scholarly journals Testing the Assumption of Behavioural Consistency in a New Zealand Sample of Serial Rapists

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sarah Tapper
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Consistency Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Behavioural Consistency ◽  
Sexual Behaviours ◽  
Offending Behaviour ◽  
Serial Rapists

<p>One of the assumptions that underlies the profiling process is that criminals are behaviourally consistent from one offence to another. To date, however, this is an assumption that has not been scientifically validated. The present study therefore tested the assumption of behavioural consistency in serial rape offences. The author collected dichotomous data on 30 behavioural variables for a total of 439 offences committed by 121 serial rapists in New Zealand. There were two main research aims of the study. The first aim was to test the behavioural consistency of a range of individual behaviours. It was hypothesised that higher consistency would be found for behaviours that reflected a degree of planning or that prioritised control of the victim and the offence environment, because these behaviours might be less affected by environmental factors. In contrast, many sexual behaviours arise directly out of offender-victim interactions and therefore are most affected by environmental factors such as victim resistance. It was therefore also hypothesised that sexual behaviours would display lower consistency. A consistency measure was used that compared behaviour in consecutive offences. Consistency for each behaviour was defined as present-present or absent-absent matches of that behaviour in consecutive offences. The degree of consistency for any behaviour will be reflected in the consistency score received by that variable based on the number of matches for that behaviour across the offence series. The consistency analysis found moderate to high levels of consistency for the majority of individual behaviours. As predicted, higher consistency was exhibited for behaviours that prioritised control of the victim and the offence environment, and lower consistency was exhibited for the sexual behaviours. The second research aim was that if behavioural consistency was found in the results of the consistency analysis, to explore whether there were any underlying patterns to the consistency of offending behaviour. A factor analysis of the consistency scores established that there are clear patterns to the behavioural consistency of offenders consistent with previous analysis of offence characteristics. The factor analysis resulted in three themes or domains to behaviour: hostility, involvement and control. These findings have theoretical implications for the assumption of behavioural consistency in serial rapists, for the concepts of modus operandi and signature in offence behaviour, and for the theoretical understanding of the profiling process. The findings also have practical implications for the practice of profiling and case linkage in New Zealand, and raise possibilities for future directions in research.</p>

scholarly journals Testing the Assumption of Behavioural Consistency in a New Zealand Sample of Serial Rapists

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sarah Tapper
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Consistency Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Behavioural Consistency ◽  
Sexual Behaviours ◽  
Offending Behaviour ◽  
Serial Rapists

<p>One of the assumptions that underlies the profiling process is that criminals are behaviourally consistent from one offence to another. To date, however, this is an assumption that has not been scientifically validated. The present study therefore tested the assumption of behavioural consistency in serial rape offences. The author collected dichotomous data on 30 behavioural variables for a total of 439 offences committed by 121 serial rapists in New Zealand. There were two main research aims of the study. The first aim was to test the behavioural consistency of a range of individual behaviours. It was hypothesised that higher consistency would be found for behaviours that reflected a degree of planning or that prioritised control of the victim and the offence environment, because these behaviours might be less affected by environmental factors. In contrast, many sexual behaviours arise directly out of offender-victim interactions and therefore are most affected by environmental factors such as victim resistance. It was therefore also hypothesised that sexual behaviours would display lower consistency. A consistency measure was used that compared behaviour in consecutive offences. Consistency for each behaviour was defined as present-present or absent-absent matches of that behaviour in consecutive offences. The degree of consistency for any behaviour will be reflected in the consistency score received by that variable based on the number of matches for that behaviour across the offence series. The consistency analysis found moderate to high levels of consistency for the majority of individual behaviours. As predicted, higher consistency was exhibited for behaviours that prioritised control of the victim and the offence environment, and lower consistency was exhibited for the sexual behaviours. The second research aim was that if behavioural consistency was found in the results of the consistency analysis, to explore whether there were any underlying patterns to the consistency of offending behaviour. A factor analysis of the consistency scores established that there are clear patterns to the behavioural consistency of offenders consistent with previous analysis of offence characteristics. The factor analysis resulted in three themes or domains to behaviour: hostility, involvement and control. These findings have theoretical implications for the assumption of behavioural consistency in serial rapists, for the concepts of modus operandi and signature in offence behaviour, and for the theoretical understanding of the profiling process. The findings also have practical implications for the practice of profiling and case linkage in New Zealand, and raise possibilities for future directions in research.</p>

MS prevalence in New Zealand, an ethnically and latitudinally diverse country

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 1422-1431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce V Taylor ◽  
John F Pearson ◽  
Glynnis Clarke ◽  
Deborah F Mason ◽  
David A Abernethy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Latitudinal Gradient ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
European Population ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The North ◽  
Mcdonald Criteria

Background: The prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) is not uniform, with a latitudinal gradient of prevalence present in most studies. Understanding the drivers of this gradient may allow a better understanding of the environmental factors involved in MS pathogenesis. Method: The New Zealand national MS prevalence study (NZMSPS) is a cross-sectional study of people with definite MS (DMS) (McDonald criteria 2005) resident in New Zealand on census night, 7 March 2006, utilizing multiple sources of notification. Capture—recapture analysis (CRA) was used to estimate missing cases. Results: Of 2917 people with DMS identified, the crude prevalence was 72.4 per 100,000 population, and 73.1 per 100,000 when age-standardized to the European population. CRA estimated that 96.7% of cases were identified. A latitudinal gradient was seen with MS prevalence increasing three-fold from the North (35°S) to the South (48°S). The gradient was non-uniform; females with relapsing—remitting/secondary-progressive (RRMS/SPMS) disease have a gradient 11 times greater than males with primary-progressive MS ( p < 1 × 10-7). DMS was significantly less common among those of Māori ethnicity. Conclusions: This study confirms the presence of a robust latitudinal gradient of MS prevalence in New Zealand. This gradient is largely driven by European females with the RRMS/SPMS phenotype. These results indicate that the environmental factors that underlie the latitudinal gradient act differentially by gender, ethnicity and MS phenotype. A better understanding of these factors may allow more targeted MS therapies aimed at modifiable environmental triggers at the population level.

scholarly journals "You can never be on one side alone": Some Young Somali-Kiwi Women's Narratives about Identity, Resettlement and Community Development in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Emily Kathryn James
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Young Female ◽  
Key Informants ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Somali Women ◽  
The Government

<p>This research investigates how young Somali women are navigating through the resettlement process while negotiating their own identities in Wellington, New Zealand. It is important as it addresses two main research gaps: 1) it focuses on research with young Somali women at university and 2) it offers a strength-based analysis. The research also addresses important development concerns about how former refugees can better contribute into their host societies. Employing the use of participatory methods within a feminist qualitative methodology, I created a project that enabled the young women to voice their opinions regarding identity construction, cultural maintenance and their goals for the future.  I conducted approximately 150 hours of ethnographic research at organisations that catered to former refugee needs. I found a young female Somali student who worked as my Cultural Advisor and enhanced my credibility and access within the Somali community. I then conducted a focus group and five individual interviews with young Somali women to hear their narratives about their resettlement experience and their advice on how to improve the process for others. I conducted five interviews with key informants at organisations that provide support services for former refugees. The key informants gave the policy perspective on refugee resettlement as well as advice on how support services and the government can approve the transition for former refugees.  The results of this study revealed that the young women did feel tension at times negotiating their Somali culture and that of their host society but found benefits in both. The importance of the family resettling successfully was vital for the young women especially the wellbeing of their mothers and other female elders. The key informants echoed these sentiments and voiced the necessity for more women-focused support services. The young women also will be facing a second resettlement process through their emigration to Australia as they search for more job opportunities and a better Somali cultural connection.</p>

scholarly journals Complexity, Evaluation and the Effectiveness of Community-based Interventions to Reduce Health Inequalities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Matheson ◽  
Kevin Dew ◽  
Jacqueline Cumming
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Intervention Effectiveness ◽  
Community Based Interventions ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
System Perspective

Reducing health inequalities has been part of the New Zealand government's agenda since the early 1990s. As a result, interventions have been implemented nationally with the explicit goal of reducing health inequalities. This paper describes findings from a comparative case study of two community-based interventions - carried out in different New Zealand communities. Complexity theory was used as an analytic tool to examine the case data, and provided a systematic way in which to explore 'local' issues by taking a 'whole system' perspective. The findings showed that two important influences on the successful implementation of the interventions were the existence and capacity of local organisations and their relationships with government agencies. The analysis provided a dynamic picture of shared influences on the interventions in different communities and in doing so offered insight into intervention effectiveness. It is argued in this article that, for examining intervention effectiveness, it is essential to have a theoretical understanding of the behaviour of the complex system in which they are implemented. This theoretical understanding has implications for the appropriate design of interventions to reduce health inequalities, and in turn should lead to more meaningful ways to evaluate them.

scholarly journals Complexity, Evaluation and the Effectiveness of Community-based Interventions to Reduce Health Inequalities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Matheson ◽  
Kevin Dew ◽  
Jacqueline Cumming
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Intervention Effectiveness ◽  
Community Based Interventions ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
System Perspective

Reducing health inequalities has been part of the New Zealand government's agenda since the early 1990s. As a result, interventions have been implemented nationally with the explicit goal of reducing health inequalities. This paper describes findings from a comparative case study of two community-based interventions - carried out in different New Zealand communities. Complexity theory was used as an analytic tool to examine the case data, and provided a systematic way in which to explore 'local' issues by taking a 'whole system' perspective. The findings showed that two important influences on the successful implementation of the interventions were the existence and capacity of local organisations and their relationships with government agencies. The analysis provided a dynamic picture of shared influences on the interventions in different communities and in doing so offered insight into intervention effectiveness. It is argued in this article that, for examining intervention effectiveness, it is essential to have a theoretical understanding of the behaviour of the complex system in which they are implemented. This theoretical understanding has implications for the appropriate design of interventions to reduce health inequalities, and in turn should lead to more meaningful ways to evaluate them.

City Children’s Nature Knowledge and Contact: It Is Not Just About Biodiversity Provision

2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (10) ◽  
pp. 1145-1171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Freeman ◽  
Aviva Stein ◽  
Kathryn Hand ◽  
Yolanda van Heezik
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Generalized Linear Modeling ◽  
Nature Contact

Much attention has been directed at the perceived decline in city children’s contact with nature. We used a child-centric approach to assess neighborhood nature knowledge in 187 children aged 9 to 11 years, from different socioeconomic and ethnic groups in three New Zealand cities. We evaluated the relative importance of social (independence, gender, social connections, deprivation, age) and environmental factors (biodiversity) in explaining variation in knowledge at a scale relevant to each child’s independent movements. Our biodiversity evaluation reflected the natural dimensions of the habitats where children interacted with nature. Generalized linear modeling identified ethnicity as having the strongest association with nature knowledge. Within each ethnic group, social factors were most important (independence, social connections, deprivation) except for Pākehā/NZ European children, where local biodiversity was most important. Enhancing biodiversity values of private green spaces (yards) would be effective in facilitating opportunities to experience nature, which is fundamental to supporting nature contact.

A scale for restaurant customers’ healthy menu choices: individual and environmental factors

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
EunHa Jeong ◽  
SooCheong (Shawn) Jang ◽  
Carl Behnke ◽  
James Anderson ◽  
Jonathon Day
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Eating Behaviors ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Healthy Eating Behaviors

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the dimensions of restaurant customers’ engagement or disengagement with healthy eating in terms of individual and environmental factors to develop a scale. The results identified the underlying constructs of customers’ individual motives for and perceived barriers to healthy eating, as well as environmental elements of restaurants that encourage or discourage healthy eating. Design/methodology/approach To develop an appropriate set of measures to assess factors influencing customers’ healthy eating behaviors at restaurants, the current study undertook the five steps of scale development suggested by Churchill (1979): specifying the domain of constructs, generating a pool of initial measurement items, assessing content adequacy, administering questionnaires (an online survey method) and purifying and finalizing the measurement (via exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using 410 samples and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using 423 samples). Findings The results revealed ten individual factors (health, body image, weight control, feeling better, unappealing food, cost perception, lack of knowledge, state of mind (stress), lack of self-control and negative influences) and five environmental factors (healthy indications, social impact, availability of healthy menu, price policy and unhealthy indications) influencing customers’ healthy eating behaviors at restaurants. Originality/value This study developed an appropriate set of measures to assess individual and environmental factors influencing restaurant customers’ healthy eating behaviors, along with identifying underlying sub-constructs. The reliability and validity of the scale and the factor structure are presented and potential applications and theoretical contributions of the scale are provided as well.

scholarly journals ‘BRCA1’ RESPONSIVENESS TOWARDS BREAST CANCER-A POPULATION-WISE PHARMACOGENOMIC ANALYSIS

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Preethi M. Iyer ◽  
Sanjay Kumar P. ◽  
Karthikeyan S. ◽  
P. K Krishnan Namboori
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Chromosome 17 ◽  
Base Pairs ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Variation Database ◽  
Different Populations

<p><strong>Objective: </strong>In the present pharmacogenomic work, the genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors associated with BRCA1 induced breast cancer, cancer proneness and its variants across different populations like Indian, Netherland, Belgium, Denmark, Austrian, New Zealand, Sweden, Malaysian and Norwegian and the ‘mutation and methylation-prone’ region of BRCA1 have been computed.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The global variations associated with the disease have been identified from the ‘Leiden open variation database (LOVD 3.0)’ and ‘Indian genome variation database (IGVDB)’. The variants, ‘single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)’ are then characterized. The epigenetic factors associated with breast cancer have been identified from the clinical reports and further scrutinized using EpiGRAPH tool. The various contributing environmental factors responsible for the variations have been considered.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>All the variants across different populations such as Indian, Netherland, Belgium, Denmark, Austrian, New Zealand, Sweden, Malaysian and Norwegian are found to be in a specific transcript of BRCA1 that ranges within 41,196,312-41,277,500 (81,189 base pairs) of the chromosome 17. Two ‘single nucleotide variations (SNVs)’ (5266dupC: rs397507246 and 68_69delAG: rs386833395) have been identified as risk factors in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome in the global population and 39 SNPs have been identified as pathogenic and deleterious. ‘Evolutionary history’ seems to be the most significant attribute in the predictability of methylation of BRCA1. Unhealthy dietary habits, obesity, use of unsafe cosmetics, estrogen exposure, ‘hormone replacement therapy (HRT)’, use of oral contraceptives and smoking are the major environmental risk factors associated with breast cancer incidence.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This chromosome location (41,196,312-41,277,500 (81,189 base pairs)) can be considered as the population-specific sensitive region corresponding to BRCA1 mutation. This supports the fact that stabilization within the region can be a promising technique to control the epigenetic variants associated with the global position. The global variation in the proneness of the disease may be due to a cumulative effect of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors subject to further experimentations with identical variations and populations. </p>

scholarly journals Study of Psychological factors Affected to intention of student to Entrepreneurship (Case study Agriculture and Natural Resources Students Campus at Razi University in Kermanshah Province)

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-16
Author(s):  
N. Afsharzadeh ◽  
A. H. Papzan ◽  
F. Rostami ◽  
F. Ghorbani Piralidehi ◽  
A. Pirmoradi
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Simple Random Sampling ◽  
Entrepreneurial Intention ◽  
Psychological Characteristics ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Analysis Technique

The main purpose of this research was to examine the influence of psychological characteristics on entrepreneurial intention of agriculture and natural resources students at Razi University in Kermanshah Province. A total of students (N= 258), with and without entrepreneurial education were selected on the basis of simple random sampling (n= 146). The main research tool was a questionnaire. 32 items of psychological characteristics in the form of a questionnaire was developed by the researchers to gather the required data. Factor analysis technique was used to analysis the data.  Factor analysis showed that six psychological factors affected on entrepreneurial intention of agriculture and natural resources students including; need to progress, self-efficacy, internal control, risk taking, creativity and the need for the independence. Researchers encouraged educators to promote and develop these psychological characteristics affected on entrepreneurial intention through creating entrepreneurial context such as by supervising agricultural experience programmers, experiential learning and participatory teaching. Furthermore, it was pointed out that entrepreneurial intention could be improved by self directed learning.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijls.v9i1.11920 International Journal of Life Sciences Vol.9(1) 2015 12-16

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