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The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between sexual health principles and the procurement of sexual services. Most that has been written about sex work has been done so from the perspective of deviancy; in contrast, recent work examining the practice of sex work has explored and evidenced how emotional and intimacy needs are met through procurement. Recognising the conventional aspects of procuring sexual services, this paper seeks to examine and understand this social practice through applying Braun-Harvey and Vigorito’s (2015) six principles of sexual health.

Based on a mixed method approach, this paper presents findings from a survey consisting of a sample of 309 men who procure sexual services and 20 interviews from a sub-sample of the men who were surveyed and female sex workers who provide such services.

The findings illustrate the reasons for men’s procurement of sexual services, which corroborate with the accounts of women who sell the services and reflect how the procurement of sexual services align with principles of sexual health, which, in turn, challenge the stigma of buying sex.

The practical implications of this study are: provision of examining and understanding sex work through the principles of sexual health; provision of a framework to examine and understand sex work in a less stigmatising way; support for the growth of sexual health and criminal justice research; and provision of a platform for further research examining sexual health, sex work and decriminalisation.

This study is unique as it brings together principles of sexual health as a tool for examining the procurement of sexual services, a practice that is demonised in many parts of the globe. A consequence of this study is its presentation of a novel understanding for the social practice of procurement that aides in both challenging the stigmatisation and criminalisation of sex work.

A central tenet for safer communities is having a healthy police force. This study aims to understand what police forces should and need to be doing to safeguard police officer wellness by examining the existing scientific evidence on police well-being.

Drawing on the Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Articles, this paper has adopted a case study approach to examine effective practices and approaches for safeguarding police officer wellness.

The research presented in this paper yields fours themes, providing contemporary evidence for responding to and safeguarding police officer wellness.

This paper yields several implications for policy and practice. An evidence-based approach to be adopted by policing organisations for dealing with police officer wellness. An improvement to police officer support and prevention of stigma towards those who are suffering from poor mental health. Training for police managers in dealing with police officer wellness. Continuous monitoring and evaluation of police organisation efficacy in dealing with police officer wellness.

Much has been written about police officer mental health and well-being over the past decade, yet arguably, there has been limited attention paid to assessing the evidence and making sense of what this growing volume of research is advocating. This paper seeks to address this deficit in the research and provide a review of the published research with regards to police wellness.

This study examines identity theft as a significant and growing issue in Australia, not only due to its financial impact but also because of the emotional, psychological, and physical harm it causes, making it a public health concern. This study aims to analyse the results of the 2019 Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) survey to identify factors associated with an increased likelihood of identity theft victimisation.

This study involved a detailed analysis of the 2019 AIC survey, which had 9,968 respondents from a sample of 10,000. The research focused on whether respondents had ever been victimised by identity theft and analysed various characteristics, including demographics (gender, age, Indigenous status, education), income, computer usage, and preventive technology use, as potential indicators of future victimisation. Univariate analyses (chi-squared test and two-sample t-test) were used to assess individual associations, whereas a multivariate analysis (logistic regression) identified significant predictors of victimisation.

The univariate analyses indicated that all sub-variables were individually associated with identity theft victimisation. However, the multivariate analysis revealed that only identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, having an income between $18,201 and $37,000, and using multiple preventive technologies were significant predictors of victimisation. The unexpected finding that increased preventive technology use correlates with a higher risk of victimisation contradicts the survey’s suggestion that victims adopt more careful behaviour post-victimisation.

The research highlights the need for further investigation into the counterintuitive finding that greater use of preventive technologies may increase the risk of identity theft. Understanding this discrepancy could inform the development of more effective identity theft prevention strategies by the government and related agencies.

This study contributes to the existing literature by offering a nuanced understanding of the factors associated with identity theft victimisation in Australia that may be applicable globally. The unexpected findings regarding the use of preventive technologies provide a basis for further research and have the potential to influence future policymaking and identity theft prevention efforts.

Criminology both as a field of study and as a practice draws on a broad range of disciplines from the social, behavioural, human, natural and medical sciences. However, over recent times, the natural and medical sciences have been dismissed, overlooked and even ridiculed, largely since the rise of critical criminology and related contemporary conflict and social harm approaches from the 1960s onwards. This has led to a chasm emerging between the study of criminology and the practice of criminology such as within a policing context. This paper aims to provide a review of an emerging forensic biological method, that of neuroscience, within a criminological context, to illustrate the importance of criminology embracing and reawakening its natural and medical science roots.

The paper draws on a conceptual design to realign criminology with the full range of disciplines used to inform its theory and application.

Through illustrating the role of forensic neuroscience, the paper reawakens the scientific method and inquiry of criminology reflecting the importance of the discipline being, and remaining, multi- and trans-disciplinary in nature. The paper, while reflecting on the limitations of scientific method and inquiry, outlines the strengths this approach to criminology engenders, promoting and delivering a scientific-based research agenda that aims to support industry partners in the prevention, disruption and reduction of crime, disorder and threats to public security.

Firstly, it is important for criminology as a field of study to (re)engage with its scientific method and inquiry. Secondly, criminology, by engaging in robust scientific method and inquiry, has a significant contribution to make to professional practice and the work of industry professionals. Thirdly, while there are limitations to such scientific method and inquiry, it should not lead to this component of criminology being discarded. Fourthly, there is a need for contemporary research in the area of scientific method and inquiry and its application to criminological contexts, including that of police practice. Finally, by engaging in scientific method and inquiry that is evidence based, a chasm between the field of study and the practice associated with criminology can be addressed.

This paper addresses the gap between criminology as a field of study and as a practice by reengaging with scientific method and inquiry, illustrating the need and value of criminology being and remaining multi- and trans-disciplinary, ensuring professions underpinned by criminology are supported in their practice.

The study aims to examine the nature of gaslighting and how it relates to interpersonal aggression.

It does so first through application of a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) to understand how gaslighting is understood academically. This RAE captured 50 articles, with 12 retained for thematic review. Results were then used to develop a gaslighting behaviour measure, which was then applied in an online study of adults (n = 386; 77.2% women).

Five themes were identified from the REA: components of gaslighting; gaslighting as a tool for abuse; perpetrators as damaged manipulators; experiences and characteristics of victims; and institutional and racial gaslighting. In the ensuing study, results demonstrated that emotional abuse was broadly related both to the perpetration and experiencing of gaslighting, indicating that it may represent an extension of emotional abuse. The relationship to trait aggression was limited and primarily isolated to victims presenting with higher levels of trait aggression capturing more emotional components (e.g. anger/hostility).

The importance of context in understanding the relationship between gaslighting, emotional abuse and aggression was indicated, with some complexity found. Suggestions for future research are made.

Accounting for context in understanding gaslighting is key. Developing and validating measures for gaslighting would assist with the evaluation of this behaviour. When working with those who have a history of emotional abuse, considering gaslighting as a further element is potentially important. It should not be assumed that gaslighting has an association with non-emotional aggression; the type of relationship where it is occurring is important.

This study is the first to consider the development of a gaslighting measure, which is informed by a methodological review of the literature.

This study aims to investigate the perspectives and experiences of treatment facilitators regarding the effectiveness of treatment they delivered for high-risk offenders with complex needs. Within this study, the term complex needs refers to an individual who is managing several issues, such as physical illness, mental health issues and addiction disorders.

There was a total of 18 semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted with treatment facilitators from Australia and the UK. This study presents two key themes that emerged from the thematic analysis: “the importance of responsivity and active/creative activities in practice” and “the practitioner’s core concerns: issues with high-risk offenders treatment accessibility”.

The findings revealed that treatment facilitators considered treatment responsivity as core to treatment for high-risk offenders with complex needs and that active/creative activities were beneficial in achieving this. Additionally, treatment facilitators expressed concerns around the inaccessibility of treatment, including the barriers of talk therapy and the inability for offenders to receive the level of support necessary. Considering these findings, this study offers a discussion on the potential value of music therapy as a component of treatment for such offending populations.

The empirical data yielded from the interviewed treatment facilitators highlight that music therapy can play a role in supporting the beneficial components of treatment programs. Further implications centre on addressing the limitations of treatment that were identified through the interviews.

This study focusses on exploring the role of music therapy with high-risk offenders and who have complex needs when engaging in treatment programs. This paper recognises that the application and use of music therapy with this cohort has been neglected in the academic literature and research until recently.

The role of the media in supporting an understanding of the social world is well documented. The representation of homosexuals in the media can therefore impact on homophobia within society. The purpose of this paper is to examine how homosexuals are portrayed in the media generally, before examining and comparing newspaper reports of homosexual aggression with heterosexual aggression.

Utilising a new and innovative research methodology, an integrated grounded behavioural linguistic inquiry (IGBLI) approach, four daily newspapers in circulation within the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia are examined.

While there are similarities in the way print media report on these aggressive incidents, the differences which emerge from the findings are of interest which require further, more in-depth study.

To extend the methodology of IGBLI to other forms of media content in order to further validate the approach. To reduce the differences between LGBTI news reports and heterosexual news reports. To hold the media to account for the ways in which they express their content. To encourage users of the media, in particular print media, to be critical of what they read.

Typically, analysis of media utilises the research method of content analysis. This paper adopts a new and innovative research method, an IGBLI approach, which incorporates a behavioural assessment in the form of a SORC.