In Britain, there have been growing concerns over the increasing female prison population and treatment of girls and women by the criminal justice system (see Carlen and Worrall, 2004; Hedderman, 2004; Batchelor, 2005; Hutson and Myers, 2006; Sharpe, 2009). In particular, there has been a rising female prison population in Scotland which has been associated with greater punitive controls over the behaviour of women (McIvor and Burman, 2011). The British press have depicted a social problem of certain young women becoming more violent and have attributed this to women’s liberation, particularly in the night time economy (MacAskill and Goodwin, 2004; Gray, 2006; Evening News, 2008). These concerns have attracted widespread media and political attention leading to a steady growth in academic research exploring the apparent rise of violent young women (Burman et al., 2003; Burman, 2004b; Batchelor, 2005). Despite this, there are relatively few studies that examine responses to young women with an emphasis on violent offences. Furthermore, there is a lack of research that has examined the role police officers have played in the control and depiction of young women’s violence. This research investigates the perceptions of and responses to young women depicted as violent from police officers in Scotland. Thirty three qualitative interviews were carried out with front line police officers in 2008 to investigate social control mechanisms employed to regulate the behaviour of young women. The research utilised feminist perspectives to develop an understanding of how young women deemed as violent face formal and informal mechanisms of social control from police officers. The study challenges the apparent increase in violence among young women and instead argues that institutional controls have contributed to young women being labelled as violent. Changes in police practices and zero tolerance approaches towards violence have resulted in a net widening effect that has impacted on the number of young women (and men) being brought to the attention of the police for violent offences. It is argued that this mechanism of institutional control could be a contributing factor towards the rise in the number of young women being charged for violent offences. Police discretion on the basis of gender did have an influence on arrest practices for some of the officers, but there was insufficient evidence to suggest the police officers responded any harsher or more lenient towards women. However, what was apparent was that police officers believed women needed to be ‘controlled’; they perceived them as more unmanageable than men and this defiance towards authority resulted in women being arrested. Women depicted as violent remain to be categorised on the basis of socially constructed gender norms and it is argued that this mechanism of discursive control continues to locate violence within the realm of masculinity. In conclusion, women who are depicted as violent are portrayed as unfeminine and in need of greater social control which is exercised through both formal and informal measures by police officers.

While the Europeans were discussing integration, other nations experienced long conflicts over borders. In some of the latter contexts, the significance of borders was underscored by escalated border policing through the erection of barriers. Although barrier construction is not a new phenomenon, an increasing number of nation-states are launching barrier projects along their borders. While in all cases the concerned nation-states claimed these barriers were provided security, scant attention was given to the actual security outcomes of these constructions. This research provides answers to the questions: what accounts for the different security outcomes of border barriers? How can barriers differ? And why? How does variation in barriers affect the nature and number of non-state actors' attacks? When do violent groups have tactical shifts and tactical innovations in the context of a barrier? This work moves beyond the conventional perspective on barriers that see them as successful defensive security measures. Instead, it develops the Fortification-Cooperation model that explains why the level of cross-border militant attacks change, when violent groups shift their tactics and when they innovate. I argue that security cooperation on both sides the border limits violent activities locally, which in turn restricts their access to militant resources. Presence of these resources is central for launching more attacks and for introducing tactical innovations. In turn, barriers impose restrictions to movement and increase the cost of certain attack. In this context, motivated violent groups substitute their commonly employed attack tactics for other types of attacks that can be sustained despite the presence of the barrier. Using a newly constructed qualitative and quantitative datasets on Palestinian attacks against Israel and barrier construction between 1990 and 2010, this study finds that the empirical record does not provide support the existing common explanations about the outcomes of barriers and that the interaction of cross-border cooperation and fortification is a key determinant of the number and nature of cross-border militant attacks. This work has significant implications for many states that built, are building, or are considering the construction of barriers on their borders since according to this research, a barrier without cross-border security cooperation would not be efficient at diminishing or decreasing cross-border violence. Additionally, violent groups' access to military resources is an important factor that should be taken into consideration when a barrier is built. Again, cross-border cooperation plays an essential role in restricting these resources, which would lead to less violence. In fact, in some cases, cooperation alone may result in similar outcomes to the combination of fortification and cooperation, which raises questions about the utility of barriers to begin with. / text

Smurtas pasireiškia be išimties visose gyvenimo srityse, kaip ir visose valstybėse. Kokios jos bebūtų – pažengusios ar atsilikusios sutinkamas smurtas. Todėl smurtas neišsprendžiama problema, kurios neįmanoma pašalinti. Galima tik atskiriems smurto pasireiškimams užbėgti už akių ar iškilusį konfliktą, vedantį į smurto protrūkį, išspręsti taikiai. Antai smurto paplitimą pasaulyje gali sumažinti vystomas bendradarbiavimas tarp valstybių, tautų ir religijų. Pasaulis siekia žengti tokiu, bendradarbiavimo ir solidarumo keliu. Tačiau ne visos valstybės sutaria, ne visus iškilusius prieštaravimus jos sprendžia prie derybų stalo. Pasaulis be karų- kol kas tik ateities vizija. Karo židinį nuslopinus vienur, jis įsiliepsnoja kitur. Smurtas yra nuolatinis bendruomeninio gyvenimo palydovas. Kaip ir kokiu būdu smurtauja žmonės ir jų grupės, rodo valstybėje nusikalstamumo statistikos. Masinė komunikacija tokią statistiką savaip iliustruoja: motina nužudė savo sūnus, keturiolikmetis peiliu nudūrė aštuoniolikmetį, paauglės suluošino savo bendraklasę ir t.t. Ir vis tik įvairios smurto formos tarp vaikų labiau paplitusios paauglystės metais. Tarpusavyje bendraudami, paaugliai dažnai susiginčija. Tokios nesantaikos baigtis- kivirčas. Kivirčo metu paleidžiami į apyvartą žodžiai, keiksmažodžiai, pravardės, kumščiai, po ranka pakliuvę daiktai ir t.t. kivirčo pasekmės savo ruožtu įvairios. Vienos iš jų lengvos, kurios greitai užmirštamos, o kitos kai juos lydi kūno sužalojimai, sunkio... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / There are lots of things researched and described about violence of teenagers. But effective models of practice with violent children are still missing in social work. Accordingly there is wide spread of this problem, which persists in our society and has a spread tendency, which sort of reminds epidemic. There are some uncertainty about the respond of the theory. Practical stride are not effective also. The problem of research – to decrease increasing violence among teenagers in upbringing reality, using more effective model of social work. The aim of the research – according the base of the research prepare more effective preventive activity model of social work with violent teenagers. The tasks of the research : 1. To exercise analytical and comparative analysis of nonfiction. 2. To dispute about the applicable models of social work with violent teenagers, to make a criticism analysis and suppose their forward perfection. 3. To make empirical research, to traverse the results of experiment, and summarize it on side of perspective social work with violent teenagers. 4. To report more effective model of social work with violent teenagers. After accomplishment of master work theoretical and empirical research, may maintain that: After analysis of nonfiction, clarifies, that the problem of violence is a topical, and cares about and looking for ways and means of decrease the spread of the violence, and perfection of preventive work. After analysis of theoretical models of... [to full text]

The Interactive and Discursive View of Violence and Resistance proposes the existence of four-discursive-operations that “(i) conceal violence, (ii) mitigate perpetrators’ responsibility, (iii) conceal victims’ resistance, and (iv) blame or pathologize victims” (Coates & Wade, 2004, p.500). These linguistic operations produce incorrect representations of violence that ignore the unilateral nature of acts of violence and, instead focus on pathologizing victims (Coates & Wade, 2004). Examining how violence, victims, perpetrators, and responsibility for the violence are represented in therapy transcripts in which the presenting issue is violence, will allow us to see if linguistic strategies that are used to discredit victims in everyday talk are also used in therapy by therapists. Analysis of 19 therapy transcripts found that the four-discursive-operations were used in each of the transcripts and that therapists often initiated the use of these inaccurate representations or encouraged the perpetrator’s use of four-discursive-operations. / xii, 228 leaves ; 29 cm.

This work provides a statistical analysis and interpretation of homicide rates and patterns in South Africa for the years 1948 to 2003. Complied from data accessed from the South African Police Services, Mortuary Reports, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Non Government Organisations the patterns of homicide according to race, gender and age are analysed. This thesis proposes that the anomic condition of South African society is a key contributor to the creation and maintenance of the high levels of homicide found in this society. The normalisation of inter-personal violence through the collective conscious of communities and individuals has resulted in the growth of homicide and its continued high levels ten years after the end of Apartheid. This hypothesis is further supported through a survey conducted upon teenage subjects in Kwa-Zulu Natal province of their attitudes towards the use of violence. This work demonstrated strong positive support for interpersonal violence by members of the police and state. The survey also showed significant racial and gender differences in attitudes. The anomic conditions that continue to be present in South Africa will contribute to the weakness of the criminal justice system, and the willingness of individuals and communities to use their own resources to combat crime rather than rely upon the state and its agents for protection. The result being a continued high level of violence and a weak criminal justice system. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

Much recent UK gang research has failed to adequately answer: do gangs exist and if so, are they organised? internal gang dynamics, criminal behaviours and motivations for joining remain largely unexplored; as does the upsurge in violent crime in gang-affected areas of south London. This research set out to answer these questions by investigating gangs in Lambeth, their activities and the daily experiences of those affiliated to them. The study begins by profiling the case study area, currently prevalent street gangs and links to violent crime. The investigation then examines in detail inter-gang and intragang dynamics and community relationships. A further objective is to establish whether, and if so to what extent, gangs were expanding and becoming more deeply embedded in the neighbourhood. This work situates contemporary UK gang research within the literary arc of classic and contemporary US gang research, from Chicago School to Hagedorn. Current UK studies are categorised into three distinct arguments, then critiqued from a Left Realist perspective. Addressing the question, how do we explain an increase in gang related violence?, the work establishes the gang as a social arena (field) of competition where actors struggle for distinction. But what are the characteristics and boundaries of this social -Field? What motivates young people to enter it, and how do you succeed within it? How significant are personal relationships and networks? What is the role of social capital and how do you become a competent actor in this field? These issues are explored using the theoretical perspectives of social field analysis and habitus from Bourdieu alongside various elements of social capital theory. An inductive ethnometholdogy was adopted. The paper presents findings from 30 qualitative interviews of residents, professionals and gang -affiliated young people in Lambeth. The ethical challenges of gang research, such as access and anonymity are addressed. The findings support the proposition that gangs in south London exist, are active and internally organised into three structural tiers. Success within the field is determined by building and maintaining Street Capital -a tradable asset. To acquire this, members strategise by employing tested techniques from the Gang Repertoire, derived from the habitus. Youngers and Olders employ different Repertoires. All actors within the social field are subject to sanctions with new arrivals at increased risk. The field is highly gendered and girls are central to the gang strategising using information and the gang Network. Importantly the findings support the argument that gangs in Lambeth are evolving and becoming more embedded. Increased gang related violence is an outcome of new dynamics in social field, including the imperative to acquire Street Capital and the role of new technology. Increased tensions and violence have cumulative stressful impacts for young people. To address this, they increasingly risk manage their lives through self exclusion or a fatalistic immersion in the social field.

The present study was archival in nature and examined risk for recidivism, treatment-related changes in risk, protection against recidivism, treatment-related changes in protection, the relationship between risk and protective factors, and the prediction of positive community outcomes. A select set of risk- and protective-factor measures were used, including the Violence Risk Scale (VRS), the Historical Clinical Risk Management scheme-20 (HCR-20 version 2), the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors (SAPROF), and the PF List (an operationalized list of protective factors developed by the investigators). Participants included 178 federally incarcerated adult male violent offenders who participated in the Aggressive Behaviour Control treatment program at the Regional Psychiatric Centre (Saskatoon, SK) between 1998 and 2003. Participants were followed for an average of 9.7 years (SD 2.6) to assess community recidivism. Approximately 60% had at least one new violent conviction, 60% had at least one new nonsexual violent conviction, and 79% had at least one new conviction (i.e., any reconviction). Additionally, participants were followed for an average of 30.7 months (SD = 40.3) to assess institutional recidivism. Approximately 31% had at least one post-treatment major misconduct, 51% had at least one post-treatment minor misconduct, 12% had at least one post-treatment violent misconduct, and 56% had at least one post-treatment misconduct (i.e., any misconduct). Correlations between the risk measures scores support their convergent validity. Both the VRS and HCR-20 predicted all violent, nonsexual violent, and any recidivism. Dynamic variables on these tools generally added uniquely to the prediction of community recidivism over static variables. A similar but weaker pattern of results was observed for institutional recidivism. Additionally, treatment-related change scores on the risk measures added uniquely to the prediction of most recidivism outcomes, supporting the dynamism of these tools and the hypothesis that treatment-related changes translate to actual reductions in recidivism rates. Correlations between the protection measures’ scores support their convergent validity. The protective factor tools, the SAPROF and PF List, similarly predicted community recidivism and, to a lesser degree, institutional recidivism. Dynamism of the protective factor tools was supported and change scores on these tools added incrementally to the prediction of recidivism outcomes. Large correlations were observed between the risk and protection scores, suggesting that part of the predictive accuracy of the protection measures may relate to measuring the absence of risk rather than the presence of protection. Alternative hypotheses are discussed. Protection scores did not add incrementally to the prediction of recidivism over their respective risk scores. Risk, protection, and change scores were significant predictors of most positive community outcomes. Protection scores and risk change scores added incrementally to the prediction of positive community outcomes over their respective risk scores. As such, it appears that treatment-related changes may also represent increases in other positive community outcomes (beyond reduced reoffending) and that protection factors may have important benefits in risk assessment and treatment planning when other positive community outcomes are considered. Strengths, limitations, and implications are discussed.

This thesis is a study of dominant forms of Pākehā banal nationalism within Aotearoa/New Zealand. A diverse range of contemporary non-fiction texts from Aotearoa/ New Zealand are analysed in order to explore the ways in which notions of a ‘New Zealand national identity’ are created. These texts include television programmes, advertisements, opinion columns, editorials and letters to the editor. The analysis of these texts reveals a complex circulation of ideas around innocence and guilt, history and nostalgia, childhood and good motherhood/bad motherhood. These ideas, as this thesis demonstrates, are central to the functioning of nationalism. Yet they also serve as a focus for the anxieties of nationalism: anxieties which arise from the impossibility of securing the desired nation. Drawing on Freudian psychoanalytic concepts such as repression and projection, and on Kristeva’s notion of abjection, this thesis examines the way in which attempts to secure a comfortable, homelike nation are forever undermined by the return of repressed elements of the nation’s past and present. Within Pākehā nationalism, a nostalgic vision of a unified, innocent, childlike nation is used as a defence against undesired knowledge of national disunity. National discomforts, which are generated by the impossibility of repressing the nation’s history, are projected onto those assigned an abject position in the nation. As a result of this process of projection, mediated by the association of national identity with childhood and home, the fantasised figure of the ‘bad Maori mother’ emerges as the ultimate uncanny element within the nation.

Research shows that women are at higher risk for being victimized simply because of their gender. Women with mental illness living independently are especially vulnerable, since they underreport victimization and underutilize available resources. This study evaluated the benefits of educating women with mental illness about safety and violence. Twenty women utilizing outpatient services at two community mental health centers participated in one of two 12-week groups: 15 received an educational curriculum and 5 a control condition. Outcomes were assessed using pretest and posttest measures of quality of daily life, self-esteem and perceived control over life events, awareness of available resources to them as women, awareness of violence, attitudes about safety, and confidence in abilities to protect themselves. The greatest improvement was in the curriculum women's awareness of resources. Intra-group variability, a small sample size, and other unexpected complications precluded a definitive evaluation of the curriculum, but overall results suggest further research in this area would be beneficial. / Department of Psychological Science

Interpersonal violence and abuse in New Zealand is so widespread it is considered a normative experience. Mental health nurses witnessing the inscribed effects of abuse on service users are lead to consider whether we are dealing with a breakdown of the mind or a breakdown in social or cultural connection (Stuhlmiller, 2003). The purpose of this research is to examine the cultural context which makes violence and abuse against women and children possible. In 2003, the public debate on prostitution law reform promised to open a space in which discourses on sexuality and violence, practices usually private or hidden, would publicly emerge. Everyday discourses relating to prostitution law reform reported in the New Zealand Herald newspaper in the year 2003 were analysed using Foucauldian and feminist post-structural methodological approaches. Foucauldian discourse analysis emphasises the ways in which power is enmeshed in discourse, enabling power relations and hegemonic practices to be made visible. The research aims were to develop a complex, comprehensive analysis of the media discourses, to examine the construction of harm in the media debate, to examine the ways in which the cultural hegemony of dominant groups was secured and contested and to consider the role of mental health nurses as agents of emancipatory political change. Mental health promotion is mainly a socio-political practice and the findings suggest that mental health nurses could reconsider their professional role, to participate politically as social activists, challenging the social order thereby reducing the human suffering which interpersonal violence and abuse carries in its wake.