Profiling parental child sex abuse

Drawing on data from a sample of 213 offenders, this study augments knowledge about sex offender typologies by identifying ten key descriptive features of parental offenders. Foreword: Public policy initiatives to redress parental child sexual offenders have been hindered by the absence of an offending profile that characterises this core group of intrafamilial offenders. Drawing on data from a sample of 213 offenders, this study augments knowledge about sex offender typologies by identifying ten key descriptive features of parental offenders. The findings revealed that parental sex offenders have a distinctive profile unlike that of other child sexual offenders and are more criminally versatile than presupposed. This may provide useful information to support clinical practice and preventive interventions aimed at increasing offender desistance and reducing threats to the safety and welfare of young children and their families

Inferentials in spoken English

Although there is a growing body of research on inferential sentences (Declerck 1992, Delahunty 1990, 1995, 2001, Koops 2007, Pusch 2006), most of this research has been on their forms and functions in written discourse. This has left a gap with regards to their range of structural properties and allowed disagreement over their analysis to linger without a conclusive resolution. Most accounts regard the inferential as a type of it-cleft (Declerck 1992, Delahunty 2001, Huddleston and Pullum 2002, Lambrecht 2001), while a few view it as an instance of extraposition (Collins 1991, Schmid 2009). More recently, Pusch's work in Romance languages proposes the inferential is used as a discourse marker (2006, forthcoming). Based on a corpus study of examples from spoken New Zealand English, the current paper provides a detailed analysis of the formal and discoursal properties of several sub-types of inferentials (positive, negative, as if and like inferentials). We show that despite their apparent formal differences from the prototypical cleft, inferentials are nevertheless best analysed as a type of cleft, though this requires a minor reinterpretation of “cleft construction.” We show how similar the contextualized interpretations of clefts and inferentials are and how these are a function of their lexis and syntax

Portraits of Middle Eastern Gulf female students in Australian universities

This research explores the experiences and insights of ten Middle Eastern Gulf women as they cross international borders to study in Australian universities. The literature indicates that international students in Australia establish their identity within the context of their overseas existence. This is particularly important as Muslims may feel they are being placed in a precarious situation due to, more often than not, terrorism being linked to Islam. Also, when Muslim women wear Islamic or traditional attire, the general public tends to look upon them with curiosity. With this in mind, the complex and changed contexts faced by ten Middle Eastern Gulf female post-graduate students are investigated using qualitative research methods. Utilising a grounded theory approach to interpret data and identify themes from two online questionnaires and personal interviews, individual portraits are created to illuminate their experiences. The research findings reveal new knowledge indicating that education is a structured mechanism for the participants, resulting in the creation of a new hybrid self as a key instrument for survival. This enables them to better understand cultural contexts and barriers arising from class, tradition, religion and learning. The participants indicate that a two-way agreement between educators and learners is paramount to a smooth transition into the Australian education system and a positive return to their home communities

Hearing voices: an exploration of beliefs, coping strategies and emotional well-being in those who find the experience distressing

The experience of hearing voices is often distressing and it is known that the beliefs that an individual has about that experience, particularly the belief that a voice is extremely powerful or omnipotent is associated with higher depressive symptomatology (Chadwick & Birchwood, 1996). Chadwick, Sambrooke, Rasch & Davis (2000) demonstrated that these beliefs were modifiable in a group intervention but they did not find an associated decrease in measures of anxiety and depression. It has also been proposed that coping strategies only become understandable when they are connected to an individuals beliefs about their voices (Chadwick, Birchwood & Trower, 1996). Previous research into the coping strategies of voice hearers, however, has rarely utilized standardised coping assessments, but has rather relied upon open-ended questioning and post-hoc categorisation.The hypotheses of this study were that the emotionally distressing experience of hearing voices would be associated with an increased strength of beliefs about the voice, and avoidance coping strategies. Of particular interest was the strength of belief of control an individual perceived they had over their voice, as this had not been explored in previous studies and that in line with the concept of learned helpless a perceived lack of control would be indicative of anxiety and depression in this population. It was also postulated that the choice of coping strategy would reflect the individuals belief system, and again particularly the control they perceive themselves to have.Twenty-eight volunteers were approached by a third party who had identified them as currently hearing voices and finding that experience distressing. In a semistructured interview they were asked to complete the following measures: The Topography of Voices Scale, A visual analogue scale measuring strength of conviction of beliefs about voices, The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and The Coping Responses Inventory (adapted). Results will be given and conclusions discussed

Is the Uniform Faithful Presidential Electors Act Constitutional?

My topic is both timely and perennial: The Electoral College. More specifically, I will first discuss the constitutional problem known as the “Faithless Elector” and, then, I will attempt to solve such problem. My proposed solution is the Uniform Faithful Presidential Electors Act (UFPEA), a statute that several states have adopted