management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the relationship between sport and business has increased the complexity of ethical issues affecting contemporary sport management. Specifically, this paper seeks to define conflict of interest and how it is manifested in both business and sport.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a conceptual discussion of the issue of conflict of interest as it relates to the management and governance of sports organizations. Relationships between business ethics, governance and sport management are examined in the quest to understand conflict of interest and its prevalence in and relevance to sport management.
Findings – Conflicts of interest within the sport industry may have the same structural elements as those occurring in mainstream business, such as benefits, obligations and issues of trust, but it is the higher societal expectations and values placed on sport and sporting organizations that provide the key points of difference.
Practical implications – Through collaboration with sport management practitioners, via inductive in-depth research, a clearer definition of conflict of interest and the range of situations in which it may occur can be developed. It is through a continued research effort in this area that sport managers will be better able to both identify and manage conflicts of interest as they occur.
Originality/value – It is the lack of definitive examples or guidelines for recognition of an actual or a potential conflict of interest that appears to cause the greatest confusion within sport management. By drawing together the key concepts found within the extant literature, a clearer understanding of what constitutes a conflict of interest is provided by this paper.

Use of a decision aid for prenatal testing of fetal abnormalities to improve women's informed decision making: a cluster randomised controlled trial [ISRCTN22532458]

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of a decision aid for prenatal testing of fetal abnormalities compared with a pamphlet in supporting women's decision making.
Design A cluster randomised controlled trial.
Setting Primary health care.
Population Women in early pregnancy consulting a GP.
Methods GPs were randomised to provide women with either a decision aid or a pamphlet. The decision aid was a 24-page booklet designed using the Ottowa Decision Framework. The pamphlet was an existing resource available in the trial setting.
Main outcome measures Validated scales were used to measure the primary outcomes, informed choice and decisional conflict, and the secondary outcomes, anxiety, depression, attitudes to the pregnancy/fetus and acceptability of the resource. Outcomes were measured at 14 weeks of gestation from questionnaires that women completed and returned by post.
Findings Women in the intervention group were more likely to make an informed decision 76% (126/165) than those in the control group 65% (107/165) (adjusted OR 2.08; 95% CI 1.14–3.81). A greater proportion of women in the intervention group 88% (147/167) had a 'good' level of knowledge than those in the control group 72% (123/171) (adjusted OR 3.43; 95% CI 1.79–6.58). Mean (SD) decisional conflict scores were low in both groups, decision aid 1.71 (0.49), pamphlet 1.65 (0.55) (adjusted mean difference 0.10; 95% CI −0.02 to 0.22). There was no strong evidence of differences between the trial arms in the measures of psychological or acceptability outcomes.
Conclusion A tailored prenatal testing decision aid plays an important role in improving women's knowledge of first and second trimester screening tests and assisting them to make decisions about screening and diagnostic tests that are consistent with their values.

From reform to repression : the post-New Order's shifting security policies in Aceh

The article examines Indonesia's capacity to deal with the contemporary Aceh conflict from a policy perspective. The author examines the impact of regime change on state capacity and democratization on center-periphery relations. She also evaluates the post-New Order regime's different security policies in Aceh, how and why they have failed and what this has meant for Indonesia's reform process.

The impact of ownership structure on corporate debt policy : two stage least square simultaneous model approach for post crisis period : evidence from Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange

Ownership concentration as a governance mechanism has received considerable attention among academician, practitioners as well as policy makers because large-block shareholders are increasingly active in their demands that corporations adopt effective governance mechanisms to control managerial decisions, which include corporate debt policy. Earlier study on the agency model of the firm widely recognizes that the managerial ownership and external debt play an important role in mitigating agency conflicts and enhancing firm value. They also found that increase in the external monitors, for example the institutional investors, can actually play a useful role in limiting agency problems in the firm. This paper, using 100 Composite Index companies from Brusa Malaysia between 1998 to 2002 explores the impact of institutional holdings on managerial ownership and debt policy in an integrated framework by using a simultaneous equations estimation procedure (2SLS). The findings show that there is a significant impact of institutional ownership which serves effective control mechanism on managerial ownership and corporate debt policy as hypothesized. Findings of such evidence suggest that institutional holding thus have played an important role in managers' strategic management decision and reduce agency conflict. In addition, corporate debt policy too is governed by managerial ownership and exhibited a negative relation.

Rebuilding regimes or rebuilding community? Teachers' agency for social reconstruction

Non-government organisations (NGOs) are playing an increasingly significant role in post-conflict situations as donor funding pours into rebuilding programs. Donor funding supports the development of a range of humanitarian and civic programs such as peace restoration, civic reconstruction and peace-keeping. This article is a case study of the rebuilding of the education system in post-conflict Iraq that contextualises the activities sanctioned by new regime and aid agencies in post-conflict Iraq. While the war and crisis in Iraq continues to fuel great debate, a full political discussion falls outside the scope of this paper. Instead, the intention is to unpack the way that the dominant regime rehabilitates the education system in a seemingly apolitical way. Attempts to rebuild the Iraqi education system appear to be a case of the separation of political rehabilitation and social reconstruction. As the need for the new regime to assert political legitimacy grows, an institution such as education experiences vast changes as local educational practices are restructured to complement the new regime. In this process, the local teachers and their cultural and educational expertise are overshadowed by the ‘neutral’ politics of reconstruction. However, the rebuilding of education systems is a political process, the politics of which are evident in the way that critical agents, such as teachers, are being reshaped in the image of the new regime. Teachers have the capacity to contribute to the long-term social and cultural rebuilding of post-conflict nations through their broad social and educational agency. However, the educational policy and plans of regime-sponsored funding effectively marginalise the important role of local educators in the civic rebuilding. Teachers’ agency in Iraq is being overlooked as a means of using educators as peace-keepers who can build long-term educational capacity and stability in the post-conflict situation.

Current findings on Australian children in postseparation disputes : outer conflict, inner discord

This paper sets out descriptive baseline data on the first 111 Australian families participating in a current study of the efficacy of child-focused and child-inclusive Family Law Mediation. The families come from the first of two treatment groups in that comparative study. While outcome data are not yet available on this group, the baseline data, gathered prior to intervention, are of interest and value. The paper describes the nature of parents' conflict with each other, the strength of their parental alliance, and the psychological functioning of their children at the time of presentation to the mediation service. High mental health risk for the children in these families is evident, both from parents' and children's perspectives. Uniquely, the paper includes the perceptions of 73 children about their parents' conflict and its impact on them. Implications are discussed, underscoring the imperative of early intervention with separating families that includes screening of the children's experience of conflict and their own needs for recovery.

Aid to conflict-affected countries : lessons for donors

The first section looks at the implications of conflict for aid effectiveness and selectivity. We argue that, while aid is generally effective in promoting growth and by implication reducing poverty, it is more effective in promoting growth in post-conflict countries. We then consider the implications of these findings for donor selectivity models and for assessment of donor performance in allocating development aid among recipient countries. We argue that, while further research on aid effectiveness in post-conflict scenarios is needed, existing selectivity models should be augmented with, inter alia, post-conflict variables, and donors should be evaluated on the basis, inter alia, of the share of their aid budgets allocated to countries experiencing post-conflict episodes. We also argue for aid delivered in the form of projects to countries with weak institutions in early post-conflict years. The second section focuses on policies for donors operating in conflict-affected countries. We set out five of the most important principles: (1) focus on broad-based recovery from war; (2) to achieve a broad-based recovery, get involved before the conflict ends; (3) focus on poverty, but avoid ‘wish lists’; (4) help to reduce insecurity so aid can contribute more effectively to growth and poverty reduction; and (5) in economic reform, focus on improving public expenditure management and revenue mobilisation. The third section concludes by emphasising the fact that there is no hard or fast dividing line between ‘war’ and ‘peace’ and that it may take many years for a society to become truly ‘post’-conflict’. Donors, therefore, need to prepare for the long haul.