An integrated spiritual practice framework for use within social work

Social work continues to move towards the incorporation of spirituality within social work theory and practice, yet gaps remain at many levels. The current dearth of theorization of spirituality in social work has created a situation where individual social workers wishing to include spirituality in their practice are forced to rely on their own initiative and inventiveness, with no clear theoretical, practical, or ethical guidelines. This article presents the beginnings of an integrated spiritual practice framework which may help to address some of these concerns. This research scrutinized the proposed Integrated Spiritual Practice Framework (ISPF) through literature survey of three spiritual ideologies (Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism) using the process of metatriangulation. The study found that each ideological perspective provided evidence and support for the structures and concepts of the ISPF. Through the analysis and theory building process, each ideology contributed greater understanding of components of the ISPF, resulting in a more sophisticated and developed framework for integrating spirituality within social work.

Police officers' perceptions of the challenges involved in internet child exploitation investigation

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore police officers’ perceptions of the challenges and work stressors of working in Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) investigation.

Design/methodology/approach
Participants were a heterogeneous sample of 32 ICE investigators across nine Australian jurisdictions. Officers’ perceptions of ICE work were elicited via individual, open-ended, anonymous, telephone interviews, which focused on both the nature and impact of work-related stressors and challenges.

Findings
Thematic analysis revealed that viewing ICE material was not perceived to be a major stressor or particularly traumatic facet of ICE investigation. Rather, the challenges related to three areas; work relationships, workload and resources and the physical environment. Participants also suggested some improvements to their work environment which could reduce the impact of these challenges.

Practical implications
The stressors identified by ICE investigators in this study place physical, psychological and social restrictions on investigative capacity. Modifications to the workplace environment that facilitate more effective professional collaboration, reduce workload and enhance investigator efficiency and functionality of the physical work environment would likely reduce the potential for harm associated with ICE investigation and improve ICE investigators’ capacity to perform their role.

Originality/value

Elements underpinning successful implementation of a national best-practice child investigative interviewing framework

The complexity and effort required to achieve the widespread implementation of best-practice child interview guidelines justifies the establishment of structures to enhance cross-jurisdictional sharing of expertise, resources and training delivery support. Australia has made great strides toward such a system via work currently being undertaken by police jurisdictions to facilitate greater consistency in education and training for practitioners in the area of investigative interviewing, strengthening collaboration between police and tertiary education institutions, and growing commitment to evidence-based policy and practice among police executives. To maximise progress, however, organisations need to consider the development of a coordinated continual quality improvement approach. This will be impeded by three structural elements: access to field interviews for practitioner feedback and organisational evaluation, interviewer tenure and case tracking. This article discusses each element, their roles within a national best-practice interview framework, and attempts by some jurisdictions to address them. It also provides recommendations to guide further reform.

Re-Imagining Practical Legal Training Practitioners – Soldiers for ‘Vocationalism’, or Double Agents?

I adopt a constructivist approach in order to study Australian PLT practitioners’ engagement with scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) in institutional practical legal training (PLT). Drawing on Bourdieu’s reflexive sociology and Certeau’s heterological science, I argue PLT is enclosed by discursive operations that constrain PLT practitioners’ engagement with SoTL. I contend SoTL could address a knowledge gap in practice research in law and legal education. I propose to re-imagine PLT teaching work by conceptualising it as an emergent professional trajectory, engaged in practice research, teaching and learning. By considering ways in which structures are inscribed into legal education practice, and conversely, whether practice can modify such structures, I re-imagine PLT practitioners as double agents or resistance fighters, enriching legal education through SoTL as practice research.

A Jamesonian theory of theological practice: a critical response to the work of Roland Boer

In a conjuncture marked by the “resurgence of religion,” the problem of historical materialism’s relation to religious ideologies has acquired a new urgency. The work of Roland Boer, recently awarded the Deutscher Prize for his magnum opus on Marxism and Theology poses this question from a surprising perspective. While his main claim is that religious influences in Marxist theory represent a sort of theological unconscious in historical materialism, at the same time Boer also advances an original Marxist interpretation of the Abrahamic religions, especially Christianity. This line of research, which extends from his dissertation on Jameson and Jeroboam through to his most recent work on The Sacred Economy, proposes that theology is a reflective representation of the social totality. In this article, I criticise Boer’s valorisation of theology as a practical discourse that is post-ideological but non-theoretical, and conclude by indicating an alternative.

What knowledge is most worthwhile in IS work placements?

A case study conducted across a cross-section of stakeholders involved in a year-long co-operative education (co-op) program within an IS business degree in an Australian university, uncovered a range of views of what knowledge was perceived as most worthwhile. This paper discusses these findings drawing on a multidisciplinary review of a wide range of research literature. It is proposed that the diversity of individual views promotes a broader spectrum of worthwhile knowledge that suggests universities recognise the different individual values in the design and delivery of courses and programs so as to provide students with richer, more satisfying leaning experiences.

Normas internacionais de contabilidade: percepções dos peritos criminais federais sobre os impactos de sua adoção na atividade de perícia oficial realizada em fraudes contábeis no Brasil

Os impactos da adoção das Normas Internacionais de Contabilidade (IFRSs) tem sido objeto de debates nos meios profissionais e acadêmicos, entretanto, pouco tem sido pesquisado sobre as repercussões da adoção dos IFRSs na atividade pericial criminal. Portanto, o objetivo deste estudo é captar e analisar a percepção dos Peritos Criminais Federais sobre os impactos da adoção dos IFRSs na atividade de perícia criminal oficial realizada em fraudes contábeis. Lastreou-se numa abordagem quantitativa e qualitativa utilizada para verificar associações entre as percepções, recorrendo-se ao teste Qui-quadrado de Pearson e a análise de conteúdo, respectivamente. Os resultados evidenciaram que a maior parte dos respondentes concorda parcial ou totalmente que a adoção dos IFRSs facilitará o trabalho de perícia criminal federal, encontrando associação estatística com a percepção de que fraudes cometidas sem engenharia financeira são mais fáceis de comprovar e com a percepção que um maior espaço para julgamentos técnicos tem impacto positivo na atividade de perícia criminal. Outros benefícios apontados foram o aumento da comparabilidade, a diminuição da complexidade e a valorização profissional. Entretanto, constatou-se como riscos a possibilidade de aumento nas contestações técnicas aos laudos periciais, o risco de viés e a necessidade de qualificação, porém sem associação estatística com a percepção de que os IFRSs facilitarão ou não o trabalho pericial. Não foram identificadas diferenças estatísticas de percepção em função do nível de conhecimento dos preceitos sobre os IFRSs e dos conhecimentos teóricos e práticos dos pesquisados. O estudo apresenta limitações que dizem respeito principalmente à generalização dos resultados, uma vez que a abordagem pretendida foi qualitativa e quantitativa e o número de questionários respondidos não possibilitou realizar testes estatísticos com maior robustez.

Sustainable silvopastoral systems: theory and a practical case

Muitas transformações são esperadas por causa das mudanças do clima, especialmente das atividades agrícolas realizadas nos trópicos. Esta tese centra-se em dois aspectos. O primeiro deles é o de reunir o conhecimento de sistemas silvipastoris; este ponto de vista estabelece a importância de solos tropicais e sua gestão adequada de acordo com as normas ambientais e sustentáveis. A segunda parte da tese é a aplicação desses princípios em um caso específico: a fazenda "El Paraíso". O objetivo central ou problema a resolver da segunda parte é propor um projeto para melhorar as atividades de produção de carne e, ao mesmo tempo, ajudar a preservar e melhorar o meio ambiente e especialmente os ecossistemas tropicais. A metodologia utilizada na tese foi buscar e analisar informações sobre o assunto. Depois disso, a investigação experimental e de campo foi realizada para levantar o projeto que combinaria as duas partes da obra. No final, com a informação recolhida uma proposta de projeto foi feita. O objetivo era propor a transformação dos processos de produção na fazenda selecionada. Logo de desenvolver e apresentar o projeto, foram analisadas as possibilidades de implementação do projeto. A conclusão do estudo foi o de apresentar e discutir três cenários possíveis após a implementação. Finalmente, a conclusão geral apresenta as realizações, as oportunidades e possíveis expansões futuras do projeto.

Análise e proposta de aprimoramento para a gestão da Sabina Escola Parque do Conhecimento

Este trabalho teve como objetivo principal buscar, por meio de benchmarking, um modelo mais apropriado de gestão para o equipamento público Sabina Escola Parque do Conhecimento – localizado na cidade de Santo André-São Paulo –, cuja finalidade é ser uma extensão lúdica e prática do ambiente escolar. Para isso, avaliaram-se os modelos de gestão aplicados em equipamentos públicos similares, isto é, que também fornecem serviços educacionais e ambientais inovadores. Os equipamentos públicos escolhidos para compor a análise foram: Museu Catavento, Plug Minas e Aquário Municipal de Santos, situados, respectivamente, nas cidades de São Paulo, Belo Horizonte e Santos. Para alcançar esse objetivo, recorreu-se a um estudo investigativo, que compreendeu pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, visitas técnicas, coleta de dados quantitativos sobre os equipamentos e suas respectivas localidades, bem como entrevistas com os gestores desses atrativos e com responsáveis por órgãos governamentais relacionados. A partir disso, e com auxílio da análise SWOT, foram elaboradas algumas propostas para melhorar a gestão da Sabina Escola Parque: implantar um modelo de gestão por resultados, implementar parcerias formalizadas por meio de contrato de gestão com entidade qualificada, como as Organizações Sociais, incrementar as receitas, melhorar a eficiência das despesas, dentre outras.

Um estudo sobre a apreciação do raciocínio matemático na formação inicial de professores

The present work focused on developing teaching activities that would provide to the student in initial teacher training, improving the ability of mathematical reasoning and hence a greater appreciation of the concepts related to the golden section, the irrational numbers, and the incommensurability the demonstration from the reduction to the nonsensical. This survey is classified itself as a field one which data collection were inserted within a quantitative and qualitative approach. Acted in this research, two classes in initial teacher training. These were teachers and employees of public schools and local governments, living in the capital, in Natal Metropolitan Region - and within the country. The empirical part of the research took place in Pedagogy and Mathematics courses, IFESP in Natal - RN. The theoretical and methodological way construction aimed to present a teaching situation, based on history, involving mathematics and architecture, derived from a concrete context - Andrea Palladio s Villa Emo. Focused discussions on current studies of Rachel Fletcher stating that the architect used the golden section in this village construction. As a result, it was observed that the proposal to conduct a study on the mathematical reasoning assessment provided, in teaching and activity sequences, several theoretical and practical reflections. These applications, together with four sessions of study in the classroom, turned on to a mathematical thinking organization capable to develop in academic students, the investigative and logical reasoning and mathematical proof. By bringing ancient Greece and Andrea Palladio s aspects of the mathematics, in teaching activities for teachers and future teachers of basic education, it was promoted on them, an improvement in mathematical reasoning ability. Therefore, this work came from concerns as opportunity to the surveyed students, thinking mathematically. In fact, one of the most famous irrational, the golden section, was defined by a certain geometric construction, which is reflected by the Greek phrase (the name "golden section" becomes quite later) used to describe the same: division of a segment - on average and extreme right. Later, the golden section was once considered a standard of beauty in the arts. This is reflected in how to treat the statement questioning by current Palladio s scholars, regarding the use of the golden section in their architectural designs, in our case, in Villa Emo

Uma investigação histórica sobre os logaritmos com sugestões didáticas para a sala de aula

This study was conducted from a preliminary research to identify the conceptual and didactic approach to the logarithms given in the main textbooks adopted by the Mathematics teachers in state schools in the School of Natal, in Rio Grande do Norte. I carried out an historical investigation of the logarithms in order to reorient the math teacher to improve its educational approach this subject in the classroom. Based on the research approach I adopted a model of the log based on three concepts: the arithmetic, the geometric and algebraic-functional. The main objective of this work is to redirect the teacher for a broad and significant understanding of the content in order to overcome their difficulties in the classroom and thus realize an education that can reach the students learning. The investigative study indicated the possibility of addressing the logarithms in the classroom so transversalizante and interdisciplinary. In this regard, I point to some practical applications of this matter are fundamental in the study of natural phenomena as earthquakes, population growth, among others. These practical applications are connected, approximately, Basic Problematization Units (BPUs) to be used in the classroom. In closing, I offer some activities that helped teachers to understand and clarify the meaningful study of this topic in their teaching practice