Prisoner of war or illegal enemy combatant? : an analysis of the legal status and rights of the Guantánamo detainees

The objective of this thesis is to explore and analyze some of the major difficulties, challenges, and debates involved with the issue over which status and rights to afford to those detained in the War on Terrorism, in particular the Guantánamo detainees. Unlike conflicts of the past, the War on Terrorism is being waged against very unconventional enemies. Because of this, the Bush Administration, foreign governments, human rights groups, and both governmental and non-governmental organizations are currently engaged in a critical debate over which legal status and rights should be afforded to these enemies upon their detention. If any agreement is to be made regarding the legal status of the Guantánamo detainees, it is important to obtain a basic understanding of the issue itself as well as both sides of the debate. In order to do this, three core issues are explored. Firstly, what are President Bush’s strategic reasons for refusing to grant the Guantánamo detainees prisoner of war (POW) status and what are the steps that the Administration has taken to ensure that its strategies in approaching the War on Terror are protected? Secondly, what are the counter arguments to the Bush Administration’s position, who is voicing these arguments, and why? Finally, what impact does the Administration’s position have on how and to what extent the War on Terror is waged? Once these questions have been explored, the thesis concludes that the Bush Administration’s approach to the War on Terror has proven to be reckless. The security threat posed by terrorism should not obscure the importance of human rights. An anti-terrorism policy that ignores human rights is a gift to terrorists. It reaffirms the violent instrumentation that breeds terrorism as it undermines the public support needed to defeat it. A strong human rights policy that respects the detainee’s right to due process and to not be subjected to torture, cannot replace the actions of security forces, but is an essential complement. A successful anti-terrorism policy must endeavor to build strong international norms and institutions based on human rights, not provide a new rationale for avoiding and undermining them. If the Bush Administration remains on its present path, the rights of the Guantánamo detainees will continue to be violated and, as a result, threaten the rights of others who depend on the fair application of the law

Exploring cotton farm workers’ job satisfaction by adapting social cognitive career theory to the farm work context

This thesis reports on research into the application of the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) of job satisfaction in a sample of Australian farm workers. The SCCT job satisfaction model maps the relationships between five predictor variables: (a) personality and affective traits; (b) goal and efficacy-relevant environmental barriers, supports and resources; (c) self-efficacy; (d) expected and received work conditions and outcomes; and (e) goals and goal-directed activity, and their direct and indirect influence on fostering (or inhibiting) the individual’s experience of work satisfaction (Lent & Brown, 2006a). SCCT is a dominant theory in the Vocational Psychology discipline and has been tested for generalisability in a wide range of cultures and work contexts. As yet, it has not been extensively applied to understand the career motivations of the Australian agricultural workforce. The current research addresses this gap in the vocational psychology literature and attempts to counter the agentic assumptions of the SCCT by proposing the addition of work volition to the model. The literature on career motivations for Australian agricultural workers is reviewed, informing consideration for the application of the SCCT in this context. The proposed testing of the SCCT Model of Job Satisfaction in the Australian farming context draws on other existing theories and frameworks including, the Psychology of Working, self-efficacy theory, person-organisation fit theory, organisational support theory, and job demands-resources theory. In this way, the SCCT is used to synthesise multiple perspectives of contributing factors to job satisfaction and provide a comprehensive understanding of psychological factors that influence attraction and retention of workers to the Australian agricultural industry and more specifically to the Australian cotton industry. A sequential mixed methods design is used to position the farm work context as central to testing the SCCT Model of Job Satisfaction. Firstly, semi-structured interviews conducted with Australian cotton farm workers and growers were used to collect data which described the SCCT constructs in the farming context. Following thematic analysis of these data, the face validity of measures that operationalised the SCCT constructs was discussed. Furthermore, a new measure to capture farm worker self-efficacy was developed. Respondents’ descriptions of work volition were used to inform the integration of this construct into the newly proposed SCCT Model of Farm Worker Job Satisfaction. The second study surveyed farm workers and used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test two conceptual models; (a) the SCCT Model of Farm Worker Job Satisfaction and (b) the SCCT Model of Farm Worker Job Satisfaction including work volition. The results found sufficient evidence to support the generalisability of the SCCT Model of Job Satisfaction to the Australian agricultural context and the cotton farm context. Although, it would appear that the relationships between self-efficacy and the SCCT antecedent and outcome constructs are more complex than the direct relationships hypothesised. While the addition of work volition to the SCCT Model of Farm Worker Job Satisfaction added little to the prediction of reported levels of job satisfaction, this did contribute to the explanation of the relationships between the SCCT predictor variables. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed and recommendations for application of the findings and future research are made

Writing Gets Personal: Listening at the Intersections of Creative Writing and Writing Tutoring

In this thesis, I investigate the extent to which creative writing impacts the ways writing tutors work with student writers on their academic writing. In doing so, I interview five writing tutors with creative writing experiences for their personal definitions of creative writing, and the extent to which drawing on, or ignoring, creative writing impacts their writing tutoring. Through combining the interviews with reflections into my writer identities, I find creative writing focuses on self-expression and narrative features which strengthen disciplinarity and conventions. Additionally, focusing on creative writing’s influence in the writing center allows tutors to engage as fellow writers able to learn alongside the students they tutor. Specifically, I notice writing tutors perceive a division between creative and academic writing. Crossing that perceived division requires a willingness to confront assumptions about academic and creative writing, but allows for the opportunity for tutors and the students they tutor to deepen their writing processes

Evaluating the Construct Validity of the Peak Comprehensive Assessment: Measuring Language and Cognition

The purpose of the current study was to conduct a pilot investigation of the internal construct validity of the four modules of the PEAK Comprehensive Assessment (PCA). The PCA has been developed through robust research over the past five years (Dixon et al. 2017) and is designed to evaluate language and cognitive skills of individuals with developmental disabilities, including neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder. Although the PCA contains four modules exemplifying four distinct learning processes (Direct Training, Generalization, Equivalence, and Relational Learning), these four processes may represent one singular learning construct, described loosely as “executive functioning” or “cognitive ability” in domains outside of applied behavior analysis. Within applied behavior analytic models, the common feature among these modules is that all are operant learning accounts. I evaluated the construct validity of the PCA using a principle component analysis in a sample of 55 participants with disabilities collected from multiple clinical sites throughout the United States. Results supported a one-factor model, suggesting that although scores in each module may differentially direct programming decisions, they are representative of a single underlying construct. Implications of these results are discussed

Food selectivity and weight status in children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

2014 Fall.To view the abstract, please see the full text of the document

Evaluating Importance Ratings as an Alternative to Mental Models in Predicting Driving Crashes and Moving Violations

The present study investigated the extent to which importance ratings (i.e., a measure of perceived importance for driving-related concepts) are a viable alternative to traditional mental model assessment methods in predicting driving performance. Although mental models may predict driving–related outcomes—crash involvement and moving violations—common mental model assessment techniques are associated with administrative limitations and challenges, which can affect how valid mental models are as assessments of knowledge structure. Importance ratings, as a measure of driving-related knowledge that may be associated with fewer administrative limitations, were hypothesized to provide equal predictive validity for driving–related performance outcomes in a sample of undergraduate students. To investigate the extent to which the measurement of mental models and importance ratings contribute to the prediction of driving crashes and moving violations, students completed Pathfinder, a common computer-based mental model assessment method, and paper-and-pencil importance ratings. In addition, students completed a test of driving knowledge and reported driving behaviors and outcomes including at-fault crashes and moving violations that occurred over the past five years (i.e., from 2005 to 2009). A group of expert drivers completed mental model and importance ratings assessments as well. Data across expert raters were combined and analyzed for appropriateness to serve as referent scores for each assessment. Students' mental model accuracy as well as importance rating accuracy was based on the extent to which student mental models and ratings agreed with those provided by the group of expert drivers. The results suggest that importance rating and mental model accuracy predicted crash involvement and moving violations. Whereas mental model accuracy was a stronger predictor of the number of moving violations, importance rating accuracy predicted the number of at-fault crashes slightly better than mental models. Although inconclusive, these results suggest that importance ratings may be a viable alternative to traditional mental model assessment in predicting some driving outcomes. Future research is warranted on importance ratings and other alternative mental model assessments

Evolutionary insights into premetazoan functions of the neuronal protein homer.

Reconstructing the evolution and ancestral functions of synaptic proteins promises to shed light on how neurons first evolved. The postsynaptic density (PSD) protein Homer scaffolds membrane receptors and regulates Ca(2+) signaling in diverse metazoan cell types (including neurons and muscle cells), yet its ancestry and core functions are poorly understood. We find that the protein domain organization and essential biochemical properties of metazoan Homer proteins, including their ability to tetramerize, are conserved in the choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta, one of the closest living relatives of metazoans. Unlike in neurons, Homer localizes to the nucleoplasm in S. rosetta and interacts directly with Flotillin, a protein more commonly associated with cell membranes. Surprisingly, we found that the Homer/Flotillin interaction and its localization to the nucleus are conserved in metazoan astrocytes. These findings suggest that Homer originally interacted with Flotillin in the nucleus of the last common ancestor of metazoans and choanoflagellates and was later co-opted to function as a membrane receptor scaffold in the PSD

Community Voices: Perspectives on Renewable Energy in Nunavut

Nunavut communities currently depend on imported diesel fuel for virtually all of their energy needs. This dependency not only hinders the ability of communities to be self-sufficient, but also has negative impacts on their environment, health, and social well-being. The current practices waste 65% of the energy created and place a serious economic strain on the society by consuming 20% of the government’s annual budget. Although renewable energy technologies (RETs) could partially offset diesel use, there is a lack of sufficient information to mold appropriate policy. This investigation of community perspectives contributes to information needed to develop sustainable energy policies for Nunavut. Open-ended interviews with approximately 10 members from each of three communities were studied using logical analysis, pattern coding, and content analysis. The respondents’ greatest concerns about energy in Nunavut are the impacts of technology on the environment and the economy and the lack of government initiatives to explore RETs. In identifying these concerns, respondents expressed an overwhelming need to protect their land and wildlife, likely stemming from Nunavut’s dominant Inuit culture. Moreover, Nunavummiut generally supported wind and solar power in their community, but greatly opposed hydropower, though some of these views on hydropower might shift if better information were available to residents. Finally, respondents suggested a variety of community-accepted actions that could be used to increase RET expansion in Nunavut. These actions fit into four categories: policy development, economics, suitable RETs, and capacity and knowledge building

TakeCARE, a Video Bystander Program to Help Prevent Sexual Violence on College Campuses: Results of Two Randomized, Controlled Trials

Objective: The present research reports on two randomized controlled trials evaluating TakeCARE, a video bystander program designed to help prevent sexual violence on college campuses. Method: In Study 1, students were recruited from psychology courses at two universities. In Study 2, first-year students were recruited from a required course at one university. In both studies, students were randomly assigned to view one of two videos: TakeCARE or a control video on study skills. Just before viewing the videos, students completed measures of bystander behavior toward friends and ratings of self-efficacy for performing such behaviors. The efficacy measure was administered again after the video, and both the bystander behavior measure and the efficacy measure were administered at either one (Study 1) or two (Study 2) months later. Results: In both studies, students who viewed TakeCARE, compared to students who viewed the control video, reported engaging in more bystander behavior toward friends and greater feelings of efficacy for performing such behavior. In Study 1, feelings of efficacy mediated effects of TakeCARE on bystander behavior; this result did not emerge in Study 2. Conclusions: This research demonstrates that TakeCARE, a video bystander program, can positively influence bystander behavior toward friends. Given its potential to be easily distributed to an entire campus community, TakeCARE might be an effective addition to campus efforts to prevent sexual violence

A Template Analysis of Intimate Partner Violence Survivors’ Experiences of Animal Maltreatment: Implications for Safety Planning and Intervention

This study explores the intersection of intimate partner violence (IPV) and animal cruelty in an ethnically diverse sample of 103 pet-owning IPV survivors recruited from community-based domestic violence programs. Template analysis revealed five themes: (a) Animal Maltreatment by Partner as a Tactic of Coercive Power and Control, (b) Animal Maltreatment by Partner as Discipline or Punishment of Pet, (c) Animal Maltreatment by Children, (d) Emotional and Psychological Impact of Animal Maltreatment Exposure, and (e) Pets as an Obstacle to Effective Safety Planning. Results demonstrate the potential impact of animal maltreatment exposure on women and child IPV survivors’ health and safety