Victim and Victim Support Staff Experiences of a Domestic Violence Electronic Monitoring Program in Australia

This study investigates the experiences of victims of domestic violence (DV) involved in a bilateral electronic monitoring (EM) program. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six victims whose associated person of interest participated in an EM program post-release, as well as 13 victim support staff. Thematic analysis revealed seven themes: (1) Safety and validation, (2) Initial anxiety, (3) Minimal intrusion on daily life, (4) Psychological relief and feelings of safety, (5) Freedom to engage in daily activities, (6) Post-EM concerns for safety, and (7) An effective deterrent for some, but not for all. Overall, the experiences reported by victims and support staff were positive and evident of victim-centricity. The main defining experience of the DVEM program for victims was improved feelings of safety during the program and increased autonomy and confidence in going about their daily activities. However, there is an urgent need to consider post-EM safety of victims.

Host Landing And Diel Activity of Potent Vectors of Bluetongue Disease, Culicoides Oxystoma and Culicoides Peregrinus

Background The spread of bluetongue virus depends on the vectorial ability of Culicoides affecting the susceptible host. Animal farms in West Bengal have reported prevalence of potent vectors of BTV (C. oxystoma, C. peregrinus and C. fulvus). Besides, high seroprevalence of BTV was also reported from this cattle dense region. Henceforth host-seeking activity of two important potent vectors, C. oxystoma and C. peregrinus on cattle were studied in two farm sites of West Bengal, India.Methods The study was done in 2018-19 comprising of total 297 hours of collection over 27 nights. A comparison was made between the catches obtained by mouth aspirator and light trap. Hourly collections of Culicoides were done directly from cattle (oral aspirator) as well as light trap was operated in close vicinity of cattle at a different shed.Results A total of 11,462 Culicoides belonging to C. oxystoma, C. peregrinus and C. fulvus were collected in light trap and aspirator. In aspirator 4764 midges were collected whereas 6698 individuals were collected in light trap. The following species were aspirated: C. peregrinus and C. oxystoma; however the light trap catches consisted of C. fulvus, C. oxystoma and C. peregrinus. Light trap collection exhibited crepuscular activity whereas aspirator collection was maximum between 4.00 am and 5.00 am. Likewise maximum landing of midges was observed in neck and hump region of cattle.Conclusion It was observed that the preferred time of feeding of C. peregrinus and C. oxystoma on cattle were early morning hours though midges were ubiquitous from dusk to dawn. Surprisingly the preferential landing of the two vectors were mostly restricted to the neck and hump region of the cattle. The results obtained during the study warrants further insight into the factors influencing the landing site by the vectors which may be useful biological data in disease management and draw effective deterrent strategies.

Institute of Self-defense in the criminal law field. Review of the monograph by E.V. Lucchi, A.V. Shulga “Necessary defense in case of encroachments on family members: criminal-legal and criminological aspects” (Moscow: “Yurlitinform” Publ., 2021. 176 p.)

The necessary defense is an inalienable right of every person, consisting in the protection of life and health, rights and legitimate interests belonging both to himself and to third parties. It is necessary to agree with the authors of the monograph that this form of self-defense is "one of the oldest institutions of criminal law, which since ancient times is based mainly on the instinct of self-preservation of a person living in society, and the desire to protect themselves from the surrounding dangers of domestic and social nature" (p. 7). The" merits " of the legal institution under consideration should also include the fact that it has a really effective deterrent potential against crime, since the prospect of receiving a tough rebuff from the defender has a much greater impact on the attacker than the probability of being in the hands of justice. At the same time, a qualified legal assessment of all aspects of the incident determines the distribution of the "victim" and "accused" statuses, which are sometimes repeatedly "exchanged" by participants in numerous conflicts during the judicial and investigative proceedings. An equally problematic aspect is the possibility of provoking an attack with the subsequent imitation of the state of the necessary defense from hooligan, selfish or other deviant motives. Accordingly, the correct legal assessment of the application of this form of self-defense in practice is a highly significant element of law enforcement. This is what determines the value of the institute of legal self-defense as an object of scientific research.

How the Zebra got its Rump Stripes: Salience at Distance and in Motion

Zebras' stripes cannot protect them from predators, Darwin concluded, and current consensus tends to support his view1,2. In principle, stripes could support crypsis or aposematism, could dazzle, confuse or disrupt predators' perception3-8, yet no such effects are manifest in predator-prey interactions9-11. Instead, narrow stripes covering zebras' head, neck, limbs and flanks are an effective deterrent to tabanids12, vectors for equine disease13,14. Accordingly, while other potential benefits, e.g., thermoregulation15,16 and intraspecific communication17, cannot be excluded, zebra stripes likely evolved primarily to deter parasites18-20. Rump stripes, however, do not fit this, or any extant view. Typically horizontal and broader in sub-species with width variation, they are ill-suited to crypsis or parasite-deterrence12 and vary with hyaena threat18, perhaps shaped by an additional selective pressure. We observed that rump (and rear-flank) stripes remain highly conspicuous when viewed in motion or at distance, while other stripes do not. To study this striking effect, we filtered images of zebra to simulate acuity limitations in lion and hyaena photopic and mesopic vision. For mountain zebra and plains zebra without shadow striping, rump stripes were the most conspicuous image regions according to computational salience models, corroborated by human observers' judgements of maximally attention-capturing image locations, which were strongly biased toward the rear. By hijacking exogenous attention mechanisms to force predator attention to the rear, salient rump stripes confer benefits to zebra, estimated here in pursuit simulations. Benefits of rump stripe salience may counteract anti-parasite benefits and costs of conspicuity to shape rump and shadow stripe variation.

The roles of whistleblowing system and fraud awareness as financial statement fraud deterrent

Purpose This paper aims to provide new theoretical discussion about the role of whistleblowing system and fraud awareness as an effective deterrent for financial statement fraud. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted surveys to 13 reputable public accounting firms in East Java, Indonesia. Findings It is well acknowledged, as fraud attacks grow more sophisticated, whistleblowing system and fraud awareness can be possible deterrents. By increasing employees’ fraud awareness, they do not only recognise fraud symptoms and typologies but also support to raise concerns in good faith and on reasonable grounds. This study also suggests the role of fraud awareness as a human capital investment that increase sensitivity on identifying fraud symptoms and discouraging participation in crimes. Originality/value This study produces new theoretical discussion about fraud prevention. Then this study also offers several aspects that can help organisation to establish effective whistleblowing systems and reporting mechanisms. Those aspects identified can encourage an individual to report malpractice or wrongdoing. This study also offers how fraud awareness can support the implementation of whistleblowing system in preventing fraudulent financial statements and other irregularities.

Why Indonesia Maintain Capital Punishment?

The death penalty in Indonesia is still maintained to combat crime within the Indonesian criminal law reform. Although many states have it removed, Indonesia would have the sole discretion to keep it. Despite the opposition, the death penalty application still has a juridical and sociological basis, so it is still legal to be maintained. Indonesia itself has overshadowed the death penalty with a form of legality according to international law so that the position of Indonesia that still maintain the death penalty cannot be blamed. Moreover, sociologically, Indonesian people still accept those who commit an offence who may have profound implications that could lead to the death penalty. This issue is what became the basis for lawmakers in Indonesia to keep it. This research uses the doctrinal method toexamine various regulations regarding capital punishment and non-doctrinal to understand the community's situation related to the existence of capital punishment in Indonesia. The death penalty is a more effective deterrent and therefore prevents crime better. With the death penalty, others were about to commit a similar crime is expected not to commit the crime. The death penalty is more effectively immobilizing offenders. Perpetrators, in principle, still manage to have the desire to commit the crime again after release. The death penalty for perpetrators of crimes is not a violation of human rights, but rather to respect human rights itself, namely for victims of crime. The setting and the application of the death penalty in Indonesia until now is still needed. They are considering that there are still many crimes that undermine humanity's values or the crimes that harm the State and crackdown on corruption in society.

Whistleblowing Against Doping Misconduct in Sport: A Reasoned Action Perspective With a Focus on Affective and Normative Processes

Whistleblowing against doping misconduct represents an effective deterrent of doping use in elite competitive sport. The present study assessed the effects of social cognitive variables on competitive athletes’ intentions to report doping misconduct. A second objective was to assess whether the effects of social norms on whistleblowing intentions were mediated by actor prototype evaluations and group identification and orientation. In total, 1,163 competitive athletes from Greece, Russia, and the United Kingdom completed a questionnaire on demographics, past behavior, social cognitive variables, and intentions toward whistleblowing. Regression analyses showed that whistleblowing intentions were associated with different social cognitive variables in each country. Multiple mediation modeling showed that attitudes and subjective norms were associated with whistleblowing intentions indirectly, via the effects of anticipated negative affect and group identification and orientation, respectively. The findings of this study are novel and have important implications about the social, cognitive, and normative processes underlying decision making toward reporting doping misconduct.

An Effective Deterrent?

This chapter examines whether counterbalancing can deter soldiers from attempting to seize power in the first place. It conducts an array of analyses of patterns of coup attempts, which show that organizing security forces outside of military command is not associated with a reduction in coup attempts. In fact, establishing a new counterweight increases the risk of a coup attempt in the following year. These results challenge the widespread assumption that counterbalancing deters coup attempts, and help to explain why counterbalancing is not even more widespread than it is. Yet the results in the chapter also raise another question: What explains why some rulers are able to establish counterweights without provoking a backlash from the military, while others are not?