Prison officer's beliefs regarding self-harm in prisoners : an empirical investigation

The prevention of self-harm and suicide in prisoners depends on good interaction between the individual prisoner and prison staff. Staff perceptions of prisoner self-harm are likely to be a crucial factor influencing this interaction. The aim of the present study was to determine correctional officers' perception of the causes and functions of self-harm, and the effects of incident severity and repetitiveness on perceptions. A sample of 76 correctional officers was presented with a vignette depicting a self-harm in which the severity and repetitiveness of the incident was systematically altered. Officers' rated both the causes and functions of the behaviour. Four attributional dimensions were identified by factor analysis. These factors related primarily to personal factors about the individual prisoner. Staff perceived the functions of self-harm to be communicative rather than to commit suicide. Perceptions were not affected by severity or repetitiveness information, except for high severity leading to a greater perception of suicidal intent. Initiatives to help staff work more effectively and therapeutically with distressed prisoners are therefore likely to impact positively upon rates of self-harm.

Taxpayer beliefs and views : two new surveys

The importance of behavioural economics in supplementing and extending the neoclassical analysis of taxpayer behaviour has been recognised for some time. This paper summarises contributions to date and outlines a way forward for integrating the behavioural and neoclassical approaches and developing a more coherent strategy of encouraging taxpayer compliance.The paper then provides significant further evidence relating to taxpayer behaviour by reporting some of the main results of two substantial surveys (N =2,040 and 2,374) of Australian citizens' beliefs, attitudes, values and motivations with respect to the tax system, widely defined. It is concluded that the behaviour of Australian taxpayers is not determined only by considerations of narrow economic rationality based on the expected financial costs and benefits of compliance or non-compliance but is also influenced by a much wider range of factors. Examination of the importance of these other factors might be the most fruitful way of improving tax compliance in the future.

Development of a model to explain the sexual beliefs, intentions and behaviours of adolescents and young adults

In the last thirty years there have been many research studies which have examined the reasons why adolescents and young adults engage in sexual behaviours. Most of these studies have lacked a theoretical basis, Consequently there are many links made between variables, but no consistency across studies, or attempts to develop an underlying theory to explain the results. However, there have been theoretical models developed to explain adolescents’ and young adults’ sexual decision making. Unfortunately, many of these models have not been empirically validated. This thesis attempts to address these deficiencies in the literature by utilising a theory of behaviour and applying it to adolescent and young adult sexual decision making. This theory is the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Two longitudinal studies were conducted to examine the utility of an adaptation of the TPB to sexual decision making among adolescents and young adults. In the first study 58 adolescent males, aged between 14 years and 18 years participated in a longitudinal study using a questionnaire adapted from the Depth of Sexual Involvement Scale. In the second study, 194 young adults (156 female, 38 male) aged between 18 years and 21 years participated in a similar study. The first study found that intention to engage in behaviour was well predicted, although some of the variables in the model, did not in fact, contribute significantly to the prediction. The prediction of behaviour was less strong than that of intention. Study two found that intention to engage in behaviours was well predicted by the model. However, the degree to which intention led to behaviour was not well predicted. Overall, the results of these studies suggest that the TPB is a good theoretical basis from which to launch a systematic and theoretically informed explanation of adolescent and young adult sexual decision making. However, other factors may need to be added to the model to fully describe the decision making process and accurately predict behaviour. Suggestions are made for future research, as well as interventions that may arise as more knowledge is gathered using this paradigm.

Ongoing colonial legacy : contemporary education beliefs and practices in Papua New Guinea

In the late 1980ˇ¦s, a realisation that the western education system bequeathed to Papua New Guinea at the time of Independence had functioned to devalue and marginalise many of the traditional beliefs, knowledge and skills students brought with them to education, led to a period of significant education reform. The Reform was premised on the report of a Ministerial Review Committee called A Philosophy of Education. This report made recommendations about how education in Papua New Guinea could respond to the issues and challenges this nation faced as it sought to chart a course to serve the needs of its citizens on its own terms. The issues associated with managing and implementing institutionalised educational change premised on importing western values and practices are a central theme of this thesis. The impact of importing foreign curriculum and associated curriculum officers and consultants to assist with curriculum change and development in the former Language and Literacy unit of the Curriculum Development Division, is considered in three related sections of this report: „P a critical review of the imported educational system and related practices and related issues since Independence „P narrative report of the experience of two colleagues in western education „P evidential research based on curriculum Reform in the Language and Literacy Unit. How Papua New Guinea has sought to come to terms with the issues and challenges that arose in response to a practice of importing western curriculum both at the time of Independence and currently through the Reform, are explored throughout the thesis. The findings issues reveal much about the capacity of individuals and institutions to respond to a post-colonial world particularly associated with an ongoing colonial legacy in the principle researcherˇ¦s work context. The thesis argues that the challenges Papua New Guinea curriculum officers face today, as they manage and implement changes associated with another imported curriculum are caught up in existing power relations. These power relations function to stifle creative thinking at a time when it is most needed. Further, these power relations are not well understood by the curriculum officers and remained hidden and unquestioned throughout the research project. The thesis also argues that in the researcherˇ¦s work context, techniques of surveillance were brought to bear and functioned to curtail critical thinking about how the reformed curriculum could be sensitive and respectful of those beliefs and traditions that had sustained life in Papua New Guinea for thousands of years. Consequently, many outmoded beliefs and practices associated with an uncritical and ongoing acceptance of the superiority of western imports have been retained, thereby effectively denying the collective voices of Paua New Guineans in the current curriculum Reform.

Inspiration and mimesis in Plato's criticism of poetry

Plato criticizes poetry in several of his dialogues, beginning with Apology, his first work, and ending with Laws, his last. In these dialogues, his criticism of poetry can be divided into two streams: poetry is criticized for either being divinely inspired, or because it is mimetic or imitative of reality. However, of the dialogues which criticize poetry in these ways, it is not until Laws that Plato mentions both inspiration and mimesis together, and then it is only in a few sentences. Furthermore, nowhere in the dialogues does Plato discuss their relationship. This situation has a parallel in the secondary literature. While much work has been done on inspiration or mimesis in Plato’s criticism of poetry, very little work exists which discusses the connection between them. This study examines Plato’s treatment - in the six relevant dialogues - of these two poetic elements, inspiration and mimesis, and shows that a relationship exists between them. Both can be seen to relate to two important Socratic-Platonic concerns: the care of the soul and the welfare of the state. These concerns represent a synthesis of Socratic moral philosophy with Platonic political beliefs. In the ‘inspiration’ dialogues, Ion, Apology, Meno, Phaedrus and Laws, poetic inspiration can affect the Socratic exhortation which considers the care of the individual soul. Further, as we are told in Apology, Crito and Gorgias, it is the good man, the virtuous man - the one who cares for his soul - who also cares for the welfare of the state. Therefore, in its effect on the individual soul, poetic inspiration can also indirectly affect the state. In the ‘mimesis’ dialogues, Republic and Laws, this same exhortation, on the care of the soul, is posed, but it is has now been rendered into a more Platonic form - as either the principle of specialization - the ‘one man, one job’ creed of Republic, which advances the harmony between the three elements of the soul, or as the concord between reason and emotion in Laws. While in Republic, mimesis can damage the tripartite soul's delicate balance, in Laws, mimesis in poetry is used to promote the concord. Further, in both these dialogues, poetic mimesis can affect the welfare of the state. In Republic, Socrates notes that states arc but a product of the individuals of which they are composed Therefore, by affecting the harmony of the individual soul, mimesis can then undermine the harmony of the state, and an imperfect political system, such as a timarchy, an oligarchy, a democracy, or a tyranny, can result. However, in Laws, when it is harnessed by the philosophical lawgivers, mimesis can assist in the concord between the rulers and the ruled, thus serving the welfare of the state. Inspiration and mimesis can thus be seen to be related in their effect on the education of both the individual, in the care of the soul, and the state, in its welfare. Plato's criticism of poetry, therefore, which is centred on these two features, addresses common Platonic concerns: in education, politics, ethics, epistemology and psychology.

Physical activity beliefs and behaviours among adults attempting weight control

Objective: To compare the frequency and duration of varying intensities of physical activity performed by adults trying to lose weight, avoid gaining weight and not actively trying to control their weight, and to compare these groups' beliefs about the physical activity they should perform.

Method: Random postal survey of 2500 Victorian adults selected from the Australian electoral roll (response rate=42%).

Measures: One-week physical activity recall (frequency and duration of walking, other moderate activity and vigorous activity), BMI (based on self-reported height and weight) and weight-control behaviour.

Results: At the time of the survey, 27% of respondents were actively trying to avoid gaining weight, 23.9% trying to lose weight and 49.1% undertaking no weight control. Respondents spent a mean time of 4.0 (±7.1) h walking, 5.5 (±7.9) h in moderate activity and 3.1(±5.9) h in vigorous activity during the week prior to the survey. Women trying to lose weight or avoid gaining weight engaged in vigorous activity more often than women not trying to control their weight. After adjusting for age, education and BMI, women trying to avoid gaining weight were 2.4 times more likely, and women trying to lose weight 2.5 times more likely, to have met current physical activity guidelines than women undertaking no weight control. On average, respondents believed they should spend 5.2 (±6.9) h walking, 6.5 (±8.2) h in moderate activity and 4.3 (±6.5) h in vigorous activity each week. Women trying to lose weight felt they should perform vigorous activity more often than other women. Weight-control behaviour was not associated with physical activity beliefs and behaviours of men.

Conclusion: Walking is a common activity among adults attempting weight control. However, many men and women do not fully recognize the value of moderate-intensity physical activity. Future efforts should be directed at promoting the role of moderate-intensity activity in weight control, particularly activity that can be performed outside of planned activity sessions.

Laptop computers as a mediating tool between teacher beliefs and pedagogy

This study focused on teachers of senior secondary classes and the impact on pedagogy of the use of laptop computers. It was found that in schools operating a mature laptop program, pedagogy was influenced by teacher beliefs, prevailing school culture, and the assessment requirements of students in their final year.

Primary teacher beliefs and practices in working and thinking scientifically and technologically

What are primary teachers' beliefs about thinking and working scientifically and technologically? How do the teachers' beliefs manifest in classroom practice? What differences do the teachers see between thinking and working scientifically and technologically? These questions were central themes of the case study research. Interviews and classroom observation were the techniques used to identify how three experienced primary teachers' beliefs about thinking and working technologically and scientifically were manifested in their classroom practice.

An historical critique of philosophical universalism through Foucault and Rorty

This thesis examines the critiques of modern philosophy by Foucault and Rorty, which use genealogical and philosophical arguments against the notion of universal truths being fundamental to knowledge. They promote the idea of the autonomy of the self, and the use of discourse to generate pragmatic action within society.

The philosophical notion of property

This thesis reveals the Being of man through the conditions which man creates for his own existence as the result of his level of apprehension of himself embodied in the social structure of society.

Radical epistemological skepticism about justified belief

"Radical epistemological skepticism" designates the philosophical position that all our beliefs, and knowledge based upon them, are groundless. Skeptics claims have been recorded throughout history and, despite their threat to the security of human knowledge, they endure. The thesis hypothesises that skepticism is a consequence of our development of symbolic capability.