Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Observations Of Relationships Between Children With Developmental Disabilities And Peers In Inclusive Settings, Amanda A. Webster, Mark Carter

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The importance of social versus functional integration for children with developmental disabilities has been widely discussed in the literature. Although a great deal of research has been conducted to describe the features of relationships and friendships between typical preschool and primary school children, very little research has attempted to apply the same quantitative process to defining the relationships that children with developmental disabilities develop with their peers in inclusive settings. This article discusses the results of research conducted in Alice Springs, Australia, in which playground observations were used to systematically describe the social relationships of 25 children with developmental disabilities …

The Role Of The Media And Communication In Recovery From Natural Disasters: A Case Study Of The Canberra 'Firestorm' And Its Aftermath 2003-2007, Susan Nicholls, Jolyon Sykes, Peter J. Camilleri

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The enormous tragedy of bushfires with significant loss of life, destruction of property, and differential recovery resulting in community division-that is, 'cleavage planes'-has become an all too common feature of the Australian experience. Research on the communication aspects of emergencies has tended to focus on preparedness and response with little in-depth analysis of the role of the media and communication strategies relating to the recovery process. In this paper, focusing on the Canberra 'firestorm' of 2003 and the aftermath recovery process, we report on a study seeking survivors' views on the functions of communication in the recovery process. The key …

Characteristics Of The Closest Relationships Between Children With Developmental Disabilities And Peers In Inclusive Settings, Amanda A. Webster, Mark Carter

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Inclusive education has become more common in schools, and children with developmental disabilities have had greater opportunities to interact, and hopefully establish relationships with their typically developing peers. While the quality of friendships between typically developing children has been examined in detail, relatively little comparable data is available on children with developmental disabilities. The current study provided an examination of the characteristics of the closest relationships between children with developmental disabilities and peers in inclusive school settings. Twenty-five children with developmental disabilities aged between approximately 5 and 12 years participated. Using an interview instrument, the relationships of these children with …

A Report On A Preliminary Diagnostic For Identifying Thermal Physics Conceptions Of Tertiary Students, Helen Georgiou, Manjula Sharma

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A solid understanding of students' conceptions in thermal physics is absolutely necessary for successful development of instruction and for promoting understanding of and enthusiasm for the subject. This study reports on student understanding for a range of thermal topics. The sample included first and second year university students studying physics and the tool was a short, 15 question, concept inventory-like 'Diagnostic Survey' administered at the beginning of first semester 2009 at the University of *****. The results indicate that some thermal physics misconceptions exist for a large proportion of tertiary level students. More specifically, basic concepts, such as heat transfer, …

Factors Associated With Hiv Testing Among Public Sector Clinic Attendees In Johannesburg, South Africa, Audrey Pettifor, Catherine L. Mac Phail, Sujit Suchindran, Sinead Delany-Moretlwe

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Uptake of VCT remains low in many sub-Saharan African countries. Men and women aged 15 and older were recruited from a family planning, STI, and VCT clinic in inner-city Johannesburg between 2004 and 2005 to take part in a cross-sectional survey on HIV testing (n = 198). Fourty-eight percent of participants reported previously testing for HIV and, of these, 86.9% reported disclosing their status to their sex partner. In multivariable analyses, individuals whose partners had been tested for HIV were more likely to have tested (AOR 2.92; 95% CI: 1.38-6.20). In addition, those who reported greater blame/ shame attitudes towards …

Future Hiv Vaccine Acceptability Among Young Adults In South Africa, Jennifer Sayles, Catherine L. Mac Phail, Peter Newman, William Cunningham

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Developing and disseminating a preventive HIV vaccine is a primary scientific and public health objective. However, little is known about HIV vaccine acceptability in the high-prevalence setting of South Africa- where young adults are likely to be targeted in early dissemination efforts. This study reports on six focus groups (n = 42) conducted in 2007 with South Africans aged 18 to 24 years. A deductive framework approach is used to identify key motivators and barriers to future HIV vaccine uptake. Participants identify HIV testing, HIV stigma, mistrust of the health care system, and concerns about sexual disinhibition as barriers to …

Investigating Cultural Diversity For Extrafoveal Information Use In Visual Scenes, Sebastien R. Miellet, Xinyue Zhou, Lingnan He, Helen Rodger, Roberto Caldara

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Culture shapes how people gather information from the visual world. We recently showed that Western observers focus on the eyes region during face recognition, whereas Eastern observers fixate predominantly the center of faces, suggesting a more effective use of extrafoveal information for Easterners compared to Westerners. However, the cultural variation in eye movements during scene perception is a highly debated topic. Additionally, the extent to which those perceptual differences across observers from different cultures rely on modulations of extrafoveal information use remains to be clarified. We used a gaze-contingent technique designed to dynamically mask central vision, the Blindspot, during a …

Effectiveness Of Home Program Intervention For Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Double-Blind Randomised Controlled Trial, Iona Novak, Anne Cusick, Natasha Lannin

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the 5th Biennial Conference of the Australasian Academy of Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine, 3-6 March 2010, Christchurch, New Zealand

The 2007-09 Financial Crisis: Narrating And Politicising A Calamity, Noel Castree

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The events triggered by defaults on 'sub-prime' mortgages have been widely described as constituting a 'crisis'. But a crisis of what exactly? Several different explanations of the 20 month drama that unfolded from summer 2007 have been proposed by a wide range of commentators. These include journalists, academics, politicians, business-people, pundits and public administrators, among others. This essay parses this superfluity of crisis talk into five principal accounts. It focuses on the Anglo-American scene. The interpretations presented range from the simplistic and populist to the complex and specialised. They are compared and contrasted, and in each case their diverse normative …

Neoliberalism And The Biophysical Environment: A Synthesis And Evaluation Of The Research, Noel Castree

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article both synthesizes and critically evaluates a now large, multi-disciplinary body of published research that examines the neoliberalization of environmental regulation, management, and governance. Since the late 1970s, neoliberal ideas and ideals have gradually made their way into the domain of environmental policy as part of a wider change in the global political economy. While the volume of empirical research is now such that we can draw some conclusions about this policy shift, the fact that the research has evolved piecemeal across so many different disciplines has made identifying points of similarity and difference in the findings more difficult. …

Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention: Outcomes Associated With A Differential Response Program In California, Amy Conley Wright, Jill Duerr Berrick

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Traditionally, the American child welfare system intervenes in cases of evident and severe maltreatment. Families in need of help, but who have not reached a crisis, are excluded from typical services. Some suggest that if these families were served, few would be rereferred to the child welfare system. California's Differential Response (DR) has three tracks, of which ''Track 1'' targets families screened out of child protective services (CPS) and refers them to agencies that provide voluntary, home-based services and referrals. This study examined child-welfare trajectories for families receiving Track 1 DR services in one California county. Using survival analysis, treatment …

Evaluative Stance In Humanities: Expectations And Performances, Erika S. Matruglio

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This chapter reports on research into literacy in the senior secondary school which aims to explore the nature of the literacy requirements for success in the final years of schooling in New South Wales, Australia. In so doing, it also explores how an 'Appliable Linguistics' can contribute to the understanding of disciplinary difference as reflected in end of school examinations in this context and points towards future directions in applying linguistics to the study of school discourse.

England: Sure Start, Edward Melhuish, Jay Belsky

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The Sure Start Local Programme (SSLP) initiative was launched in 1999, resulting in over 500 SSLPs by 2004, with further expansion thereafter to cover almost all deprived areas in England.

Early Years Studies, Edward Melhuish

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Keynote address at the MRC Population Health Sciences Research Network/MRC Methodology Research Panel Workshop, 21 January 2010, London, United Kingdom

Sure Start And Its Evaluation In England, Edward Melhuish, Jay Belsky, Jacqueline Barnes

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In 1998 a U.K. government review concluded that disadvantage among young children was increasing and early intervention could alleviate poor outcomes. It recommended a change in service design and delivery, integrating across all relevant agencies, to be area-based, with all children under five and their families as clients. Among the aims were avoiding the stigmatization often associated with targeted programs while fostering child, family and community functioning. From 1999 the first Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) focused on the 20% most deprived areas, including about half of children living below the official poverty line. Sure Start has evolved over time …

Technological Innovation In Action: Transforming The Learning Landscape For Multi-Locations Through Networked Interactive Whiteboards, Maria T. Bavaro

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper commences to unpack the possibilities for the question: how can technologies transform the learning for our future regional teachers? Videoconference and interactive whiteboards are not new. Yet, the innovation of these technologies has resulted in a new way of thinking to enhance the learning experiences for regional students who often feel disconnected when studying from a distance (Moore, 1997; Knipe &Lee, 2002; Saw et al., 2008; Worthy, Arul & Brickell, 2008). The advancement arises when a shared digital canvas is created using networked interactive whiteboards in conjunction with the videoconference for video and audio communication to provide two-way …

Do Health Beliefs And Behaviors Differ According To Severity Of Obesity? A Qualitative Study Of Australian Adults, Sophie Lewis, Samantha L. Thomas, R. Warwick Blood, Jim Hyde, David J. Castle, Paul A. Komesaroff

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Public responses to obesity have focused on providing standardized messages and supports to all obese individuals, but there is limited understanding of the impact of these messages on obese adults. This descriptive qualitative study using in-depth interviews and a thematic method of analysis, compares the health beliefs and behaviors of 141 Australian adults with mild to moderate (BMI 30−39.9) and severe (BMI ≥ 40) obesity. Mildly obese individuals felt little need to change their health behaviors or to lose weight for health reasons. Most believed they could “lose weight” if they needed to, distanced themselves from the word obesity, and …

Australian Media's Use Of Facebook Postings To Report Events Of National Interest, Marissa Dickins, Samantha L. Thomas, Kate Holland

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Online social networking sites such as Facebook have grown exponentially in recent times, yet little research has examined how the mainstream news media use the information available on these sites. This study explores how the Australian media used the social networking site Facebook in reporting three different news events: the disappearance of Australian backpacker Britt Lapthorne; the death of 4-year-old Darcey Freeman; and the devastating 'Black Saturday' Victorian bushfires. Sixty-four articles from Australian newspapers were identified pertaining to these three case studies within a seven month period from August 2008 to February 2009. An inductive thematic approach was used to …

'That's Not Reality For Me': Australian Audiences Respond To The Biggest Loser, Kate Holland, Richard Warwick Blood, Samantha Thomas, Asuntha Karunaratne, Sophie Lewis

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper focuses on how Australian audiences who meet the BMI criteria of being obese or morbidly obese read the television program The Biggest Loser. The study consisted of 152 semi-structured interviews in which people were asked about media representations of obesity in general and The Biggest Loser in particular. Four central themes emerged from our analysis of the interview data: Showing the struggle; Watching the transformation; Creating unrealistic expectations; Reinforcing misconceptions and exploiting people. Many people were reflexive about their complicity as viewers in a process in which obese people, like themselves, are ridiculed and humiliated and, while many …

On Being 'Fat': Obese And Overweight Australians Respond To News Depictions Of Obesity And Overweight, Richard Warwick Blood, Kate Holland, Samantha Thomas, Asuntha Karunaratne, Sophie Lewis

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

There is scarce research into the ways in which overweight and obese people interpret news media coverage of obesity and the so called obesity epidemic. This paper reports on a qualitative study using a purposive sample of 152 overweight, obese and morbidly obese people living in Melbourne, Australia. Most participants felt the news tended to portray them in negative and stereotypical ways. Characteristic portrayals identified by participants included obese and overweight people as: morally irresponsible and a burden on society; objects of ridicule and derision; and the subject of dehumanising images. Participants were highly reflexive and their personal experience as …

Putting Culture Under The 'Spotlight' Reveals Universal Information Use For Face Recognition, Roberto Caldara, Xinyue Zhou, Sebastien R. Miellet

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Eye movement strategies employed by humans to identify conspecifics are not universal. Westerners predominantly fixate the eyes during face recognition, whereas Easterners more the nose region, yet recognition accuracy is comparable. However, natural fixations do not unequivocally represent information extraction. So the question of whether humans universally use identical facial information to recognize faces remains unresolved. Methodology/Principal Findings: We monitored eye movements during face recognition of Western Caucasian (WC) and East Asian (EA) observers with a novel technique in face recognition that parametrically restricts information outside central vision. We used 'Spotlights' with Gaussian apertures of 2°, 5° or 8° …

Parents Views On Their Use Of Multiple And Changeable Care - Using Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview (Cati) In The Child Care Choices (Ccc) Study, Cathrine Marguerite Neilsen-Hewett, Linda Harrison, Alan Taylor, Naomi Sweller, Jennifer Bowes

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study uses longitudinal telephone survey data gathered from using a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) facility to examine families' use of multiple and changeable patterns of child care over the prior-to-school years. Despite the increasing use of multiple care arrangements, little is understood about why parents use mixed care or change the care arrangements for their child. Six-hundred and seventy-seven children and families were recruited from long day care centres and family day care schemes in metropolitan and rural New South Wales with 257 families participating in all six waves of the study. A factor analysis on the reasons offered …

The Relationship Of Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Birth Weight And Parental Bmi On Adolescents Obesity Status, Susana Vale, Rute Santos, Luisa Soares-Miranda, Jorge Mota

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background/Objectives:

The aims of this study were as follows: (1) to analyze differences in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), parents’ body mass index (BMI) and birth weight (BW) between non-overweight (NOW) and overweight/obese (OV/OB) adolescents, and (2) to investigate the association of those variables with the risk of their biological offspring being OV/OB.

Subjects/Methods:

This study comprised 788 adolescents (477 girls and 311 boys), aged between 12 and 18 years. CRF was predicted by maximal multistage 20-m shuttle-run test according to the procedures described in FITNESSGRAM. Children's BMI was classified according to the International Obesity Task Force. Adolescents’ BW was assessed from …

Influence Of Racism And Context On Ethnic Differences In Adolescent Mental Health Trajectories: The Determinants Of Adolescent Social Well-Being And Health (Dash) Study, Thomas E. Astell-Burt, Maria J. Maynard, Erik Lenguerrand, Seeromanie Harding

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the 5th Conference of Epidemiological Longitudinal Studies in Europe (CELSE 2010), 13-15 October 2010, Paphos, Cyprus

An Exploration Of Evidence-Based Policy In Ireland: Health And Social Inclusion, Patricia Kennedy, Tomas De Brun, Mary O'Reilly-De Brun, Anne Macfarlane

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Ireland is a small country with a history of a social partnership approach to policy making. This paper considers how the ambition of government to utilise an evidence-based approach to policy making plays out against this partnership agenda. Drawing on the authors' experiences and personal reflections, the paper considers how these issues operate within a number of health and social inclusion policy areas, and it explores the role of stakeholders' expectations and involvement in generating evidence for policy.

[Book Review] Stop Plagiarism: A Guide To Understanding And Prevention, Margaret Wallace

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Who would not be attracted by a book title such as Stop Plagiarism: A Guide to Understanding and Prevention? If you are a teacher, learning advisor or librarian, any clues you can find to help prevent plagiarism would be welcome. If you do judge a book by its cover (or by those details that can be gleaned in the first few pages) you might be attracted or repelled by the fact that that it has such an assertive title and by the fact that it originates in the United States. Are your concerns well-founded?

Olanzapine Decreases Cannabinoid Cb1 Receptors In The Hypothalamus And Brainstem, Possibly Through Muscarinic M3 Receptor Antagonism, Katrina Weston-Green, Xu-Feng Huang, K Kang, Chao Deng

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract from the XXVII CINP Congress, 6-10 June 2010, Hong Kong

"The Solution Needs To Be Complex." Obese Adults' Attitudes About The Effectiveness Of Individual And Population Based Interventions For Obesity, Samantha L. Thomas, Sophie Lewis, Jim Hyde, David Castle, Paul Komesaroff

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Previous studies of public perceptions of obesity interventions have been quantitative and based on general population surveys. This study aims to explore the opinions and attitudes of obese individuals towards population and individual interventions for obesity in Australia.

Methods: Qualitative methods using in-depth semi-structured telephone interviews with a community sample of obese adults (Body Mass Index ≥30). Theoretical, purposive and strategic recruitment techniques were used to ensure a broad sample of obese individuals with different types of experiences with their obesity. Participants were asked about their attitudes towards three population based interventions (regulation, media campaigns, and public …

Parent Experience Of Implementing Home Programs: Semi-Structured Interviews, Iona Novak, Anne Cusick, Natasha Lannin

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the 5th Biennial Conference of the Australasian Academy of Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine, 3-6 March 2010, Christchurch, New Zealand

'More Than A Warm Bed & A Hot Meal' - Holistic Approaches To Youth Homelessness Through Short Term Accommodation, Jioji Ravulo

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Youth homelessness is marred by problems around family breakdowns, mental health concerns, substance use and abuse, and the lack of stable accommodation (Homelessness Taskforce 2008). With noted decreases over the last decade, youth homelessness still remains a contested policy topic, with need to develop a streamlined approach in understanding solutions. An emphasis on early intervention is an increasing part of a commitment to decreasing the idea of young people becoming homeless in the first place. National and State Governments are working hard on developing policy positions that promote a shared responsibility to the problem. Renewed financial commitments are being profiled, …