Operating Procedures and the Expectations Theory of the Term Structure of Interest Rates: A Note on the New Zealand Experience from 1989 to 2008

The operating procedure of a central bank influences in no small measure whether the behavior of interest rates is consistent with the expectations hypothesis. In New Zealand, the predictive content of the term spread improves markedly in the wake of the switch from a quantity-based to a price-based operating procedure in March 1999. The Official Cash Rate system has made it easier for market participants to understand the day-to-day conduct of monetary policy. As a result, market interest rates have become more predictable, thereby contributing to the success of the expectations hypothesis in explaining the behavior of yields on very short-dated financial instruments.

Ethical issues when working with terminally ill people who desire to hasten the ends of their lives: A western perspective

Terminally ill people might want to discuss the options they have of hastening their deaths with their psychologists who should therefore know the law that regulates euthanasia in the jurisdictions where they practice. The legal, and therefore ethical, situation that influences psychologists’ position and terminally ill people’s options, however, differs notably across jurisdictions. Our aim is to provide a brief moral-legal historical context that explains how the law reform processes in different jurisdictions created these different legal contexts and options that, in turn, influence psychologists’ ethical position. We conclude by considering 8 specific ethical issues at a conceptual level that might confront psychologists irrespective of where they practice

The profession\u27s role in helping psychologists balance society\u27s interests with their clients\u27 interests

© 2019 The Australian Psychological Society Objective: Psychologists find it difficult to balance their clients\u27 and society\u27s interests when these interests differ from each other, such as when their clients pose a risk of harm to others. Society\u27s increasing preoccupation with harm makes their task even more difficult. The first aim with this article is to determine the reactions of those who make, enforce, and use law to address society\u27s concerns and how they impact on psychologists. The second aim is to propose how the profession can assist psychologists deal with the competing demands prompted by these reactions. Method: A legal-ethical analysis was used to identify the reaction of governments, the judiciary, and investigators, followed by a proposal setting out how the profession could assist psychologists respond to the reaction of these entities. Results: Society sets high privacy standards, but has paradoxically simultaneously been weakening its protection of aspects of individuals\u27 privacy. Governments, the judiciary, and investigators for instance expect psychologists to play a more active role in protecting individuals, property, and the public from harm. This makes it difficult for psychologists to determine how to balance their clients\u27 and society\u27s interests while maintaining their trust. The situation requires the profession to help psychologists manage these challenges. Conclusions: The profession and psychologists run the risks of losing the trust of society and/or the public or sections thereof if they do not find the appropriate balance between these societal expectations and their clients\u27 autonomy and privacy. The profession can and should assist psychologists manage this challenge

Structuring the debate about research ethics in the psychology and law field: An international perspective

Forensic psychologists’ role is well established, and they are rightly well regulated because their decisions and behaviour can have a significant impact on people’s rights and interests. Their ethical integrity, however, partly hinges on the psycholegal research products (data, methods and instruments) that they and others use. The ethical regulation of researchers who produce products and their research processes is, however, fragmented, limited and narrow and largely focuses on domestic research. Relatively few scholars have examined the regulation of psycholegal research or commented on the ethical implications of recent court decisions. The purpose of this paper is to start a debate about the ethical regulation of researchers in the psycholegal field and consider methods of improving it to maintain society’s trust in the field

Are human rights redundant in the ethical codes of psychologists?

The codes of ethics and conduct of a number of psychology bodies explicitly refer to human rights, and the American Psychological Association recently expanded the use of the construct when it amended standard 1.02 of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. What is unclear is how these references to human rights should be interpreted. In this article I examine the historical development of human rights and associated constructs and the contemporary meaning of human rights. As human rights are generally associated with law, morality, or religion, I consider to which of forms of these references most likely refer. I conclude that these references in ethical codes are redundant and that it would be preferable not to refer to human rights in codes. Instead, the profession should acknowledge human rights as a separate and complimentary norm system that governs the behavior of psychologists and should ensure that they have adequate knowledge of human rights and encourage them to promote human rights

An exploratory study to identify the predictors of sexual reoffending by male sexual offenders in Western Australia

As the prediction of the risk of sexual reoffending behaviour has become more important in the corrections setting, so has the development of instruments to assist practitioners in doing risk evaluations. International research underpins most of the instruments used in Western Australia (WA), and in Australia for that matter. The present study explored the predictive accuracy of instruments developed internationally and locally as a function of ethnicity (Indigenous and non Indigenous) and nature of offending (non violent sexual and violent sexual). The Rapid Risk Assessment for Sexual Recidivism (RRASOR) and the Static 99 were the international instruments, for the prediction of sexual reoffending, that were evaluated. Two WA instruments were investigated. Firstly, the Violent Offender Treatment Program Risk Assessment Scale (VOTP RAS), also called the Level of Service Need Inventory (LOSNI), an instrument that was developed to predict violent reoffending. Secondly, the 3-Predictor model that was previously developed by Allan and Dawson (2002) to predict sexual reoffending of Indigenous sexual offenders. Available data suggested that the locally developed 3-Predictor model was the most accurate of all these instruments

Juvenile sex offenders in Western Australia: Offence history, treatment and recidivism

The aim of this research project was to provide a general description of different groups of juvenile sex offenders in Western Australia (WA), and to describe their offence histories and re-offending. It also aimed to compare the juvenile sex offenders with all juvenile offenders in WA. The last aim was to identify variables, which could discriminate between juveniles who are convicted of later sex offences, and those who are not. The sample consisted of 334 juvenile sex offenders convicted in the WA Children’s Court (Court) from January 1990 until the end of June 1998. To achieve this, the research team obtained information from the Court and Police records as on 30 November 1998. The report also incorporates supplementary information provided by WA Psychological Services, Juvenile Justice (Psychological Services) who has been responsible for the treatment of juvenile sex offenders from the early 1990s. The supplementary information used in the report includes the Psychological Services file numbers of juveniles who were referred for assessment, the level of involvement with these juveniles (treated, referred for treatment, just assessed) and the dates on which the files were closed..

Bystander behaviour in Australian nightlife settings: Appendix A - Interview Guide

A semi-structured interview guide that was used to conduct interviews exploring young Australian nightlife users\u27 perceptions of factors that might influence bystander behaviour in Australian nightlife settings. The interview guide includes a vignette depicting an incident of sexual violence that commonly occurs in nightlife settings

An emerging theory of apology

There is no consensus in the psychological literature regarding the operational definition of an apology, nor is there a comprehensive theory of apology. The object of this study was to use a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and grounded theory methodology to develop a theory of apology based on lay people\u27s interpretation of apologetic responses. Data were methodically gathered by interviewing 23 people who had been wronged by an intimate partner. The analysis of the data suggests that there is not a single discrete definition of an apology, but that it is more appropriate to conceptualise apology as a process that consists of one or more of three components: affect, affirmation, and action. Each of these components has two categories; one that reflects a self-focus on the part of the wrongdoer, and the other a self–other focus. What will be accepted as a good enough apology appears to depend on the severity of the consequences of the wrong, the level of responsibility attributed to the wrongdoer, and the perceived wrongfulness of the behaviour