Understanding and responding to online child sexual exploitation offenders. The development of online communication technologies has facilitated a growth in online child sexual exploitation over the past two decades. Using a data-linkage framework, this project aims to enhance understanding of online child sexual exploitation, the legal frameworks surrounding this issue, and the unique characteristics, risks and needs of online sexual offenders. Expected outcomes include increased knowledge to i ....Understanding and responding to online child sexual exploitation offenders. The development of online communication technologies has facilitated a growth in online child sexual exploitation over the past two decades. Using a data-linkage framework, this project aims to enhance understanding of online child sexual exploitation, the legal frameworks surrounding this issue, and the unique characteristics, risks and needs of online sexual offenders. Expected outcomes include increased knowledge to inform current law enforcement and sentencing practices and the development of risk assessment and intervention protocols for clinical use with online offenders. This should increase evidence-based practice with online sexual offenders and assist in preventing the sexual exploitation of children online and in the community.Read moreRead less
Enhancing wellbeing and resilience within prisons: A psycho-educational approach for the missing middle. Many prisoners experience mental illness and psychological distress, which has been found to relate to repeat offending. Moreover, prison officers also experience high levels of anxiety and distress. This project aims to identify the mental health needs and factors that lead to psychological distress among prisoners and prison officers. Brief intervention programs intend to be developed to ad ....Enhancing wellbeing and resilience within prisons: A psycho-educational approach for the missing middle. Many prisoners experience mental illness and psychological distress, which has been found to relate to repeat offending. Moreover, prison officers also experience high levels of anxiety and distress. This project aims to identify the mental health needs and factors that lead to psychological distress among prisoners and prison officers. Brief intervention programs intend to be developed to address the needs of the ‘missing middle’ (those with elevated levels of distress who are not receiving services). The programs aim to be evaluated to determine whether they are preventing mental health deterioration among participants and whether the results reduce repeat incarceration for prisoners and increase job satisfaction and performance for officers.Read moreRead less
Improving mental health nurses’ retention and quality of nursing practice. This project aims to improve mental health nurses’ resilience, retention and quality of practice through implementation of a resilience-building program. There is a critical national shortage of nurses in mental health, and attrition of the mental health nursing workforce is due in large part to workplace stressors. As a world-first in the field, the study will compare outcomes for mental health nurses who participate in ....Improving mental health nurses’ retention and quality of nursing practice. This project aims to improve mental health nurses’ resilience, retention and quality of practice through implementation of a resilience-building program. There is a critical national shortage of nurses in mental health, and attrition of the mental health nursing workforce is due in large part to workplace stressors. As a world-first in the field, the study will compare outcomes for mental health nurses who participate in the resilience program with a group of nurses who do not. Extending on a successful pilot, we expect the outcomes to be improved nurse resilience, turnover intention, and quality of nursing practice, and reduced negative psychological impacts of workplace stress. Read moreRead less
Deakin Family Options: engaging youth with high prevalence mental health problems using family based interventions. Youth depression, anxiety and substance abuse are prevalent, distressing and costly problems impacting one in five young Australians. This collaborative project - called ‘Deakin Family Options’ - will evaluate a family based intervention in order to broaden the therapeutic approaches used for young people and their families.
Deakin Family Options: engaging youth with high prevalence mental health problems using family based interventions. Youth depression, anxiety and substance abuse are prevalent, distressing and costly problems impacting one in five young Australians. This collaborative project - called ‘Deakin Family Options’ - will evaluate a family based intervention in order to broaden the therapeutic approaches used for young people and their families.
Improving management decisions in mental health care through applications of advanced simulation modelling. Evidence to inform management decisions about the best way to structure mental health care services is currently lacking. This project will develop a simulation modelling tool that will allow managers to explore various service configurations in virtual reality, enabling predictions to be made about the cost and quality of care.
Taking control: variations in forced psychiatric treatment in the community. This interdisciplinary project aims to produce a comprehensive understanding of the drivers underpinning variations in the use of legal orders to enforce psychiatric treatment in the community without consent. Australia’s rate of use of these controversial orders is very high and there are unexplained variations in rates of use within and between jurisdictions, with some minority groups disproportionately affected. Unco ....Taking control: variations in forced psychiatric treatment in the community. This interdisciplinary project aims to produce a comprehensive understanding of the drivers underpinning variations in the use of legal orders to enforce psychiatric treatment in the community without consent. Australia’s rate of use of these controversial orders is very high and there are unexplained variations in rates of use within and between jurisdictions, with some minority groups disproportionately affected. Uncovering this knowledge will act as a form of procedural justice for those who have had their human rights limited by compulsion. This knowledge is expected to lead to innovations in law and policy, with subsequent organisational and system improvements, generating profound benefits for those affected by forced treatment. Read moreRead less
Improving young people's online safety when talking about suicide. This project aims to improve the safety and quality of online communication about suicide by young people. Suicide is the leading cause of death among young Australians and rates continue to rise. One commonly cited explanation for this is the way in which young people use social media to communicate about suicide. This project will directly address this by testing the impact of a set of evidence-informed guidelines and campaign ....Improving young people's online safety when talking about suicide. This project aims to improve the safety and quality of online communication about suicide by young people. Suicide is the leading cause of death among young Australians and rates continue to rise. One commonly cited explanation for this is the way in which young people use social media to communicate about suicide. This project will directly address this by testing the impact of a set of evidence-informed guidelines and campaign materials that target young people’s capacity to communicate about suicide safely on social media. Expected outcomes of this project include increased online safety for young people. This study also has national and international significance for the social media industry and the safe governance of their platforms. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101107
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$412,744.00
Summary
Ahead of the Game: Balancing the Gaming Industry and Public Interest. This project battles the risks and embraces the benefits of digital gaming. There is a risk that one loses control of their gaming and prioritises it over other duties. This is offset by the benefits of using digital games for health. It is the first to decode and use the health data embedded in the connection between the gamer and their game persona (avatar). It does this by concurrently assessing important gamer, family, cul ....Ahead of the Game: Balancing the Gaming Industry and Public Interest. This project battles the risks and embraces the benefits of digital gaming. There is a risk that one loses control of their gaming and prioritises it over other duties. This is offset by the benefits of using digital games for health. It is the first to decode and use the health data embedded in the connection between the gamer and their game persona (avatar). It does this by concurrently assessing important gamer, family, cultural and game structure features. Findings will prompt the ethical growth of the Australian Health games industry and inform strategies to combat gaming disorder by tailoring games to users' needs. This will uniquely benefit Australians by re-directing this growing industry to better serve the public interest.Read moreRead less
Understanding the drivers and motivators of extremist violence. Despite intense interest in the issue, our understanding of and ability to respond to extremist violence is limited. This innovative program of research is designed to establish an empirical foundation for understanding and responding to extremist violence in Australia. It aims to examine risk and protective factors for such violence, the needs of those susceptible to committing such acts, and the effectiveness of intervention. Find ....Understanding the drivers and motivators of extremist violence. Despite intense interest in the issue, our understanding of and ability to respond to extremist violence is limited. This innovative program of research is designed to establish an empirical foundation for understanding and responding to extremist violence in Australia. It aims to examine risk and protective factors for such violence, the needs of those susceptible to committing such acts, and the effectiveness of intervention. Findings are expected to inform health, national security, social welfare, and justice agencies in their pursuit to identify those at risk of offending, address their clinical needs and manage the risk of harm they pose to society and to themselves.Read moreRead less