Police perceptions of interviews involving children with intellectual disabilities: a qualitative inquiry

This study employed a qualitative method to explore the experiences of 20 police officers when interviewing children with intellectual disabilities. Three main themes were interpreted as representing challenges to the officers when interviewing special-needs children: police organizational culture, participants' perceptions of these children as interviewees, and prior information. Participants in this inquiry mentioned poor organizational priority within the police force for child abuse cases and children with intellectual disabilities, as well as inadequate support for interviewing skills development and maintenance. Participants also attempted to equalize these children by interviewing them in the same way as their mainstream peers. Finally, participants viewed interview preparation as influential in determining an interview's successful outcome, but recognized that preparedness could bias their interviewing techniques. Increased attention towards these issues will provide a basis for developing strategies to minimize such challenges and thus improve the quality of interviews with children with intellectual disabilities.

Fisheries and cage culture of three reservoirs in west Java, Indonesia; a case study of ambitious development and resulting interactions

The interactions between cage culture and wild fishery activities in three Indonesian reservoirs, Saguling, Cirata and Jatiluhur, of the greater Ciratum watershed, West Java, were evaluated using historical data and interviews with cage culture operators. In all three reservoirs, cage culture of common carp, Cyprinus carpio L., and later of common carp and Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.), were encouraged as an alternative livelihood for persons displaced by the impoundment. Currently, a two-net culture system, locally known as 'lapis dua', in which in the inner cage (7 × 7 × 3 m) is used for common carp culture and the outer cage (7 × 7 × 5/7 m) is stocked with Nile tilapia, is practised. On average each cage is stocked with  approximately 100 kg fingerlings each of common carp and Nile tilapia. The numbers of cages and production of cultured fish has increased in the reservoirs, but total and per cage production began to decline from about 1995 in Saguling from 2200 kg cage−1 in 1989 to <500 kg cage−1 in 2002, and in Cirata from a peak of approximately 2300 kg cage−1 in 1995 to approximately 400 kg cage−1 in 2002. In Jatiluhur, which has a considerably lower cage density, total fish production and production per cage has increased since 2000, and currently is approximately 4000 kg cage−1, close to production in the early years of cage culture activities. The cage culture operations also resulted in substantial nutrient loading, estimated at 3.2, 15.2 and 3.1 t of nitrogen and 134, 636 and 128 kg of phosphorous per year in the maximum years of production for Saguling, Cirata and Jatiluhur reservoirs, respectively. In later years, when cage culture production was high, fish kills occurred in the cages, and in Jatiluhur reservoir coincided with a dramatic decline in wild fishery catches. An attempt is made to determine the maximum number of cages for each of the reservoirs that will bring long-term sustainability of cage culture operations and the wild fisheries in the three reservoirs.

A mechanism to end conflict in Aceh

On 15 August 2005, the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed an agreement to end almost 30 years of conflict between them over claims to independence. After a series of failed ceasefires, this was the first comprehensive peace agreement, and contained within it the potential to settle the political and economic claims that fuelled a desire for separation in Aceh. The talks that led to the peace agreement followed the devastating tsunami of 26 December 2004, which killed over 100,000 people in Aceh, and an escalated military campaign by the Indonesian military against GAM forces. The talks were brokered by an international mediation organisation and supported by the European Union (EU). Despite some opposition within Jakarta, the talks were ultimately successful, producing an agreement that addressed many of the fundamental concerns of the Acehnese, especially around economic redistribution and local political representation. The EU agreed to monitor the agreement by sending a 200 strong Aceh Monitoring Mission (AAM), supported by monitors from ASEAN states. The main purpose of the AMM was to oversee the decommissioning of GAM weapons and the withdrawal of most Indonesian troops and police. It was thereafter expected to retain a smaller presence in order to monitor the implementation of other aspects of the agreement. The Aceh peace agreement faced a number of hurdles, including whether or not the Indonesian military would work to undermine the peace agreement, and over the continuing presence in Aceh of the military’s proxy militias. There were also concerns that the legislation required to secure aspects of the peace agreement might not be passed by the Indonesian legislature or would be diluted to the point that they would no longer be acceptable to GAM. However, as a politically negotiated agreement to end the conflict, the peace agreement was seen as establishing the model for peace in the region, and was touted by some observers as providing the basis for a model for peace in other parts of Indonesia&rsquo;s sometimes troubled archipelago.

The trouble with woon: the selective answering of police questions and the right to pre-trial silence

The 1964 High Court decision in Woon v The Queen is commonly understood to permit the drawing of an inference of a ‘consciousness of guilt’ when a suspect selectively responds to police questions. It is the author’s contention that, in the light of the emphatic endorsement of the right to pre-trial silence by the High Court in 1993 in Petty v The Queen; Maiden v The Queen, Woon should now be regarded as bad law and should no longer be followed.

Child abuse investigation: an in depth analysis of how police officers perceive and cope with daily work challenges

Purpose: The purpose of the current study was two-fold: to explore police officers' perceptions of the daily challenges involved in child abuse investigation and how those challenges affect their ability to undertake child abuse investigations, and to explore how these challenges are managed on a daily basis. Design/methodology/approach: This study employed a qualitative research design. In-depth interviews were conducted with a diverse sample of 25 police officers working in child abuse units across three Australian states. Findings: Inductive thematic analysis revealed that heavy caseload and collaboration with other professional groups are two key sources of negative work stress frequently associated with child abuse investigation. Further, despite the provision of organisational strategies aimed at reducing work stress, the officers tended to rely predominantly on informal coping mechanisms.  Research limitations/implications: This study has raised many questions for further research aimed at developing interventions to assist police organisations in managing work stress. Originality/value: This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the key challenges associated with child abuse investigation and the coping mechanisms employed for overcoming these challenges from the unique perspective of police officers authorised to investigate child abuse.

Police officers' and legal professionals' perceptions regarding how children are, and should be, questioned about repeated abuse

This study explored the perceptions of police officers and legal professionals (i.e., prosecutors, defence lawyers and a judge) about (a) what particularisation is, (b) the type of information that is required for particularisation to occur, and (c) how particularisation is best achieved in cases of repeated child abuse. The professionals' perceptions (all experts in this area) were elicited via individual in-depth semi-structured interviews. While all participants acknowledged the importance of particularisation, the views of the police officers varied in several important ways to those of the other professionals. Overall, the police officers perceived that highly specific details (such as the location, date and time of the offence) are essential for particularisation to occur, and that maximising the number of separate offences and specific details about each offence increases the chance of successful prosecution. In contrast, the legal professionals perceived that the primacy goal of the police officers should be to elicit a free-narrative account of one or more offences. A high proportion of specific questions was perceived to negatively impact on the child's credibility by contaminating the evidence. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Colonial designs: Thomas Karsten and the planning of urban Indonesia

Thomas Karsten (1885 – 1945) is undoubtedly a major figure in the history of architecture and town planning in Indonesia. Between 1915 and 1941 he was involved in town planning in 12 of the 19 municipalities and towns in Java (the most prominent exception being Surabaya) 3 of the 9 towns in Sumatra, and the only town in Borneo This paper does not attempts to investigate or question his importance in this field but to place his architectural and town planning ideas in the context of his broader politico-cultural ideas and activities in the Dutch East Indies between 1914 and 1942, and these, in turn, in the context of an evolving colonialism and colonial discourse.

Predictors of wellbeing experienced by Australian police officers

The aim of this study was to assess the ability of the Demand-Control-Support (DCS) model as well as the psychological contract model (PCM) to predict the wellbeing experienced by 2,566 Australian police officers. While the level of explained variance attributed to the PCM was substantially less than the DCS, measures of contract breach and organisational fairness still captured significant portions of intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction. Overall, the results of this study suggest that both the DCS and the PCM should figure prominently in strategies aimed at reducing or preventing police stress.

What makes a good investigative interviewer of children? A comparison of police officers' and experts; perceptions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine police officers’ perceptions about their role in interviewing children, and to compare these perceptions with those of child eyewitness memory experts.

Design/methodology/approach – A diverse sample of 23 police officers (from three states of Australia) individually participated in in-depth interviews where they were asked to define what makes a good interviewer in the area of child abuse investigation.

Findings – Irrespective of the background of the officers, the important role of interviewers’ personal attributes was emphasised (e.g. having a relaxed, empathetic, warm nature). Such personal attributes were more prominent in the participants’ descriptions than knowledge of legislation and children’s
development, prior job experience, and interviewing techniques.

Research limitations/implications – The paper shows that while child eyewitness memory experts acknowledge the importance of establishing a bond of mutual trust between the interviewer and the child, the importance of utilising an open-ended questioning style for enhancing rapport, and
for eliciting a detailed and accurate account of abuse cannot be overstated. The possible reasons for the police officers’ emphasis on personal qualities are discussed.

Originality/value – This paper has revealed that limitations in the competency of police officers in interviewing children is not merely a problem of “doing” (i.e. learning to ask open-ended questions),
but may also reflect ingrained attitudinal and organisational barriers.

What criteria do police officers use to measure the success of an interview with a child?

This study used a mixed-methods approach to explore the perceptions of a heterogeneous sample of 75 police interviewers regarding their performance in a mock interview with a 5-7-year-old child. Each officer recruited for this study was authorised to conduct investigative interviews with children. Specifically, we explored how the officers' perception of what makes a good interview differs depending on their background experience and their (perceived and actual) ability to adhere to best-practice interview guidelines. Overall, the officers' perceptions of what constitutes an effective interview were not entirely consistent with those held by experts in forensic interviewing. The majority of the interviewers perceived that the locus of control in the interview rested primarily with the child and/or the environmental setting. In contrast, experts tend to place the central onus of responsibility for the outcome of an interview on the skill of the interviewer in using open-ended questions. Several possible explanations for, and the implications of, these findings are discussed.

Is money targeting an option for Bank Indonesia?

In this paper, using the cash-in-advance model, we estimate Indonesia's money demand function for the period 1970–2005. We find the real M1 and real M2 are cointegrated with their determinants, namely real income, real exchange rate and short-term domestic and foreign interest rates. The long-run elasticities, except for the relationship between M2 and domestic interest rate, are plausible. Interestingly, we find a negative relationship between real exchange rate and real money demand, suggesting evidence of currency substitution. We test for causal relationships and find that in the short-run only the real exchange rate Granger causes real M1 and real M2. Finally, we find that Indonesia's money demand functions are unstable. We conclude that money targeting is not an option for Bank Indonesian and that currency substitution should be curbed in order to ensure macroeconomic sustainability.

Public satisfaction with police : using procedural justice to improve police legitimacy

Policing research and theory emphasises the importance of supportive relationships between police and the communities they serve in increasing police effectiveness in reducing crime and disorder. A key reason people support police is that they view police as legitimate. The existing research literature, primarily from the United States, indicates that the most important factor in public assessments of police legitimacy is procedural justice. The present study is the first in an Australian jurisdiction to examine the effect of procedural justice and police legitimacy on public satisfaction with police. Using responses to a large postal survey (n = 2611), findings show that people who believe police use procedural justice when they exercise their authority are more likely to view police as legitimate, and in turn are more satisfied with police services. This study differs to US-based research in the greater importance of people's evaluations of instrumental factors in judgments of police legitimacy. The findings are important as they confirm that people's assessments of fair and effective policing in Australia will be enhanced by policing strategies that emphasise the use of procedural justice in encounters with the public.