Conference Reflections. Some Practice and Practical Implications of Banning the Physical Punishment of Children through Legislation.

This brief paper represents the reflections of a participant at the recent conference ‘The Physical Punishment of Children’ organised jointly by Child Care in Practice and The Office of Law Reform. The participant’s reflections are related to his roles both as a Family Therapist and as a Guardian Ad Litem. The writer largely accepts the academic and moral arguments in respect of making the physical punishment of children a legal offence, so eloquently put by the main speakers. He wishes, however, to draw out some of the practical and practice implications which need to be considered alongside the implementation of such legislative change.

Zonal banning and public order in urban Australia

In recent years, Australian governments of various ideological persuasions at local, state and territory and federal levels have introduced a range of zonal governing techniques to manage the flow of people in urban spaces. Zonal governance involves the identification and formal declaration of a specific urban geographic region to enable police and security personnel to deploy special powers and allied forms of surveillance technologies as a supplement to their conventional public order maintenance functions.

Despite the impetus towards open flows or movement within sovereign territories or larger territorial groupings, such as the European Union, considerable governmental effort has been directed towards the use of new forms of criminal law to re-territorialize urban space through new administrative, property law and regulatory measures. These low-level spatial demarcations introduce various supplementary police powers and discretionary procedures that enhance surveillance within a declared area to increase the level of contemporary urban security. Of particular concern is the legal right to ban or exclude “undesirable” individuals and groups from entering or using certain designated urban zones, to prevent antisocial or violent behavior usually associated with alcohol consumption.

To date, most discussion of the impact of banning and related surveillance measures focuses on illegal migration through ports of entry into sovereign nations and the commensurate burdens this creates for both citizens and non-citizens to authenticate their movements at national geographic borders. This logic is permeating more localized forms of regulation adopted by Australian local and mid-tier state and territory governments to control the movement of people in and out of major event sites and in the urban night-time economy.

A survey of recent reforms in the state of Victoria reveals how this new logic of mass-surveillance aims to promote greater levels of urban security while reshaping the conventional order maintenance functions of both the public and private police. This chapter describes these procedures and their impact in sanctioning the efficient screening of people to promote order in specific zones within the contemporary Australian urban environment, at the expense of more progressive and inclusive crime prevention initiatives. We focus on two exemplars of the intensification of surveillance through zonal governance techniques: ‘major events’ and ‘designated alcohol zones’.

The pursuit of exclusion through zonal banning

In recent years, a growing emphasis has been placed on the use of zonal banning to address violence and anti-social behaviour associated with alcohol consumption. While we recognise the longer historical links between territory and crime, this article focuses on recent efforts to govern territory through new zonal regulations. Recent processes in Australia involve the conflation criminal law principles with processes of managing order in and around private spaces through new administrative approaches to alcohol-related law enforcement. The article outlines the nature of sub-sovereign ‘police laws’ and the extent to which they have been used based on Victorian data. We conclude by suggesting these developments need ongoing critical scrutiny given evidence of the ongoing expansion of proprietary-based principles in the management of urban disorder, and the potential for these developments to promote the increased use of surveillance technologies to exclude undesirable populations from the nighttime economies of Australian cities.

Victoria’s banning provisions: ‘balancing’ discretionary police powers and individual rights

This thesis examines the parliamentary passage, implementation and ongoing scrutiny of Victoria’s banning notice provisions. Underlying political assumptions and justifications are explored to reveal how banning notices exemplify a move towards police-imposed discretionary justice, which undermines individual rights and reconfigures the notion of balance in the criminal justice system.

Banning information as a redistributive device

In this paper we analyze the optimality of allowing firms to observe signals of workers’ characteristics in an optimal taxation framework. We show that it is always optimal to prohibit signals that disclose information about differences in the intrinsic productivities of workers like mandatory health exams and IQ tests, for example. On the other hand, it is never optimal to forbid signals that reveal information about the comparative advantages of workers like their specialization and profession. When signals are mixed (they disclose both types of information), there is a trade-off between efficiency and equity. It is optimal to prohibit signals with sufficiently low comparative advantage content.

Cut Out By The Middle Man: The Free Speech Implications Of Social Network Blocking and Banning In The EU

This article examines social network users’ legal defences against content removal under the EU and ECHR frameworks, and their implications for the effective exercise of free speech online. A review of the Terms of Use and content moderation policies of two major social network services, Facebook and Twitter, shows that end users are unlikely to have a contractual defence against content removal. Under the EU and ECHR frameworks, they may demand the observance of free speech principles in state-issued blocking orders and their implementation by intermediaries, but cannot invoke this ‘fair balance’ test against the voluntary removal decisions by the social network service. Drawing on practical examples, this article explores the threat to free speech created by this lack of accountability: Firstly, a shift from legislative regulation and formal injunctions to public-private collaborations allows state authorities to influence these ostensibly voluntary policies, thereby circumventing constitutional safeguards. Secondly, even absent state interference, the commercial incentives of social media cannot be guaranteed to coincide with democratic ideals. In light of the blurring of public and private functions in the regulation of social media expression, this article calls for the increased accountability of the social media services towards end users regarding the observance of free speech principles

Patron banning in the nightlife entertainment districts: a key informant perspective

OBJECTIVE: Alcohol-related harm in and around licensed venues is associated with substantial costs. Many interventions have been introduced in an effort to combat these harms, and one such intervention is known as patron banning. Patron banning involves prohibiting patrons who have been violent or disorderly in a licensed venue in an attempt to reduce alcohol-related harm. It can be implemented by the venue, by members of police, or by liquor accords. This study aimed to obtain key informant perspectives on the benefits of patron banning as well as on the effectiveness of patron banning in reducing alcohol-related harm. METHOD: Thirty-six key informants provided perspectives on patron banning through in-depth interviews that were part of a larger study. RESULTS: Key informants were supportive of patron banning for reducing alcohol-related harm, noting that it had many benefits including increased venue safety, general risk management, and deterrence of antisocial behavior. Although processes for banning were not always consistent, identification scanners were generally recognized as a way to ensure that patron banning was enforced. CONCLUSIONS: Key informants viewed patron banning as an effective measure for increasing patron safety and reducing alcohol-related harms.

Victoria’s banning notice provisions: parliamentary, procedural and individual vulnerabilities

Purpose Alcohol-related disorder in Australia’s night-time economy has precipitated an expanding regulatory and legislative framework. A key feature is the growth of police-imposed discretionary justice, one example of which are Victoria’s banning provisions. Banning notices are imposed on-the-spot, may be issued pre-emptively, but permit no right of independent appeal. However, there has been little analysis of the enactment, implementation or use of police-imposed banning provisions. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach This paper draws upon a detailed examination of the record of parliamentary debate of the banning notice legislation to document how the provisions, and their embedded procedural vulnerabilities, were legitimised. In addition, an analysis of Victoria Police data informs consideration of the ongoing scrutiny of the police power to ban.

FindingsThe absolute discretion afforded to police officers, and a lack of effective oversight, has created the potential for the disproportionate and discriminatory implementation of Victoria’s banning notice powers. The findings highlight procedural vulnerabilities within the provisions, and concern regarding the particular risk of banning notices for vulnerable recipients.

Research limitations/implications The nature of Victoria’s banning provisions created the circumstances for their inequitable imposition, but public scrutiny of their use and effect is limited. Omissions and deficiencies in the published data restricts meaningful analysis of how banning works in practice.

Originality/value The research underpinning this paper was the first detailed examination of the implementation and ongoing scrutiny of Victoria’s banning notice provisions. The findings presented in this paper highlight key procedural vulnerabilities resulting from the passage of the legislation and the absence of effective oversight.

Using ‘think aloud’ as a strategy for learning clinical reasoning in high fidelity case-based simulation for undergraduate nursing students

AIMS This paper reports on the implementation of a research project that trials an educational strategy implemented over six months of an undergraduate third year nursing curriculum. This project aims to explore the effectiveness of ‘think aloud’ as a strategy for learning clinical reasoning for students in simulated clinical settings. BACKGROUND Nurses are required to apply and utilise critical thinking skills to enable clinical reasoning and problem solving in the clinical setting [1]. Nursing students are expected to develop and display clinical reasoning skills in practice, but may struggle articulating reasons behind decisions about patient care. For students learning to manage complex clinical situations, teaching approaches are required that make these instinctive cognitive processes explicit and clear [2-5]. In line with professional expectations, nursing students in third year at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) are expected to display clinical reasoning skills in practice. This can be a complex proposition for students in practice situations, particularly as the degree of uncertainty or decision complexity increases [6-7]. The ‘think aloud’ approach is an innovative learning/teaching method which can create an environment suitable for developing clinical reasoning skills in students [4, 8]. This project aims to use the ‘think aloud’ strategy within a simulation context to provide a safe learning environment in which third year students are assisted to uncover cognitive approaches that best assist them to make effective patient care decisions, and improve their confidence, clinical reasoning and active critical reflection on their practice. MEHODS In semester 2 2011 at QUT, third year nursing students will undertake high fidelity simulation, some for the first time commencing in September of 2011. There will be two cohorts for strategy implementation (group 1= use think aloud as a strategy within the simulation, group 2= not given a specific strategy outside of nursing assessment frameworks) in relation to problem solving patient needs. Students will be briefed about the scenario, given a nursing handover, placed into a simulation group and an observer group, and the facilitator/teacher will run the simulation from a control room, and not have contact (as a ‘teacher’) with students during the simulation. Then debriefing will occur as a whole group outside of the simulation room where the session can be reviewed on screen. The think aloud strategy will be described to students in their pre-simulation briefing and allow for clarification of this strategy at this time. All other aspects of the simulations remain the same, (resources, suggested nursing assessment frameworks, simulation session duration, size of simulation teams, preparatory materials). RESULTS Methodology of the project and the challenges of implementation will be the focus of this presentation. This will include ethical considerations in designing the project, recruitment of students and implementation of a voluntary research project within a busy educational curriculum which in third year targets 669 students over two campuses. CONCLUSIONS In an environment of increasingly constrained clinical placement opportunities, exploration of alternate strategies to improve critical thinking skills and develop clinical reasoning and problem solving for nursing students is imperative in preparing nurses to respond to changing patient needs. References 1. Lasater, K., High-fidelity simulation and the development of clinical judgement: students' experiences. Journal of Nursing Education, 2007. 46(6): p. 269-276. 2. Lapkin, S., et al., Effectiveness of patient simulation manikins in teaching clinical reasoning skills to undergraduate nursing students: a systematic review. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 2010. 6(6): p. e207-22. 3. Kaddoura, M.P.C.M.S.N.R.N., New Graduate Nurses' Perceptions of the Effects of Clinical Simulation on Their Critical Thinking, Learning, and Confidence. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 2010. 41(11): p. 506. 4. Banning, M., The think aloud approach as an educational tool to develop and assess clinical reasoning in undergraduate students. Nurse Education Today, 2008. 28: p. 8-14. 5. Porter-O'Grady, T., Profound change:21st century nursing. Nursing Outlook, 2001. 49(4): p. 182-186. 6. Andersson, A.K., M. Omberg, and M. Svedlund, Triage in the emergency department-a qualitative study of the factors which nurses consider when making decisions. Nursing in Critical Care, 2006. 11(3): p. 136-145. 7. O'Neill, E.S., N.M. Dluhy, and C. Chin, Modelling novice clinical reasoning for a computerized decision support system. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2005. 49(1): p. 68-77. 8. Lee, J.E. and N. Ryan-Wenger, The "Think Aloud" seminar for teaching clinical reasoning: a case study of a child with pharyngitis. J Pediatr Health Care, 1997. 11(3): p. 101-10.

Using ‘think aloud’ as a strategy for improving clinical reasoning in high fidelity case-based simulation for undergraduate nursing students.

Theme Paper for Curriculum innovation and enhancement theme AIM: This paper reports on a research project that trialled an educational strategy implemented in an undergraduate nursing curriculum. The project aimed to explore the effectiveness of ‘think aloud’ as a strategy for improving clinical reasoning for students in simulated clinical settings. BACKGROUND: Nurses are required to apply and utilise critical thinking skills to enable clinical reasoning and problem solving in the clinical setting (Lasater, 2007). Nursing students are expected to develop and display clinical reasoning skills in practice, but may struggle articulating reasons behind decisions about patient care. The ‘think aloud’ approach is an innovative learning/teaching method which can create an environment suitable for developing clinical reasoning skills in students (Banning, 2008, Lee and Ryan-Wenger, 1997). This project used the ‘think aloud’ strategy within a simulation context to provide a safe learning environment in which third year students were assisted to uncover cognitive approaches to assist in making effective patient care decisions, and improve their confidence, clinical reasoning and active critical reflection about their practice. MEHODS: In semester 2 2011 at QUT, third year nursing students undertook high fidelity simulation (some for the first time), commencing in September of 2011. There were two cohorts for strategy implementation (group 1= used think aloud as a strategy within the simulation, group 2= no specific strategy outside of nursing assessment frameworks used by all students) in relation to problem solving patient needs. The think aloud strategy was described to students in their pre-simulation briefing and allowed time for clarification of this strategy. All other aspects of the simulations remained the same, (resources, suggested nursing assessment frameworks, simulation session duration, size of simulation teams, preparatory materials). Ethics approval has been obtained for this project. RESULTS: Results of a qualitative analysis (in progress- will be completed by March 2012) of student and facilitator reports on students’ ability to meet the learning objectives of solving patient problems using clinical reasoning and experience with the ‘think aloud’ method will be presented. A comparison of clinical reasoning learning outcomes between the two groups will determine the effect on clinical reasoning for students responding to patient problems. CONCLUSIONS: In an environment of increasingly constrained clinical placement opportunities, exploration of alternate strategies to improve critical thinking skills and develop clinical reasoning and problem solving for nursing students is imperative in preparing nurses to respond to changing patient needs.

Why are children the most important audience for pornography in Australia?

Who watches pornography in Australia? If you listen to public debates about the genre the answer is clear – it’s children. Children are accessing pornography on smartphones (Murray and Tin 2011). Children are taking ‘lewd’ photographs of themselves, creating their own pornography (Nelligan and Etheridge 2011). Indigenous Australian children must be protected by banning pornography (the Age 2011). Pornographic magazines are placed where children can see them (O'Rourke 2011). Exposure to pornography is damaging children (Sundstrom 2011). The Australian Government insists that the Internet must be filtered to protect children from pornography (Collerton 2010). And if indeed any adults are watching pornography in Australia, then it’s child pornography (MacDonald 2011; Ralston and Howden 2011).In story after story, public debate about pornography focuses on children as its audience. There is no suggestion that children are numerically the largest audience of pornography in Australia. But emphatically the suggestion is that children are the most important audience to be taken into account when thinking about the genre. This chapter explores why this is the case, and notes the political advantages and disadvantages of focusing on children as the most important audience for pornography in Australia.

Othering the Malay in Malaysia : a planned consequence of politics?

This paper examines the rise in the politicisation of Islam in Malaysia and links it to the othering of the Malaysian Malay. It is my argument that both were “conquering” tools of Malaysia’s “Father of Modernisation”, Mahathir Mohamad, devised to win the support of the Malay Muslim majority in Malaysia. The many awards bestowed on Mahathir obscure the fact that he was instrumental in the systematic erosion of the power and roles of state institutions, especially at the Federal government level. This includes the significant loss of the independence of the Malaysian judiciary. Whilst per capita income in Malaysia may well have increased eight times under his 22-year leadership, this paper asks why is it that the majority of the Malays remain the largest number among the poor and the more disenfranchised of ethnicities in the country? Why have Malay and Muslim women suffered such a rapid decreasing ability to access justice? This paper examines existing research on the social and political changes Malaysia has experienced with Islamisation and under Mahathir’s rule, as well as studies on Malayness, Malay nationalism and Muslim Malay identity formation. The paper elaborates the othering of a majority people, the Malays in Malaysia, and how this othering has brought forth a fast-growing political power in the name of a supremacist Islam, a puritanical Sunni and Malay Islam. Specific events in the rise and rule of Mahathir as Malaysia’s then Prime Minister are reviewed, such as the banning of The Malay Dilemma, and the split in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in 1987. Also examined is the varying emphasis between Muslim and race, and how during Mahathir’s rule, that strong misogynist and patriarchal attitudes took hold in Malay Muslim consciousness, a colonising consciousness that is othering the perceived cultural and genetic “impurities” within the Malay.