Criminal and civil community-based "detention": some parallels

Over the last 20 years, governments in Australia and elsewhere have increasingly embraced the notion of community-based treatment of the mentally ill in preference to detention in a mental health facility. At the same time, governments have also embraced the notion of community-based treatment and punishment of criminal offenders in preference to detention in a custodial facility. This article examines the use of Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) within the Victorian mental health regime, and the use of Intensive Correction Orders (ICOs) within the Victorian criminal justice regime. It is argued that a number of striking similarities can be found in the respective legislative schemes and policy considerations.     

Acculturation, partner violence, and psychological distress in refugee women from Somalia

This study examined the relations among acculturation, domestic violence, and mental health in 62 married refugee women from Somalia. Refugees from Somalia constituted the largest group of refugees entering the United States in 2005, and little is known about the presence of domestic violence in this group. The results showed that women who reported greater ability to speak English also reported more experiences of partner psychological abuse and physical aggression. Experiences of more psychological abuse and physical aggressions also predicted more psychological distress. Implications for future research and psychological services are addressed.     

Police Empathy and Victim PTSD as Potential Factors in Rape Case Attrition

This exploratory study investigated whether rape victims’ subjective perceptions of whether to proceed with legal action were associated with their experience of disclosing to the police during their initial interview. Specifically, the study investigated associations between symptoms of PTSD, shame and self-blame post-rape, subjective perceptions of police empathy and subjective perception of victims’ intentions to take the case to court. Participants (N = 22) were found to have elevated levels of PTSD severity, shame and self-blame. Police empathy was positively correlated with victims’ ratings of likelihood of taking the case to court, and negatively correlated with PTSD severity and shame. These preliminary findings suggest that training police officers how to respond more empathically to psychologically distressed rape victims may potentially help reduce victim attrition rates.     

China's Exceptionalism and the Challenges of Delivering Difference in Africa

This article explores the notion of ‘China's exceptionalism’ in Africa, a prominent feature in Beijing's current continental and bilateral engagement. ‘China's exceptionalism’ is understood as a normative modality of engagement that seeks to structure relations such that, though they may remain asymmetrical in economic content they are nonetheless characterised as equal in terms of recognition of economic gains and political standing (mutual respect and political equality). This article considers the burden that the central Chinese government has assumed through its self-construction and mobilisation of a position of exceptionalism and, concurrently, the imperatives that flow from such rhetorical claims of distinctiveness in terms of demonstrating and delivering difference as a means to sustain the unity and coherence of these rhetorical commitments.