The effective treatment of drug using offenders: the impact of treatment modality, coercion and treatment readiness on criminal recidivism. Drug use is associated with significant health, social, and economic costs. Given the established drug-crime connection and the high rate of relapse among drug-using offenders, the outcomes of this research will assist policymakers in identifying clinically and cost effective approaches to service delivery. Moreover, in view of the debate that surrounds the ....The effective treatment of drug using offenders: the impact of treatment modality, coercion and treatment readiness on criminal recidivism. Drug use is associated with significant health, social, and economic costs. Given the established drug-crime connection and the high rate of relapse among drug-using offenders, the outcomes of this research will assist policymakers in identifying clinically and cost effective approaches to service delivery. Moreover, in view of the debate that surrounds the efficacy of coerced treatment, and the extent to which Australia should follow the United States of America’s lead of mandating treatment for all substance using offenders, the project will test the proposition that compulsory treatment has positive outcomes in terms of reductions in recidivism.Read moreRead less
Creating perceptual experts in Australia's policing and security agencies. This project aims to create the next generation of experts in Australia’s policing and national security agencies, by improving crime scene evidence interpretation. Agencies are under pressure to develop more rigorous training practices that go beyond mere intuition and tradition. This project will use a novel approach that directs learning toward the most diagnostic perceptual cues. Expected outcomes include a solid empi ....Creating perceptual experts in Australia's policing and security agencies. This project aims to create the next generation of experts in Australia’s policing and national security agencies, by improving crime scene evidence interpretation. Agencies are under pressure to develop more rigorous training practices that go beyond mere intuition and tradition. This project will use a novel approach that directs learning toward the most diagnostic perceptual cues. Expected outcomes include a solid empirical basis for national training programs designed to create experts that are accurate, reliable, and continuously improving. Improving the training of experts will ensure the integrity of forensics as evidentiary tools available to police, lead to more reliable courtroom convictions and help safeguard Australia from terrorism and crime.Read moreRead less
Threshold Decisions in Determining Whether to Prosecute Child Sexual Abuse. The objective of this project is new knowledge about the way police and prosecutors make decisions about the prosecution of child sexual assault that could be used to influence policy and practice. Few cases of child sexual abuse reported to the police ever go to court but recent research in New South Wales for the Royal Commission indicates that the proportion has declined sharply over the last decade or so. This projec ....Threshold Decisions in Determining Whether to Prosecute Child Sexual Abuse. The objective of this project is new knowledge about the way police and prosecutors make decisions about the prosecution of child sexual assault that could be used to influence policy and practice. Few cases of child sexual abuse reported to the police ever go to court but recent research in New South Wales for the Royal Commission indicates that the proportion has declined sharply over the last decade or so. This project aims to examine how police and prosecutors decide which cases proceed and why, and how they confer with each other as well as when and how they consult with complainants and their families. This project plans to also develop and test practice tools and principles for police and prosecutors with expected benefits for both them and the families involved.Read moreRead less
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal sex-offenders in Australia: Assessing risk for practice and policy. A key priority of Australian governments is to improve community safety through reducing the risk of sex offenders re-offending after release from prison. This project will assess the validity of tools used to predict the risk of sexual offender recidivism and identify alternate risk assessment tools for Indigenous and non-Indigenous sex offenders.
Determining elements that underpin learning of child-witness interviewing. This project aims to investigate the elements that underpin the learning of child witness interviewing skills. Preliminary indications from pioneering research suggest that positive change in interviewer behaviour is achievable. This project aims to extend that work on a larger scale. Expected outcomes include knowledge about the conditions under which skill acquisition is effective for different learners in disparate con ....Determining elements that underpin learning of child-witness interviewing. This project aims to investigate the elements that underpin the learning of child witness interviewing skills. Preliminary indications from pioneering research suggest that positive change in interviewer behaviour is achievable. This project aims to extend that work on a larger scale. Expected outcomes include knowledge about the conditions under which skill acquisition is effective for different learners in disparate contexts, and how skills can be maintained over the long term. The findings will guide the planning and implementation of interviewer training programs and contribute to improved interview quality and better justice outcomes for child complainants of abuse.Read moreRead less
The neuroscience of group membership and its effects on action perception and empathy. People belong to different groups and sometimes group membership can lead to discrimination of people outside the group. This project will use brain imaging techniques to understand better how our brains make group distinctions and how this can sometimes lead to discrimination of other people.
Killing which averts suffering: the role of norms and empathy. Abattoir workers and butchers kill animals to prepare food, farmers to cull stock, and veterinarians to alleviate suffering. Soldiers kill other humans in war, police or security guards to protect the public, and doctors to enact legal euthanasia. Research shows that these tasks can be confronting, and even traumatic. This project aims to test the processes through which people learn socially supported palliative killing to avert suf ....Killing which averts suffering: the role of norms and empathy. Abattoir workers and butchers kill animals to prepare food, farmers to cull stock, and veterinarians to alleviate suffering. Soldiers kill other humans in war, police or security guards to protect the public, and doctors to enact legal euthanasia. Research shows that these tasks can be confronting, and even traumatic. This project aims to test the processes through which people learn socially supported palliative killing to avert suffering and their neural underpinnings, with a focus on norms and empathic distress. It will focus on two core samples: veterinarians, who must euthanize animals, and health practitioners in Victoria, where legal changes will introduce ‘voluntary assisted dying’ in mid-2019. It will investigate how practitioners learn palliative killing, and what the impact is on psychological variables such as empathy and identity. It will generate new understandings of social influence around life and death decisions, provide an evidence basis to inform policy makers, and help institutions and practitioners seeking to manage distress and respond to fast-moving, controversial policy changes.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100120
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$374,973.00
Summary
How do we become aware of stimuli in our spatial environment? The brain constantly creates an awareness of the stimuli in our spatial environment but at the moment it is unclear how different brain regions integrate spatial and stimulus information. The aim of this project is to better understand this integration by using a combination of brain imaging and brain stimulation techniques.
CogChip: development of a targeted genotyping chip for executive function. This project aims to use DNA sequencing technology to identify the genetics of executive function. Our capacities to focus on a task at hand, to filter distractions and to inhibit unwanted impulses, are collectively referred to as executive functions. Executive function varies on a continuum in the general population across the lifespan, with individual differences largely due to differences in underlying genetics. The pr ....CogChip: development of a targeted genotyping chip for executive function. This project aims to use DNA sequencing technology to identify the genetics of executive function. Our capacities to focus on a task at hand, to filter distractions and to inhibit unwanted impulses, are collectively referred to as executive functions. Executive function varies on a continuum in the general population across the lifespan, with individual differences largely due to differences in underlying genetics. The project proposes to leverage this knowledge to develop a customised genotyping chip, which may find application for prediction of individual differences in executive ability across multiple settings including education and industry. Expected outcomes for the project will include breakthrough insights into the biology of cognition, and a genetic read-out of individual differences in executive ability, which could have broad application including the potential to facilitate the targeting of cognitive, educational or workplace training for those most at risk of adverse outcomes.Read moreRead less
Examining the relationship between error processing, cognitive control and emotion: a cognitive neuroscience approach. The proposed research aims to contribute to current scientific thinking on how the processing of errors influences self-monitoring and cognitive performance. The ability to monitor one's cognitive performance deteriorates with normal ageing, and is particularly affected in a range of clinical conditions, where it is a reliable predictor of a poor prognostic outcome. This project ....Examining the relationship between error processing, cognitive control and emotion: a cognitive neuroscience approach. The proposed research aims to contribute to current scientific thinking on how the processing of errors influences self-monitoring and cognitive performance. The ability to monitor one's cognitive performance deteriorates with normal ageing, and is particularly affected in a range of clinical conditions, where it is a reliable predictor of a poor prognostic outcome. This project aims to clarify understanding of the cognitive and neural processes underlying self-monitoring, as an important first step to improving rehabilitation and management methods for age-related impairments such as Alzheimer's disease, and prominent mental health conditions such as schizophrenia.Read moreRead less