Ce travail de recherche analyse comment les autorités locales adaptent les outils mis à leur disposition pour apporter une réponse de proximité à la délinquance dans deux quartiers de Londres, Brixton et Woolwich (Common et Riverside). Il se concentre dans un premier temps sur la composition ethnique et sociale de ces deux quartiers peuplés de ‘communautés noires’ selon la terminologie anglaise (Partie I). Il examine aussi précisément que possible les différentes formes de délinquance et de criminalité qui sévissent à Brixton et Woolwich et l'implication possible des populations ‘noires’ (Partie II). Il se penche ensuite sur les outils dont disposent les pouvoirs publics (Partie II) afin de cerner comment les politiques nationales ou régionales sont appliquées au niveau local. Cette recherche traite principalement des années 2005-08, mais les troubles de l’été 2011, tout comme les premiers résultats du dernier recensement mené en Angleterre (2011), sont évoqués. Il apparaît que Brixton fait preuve d’un esprit d’initiative qui manque à Woolwich et qui s’explique en partie par l’histoire récente du quartier. / This research focuses on the safety policies regarding the black communities in Brixton and Woolwich (Woolwich Riverside and Woolwich Common wards) during the years 2005-08. It explores how the local authorities managed to adjust and adapt the national policies and laws to their own priorities and goals. First, the ethnicity and social background of the population in those two areas are studied (Part I). Then, it focuses on the different kinds of anti-social behaviour and criminality and determines how the black communities are involved, either as victims or perpetrators (Part II). What tools the local authorities have at their disposal, what kind of partnerships they establish to fight against anti-social behaviours, crime and violence are analysed in the last part of this work (Part III). This research is mainly focused on the years 2005-2008, but the riots in August 2011 as well as the last census results (2011) will be discussed. The local safety policies in Brixton prove to be more originals than in Woolwich, which can be partly explained by the recent history of the area.

With the increased use of online communication in our everyday lives, there is a growing need to understand social influence in such settings. The current research posits that online social norms can influence readers‟ anti-social and pro-social behaviours online, specifically individual expressions of prejudice. Participants read an online article proposing an increase to international student scholarship funding, then were randomly placed in one of two normative conditions where they read Anti-Prejudiced or Pro-Prejudiced comments allegedly placed by other users. Participants then left their own comments before completing a self-report prejudice questionnaire and an implicit association test (IAT). Social norms created by the fictitious comments influenced respondents to comment with more or less bigoted sentiments aligned with the fictitious social norm. Participants reading prejudiced online comments showed increased implicit and explicit prejudice, while those reading anti-prejudiced online comments showed the reverse. Participants‟ internal and external motivations to control prejudice were also measured and hypothesised to moderate the effects of social norms on bias expressions. However, this hypothesis was unsupported with participants‟ internal and external motivations to control prejudice inconsistently moderating the effects of the social norm on their prejudice expressions. These findings suggest possible avenues for social change in online environments, and criteria to help establish more positive online social norms.

This thesis follows a group of youths placed in secure unit care who have participated in a chain-of-care project aiming to better plan their discharge and aftercare. The overall aim of the thesis is to link a detailed description of these young people with an analysis of the project they participated in, and to undertake one- and two-year follow-up studies. Analytic focus is on the significance of gender, class and ethnicity. The study is mainly based on structured interviews performed at the secure units upon entry into care, discharge and at a one-year follow up. Data have also been used from criminal records and interviews with project staff. When entering care, these youths exhibited extensive problems in both family conditions and own behaviour. The major problem in boys was criminality while girls reported poor mental health. Professionals judge youth of foreign background as more criminal than youth of Swedish background despite a lack of difference in self-reported data. Some difference is also noticeable regarding class. Analysis of the project shows that out-of-home care was the most frequent intervention after leaving secure unit care, while other interventions were difficult to uphold over time. Few girls received help with their mental health problems. At the one-year follow up, the youths reported an overall better situation, although extensive problems still remained. Above all, girls’ mental health problems remained as before. At the 2-year follow up the study group was compared with a control group in order to investigate effects of the project regarding criminality and recommitment to secure unit care. The comparison shows that the project had no effect. This is discussed in relation to poor organization and the difficulty of adjusting a project like this to the target group, along with the substantial part played by gender, class and ethnicity in how the youth are construed and treated.

Past research suggests that social organisation in Australian rodent species is determined by the predictability of resources in the environment (Happold 1976a). Notomys alexis (the spinifex hopping mouse or tarrkawarra) is widely distributed throughout the Australian arid-zone (Breed 1998a; Watts & Aslin 1981). Large groups of animals have been found sharing burrows in the wild and laboratory observations suggest that the species is highly social (Happold 1976a; Stanley 1971). A closely related species, Notomys mitchelli (Mitchell’s hopping mouse or pankot) is relatively common throughout the southern semi-arid zone (Watts 1998a; Watts & Aslin 1981). Much less is known about N. mitchelli; field studies have been subject to low recapture rates and few laboratory studies have involved this species (Baverstock 1979; Cockburn 1981a; Crichton 1974). Following Happold (1976a), it was hypothesised that the socio-ecology of N. mitchelli will be qualitatively different to that of N. alexis. Studying wild populations of Notomys mitchelli in the Middleback Ranges, South Australia and N. alexis outside the desert township of Roxby Downs, S.A., this research aimed to describe the socio-ecology of these species, with reference to the predictability of their environments. Uniquely, bioclimatic modelling of the species’ known distributions was also conducted to confirm that the study’s underlying assumption that the two rodents inhabit essentially different environments was correct. These studies were complemented by the observation of captive groups of N. alexis. This work confirmed that the habitats of Notomys mitchelli and N. alexis are distinct; the more arid habitat of N. alexis is subject to greater environmental fluctuations than that of the semi-arid dwelling N. mitchelli. Contrary to expectations, however, observation of free-living animals characterised N. mitchelli social groups as highly unstable; while particular individuals remained in the population for long periods, many animals appeared to be transients. Further, burrow groups appeared to be much smaller than predicted by Happold (1976a), and based on loose aggregations of male animals rather than small groups of females. While decidedly social in the laboratory, free-living N. alexis lived in groups no bigger than N. mitchelli and these groups were equally ephemeral in constitution. Moreover, free-living N. alexis appeared to utilise activity areas that were no larger than those used by N. mitchelli, despite occupying a more unpredictable and apparently less well-resourced habitat. As a whole, this research represents a comprehensive examination of the principal behavioural theory commonly applied to Australian native rodent species, untested since its publication three decades ago. From the data collected during this work, it cannot be said that the environmental predictability hypothesis for native rodent social organisations as proposed by Happold (1976a) is adequate to differentiate the social behaviour of these semi-arid and arid-dwelling species. Instead, it is suggested that, while both N. mitchelli and N. alexis are undoubtedly socially tolerant, predation and/or parasite load, driving burrowing behaviour, has a greater influence on the social behaviour of free-living rodent populations than habitat predictability. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1373743 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 2009

Past research suggests that social organisation in Australian rodent species is determined by the predictability of resources in the environment (Happold 1976a). Notomys alexis (the spinifex hopping mouse or tarrkawarra) is widely distributed throughout the Australian arid-zone (Breed 1998a; Watts & Aslin 1981). Large groups of animals have been found sharing burrows in the wild and laboratory observations suggest that the species is highly social (Happold 1976a; Stanley 1971). A closely related species, Notomys mitchelli (Mitchell’s hopping mouse or pankot) is relatively common throughout the southern semi-arid zone (Watts 1998a; Watts & Aslin 1981). Much less is known about N. mitchelli; field studies have been subject to low recapture rates and few laboratory studies have involved this species (Baverstock 1979; Cockburn 1981a; Crichton 1974). Following Happold (1976a), it was hypothesised that the socio-ecology of N. mitchelli will be qualitatively different to that of N. alexis. Studying wild populations of Notomys mitchelli in the Middleback Ranges, South Australia and N. alexis outside the desert township of Roxby Downs, S.A., this research aimed to describe the socio-ecology of these species, with reference to the predictability of their environments. Uniquely, bioclimatic modelling of the species’ known distributions was also conducted to confirm that the study’s underlying assumption that the two rodents inhabit essentially different environments was correct. These studies were complemented by the observation of captive groups of N. alexis. This work confirmed that the habitats of Notomys mitchelli and N. alexis are distinct; the more arid habitat of N. alexis is subject to greater environmental fluctuations than that of the semi-arid dwelling N. mitchelli. Contrary to expectations, however, observation of free-living animals characterised N. mitchelli social groups as highly unstable; while particular individuals remained in the population for long periods, many animals appeared to be transients. Further, burrow groups appeared to be much smaller than predicted by Happold (1976a), and based on loose aggregations of male animals rather than small groups of females. While decidedly social in the laboratory, free-living N. alexis lived in groups no bigger than N. mitchelli and these groups were equally ephemeral in constitution. Moreover, free-living N. alexis appeared to utilise activity areas that were no larger than those used by N. mitchelli, despite occupying a more unpredictable and apparently less well-resourced habitat. As a whole, this research represents a comprehensive examination of the principal behavioural theory commonly applied to Australian native rodent species, untested since its publication three decades ago. From the data collected during this work, it cannot be said that the environmental predictability hypothesis for native rodent social organisations as proposed by Happold (1976a) is adequate to differentiate the social behaviour of these semi-arid and arid-dwelling species. Instead, it is suggested that, while both N. mitchelli and N. alexis are undoubtedly socially tolerant, predation and/or parasite load, driving burrowing behaviour, has a greater influence on the social behaviour of free-living rodent populations than habitat predictability. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1373743 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 2009

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