Understanding and preventing gun violence: A qualitative study. Gun violence causes significant harm across Australian communities. Excluding sexual assault, firearms feature in nearly one in 10 violent crimes. The annual costs of gun violence run into tens of millions of dollars. This project aims to make an original qualitative contribution to understanding and preventing gun violence in three contexts: drug dealing/trafficking, other organised crime activity, and armed robbery. The proposed r ....Understanding and preventing gun violence: A qualitative study. Gun violence causes significant harm across Australian communities. Excluding sexual assault, firearms feature in nearly one in 10 violent crimes. The annual costs of gun violence run into tens of millions of dollars. This project aims to make an original qualitative contribution to understanding and preventing gun violence in three contexts: drug dealing/trafficking, other organised crime activity, and armed robbery. The proposed research would be the first study nationally - and one of the very few internationally - to interview convicted gun crime users about the acquisition and use of firearms in criminal life. Project results are expected to have direct implications for reducing the impact of gun violence in Australia.Read moreRead less
Understanding and working with anger in male Indigenous people in prison settings. Anger has links to many important outcomes in the prison environment, including violent behaviour, institutional conflict and self-harm. The nature and consequences of anger have rarely been investigated for imprisoned offenders and little is known about anger in male Indigenous Australians in prison, despite evidence that anger levels in this group are particularly high. This research will explore constitutive, ....Understanding and working with anger in male Indigenous people in prison settings. Anger has links to many important outcomes in the prison environment, including violent behaviour, institutional conflict and self-harm. The nature and consequences of anger have rarely been investigated for imprisoned offenders and little is known about anger in male Indigenous Australians in prison, despite evidence that anger levels in this group are particularly high. This research will explore constitutive, regulatory, procedural and other aspects of anger with male Indigenous prisoners, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, leading to the development of an intervention that will improve both the wellbeing and adjustment of Indigenous men in prison and rehabilitation outcomes.Read moreRead less
A Future Beyond the Wall: Improving Post-release Employment Outcomes for People Leaving Prison. Engaging in meaningful work has been shown to reduce re-offending by ex-prisoners, but few prison releasees internationally or in Australia gain employment, and successful pathways to employment for this group are poorly researched and understood. This study aims to gather and analyse, for the first time, comparative data from Australian jurisdictions and employment agencies on the relationship betwee ....A Future Beyond the Wall: Improving Post-release Employment Outcomes for People Leaving Prison. Engaging in meaningful work has been shown to reduce re-offending by ex-prisoners, but few prison releasees internationally or in Australia gain employment, and successful pathways to employment for this group are poorly researched and understood. This study aims to gather and analyse, for the first time, comparative data from Australian jurisdictions and employment agencies on the relationship between in-prison and post-prison vocational education and employment programs, employment and recidivism. It aims to identify effective elements, strategies, program and policy directions in offender training and employment. This is a unique partnership amongst key academics in the field, peak national bodies, correctional and employment organisations.Read moreRead less
A Comparative Analysis of Reparation Schemes for the Gross Violation of Human Rights and Their Applicability to Australian Indigenous Peoples. Reparation schemes for the victims of gross violation of human rights have developed significantly over the last 25 years in various jurisdictions across the world. In Australia there has been a call for reparations for Aboriginal victims of forcible removal from their families (the Stolen Generations). The research aims to (a) analyse the international e ....A Comparative Analysis of Reparation Schemes for the Gross Violation of Human Rights and Their Applicability to Australian Indigenous Peoples. Reparation schemes for the victims of gross violation of human rights have developed significantly over the last 25 years in various jurisdictions across the world. In Australia there has been a call for reparations for Aboriginal victims of forcible removal from their families (the Stolen Generations). The research aims to (a) analyse the international experience of reparations along specific criteria; (b) determine the effectiveness of various approaches and the applicability of various models to the Australian context; (c) determine other practices, policies or events in relation to Australian Indigenous people which might give rise to reparations.Read moreRead less
Policing Australian Popular Music. This project will be the first comprehensive study of the relationship between policing and popular music in Australia. An interdisciplinary approach brings together criminology, music, history, social work, cultural, and music education research to investigate the processes by which certain forms of popular music and affiliated communities have been criminalised, and the ways musicians and musical communities have voiced resistance to police and state power. T ....Policing Australian Popular Music. This project will be the first comprehensive study of the relationship between policing and popular music in Australia. An interdisciplinary approach brings together criminology, music, history, social work, cultural, and music education research to investigate the processes by which certain forms of popular music and affiliated communities have been criminalised, and the ways musicians and musical communities have voiced resistance to police and state power. Through innovative interview and arts-practice based methodologies, the project will generate new knowledge on the historic and contemporary relations between state governance and creative cultural expression to inform policy and practice in policing as well as cultural investments. Read moreRead less
Targeting early contact with the criminal justice system in young people. This project aims to identify who and why young people first come in contact with the criminal justice system and what determines the early course of contact. The project will focus on first police contact, as a victim, witness or offender, as a means of identifying young people at-risk of adverse life outcomes. It intends to build on the NSW Child Development Study, a large population-based intergenerational cohort, to de ....Targeting early contact with the criminal justice system in young people. This project aims to identify who and why young people first come in contact with the criminal justice system and what determines the early course of contact. The project will focus on first police contact, as a victim, witness or offender, as a means of identifying young people at-risk of adverse life outcomes. It intends to build on the NSW Child Development Study, a large population-based intergenerational cohort, to develop services and interventions aimed at preventing young people from becoming enmeshed in the criminal justice system.Read moreRead less
Analysing interactions within the criminal deportation system. This project aims to investigate the convergence of migration control and criminal justice by analysing pathways to criminal deportation. The project expects to generate new criminological understandings of deportation as a means of promoting community safety using interdisciplinary approaches that capture regional and metropolitan practice. Expected outcomes include knowledge of how information flows between migration control and cr ....Analysing interactions within the criminal deportation system. This project aims to investigate the convergence of migration control and criminal justice by analysing pathways to criminal deportation. The project expects to generate new criminological understandings of deportation as a means of promoting community safety using interdisciplinary approaches that capture regional and metropolitan practice. Expected outcomes include knowledge of how information flows between migration control and criminal justice agencies, and the implications for policing, courts, and prison administration. This should provide significant benefits for policy-makers and practitioners, by articulating emerging and unexplored practices that have major consequences for community safety, social cohesion and the rule-of-law.Read moreRead less
The role of cultural factors in the sentencing of Indigenous sex offenders in the Northern Territory. This is a study of the impact of extra-legal factors about sexuality and Indigenous culture on the sentencing of Indigenous sex offenders in the Northern Territory. It will provide an empirical basis for future policy, legal practice and law reform relating to sentencing in sexual assault cases in the Northern Territory, with broader application to other Australian jurisdictions.
Safeguarding Rural Australia: Addressing violence in rural settings. The project will produce outcomes that address the national priority of safeguarding Australia and are of benefit to srengthtening the social fabric of rural communities experiencing high rates of violence. Little is known about why men in rural communities have higher rates of preventable injury, morbidity and mortality associated with violence compared to men from urban areas. Even less is known about the differences between ....Safeguarding Rural Australia: Addressing violence in rural settings. The project will produce outcomes that address the national priority of safeguarding Australia and are of benefit to srengthtening the social fabric of rural communities experiencing high rates of violence. Little is known about why men in rural communities have higher rates of preventable injury, morbidity and mortality associated with violence compared to men from urban areas. Even less is known about the differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous men. The project will shed new light on these problems and develop new models for the prevention and control of violence in rural settings of benefit to a wide range of end users in government and community agencies.Read moreRead less
Violence and disengagement from violence in young men's lives . This project will study the significance of victimisation, perpetration and the watching of violence and images of violence, among young Australian men. It will explore the underlying links with masculine identity and have practical applications for developing an understanding of the unknown aspects of disengagement from involvements in violence.