title: Maximising potential: The psychological effects of the youth development programme Project K

authors: Furness, Kirsty

subjects: Adolescene

abstract: Project K is a positive youth development programme targeting 13-15 year old students with low self-efficacy. It involves three components: wilderness adventure, community challenge and individual mentoring. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate changes in self-efficacy, resilience, connectedness and wellbeing in students participating in Project K. Eighty students (59% male) were recruited from five secondary schools across the North Island of New Zealand for a quasi-experimental study. Participants displaying delinquent behaviour, self-harm, suicidal ideation, or an eating disorder were excluded. Over 14 months, six waves of measurement were completed by Project K participants (n = 49), while four waves of measurement were completed by a control group (n = 31). Analyses using multilevel models showed that completion of Project K had substantial positive effects on self-efficacy, resilience, and wellbeing, although the effect on connectedness was not significant. We conclude that Project K appears to be an effective positive youth development programme for adolescents with low self-efficacy.

text: Maximising potential: The psychological effects of the youth development programme Project K Project K is a positive youth development programme targeting 13-15 year old students with low self-efficacy. It involves three components: wilderness adventure, community challenge and individual mentoring. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate changes in self-efficacy, resilience, connectedness and wellbeing in students participating in Project K. Eighty students (59% male) were recruited from five secondary schools across the North Island of New Zealand for a quasi-experimental study. Participants displaying delinquent behaviour, self-harm, suicidal ideation, or an eating disorder were excluded. Over 14 months, six waves of measurement were completed by Project K participants (n = 49), while four waves of measurement were completed by a control group (n = 31). Analyses using multilevel models showed that completion of Project K had substantial positive effects on self-efficacy, resilience, and wellbeing, although the effect on connectedness was not significant. We conclude that Project K appears to be an effective positive youth development programme for adolescents with low self-efficacy.

year: 2017

title: On the ecogeomorphological feedbacks that control tidal channel network evolution in a sandy mangrove setting

authors: van Maanen, Barend

subjects: tidal channel networks, mangroves,

abstract: An ecomorphodynamic model was developed to study how Avicennia marina mangroves influence channel network evolution in sandy tidal embayments. The model accounts for the effects of mangrove trees on tidal flow patterns and sediment dynamics. Mangrove growth is in turn controlled by hydrodynamic conditions. The presence of mangroves was found to enhance the initiation and branching of tidal channels, partly because the extra flow resistance in mangrove forests favours flow concentration, and thus sediment erosion in between vegetated areas. The enhanced branching of channels is also the result of a vegetation-induced increase in erosion threshold. On the other hand, this reduction in bed erodibility, together with the soil expansion driven by organic matter production, reduces the landward expansion of channels. The ongoing accretion in mangrove forests ultimately drives a reduction in tidal prism and an overall retreat of the channel network. During sea-level rise, mangroves can potentially enhance the ability of the soil surface to maintain an elevation within the upper portion of the intertidal zone, while hindering both the branching and headward erosion of the landward expanding channels. The modelling results presented here indicate the critical control exerted by ecogeomorphological interactions in driving landscape evolution.

text: On the ecogeomorphological feedbacks that control tidal channel network evolution in a sandy mangrove setting An ecomorphodynamic model was developed to study how Avicennia marina mangroves influence channel network evolution in sandy tidal embayments. The model accounts for the effects of mangrove trees on tidal flow patterns and sediment dynamics. Mangrove growth is in turn controlled by hydrodynamic conditions. The presence of mangroves was found to enhance the initiation and branching of tidal channels, partly because the extra flow resistance in mangrove forests favours flow concentration, and thus sediment erosion in between vegetated areas. The enhanced branching of channels is also the result of a vegetation-induced increase in erosion threshold. On the other hand, this reduction in bed erodibility, together with the soil expansion driven by organic matter production, reduces the landward expansion of channels. The ongoing accretion in mangrove forests ultimately drives a reduction in tidal prism and an overall retreat of the channel network. During sea-level rise, mangroves can potentially enhance the ability of the soil surface to maintain an elevation within the upper portion of the intertidal zone, while hindering both the branching and headward erosion of the landward expanding channels. The modelling results presented here indicate the critical control exerted by ecogeomorphological interactions in driving landscape evolution.

year: 2015-06-23

title: Legal responses to mental health: Is therapeutic jurisprudence the answer – the experience in New Zealand

authors: Toki, Valmaine

abstract: The orthodox understanding of ‘ethics’ encompasses a system of moral principles that define good and bad behavior. When applied to mental health, various jurisdictions, including New Zealand, have codified these principles together with the obligations on health service providers to meet these codified principles and standards. Underpinning this relationship is one of mutual trust where the physician has a responsibility, for example, to secure informed consent prior to any treatment. The existence of this therapeutic relationship can be applied when an offender who presents with a mental illness is subject to the criminal justice system.

text: Legal responses to mental health: Is therapeutic jurisprudence the answer – the experience in New Zealand The orthodox understanding of ‘ethics’ encompasses a system of moral principles that define good and bad behavior. When applied to mental health, various jurisdictions, including New Zealand, have codified these principles together with the obligations on health service providers to meet these codified principles and standards. Underpinning this relationship is one of mutual trust where the physician has a responsibility, for example, to secure informed consent prior to any treatment. The existence of this therapeutic relationship can be applied when an offender who presents with a mental illness is subject to the criminal justice system.

year: 2017