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1 – 10 of over 10000The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how practical research can be undertaken into sensitive issues within the criminal justice system having cognisance of the needs of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how practical research can be undertaken into sensitive issues within the criminal justice system having cognisance of the needs of those subject to the research process.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed methods design which was complicated due to the subject matter being explored, that of historical reporting of sexual offences. Confidential questionnaires and focus group method utilised, but in constant contact with specialised victim support service to ensure rights of victims understood and interwoven into the design.
Findings
Even though there are some very sensitive areas within the criminal justice system where it is believed research is difficult to undertake, it can be achieved by constant reference to the needs of the victim and strict confidentiality. Given the right circumstances and approach, research into what has been previously considered areas of difficulty can be researched effectively.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the research methods explored an utilised, a template for research methodology can be seen which can be transferred into any other sensitive topic that requires research. In addition, by undertaking this method, previously unheard voices of victims of historical crimes can be utilised to inform official policy and practice. However, a limitation of the approach can be the low number of respondents wishing to take part.
Practical implications
Victims have an opportunity to influence public policy. The methods utilised “opens up” the possibility for replication of research into other sensitive areas of the CJS. The methods utilised involved a number of Criminal Justice Agencies which assisted in maximising their understanding of victims experiences thorough the partnership approach. The research methods and results influencing training methods of the police as first responders to such incidents.
Social implications
The social implications of this paper are that it will encourage other researchers not to be afraid of what appears to be “hard to reach” and sensitive topics in terms of social science research. This will allow for greater numbers of marginalised individuals and victims to engage and influence the criminal justice system, thereby influencing public policy and improving the way victims of crime are treated.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the few, if any, that explores ethical problems and sensitive topics such as historical reporting of sexual offences. It will have resonance for those who wish to undertake similar types of research.
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Kimberlee S. Burrows, Martine B. Powell and Mairi Benson
Interviewing victims of child sex abuse requires considerable care in order to minimise error. Due to children’s heightened suggestibility any question asked of a child could…
Abstract
Purpose
Interviewing victims of child sex abuse requires considerable care in order to minimise error. Due to children’s heightened suggestibility any question asked of a child could potentially incite error that could undermine the witness’s credibility. A focus group was conducted in order to facilitate the development of guidance for interviewers around the circumstances in which it is necessary to ask children follow-up questions in an interview. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Seven Crown prosecutors representing every Australian state and territory (with the exception of one small state) were issued with 25 hypothetical narrative accounts of child abuse and asked to indicate what information, if any, required follow-up in the child’s narrative. Their responses and rationale for requiring following up in some cases and not others were discussed.
Findings
Thematic analysis revealed three recommendations to guide questioning: whether the case involved identification or recognition evidence; the presence of contextual features that may influence the witness’s memory, or that should trigger a particular line of questioning; and whether the information can or should be sought at a later stage by the trial prosecutor, rather than by the interviewer.
Practical implications
The recommendations are discussed within the context of their implications for interviewing, that is, how each recommendation could be implemented in practice.
Originality/value
The present study extends prior literature by elucidating principles to guide decision making across interview topic areas. The need for such guidance is highlighted by research suggesting that topics such as offender identity, offence time and place, and witnesses are a source of overzealous questioning in interviews.
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Helen Spandler and Mick McKeown
The purpose of this paper is to explore the case for a truth and reconciliation (T&R) process in the context of mental health services.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the case for a truth and reconciliation (T&R) process in the context of mental health services.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach is a conceptual review of T&R approaches; a consideration of why they are important; and how they might be applied in the context of mental health services and psychiatry. First, the paper sets out a case for T&R in psychiatry, giving some recent examples of how this might work in practice. Then it outlines potential objections which complicate any simplistic adoption of T&R in this context.
Findings
In the absence of an officially sanctioned T&R process a grassroots reparative initiative in mental health services may be an innovative bottom-up approach to transitional justice. This would bring together service users, survivors and refusers of services, with staff who work/ed in them, to begin the work of healing the hurtful effects of experiences in the system.
Originality/value
This is the first paper in a peer-reviewed journal to explore the case for T&R in mental health services. The authors describe an innovative T&R process as an important transitional step towards accomplishing reparation and justice by acknowledging the breadth and depth of service user and survivor grievances. This may be a precondition for effective alliances between workers and service users/survivors. As a result, new forms of dialogic communication and horizontal democracy might emerge that could sustain future alliances and prefigure the social relations necessary for more humane mental health services.
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Katie Wright, Malin Arvidsson, Johanna Sköld, Shurlee Swain and Sari Braithwaite
This chapter explores what it means for adults to claim child rights. Focussing on activism against institutional child abuse, it considers the question of what happens to the…
Abstract
This chapter explores what it means for adults to claim child rights. Focussing on activism against institutional child abuse, it considers the question of what happens to the mobilisation of child rights discourse when the person claiming those rights is no longer a child. In other words, how is the concept of child rights used retrospectively and what does this reveal, both about childhood and about child rights? The chapter begins with the contention that childhood needs to be understood as not only a concept that speaks to the lives of children, their experiences, and their place within the social structure. Rather, we suggest that a more expansive view enables recognition of the enduring significance of childhood in adults’ lives. We illustrate this argument with examples of the formation of collective identities based on childhood experiences, before turning to the ways that child rights are marshalled by adults in activism, in commissions of inquiry, and in the legal sphere. Throughout the chapter, we consider issues of temporality. We explore the ways in which adult survivors of childhood abuse retrospectively claim rights denied to them in the past and we examine how activism, official inquiries, and legal mechanisms position adults in relation to their childhood selves. We then consider some of the dilemmas that arise with retrospective rights claims; particularly questions of retroactivity in relation to responsibility and redress for past abuse. Finally, we explore the temporal repositioning of childhood and how past and present is bridged. This occurs through survivor activism and, in more formal mechanisms such as inquiries, by focussing on how people are represented as child victims in the past and survivors in the present.
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Betty G. Brown, Julie A. Baldwin and Margaret L. Walsh
Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive overview of the substance use disparities among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth, the contributing…
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive overview of the substance use disparities among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth, the contributing factors to these disparities, proven and promising approaches through strengths-based methods, barriers to implementation of prevention and treatment efforts, and future recommendations for effective programs and research.
Approach – We have conducted a thorough literature review of relevant research studies, as well as a review of government, tribal, and community-based curricula and resources. This review of programs is not exhaustive but provides several examples of best practices in the field and suggestions for future directions.
Social implications – We strongly advocate that to accurately explore the true etiology of substance abuse and to respond to the concerns that AI/AN have prioritized, it is necessary to utilize a strengths-based approach and draw upon traditional AI/AN perspectives and values, and active community participation in the process. More specifically, prevention and treatment programs should use methods that incorporate elders or intergenerational approaches; foster individual and family skills-building; promote traditional healing methods to recognize and treat historical, cultural, and intergenerational and personal trauma; focus on early intervention; and tailor efforts to each Native nation or community.
Value – Ultimately, to reduce substance abuse disparities in AI/AN youth, we must find better ways to merge traditional Native practices with western behavioral health to ensure cultural competency, as well as to develop mechanisms to effect system- and policy-level changes that reduce barriers to care and promote the well-being of AI/AN youth, families, and communities.
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The purpose of this paper is to report the main themes identified into the Serious Case Review (SCR) produced by Surrey Safeguarding Adults Board (SSAB) regarding the suicide of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report the main themes identified into the Serious Case Review (SCR) produced by Surrey Safeguarding Adults Board (SSAB) regarding the suicide of Mrs A in January 2013.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach is used to examine the SCR. The paper links the findings of the SCR with the broader literature, which has examined the experiences of witnesses and complainants in cases of sexual violence.
Findings
The report emphasises that support for witnesses in historic sexual assault cases has improved but there are still significant gaps in provision. In particular, the systems need to support witnesses for longer after giving evidence. Mental health services need to be more aware of the potential impact of Court cases on victims of sexual violence. The case also highlights the potentially devastating impact of the media reporting of evidence given by victims in rape cases.
Practical implications
The authors hope that a wider consideration of the circumstances of this case will lead to a greater focus on the needs of victims in cases of historic rape and other sexual assault cases. The SCR highlights that the provision of support for women giving evidence in sexual abuse cases is patchy. Such cases raise very serious ethical issues including the question of how to use the special measures that exist to support vulnerable or intimidated witnesses.
Originality/value
The paper brings together a number of themes in the wider literature and links them to current practice. It also uses a case study approach to exploring the implications for women, in cases of historical sexual abuse, of giving evidence in Court proceedings.
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Dave McDonald and Jessica C. Oldfield
Since 1980s, institutional child sexual abuse has been ‘discovered’ as an internationally recognisable social problem. Public inquiries have become the most dominant mode of…
Abstract
Since 1980s, institutional child sexual abuse has been ‘discovered’ as an internationally recognisable social problem. Public inquiries have become the most dominant mode of response to this, having been enacted throughout much of the western world. Driven by demands from victims/survivors for collective recognition, these have drawn on features of transitional justice as an important means of truth telling. While the role of survivors in precipitating the enactment of public inquiries has been well documented, less well understood is how social activism has been influenced in the aftermath of such inquiries. In this chapter, the authors explore a local phenomenon known as Loud Fence that arose in the Australian town of Ballarat as a case study to consider the relationship between activism and social change that can occur in the wake of official truth telling.
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Maria Roth, Imola Antal, Ágnes Dávid-Kacsó and Éva László
Since the reforms started in the Romanian child protection, and in spite of adopting children’s rights, and investing in the professionalization of the child protection staff…
Abstract
Since the reforms started in the Romanian child protection, and in spite of adopting children’s rights, and investing in the professionalization of the child protection staff, research has indicated that children continue to suffer violence in care settings.
This chapter contributes to the literature that documents children’s rights violations in Romanian residential care, before and after the political shift in 1989, including the period after the accession to the EU, by presenting and discussing interview data of 48 adults who spent parts of their childhoods in child protection settings.
The conceptual framework of this analysis is based on the human rights perspective and the transitional justice. The main body of the article presents the testimonials of adults who grew up in institutional care in Romania, as collected in the framework of the SASCA project, funded by the European Union. 1
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