Evaluating Implementation and Adaptation of Moral Reconation Therapy at a Local Jail

Recidivism among criminal offenders has been a persistent and intractable problem for many decades. Cognitive behavioral interventions, particularly when implemented with adherence to the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) treatment model, have proven to be effective in reducing recidivism rates. However, real world circumstances in penal institutions place restrictions on how these programs are implemented and may make it difficult for these interventions to be instituted with integrity and/or adherence to the RNR model. This is a particular challenge at local jails, which house shorter-term populations and have fewer resources. Currently there is a lack of research looking at the effectiveness of treatment programs in jail settings. The majority of research has been on programs instituted within the prison system, which houses a different population, with lengthier and more predictable periods of incarceration (Lizima et al., 2014). More research is needed on treatment programs in local jails to investigate how these programs are implemented, what modifications are made, and whether or not these programs, either modified or implemented as designed, are effective (Durlak & DuPre, 2008). This study confirmed the existence of substantial challenges to maintaining integrity of implementation in a jail setting, particularly related to dosage. Interviews revealed that numerous modifications were made to the MRT protocol when implemented, both initially and over time. Many of these modifications were minor and incidental, but a number of them made substantive changes to the program. The decision-making process of the staff responsible for implementing the program was thoughtful, creative, and ultimately motivated primarily by clinical concerns related to the specific population being served. Modifications were generally consistent with the RNR model

Isolation of a polyketide synthase gene from Dothistroma pini : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Molecular Biology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Dothistromin is a polyketide derived mycotoxin, produced by Dothistroma pini, which is structurally related to aflatoxins produced by Aspergillus parasiticus and Aspergillus flavus. Southern blot analysis of D. pini genomic DNA was carried out using a probe (KS-2) encoding the highly conserved β keto-acyl synthase domain from the polyketide synthase gene (pksLl) of A. parasiticus, which indicated the presence of a homologous gene in strain Dp 2 of D. pini. Subsequently, KS-2 hybridising lambda clones were isolated from a D. pini genomic library. A 2411 bp fragment was subcloned and sequenced. Sequence analysis recognised two functional protein domains, (β keto-acyl synthase (KS) and acyl transferase (AT), both of which are present in fatty acid and polyketide synthases. The sequence exhibited high homology with A. nidulans wA and A. parasiticus PKSL1 (62.3% and 59.9%) respectively, but only slight homology with the 6-MSA gene from Penicillium patulum and the atX gene from Aspergillus tereus. Additionally, a BLASTX search revealed some similarities with a number of FASs, although PKS genes had the highest scoring segment pairs. On the basis of these results, it is proposed that the 2.4 kb subcloned fragment encodes part of the D. pini PKS (pksDp) which synthesises the backbone polyketide and initiates dothistromin biosynthesis

Matilda and the mythologisation of Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull

The power of children’s literature is such that a significant number of teachers in the UK take the texts they read as children into the classroom to share with future generations. One of the most popular authors is Roald Dahl; and his most popular title among practitioners is Matilda. As a result, the characters of Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull have become highly influential in the cultural construction of the literary primary teacher, and even influenced real teachers’ decision to train as educators. In light of the potential interplay between imagined teachers and the identity construction of teachers in training it is important to analyse what constructs the teacher are being offered in this most significant of works. In this article I investigate the way that teaching and teachers are presented by Dahl in order to examine the sociocultural constructs he offers children regarding the role and the people who choose to undertake it

Going beyond Westminister, war and wealth: in defence of ‘bad’ news

Is news too negative and narrowly focused? Would it be healthier for us to simply shut it out and concentrate on our real lives? Should journalists try harder to accentuate the positive? Branwen Jeffreys argues that journalism must change and be more constructive but it has to stay critical and that hard news is vital to a healthy society. Jeffreys is the BBC’s Education Editor, but this article was written in a personal capacity for a panel debate as part of the Wellcome/Hubbub project. You can listen to the audio of that event her

Matilda’s Miss Honey: Teaching role model or unprofessional educator?

It's Matilda's 30th anniversary, so is it time to reevaluate our feelings about her beloved teacher? This article discusses the issues around idolising Miss Honey as a teaching icon

Probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment: quantifying uncertainty in landslide generated waves

Landslide generated waves (LGWs) have many associated uncertainties that need to be ac- counted for during a hazard analysis. The work presented in this thesis developed and applied numerical modelling techniques to investigate and quantify these sources of uncertainty. Firstly, to model the LGW source as a deformable slide, a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulator was improved and adapted. The simulator was tested using lab scale bench- marks and an idealised full scale LGW scenario. The effects of landslide source parameters on the wave at increasing scales were then investigated. In order to make use of the findings regarding complex LGW source models, a probabilistic sensitivity analysis on the full range of source parameters and their effect on the generated wave was performed using the SPH simulator. This showed that the geometric landslide parameters (such as volume and submergence depth) contributed more to uncertainty in the resulting wave characteristics near the source than the rheological parameters. By coupling different wave propagation models to the results from the near-field SPH simulator, it was revealed that the choice of mathematical formulation for propagation made a significant difference to which parameters affected the inundation level the most. These findings have important implications for the design of future LGW modelling studies and which parts of the model workflow should have more computational cost dedicated to them. Near the source the landslide geometry outweighs the complexity of the rheological model in terms of influence on the wave characteristics. During propagation the mathematical formulation chosen can have a large influence on results, so dedicating extra computational cost to this phase would be worthwhile.Open Acces

Le Malentendu International: remembering international relations with Jean-Marie Teno

The discipline of International Relations and cognate fields of Comparative Politics and Development Studies have more or less successfully contained the study of Africa’s condition within the limits of the dominant Western imagination, with grave consequences. Africa is seen and analyzed as a site of weak states and neopatrimonial rule. The continued dominance and ubiquity of such analytical vocabularies and their underlying methods rests on many forces, one of which is the reluctance to acknowledge that Africans can and do articulate their own analyses of their condition and to respect such analyses. This article seeks to remember some of the routinely forgotten international relations which structure Africa’s contemporary condition, by turning to the work of Cameroonian film director Jean-Marie Teno. Teno’s work, in particular Afrique Je Te Plumerai and Le Malentendu Colonial, is profoundly important for students of international relations. This article examines the content, form, and effect of the critique Teno elaborates in Afrique Je Te Plumerai

Those who can, teach: the formative influence of socio-cultural constructions of teachers in children's literature and learners' notions of teaching

This interdisciplinary study uses grounded theory to interrogate the socio-cultural relationship between readers and the texts written for them to explore the question of articulation between learners’ notions of teaching and narrative representations of teachers found in children’s literature from the UK. Utilising the principles of Personal Construct Psychology (Kelly 1955), an in-depth analysis of literature written for child- and young adult readers forms the basis of the study, the findings of which informed an exploration of participants’ perceptions of literary and actual teachers. A total of 163 teacher-characters from 45 examples of fiction for children and young adult readers were critiqued; as a result, eight prevalent character roles and traits were identified, developing previous findings by Dockett, Perry and Whitton (2010) from their study of teachers in English language picturebooks. Narrative methodologies, including character profile depictions and an approach based on the Storycrafting method (Karlsson and Riihelä 1991), were used in order to explore links between the depictions of characters in published works and the fictions created by 22 pupils aged 9-10 in an English primary school; this was repeated with ten university students training to teach on an undergraduate Initial Teacher Education (ITE) degree. Finally, repertory grid interviews were conducted with all 32 participants to establish individuals’ construct systems regarding the characteristics of literary and actual teachers. Initially the study had intended to identify a taxonomy of archetypal characters, however the emerging constructs indicated a diversity of representation that would have rendered a taxonomy meaningless. Instead, the character roles and traits presented themselves as more meaningful sociocultural constructs. Their appearance in both the published and participants’ corpora indicated a direct link between the depictions of teachers in children’s literature and participants constructs regarding the role. Detailing the eight roles and traits of the teacher within Anglo-centric children’s literature, including four not previously identified, comprises an original contribution to knowledge, as does the utilisation of Personal Construct methodologies in the analysis of children’s literature. Broadening the study to include literature and participants from different socio-cultural groups, and the application of the methodology to examples of literature written by children are areas suggested for further research

Definitions and categories: epistemologies of race and critique

One of the striking and important features of The Eurocentric Conception of World Politics is the breadth and depth of literature over two and a half centuries which is examined. Hobson reveals irrefutably the centrality of racialised thought to the foundations of the disciplinary field of International Relations. Such an exercise necessarily encounters difficult methodological questions. This contribution to the forum reflects on the methodological and epistemological challenges of the critique of racial thought. How should we define racialised or racist thought, and how should we distinguish the various strands of racial and eurocentric thought? Does it matter if a critique of racial thought employs modes of categorisation and typology which seem to mirror the epistemological or methodological features of some strands of racial thought itself

Preparing for Uncertain Water Futures: An Analysis of Climate Change Impacts on Southern Sierra Nevada Snowpack, Infrastructure Vulnerability, and Implications for San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Management

Increased average annual temperatures due to anthropogenic climate change will impact snowpack in the Sierra Nevada region in two ways. First, an increasing share of precipitation will fall as rain instead of snow. Second, snowpack will melt earlier in the season. Earlier runoff driven by precipitation type change and earlier snowmelt necessitates earlier releases of water from dams for flood control. These earlier releases reduce the amount that can be stored for water supply. Analysis of instrumental and model snow water equivalent (SWE) data shows that climate models relied upon in state decision-making capture changes in peak SWE magnitude, but they do not estimate timing of peak SWE well. Future reductions in peak SWE magnitude and vulnerability of surface water storage infrastructure necessitates increased reliance on groundwater basins to store water. Groundwater pumping allocations combined with a replenishment credit can incentivize the diversion of floodwater for underground storage, which would help mitigate economic harm that arises from climate change impacts on snowpack as well as implementation of the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act