Home truths about home detention

The Victorian Parliament has recently introduced a Bill which implements home detention as a sentencing option. Home detention is an intuitively appealing reform. The logic behind the proposal seems obvious. Prisons are expensive to run. There are too many offenders in prison. So let's take the cost out of prison by turning the homes of offenders into prisons: classic, user-pays, cost-shifting economics. The level of superficial appeal of the argument in favour of home detention is matched only by the depth of the fallacies underpinning some of the fundamental premises. The most basic of which is the assumption that offenders who are candidates for the new sanction should be in detention (of any kind) in the first place. Further, the narrow objective of reducing imprisonment is misguided. It should not be elevated to a cardinal sentencing objective?otherwise total success could be achieved by simply opening the prison gates. There are also other concerns about the appropriateness of home detention. The degree of pain it inflicts in many cases is questionable and it may also violate the principle that punishment should not be inflicted on the innocent. After examining the arguments for and against home detention, this article suggests the approach that should be adopted to achieve enlightened and meaningful sentencing reform.

Injecting content into the mirage that is proportionality in sentencing

Sentencing involves the deliberate infliction of harm by society on individuals. It is the most coercive means through which the community imposes its collective (albeit civilised) displeasure at harmful conduct. It is an important and complex process, which involves balancing fundamental interests of victims and the community on the one hand and offenders on the other. The single most important determinant in setting criminal sanctions is the principle of proportionality, which provides that the harshness of the penalty should match the seriousness of the offence. The principle is intuitively appealing but in reality is an illusion, and hence the reason why penalties for criminal offences vary enormously within and across jurisdictions. The main reason is because there is no agreement regarding the considerations that inform offence severity or sanction hardship. This article injects content into the proportionality principle by suggesting that both limbs of the principle should be informed by the extent to which the crime and the sanction set back the well-being of victims and offenders, respectively. These interests are not conclusively mapped. However, a methodology is set out for establishing these interests. This will lead to greater consistency in sentencing and provide a sounder, normative foundation for the manner in which society deals with criminals.

Detention Home Teens as Tutors: A Cooperative Cross-Age Tutoring Pilot Project

Concerned professionals in the juvenile justice field frequently express concern for effective programs that help youth offenders successfully rejoin society. This mixed-method pilot study, involved detention home teens functioning as tutors for special education students in a public school. Tutors experienced gains in self-esteem and overall school/social attitude.

Calling Home

Through the exhibition implicit conceptions of home held by the participating artists and those viewing the exhibition were externalized. Represented as images, the conceptions conveyed different as well as shared understandings categorized as physical, cognitive, emotional, instrumental and existential. Unlike written papers on the meaning of home, the exhibition enabled access to a richer understanding of home as facilitating a way of being-in-the-world.

Using videotelephony to support paediatric oncology-related palliative care in the home : from abandoned RCT to acceptability study

Videotelephony (real-time audio-visual communication) has been used successfully in adult palliative home care. This paper describes two attempts to complete an RCT (both of which were abandoned following difficulties with family recruitment), designed to investigate the use of videotelephony with families receiving palliative care from a tertiary paediatric oncology service in Brisbane, Australia. To investigate whether providing videotelephone-based support was acceptable to these families, a 12-month non-randomised acceptability trial was completed. Seventeen palliative care families were offered access to a videotelephone support service in addition to the 24 hours ‘on-call’ service already offered. A 92% participation rate in this study provided some reassurance that the use of videotelephones themselves was not a factor in poor RCT participation rates. The next phase of research is to investigate the integration of videotelephone-based support from the time of diagnosis, through outpatient care and support, and for palliative care rather than for palliative care in isolation

Recognising and respecting Torres Strait Islander mathematics knowledges and home languages through mainstream mathematics education [Abstract]

This abstract provides a preliminary discussion of the importance of recognising Torres Strait Islander knowledges and home languages of mathematics education. It stems from a project involving Torres Strait Islander Teachers and Teacher Aides and university based researchers who are working together to enhance the mathematics learning of students from Years 4-9. A key focus of the project is that mathematics is relevant and provides students with opportunities for further education, training and employment. Veronica Arbon (2008) questions the assumptions underpinning Western mainstream education as beneficial for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which assumes that it enables them to better participate in Australian society. She asks “how de we best achieve outcomes for and with Indigenous people conducive to our cultural, physical and economic sustainability as defined by us from Indigenous knowledge positions?” (p. 118). How does a mainstream education written to English conventions provide students with the knowledge and skills to participate in daily life, if it does not recognise the cultural identity of Indigenous students as it should (Priest, 2005; cf. Schnukal, 2003)? Arbon (2008) states that this view is now brought into question with calls for both ways education where mainstream knowledge and practices is blended with Indigenous cultural knowledges of learning. This project considers as crucial that cultural knowledges and experiences of Indigenous people to be valued and respected and given the currency in the same way that non Indigenous knowledge is (Taylor, 2003) for both ways education to work.

Destination branding : tracking brand equity for a competitive set of near-home destinations

In the emerging literature related to destination branding, little has been reported about performance metrics. The focus of most research reported to date has been concerned with the development of destination brand identities and the implementation of campaigns (see for example, Crockett & Wood 1999, Hall 1999, May 2001, Morgan et al 2002). One area requiring increased attention is that of tracking the performance of destination brands over time. This is an important gap in the tourism literature, given: i) the increasing level of investment by destination marketing organisations (DMO) in branding since the 1990s, ii) the complex political nature of DMO brand decision-making and increasing accountability to stakeholders (see Pike, 2005), and iii) the long-term nature of repositioning a destination’s image in the market place (see Gartner & Hunt, 1987). Indeed, a number of researchers in various parts of the world have pointed to a lack of market research monitoring destination marketing objectives, such as in Australia (see Prosser et. al 2000, Carson, Beattie and Gove 2003), North America (Sheehan & Ritchie 1997, Masberg 1999), and Europe (Dolnicar & Schoesser 2003)...

Motivation and perception factors influence buying home behaviour in Dilly, East Timor

Demand of low cost housing increased from 1995 to 1997 which is shown by the number of housing loan approval. In order to develop the most suitable marketing plan, developer needs to know some factors which influenced to the decision making process of buying house. This research used a residential development in PT Delta Comoro Permai, Dilly as a case study. A survey to homeowners has been done to evaluate the motivation and perception factors in buying home behaviour. The survey has been done on the 3rd August to 29th August 1998. In this study, four main components have been examined. Physical and linkage are not as important as environment and utilities for the homebuyer. Moreover, the result is consistent with developer’s motto ‘clean, secure, aesthetic, healthy and prosperity’. This study provides further recommendation in the environment and utilities components for the new development in the future.

Continuous infusion of ticarcillin-clavulanate for home treatment of serious infections : clinical efficacy, safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics

Continuous infusion (CI) ticarcillin–clavulanate is a potential therapeutic improvement over conventional intermittent dosing because the major pharmacodynamic (PD) predictor of efficacy of β-lactams is the time that free drug levels exceed the MIC. This study incorporated a 6-year retrospective arm evaluating efficacy and safety of CI ticarcillin–clavulanate in the home treatment of serious infections and a prospective arm additionally evaluating pharmacokinetics (PK) and PD. In the prospective arm, steady-state serum ticarcillin and clavulanate levels and MIC testing of significant pathogens were performed. One hundred and twelve patients (median age, 56 years) were treated with a CI dose of 9.3–12.4 g/day and mean CI duration of 18.0 days. Infections treated included osteomyelitis (50 patients), septic arthritis (6), cellulitis (17), pulmonary infections (12), febrile neutropenia (7), vascular infections (7), intra-abdominal infections (2), and Gram-negative endocarditis (2); 91/112 (81%) of patients were cured, 14 (13%) had partial response and 7 (6%) failed therapy. Nine patients had PICC line complications and five patients had drug adverse events. Eighteen patients had prospective PK/PD assessment although only four patients had sufficient data for a full PK/PD evaluation (both serum steady-state drug levels and ticarcillin and clavulanate MICs from a bacteriological isolate), as this was difficult to obtain in home-based patients, particularly as serum clavulanate levels were found to deteriorate rapidly on storage. Three of four patients with matched PK/PD assessment had free drug levels exceeding the MIC of the pathogen. Home CI of ticarcillin–clavulanate is a safe, effective, convenient and practical therapy and is a therapeutic advance over traditional intermittent dosing when used in the home setting.

Home depot in Chile: case study

Retailing is rapidly becoming a global industry and many retailers are expanding to foreign markets. However, several retailers successful in their home countries have failed in emerging markets such as Chile. Little is known why these retailers succeed in some venues and not others. A case study of the failed operations of Home Depot in that Chilean market was developed in order to understand this issue in more depth. This case study included an analysis of the Chilean marketplace, expert and consumer interviews, and analysis of data from secondary sources. Finding showed difference in that institutional environment between Chile and the U.S., due to a higher family and relational orientation in Chile. Home Depot defied institutional pressures and maintained standardized retail practices.

Destination brand positions of a competitive set of near-home destinations

Although the branding literature commenced during the 1940s, the first publications related to destination branding did not emerge until half a century later. A review of 74 destination branding publications by 102 authors from the first 10 years of destination branding literature (1998-2007) found at least nine potential research gaps warranting attention by researchers. In particular, there has been a lack of research examining the extent to which brand positioning campaigns have been successful in enhancing brand equity in the manner intended in the brand identity. The purpose of this paper is to report the results of an investigation of brand equity tracking for a competitive set of destinations in Queensland, Australia between 2003 and 2007. A hierarchy of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) provided an effective means to monitor destination brand positions over time. A key implication of the results was the finding that there was no change in brand positions for any of the five destinations over the four year period. This leads to the proposition that destination position change within a competitive set will only occur slowly over a long period of time. The tabulation of 74 destination branding case studies, research papers, conceptual papers and web content analyses provides students and researchers with a useful resource on the current state of the field.

The home stigma : adverse selection in ADRs and the home capital market environment

We investigate whether characteristics of the home country capital environment, such as information disclosure and investor rights protection continue to affect ADRs cross-listed in the U.S. Using microstructure measures as proxies for adverse selection, we find that characteristics of the home markets continue to be relevant, especially for emerging market firms. Less transparent disclosure, poorer protection of investor rights and weaker legal institutions are associated with higher levels of information asymmetry. Developed market firms appear to be affected by whether or not home business laws are common law or civil law legal origin. Our finding contributes to the bonding literature. It suggests that cross-listing in the U.S. should not be viewed as a substitute for improvement in the quality of local institutions, and attention must be paid to improve investor protection in order to achieve the full benefits of improved disclosure. Improvement in the domestic capital market environment can attract more investors even for U.S. cross-listed firms.