It is June 2001, in a small church in deepest Arkansas. ‘Brother John’ is speaking at a youth service. The text he has chosen: Judges 19. ‘This is the story of a woman who left her husband. She disrespected authority and leaders. She got what she deserved. This is what will happen to you if you disobey your leaders.’ This is by far the worst sermon I have ever heard, and it started my journey with Judges 19-21. It is the only time I have ever heard this text referred to in public worship. There was nothing in my Christian journey until then that could have given me the skills to deal with that text, or that sermon. At the same time, it is a text that burrowed its way into my consciousness, because I have consistently worked with women (and men) who have experienced sexual abuse over the years. How can they read this text? Why is it there? In what sense can it be Scripture? While the text has been used oppressively, can it be read differently, and redeemed from oppressive interpretations? Has it got anything to offer, beyond a reading in memoriam?

The current study assessed features associated with drink spiking, or the adding of a substance to another person's drink without the consumer's knowledge or consent. A sample of 805 Australians, aged 18-35 years, completed a survey designed to measure the occurrence and predictors of the perpetration and victimisation of drink spiking. Almost half of the sample reported at least one experience of purchasing or mixing cocktails for others (49% and 45%, respectively), while smaller proportions reported adding alcohol to punch (26%) and adding alcoholic shots to alcoholic beverages belonging to other people (16%). A number of participants also reported previous experience of adding alcoholic shots to non-alcoholic beverages (6%), adding prescription or illicit substances to alcoholic beverages (1%), adding substances to non-alcoholic beverages (1%), and adding substances to punch (1%). Purchasing or mixing cocktails for others, adding alcohol to punch, or adding alcoholic shots to alcoholic beverages were predicted by beliefs that deliberately causing intoxication in others is acceptable and that alcohol consumption by others is indicative of their sexual attraction to participants. Engagement in these behaviours was also predicted by participants' illicit substance use and participation in casual sexual activity. Adding prescription or illicit substances to other people's beverages, or adding alcoholic shots to non-alcoholic beverages, were predicted by the belief that alcohol consumption increases one's confidence and sexual responsiveness, and by participants' use of narcotics and sedatives. Perpetrators were predominantly motivated by a wish to have fun or to increase the likelihood of engaging in consensual sexual activity. With regard to victimisation of drink spiking, 26% of the sample reported at least one victimisation. The majority of incidents occurred in licensed venues, after the participant had engaged in such low supervisory behaviours as leaving their drink unattended or accepting a drink without observing its preparation. Most participants established a belief that they had been spiked after experiencing a degree of intoxication that was beyond their expected level (based on the amount of alcohol consumption), or after experiencing such physiological symptoms as vomiting, hallucinations, lack of coordination, or unconsciousness. Despite such experiences, 85% of victims did not report the incident to authorities. Victimisation in general was predicted by participants' use of stimulant and hallucinogenic substances. Female victimisation was predicted by previous episodes of victimisation of oral sexual assault. Victimisation was not affected by participants' degree of supervision of their drinks. These findings provided empirical evidence that drink spiking is committed primarily for the purposes of creating a fun, entertaining situation. However, it was also apparent that drink spiking is perpetrated in an attempt to encourage participation in consensual sexual activity; this was particularly the case in incidents involving the addition of substances, as opposed to alcohol, to beverages belonging to others. Conclusions regarding the motivations held by perpetrators of drink spiking and the post-spiking experiences of victims informed the provision of recommendations for intervention for victims and prevention programs aimed at reducing the incidence of victimisation in the future.

Magister Legum - LLM

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Ce mémoire a pour objectif d’établir la relation longitudinale entre les troubles extériorisés identifiés durant l’enfance et le développement ultérieur de troubles intériorisés. Plus spécifiquement, les effets de la victimisation par les pairs et des problèmes académiques dans cette relation seront explorés, ainsi que les différences entre les garçons et les filles. L’étude s’est déroulée pendant 3 ans, auprès de 472 enfants âgés initialement de 6 à 9 ans. Les analyses de régressions linéaires hiérarchiques et les modèles de médiations ont indiqué que la victimisation par les pairs avait un effet médiateur dans la relation longitudinale entre les troubles extériorisés et intériorisés, selon le parent seulement. Les problèmes académiques, quant à eux, avaient un effet médiateur dans la relation successive entre les deux troubles, mais selon l’enseignant seulement. Des différences ont également pu être observées entre les genres. La victimisation par les pairs avait un effet médiateur pour les filles, mais pas pour les garçons, selon le parent. Tandis que les problèmes académiques avaient un effet médiateur chez les garçons et chez les filles, selon l’enseignant. La médiation via les problèmes académiques était toutefois plus forte chez les garçons.

Magister Legum - LLM / The South African apartheid regime brought about many injustices. These injustices were mostly directed at people of colour, women and people with disabilities. People with disabilities were neglected, discriminated against and largely marginalised.1 A person is considered as having a disability in terms of the Code of Good Practice on the Key Aspects on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities,2 if they have a physical or mental impairment, which is a long term or recurring impairment and which significantly limits their prospects of entry into or any advancement within the workplace.

This study aims to investigate and directorially apply Antonin Artaud's concept of The Absolute in order to destabilise the victim/perpetrator binary between the characters Beth and Jake in Sam Shepard's play text, A lie of the mind (1986). Previous theoretical analyses of Beth and Jake in A lie of the mind frame them as victims of their circumstances and as victims and perpetrators of violence (Bottoms 1998:16). I will explore the violent relationship between them in the context of the victim/perpetrator binary set up in the original play and re-imagine this binary by creating a radical reinterpretation of the relationship between the characters in a theatre production titled ? (2015). I argue that a directorial treatment of The Absolute assists in destabilising the victim/perpetrator binary present in Beth and Jake's relationship. To reinterpret Beth and Jake's relationship, I explore René Girard's notions of violence, victimisation, and scapegoating, as well as the Artaudian notions of Cruelty, The Absolute, and the Theatre of Cruelty. I apply the Girardian concepts and vocabulary to a reading of the relationship between Beth and Jake. I also discuss the ways in which Artaud and Girard conceptually relate to one another. I then provide a practical exploration within the framework of the Theatre of Cruelty by creating an original production, ? (2015), in which The Absolute facilitates the destabilisation of the victim/perpetrator binary that exists between Beth and Jake. In ? (2015), the relationship between Beth and Jake is reconceptualised and reinterpreted through taking cognisance of the Artaudian-Girardian framework. This dissertation concludes that Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty and the notion of The Absolute are able to destabilise the victim/perpetrator binary between Beth and Jake by replacing sexual desire in their relationship with transcendental love, and reconstructing and reimagining their relationship accordingly. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Drama / MA / Unrestricted

No / The ubiquity of the ICT and the Internet has made them integral to our daily lives in the past two decades, bringing numerous benefits and the risks of victimisation from various cybercrimes, including cyber harassment and cyberstalking. Stalking is generally understood as unwanted or unsolicited persistent and continuous following, pursuing, contacting, spying, harassing, threatening the victim, and causing fear and apprehension. Unfortunately, given the seriousness of cyberstalking and its severe and traumatic impacts on the victims, the existence of the law and any legal protection for victims remains elusive and vague in the Malaysian legal landscape for decades until August this year.

Yes / The Internet has become a vital part of our daily lives in the last two decades. However, as a double-edged sword, such reliance has increased the chance of being targeted by various cybercrimes, including cyberstalking. Furthermore, when the crime transcends into the real world, it can result in rape and even murder. Hence, the MYStalk Alert application aims at helping and facilitating the victims of stalking and victims of harassment generally to understand, cope, and document their experience on the crime for a compelling trail of evidence in the criminal justice process. This Application aims to remedy the circumstances by giving access to users to the features that make it easy to document the evidence and provides them with available information on the crime and the legal landscape of stalking in Malaysia. Furthermore, MYStalk Alert also focused on the user’s physical and psychological by providing self-assessment and tips for the wellbeing including mental health test under the feature of victims’ support. The Application is a first of its kind in Malaysia and aims to support victims of stalking in getting the justice they deserved. The preliminary findings revealed contradictory views on the effective response of the criminal justice system towards cyberstalking, which explains the under-reporting of such crime. Significantly, the findings illustrate that the current Malaysian legal framework on cyberstalking is deficient in protecting cyberstalking victims, which calls for an urgent need for a review in the Malaysian laws. / This work was supported by research grant FRGS/1/2019/SSI10/UITM/02/2 by the Research Management Centre, UiTM Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.

During the latest years, the phenomenon of violence against teachers has been a growing concern for contemporary schools all over the world (Bounds & Jenkins, 2018). Existing studies propose increasing prevalence estimates (McMahon et al., 2017) and various harmful consequences for victims and schools (Wilson et al., 2011; Huang et al., 2017). Yet, this phenomenon is still severely understudied. Therefore, this study attempts to address some of the existing literature gaps by providing in-depth qualitative information on educators’ thoughts and experiences on the subject. More specifically, this study aims to investigate the different forms and consequences of violence against teachers as well as the teachers’ perceptions about the factors that motivate students to engage in violent behaviours against them. Information relevant to the purpose of this study was comprehended through semi-structured interviews and analysed by using the method of conventional context analysis. Findings from the interviews suggested that violence against teachers is commonly experienced in both indirect (e.g. rumour spreading, property crime) and direct forms (e.g. verbal and physical violence), whereas consequences were found to impact teachers’ psychological wellbeing, their personal lives, the students and consequently several aspects of the school climate itself (e.g. teaching and learning experience). Additional findings suggested that students’ violent behaviour can be motivated by several factors who are either of personal nature to a student (e.g. receiving an unexpected grade) or a result of the preestablished student culture (e.g. normalisation of violence among peers and generalisation of behaviour). Directions for future research, policy implications and targeted interventions are considered in the context of these findings.