Restorative justice has its critics but US criminologist Professor Alissa Ackerman says it can be a powerful way to promote healing for both victims and perpetrators.
“Despite evidence that restorative justice practices can provide accountability for individuals who have engaged in acts of sexual victimization and promote healing for those who have experienced sexual violence, many refute its validity,’’ she said.
Visiting Brisbane this month, Dr Ackerman presented a seminar – Vicarious Restorative Justice and Sexual Victimization – at Mt Gravatt campus on July 19, where she demonstrated how a vicarious restorative justice framework in the US is being used to success with individuals currently in treatment after committing sexual offences.”
The self-described ‘survivor’ scholar and professor of criminal justice from California State University has been teaching classes on sexual violence for more than 10 years.
“On the first day of class I explain to students that they have the unique opportunity to hear the personal perspective of
Category: Griffith University Feed
Road from Rwanda leads to graduation from Griffith
A student’s journey to graduation day is a meandering route, inevitably beset with its fair share of pitfalls and obstacles. But some student journeys are charged with extra challenges, making the end result a remarkable achievement.
International Tourism and Hotel Management graduate, Esther Dusabe, falls into the latter category. She graduated from Griffith University in July at the end of a turbulent journey which started in her African homeland.
Esther had just completed primary school in her native Rwanda when civil war prompted her family to flee for their safety. During subsequent years in foreign countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, she gained a proficiency in local languages like Kirundi and Swahili, while also developing her English-speaking skills. In her formative years in Rwanda she had spoken Kinyarwanda, an official language which had recently come to prominence.
Role as interpreter
When she arrived in Australia in 2010 Esther’s multilingual skills opened
Queensland research initiative to enhance employability of HDR graduates
International PhD students from eight universities across Queensland are set to come together in Brisbane for an initiative to enhance the experience and employability of researchers of the future.
The ‘Equipping Queensland International Postgraduate’ (EQUIP) Researchers Conference will take place from 9am to 5pm at Customs House on Monday, July 30, followed by a ‘Connecting Queensland’s Researchers’ networking function (5pm-7pm).
Register for Connecting Queensland’s Researchers function
Invited alumni and guests from industry organisations, businesses, national companies and government bodies will attend the evening function, which will be formally opened by the Honourable Kate Jones MP, Minister for Innovation and Tourism Industry Development, and Minister for the Commonwealth Games.
The EQUIP Researchers Conference is an initiative of the graduate research schools and departments of the Queensland Universities consortium. Led by Griffith University the consortium includes University of Queensland (UQ), James Cook University (JCU), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Central Queensland University (CQU), University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Bond University and University of the Sunshine Coast (USC).
Professor Sue
Discover your remarkable future at Griffith Open Day
For the first time, Griffith Open Day will offer visitors the chance to hear from two of the University’s senior leaders about how students are being equipped for the workplaces of the future.
The Your remarkable future presentation at the Gold Coast and Nathan campuses on Sunday 12 August will introduce visitors to Griffith’s Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) Professor Debra Henly and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Engagement) Professor Martin Betts. The two presenters will discuss some of the latest developments and innovations, from high-tech teaching methods and forward-thinking courses, to global internship opportunities and career-focused learning.
“Griffith is truly a remarkable place to study, and I’m excited to give visitors to Open Day an insight into how we’re preparing our students for the digital, global jobs of the future,” said Professor Debra Henly.
As well as the Your remarkable future presentation, Griffith Open Day will feature over 240 information sessions and activities across the
Internship opens door to journalism career
Griffith University journalism alumnus Rebecca Masters is a firm believer in the power of internships.
The senior producer with 9news.com.au landed a graduate cadetship with a regional newspaper simply because she had made such a strong impression when she’d completed an internship there.
“Having this practical experience built into the Griffith journalism program gave me the push I needed to get out there into some newsrooms, gain some practical knowledge and build relationships,’’ she says.
Rebecca worked in print and digital platforms across South East Queensland for a few years before a position arose for a producer at 9news.com.au in Sydney. She got the gig and made the move south.
“My team is responsible for day-to-day publishing as well as coordinating live breaking news coverage during natural disasters and terror attacks and national news events like elections.”
She works with Nine’s network of more than 250 reporters around the world to deliver online news 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Every shift is a
Digital Campus adds to Griffith’s growing footprint
In meeting the needs of a rapidly-changing world, Griffith University has launched a Digital campus.
Building on its extensive presence across Southeast Queensland with campuses at Nathan, Gold Coast, South Bank, Mount Gravatt and Logan, the university has now opened the virtual doors of its Digital campus to the world.
The Digital campus is already Griffith’s third largest campus and now its fastest growing campus.
“During the past 10 years the world has seen a rapid uptake of online learning and Griffith University has been to the forefront of this educational revolution in Australia,” Professor Debra Henly, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), said.
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) Professor Debra Henly
The educational infrastructure of Griffith University has been consistently updated to meet the new and emerging needs of the 21st century student, culminating with the launch of the Digital campus.
This sixth campus will focus on and cater for the requirements of the modern student undertaking an online program. The particular needs of
Improving communication with people diagnosed with cancer
Addressing communication challenges when a friend or family member receives a cancer diagnosis has been the focus for Griffith’s Dee Handyside and Dr Vanette McLennan.
Dee, an Online Development Officer from the university’s School of Human Services and Social Work and herself a cancer survivor, said it all started from an educational musical production she has been working on called The Silk Rags Project.
Also a singer and songwriter, Dee originally wrote the soundtrack to the production – which looks at real life experiences of having cancer – during her own cancer treatments back in 2009. The Silk Rags Project, aims to enable community groups to collaborate on a performance which will entertain, educate, start conversations, have fun and raise funds. The original production began in 2015 and has received some notable awards and media acclaim.
“The musical is about the underlying message regarding communication strategies when a friend receives a cancer diagnosis – from the inappropriate to the awkward,” says Dee.
Advice on how to talk to people
“Following one of the first performances
Masters of Suicidology graduate wins at Suicide Prevention Awards
Reducing the high rate of suicide within the construction industry has been the successful outcome for Griffith Masters of Suicidology graduate Jorgen Gullestrup.
Named this week as the 2018 Winner of the 14th Annual LiFE Award recognising excellence in suicide prevention by Suicide Prevention Australia, Mr Gullestrup says he is ‘delighted and very humbled’ by the award.
“I am very humbled to be recognised for my work but I would like to emphasise that suicide prevention is not just something done by one or two people, but a collective exercise involving many people and which relies on many of the correct conditions being in place.”
MATES in Construction
It was ten years ago that Mr Gullestrup, a graduate of Griffith’s Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP), developed the MATES in Construction program with the help of the Building Employees Redundancy Trust.
The program’s vision is to be Australia’s leading industry suicide prevention organisation focusing
Unique prison writing program provides voice for Indigenous men
A unique creative writing prison program at Junee Correction Centre (JCC) in New South Wales is helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men strengthen their connection to culture.
Established in 2011, the ‘Dreaming Inside: Voices from the Junee Correctional Centre Prisoner Writing Program’ is the only prison creative writing program that specifically targets Indigenous inmates.
Griffith Law School academic Professor Elena Marchetti, who is evaluating the program as part of an Australian Research Council grant, said it provided the men with an opportunity to use creative writing as a form of expression and exercise a form of agency by publishing their poems and stories in books without censorship.
“It also enables them to engage with Elders and other community members, fostering a connection with culture,’’ Professor Marchetti said.
Each year, the latest volume is launched at an event hosted by the Wollongong Art Gallery as part of the Sydney Writers Festival and at the
Cashless welfare card creating second-class citizens
A proposed bill to expand a Cashless Debit Card trial to Queensland promotes a form of second-class citizenship and betrays the original purpose of the development of social security in this country, says Griffith Law School academic Dr Shelley Bielefeld.
In her submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs, Dr Bielefeld (pictured, right) says the Bill to expand the Cashless Debit Card (CDC) to Bundaberg and Hervey Bay, increasing nationwide trial recipients to 15,000, has serious flaws.
She said the majority of participants in other trial areas indicated that violence in their communities had either increased or stayed the same since the CDC started and many experienced unnecessary financial hardship as a result of the card.
Research indicates that “48% reported not being better able to care for their children since being on the CDC”, with 50% reporting “that they have not been able to save more money since being forced