School of Social and Political Sciences - Theses

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    A failed innovation?: General practitioners in community health centres
    Payne, Lorna ( 1993)
    This paper seeks to examine central policy and practice issues arising out of the presence of doctors in community health centres. The community health program was shaped by the Whitlam era and there were great hopes for its success in delivering new forms of health services. Integral to it was the presence of G.P.'s working from community health centres. The research aims at discovering whether or not community health has successfully incorporated G.P.'s into the program. (From Introduction)
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    How the NCA conceptualises organized crime
    Elliott, Victoria ( 1997)
    The National Crime Authority (NCA) was established to both investigate and disrupt organized criminal activity. Within the NCA, a Strategic Intelligence Unit (SIU) has been established to undertake assessments of the criminal environment and assist in prioritising areas of work for the Authority. However, there has been an enduring debate in both academic and law enforcement fields about the most appropriate conceptualisation of organized crime. The present thesis has investigated the ways in which personnel within the NCA conceptualise organized crime and apply those conceptualisations to management and investigative tasks. In particular, the definition of organized crime and the associated conceptualisation of that crime developed by the SIU has been compared with the perspectives of a range of other Authority personnel emerging from a series of 21 in-depth interviews. Analysis of the interviews reveal that while the SIU's conceptualisation of organized crime is close to that of the academic community, operational and management personnel adopt conceptualisations which arise from the specific work environments in which they operate. The thesis concludes that the needs of strategic planning, management of complex inter-agency investigations, and operational prioritisation will be better met by closer communication and co-operation between the operational and strategic areas of the Authority.
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    Integrity testing and police accountability: a question of balance
    O'Neill, Michael J. ( 1998)
    Allegations of widespread corruption have resulted in the Victoria Police Force adopting an integrity testing strategy. Integrity testing was developed by the New York City Police Department in the 1970’s and involves the creation of a situation designed to provoke a response from a targeted police member to ascertain whether that member is involved in the commission of criminal or disciplinary offences. Despite the adoption of integrity testing by the Victoria Police there is no empirical evidence concerning its effectiveness or its relevance to the Victorian criminal justice system. Whilst there is already a considerable range of mechanisms affecting police accountability, integrity testing has a number of advantages that make it attractive to police administrators. Integrity testing is considered a significant deterrent to unethical behaviour within the ranks, and augments the range of options available to investigators to pursue their investigations. Integrity testing can however erode the positive aspects of police culture and if applied maliciously could result in a police officer being entrapped into committing offences. Although there is no substantial defence of entrapment in Australia the nature of the criminal justice system should ensure that individuals are not convicted of offences arising from an unjust test. The thesis argues that these safeguards are not available under the Victoria Police disciplinary system and it is irresponsible to permit integrity testing for suspected breaches of disciplinary regulations. Covert investigations such as integrity tests have been used by police for some time to facilitate investigations of criminal behaviour outside the ranks. These techniques have been accepted by the courts and are an indication that integrity testing is commensurate with the values and expectations of the judiciary. The depth and scope of the corrupt practices must be weighed against the potentially devastating effect integrity testing can have on the positive aspects of police subculture, only after this equation is calculated can one conclude that integrity testing has net benefits for both the community and the Victoria Police Force. In any event Force Command should ensure that there are appropriate monitoring protocols in place to ensure that integrity testing has a positive, rather than a negative effect on policing in the state of Victoria.