Yvonne Haigh

Desistance from crime: reflections on the transitional experiences of young people with a history of offending

The purpose of this paper is to explore the complexities involved in young peoples attempts to move away from criminal activity. This paper draws on qualitative data from a study that aimed to identify how young people negotiate transitions away from offending. The paper argues that an analysis of the subtle shifts in young peoples perceptions and interpretations of their situation sheds light on the complex nature of desisting from crime. To do so, the paper focuses on the role of relevance in order to explore how these subtle shifts in thinking enable young people to reinterpret their lives and move towards desistance. By way of undertaking this analysis, this paper draws on Alfred Schutzs phenomenological approach to the nature of relevance to explore how young people shift between their known world of ‘doing crime’ and an unknown world of being ‘straight and legitimate’.

AN OVERVIEW OF FOOD LOSS AND WASTE: WHY DOES IT MATTER?

This paper provides an overview of food waste in the context of food security, resources management and environment health. It compares approaches taken by various governments, community groups, civil societies and private sector organisations to reduce food waste in the developed and developing countries. What constitutes ‘food waste’ is not as simple as it may appear due to diverse food waste measurement protocols and different data documentation methods used worldwide. There is a need to improve food waste data collection methods and implementation of effective strategies, policies and actions to reduce food waste. Global initiatives are urgently needed to: enhance awareness of the value of food; encourage countries to develop policies that motivate community and businesses to reduce food waste; encourage and provide assistance to needy countries for improving markets, transport and storage infrastructure to minimise food waste across the value chain; and, develop incentives that encourage businesses to donate food. In some countries, particularly in Europe, initiatives on food waste management have started to gain momentum. Food waste is a global problem and it needs urgent attention and integrated actions of stakeholders across the food value chain to develop global solutions for the present and future generations.

Citizenship, civic education and politics: the education policy context for young Australian citizens

Citizenship education in Australia is embedded throughout the school curriculum. Despite a coherent policy context for the inclusion of citizenship and civic education at all levels of schooling, the links between education and civic minded citizens are tenuous. This paper explores these connections by drawing on the views of participants in an international community service program between Western Australia and Tanzania. By situating the interview data in relation to the policy goals, the paper argues that the current policy framework ‘sanitises’ the political nature of modern citizenship. The results from this study demonstrate that students have little understanding of the connections between the civic, the social and the political realms of citizenship. These results suggest that the current policy context does not adequately prepare young people to position themselves in the political realm.

Transitions to a Post-carbon Society: Scenarios for Western Australia

Pathways towards a post-carbon society are being explored across all levels of government, within the scientific community and society in general. This chapter presents scenarios for cities and regions in Australia after the Age of Oil, particularly the energy-intensive state of Western Australia (WA). It argues that a post-carbon WA would ideally use technological and wider social choices to reduce carbon emissions close to zero. It focuses on policy requirements, institutional and governance arrangements and socio-technical systems to provide an industry-focussed renewable energy development plan that will help to balance ongoing and past emissions and lead to a low-carbon society.

Political Science and Environmental Sustainability, Responsible Citizenship and Corporate Social Responsibility

At its heart, politics addresses the perennial problem of maintaining social order, which it treats as the highest public good. Political scientists, then, study the processes that hold societies together. We assume that ES, RC and CSR represent putative public goods associated with maintaining social order and discuss problems related to their recognition and promotion in liberal-democracies. We argue that, though ES, RC and CSR are public goods, governments in liberal democracies cannot bring individuals and leaders of firms to pursue them. This results from basic principles of ordering in liberal democracies, which limit a government’s capacity to cause people and those responsible for firms to accept and pursue ES, RC and CSR.

Anti-Corruption Watchdog Accountability: The Limitations of Judicial Review's Ability to Guard the Guardians

Anti-corruption watchdogs form an important part of integrity measures in Australias system of government. Integrity theory places anti-corruption watchdogs in a fourth branch of government and as a part of a national integrity system as a way of understanding how they detect and prevent corruption and promote integrity. Integrity theory claims that an important part of the oversight of watchdogs occurs through judicial review of watchdog decisions by the courts. However, it fails to recognise the unique limitations when undertaking judicial review of watchdog decisions. This article submits that it is important to recognise these limitations to properly assess the effectiveness of a national integrity system and a fourth branch of government. The article explores the unique limitations of the courts ability to hold watchdogs to account and offers suggestions for managing these limitations.