Colin G. James

‘Teach us how to do it properly!’ An Australian academic integrity student survey

The results of a large online student survey (n = 15,304), on academic integrity at six Australian universities, indicate that a majority of respondents reported a good awareness of academic integrity and knowledge of academic integrity policy at their university and were satisfied with the information and support they receive. Response varied across cohorts, with international students expressing a lower awareness of academic integrity and academic integrity policy, and lower confidence in how to avoid academic integrity breaches. Postgraduate research student respondents were the least satisfied with the information they had received about how to avoid an academic integrity breach. The results from this survey provide an opportunity to explore the student perspective and inform the higher education sector in relation to communicating with and educating students about academic integrity. The students have indicated that Australian universities need to move beyond the mere provision of information to ensure a holistic approach that engages students about academic integrity.

Emotional Intelligence and Personality as Predictors of Psychological Well-Being.

Research studies have reported elevated rates of psychological distress (e.g., depression) in practicing lawyers yet little research has examined predictors of such problems in law students. Specific personality traits have been shown to be predictors of a range of psychological problems. We administered a battery of tests to a cohort of 1st-year law students (n = 150) and measured the Big Five personality traits and emotional intelligence (EI) to examine their relationships to psychological well-being as indicated by coping styles, satisfaction with life, performance-based self-esteem (PBSE), Global Severity Index (GSI) scores from the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), depression, and alcohol use. We found that whereas EI was significantly related to three of the five well-being variables, the Big Five personality factor of neuroticism was found to be a stronger predictor of well-being. The findings suggest that EI does not account for additional variance in well-being over personality.

Lawyers’ wellbeing and professional legal education

Abstract THIS PAPER examines the wellbeing and satisfaction levels of lawyers in the workplace. It argues that research suggesting a crisis in the legal profession in the United States is comparable with research on wellbeing and levels of satisfaction for lawyers in Australasia. Some reports in both jurisdictions are critical of conventional legal education and practical legal training programs, which do not encourage students to develop personal and interpersonal skills that can improve self‐awareness, communication skills and the capacity to manage stress and anxiety. Consequently, law students are allowed to assume that these “soft skills” are less important for lawyers compared with cognitive skills such as “knowing the law” and “thinking like a lawyer”. The paper describes the preliminary results of research conducted with graduates of the School of Law at the University of Newcastle Australia. The results confirm existing research to show that clinical legal education programs that expose law students under supervision to clients with real cases may promote the development of interpersonal skills, which in turn may help them cope with stressors in legal practice, especially in the first few years post‐admission.

Media, Men and Violence in Australian Divorce

This paper provides a brief historical background to the Family Law Act and the continuing failure of Australian governments to respond appropriately to protect women from the effects of mens domestic violence.

The culture of pretence: a hidden barrier to recognising, disclosing and ending domestic violence

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To explore in detail how women perceived their experience of domestic violence and leaving or ending the abuse. This research also examined how service providers identified their professional role in assisting women to end such relationships. BACKGROUND Domestic violence against women continues to occur internationally. Reliable statistics are difficult to capture because of inconsistent definitions, contradictory methods of acquiring data and unreported incidents. DESIGN A qualitative study, undertaken in two phases, was conducted in Australia. METHODS Twelve women who had experienced domestic violence and ended those relationships participated in one semistructured interview (Phase 1). Twenty-five professionals from health, social sciences and law, whose work included assisting women experiencing domestic violence, participated in three focus groups (Phase 2). Thematic analysis guided by a narrative inquiry approach forms the framework for information collection and interpretation of data in this project. FINDINGS The barriers that impede women from disclosing abuse and taking action to end domestic violence are complex and varied between participants. Women did not always acknowledge or realise their relationship was precarious and often denied or minimised the abuse to cope with the domestic violence. Professionals identified that women did not always identify or acknowledge abuse inherent in their relationship although this delayed the provision of appropriate services. CONCLUSION Whether women disclose abuse or deny violence in their relationship, acceptance by service providers and the offer of support is crucial to assisting women in violent relationships. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE It is hoped that the findings may assist health practitioners, including nurses, to provide nonjudgemental support to women experiencing domestic violence whether women acknowledge the abusive relationship or not.