Legal loophole protecting violent men : why the defence of provocation needs to change

This comment analyses the successful use of the provocation defence in New South Wales in cases of male perpetrated intimate homicide. In doing so, it makes an argument for why the defence should be abolished.

The world-wide spread of journalism convergence

Convergence is a likely destination for news media in many parts of the world, though the duration of the journey will vary from country to country. This paper defines convergence as well as it is possible to do so, traces its spread around the world, and describes some of the most common business models. It looks at the forces driving convergence, and factors common to the most successful converged operations. The paper also describes the uncertain scenario in Australia now the Howard government has announced plans to change media ownership laws. It ends with discussion about changes in curricula at journalism programs in the United States in the light of the spread of convergence.

Media/ting change: the print media's role in mediating education policy in a period of radical reform in Victoria, Australia

This paper draws upon critical discourse analysis, cultural studies and communication theory, studies on media and educational reform, and the work of Bernstein, Bourdieu and Luhmann in particular, to explore how the print and media 'mediated' a period of educational change marked by moves to self-management in schools in Victoria, Australia. It considers how the media was mobilized by various education stakeholders, and in turn informed relations between schools and government, through policy discourses and texts. It considers why and how particular themes became media 'issues', how schools and teachers responded to these issues, and how the media was used by various stakeholders in education to shape policy debates. It is based on a year-long qualitative study that explored critical incidents and representations about education in the print media over a year in the daily press. It illustrates the ways in which a neo-liberal Victorian government mobilized the media to gain strategic advantage to promote radical education reform policies, considers the media effects of this media/tion process on schools and teachers, and conceptualizes how school and system performance is fed from and into media representations, public perceptions and community understandings of schools and teachers' work.

A prospective study of pressures from parents, peers, and the media on extreme weight change behaviors among adolescent boys and girls

The current study was designed to evaluate the role of sociocultural influences over a 16 month period on strategies to lose weight, extreme weight loss strategies, and strategies to increase muscles among adolescent boys (n=344) and girls (n=246). All participants completed measures of body dissatisfaction, body image importance, strategies to lose weight, extreme weight loss strategies, and strategies to increase muscles. Measures of perceived pressure to lose weight or increase muscles from mother, father, best male friend, best female friend and the media were also evaluated. Data were gathered on three occasions, 8 months apart. The results demonstrated that boys showed a decrease in strategies to lose weight and increase muscles over time, whereas girls showed an increase. Both boys and girls showed an increase in extreme weight loss strategies with girls demonstrating a greater increase than boys. The sociocultural influences generally were perceived by girls to relate to messages to lose weight, whereas for boys they were perceived to relate to increasing muscles. Messages from parents, particularly fathers, were strong predictors of both strategies to lose weight and increase muscles among boys, with the media and best male friend playing a limited role. For girls, the strongest influences were mothers and best female friends, with few influences from fathers or the media. The results of this study are discussed in terms of the importance of the various sociocultural influences in shaping body change strategies among young adolescent boys and girls, and the implications of these findings for intervention programs for adolescents.

From Masterchef to the Arab spring via Wikileaks : social media and political change

This comparison between Bahrain and Australia shows how the main impact of social and mobile media has been in the form of facilitators of rapid political mobilization, as well as tools for everyday socializing and entertainment. Social media are both contributors to, and symptomatic of, a blurring of the boundaries between politics and entertainment, and public and private spheres, whether their users are in Australia or Bahrain, but they are not in themselves the makers of material sites of democracy or even agency.

One tweet does not a revolution make : technological determinism, media and social change

This paper discusses the problematic influence of technological determinism in popular news media coverage and analysis of the Arab Spring events of 2010-11.

The purpose is to develop insights into how and why elements of a ‘soft’ technological determinism inflect both journalistic practice and news discourse in relation to the Arab Spring. In particular it discusses how the ‘bias of convenience’ and a journalistic obsession with the ‘continuous present’ connect with this determinist inflection to create a potential distortion in the journalists’ ‘first rough draft’ of history in relation to significant and complex events such as social revolution.

Social media for social change lawyers: an Australian housing rights lawyer's experience

This paper reflects on the use of Twitter and Facebook at the PILCH Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic (HPLC), and the lessons for social change lawyers. While these two forms of social media have been useful tools in the HPLC's mission to address the systemic and structural issues that impact on people experiencing homelessness in Victoria, Australia, there have been salutary lessons in their deployment, engagement and impact. This paper, written in autoethnographic form by a former HPLC manager, reflects on the costs and benefits of these new media forms for ‘social change lawyering’.

Sustainable futures for learning in a climate of change: mobile apps, social media, and crisis informatics during emergencies and disasters

Emergencies and disasters are different types of crisis events which can affect students and staff in their on-campus roles and off-campus activities. In such events, mobile technologies, mobile software applications (apps), and mobile social networks are becoming increasingly relied upon to communicate, to swiftly send and received information and images, to deliver learning moments, and to check the safety of colleagues and friends. This paper investigates the intersection of mlearning, mobile social media, mobile apps, and crisis informatics in times of emergencies and disasters, using the recent Gipplsand earthquake in south-eastern Australia as an exemplar. It also discusses proactive preparation for educational resilience during emergencies and disasters.

Parent, peer and media influences on body image and strategies to both increase and decrease body size among adolescent boys and girls

This study investigated the nature of body image and body change strategies, as well as the sociocultural influences on these variables, among a group of 1,266 adolescents (622 males, 644 females). In particular, it investigated weight gain and increased muscle, as well as weight loss. It was found that females were less satisfied with their bodies and were more likely to adopt strategies to lose weight, whereas males were more likely to adopt strategies to increase weight and muscle tone. Respondents with higher body mass index (BMI) evidenced greater body dissatisfaction and more weight loss strategies, but there were no differences between BMI groups in weight gain or strategies to increase muscles. Weight gain and strategies to increase muscles were more likely to be undertaken by older adolescents, but there were no grade level differences in weight loss. Media influences to alter weight, as well as feedback from mother, father, and both male and female peers, were greater for females. There were few grade level or BMI differences in regard to any of the sociocultural influences. The importance of these findings in terms of providing a better understanding of factors which may lead to a disturbed body image and body change disorders, particularly among adolescent boys, is discussed.

The structure of the perceived sociocultural influences on body image and body change questionnaire

This article is concerned with the development and evaluation of the Perceived Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Body Change Questionnaire. The scale was designed to assess the perceived nature of feedback received from mother, father, best male friend, and best female friend to gain weight, lose weight, and increase muscle tone. The perceived feedback from the media on each of these areas also was assessed. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted with 240 adolescent boys (mean age = 13.83 years) and 204 adolescent girls (mean age = 13.70 years). A 3-factor structure was found for the 4 scales that related to perceived feedback from mother, father, best male friend, and best female friend. Feedback on muscle tone loaded with both weight loss and weight gain. The three factors related to (a) general feedback; (b) encourage, tease, and modeling to gain weight and increase muscle tone, and (c) encourage, tease, and modeling to lose weight and increase muscle tone. The factor structure and the items that made up these factors were the same for both boys and girls for each of the 4 scales. The Perceived Media Influences Scale formed 3 factors for girls. These factors related to gaining weight, losing weight, and increasing muscle tone. For boys, the same 9 items formed a single factor. The same items were retained for boys and girls. A confirmatory factor analysis with 822 adolescents (382 boys, mean age = 14.02 years; 440 girls, mean age = 13.82 years) confirmed the previously described factor structure. These results demonstrate that the Perceived Sociocultural Influences on Body Image and Body Change Questionnaire is able to assess body image and body change strategies that are relevant for both boys and girls.

The role of puberty, media and popularity with peers on strategies to increase weight, decrease weight and increase muscle tone among adolescent boys and girls

The present study was concerned with the impact of pubertal development, relationships with peers and perceived pressure from the media on body dissatisfaction and body change behaviors among adolescent boys and girls. In particular, the study investigated the underresearched area of strategies to increase weight and muscle. The exploration of body change strategies among adolescent boys has been a neglected area of research. Methods: Respondents were 1185 adolescents (527 males, 598 females) who were enrolled in Grades 7 and 9. Participants completed measures of pubertal development, media and peer influence, body dissatisfaction and strategies to lose weight, increase weight and to increase muscle. Results: The findings demonstrated that girls were more likely than boys to adopt strategies to lose weight, whereas boys were more likely to adopt strategies to increase muscle tone (but not weight). For boys in both Years 7 and 9, the main predictors of body change strategies were puberty and, to a lesser extent, perceived popularity with peers. The major influences for Years 7 and 9 girls were puberty and the media, but these mainly focused on weight loss. For Year 9 girls, perceived popularity with opposite-sex peers also predicted body dissatisfaction and strategies to increase muscle tone. Conclusion: The implications of these findings for understanding factors related to a range of body change strategies for adolescent boys and girls are discussed.

A biopsychosocial model for understanding body image and body change strategies among children

The present study was designed to assess the role of biopsychosocial factors in understanding body image concerns and cognitions and behaviors related to losing weight or increasing muscles among 507 children (270 girls and 237 boys) aged between 8 and 11 years. Biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors have been found to be relevant in understanding the development of body image concerns and weight loss strategies among children. However, these factors have not been examined together in a single study; thus, the relative influence of each factors and how these factors may interact is not known. In the current study, body mass index (BMI) was found to be a good indicator of girls' and boys' body dissatisfaction, while the main indicator of children's body change strategies was perceived pressure from parents, peers, and the media. Overall, there were more similarities than differences between girls and boys. The age between 8 and 11 years is a significant period to commence studying body image concerns and body change strategies, as it can be used to help us understand the emergence of gender differences in children's weight and muscle concerns.

Media influences on body image and disordered eating among Indigenous adolescent Australians

There has been no previous investigation of body image concerns and body change strategies among indigenous Australians. This study was designed to investigate the level of body satisfaction, body change strategies, and perceived media messages about body change strategies among 50 indigenous (25 males, 25 females) and 50 non-indigenous (25 males, 25 females) Australian adolescents (mean age 14.05, SD = 1.05). Consistent with past studies, girls were more likely to be dissatisfied with their weight and engage in strategies to lose weight. However, contrary to expectations, indigenous adolescents engaged in more strategies to lose weight, increase weight, and increase muscles than did non-indigenous adolescents, despite perceiving fewer media messages about losing weight. Additional factors that may explain the findings and the need for further research with different cultural groups are highlighted.

The utility of the trans-theoretical model of behavior change in the treatment of sex offenders

This paper discusses the use of the Trans-theoretical Model of Behavior Change in the treatment of sex offenders. Constructs within this theory are the Stages of Change, Processes of Change and Decisional Balance. The first section of this paper provides a brief description of these constructs. The second section provides a brief review of research related to these constructs and discusses the implications of this research in relation to the treatment of sex offenders. The third section of this paper provides a practical description of the use of the constructs of the Trans-theoretical Model of Behaviour Change in the treatment of sex offenders. Although the validity of this model among sex offenders requires further investigation, the Trans-theoretical Model of Behavior Change appears to have considerable utility as an overarching theoretical model to conceptualize and facilitate behavior change among sex offenders.