title: Acute Assessment of Aggression: Using the Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression (DASA) with New Zealand Offenders

authors: Lang, Veronika

subjects: Aggression

abstract: Institutional violence in prisons and other corrections settings is a hazard to the security and wellbeing of staff and other offenders.  However, the ability to systematically assess for acute, day-to-day aggression in these settings has not been widely developed. Staff assessing aggression in institutional settings ought to use risk assessment measures to aid professional judgement, and this research suggests a need for dynamic, acute risk assessment for aggression amongst New Zealand offenders. The Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression (DASA; Ogloff & Daffern, 2006) was created originally for use amongst psychiatric inpatients. This research aimed to evaluate the use of the DASA for custodial staff in acute risk assessment and offender treatment in different prison units for its potential to fill this niche.
Predictive accuracy of the measure in relation to aggressive behaviour was examined, and custodial staff were surveyed on the ease of administration, their perception of the measure’s effectiveness with their unit, and whether its addition improved offender management. Staff consisted of prison officers and a principle correctional officer in each of the three prison-based units, and custodial management staff at Tai Aroha. These staff nominated offenders (N = 19) on agreement of them being of highest management concern.
Results found the DASA to demonstrate moderate predictive validity, with survival analyses showing high scores on the DASA were associated with highly aggressive offenders. Most staff identified the DASA as assisting in identifying those offenders that were a high risk for aggression. Implications for practice in corrections settings are discussed.

text: Acute Assessment of Aggression: Using the Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression (DASA) with New Zealand Offenders Institutional violence in prisons and other corrections settings is a hazard to the security and wellbeing of staff and other offenders.  However, the ability to systematically assess for acute, day-to-day aggression in these settings has not been widely developed. Staff assessing aggression in institutional settings ought to use risk assessment measures to aid professional judgement, and this research suggests a need for dynamic, acute risk assessment for aggression amongst New Zealand offenders. The Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression (DASA; Ogloff & Daffern, 2006) was created originally for use amongst psychiatric inpatients. This research aimed to evaluate the use of the DASA for custodial staff in acute risk assessment and offender treatment in different prison units for its potential to fill this niche.
Predictive accuracy of the measure in relation to aggressive behaviour was examined, and custodial staff were surveyed on the ease of administration, their perception of the measure’s effectiveness with their unit, and whether its addition improved offender management. Staff consisted of prison officers and a principle correctional officer in each of the three prison-based units, and custodial management staff at Tai Aroha. These staff nominated offenders (N = 19) on agreement of them being of highest management concern.
Results found the DASA to demonstrate moderate predictive validity, with survival analyses showing high scores on the DASA were associated with highly aggressive offenders. Most staff identified the DASA as assisting in identifying those offenders that were a high risk for aggression. Implications for practice in corrections settings are discussed.

year: 2015

title: Do mindfulness and exercise reduce occupational stress and burnout? A meta-analysis

authors: Shuker, Anna Jane

subjects: Mindfulness

abstract: The effects of job stress and burnout pose a large threat to employee health and organisational success in modern society. Company spending is highly affected by increased employee turnover, absenteeism, stress-related sick leave, and other issues that arise from exposure to workplace stress. For these reasons, organisations often implement stress management initiatives such as mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) to help manage stress and prevent burnout. Mindfulness-based interventions have already provided researchers with significant results in workplace stress reduction, therefore, the purpose of this present study was to examine this relationship whilst investigating exercise as a potential moderating variable. This was achieved by conducting a meta-analysis of 17 controlled and uncontrolled studies and calculating a combined effect size using meta-analysis software. The combined effect size (Hedge’s g) for all controlled mindfulness-based intervention studies was 1.366 (95% confidence interval = 0.678, 2.055), a very large, significant effect. The combined effect size for controlled studies whilst accounting for exercise as a moderator was 0.992 (95% confidence interval = 0.386, 1.597), which also indicates a very large effect. Due to a lack of studies in the extant literature which incorporated moderate to high intensity exercise, it was not possible to examine the impact of different intensities of exercise on workplace mindfulness-based interventions. In order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of mindfulness, future research needs to incorporate exercise of moderate to high intensities, as well as examine the potential mediators of the main relationship between mindfulness, job stress, and burnout. This meta-analysis should encourage organisations to use mindfulness-based interventions to improve employee well-being.

text: Do mindfulness and exercise reduce occupational stress and burnout? A meta-analysis The effects of job stress and burnout pose a large threat to employee health and organisational success in modern society. Company spending is highly affected by increased employee turnover, absenteeism, stress-related sick leave, and other issues that arise from exposure to workplace stress. For these reasons, organisations often implement stress management initiatives such as mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) to help manage stress and prevent burnout. Mindfulness-based interventions have already provided researchers with significant results in workplace stress reduction, therefore, the purpose of this present study was to examine this relationship whilst investigating exercise as a potential moderating variable. This was achieved by conducting a meta-analysis of 17 controlled and uncontrolled studies and calculating a combined effect size using meta-analysis software. The combined effect size (Hedge’s g) for all controlled mindfulness-based intervention studies was 1.366 (95% confidence interval = 0.678, 2.055), a very large, significant effect. The combined effect size for controlled studies whilst accounting for exercise as a moderator was 0.992 (95% confidence interval = 0.386, 1.597), which also indicates a very large effect. Due to a lack of studies in the extant literature which incorporated moderate to high intensity exercise, it was not possible to examine the impact of different intensities of exercise on workplace mindfulness-based interventions. In order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of mindfulness, future research needs to incorporate exercise of moderate to high intensities, as well as examine the potential mediators of the main relationship between mindfulness, job stress, and burnout. This meta-analysis should encourage organisations to use mindfulness-based interventions to improve employee well-being.

year: 2018

title: Moehewa: Death, lifestyle and sexuality in the Maori world

authors: Nikora, Linda Waimarie

subjects: Maori

abstract: Customary death ritual and traditional practice have continued for the Maori (indigenous) people of Aotearoa/New Zealand, despite intensive missionary incursion and the colonial process. This paper critically considers what occurs when the deceased is different, in a most significant way. What happens when you die – and you are Maori and any one, or a combination, of the following: a queen, takatapui, butch, like that, gay, she-male, lesbian, transsexual, a dyke, intersex, tomboy, kamp, drag, homosexual, or just queer? Who remembers you and how? Same sex relationships today are still discouraged or denied, although traditional chant and Maori visual narratives record such liaisons and erotic experience as joyously normal. And yet some people choose to remain in the closet. With three case studies, we reflect on mourning rituals or tangi – Maori death rites, in a same sex relationship, or for a gay, lesbian or transsexual family member. We use the Maori term takatapui to refer to these partnerships.

text: Moehewa: Death, lifestyle and sexuality in the Maori world Customary death ritual and traditional practice have continued for the Maori (indigenous) people of Aotearoa/New Zealand, despite intensive missionary incursion and the colonial process. This paper critically considers what occurs when the deceased is different, in a most significant way. What happens when you die – and you are Maori and any one, or a combination, of the following: a queen, takatapui, butch, like that, gay, she-male, lesbian, transsexual, a dyke, intersex, tomboy, kamp, drag, homosexual, or just queer? Who remembers you and how? Same sex relationships today are still discouraged or denied, although traditional chant and Maori visual narratives record such liaisons and erotic experience as joyously normal. And yet some people choose to remain in the closet. With three case studies, we reflect on mourning rituals or tangi – Maori death rites, in a same sex relationship, or for a gay, lesbian or transsexual family member. We use the Maori term takatapui to refer to these partnerships.

year: 2013