An exploratory qualitative study of the self-reported impact of female-perpetrated childhood sexual abuse

The limited findings on the impact of female-perpetrated sexual abuse of children are often contradictory, particularly in relation to males. In this exploratory qualitative study, a sample of nine men and five women who reported that they had been sexually abused by women in their childhood were recruited from the general community. They completed a questionnaire that asked them to describe various aspects of their abuse experiences and the perceived consequences. For both men and women, the abuse was associated with negative outcomes across a range of functional areas in both childhood and adulthood. Many impacts were similar to those reported by victims of male-perpetrated sexual abuse. It is argued that the consequences of female-perpetrated child sexual abuse are serious, and further research is required to bring these issues to the awareness of both the public and professionals working in the field of child protection and counseling.

The relationship between investigative interviewing experience and open-ended question usage

We present three studies examining the role of prior job experience in interviewing and interviewers’ ability to learn open-ended questions during a training program. We predicted a negative relationship such that more experienced interviewers would perform worse after training than less experienced interviewers, and that (irrespective of baseline performance) the more experienced interviewers would improve the least during training. These predictions were made for two reasons. First, specific questions are commonly used in the workplace (i.e. open-ended questioning constitutes new learning). Second, experience in the use of specific questions potentially interferes with newly learned open-ended questions. Overall, our predictions were supported across different participant samples (including police officers specialized in child abuse investigation and social workers from the child protection area), time delays, and modes of training. The results highlight the need for investment in ongoing investigative interviewing training commencing early during professionals’ careers, prior to the establishment of long-term habits in the use of specific questions.

Professionals' perceptions of a new model of sexual assault investigation adopted by Victoria Police

This article presents a qualitative evaluation of a new method of operation for sexual assault investigation developed by Victoria Police. The model is characterised by two core components: the establishment of specialist teams of investigators responsible for investigation and victim support; and the establishment of service sites, referred to as 'Multidisciplinary Centres', where all key services are located in a single building separate from police stations. The research approach consisted of in-depth interviews with 90 stakeholders (police, counsellors, medical officers, child protection workers and prosecutors). Collectively, these interviews revealed strong, unanimous support for the ideologies that underpinned the new reforms. Reported outcomes included the following: improved collaboration; increased victim satisfaction, referrals between professionals and reporting rates; reduced response and investigation times; better quality briefs; and higher prosecution and conviction rates. These findings, along with the stakeholders' suggestions for further improvements, are discussed.

The children's court of South Australia

This chapter provides an overview of the history and development of the Youth Court in South Australia. Drawing on interviews conducted with judicial officers and Court stakeholders, we highlight some of the changes that have taken place since the Court’s inception, as well as how the Court currently understands its role and positioning within the broader justice and welfare systems.

Key discussion points of these interviews included the Youth Court’s guiding principles and how they impact on Court procedures and responses to young people in the system, as well as the challenges that limit, or create dif fi culties for, the effective operation of the Youth Court.

It is concluded that the Youth Court system attempts to balance both welfare and justice approaches to dealing with young people, but these approaches are sometimes hindered in practice by inadequate procedural, structural and resource- related factors. Limitations of the Court and its processes are often difficult to evaluate in isolation from the broader system in which the Court is positioned.

Untitled (I know subtle cartographies)

This short poem parodies Wallace Stevens' '13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird': VIII to show how the knowledge of the current Australian 'border protection' policy regarding refugees contaminates all aspects of our ethical being.

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.

A history of urban planning policy and heritage protection in Vientiane, Laos

This paper examines the tensions between modernisation and heritage protection in the Lao capital, Vientiane. Vientiane provides an interesting case study of the dilemmas facing small cities in developing countries as those countries try to manage the pressures that result from greater integration in regional and global processes of economic and cultural change. While modernisation appears to be winning out over heritage  protection, the paper concludes that they are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and that heritage protection in Vientiane is largely aimed at  reinforcing monumental and nation-building elements, emphasising the  development of a contemporary national capital of a modern nation state.

On-track to what? Foucauldian analysis of Victorian post-compulsory education policy

Current ideas of adolescent development portray a slow steady movement toward adulthood. These notions developed hand in hand with social practices that evolved in the latter half of the 19th century and contemporaneously with modernisation. During this period conceptions of adolescence included longer stays in school, organised leisure activities, juvenile justice policies and the protection of youth from child labour. Lesko (2001) works from a position that the modern age is defined by time, an understanding that events and change are meaningful in their occurrence in and through time. She examines adolescence as partaking of panoptical time which is condensed and commodified; a time framework that compels us - scholars, educators, parents, and teenagers - to attend to progress, precocity, arrest, or decline" (2001 p.41). Panoptical time can be used to explore how ideas of what is 'normal' development can be used to privilege particular ways of being an adolescent, to monitor who is deemed to be 'at risk' of not conforming to that model and to govern their behaviour. A Foucauldian analysis suggests the formation of 'at risk' identities reflects historically specific discourses. An understanding of how these and other discursive constructions are formed opens the way for resistance. This presentation explores the recent implementation of On-Track and On-Track Connect within Victorian government policy and explores the experience of a Local Learning and Employment Network in implementing the policy.

Child labour and supply chain : profitability or (mis)management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a realistic assessment, with an historical perspective, of the current practises and progress made by organisations towards elimination of child labour in global supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach – Literature review in the area of use of child labour within the global supply chain was combined with additional information obtained from the company searches of the GRI database, company ranking tables, and other sources.

Findings – Child labour is one of a number of areas of concern in global supply chains. Continued exploitation of child labour indicates an imbalanced state and consequently forces can be unleashed through standardization, collaboration and communication amongst all stakeholders to ensure protection of the vulnerable. This paper is part of the broader analysis informing incremental changes to supply chain management to preserve the rights and welfare of children in the present and future generations. Research/limitations/implications – The analysis is based on secondary data sources and further research is thus needed to verify the individual weightings of the criteria used in the primary ranking of the companies.

Practical implications – The findings provide encouragement for policy and decision makers to implement incremental changes to global supply chains in order to protect the rights and welfare of children, according to the standards of Social Accountability (SA) 8000, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and other world trade stakeholders.

Originality/value – This paper questions the view that child labour incidences have diminished proportional to economic development. A swinging fulcrum with hidden traps for developed and developing nations in light of cross border transactions through supply chains has been proposed.

Domestic violence and the exemption from seeking child support : providing safety or legitimizing ongoing poverty and fear

This article examines the experience of low-income women on welfare in Australia and the process of seeking child support from a violent ex-partner, contrasting this with research from the United States and the United Kingdom. Women in Australia who fear ongoing or renewed abuse as a result of seeking child support are eligible for an exemption. However, the exemption policy does not necessarily provide the intended protection of women and children from ongoing abuse and poverty. The exemption policy route also produces an unintended outcome whereby the perpetrators of violence are financially rewarded as they do not have to pay child support. These outcomes are shaped by a complex interaction of personal, cultural and structural forces that make the process of seeking child support for women who have experienced violence extremely problematic. The article demonstrates how in Australia, as in the US and UK policy contexts, the needs of women and their children are compromised by the details of policy specification and the way policies are implemented within the different systems.

Supporting rights-based ideas in policy and practice

Principles of human rights rest at the heart of social justice and notions of an inclusive society. This article seeks to refocus practice attention on the issue of human rights and the ways in which rights-based ideas can be integrated across practice, policy and legal domains. It argues that creating systems in which critical components mutually reinforce rightsbased ideas will be more likely to have the depth of influence required to shift thinking toward rights-based practice and maintain its endurance over time.

Australia’s position on medicines policy in international forums: Intellectual property protection and public health

Universal access to affordable medicines, which are safe, efficacious and of high quality, and which are appropriately used, depends on national legislation that is in turn constrained by a range of international agreements. This regulatory configuration also affects the profitability of the pharmaceutical industry, domestic and international. Tensions and contradictions between industry profitability and public health objectives relate to access, innovation and regulation.

Family food environments as determinants of preschool-aged children`s eating behaviours: implications for obesity prevention policy. A review.

Children's eating behaviours are fundamental to their health. Dietary surveys indicate that children's food consumption is likely to promote a range of diet-related diseases, including overweight and obesity, which are associated with a range of psychosocial and physical disorders. With the prevalence of overweight and obesity rapidly increasing, opportunities for informed prevention have become a focus of strategy. Diet is recognised as important in the genesis of obesity. We present data that demonstrate that eating behaviours are likely to be established early in life and may be maintained into adulthood. We review literature that shows that children's eating behaviours are influenced by the family food environment. These findings suggest that the family environment should be considered in developing obesity prevention strategy for children, yet the current strategy focuses primarily on the school environment. Those factors in the family environment that appear to be important include: parental food preferences and beliefs, children's food exposure; role modelling; media exposure; and child-parent interactions around food. However, the existing data are based on small scale and unrepresentative US samples. At a population level, we have few insights regarding family food environments and consequently little information about how such environments influence children's eating behaviours and thus their risk for obesity. We suggest research that may promote a better understanding of the role of family food environments as determinants of children's eating behaviour, and consider the implications for obesity prevention in Australia. (Aust J Nutr Diet 2001;58:19-25)