Roadmap to recovery: Reporting on a research taskforce supporting Indigenous responses to COVID‐19 in Australia

In April 2020 a Group of Eight Taskforce was convened, consisting of over 100 researchers, to provide independent, research‐based recommendations to the Commonwealth Government on a “Roadmap to Recovery” from COVID‐19. The report covered issues ranging from pandemic control and relaxation of social distancing measures, to well‐being and special considerations for vulnerable populations. Our work focused on the critical needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; this paper presents an overview of our recommendations to the Roadmap report. In addressing the global challenges posed by pandemics for citizens around the world, Indigenous people are recognised as highly vulnerable. At the time of writing Australia's First Nations Peoples have been largely spared from COVID‐19 in comparison to other Indigenous populations globally. Our recommendations emphasise self‐determination and equitable needs‐based funding to support Indigenous communities to recover from COVID‐19, addressing persistent overcrowded housing, and a focus on workforce, especially for regional and remote communities. These latter two issues have been highlighted as major issues of risk for Indigenous communities in Australia It remains to be seen how governments across Australia take up these recommendations to support Indigenous peoples' health and healing journey through yet another, potentially catastrophic, health crisis.     

Bidirectionality in kindergarten children's school readiness and emotional regulation

This study examined the longitudinal associations of emotional regulation and school readiness among Chinese kindergarten children. Data were collected from 523 children (mean age at time 1 = 52.42 months; 52.9% male) at two time points separated by approximately 1 year in Hong Kong, China. At times 1 and 2, children's school readiness was assessed by their teachers and parents while their emotional regulation was directly tested. Teachers also rated children's emotional regulation at both time points. The results from the two reciprocal path models showed that, controlling for the corresponding autoregressive effects, school readiness at time 1 was predictive of emotional regulation at time 2. However, emotional regulation at time 1 did not emerge as a significant predictor of school readiness at time 2. Theoretically, these results underscored children's school readiness as a potential contributor to their emotional regulation. Practically, these findings suggested the utility of supporting children's school readiness to foster their emotional regulation.     

Switching commuters from car to public transit: a micro modelling approach

This paper examines the perceptions and values of commuters in Toronto concerning public transit and the private car. Interviews were conducted at an office location readily accessible by car, bus or subway. Respondents were characterized by their predominant commuting mode and provided ratings of the perceived benefits of the modes available. Respondents then completed a conjoint analysis task designed to estimate their trade-offs, or the extent to which they were prepared to sacrifice on one aspect of a commuting journey in order to gain on another. The conjoint analysis used a fractional factorial design allowing main effects and two way interactions to be estimated.The conjoint analysis methodology is used to develop benefit segments and evaluate methods of marketing public transit.     

Review Essay: Thinking About War

Sociological Forum -     

浅谈做好档案利用反馈信息处理工作

档案利用反馈信息处理工作是档案管理系统中的一个重要环节.通过对反馈信息的分析研究,可以发现档案管理系统中存在的问题,从而从总体上促进档案工作的发展.然而,当前不少单位对档案利用反馈信息处理工作并未给予充分的重视,直接影响了这项工作的发展.     

Pseudo-science and Dividing Practices: a genealogy of the first educational provision for pupils with learning difficulties

Two of Michel Foucault's concepts are used to frame the analysis of the impact of the first dominant form of educational provision for pupils with learning difficulties. The historical background is that of elementary education a century ago and the conjuncture of two Royal Commissions whose deliberations effectively divided the school population into the normal and the exceptional. The definition which identified the exceptional pupil was faulty from the outset, but prevailed over several decades in legislation and secured the dominance of the medical profession in the field. At first, the recommendation for the location of educational provision was ambiguous. The London School Board employed the definition in a particular manner to establish a network of segregated special schools. That became the dominant model, but there was simultaneously available a successful example in another Board of inclusive education for the exceptional children which rejected both the definition and segregation.     

‘MUSIC WHILE YOU WORK’: TEENAGE WOMEN IN THE AUSTRALIAN LABOUR MARKET, 1947 TO 1992

Teenage women have been particularly disadvantaged by the collapse of the youth labour market over the last 20 years. This article outlines the dimension of that problem, comparing the position young women held in the teenage labour market in the late 1940s with their position today. While the 1950s and 1960s saw growth in some areas of paid work for teenage women, the 1970s marked a watershed. With the major exception of saleswork in the retail industry and clerical work in banking, teenage women saw their place in the labour market dramatically shrink during that decade. Nearly 30,000 full-time jobs disappeared during the 1970s, to be replaced by nearly the same number of part-time jobs. The 1980s has seen these developments reach crisis proportions. In the late 1980s, nearly 40,000 clerical jobs were lost to teenage women, and again the only significant employment growth was in casualised service sector jobs, such as cashiers and sales workers. This article concludes by exploring the structural reasons behind these dramatic long-term changes.     

Rotation of principal components: choice of normalization constraints

Following a principal component analysis, it is fairly common practice to rotate some of the components, often using orthogonal rotation. It is a frequent misconception that orthogonal rotation will produce rotated components which are pairwise uncorrelated, and/or whose loadings are orthogonal In fact, it is not possible, using the standard definition of rotation, to preserve both these properties. Which of the two properties is preserved depends on the normalization chosen for the loadings, prior to rotation. The usual 'default' normalization leads to rotated components which possess neither property.     

Strategy and flexibility in the smaller business

In this article the author considers the advantages of the small business and then considers the strategic implications which relate to these advantages. He concludes that it is essential that a strategy be developed for a small business taking the form of a long-linked series of short-term plans which take advantage of the business assets.     

RESPONDING TO FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION: THE AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE IN CONTEXT

The increasing number of migrant women and girls in Australia affected by female genital mutilation (PGM) presents a significant challenge for public policy. Addressing FGM requires an understanding of the practice, its incidence and consequences; as of the cultural patterns and belief systems that underwrite it in those countries where it is commonly practised. Australian policy and programmatic responses to FGM are placed in the context of both international initiatives and those in other countries of settlement, and the underlying principles that guide effective FGM policy development identified.