The relationship between risk,deviance, treatment outcome and sexual reconviction in a sample of child sexual abusers completing residential treatment for their offending

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between static and dynamic risk and reconviction in a sample of child sexual abusers who had completed a long-term residential treatment programme for their sexual behaviour problems. Results found that only High/Very High risk men as measured by a static risk assessment schedule (Risk Matrix 2000) were reconvicted for sexual offences (17% over a 2-year period, 42% over a 5-year period). Results also showed that it was generally men who were rated as a high level of dynamic risk that were reconvicted for a sexual offence (13% versus 5% over a 2-year period; 44% versus 10% over a 5-year period). The study also indicated the benefits of residential treatment for such High risk/High Deviance men in that no men who left the programme having responded to treatment had been reconvicted for sexual offences at either follow-up period.     

Dismantling the ‘Lesser Men’ and ‘Supermen’ Myths: US Intelligence on the Imperial Japanese Army after the Fall of the Philippines,Winter 1942 to Spring 1943

During the opening stages of the Pacific War, between December 1941 and spring 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army appeared unstoppable. US forces in the Philippines, despite their efforts, could not hold out against the enemy advance, and by April the last vestiges of their resistance at Bataan and Corregidor became untenable. The intelligence obtained during the initial encounters provided the US defense establishment with undeniable reasons to conclude that Japanese ground forces possessed a high level of tactical skill, and assessments of the Imperial Japanese Army tended to exaggerate the latter's capabilities.     

Nonprofit Cultural Alliances: Initiatory Qualitative and Empirical Examinations of an Emergent U.S. Phenomenon

This study examines the recent spontaneous emergence of nonprofit cultural alliance organizations in the U.S. Cultural alliances are community-based associations, formed by arts/cultural organization members, which provide member interaction, collaboration, networking, resource sharing, and professional education opportunities. This research accomplishes three objectives: (1) generation of a body of knowledge about cultural alliances, (2) development of a cultural alliance member satisfaction model, and (3) quantitative analysis of member survey data to assess services provided, service quality, and member satisfaction. The results indicate that the survey instrument is an important assessment tool for use by association boards of directors and executive directors.     

Challenging the Criteria of Significance: Lessons from Contemporary Indonesian Labour History

Non-governmental organisations' (NGOs) dominance of the Indonesian labour movement has been undermined by changes in the regulation of labour since the fall of Suharto. This article examines the effects of these changes on the form and discourse of labour representation in contemporary Indonesia. It is argued that while NGOs' renewed acceptance of unionism as the primary form of labour organisation demonstrates the strength of the 'trade union' as a criterion of significance, their (partial) execution of 'trade union functions' during the late New Order period demands that we re-examine the ways in which we perceive and measure organised labour activism.     

Do School Board Governance Best Practices Improve District Performance? Testing the Key Work of School Boards in Wisconsin

The most prominent set of school board governance best practices used in the United States is the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA’s) Key Work of School Boards. In this article, we operationalize adherence to the Key Work of School Boards with multiple survey items answered by Wisconsin school board members. Using multivariate regression models, we find that adherence to the best practices results in improved achievement in districts represented by board members who have served for five or more years. The findings support the idea that school board governance behaviors are linked to district-level academic outcomes.     

The insecurities of weaponised education: a critical discourse analysis of the securitised education discourse in North-West Pakistan

This article presents a critical discourse analysis of the discourse surrounding education, international development and security in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, North-West Pakistan. The article notes the dissonance between a discourse emphasising global security and the experienced insecurity faced by schools and students in North-West Pakistan, under attack from the Pakistani Taliban (the most notable attack being the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in 2012). This analysis examines the impact of securitisation on the discursive production of the political realm, exploring whether securitisation engenders security or insecurity. Three key findings emerge. First, the purpose of securitised education becomes fixed on ‘mindset transformation’ from an extremist mindset to an educated mindset. Second, students are transformed into soldiers fighting against extremism as education becomes weaponised. Third, the discourse blurs the distinction between the uneducated and extremist, and the figure of the ‘threatening, uneducated Other’ emerges. The discursive production of such oppositional subjectivities throws into question whether the international community’s intervention in education in North-West Pakistan, in order to improve security and fight extremism, is not in fact producing greater insecurity.     

Disorders of extreme stress (DESNOS) symptoms are associated with type and severity of interpersonal trauma exposure in a sample of healthy young women

Childhood abuse and other developmentally adverse interpersonal traumas may put young adults at risk not only for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but also for impairment in affective, cognitive, biological, and relational self-regulation ("disorders of extreme stress not otherwise specified"; DESNOS). Structured clinical interviews with 345 sophomore college women, most of whom (84%) had experienced at least one traumatic event, indicated that the DESNOS syndrome was rare (1% prevalence), but DESNOS symptoms were reported by a majority of respondents. Controlling for PTSD and other anxiety or affective disorders, DESNOS symptom severity was associated with a history of single-incident interpersonal trauma and with more severe interpersonal trauma in a dose-response manner. Noninterpersonal trauma was associated with elevated prevalence of PTSD and dissociation but not with DESNOS severity. Study findings indicate that persistent posttraumatic problems with self-regulation warrant attention, even in relatively healthy young adult populations.