abstract: The purpose of this project is to better understand police perceptions of sexual assault complainants by assessing their likelihood of questioning a complainant’s credibility and by examining police attitudes toward victims of sexual assault. To advance understanding of these issues, this dissertation (1) expands upon prior research by drawing on a sample of officers from one of the largest metropolitan police departments in the United States and, (2) through the use of framing theory, contributes to the literature by focusing on the attitudes of police toward sexual assault complainants and how these beliefs are shaped by day-to-day experiences. This dissertation investigates two research questions using a mixed-methods approach. The data come from 400 sexual assault complaints that were reported to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and 52 LAPD detective interviews. I quantitatively examine the factors that influence officer perceptions of complainant credibility, focusing on indicators of “real rape,” “genuine” victims, “inappropriate” victim behavior, and “character flaws.” I contextualize this work by examining police attitudes toward sexual assault victims using qualitative data taken from interviews of sex crimes detectives. This research contributes to the broader case processing literature by focusing on victim credibility, a factor consistently found to influence case processing decisions. Moreover, this study contributes to research on the frames officers assign to women who report sexual assault. Analyses from the quantitative portion of the study confirm that indicators of “real rape,” and complainant “character issues” were key explanatory factors influencing credibility assessments. Regarding qualitative results, three sexual assault victim frames were identified. These frames include depictions of victims as they relate to: (a) the suspect/victim relationship, (b) problematic victim behavior, and (c) age. These three frames indicate that certain types of victims are viewed as problematic. This dissertation contributes to three broad bodies of literature: law enforcement decision making, law enforcement perceptions of sexual assault victims, and framing theory. This dissertation was able to tap into officer attitudes to shed light on the ways officers treat women who come forward to report sexual assault, providing valuable insight into officer attitudes, credibility assessments, and victim framing. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Criminology and Criminal Justice 2015

User participation within social work has caught more attention in the public sector of Sweden. The aim of this study is to gain understanding of how user participation as taking into consideration in the field of care for the elderly. The study is based on six semi-structured interviews with six social service officers, therefore the study is based on their perspectives and experiences. In order to gain qualitative data, the method of meaning categorization was used, which resulted in three association themes: user participation, limitations, relationships and approach. The results were then analyzed together with previous research, and through Lipskys’ (1980) theory “Street-level bureaucrats”. The results of the study indicate that user participation is complex in practice and therefore the social service officer have to find a way to manage and implement user participation in their work. Also, that there are some factors that affect user participation e.g. guidelines, relatives, users with cognitive impairment and furthermore the social service officer himself.

A Polícia Militar, cuja missão divulgada oficialmente é a de tutela da ordem jurídica, assegurando a tranquilidade pública e a proteção da sociedade contra as violações e malefícios\", tem crescido como tema de discussão tanto na mídia como nos meios acadêmicos nos últimos anos por sua relevância na vida das pessoas e relação com as questões de segurança pública. Dados sobre violência policial de inúmeros orgãos, pesquisas acadêmicas no assunto, e a própria preocupação manifesta de autoridades governamentais de segurança pública tornam quase que inevitável que essas discussões vinculem a polícia à violência. Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar os efeitos de reconhecimento e desconhecimento das relações no trabalho que permearam o discurso de um grupo de soldados da polícia militar: como estes falaram de seu trabalho e através desta fala posicionaram-se e posicionaram sua clientela e sua hierarquia. Por conta da importância dos dados mencionados, buscou-se também analisar que lugar a violência ocupou neste discurso. Dez soldados de um mesmo batalhão da polícia militar do Estado de São Paulo, sendo estes nove homens e uma mulher, foram entrevistados no próprio local de trabalho acerca de seu trabalho e das pessoas com quem se relacionavam. Suas entrevistas transcritas foram analisadas através da Análise Institucional do Discurso a fim de configurar um sujeito soldado policial militar. O objeto da análise do discurso foi a articulação entre o texto e o lugar social. Através destas análises, percebemos que uma noção de ser o faz tudo deslizou para o cuidado de um tipo específico de clientela, a população despossuída, e culminou com a proteção da vida do próprio policial policial como foco último do trabalho do PM. A farda se sobrepôs ao indivíduo marcando com toda a força a matriz institucional desse sujeito (do discurso). Não é uma questão de ser vítima da farda, mas de, pressupondo-se só na linha de frente, conduta justificada, legitimada e reforçada pelo discurso que indissocia meliante e clientela, passa a ser natural que o PM então coloque-se no lugar de alvo e que a ajuda e proteção ao amigo de farda torne-se legitimamente o foco de seu trabalho. O estressante do trabalho do PM residia justamente nesta inversão quando PM tornava-se alvo. E, a regra, ponto de tensão para que o PM se defenda, abre brecha para uma virada do cumprimento da lei para o crime como caminho natural a seguir e deslocado do indivídio. Um caminho para a violência / The Military Police, whose mission as officially claimed is to safeguard the legal order, assuring public peace and protecting the society against violations and wrongdoings, has increasingly appeared as a theme of discussion in the media as well as in the academia in the last years due to its relevance to peoples lives and its relation to public safety issues. Police violence data from many organizations, academic research e the manifest concern from government authorities in public security make it almost inevitable for these discussions to relate police and violence. This research aims at studying the effects of recognition and disowning of the relationships in the job that permeated the discourse of a group of soldiers from the military policy: how they spoke of their job and through this speech positioned themselves and their clientele and hierarchy. Due to the importance of the mentioned data, the potential place that violence occupied in this discourse was subject of study as well. Ten soldiers; nine men and one woman, from the same battalion of the Military Police from the State of São Paulo were interviewed in the workplace about their jobs and the people they relate to in doing so. The transcribed interviews were analyzed through the Institutional Discourse Analyses to configure a military police soldier subject. The object of discourse analyses was the articulation between the text and the social place. Through these analyzes, we could see that a do it all notion slid to become the care of a certain type of clientele, the dispossessed, and culminated to the protection of the life of the police officer him or herself as the ultimate focus of the police officers job. The uniform overlapped the individual with the strength of the institutional matrix within this (discourse) subject. Its not a matter of being a victim of the uniform, but, assuming a solitude in the front line, a justified and rationalized conduct, also reinforced by the discourse that doesnt differ criminal from clientele, its naturalized that the military police officer/soldier puts him or herself in the position of a target so that helping and protecting the uniform pal becomes legitimately the focus of the job. The stressful in the job is exactly this inversion of positions when the soldier becomes the target. And the rules and procedures, source of tension for the police officer to defend him/herself, give license for the mode turn from law abiding to crime, a natural path to follow, detached from the individual and excused by the uniform. A path to violence

Cette traversée freudienne du Commandement relit la valeur liminaire de la fonction de la dissociation psychique selon la nosologie du psychotraumatisme. Or, pour un même évènement, la réponse différentielle marginalise des sujets brisés à vie (pathologie), d’autres s’intégrant dans la charpente de l’institution et semblant ne pas être affectés. L’armée apparaît comme le théâtre d’une transmutation symbolique : les attaches psychiques intérieures sont organisées et contenues par un maillage protecteur et amortisseur institutionnel (fonction contenante d’une famille militaire) dans lequel grandit l’officier pour métamorphoser ses chaines (lien) en chênes (grade). Dissocier en pleine conscience plutôt que de cliver en toute inconscience comme le font la plupart des hommes est typique du chef. Le mécanisme opérant harmoniserait une alchimie respiratoire entre un inspir (la dissociation psychique / fonction de séparation paternelle) et un expir (la dialectisation / fonction matricielle maternelle). Assumer une forme d’élection, potentialiser ces fonctions comme arme psychique offre l’accès à la pensée stratégique opérative. La psychanalyse dissèque ici la prosopographie de l’officier supérieur qui endosse à la fois les habits du père et de la mère (fonction de réunification par la dialectisation) embrassant le complexe œdipien pour guider les foules organisées. Mener des hommes, prévenir et soutenir les traumatismes du métier de militaire, loin de toute l’apparente rigidité des conditionnements, joue d’un art exigé de l’officier : l’expérience de plasticité psychique (apprentissage de la dissociation) et de fluidité (maîtrise de la dialectisation)... et donc d’une forte liberté intérieure.... / This freudian cruise through the French Military Commandment review the first value of psychic dissociation belong psychotraumatism nosology. However, in front of similar event, different answers marginalize breakdown people from others which ones are growing into the institution frame and seem to be healthy, safe and sane.Army would be a symbolic transmutation place : psychic links contain in a protective organized meshing, as an institutional shock absorber (functional psychic containing of military family) wherever grows the army head leader to transform from chains (links) to oaks (promotion).Dissociative full consciousness instead of splitting unconsciousness as main people does it, would be the peculiarity of the leader. The operative mechanism would harmonize an alchemic breath from inspiration (psychic dissociation / detachment father’s role) to expiration (dialectisation / womb mother’s role). Accept selective process, improve these functions as a psychic arm help to increase to operative strategic mind and is entrusted to make a masterpiece with diplomacy.The psycho-analysis profile in this university work, the senior officer which wears parental suit, kissing the Oedipian complex to direct mass especially military organized crowds.Leading men, warn and support war traumatisms, far away from the similar stiffness conditioning and the dissociative disorders, need meaningful, genuine and generous presence playing with a required leadership : psychic’s plasticity (dissociation learning) and mind’s/brain’s flow (dialectisation process)… and, also, deepest identity and strong inner freedom…

This thesis aims at describing the CIO role from the perspective of two interviews and the literature on the subject. Our research questions mainly focus on the actual work of a CIO and are answered by providing a framework on how to view the CIO and the influence of the CIO. Influence meaning both on business and IT strategy. We have answered what the CIO role implies and how it is used in different organizations. To do this we have scanned current literature and also conducted two interviews with CIO’s from completely different organizations and resources. A framework for understanding how the IT strategy and business strategy is linked with the CIO as a resource has been created and our interview findings are presented in this framework. We have also found that the CIO with little involvement in overall business strategy decisions has less influence on the IT strategy. This is ex-plained by the nature of the organization and the view of IT. A CIO’s primary function could be to strategically align IT with business or to make sure that the IT systems runs flawless. These can be viewed as counterpoints but since the role today is changing from being operative to working more with strategic questions it is not a strange finding. The influence a CIO has in business strategy questions ranges from none to a lot, based on how the CIO role is defined by the organization. This is also well in line with the view of IT. When viewing IT as something that has the possibility to gain competitive advantage, IT gain more credibility, hence the CIO gains more influence on business strategy decisions. We also found that the CIO not only has the overall responsibility of IT in the organization, but also that s/he is supposed to work with questions of concern to the business. This forces the CIO to have an understanding of the end-customer, which in itself creates a better understanding for the business strategy. The CIO should work with questions that not only meet the current demand of the organization they support, but also future needs and potential opportunities where IT can be of specific interest.

Monistic structure of joint-stock company This thesis is concerned with monistic structure of joint-stock company in the Czech Republic. It seeks to characterize the legislation relating to this legal institute, which is quite new in the Czech legal system. To be able to evaluate this legislation, the thesis provides the reader with a broader range of information concerning this topic. Therefore, on the basis of these pieces of information, the thesis analyzes the Czech legislation in force that regulates monistic structure of companies. The aim of the text is to provide different views on this issue, various interpretations and proposals on the future development of this legislation. First the thesis gives general information on corporate governance systems, i. e. a monistic structure and a dualistic one, which are subsequently compared. Remaining part of the thesis deals with the structure chosen as a topic for this text. Second part is concerned with regulations of monistic structure in foreign countries and their legal systems. The purpose is to outline basic aspects of traditional monistic structures - monistic structures in countries that have influenced the form of this type of corporate governance system the most. As the monistic system of corporate governance is spread out especially in the...

Chief executives (CEOs) and other senior managers do not seem to be satisfied with the performance of their corporate communication managers/practitioners. Perceptions are that practitioners fail to assume broad decision making roles in organisations. They seem to be unable to see the big picture or understand the key issues in their industry -- their thinking is tactical, rather than strategic. Practitioners are focused on their own activities and media, on the achievement of communication goals and objectives -- without necessarily linking them to business goals. There appears to be a lack of understanding between top management and the corporate communication function on the latter's role in the strategic management process. This situation might be the result of a lack of strategic management and strategic communication knowledge and skills amongst corporate communication managers, possibly caused by insufficient training in these areas (Groenewald 1998a). The research objectives addressed by this study are the following: Firstly, to conceptualise a strategic role for the corporate communication practitioner at the top management level of the organisation (the role of the PR strategist). This is done by investigating the strategic management literature to determine whether a need exists at the top management level to play a strategic role. The behavioural activities of such a role were identified both from the public relations and the strategic management literature. Secondly, to conceptualise corporate communication strategy as an activity of a corporate communication practitioner in the role of the PR manager, a strategic role at the functional or meso level of the organisation. Furthermore, to differentiate a corporate communication strategy from a communication plan. Thirdly, to hypothesise a model for developing corporate communication strategyand thereafter to implement, evaluate and improve the model by assessing and comparing the corporate communication strategy projects of third year corporate communication students at the University of Pretoria, as partners in the action research process. The research approach selected is qualitative research -- an exploratory design is employed in achieving the first three objectives by means of a literature investigation. A confirmatory design is used for the implementation, evaluation and improvement of the model through the methodology of action research. In implementing, evaluating and revising the hypothesised model, this study moves away from the traditional teacher-centred approach in the classroom to a situation where students are involved in a research inquiry to build theory. At the same time, the participant community (non-profit organisations in this case) is exposed to strategic communication knowledge. They are involved in a process whereby they become active participants (together with the students and the lecturer/researcher) in developing corporate communication strategy for their organisations. The results are twofold: firstly, staff members of the non-profit organisation (as well as the students) acquire strategic communication skills; and secondly, the researcher investigates a new area of interest, builds theory, and facilitates a learning process for students whereby they obtain experience and knowledge that is applicable to practice. In conceptualising both a new role for the corporate communication practitioner at the top management level (the role of the PR strategist), and proposing corporate communication strategy as the link between the communication plan and the corporate strategy, an attempt is made to provide possible solutions to important problems in practice. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2000. / gm2013 / Communication Management / Unrestricted

Utilizing the debates of the German Reichstag, the proceedings of the SPD, the memoirs of the leading military and Marxist figures and the principal newspapers of the Second Reich and Weimar Republic, this dissertation attempts to show how the army chiefs and the socialist leaders of Germany altered their policies not only to promote their interests but also to protect the state.

Magister Commercii - MCom / This study was undertaken to determine the relationship between the emotional intelligence and burnout levels of police constables of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Western Cape. The field work of constables includes situations in which police officers need to make quick decisions involving life and death. Constables regularly have to deal with and are exposed to dangerous and violent situations (Plani, Bowley & Goosen, 2003). There are certain skills which a police officer needs to demonstrate. These skills include the ability to make decisions promptly and accurately; the ability to favourably interact with the community and to observe, retain and recall detailed information. However, these skills are affected when the police officer experiences feelings of stress and burnout (Goodman, 1990). One factor that might help police officers with these skills is emotional intelligence (Levert, Lucas & Ortlepp, 2000; Mayer & Salovey, 1997). Given the nature of policing, the potential benefit to the SAPS employing a police officer with high emotional intelligence to deal with burnout, would be the desired attribute. A simple random sample of N=108 police constables participated in this study. The Emotional Quotient-Inventory (EQ-i) and the Burnout Measure (BM) were administered. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 15.0. Cronbach reliability estimates for the EQ-i ranged from .87 to .90 and for the BM was .93. Positive and negative relationships were found between emotional intelligence dimensions: self-awareness (r=.-393, p>0.01), self-regulation (r=.-485, p>0.01), motivation (r=.-442, p>0.01), empathy (r=.-394, p>0.01) and social skills (r=.-383, p>0.01), [N=108] and police officers’ total burnout levels. The results indicated that the more self-aware, self-regulated, motivated, empathetic and socially inclined police officers were, the less likely police officers were to experience burnout. The results also indicated that the less self-aware, self-regulated, motivated, empathetic and socially inclined police officers were, they would be more likely to experience burnout. The exploratory factor analysis yielded a two factor structure for the individual on the emotional intelligence dimensions namely, self-awareness and empathy. A single factor was found for the manager consisting of the original five dimensions of the EQ-i. There was a moderate to strong negative correlation between total self-awareness (r=.-206), self-regulation (r=.-263), motivation (r=.-299), empathy (r=.-268) and social skills (r=.-311), [N=108, p>0.01] and police officers’ total burnout levels. This finding suggests that the more police officers viewed their manager to be self-aware, self-regulated, motivated, empathetic and socially inclined, the less likely they were to experience burn-out. The results of the multiple regression analysis show that police officers’ self-regulation appeared to be the only significant reliable predictor of burnout. The findings of this study provide an important contribution to expanding the body of literature and knowledge concerned with the emotionally intelligent constable which influences their burnout levels / South Africa

Women constitute a minority in most military organizations, and previous research indicates that women face several barriers that affect both their careers and well-being in the organization. In the Swedish Armed Forces women were admitted to all services and branches with the same rights as men in 1989, but despite that there are now only 7 % female officers, and 17 % women in total in the organization. This study aims to examine the reasons for the minority of women at the higher positions and whether this can be understood from the factors identified by previous research, which also constitute the theoretical framework used in this study. The study is conducted on the basis of interviews with 12 female soldiers and officers in the Swedish Armed Forces, where women's thoughts and experiences about their careers and situation in the organization were sought. The results of the study show that there are factors influenced by both the organization and by the individual themselves that affect women's careers. The factors according to the respondents that have the most impact are negative attitudes and treatment from men, the organization's culture and jargon, as well as difficulties in combining a family life with work in the defense sector, and lack of support and role models.