Intervention with sexually abusive young people in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Research into the treatment of sexual offenders with an intellectual disability has increased over the past decade. This research can be used to investigate the efficacy of treatment; however, empirical limitations of the research make generalizations difficult. Marques has provided a framework for examining treatment efficacy that emphasizes the contribution of researchers and clinicians to report treatment outcomes rather than a strict reliance on rigorous empirical investigations, such as controlled outcome research. This review uses Marques’ framework to present an overview about group treatment for sexual offenders with an intellectual disability using nine identified studies. This paper attempts to consolidate our knowledge about specific treatment issues, while demonstrating the varied outcomes that are reported in the literature. In employing this framework, the literature suggests that our knowledge can be substantially improved by research addressing specific areas of treatment.     

Victim–Offender Mediation in Cases of Intimate Relationship Violence—Ideals,Attitudes, and Practices in Finland

In Finland the first experimental mediation projects founded on the principles and ideals of restorative justice were started in the beginning of the 1980s. Before the Act on Mediation in Criminal and Certain Civil Cases (1015/2005) came into force in 2006, mediation services were provided by cities, municipalities, and non-governmental organizations. Victim–offender mediation (VOM) practices varied, and there was minimal guidance and supervision by state authorities. The Act (1015/2005) aimed to standardize mediation services and practices and enable evaluation of VOM in order to provide solutions to some of the issues raised regarding mediation in intimate relationship violence (IRV). The Act states that only police or prosecutors may initiate the process for referring a case that involves intimate relationship violence. Furthermore, mediators/facilitators who handle IRV cases are required to attain further training. This article examines the ideals, attitudes, and practices of VOM in relation to intimate relationship violence in Finland. The aims and ideals stipulated in the Act on Mediation are presented and later compared to actual practices of VOM which were obtained through the review of documented agreements. These were the end-results of VOM in cases of intimate relationship violence. The empirical data also included a questionnaire sent to mediators in three offices as well as a national questionnaire sent to prosecutors.     

Confidence in the police: Balancing public image with community safety – A comparative review of the literature

Examining the evolution of British and Australian policing, this comparative review of the literature considers the historical underpinnings of policing in these two countries and the impact of community legitimacy derived from the early concepts of policing by consent. Using the August 2011 disorder in Britain as a lens, this paper considers whether, in striving to maintain community confidence, undue emphasis is placed on the police's public image at the expense of community safety. Examining the path of policing reform, the impact of bureaucracy on policing and the evolving debate surrounding police performance, this review suggests that, while largely delivering on the ideal of an ethical and strong police force, a preoccupation with self-image may in fact result in tarnishing the very thing British and Australian police forces strive to achieve – their standing with the public. This paper advocates for a more realistic goal of gaining public respect rather than affection in order to achieve the difficult balance between maintaining trust and respect as an approachable, ethical entity providing firm, confident policing in this ever-evolving, modern society.     

Out of the woods: the illegal trade in tropical timber and a European trade hub

This article responds to the call for more empirical knowledge about transnational environmental crime by analysing the illegal trade in tropical timber. It aims to provide insights into the social organisation of the illegal transports of tropical timber within the local research setting of the port of Antwerp (Belgium) but meanwhile pays attention to elements throughout the flows from locations of origin over transit to destination. It is often difficult to determine which legal and illegal actors are involved in transnational environmental crime. This research sheds light on the legal–illegal interfaces in tropical timber flows connected to this European setting. The results show that the social organisation of transnational environmental crime is shaped by the global context of the places of origin, transit and destination, where it is continuously on a thin line between legal and illegal.     

Rebuilding the DRC

The DRC's transitional parliamentary system, run by appointed officials, is still in place pending the country's first elections. The system is characterised by personal considerations overriding those of the electorate and a disregard for the strengthening of democracy.     

SADC and the GCC: Shared regional challenges and potential links

This article assesses the prospects for a clearly articulated economic diplomacy approach in South Africa's foreign policy. It argues that while South Africa's foreign policy has been to a considerable extent normatively grounded, it has failed to develop a coherent economic diplomacy that is based on focused and distinctly expressed priorities. This is a crucial gap that limits the country's ability to respond to regional and global changes, in particular those posed by emerging powers. The article identifies a number of gaps in South Africa's foreign policy approach and highlights its oblivion to global developments and geopolitical dynamics in the African continent. It sets out possible policy outlines for developing a clearer and stronger economic diplomacy. The building blocks for such an approach include the identification of strategic foreign policy priorities; greater institutional co-operation among agencies dealing with economic and foreign policy development; synergies between corporate strategies and government's foreign policy objectives; and the need for South Africa to develop a stronger leadership ambition in the African continent, both to contribute to Africa's development and to pursue its own economic interests. This ambition will require awareness of South Africa's own limitations, thus focusing the better part of its foreign policy on a limited set of countries that match strategic priorities.     

Subsidiary,supporter or challenger? Local‐national relations in Japan

The impact of governance attributes on frequently overlooked attitudes of local councillors towards local governance reform agendas is assessed, based on the MAELG survey of approximately 11,000 councillors in 15 European countries and Israel. Eighteen policy statements are grouped into six reform agendas, followed by analyses of their explanatory factors. Europe's north–south divide is found meaningful for the understanding of variations in attitudes towards reform, being most profound in notions of democracy, participation and devolution. Southern Europe, including post-communist Europe, shows clear support for new democratic mechanisms, whereas northern European councillors reveal more reserved, perhaps weary, attitudes towards reforms. Councillors may provide the ‘correct’ statements in the south, because less has been reformed there so far, knowing that change would anyway be difficult. Substantial variations between different northern sub-groups could be linked to the memory of non-democratic regimes in Germany and Austria and to the influence of existing systems, deeply embedded in local political cultures. Nevertheless, the impact of present institutional practices is far from universal. Councillors in liberal regimes are not pro-privatisation, and cautious attitudes towards reform are shared by northern decentralised and centralised countries.     

Meeting the Information Needs of Older People: A Challenge for Local Governance

The challenge of the ageing population is not just to provide more services but to employ new strategies. One of these is the need to rethink the provision of information to older people and their carers. This paper makes four points. First, that information and access to information have become more critical issues. Second, that older people may place a much higher value on information than other citizen groups but their access is poor for a range of reasons. Third, that the processes by which older people seek information may be empowering. Finally, effective partnerships with creative older people can be a catalyst to changing governance cultures which is a vital step in modernising local government. The paper draws upon examples from the author's experience of working alongside older people under the umbrella of the Better Life in Later Life project in Newcastle upon Tyne.     

Partial Privatisation in Local Services Delivery: An Empirical Analysis of the Choice of Mixed Firms

Mixed public–private firms are increasingly used in several European countries. This paper makes use of survey data from Spanish municipalities to examine the motivations of local governments for engaging in partial privatisation of local service delivery of water distribution and solid waste collection. The empirical analysis indicates that mixed firms emerge as a pragmatic middle way between purely public and purely private production. Indeed, local governments make use of mixed firms when cost considerations, financial constraints and private interests exert contradictory pressures. Political and ideological factors play no significant role in that decision.     

Changing aspects of government–society relations in South Korea: evidence from the evolution of environmental policy governance

In South Korea, the development of environmental policy did not garner much attention from either the government or society before the mid-1980s, although policy-making in this sphere had a long history prior to this time, as with other traditional policy areas. Moreover, it is significant that mid-1980s in Korea was a period characterised by a new political–economic landscape that induced changes in the aims and roles of the government and society in policy-making. Thus, specific developments of Korea's government–society relationship may be reflected in the evolution of its environmental policy. This paper aims to analyse the changing aspects of this relationship in the area of environmental policy by examining environmental policy governance since 1971. The research results show that the government–society relationship in this policy area has been gradually transformed – from a stage of confrontation to that of complex interactions. Per the findings, this paper argues that the relationship needs to be further enhanced to a stage of institutionalisation, and explores ways of achieving this goal.