RECONSTRUCTING ABORIGINAL HOUSING POLICY FOR REMOTE AREAS: HOW MUCH ROOM FOR MANOEUVRE?

Abstract: This article applies Schaffer's 1984 critique of the "sectoralism" of mainstream public policy practice and discourse to Aboriginal housing policy in Australia. It analyses the approaches and programs of the Aboriginal housing policy sector and the priority given to them over the years. It then identifies the dominant agenda of Aboriginal housing policy defined in terms of massive statistics of nationwide Aboriginal housing need. An alterative agenda defined in terms of appropriate non-conventional housing and facilities for remote areas is also identified and its struggle for recognition traced. The final sections of the article suggest reasons why this alternative agenda has remained on the margins of the Aboriginal housing policy sector and examine its prospects for becoming less marginal in the future.     

David and Goliath: dismantling inequalities within faith-based cross-sector partnerships

This article reports on a research project that explored the internal dynamics of a faith-based and cross-sector partnership when different levels of organisational resources and capacity exist. A case of a three-way partnership between a faith-based, a for-profit, and a non-profit organisation is analysed. Through participant observation, interviews, and an examination of secondary data using grounded theory and the constant comparison method of analysis, an assessment of how resources impacts partnership structure, agenda/goal setting, roles, and responsibilities are highlighted and framed to demonstrate the inequalities in partnership outcomes. Furthermore, a framework for how to infuse structural equality into these partnerships is discussed.     

Development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of the domestic violence--related financial issues scale (DV-FI)

Intimate partner violence (IPV) occurs at disproportionate rates within impoverished groups of women and can include economic abuse as a form of psychological maltreatment. The current study developed a comprehensive assessment of the unique financial issues facing female victims of IPV using a sheltered sample (N = 113). An exploratory factor analysis (principal-axis factoring with varimax rotation) was conducted on 24 items of the newly developed Domestic Violence-Related Financial Issues Scale. Preliminary results supported five extracted factors, which accounted for approximately 53% of the total common variance in the women's responses. Psychometric properties of the instrument are presented.     

The consequential Nationalist–Globalist policy divide in contemporary Britain: some initial analyses

The verdict delivered by voters in the 2015 and 2017 British General Elections and the European Union Referendum surprised pollsters, pundits, the media, and even the victors. Political choices representative of Globalist outlooks saw defeat at the polls. Liberal Democratic support was below 10% and voting to remain in the EU underperformed predictions. Empirical analyses demonstrate that there is a Nationalist–Globalist policy divide, partially rooted in demographics and authoritarian predispositions, which go beyond traditional valence factors in explaining the recent choices of the British electorate. Moreover, this outlook influences how satisfied citizens are with the way democracy works in Britain. Nationalist viewpoints, when juxtaposed against Globalist outlooks, are salient in a way they were not during the height of Thatcherism, encompass left–right economic concerns and may portend a new era in British political culture.     

Levelling Up the UK: If not the Conservatives,will Labour Learn the Lessons from Past Policy Failings?

This article considers the levelling-up agenda in the UK, examining the Johnson government's original proposals to tackle regional and local inequality and its continuation under new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak following the short-lived premiership of Liz Truss. The 2022 Levelling Up in the United Kingdom White Paper is notable for the frank and wholesale critique it provides of previous governments’—both Tory and Labour—efforts to address the pressing issue of geographic inequality. The assessment was that a pattern of ad hoc and incoherent reforms needed to be replaced by a stable, long term and system-wide approach to change. Yet, under Johnson, Truss and now Sunak, policy churn is continuing, with an approach that falls short in following the lessons set out in the White Paper. We provide a detailed analysis of the government's critique of past reforms, the lessons it has set out and why its reform programme is likely to repeat past failings. Crucially, the approach leaves the structure of central government almost untouched, with substantive reforms instead focussed at the local governance level. We argue the government's programme perpetuates the ‘power-hoarding’ tendencies of the Westminster model, a key bulwark against meaningfully addressing the UK's spatial inequality problem. We conclude that the levelling-up agenda, missions and targets are unlikely to be met under Rishi Sunak, reflecting the endemic nature of short-termism and centralisation of power in the UK's public policy approach. We then consider the approach of Starmer's Labour Party to levelling up and the issues it needs to confront if it forms the next government.     

Compulsory treatment with clozapine: a retrospective long-term cohort study

BACKGROUND: Clozapine is the gold standard in treatment of treatment-resistant psychotic patients. We know little about the effects of compulsory treatment in patients unwilling to accept the necessary treatment. AIMS: To assess the effectiveness, tolerability and safety of compulsory treatment with clozapine (CTC). METHOD: A cohort of 17 consecutive patients given compulsory treatment with clozapine were rated retrospectively by their treating psychiatrists on the basis of their case notes. RESULTS: CGI-S decreased significantly over time until last observation after a mean of more than 15 months. No patient deteriorated as measured by CGI-I. At last observation as many as ten of the 11 patients still on clozapine were classified as much to very much improved. The degree of custodial restriction at last observation showed improvement in 11 patients and no change in six. No serious adverse events were observed. CONCLUSION: A trial of compulsory treatment with clozapine showed this treatment to be feasible, effective, safe and well tolerated.