The effects of pre- and postnatal depression in fathers: a natural experiment comparing the effects of exposure to depression on offspring

Background: Depression in fathers in the postnatal period is associated with an increased risk of behavioural problems in their offspring, particularly for boys. The aim of this study was to examine for differential effects of depression in fathers on children's subsequent psychological functioning via a natural experiment comparing prenatal and postnatal exposure. Methods:In a longitudinal population cohort study (the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)) we examined the associations between depression in fathers measured in the prenatal and postnatal period (measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale), and later behavioural/emotional and psychiatric problems in their children, assessed at ages 31/2 and 7 years. Results: Children whose fathers were depressed in both the prenatal and postnatal periods had the highest risks of subsequent psychopathology, measured by total problems at age 31/2 years (Odds Ratio 3.55; 95% confidence interval 2.07, 6.08) and psychiatric diagnosis at age 7 years (OR 2.54; 1.19, 5.41). Few differences emerged when prenatal and postnatal depression exposure were directly compared, but when compared to fathers who were not depressed, boys whose fathers had postnatal depression only had higher rates of conduct problems aged 31/2 years (OR 2.14; 1.22, 3.72) whereas sons of the prenatal group did not (OR 1.41; .75, 2.65). These associations changed little when controlling for maternal depression and other potential confounding factors. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that the increased risk of later conduct problems, seen particularly in the sons of depressed fathers, maybe partly mediated through environmental means. In addition, children whose fathers are more chronically depressed appear to be at a higher risk of emotional and behavioural problems. Efforts to identify the precise mechanisms by which transmission of risk may occur should be encouraged to enable the development of focused interventions to mitigate risks for young children.

Small business legislation in Australia: does it provide a solution to part of the UK lease reform debate?

This paper addresses the commercial leases policy issue of how to deal with small business tenants. The UK has adopted a voluntary solution to commercial lease reform by using Codes of Practice which is in contrast to the legislative approach adopted by Australia to attempt to solve its perceived problems with small business retail tenancies. The major aim of the research was to examine the perceptions of the effectiveness of the legislation in Australia and discuss any implications for the UK policy debate but the results of the research also raise questions for the Australian regime. The research used a combination of literature and legislation review and a semi structured interview survey to investigate the policy aims and objectives of Australian Federal and State Governments, identify the nature and scope of the Australian legislation and examine perceptions of effectiveness of the legislation in informing small business tenants. The situation is complicated in Australia due to leases being a State rather than Federal responsibility therefore the main fieldwork was carried out in one case study State, Victoria. The paper concludes that some aspects of the Australian system can inform the UK policy debate including mandatory information provision at the commencement of negotiations and the use of lease registrars/commissioners. However, there are a number of issues that the Australian legislation does not appear to have successfully addressed including the difficulties of legislating across partial segments of the commercial property market and the collection of data for enforcement purposes.

Policy making without legislating: the self-regulation of commercial property leasing

The terms of a commercial property lease covers aspects such as rent, alterations to premises and the ability to leave; consequently they have a significant impact on cash flow and the ability of a business to develop. In contrast to the heavily-legislated residential sector, commercial landlords and tenants in the UK are largely free to negotiate the terms of their contract. Yet, since the property crash of 1989/90, successive governments have taken an interest in commercial leasing; in particular there is a desire to see landlords being more flexible. UK Government policy in this area has been pursued through industry self-regulation rather than legislation; since 1995 there have been three industry codes of practice on leasing. These codes are sanctioned by government and monitored by them. Yet, 15 years after the first code was launched, many in the industry see the whole code concept as ineffective and unlikely to ever achieve changes to certain aspects of landlord behaviour. This paper is the first step in considering the lease codes in the wider context of industry self-regulation. The aim of the paper is twofold: First a framework is created using the literature on industry self-regulation from various countries and industries which suggests key criteria to explain the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of self-regulation. This is then applied to the UK lease codes based on research carried out by the authors for the UK Government to monitor the success of all three codes. The outcome is a clearer understanding of the possibilities and limitations of using a voluntary solution to achieve policy aims within the property industry.

‘Modern Man’s Myths: The Influence of Historical Memory on Policy-Making’

Historical events are interpreted by collectivities in ways that are then instrumentalised in policy-making processes. This creates mythical "truths" and "rules of conduct" which in 20th (21st) century Western civilisations are not much different from those of pre-Enlightenment societies.

The neoliberal way of war: a critical analysis of contemporary British security in policy and practice.

Dominant paradigms of causal explanation for why and how Western liberal-democracies go to war in the post-Cold War era remain versions of the 'liberal peace' or 'democratic peace' thesis. Yet such explanations have been shown to rest upon deeply problematic epistemological and methodological assumptions. Of equal importance, however, is the failure of these dominant paradigms to account for the 'neoliberal revolution' that has gripped Western liberal-democracies since the 1970s. The transition from liberalism to neoliberalism remains neglected in analyses of the contemporary Western security constellation. Arguing that neoliberalism can be understood simultaneously through the Marxian concept of ideology and the Foucauldian concept of governmentality – that is, as a complementary set of 'ways of seeing' and 'ways of being' – the thesis goes on to analyse British security in policy and practice, considering it as an instantiation of a wider neoliberal way of war. In so doing, the thesis draws upon, but also challenges and develops, established critical discourse analytic methods, incorporating within its purview not only the textual data that is usually considered by discourse analysts, but also material practices of security. This analysis finds that contemporary British security policy is predicated on a neoliberal social ontology, morphology and morality – an ideology or 'way of seeing' – focused on the notion of a globalised 'network-market', and is aimed at rendering circulations through this network-market amenable to neoliberal techniques of government. It is further argued that security practices shaped by this ideology imperfectly and unevenly achieve the realisation of neoliberal 'ways of being' – especially modes of governing self and other or the 'conduct of conduct' – and the re-articulation of subjectivities in line with neoliberal principles of individualism, risk, responsibility and flexibility. The policy and practice of contemporary British 'security' is thus recontextualised as a component of a broader 'neoliberal way of war'.

Review of the literature on credit risk modeling : development of the past 10 years

This paper traces the developments of credit risk modeling in the past 10 years. Our work can be divided into two parts: selecting articles and summarizing results. On the one hand, by constructing an ordered logit model on historical Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) codes of articles about credit risk modeling, we sort out articles which are the most related to our topic. The result indicates that the JEL codes have become the standard to classify researches in credit risk modeling. On the other hand, comparing with the classical review Altman and Saunders(1998), we observe some important changes of research methods of credit risk. The main finding is that current focuses on credit risk modeling have moved from static individual-level models to dynamic portfolio models.

The desirability of criminal penalties for breaches of part IV of the trade practices act

Following the introduction of criminal sanction, including jail terms, for hard core cartelisation in the United Kingdom, the Dawson Review has recently recommended that criminal penalties be introduced in Australia for individuals and corporations found to have engaged in hard core cartels. A number of reasons have been advanced to justify the introduction of criminal sanctions for this type of conduct, the most common of which are that it would bring Australia in line with other competition regimes and that criminal sanctions are more likely to provide an effective deterrent. This article evaluates those reasons, and others, to determine whether there is any adequate justification for the proposed criminal regime.

A comparative analysis of opinions of Americans, Australians and Malaysians on the use of biometric devices in workplaces for security and monitoring of worker productivity

Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, the use of biometric devices such as fingerprint scans, retina and iris scans and facial recognition in everyday situations for national security and border control, have become commonplace. This has resulted in the biometric industry moving from being a niche technology to one that is ubiquitous. As a result. more and more employers are using biometrics to secure staff access to their facilities as well as for tracking staff work hours, maintaining 'discipline' and carry out surveillance against thefts. detecting work hour abuses and fraud. However, the data thus collected and the technologies themselves are feared of having the potential for and actually being misused - both in terms of the violating staff privacy and discrimination and oppression of targeted workers. This paper examines the issue of using biometric devices in organisational settings their advantages, disadvantages and actual and potential abuses from the point of view of critical theory. From the perspectives of Panoptic surveillance and hegemonic organisational control, the paper examines the issues related to privacy and identification, biometrics and privacy, biometrics and the 'body', and surveillance and modernity. The paper also examines the findings ofa survey carried out in Australia. Malaysia and the USA on respondents' opinions on the use of biometric devices in everyday life including at workplaces. The paper concludes that along with their applications in border control and national security, the use of biometric devices should be covered by relevant laws and regulations. guidelines and codes of practice. in order to balance the rights to privacy and civil liberties of workers with employers' need for improved productivity, reduced costs, safeguards related to occupational health and safety, equal opportunity, and workplace harassment of staff and other matters, that employers are legally responsible for.

Corporate social responsibility of small businesses: a developing country perspective

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has emerged as an important concept for developing countries in recent years. This paper investigates the issues of CSR relating to small businesses that have emerged as a result of market-based reforms in developing countries, where the compliance of voluntary standards, code of conduct and regulations are limited. The paper argues that prevalence of corruption, lack of rule based governance, resource constraints for effective capacity building on the part of the state and lack of awareness have created a weak and unethical corporate culture leading to low levels of CSR in developing countries. Using Bangladesh agriculture sector as an exemplar, this paper investigates how small businesses trading in agricultural inputs with no brand capital and low public visibility are behaving in a socially irresponsible way, in an environment of inadequate regulatory sanctions and compliance by selling contaminated inputs to farmers who are mostly poor and not even aware of their rights. The low levels of CSR is undermining and also threatening the sustainability of the positive impact of the market-based reforms undertaken in this sector. The paper proposes that integrated governance linking state, private sector and civil society can promote good governance and better CSR relating to small businesses .

The nature and development of the general insurance industry in Australia to 1973

The development of the insurance industry in Australia in the twentieth century was fundamentally shaped by a collusive code of conduct called the tariff. This arrangement, established to overcome problems of uncertainty, initially benefited both tariff and non-tariff firms by enhancing market stability. It also reduced competition. The collusive agreements gradually broke down, however, as new entrants and products entered the market in the 1950s. Self-regulation gradually gave way as the 'rules of the game' changed. The result was a period of instability before new competitive practices, and more direct and specific regulatory requirements emerged in the 1970s.

Medical treatment and the good death: an ethical analysis of euthanasia, physician assisted suicide, and the right to die

Frequent advances in medical technologies have brought fonh many innovative treatments that allow medical teams to treal many patients with grave illness and serious trauma who would have died only a few years earlier. These changes have given some patients a second chance at life, but for others. these new treatments have merely prolonged their dying. Instead of dying relatively painlessly, these unfortunate patients often suffer from painful tenninal illnesses or exist in a comatose state that robs them of their dignity, since they cannot survive without advanced and often dehumanizing forms of treatment. Due to many of these concerns, euthanasia has become a central issue in medical ethics. Additionally, the debate is impacted by those who believe that patients have the right make choices about the method and timing of their deaths. Euthanasia is defined as a deliberate act by a physician to hasten the death of a patient, whether through active methods such as an injection of morphine, or through the withdrawal of advanced forms of medical care, for reasons of mercy because of a medical condition that they have. This study explores the question of whether euthanasia is an ethical practice and, as determined by ethical theories and professional codes of ethics, whether the physician is allowed to provide the means to give the patient a path to a "good death," rather than one filled with physical and mental suffering. The paper also asks if there is a relevant moral difference between the active and passive forms of euthanasia and seeks to define requirements to ensure fully voluntary decision making through an evaluation of the factors necessary to produce fully informed consent. Additionally, the proper treatments for patients who suffer from painful terminal illnesses, those who exist in persistent vegetative states and infants born with many diverse medical problems are examined. The ultimate conclusions that are reached in the paper are that euthanasia is an ethical practice in certain specific circumstances for patients who have a very low quality of life due to pain, illness or serious mental deficits as a result of irreversible coma, persistent vegetative state or end-stage clinical dementia. This is defended by the fact that the rights of the patient to determine his or her own fate and to autonomously decide the way that he or she dies are paramount to all other factors in decisions of life and death. There are also circumstances where decisions can be made by health care teams in conjunction with the family to hasten the deaths of incompetent patients when continued existence is clearly not in their best interest, as is the case of infants who are born with serious physical anomalies, who are either 'born dying' or have no prospect for a life that is of a reasonable quality. I have rejected the distinction between active and passive methods of euthanasia and have instead chosen to focus on the intentions of the treating physician and the voluntary nature of the patient's request. When applied in equivalent circumstances, active and passive methods of euthanasia produce the same effects, and if the choice to hasten the death of the patient is ethical, then the use of either method can be accepted. The use of active methods of euthanasia and active forms of withdrawal of life support, such as the removal of a respirator are both conscious decisions to end the life of the patient and both bring death within a short period of time. It is false to maintain a distinction that believes that one is active killing. whereas the other form only allows nature to take it's course. Both are conscious choices to hasten the patient's death and should be evaluated as such. Additionally, through an examination of the Hippocratic Oath, and statements made by the American Medical Association and the American College of physicians, it can be shown that the ideals that the medical profession maintains and the respect for the interests of the patient that it holds allows the physician to give aid to patients who wish to choose death as an alternative to continued suffering. The physician is also allowed to and in some circumstances, is morally required, to help dying patients whether through active or passive forms of euthanasia or through assisted suicide. Euthanasia is a difficult topic to think about, but in the end, we should support the choice that respects the patient's autonomous choice or clear best interest and the respect that we have for their dignity and personal worth.

'Learning to cooperate': a study of how primary teachers and children construct classroom cultures

This paper reports on the findings of a study, the 'Constructing Classroom Cultures' project, funded by a small Australian Research Council grant at the University of Melbourne. Located in three primary school classrooms in Melbourne, Victoria, this study investigated how teachers and grade 3-4 students develop shared values and understandings concerning formal and informal codes of behaviour. Drawing on classroom observations, individual interviews with teachers and focus group interviews with children, this paper discusses the ways that teachers and children together build classroom cultures. Practices that work to produce supportive classroom environments as well as problem areas are identified. Examining classroom cultures at the micro-political level offers scope for considering how power relations can contribute positively to educational processes. Additionally, the ways in which informal interactions between teacher and students and among students call into play collaboration, compliance and resistance are opened up for examination. These case studies aim to contribute to understanding how productive classroom cultures are constructed in day-to-day interactions, a significant area of concern for teachers and teacher education students.

Defining the domain of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in tourism organisations : a preliminary view from stakeholders in Thailand's accommodation sector

This paper aims to define the domain of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for hotel and accommodation organizations in Thailand. It seeks to integrate the diverse components of CSR as defined within the general business/management, tourism and stakeholder literatures. A review of existing literature, codes of practice and standards, identify three broad CSR components – economic issues, social/ethical issues and environmental – although each of the standards varied in terms of the definition and emphasis applied. The components were ‘aggregated’ within each of the broad management and tourism literature, these two sets of groupings were then aggregated into one overarching set of CSR issues. Semi-structured interviews were then undertaken with 38 key informants from hotel and resort businesses in Thailand to identify their views toward the applicability of these over-arching components to hotel and accommodation organisations.

The results of the aggregation of standards suggest that CRS approaches within general business tend to be more socially/ethically orientated whereas within the tourism area approaches tend to be more environmentally orientated. Key respondents’ views were generally consistent with the three broad issues of the integrated CSR domain, although some issues were identified as more salient to hotel and accommodation organisations than others. The paper suggests that there is a need to develop CSR measures and indicators applicable and reflective of the different environmental, legal, cultural and local setting.

Ethical structures and processes of corporations operating in Australia, Canada and Sweden : A longitudinal and cross-cultural study

Based on the ‘Partnership Model of Corporate Ethics’ (Wood, 2002), this study examines the ethical structures and processes that are put in place by organizations to enhance the ethical business behavior of staff. The study examines the use of these structures and processes amongst the top companies in the three countries of Australia, Canada, and Sweden over two time periods (2001–2002 and 2005–2006). Subsequently, a combined comparative and longitudinal approach is applied in the study, which we contend is a unique approach in the area of business ethics. The findings of the study indicate that corporations operating in Sweden have utilized ethical structures and processes differently than their Canadian and/or Australian counterparts, and that in each culture the way that companies fashion their approach to business ethics appears congruent with their national cultural values. There does, however, appear to be a convergence of views within the organizations of each culture, as the Swedish companies appear to have been more influenced in 2005–2006 by an Anglo-Saxon business paradigm than they have been in the past.

A longitudinal study of the commitment to business ethics of corporate Australia

This paper compares the results of a longitudinal study of ten years, conducted at five yearly intervals, from 1995 to 2005. The aim of the study was to examine the commitment to business ethics of the top 500 Australian companies. Primary data was obtained via a self-administered mail questionnaire distributed to a census of the top 500 Australian companies. This paper examines those responses that indicated that their company possessed a code of ethics. The paper finds that business ethics has continued to evolve and that, in most cases, such evolution has been positive. It would seem that codes of ethics have moved beyond a regulatory requirement and are now considered an integral component of corporate culture and commercial practice in many of Australia's top companies.