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In this paper, we offer a conjunctural analysis of policing and incarceration, examining their expansion in relation to structural economic conditions over the last 50 years and interrogating how the sudden onset of the Covid-19 pandemic enabled extraordinary growth in policing powers in the Australian jurisdictions of New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria (VIC). We examine how popular support for police-led responses to crisis and fines as a common-sense solution to social problems were sought during the period that the Public Health Orders were in effect in the two states. We argue that the discursive project of naturalizing the police-led response to the pandemic—via official communications from the state governments as well as media coverage of the pandemic—attempts to further entrench a vision of law and order governance in which infrastructures of discipline and punishment are necessary and inevitable. We identify this vision as a direct barrier to abolition and a significant limit on the capacity to imagine alternative frameworks for justice. We end by considering a small archive of tweets from users in NSW and VIC published on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter (now called X) in 2020–21. We argue that this archive registers the way the common-sense status of the fine as an efficient, effective, and equitable punishment gives way to punitive fantasies about police and prisons. We read this archive alongside the broad refusal to pay Covid-related fines and the ongoing legal disputes contesting the legitimacy of their issuance, concluding by proposing that the conjunctural moment of the Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to unresolved contradictions between the naturalized logic of law and order crisis management and the potential for this logic to come undone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Partnered Pharmacist Medication Charting (PPMC) in patients admitted under general medical units has been shown to reduce medication errors. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the PPMC model on medication errors in patients admitted under cancer units in Victorian hospitals. Methods: A prospective cohort study comparing cohorts before and after the introduction of PPMC was conducted. This included a 2-month pre-intervention phase and 3-month intervention phase. PPMC was implemented during the intervention phase as new model of care that enabled credentialed pharmacists to chart all admission medications, including pre-admission or new medications and cancer therapies, in collaboration with the admitting medical officer. The proportion of medication charts with at least one error was the primary outcome measure. Results: Seven health services across Victoria were included in the study. The majority of health services were using paper-based prescribing systems for oncology. Of the 547 patients who received standard medical medication charting, 331 (60.5%) had at least one medication error identified compared to 18 out of 416 patients (4.3%) using the PPMC model (p < 0.001). The median (interquartile range) inpatient length of stay was 5 (2.9–10.6) days in pre-intervention and 4.9 (2.9–11) days in intervention (p = 0.88). In the intervention arm, 42 patients had cancer therapy charted by a pharmacist with no errors. Conclusions: PPMC was successfully scaled into cancer units as a collaborative medication safety strategy. The model was associated with significantly lower rates of medication errors, including cancer therapies. PPMC should be adopted more widely in cancer units in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian early childhood education and care [ECEC] has faced a series of change and reform since 2009, including the introduction and later revisions of key curriculum and qualify frameworks, increased qualifications, shifting theoretical knowledge and pedagogies, and challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, early childhood professionals [ECPs] have been confronted with a succession of substantial changes impacting their professional practice. This paper reports on a qualitative, post-structural study identifying workplace and learning discourses as key influences for the reform engagement of eleven ECPs from kindergarten settings in Victoria, Australia. Foucauldian Discourse Analysis [FDA] revealed specific subjective positions and discursive practices among participants. Recommendations are offered to address issues related to the uptake of reform initiatives. It is anticipated that these findings may generate greater opportunities to support our existing, emerging and future generations of ECPs as they lead the transformation of ECEC and transition through complex times of uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives : We test which neighborhood characteristics are associated with perceived control over victimization and how the neighborhood context explains differences between women's and men's perceived control. Methods: Drawing upon administrative data and a survey of 2,862 participants living in 80 neighborhoods in Victoria, Australia, we make a distinction between broader characteristics of the neighborhood, community processes, and gendered neighborhood dynamics. We run a series of multilevel mixed effects regression models to examine the relationship between individual-level perceptions of control over victimization and the neighborhood. Results: Results indicate that a concentration of low-income households in the neighborhood is associated with residents reporting less control over their victimization. Furthermore, the interaction revealed higher crime in the neighborhood lowered women's perceived control while heightening men's perceived control over victimization. Conclusions: Gender remained strongly associated with perceived control over victimization throughout the analysis despite extensive testing of general and gendered neighborhood conditions that may account for differences between women and men. The results found that overall crime rates were the only feature that assisted in explaining the differences between women and men. Future research must seek to better capture the environmental conditions that can account for the difference between women's and men's perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family violence and mental health are pervasive and wicked problems, and the state of Victoria (Australia) has emphasised these areas of focus through two dedicated Royal Commissions. Despite the increased prioritisation of mental health and family violence and recognition of existing systems and policy failures, research into the overlap of these two areas remains limited. This article examines the unique and elevated risk factors of mental health consumers experiencing coercive control and poor system experiences/intervention outcomes as victim-survivors. Utilising lived experience accounts from the Royal Commission into Family Violence and the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System, this study qualitatively analyses 60 submissions and draws compelling parallels between consumer and victim-survivor experiences, and examines how they intersect at critical junctures to exacerbate risk. The findings suggest that mental health consumers have existing experiences and identity aspects that put them at high risk of being targeted by coercive control and experiencing unique tactics of abuse related to their mental health diagnoses. This article highlights that lived experience expertise is essential for bridging the gap in policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Current Sociology is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Drawing on data from a prospective pregnancy cohort (N = 1,507), this study examines the relationship between exposure to physical and emotional intimate partner violence (IPV) across the first 10 years of motherhood and women's mental and physical health. A measure of IPV (Composite Abuse Scale) was included at 1, 4, and 10 years postpartum. Past year and prior experiences of IPV were associated with mental and physical health issues at 10 years, both for mothers who had experienced combined IPV and emotional IPV alone. Awareness of the health issues associated with different types of IPV can assist in tailoring responses for women who experience IPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Second World War saw a sharp rise in bigamy prosecutions in Australia. A variety of factors contributed to this phenomenon, from the whirlwind nature of romances contracted during wartime to increased detection resulting from investigations into military spousal support. This article explores the connections between bigamy prosecutions, war and military enlistment through archival records and media coverage of 159 cases committed for trial across 1914–1945 that involved active or returned servicemen as either bigamy defendants or victims of bigamous spouses. These cases also reveal shifting attitudes towards and experiences of bigamy, marriage, and gender in twentieth-century Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Effective primary healthcare services have been identified by the World Health Organization as the most equitable approach to enhancing universal healthcare. Robust models of mentoring for registered nurses (RNs) transitioning to primary healthcare roles have yet to be described in the Australian context. A robust mentoring model can support RNs to fulfill their potential, bridging the gap between theory and practice. In 2015, the peak body for nurses in primary health care (PHC) began developing a transition to practice program, including embedded mentoring to support newly graduated and more experienced registered and enrolled nurses. This quality improvement study reports the experiences and perspectives of nurses participating as mentors in two separate offerings of the program delivered between 2019 and 2021. Method: A two-phase concurrent mixed methods evaluation utilized data from pre- and post online surveys and post program meetings. Quantitative items underwent descriptive analyses. Thematic analysis of free-text responses and comments was conducted independently by two researchers. Mentors voluntarily provided self-report data and were informed that data is routinely collected to support continuous quality improvement processes for all programs. An Information Sheet informed mentors of data usage, confidentiality, and options to withdraw without penalty from the program at any time. Results: Seventy-nine mentors were recruited to support two groups of nurses (N = 111). Mentor self-rated overall satisfaction with program participation was 86.67% (very or extremely satisfied). Mentors described being "witness to mentee growth," "having facilitated access to learning" and receiving "unexpected benefits" including personal and professional growth and enhanced enthusiasm for their role in PHC. Conclusion: The embedded mentoring reported in this article combined a focus on skills acquisition and professional identity with the provision of a range of resources and support activities. Sustainable mentoring programs will be an important mechanism for supporting the expanding roles required of nurses working in primary health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]