Search results

The purpose of this paper is to find out who in the white-collar offender field, specifically health-care professionals, is getting community service as a punishment and to lead the way for further research on community service as a legal sanction.

This study collected its sample using Medicaid Fraud Reports from the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units for 2009-2014. In total, 200 reports were used; 100 with community service given as a legal sanction, and 100 without. All the information was then coded by a set of criteria and put into an SPSS Statistics file for analysis.

The findings showed that there was no significant relationship between gender and any of the main legal sanctions looked for in the Medicaid Fraud Reports, except for community service. Community service also had a significant relationship with those offenders who committed physical crimes rather than financial crimes. Last, women were given less severe sanctions on average for all of the major sanctions given.

One of the implications found was that a lot more women were given community service than men. This could be because women are considered homemakers for families, and the court systems do not want to punish a woman in a way that would take her away from her family. It could also be because the court system does not see a reason to punish women as harshly as it may be felt that a woman will learn her lesson with any punishment.

There is very little research done on community service as a sanction. This research helps bring that to light.

The paper aims to recommend legal and regulatory reforms to better prevent child abuse in childcare institutions in Hong Kong.

A summary of investigation report and news reports are referred to in describing the abuse incidents which occurred in a children’s residential home. Routine Activity Theory (RAT) is used as the framework for identifying the causes. Local and overseas legislation, regulations, case law, and policies are analysed to provide recommendations for reforms.

There are systematic failures such as workload issues, inadequate supervision, and the absence of continuing professional development (CPD) that contributed to the incidents. The regulations governing the operation of childcare centres and criminal laws against child abuse are long overdue for an update in Hong Kong. On the institutional side, this paper recommends enacting regulations that mandate CPD, lower the staff-to-child ratio, and strengthen the Social Welfare Department’s (SWD) supervisory powers over childcare centres. From the criminal law perspective, it is recommended that “reasonable chastisement” be abolished as a defence of corporal punishment, and that there be new offences for failure to report suspected child abuse incidents and causing or allowing the death/serious harm of a child.

The child abuse incidents, occurring in a childcare institution, have drawn wide public concern. Reform is required to protect vulnerable children and regain public confidence.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and provide insights into corruption and the control procedures from an Islamic perspective.

This paper adopts qualitative research approach using the holy Quran as a primary source and hadith of the Prophet Mohammed supported by the anecdotes of his companions as a secondary source and prior literature.

This paper offers an Islamic taxonomy of corruption that contains economic, managerial, financial, political, environmental, social and ethical corruption which is explicitly prohibited because of their consequence on societies. Islam establishes proactive, preventive, detecting and reactive procedures to control corruption and prescribes how to avoid its harmful consequences. The paper also reveals significant concepts in relation to individuals’ qualities that if taken care of, better chances to reduce corruption and better living conditions can be accomplished.

The paper recommends means to the business community through providing managerial and practical procedures which can be used for limiting corruption effectively. However, this piece of work provides further explanations on corruption to improve our understanding on such a phenomenon and contributes to the literature from the perspective of Islam point of view.

The paper contributes to the debate on corruption, human, religion and control from an Islamic point of view, which is lacking. This paper finds evidence that loss of belief is a situational factor that leads to corrupt acts. Also, moral teaching in early ages is necessary for inner and self-control. Moral renovation is an influential factor that keeps individuals motivated and refrain from indulging into corrupt acts.

Authors or designers of international education projects are faced with a major responsibility for assuring that any given project is not simply an attempt to transplant materials, techniques, structures and information from one country to another. The entire operation of the project must be adapted to meet the needs and cultural styles of the recipient country. This requires more than a superficial retreading or facelifting. The adaptation of course materials is only one of several areas needing adaptation which will occur as part of a project. This report discusses only course adaptation, but many of the ideas may apply equally well to other project areas.

Although substance misuse by adolescents is widespread, few previous studies have investigated illicit drug use in adolescent psychiatric populations. The literature on adolescent substance misuse has focused on risk factors, and protective factors have received little or no attention. The study examined substance misuse and its correlates among young people referred to a regional adolescent psychiatric service. Co‐morbidity of substance misuse and psychiatric disorder was discussed, and the possible role of substance misuse as a gateway to adolescent offending examined. Recommendations for the development of adolescent substance misuse services are made.

The relationship between accessing indecent images online and the perpetration of contact child sex offences remains unclear. The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the offence process of offenders who have both such convictions.

A total of eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with older adult males who had downloaded indecent images and also had a history of contact sex offences against children. Data analysis involved thematic coding based on guidelines suggested by Braun and Clarke (2006).

Themes which emerged suggest some similarities (offence process behaviours), but also some differences (developmental factors) between the eight offenders. Data relevant to developmental factors formed two primary themes: childhood attachment difficulties and experiences of childhood abuse, both of which appeared to influence the offence process. Escalating factors generated a further three themes: adult relationships, personality problems and substance use. Five main categories also emerged with regard to offence behaviours: sexually deviant interests, lack of self-control, opportunity, the role of the internet (availability, easy access and anonymity), and cognitive distortions (justifications: interest in challenge and sexual frustration; denial: accidental access and denial of a victim, normalisation; blame: blame on the victim, new technologies and authorities and blame on other factors; and minimisation).

A better understanding of the offence process would inform clinical practice with such offenders and aid in the process of prevention.

This is the first research to date which explores the rationale provided for their behaviour by those convicted of both internet and contact child sex offences.

Recent studies indicate that exposure to physical punishment is associated with both aggressive behavior and peer victimization at school. The purpose of this paper is to explore the bidirectional relationship between aggressive behavior and peer victimization as outcomes of physical punishment, as well as the role of depressive symptoms.

A sample of 2,424 Finnish upper primary school pupils (1,282 girls, 1,148 boys, mean age=14.2, SD=1.0) completed an online survey during class. Two conditional process models were applied using a macro for SPSS developed by Hayes (2012).

Exposure to physical punishment was found to be associated with both aggressive behavior and peer victimization at school. The effect on victimization was partially mediated by aggressive behavior and depressive symptoms, whereas the effect on aggressive behavior was partially mediated by peer victimization experiences but not by depressive symptoms. The relationship between physical punishment and peer victimization was somewhat stronger for girls than for boys, but this effect was not accounted for by gender differences in depressive symptoms or aggressive behavior.

Few studies to date have addressed the connection between aggressive behavior and peer victimization as outcomes of physical punishment. In addition, the study expands on the concept of “victim personality” by examining the mediating role of depressive symptoms. Methodologically, the study is an example of how the statistical software SPSS can be used for multiple mediation and conditional process analysis as an alternative to SEM analyses.

This study aims to examine the relationship between exposure to the Fulani herdsmen attacks among Igbo adolescents in Southeastern Nigeria and depression. Although previous research suggests a direct relationship between armed conflict and depression to exist, it is not known from the literature whether there are indirect paths involved. In a conditional process analysis, it was examined whether physical punishment mediated and gender moderated this relationship.

A sample of 385 secondary school students (227 girls, 157 boys; M_age = 16.3; SD = 1.35) completed a questionnaire during class. Variables in the analysis were measured with reliable scales. The conditional process analysis was conducted with PROCESS.

Exposure to the Fulani herdsmen attacks predicted depressive symptoms among the adolescents, and the effect was partially mediated by the experiences of physical punishment at home. The indirect effect on depression via physical punishment at home was stronger for girls than boys, whereas the direct effect of exposure to the Fulani herdsmen attacks on depression was stronger for boys than girls.

Because the research design was cross-sectional and not longitudinal, interpretations about causal relationships should be made with caution.

The novel findings suggest that living in an environment of armed conflict may exacerbate parents’ use of physical punishment, which in turn may lead to increased levels of depressive symptoms in adolescents.

Theory of mind (ToM) is essential in understanding and predicting human behaviour. Parenting plays a significant role in the overall cognitive development of children. This study aims to understand the development of ToM among children in need of care and protection and then to compare the data with children living under parental care and children living in boarding schools. Further, it explores the extent of physical abuse experienced by children in the study and their relation to the development of ToM.

ToM Test developed by Muris et al. (1999) was used to measure ToM. Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire was used to understand the children’s relationship with parents and experience of physical abuse. The study used an ex post facto design with a purposive sampling method.

Findings suggest a significant impact of parental care on the ToM among children. Also, the type of care received mediated the relationship between parental care and the development of ToM. Finally, children living in institutions run by the Child Welfare Department reported that they have received harsher physical punishment from their parents than the other two groups of children.

Findings are a significant theoretical contribution to the ToM development in children, especially in the Indian context.

Findings demand more legal and psychological support to vulnerable children living in institutions run by the Child Welfare Department and boarding schools.

The study explores care and abuse from the child’s perspective. Findings are of value to the existing child care system in India.

Violence is a common problem in secure residential units for young people. Group workers often think that young people have to learn to behave by means of punishment. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether this approach is effective in these settings, and, if so, under what circumstances. Furthermore, it aims to provide alternatives to punishment when dealing with violence.

Recent evidence on the effectiveness of punishment in secure residential units is reviewed. In addition, methods which are promising in dealing with violence are described.

The review shows that punishment is often used to regain control by group workers or, alternatively, is a result of professional helplessness in the face of escalating problems. Only when the living group climate is marked by trust and cooperation can punishment be effective.

Punishment in secure residential settings can have severe negative consequences. Nevertheless, group workers are tempted to use it as a response to violence in an attempt to gain control.