Statistical inference and visualization in scale-space for spatially dependent images

SiZer (SIgnificant ZERo crossing of the derivatives) is a graphical scale-space visualization tool that allows for statistical inferences. In this paper we develop a spatial SiZer for finding significant features and conducting goodness-of-fit tests for spatially dependent images. The spatial SiZer utilizes a family of kernel estimates of the image and provides not only exploratory data analysis but also statistical inference with spatial correlation taken into account. It is also capable of comparing the observed image with a specific null model being tested by adjusting the statistical inference using an assumed covariance structure. Pixel locations having statistically significant differences between the image and a given null model are highlighted by arrows. The spatial SiZer is compared with the existing independent SiZer via the analysis of simulated data with and without signal on both planar and spherical domains. We apply the spatial SiZer method to the decadal temperature change over some regions of the Earth.     

The Planets Aligned: Is Child Protection Policy Reform Good Luck or Good Management?

Abstract

Governments across Australia are struggling to address escalating child protection notifications, a marked increase in the number of children in State care, a decrease in the number of foster carers and chronic workforce shortages in child welfare services. This paper explores the reform process that culminated in the proclamation of the Victorian Children, Youth and Families Act, 2005 and represents an aspect of the response in Victoria to these wider issues. It explores the history of the reform from the perspective of key actors from government, non-government sectors and academics who participated in the process. The paper explores the “ingredients of social policy reform” and how the change process was managed in Victoria. It does not seek to evaluate the reform but rather to understand the complex processes through which a propitious moment for reform was both seized and constructed.     

Service Patterns of Adult Survivors of Childhood Versus Adult Sexual Assault/Abuse

This analysis compared the characteristics and service patterns of adult survivors of childhood sexual assault/abuse and adult survivors of adult sexual assault/abuse. Utilizing data from sexual assault crisis centers serving survivors in a Midwestern state over a six year period and controlling for revictimization, we describe and compare the demographic characteristics, referral sources, and service patterns of the two groups. Results indicate that paths into service differ for the two groups. Furthermore, adult survivors of childhood sexual assault/abuse obtain significantly more hours of service and service contacts on average than adult survivors of adult sexual assault/abuse. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Scale shift in international tax justice: comparing the UK and Australia from 2008 to 2016

ABSTRACT

International tax justice issues, such as corporate tax avoidance, have gained particular salience over the past decade in an environment of financial instability and government austerity. Civil society involvement has ranged from trade unions and NGOs calling for parliamentary inquiries to civil disobedience by less established actors. Since the international financial crisis, how have levels of contentious collective action around these issues waxed and waned? Is contentiousness associated most with domestic politics or global media events like the Panama Papers? This paper uses an original hand-coded dataset from five national newspapers in the United Kingdom and Australia between 2008 and 2016. Political claims analysis (PCA) was used to collect all instances of claims around international tax justice and compare the types of actions and the different frames used by civil society actors. In both countries, mobilising grievances are generated most strongly in the period after domestic austerity policies are introduced. The qualitative coding provides evidence of accompanying frame alignment in these periods, as international taxation is problematized in terms of national revenue, demonstrating scale shift from the global to the national political stage.     

Understanding human ambivalence about sex: The effects of stripping sex of meaning

We offer a theoretical perspective to provide insight into why people are ambivalent about sex and why cultures regulate sex and attach symbolic meaning to it. Building on terror management theory, we propose that sex is problematic for humankind in part because it reminds us of our creaturely mortal nature. Two experiments investigated the effects of reminding people of the similarity between humans and other animals on their reactions to the physical aspects of sex. In Study 1, priming human‐animal similarities led to increased accessibility of death‐related thoughts after thinking about the physical but not romantic aspects of sex. In Study 2, when participants were reminded of similarities between humans and other animals, mortality salience resulted in decreased attraction to the physical but not romantic aspects of sex. In each study, priming thoughts about how humans are distinct from animals eliminated the association between sex and death.     

The golden star: an emotional repertoire of scientific discovery and legacy

This paper examines vocabularies of emotion in the discovery narratives of a group of genetic scientists. The discovery of the gene for myotonic dystrophy in 1992 was part of a unique and highly competitive phase of molecular genetic research into single gene hereditary conditions. Members of a small group of scientists who made a significant contribution to the discovery of the gene were interviewed sixteen years later about the impact of that discovery. They structured their memories into narrative accounts characterized by vivid recall, colourful language and use of an emotional repertoire to reconstruct the dynamics, relationships and personal meaning of the discovery. The focus of this emotional language was on what it meant to be a molecular scientist, the dynamics of the incremental work that led to eventual success, the networks surrounding the team and the legacy of discovery in relation to science and to the individual scientists. The emotional repertoire revealed subtle differences between accounts, where there was universal recognition of the importance of the discovery for a scientific career but ambivalence regarding its personal meaning for some key actors.     

Making Records Meaningful: Creating an Identity Resource for Young People in Care

Abstract

The Who Am I? research was an interdisciplinary, action research project focused on the past and present record-keeping practices for people growing up in out-of-home care in Australia. This paper reports on two of the nested projects directed at current record-keeping practices. For the 100+ Points of Identity study, a tool was developed (the Document Accessibility Exercise or “Daesy”) to determine the number of personal records critical to identity that could be accessed by practitioners prior to a young person leaving a placement. The Backpack of Identity project developed a further iteration of the action research cycle, as the first project identified the vulnerability of the record when placements for the young person changed. A number of implications for practice arose, including the need for greater attention to the development of personal records (as against an administrative record) and the need for practitioners to understand their responsibilities for the story “of the record” as well as the story “in the record”.     

Advance Directives Among Korean American Older Adults: Knowledge,Attitudes, and Behavior

The study objective was to explore knowledge, attitudes, and behavior about advance directives and how cultural values influence these beliefs. Three focus groups with 23 Korean American older adults were conducted. Advance directives were seen as helpful for ensuring that preferences for unwanted end-of-life treatment are honored and for relieving the decision-making burden on family members. However, some viewed completing advance directives as contrary to focusing on living. Culturally competent education about advance directives for Korean American older adults is necessary to help them make informed decisions about end-of-life care and informing family and health care providers of these preferences.     

The nature and prevalence of kinship care: Focus on young kinship carers

Young kinship carers tend to be overlooked in kinship care policy and practice. This Australian research project explored the prevalence of kinship care households in Australia, with a particular focus on households headed by young kinship carers. Census data were utilized to explore the number of kinship care households across the carer age spectrum and some of their characteristics, including households with Indigenous carers and carers with a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) identity. Characteristics of households headed by carers aged 16–30 years were explored in some detail, and comparisons made with young parents. The data pointed to particular challenges for young kinship carers in relation to post‐secondary education, employment and income security. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.