Risk and resilience:Crime and violence prevention in Aboriginal communities

Developmental prevention involves the manipulation of multiple risk and protective factors early in developmental pathways that lead to offending, often at transition points between life phases. The emphasis is not just on individuals but also their social contexts. Risk and protective factors for crime and violence in Aboriginal communities include such standard factors as child abuse, school failure and supportive family environments, but additional factors arise from unique aspects of Aboriginal history, culture and social structure. This paper draws on existing literature, interviews with urban Aboriginal community workers, and data from the Sibling Study to delineate those interrelated risk factors (forced removals, dependence, institutionalised racism, cultural features and substance use) and the equally interrelated protective factors (cultural resilience, personal controls and family control measures). These are 'meta factors' that provide a lens through which the standard lists can be interpreted, and are a starting point for the understanding of indigenous developmental pathways.Arts, Education & Law Group, School of Criminology and Criminal JusticeFull Tex

2014年「社會工作與社區工作」學術研討會

[[abstract]]如果支持家庭會減少兒童反社會行為嗎?：小學進行預防方案途徑之影

Preventing Violence in Seven Countries: Global Convergence in Policies

Do governments take the measures that are supported by the best scientific evidence available? We present a brief review of the situation in: Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Our findings show surprisingly similar developments across countries. While all seven countries are moving towards evidence-based decision making regarding policies and programs to prevent violence, there remain a number of difficulties before this end can be achieved. For example, there continue to be few randomized controlled trials or rigorous quasi-experimental studies on aggression and violence. Results from experimental research are essential to both policy makers and researchers to determine the effectiveness of programs as well as increase our knowledge of the problem. Additionally, all noted that media attention for violence is high in their country, often leading to management by crisis with the result that policies are not based on evidence, but instead seek to appease public outrage. And perhaps because of attendant organizational problems (i.e., in many countries violence prevention was not under the guise of one particular agency or ministry), most have not developed a coordinated policy focusing on the prevention of violence and physical aggression. It is hypothesized that leaders in democratic countries, who must run for election every 4 to 6 years, may feel a need to focus on short-term planning rather than long-term preventive policies since the costs, but not the benefits for the latter would be incurred while they still served in office. We also noted a general absence of expertise beyond those within scientific circles. The need for these ideas to be more widely accepted will be an essential ingredient to real and sustaining change. This means that there must be better communication and increased understanding between researchers and policy makers. Toward those ends, the recent establishment of the Campbell Collaboration, formed to provide international systematic reviews of program effectiveness, will make these results more available and accessible to politicians, administrators and those charged with making key policy decision

A review of public opinion towards alcohol controls in Australia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increasing concern about the negative impact of alcohol on the Australian community has renewed calls for tighter regulatory controls. This paper reviews levels of and trends in public support for liquor control regulations, regulation of alcohol promotions, and alcohol pricing and taxation reforms in Australia between 1998 and 2009.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Six electronic databases and twenty public health and alcohol organisation websites were searched for research literature, reports and media releases describing levels of public support for alcohol controls. Only studies which randomly selected participants were included.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty-one studies were included in the review. The majority of the Australian public support most proposed alcohol controls. Levels of support are divided between targeted and universal controls.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Implementation of targeted alcohol policies is likely to be strongly supported by the Australian public, but universal controls are liable to be unpopular. Policy makers are provided with insights into factors likely to be associated with higher public support.</p

Creating change in government to address the social determinants of health: how can efforts be improved?

Background - The evidence base for the impact of social determinants of health has been strengthened considerably in the last decade. Increasingly, the public health field is using this as a foundation for arguments and actions to change government policies. The Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach, alongside recommendations from the 2010 Marmot Review into health inequalities in the UK (which we refer to as the ‘Fairness Agenda’), go beyond advocating for the redesign of individual policies, to shaping the government structures and processes that facilitate the implementation of these policies. In doing so, public health is drawing on recent trends in public policy towards ‘joined up government’, where greater integration is sought between government departments, agencies and actors outside of government. Methods - In this paper we provide a meta-synthesis of the empirical public policy research into joined up government, drawing out characteristics associated with successful joined up initiatives. - We use this thematic synthesis as a basis for comparing and contrasting emerging public health interventions concerned with joined-up action across government. Results - We find that HiAP and the Fairness Agenda exhibit some of the characteristics associated with successful joined up initiatives, however they also utilise ‘change instruments’ that have been found to be ineffective. Moreover, we find that – like many joined up initiatives – there is room for improvement in the alignment between the goals of the interventions and their design. Conclusion - Drawing on public policy studies, we recommend a number of strategies to increase the efficacy of current interventions. More broadly, we argue that up-stream interventions need to be ‘fit-for-purpose’, and cannot be easily replicated from one context to the next

The prediction and prevention of violence in pubs and clubs

Abstract; Although there Is much research that suggests that alcohol is a causal factor in criminal violence, relatively little is known about the sltuationalfactors and management practices that Increase the risk of violence in and around licensed premises. The aim of the present study was to use quantitative methods to clarify the situational and managementfactors most predictive of violence, and, in particular, to examine the role of intoxication. Visits (N=147) of two hours duration were made to 45 sites within 36 premises In Sydney, AUS in the winter of 1991. A total of 102 Incidents of aggression were observed, 29 (28.4%) involving physical violence. These incidents were concentrated In a small number of premises. A major predictor of physical violence was staff Intervention with intoxicated patrons, particularly, refusal of service. Male drunkenness and &quot;drinks In rounds &quot; shouting predicted non-physical aggression more strongly than physical violence, controlling for staff intervention. Prevention strategies should Include serious enforcement of legislation prohibiting the sale of alcohol to Intoxicated persons, and the use of responsible serving practices In all licensed premises, not just high-risk establishments. Experience from a community Intervention program tn southeast Queensland highlights the value of a local code of practice for licensed premises, supported by a monitoring committee to encourage: responsible serving and pricing practices; better quality entertainment; and the training of bouncers, bar staff and management In non-violent crowd control techniques

Open doors or prison walls?

in Griffith REVIEW 11, Getting Smart: The Battle for Ideas in Education, Ross Homel presents evidence that intervention, especially grounded in education, can improve opportunities for disadvantaged people. ‘What is needed are responses that actually address the roots of the problems, and do so in a way that is thoroughly grounded in research, is well resourced and is designed for sustainability,’ he writes

A prospective study investigating the impact of school belonging factors on negative affect in adolescents

School belonging, measured as a unidimensional construct, is an important predictor of negative affective problems in adolescents, including depression and anxiety symptoms. A recent study found that one such measure, the Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale, actually comprises three factors: Caring Relations, Acceptance, and Rejection. We explored the relations of these factors with negative affect in a sample of 504 Australian grade 7 and 8 students who completed the PSSM and Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) at three time points. Each school belonging factor contributed to the prediction of negative affect in cross-sectional analyses. Scores on the Acceptance factor predicted subsequent negative affect for boys and girls, even controlling for prior negative affect. For girls, the Rejection factor was also significant in the prospective analysis. These findings have implications for the design of interventions and are further confirmation that school belonging should be considered a multidimensional construct