Game theory applications in natural resource management : review of evidence, problems and potential

Game theory is a rapidly advancing approach to structure and understand complex management problems in the natural resources sector in both the developed and developing countries. Many natural resource problems are complex due to common property and public goods characteristics. Despite these limitations many researchers have used game theory to analyze water shed management, irrigation water management, grazing land management, and managing other ecological resources. The prisoner’s dilemma game has been widely used. The work of Runge shows that collective action is feasible if a critical mass of people can cooperate. The use of game theory is hindered by lack of information, paucity of empirical applications and the lack of interest by policy makers who wish quick answers to critical policy issues. The potential still remains high for game theory to be productively used both in developing and developed countries.

The solution to the dilemma presented by the guilty plea discount : the qualified guilty plea - I'm pleading guilty only because of the discount..."

The guilty plea sentencing discount is arguably a triumph of expediency over principle. Strong utilitarian reasons favour providing less severe sentences to defendants who plead guilty. However, an unsavoury by-product of the guilty plea discount is that some innocent people are pressured into pleading guilty. This article suggests that a possible solution to the problems caused by the discount is to permit defendants to enter a ‘qualified guilty plea’. While formally amounting to a guilty of plea, the defendant would be permitted to advance submissions consistent with innocence as part of the plea in mitigation. If the sentencer is persuaded that the defendant had a tenable chance of an acquittal a penalty discount in excess of that available for merely pleading guilty would be conferred.

HealthConnect and the duty of care: a dilemma for medical practitioners

This article asks whether medical practitioners' duty of care to their patients will encompass participation in the HealthConnect shared electronic records initiative. Medico-legal aspects of the HeathConnect scheme relating to the nature of shared electronic health record summaries (SEHRS) are examined, focusing on their function as an element of patient care and their ultimate purpose. The analysis is based on the premise that an incomplete and hence inaccurate shared electronic health record summary is clinically and legally more perilous than no record at all.

Vested interest in the decision to resolve social dilemma conflicts

This exploratory study investigated the degree of correspondence between individual and group interests in the decision to adopt a sanctioning system to manage a shared resource with social dilemma properties. Fifty-two groups of four people accessed a "free-running" computer-simulated shared resource and had either equal or unequal resource access and experienced either an equitable or inequitable sanctioning system. Consistent with past research, a worse group outcome and greater voting for system change was found under the equitable than under the inequitable sanctioning system. However, at the individual level of analysis, the results suggested that the sanctioning systems did not have the same implications for all group members and that some of those differences predicted voting for system change. The study suggests the need to investigate the various decision frames and inequitable implications associated with structural/institutional change and calls for further investigation of dependencies between micro- and macro-level units of analysis.

To keep me safe from harm? Transgender prisoners and the experience of imprisonment

The experience of imprisonment for a transgender person is often a terrifying one. He or she is extremely vulnerable in such an environment from sexual violence from other prisoners. In addition, he or she may be exposed to inadequate or inappropriate medical care. Consequently transgender prisoners are often denied the protection offered by role of law. A significant reason for this treatment is the erasure of the transgender experience in informing the nature of the prison regime. In particular, the failure to give sufficient weight to gender self identification by transgender prisoners exposes them to risks which other prisoners do not have to endure. It is suggested that the only way to reduce such harm is through the cultivation of a prison regime based upon the lives of transgender prisoners.

Neoconservatism, US-China conflict, and Australia's 'great and powerful friends' dilemma

Following its time-honoured 'great and powerful friends' foreign policy tradition, Australia has been cultivating close ties simultaneously with the United States and China. Yet, as a rivalry between the two powers apparently looms large, Australia faces an acute dilemma. While the rise of China and the question of Taiwan are often cited as main causes of US-China discord, this article argues that the American neoconservative policy on China, underpinned by a belief in both military strength and moral clarity, is integral to this growing competition and is, by extension, partly responsible for the emergence of Australia's predicament. To avoid such a difficult choice, the article suggests that Australia should strive to curb the policy influence of neoconservatism both in the United States and at home by pursuing a more independent foreign policy, making clear its strategic postures on US-China relations, and helping establish a trilateral strategic forum between Australia, the United States, and China.

The relationship between social anxiety and alcohol use in remand prisoners

Community studies have found a consistently high co-occurrence, between alcohol use and anxiety disorders, such as social phobia. Despite high prevalence rates of alcohol use and anxiety disorders in remand prisoners, the extent to which they co-occur in this population and the use of alcohol as a strategy to reduce social anxiety, have not been examined. The aim of this study was to assess levels of social phobia and the use of alcohol to reduce anxiety associated with social and performance situations in a remanded prison population. One hundred and one male prisoners (age M = 34.88 years, SD = 11.70) participated in the study. They completed the Social Phobia Inventory (SoPhI) and a questionnaire designed to assess levels of drinking in social and performance situations to reduce anxiety. High levels of social anxiety were found, together with high levels of drinking to reduce anxiety associated with social or performance situations. Drinking was predictive of reduced levels of social anxiety but the effect of social anxiety on drinking was stronger. The implications for treatment and future research are discussed.

Aboriginal and non-aboriginal Australia : the dilemma of apologies, forgiveness, and reconciliation

This article presents a qualitative study of the indigenous Australian perspective on reconciliation with nonindigenous Australia, with a focus on the role of an apology for the oppression and violence perpetrated by nonindigenous Australians, and forgiveness on the part of indigenous Australians. A brief historical analysis of the relationship between Aborigines and waves of settlers is presented to demonstrate the extent of the wrong that was perpetrated against Aborigines and the need for social as well as practical reconciliation in the current context. It is argued that negotiated forgiveness is a concept that is pertinent to the discussion of reconciliation, because it requires a dialogue between the parties and ultimately for the wrongdoer to accept accountability and responsibility for offending actions, thereby opening the door for forgiveness and, ultimately, possible reconciliation. It is suggested that a first step in the required reconciliation dialogue is an apology, but the issue of who should give and receive an apology is a complex one. The issue of who should forgive and who should be forgiven is shown to be similarly complex. Qualitative analysis of interview data from 10 participants indicated that at this point in time, forgiveness might not be salient to the indigenous population, whose primary focus is more on the matter of an apology. This suggests that negotiated forgiveness and reconciliation will remain elusive goals until the matter of an apology is resolved.

Students' conflicting attitudes towards games as a vehicle for learning mathematics : a methodological dilemma

Mathematics games are widely employed in school classrooms for such reasons as a reward for early finishers or to enhance students' attitude towards mathematics. During a four week period, a total of 222 Grade 5 and 6 (9 to 12 years old) children from Melbourne, Australia, were taught multiplication and division of decimal numbers using calculator games or rich mathematical activities. Likert scale surveys of the children's attitudes towards games as a vehicle for learning mathematics revealed unexpectedly high proportions of negative attitudes at the conclusion of the research. In contrast, student interview data revealed positive associations between games and mathematical learning. This article reports on the methodological dilemma of resultant conflicting attitudinal data related to game- playing. Concerns arising from the divergence in the results are raised in this article. Implications based on the experience of this study may inform educational researchers about future methodological choices involving attitudinal research.