Assessing behaviour support plans for people with intellectual disability before and after the Victorian Disability Act 2006

Background : This study sought to elucidate the extent to which behaviour support plans for people with intellectual disability are inclusive of best practice criteria, with a comparison made prior to and following proclamation of the Disability Act (2006) in Victoria, Australia.

Method : This study used a data collection instrument developed by the researchers incorporating best practice criteria as identified in the review of literature and Victorian legislative requirements. The instrument was used to assess a sample of behaviour support plans.

Results : Best practice criteria are inadequately included in behaviour support plans with little difference between pre- and post-Act plans.

Conclusion : The results of this study indicate that disability support staff are ill equipped to undertake the complex assessments, planning, and implementation associated with behaviour support strategies, despite the legislative framework that guides and directs this intervention

Reflecting on contemporary accounting : teaching and learning social and critical perspectives

This paper provides a case description and analysis of an effort to enact accounting education change. The study reports on an attempt to renew the social and ethical worth of accounting education and practice in the post-Enron context of increased interest in how accounting may contribute to social responsibility and sustainability. The paper considers the organisation, aims, and content of a newly-developed unit on social and critical perspectives on accounting, and key elements of the pedagogy utilised. These include team teaching, the employment of research literature rather than a prescribed textbook, an expanded conception of accounting and accounting “knowledge”, the adoption of educational goals that encompass preparing students for economic and social life and for democratic participation, and a view that sees ethics, the environment, and society as central to accounting. It is concluded that accounting educational change must encompass the content and practice of classroom activity, but it also requires change to the self-consciousness of all actors involved. Explicit inclusion of the social, critical, environmental and ethical dimensions of accounting in our teaching and learning programs provides an avenue for academics to individually and collectively make a meaningful contribution.

Student success and failure : as a matter of fact or just how they are portrayed?

This paper introduces and analyses three broad discourses of academic achievement and failure, specifically those that speak of students' deficits, disadvantages and differences. It draws on interview data collected from teachers working in Australian primary (elementary) and secondary (high) schools and on academic literature that speaks to the field. The paper argues that 'deficit', 'disadvantage' and 'difference' represent discourses of considerable influence in determining how teachers, students and parents define what constitutes success or failure in schools, which respective approaches educators employ, and the beliefs we hold about students who fail and those who succeed. In this respect, the paper is concerned with matters of inclusion and exclusion in schooling. In particular, we seek to tease out the stories that these discourses tell about student diversity, as a way of unmasking how students are differently represented and how these representations serve to include some and exclude others from the benefits of schooling and society more broadly.

Critical analysis and comparative study of security for networked RFID systems

The Radio frequency identification (RFID) system is a new technology which uses the open air to transmit information. RFID technology is one of the most promising technologies in the field of ubiquitous computing which is revolutionizing the supply chain. It has already been applied by many major retail chains such as Target, Wal-Mart, etc. The networked RFID system such as supply chain has very unique and special business needs which lead to special sets of RFID security requirements and security models. However, very little work has been done to analyze RFID security parameters in relation to networked RFID systems business needs. This paper presents a critical analysis of the networked application's security requirements in relation to their business needs. It then presents a comparative study of existing literature and the ability of various models to protect the security of the supply chain in a RFID deployment.

Loss and grief in the workplace. What can we learn from the literature?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine how Australian workplaces, their managers and employees respond to those who are grieving at work, as a result of chronic or terminal illness, or caring for those with chronic or terminal illness. The review draws on Australian and relevant international literature and seeks to answer this question.
Design/methodology/approach – A literature review was undertaken in preparation for an Australian study examining workplace supports for people who are grieving – because they are carers, have experienced a death, or are balancing their own illness with their work. Using a range of search terms, the literature was searched for relevant work between 1980 and 2010. The search found examples of workplace supports throughout the world and some developing Australian literature.
Findings – Despite illness and death occurring at any stage of a person's life, there is little research that identifies workplace issues associated with grief and loss. And while workplace legislation allows for minimal supports, there was evidence that some workplaces have begun to offer flexibility for work life balance.
Practical implications – Effective workplace supports will involve individual and workplace responses, but also require legislative approaches in order to effect broad-based system change.
Originality/value – The paper compares Australian and international literature about workplace supports and provides an overview of the issues arising.

A literature review on vulvodynia and distress

 Distress about a sexual problem is a necessary part of diagnosing female sexual dysfunction. It is an important way to distinguish between a sexual problem and normal sexual variation and has implications for treatment seeking, motivation for therapy and prognosis. The concept of distress, however, has not been clearly defined and is complex and poorly understood. Furthermore, there has been limited research into distress related to genital pain disorders. This paper explores the concept of distress within the field of vulvodynia research, specifically the distress that results from genital pain. Due to the limited research into distress relating specifically to genital pain this review will contextualise the available literature within the larger context of distress related to other female sexual dysfunctions. The discussion includes the current and future Diagnostic and Statistical Manual definitions for genital pain, as well as general definitions of distress. It also explores distress in the genital pain and general female sexual dysfunction literature and discusses its diagnostic, research and clinical implications.

Tribes as civil society organisations: the case of Iraq

The socio-political discourse about civil society inclines to use Western models in coneptualising civil society both in Western and non-Western societies. Iraq is one of those countries where civil society is mostly discussed the formally organised type. This paper critiques the disengagement of literature and empirical studies with exploring social structures like tribe within the civil society arena. It contends that civil society organisations should be understood based on their functions rather than forms. This paper argues that studying civil society should be comprehensive by studying other non-Western theories like 14th century Ibn Khaldun’s Muslim/Arab theories in its indigenous Arab and Muslim societies. On the premise of two factors: the Khaldunian asabiya or olidarity concept and the function of tribes in peace-building, policy formulation and democratisation, this paper uncovers how tribes in Iraq can be regarded civil society organisations.

Heat for nothing or activity for free? Evidence and implications of activity-thermoregulatory heat substitution

If heat generated through activity can substitute for heat required for thermoregulation, then activity in cold environments may be energetically free for endotherms. Although the possibility of activity-thermoregulatory heat substitution has been long recognized, its empirical generality and ecological implications remain unclear. We combine a review of the literature and a model of heat exchange to explore the generality of activity-thermoregulatory heat substitution, to assess the extent to which substitution is likely to vary with body size and ambient temperature, and to examine some potential macroecological implications. A majority of the 51 studies we located showed evidence of activity-thermoregulatory heat substitution (35 of 51 studies), with 28 of 32 species examined characterized by substitution in one or more study. Among studies that did detect substitution, the average magnitude of substitution was 57%, but its occurrence and extent varied taxonomically, allometrically, and with ambient temperature. Modeling of heat production and dissipation suggests that large birds and mammals, engaged in intense activity and exposed to relatively warm conditions, have more scope for substitution than do smaller endotherms engaged in less intense activity and experiencing cooler conditions. However, ambient temperature has to be less than the lower critical temperature (the lower bound of the thermal neutral zone) for activity-thermoregulatory heat substitution to occur and this threshold is lower in large endotherms than in small endotherms. Thus, in nature, substitution is most likely to be observed in intermediate-sized birds and mammals experiencing intermediate ambient temperatures. Activity-thermoregulatory heat substitution may be an important determinant of the activity patterns and metabolic ecology of endotherms. For example, a pattern of widely varying field metabolic rates (FMR) at low latitudes that converges to higher and less variable FMR at high latitudes has been interpreted as suggesting that warm environments at low latitudes allow a greater variety of feasible metabolic niches than do cool, high-latitude environments. However, activity-thermoregulatory heat substitution will generate this pattern of latitudinal FMR variation even if endotherms from cold and warm climates are metabolically and behaviorally identical, because the metabolic rates of resting and active animals are more similar in cold than in warm environments. Activity-thermoregulatory heat substitution is an understudied aspect of endotherm thermal biology that is apt to be a major influence on the physiological, behavioral and ecological responses of free-ranging endotherms to variation in temperature.

Sexting prevalence and correlates: a systematic literature review

Despite considerable controversy and speculation regarding sexting behaviour and its associated risks, to date there has been no integration and analysis of empirical literature on this topic. To collect and synthesise findings of the prevalence of sexting, its correlates, and the context in which it occurs, a systematic search of databases was conducted. Thirty-one studies, reporting on sexting prevalence and a diverse range of related variables, met inclusion criteria. The estimated mean prevalence weighted by sample size was calculated, with trends indicating sexting is more prevalent amongst adults than adolescents, older age is predictive of sexting for adolescents but not adults, and more individuals report receiving sexts than sending them. The correlates of sexting behaviour were grouped in terms of demographic variables, sexual and sexual risk behaviours, attitudes towards sexting, perceived outcomes of sexting, motivations for sexting, mental health and well-being variables, and attachment dimensions. Findings are discussed in terms of the trends indicated by the data, which provided substantiation that sexting behaviour is associated with numerous behavioural, psychological, and social factors. Limitations of the current research literature and future directions are also presented.

Beckett and Bion: The (Im)patient voice in psychotherapy and literature

This book focuses on Samuel Beckett’s psychoanalytic psychotherapy with W. R. Bion as a central aspect both of Beckett’s and Bion’s radical transformations of literature and psychoanalysis. The recent publication of Beckett’s correspondence during the period of his psychotherapy with Bion provides a starting place for an imaginative reconstruction of this psychotherapy, culminating with Bion’s famous invitation to his patient to dinner and a lecture by C.G. Jung. Following from the course of this psychotherapy, Miller and Souter trace the development of Beckett’s radical use of clinical psychoanalytic method in his writing, suggesting the development within his characters of a literary-analytic working through of transference to an idealized auditor known by various names, apparently based on Bion. Miller and Souter link this pursuit to Beckett’s breakthrough from prose to drama, as the psychology of projective identification is transformed to physical enactment. They also locate Bion’s memory and re-working of his clinical contact with Beckett, who figures as the 'patient zero' of Bion’s pioneering postmodern psychoanalytic clinical theories.

The National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards requirements for orientation and induction within Australian healthcare: a review of the literature

Introduction: A workplace orientation program is a core requirement of the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards in Australia. This is particularly important within healthcare as patient safety and the patient experience are at risk if the healthcare workforce is not supported with an effective orientation and induction program. Aim: This study aimed to review the literature and map the requirements of the NSQHS Standards in relation to orientation and induction. Method: This study utilised online databases to search for literature pertaining to orientation and induction within healthcare. Inclusion criteria included relevance to research questions, and originating in a country with a comparative health system to Australia. Results: The search identified a total of 202 articles of potential relevance with 42 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Articles were ranked according to hierarchy of evidence criteria for both qualitative and quantitative studies. The importance of using orientation to detail safety and quality roles, the organisations' risk management system, governance structure, operational processes and procedures was highlighted. Patient-centred care, antimicrobial stewardship, clinical handover and mechanisms for escalation of care and emergency assistance should also be covered within the orientation process. Conclusion: There is a dearth of studies in relation to orientation and induction in the healthcare literature. Orientation content is now clearly prescribed, what is lacking within healthcare is a standardised framework. Concept mapping, educational theory and adult learning methods have been shown to enhance workforce problem solving and engagement with orientation, however further research is needed to enhance practice

Self-practice and self-reflection in training of psychological interventions and therapist skills development: A qualitative meta-synthesis review

© 2015 Australian Psychological Society. Objective: The use of self-practice and self-reflection has been proposed as an efficacious strategy in the training of therapists. It has been argued to enhance therapist skills, and a key factor in the development of expertise. This systematic literature review investigated the effect of self-practice and self-reflection on therapist skills development. Method: Studies were identified through Medline, Academic Search Complete, PsychINFO, PsycARTICLES, Proquest, ISI, CINAHL, Cochrane, and Scopus databases. Additional studies were identified through lateral searches of relevant papers' reference lists and direct correspondence with authors of unpublished material. The selection criteria were studies that investigated the effect of self-practice and/or self-reflection on therapist skill development. There was no restriction on sample sizes, design of studies, dates of publication, or peer-reviewed papers. All studies were published in English. Results: Ten studies were included in this review. A thematic analysis was undertaken to analyse qualitative data. Due to inconsistency in the variables investigated across the quantitative studies, quantitative results were not subject to a meta-analysis but simply reported. Finally, qualitative and quantitative data were juxtaposed in a meta-synthesis. Conclusion: The meta-synthesis revealed inconsistencies between the qualitative and quantitative literature and a gap in relation to declarative knowledge. Methodological limitations across studies are discussed and recommendations for future research provided.

Exploring the role of personality and resilience in the stress response: a comparison of military and civilian samples

In the context of emergency services and first responders (i.e. military), the ability to select personnel who have the innate ability to work well in highly charged environments would be advantageous. While there have been some efforts to explore the relationship between personality traits and physiological reactivity in the context of the emergency services, differences in stress responses between civilians and military personnel have not yet been investigated. Therefore the aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between personality, resilience and physiological stress responses. Fifteen civilians and 16 military personnel completed online personality (IPIP) and resilience (CD-RISC) inventories prior to commencing the experimental component of the study. The Mannheim Multi-component Stress Test (MMST) which utilises cognitive, audio, visual and motivational components was employed to elicit an acute stress response. Measures of correct responses and reaction time were sampled during the MMST. Prior to and following exposure to the MMST, positive and negative affect were measured (PANAS), and heart rate was sampled continuously across the study period. Results indicated that Military participants rated significantly lower than civilians on neuroticism; however there were no differences between groups for resilience or any of the other personality traits. Military participants displayed less emotional reactivity and less negative affect following the MMST testing period, and appeared to perform better on the MMST when compared to the civilian sample. However, there was no significant difference in heart rate measures between groups. Collectively, these results provide support for the broaden and buildhypothesis and the transactional stress theory. The results also build on previous empirical stress literature and support the effectiveness of the MMST in laboratory induced stress. Suggestions for future research in the area of resiliency and stress will be discussed. From an applied context, further research in this area may assist in military recruitment processes to place individuals in roles to which they are most suited within the Defence Force.

Natal and neonatal teeth: Review of the literature

Child development from conception through the first years of life is marked by many changes. Tooth eruption follows a chronology corresponding to the date when the tooth erupts into the oral cavity. These dates have been established in the literature and are subjected to small variations depending on hereditary, endocrine and environmental features. At times, however, the chronology of tooth eruption suffers a more significant alteration in terms of onset, and the first teeth may be present at birth or arise during the first month of life. The expectations about the eruption of the first teeth are great and even greater when the teeth appear early in the oral cavity. The objective of the present study was to present a review of the literature with important aspects about natal and neonatal teeth.