Victim/survivor-focused justice responses and reforms to criminal court practice: implementation, current practice and future directions

Abstract: Reforms have been underway over the last three decades to address the disadvantages that victim/survivors of sexual assault face within the criminal justice system in Australia. Such reforms include expansion of advocate services, specialisation of police, alternative provisions for giving evidence at trial, and changes to jury instructions. This report was commissioned to examine the implementation of these reforms and their impact on the victim/survivor experience. Drawing on interviews with 81 criminal justice professionals including counsellors, lawyers, and judges, it looks at victim/survivor-focused approaches, promising and innovative practices, the take up of reforms, the factors that enable or inhibit victim-focused reforms being embedded in court practices, and the potential for future reform

Access to early childhood education in Australia: insights from a qualitative study

Based on interviews with 94 parents in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia, this report investigates parents\u27 knowledge of and attitudes towards early childhood education. Executive summary This report documents the background, methodology and findings from the Access to Early Childhood Education (AECE): Qualitative Study, undertaken by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) and commissioned by the then Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR; now the Department of Education) on behalf of the Early Childhood Data Subgroup (ECDSG). This research was commissioned within the context of the National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education (NP ECE), which jointly committed the Commonwealth and all state and territory governments to achieving universal access to preschool by 2013. The AECE Qualitative Study was undertaken in order to develop a qualitative evidence base about how the concept of “access” to early childhood education (ECE) is defined and understood, and to explore what reasons and barriers exist in relation to access to ECE. A qualitative framework was chosen for this study to enable more in-depth study of any barriers to ECE, and/or factors that lead to parents making particular decisions about their children’s use of ECE. &nbsp

Estimating Abundance of Adult Trachemys scripta with Camera Traps: Accuracy, Precision and Probabilities of Capture for a Closed Population

Low and variable rates of capture are common problems when estimating abundance of freshwater turtles with capture-mark-recapture (CMR). We speculated camera traps would allow us to obtain reliable estimates of abundance by re-sighting marked Trachemys scripta elegans (Sliders) as they basked on man-made rafts during a 20-day surveillance period. We evaluated the method by releasing Sliders in a fenced enclosure to compare estimates from CMR to true abundance. We also evaluated probabilities of detection and retention of marks. Permanence of marks applied with marine epoxy satisfied assumptions for CMR. Camera traps detected 23 of 25 Sliders. Our ability to discern marks from photos was good (110 of 114 re-sightings). The proportion of marked Sliders detected per day was 0.22; detection varied with day of surveillance (1–20) and maximum air temperature the preceding day. All CMR models providing valid estimates of abundance included the true number of marked Sliders in their confidence intervals and yielded point estimates within 27% of the true value. An estimate of abundance from the top CMR model exceeded the true value by 22%, with a wide confidence interval. Model averaging improved the point estimate (17% over true) and produced a narrower confidence interval. A favorable comparison of estimated and true abundance validated camera traps as a tool for estimating abundance of adult Sliders. We believe camera traps could prove useful for detecting biases caused by primary methods of capture, refining estimates of abundance from other methods and collecting data at multiple locations consistently, simultaneously and frugally compared to manual methods alone

Sampling Assemblages of Turtles in Central Illinois: A Case Study of Capture Efficiency and Species Coverage

Low and variable rates of capture are chronic problems in chelonian studies. We conducted a pilot study to evaluate protocols for future inventories of turtles in Illinois by comparing capture efficiency and species coverage for 2 devices (hoop net and cage trap), baits (fresh and day-old fish), habitats (lentic and lotic) and time periods . We accrued 402 captures of 378 individuals representing 7 species. At Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area (Sanganois), hoop nets produced more captures of more species (n = 231; 6 species) than cage traps (n = 119; 4 species). Statistical tests were equivocal for a reach of the Sangamon River, where both devices had 26 captures but hoop nets detected more species (n = 6) than cage traps (n = 3). At Sanganois, catch per unit effort varied with sampling session (time) and freshness of baits; one measure of species coverage varied with session. Results helped us make informed decisions about protocols for future inventories

Conspecific Aggression by Beavers (Castor canadensis) in the Sangamon River Basin in Central Illinois: Correlates with Habitat, Age, Sex and Season

Conspecific aggression may play an important role in partitioning resources and maintaining territories among beavers (Castor canadensis), yet few studies have examined physical evidence of agonistic encounters. We trapped and examined pelts from 147 beavers harvested between 2006 and 2012 from the Sangamon River (n  =  96) and tributary streams (n  =  51) in central Illinois. We modeled the influence of sex, age class, season (predispersal or dispersal), and habitat (river or tributary stream) on the number of recent injuries caused by conspecifics. One-third (51/147) of beavers had ≥1 injury; of those, the median number of injuries was 2.0. Kits had fewer injuries than adults (βKit  =  −2.24 ± 0.63), but yearlings and subadults did not (βyearling  =  0.02 ± 0.38, βsubadult  =  −0.22 ± 0.48). Beavers on small streams had only one-quarter of the injuries recorded for beavers on the river (βStream  =  −1.34 ± 0.82). We failed to detect differences in injuries between the sexes. Our results suggest both sexes participate in territorial defense through physical confrontations and such encounters can be costly to both dispersing juveniles and resident adult

The distracted globe: a project in the practice of writing poetry

The Distracted Globe is a project in the writing of poetry. It is an example of research conducted through creative practice and comprises a collection of original poetry, The Silent Book, and an accompanying reflective commentary. Thematically, the poems deal with adolescence, education, the English Language, mental health, death and loss, gender representation, sexuality and polarisation. Significant subject matter includes: the English Language, English Literature, places, in particular Blackpool, London and Nottingham, madness, with specific reference to Bipolar Affective Disorder. The poetry explores the recreation and transformation of literary texts and the manipulation of fairy tale conventions. The poems are a mixture of free verse and traditional forms

The Performance of Novel Cr(III) Based Coatings for Packaging Steel

The main driver for this thesis was the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the corrosion of novel trivalent chromium coatings for packaging steels and comparison with traditional materials, namely electro chromium coated steel (ECCS). Tata Steel are currently developing trivalent chromium coated technology steel (TCCT) as a replacement for ECCS in steel packaging applications. ECCS offers excellent corrosion resistance when used in conjunction with a polymer overcoat. The understanding of corrosion performance of the novel TCCT when overcoated with an organic coating is currently limited. Thus, this work utilised experimental procedures to help understand the mechanism behind two forms of corrosion-driven organic coating failure; filiform corrosion and corrosion-driven cathodic delamination. In turn, this work also aimed to identify, and supply the steel industry with evidence of the TCCT coating weights that are important for optimum resistance to organic coating failure. Increasing the Cr (III) oxide coating weight led to an improvement in corrosion performance with regards to both filiform corrosion and cathodic delamination, with a Cr (III) oxide coating weight of approximately 7 mg.m-2 providing impressive corrosion resistance, comparable to that of the current standard, ECCS. The increased presence of defects on TCCT samples with lower Cr (III) oxide coating weights, as well as the impressive insulating properties of Cr (III) oxide, were thought to be contributing factors to the improved corrosion resistance observed with increasing coating weight. Furthermore, a lab-scale TCCT electroplating line was successfully replicated in the Swansea labs. Varying parameters including current density and temperature had a profound effect on the amount of Cr deposited. Hydrogen evolution was proposed to be one of the reasons for this variance in deposit

Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as a Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Moral Injury

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common condition among military personal and veterans. Despite strong empirical support for first line treatments for PTSD, many veterans do not complete or respond to treatment. Research suggests that experiential avoidance is a contributing factor to both treatment dropout and minimal treatment gains. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an empirically supported cognitive behavioral intervention that aims to decrease experiential avoidance while increasing psychological flexibility. Research has shown ACT to be a promising intervention for the treatment of PTSD; however, its effectiveness in veterans with PTSD is limited. In conjunction with Utah State University (USU) and the Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Ellen Bluett, a USU doctoral psychology student and staff psychologist at the VA conducted a study to examine a next-step treatment for veterans with PTSD. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an 8- week closed group design ACT intervention for veterans with PTSD and subclinical PTSD who had previously completed a first line intervention for PTSD. Thirty-three veterans enrolled in the intervention, which focused on vitality (e.g., increasing valued living and decreasing experiential avoidance) rather than symptom reduction. Symptom and process of change measures including PTSD symptoms, valued living, and quality of life were measured at pretreatment, posttreatment, and again at 1-month follow-up. Findings from this study showed that 64.7% of veterans showed a favorable response to treatment as measured by a 5-point change in PTSD symptoms. Additionally, outcomes of interest including PTSD symptoms, valued living, depression, wellbeing, and moral injury by transgressions improved from pretreatment to posttreatment. Of note, a majority of treatment gains were not maintained at follow-up. Overall, results provide preliminary support for ACT as a second-line intervention for veteran PTSD

Does the Way Exposure Exercises are Presented Matter? Comparing Fear Reduction Versus Fear Toleration Models

Exposure therapy is considered to be a first line treatment for a variety of anxiety disorders as supported by several review studies. However, there is no clear understanding of how it works. The present study examined how framing exposure exercises impacted outcomes in socially anxious individuals. We conducted a brief two-session exposure-based intervention, including experiential exercises from each therapeutic rationale, with homework assigned between sessions. We were specifically interested in the efficacy of four brief skills interventions: (a) fear reduction, (b) psychological flexibility, (c) values rationale, and (d) control for reducing public speaking anxiety from first to second exposure session. By combining participants at Utah State University and the University of Colorado Boulder, 81 individuals were randomized to participate in the study. Consistent with our prediction, individuals receiving an active intervention improved to a greater extent on major outcome measures of social anxiety compared to the control group. No significant differences were found between active interventions. Results showed no significant group differences in SUDs change at session 1 or session 2. Additionally, at session 1 those who received an active intervention displayed more within-session exposure engagement than individuals in the control condition. Importantly, there was no difference in between-session exposure engagement (number of exposures attempted) between groups. Overall, the results from this study suggest that there may not be one right way to implement exposure. Furthermore, there may be an overarching mechanism by which exposure works