Natalie Gately

An Exploration of the Impact of the Family Court Process on “Invisible” Stepparents

Abstract Child custody decisions on separated families seldom acknowledge the impact that such decisions have on subsequent partners of the biological parents. New partners are thus “invisible” in litigation in the Family Court. This project utilised a qualitative research methodology to explore this experience with a purposive experiential sample of 12 second partners. The primary themes identified in thematic content analysis were exclusion and invisibility in a system over which they had little control. The findings suggest that the negative psychological impact would be lessened if a policy of inclusion was adopted in the Family Court process.

Novel Psychoactive Substance and Other Drug Use by Young Adults in Western Australia

Abstract There is a lack of information regarding the use of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) in Western Australia. The aim of this study was to pilot-test an online survey to obtain data on the prevalence of NPS and other drug use by young Western Australians aged between 18 and 35 years. The Young Adult Drug and Alcohol Survey (YADAS) was a questionnaire deployed online for a period of six months. Participants were recruited via a combined targeted sampling and snowball methodology. There were 472 valid responses. Overall lifetime use of NPS was relatively high (17.6%), while use in the last year was lower (6.6%). These proportions were comparable to that of cocaine use. The most popular NPS were the synthetic cannabinoids. The proportions of respondents drinking alcohol at risky levels, mixing alcohol with energy drinks, and using pharmaceuticals such as ADHD medications for non-medical reasons were high. The YADAS is the first survey to ascertain the prevalence of use of numerous types of NPS in a large sample of young Western Australian adults. The utilization of an online survey methodology yielded valid results as compared to more intensive surveys, and enables researchers greater flexibility in being able to capture current trends.

“Some of My Children Are Worth More Than Others”: Perceptions of Nonresidential Fathers with Second Families as to the Fairness of the Australian Child Support Agency's Handling of First Family Child Support Financial Arrangements

One in three Australian marriages end in divorce, and over half of such divorces involve children. Research indicates that men tend to repartner within 1 to 2 years of a divorce and women within 3 to 5 years. A significant issue for repartnered men is the provision of financial support for children from both their first and second families. Although only 6% of all Australian first family children spend near/equal time (shared care) after divorce with both parents, fathers in Australia are mandated under child support legislation to provide financial support for their first family children, whether they reside with them or not. However, it is argued by this studys nonresidential fathers that the Child Support Agency, when considering the level of financial support for first family children, tends to overlook the needs of second family children, thus creating an advantaged and disadvantaged set of siblings. This finding is reviewed through a distributive justice theory lens. Finally, some future directions for research aimed at exploring the impact of Child Support Legislation on second families are suggested.

Give Them a Chance: Public Attitudes to Sentencing Young Offenders in Western Australia

Public opinion is often reported as punitive towards sentencing young people. Attitudes remain important to investigate given their potential to influence policy within the criminal justice system. Therefore, it is important to understand the formation of these attitudes and their consistency with sentencing principles. Semi-structured interviews (n = 72) and surveys (n = 502) were used to gauge opinions of sentencing young people under different scenario manipulations (age, weapon, drug treatment, prior record). The findings revealed the public expected punishment, but favoured rehabilitation with an opportunity to repent, suggesting the public are open to alternatives to ‘tough on crime’ approaches.

Fear of Crime in an Island Paradise

Numerous empirical studies have examined fear of crime. Key theoretical constructs include age, gender, vulnerability, marital status, social cohesion, social incivilities, and perceptions of police. While these constructs have extensive empirical support from cross-sectional and longitudinal projects, they focused on Western liberal democratic nations. Little research exists on fear of crime and its correlates within smaller, island nation-states. The current study (N = 480) examines (a) the prevalence of fear of crime within the Maldives and (b) the extent to which previous theoretical constructs can be generalized to other population areas. Findings demonstrate levels of fear of crime in the Maldives consistent with Western liberal democratic societies but that only certain previous theoretical constructs are associated with variations in fear of crime.

Racialized policing: Aboriginal people’s encounters with the police

problem of trust among criminals and examines how incompetence may function to a criminal’s advantage, as it may signal that one is trustworthy. The author discusses the use of self-inflicted blackmail, or the exchange of compromising information by criminals about themselves as a means to generate cooperation. Providing compromising information about themselves can signal that they are trustworthy, since criminals make themselves vulnerable and place themselves in a position where information can be used against them. Gambetta also explores the use of violence within prisons. More specifically, he examines how individuals communicate under two types of constraints: tension arising from scarcity of resources and uncertainty surrounding others’ dispositions and capabilities. Using his knowledge of conventional and iconic signals, the author considers possible solutions to the communication, identification, and advertising problems with which criminals are faced. Conventional signals are not causally connected to the particular qualities or messages of the signaler. Therefore, communication can successfully rely on a conventional signal, given that the meaning is shared between at least two people (i.e. signaler and receiver). In order for a conventional signal to work, it is necessary to ensure that it possesses a cost-discriminating component so as to protect its use from mimics. This is achieved by making the signal risky to display. The author discusses two broad types of strategies criminals use, to protect their signals; one involves increasing the cost of displaying the signal and the other increasing the cost of acquiring or reproducing the signal. Additionally, he examines whether criminals can develop trademarks and whether they can then protect such trademarks from mimics. The book also explores the differences in criminals’ use of code names and nicknames. He identifies a correlation between rank in a criminal organization and having a nickname. The one exception is the Japanese yakuza, an organized criminal group whose members do not use nicknames or code names. Gambetta attributes such absence to lower secrecy requirements. Since they are less exposed to the threat of law enforcement, they do not need to make an effort to hamper identification. Gambetta’s book sheds light on the various means of communication existing in the social interaction of the underworld, which can also be applied beyond the world of organized crime. The book is replete with examples of real-life cases and stories, which make it a very entertaining read.