The tussle with trust: Trust in the news media ecology

This article offers a conceptual exploration of the changing notion of trust and distrust in today's news media ecology. Central is the question whether the relationship between the traditional media actors, media organisations, journalists and news users, can be increasingly characterised by distrust. Do we really notice a decline in trust in the news media? And moreover, are these feelings of distrust grounded? In order to answer these questions, we look at the changing economic, technological and societal context and how this might explain the strained relationship between these actors. We find that to a large extent the goals of the media actors diverge or even conflict. Mutually bridging these goals is difficult as they boil down to ideological and normative choices. This requires us to reconsider our ways of looking at trust. Therefore, this article's central argument is that a trusted relationship between the media actors is unlikely to result from a definitive settlement between the actor's conflicting goals. Rather, maintaining a trusted relationship is likely to become a matter of constant renegotiation. For this renegotiation to succeed, transparency and integrity are key. We find inspiration in the recent work of Solove (2001), Nissenbaum (2004) and Mansell (2008, forthcoming) to take a different, more contextual approach towards the notion of trust. As regards the relationship between news organisations and users, we suggest these norms should be negotiated in a balanced and transparent way, giving users an equal say in the process. The relationship between journalists and news users should be guided by a mutual interest in truth telling, whereby users are not only merely seen as consumers, but also as potential contributors to news stories. Policy makers in turn should act as facilitators of such spaces of renegotiation.     

Reproducibility of facial soft tissue thicknesses for craniofacial reconstruction using cone-beam CT images

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of the soft tissue (ST) thicknesses at 31 landmarks using the cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images obtained from 20 adult subjects. Four observers carried out ST thickness measurements using Skull Measure software, and the inter- and intra-observer error rates were evaluated. Only five of 31 landmarks showed significant differences in recorded ST thickness between the observers. When excluding inexperienced observers, only one landmark showed a significant difference between the observers. Regarding the intra-observer reproducibility, the ST thickness measurements at three landmarks showed low correlation coefficients. The results of this study indicate that CBCT images can be used to measure ST thickness with high reproducibility. However, some landmarks need to be redefined to reliably measure ST thickness on CBCT images.     

Transforming the social capital of the urban poor: Lessons from Kisumu,Kenya

Large-scale organisations of the urban poor (OUP) are needed for greater influence in urban governance. However, where contexts are non-enabling for large-scale organisations to develop, external support may be needed. Past NGO support for building social capital has been heavily criticised for failing to address its darker side, while new forms of OUP supported by urban poor federations have been cited as more inclusive, representative organisations. This study compares NGO- and slum-dwellers’ federation-supported OUPs in Kisumu, Kenya, and finds evidence that development partners should seek to scale-up existing social capital while ensuring that networks formed are transformative for marginalised identities.     

Weighing Ethical Considerations in Proposed Non-recent Child Sexual Abuse Investigations: A Response to Maslen and Paine’s Oxford CSA Framework

Questions about when it is right for police forces to investigate alleged offences committed in the more or less distant past have become increasingly pressing. Recent widely publicized cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) and exploitation, sometimes involving high profile individuals, have illustrated the ethical, psychological, and forensic complexities of investigating non-recent child sexual abuse. Hannah Maslen and Colin Paine have developed the Oxford CSA Framework to assist police to weigh the various ethical considerations that militate for and against initiating a CSA investigation. While such a tool is to be welcomed, and while there is much that is helpful in Maslen and Paine's approach, we suggest that the Oxford CSA framework could be strengthened. Our first suggestion is to abandon a proposed distinction between a set of considerations that is said to generate a “presumption” in favor of investigation and other considerations that may supplement or oppose this presumption. Our second suggestion is to review the weightings applied to the considerations within the model, which lack clear justification and create problematic effects. Finally, we suggest that referring the Oxford CSA Framework to a panel with lived and professional experience of CSA could serve important procedural justice goals and enhance the Framework's recommendations.     

Self-Objectification,System Justifying Beliefs,and the Rise of Labiaplasty

Social Justice Research - Labiaplasty, an invasive surgical procedure that reduces the size of the labia minora, has dramatically increased in popularity, particularly among adolescent and young...     

Child sexual abuse material in child-centred institutions: situational crime prevention approaches

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the potential for child-centred institutions to use situational crime prevention (SCP) strategies to prevent or reduce child sexual abuse material (CSAM) offending as a distinct form of child sexual abuse (CSA). We discuss the failure of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Australia to address the potential for CSAM offending to occur in child-centred institutions. Our premise is that CSAM offending is markedly shaped by the situation in which it occurs, rather than by any pre-existing preparedness to offend sexually against children. In this context, SCP for CSAM offending must be considered as part of overall strategies to combat CSA in institutional settings. However, we acknowledge that effective implementation of SCP in this area is not straightforward. We consider some of the challenges in implementing SCP at an institutional level.