Public Inquiry Research Articles

“The story of the abuse as the story of my life”: Narrative analysis of the stories of survivors of prolonged child sexual abuse

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is an interpersonal trauma that results in profound life-long ramifications. The current study was designed to delve into the way CSA survivors wrote their stories for an independent public inquiry into CSA in Israel. Twenty-nine written narratives of women who experienced prolonged CSA by a familiar perpetrator were included in the study. The narrative analysis approach guided the analysis and addressed both the content and structure of their narratives. The findings highlighted the fundamental impact of prolonged trauma on how the abuse is remembered and narrated. Survivors' stories began by referring to the perpetrator’s identity, which reflected the ongoing psychological presence of perpetrators in the survivors' lives. The stories' structure was characterized by fragments, deteriorating discourse, and repetitions that emphasized the trauma memory and abuse ramifications on the survivors' wellbeing. The survivors' narratives enabled a unique glimpse into common key themes highlighting their experiences of shouting the abuse without words and the spiral between body and mind as well as the reactions of those in their surroundings, reflected in unsupportive responses to disclosure. The survivors also highlighted the consequences of the abuse on their wellbeing, characterized by navigating between lacking and attempting to gain control. The current study stresses the ongoing presence of traumatic experiences in survivors' lives and their loneliness in dealing with them.

"I Know It's Hard to Believe, But the Monster Who Abused Me is My Mother:" Experiences of Being Sexually Abused as a Child by a Female.

In the present study we sought to shed light on the experience of adults who were sexually abused by females. Narratives in the current study were chosen from a large set of narratives (n = 505) that were submitted to the Israeli Independent Public Inquiry on CSA. Twenty-eight (n = 28) narratives of adults who experienced CSA committed by females were included in the study and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Two main themes were identified: (1) adults who as children experienced CSA committed by females, and (2) personal, interpersonal, and social constructions of the abuse. Most of the narratives included intrafamilial abuse, with half of the participants reporting that their mother was the one who committed the CSA, which often occurred during daily routine activities, with the main abuse scene being the shower/bathroom. Participants described various abuse experiences including the experience of powerlessness, "standing together," and captivity. Finally, participants discussed how social constructions of gender impacted how they understood and experienced the abuse. Child sexual abuse committed by females was described by the participants as having serious consequences for their lives. Participants shared how perceived gender roles and social scripts have an important role in casting doubt on the existence and reliability of CSA experiences committed by females. Findings from the current study help to identify key characteristics of sexual abuse that was conducted by females, and suggests social mechanisms that may help explain why perpetration by females is understood and treated differently than perpetration by males.

Ethics in British Journalism: A reflective overview

Preparing for my MA dissertation project in 2000, I expressed to my tutor my interest in investigating the state of journalism ethics in the UK. He dismissed it as an outdated topic. He referred me to the belief the British journalism industry held at the time that ethics is engrained in their journalism culture and there had been no serious shortcomings. Fast forward to 2011 and journalism ethics found its way quick and fast into almost every single UK newsroom editorial team discussion. The story of the News International phone hacking scandal tainted British press with a dark shadow. The scandal led to the setting of a public inquiry that became known as the Leveson Inquiry. In July 2011 Sir Brian Henry Leveson chaired a public inquiry into culture, practices and ethics of the British press followed the revelation that murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler phone had been hacked by journalists from News of the World newspaper, which had a knock effect on the police investigation into the school girl murder. Editors and journalists were prosecuted and the scandal resulted in closing down one of Britain’s oldest newspapers, News of the World.

The application of specialised management assistants in demand forecasting of human resources

ObjectiveBased on a theoretical analysis and through working practice, this paper presents the experience of the scientific use of the manpower demand prediction method and practical process of specialised business assistants in clinical departments. MethodsA spot observation, interview and public information inquiry were conducted, and SPSS20.0 Chinese software was used to make a statistical prediction of the business growth (P & LT; 0.05). ResultsThe specialist management assistant prepared the manpower needs assessment report for the department, and the hospital organization personnel department adopted the recommendation in the manpower needs assessment report and put it into the hospital's recruitment plan for the following year. ConclusionThe blood purification centre of specialised business assistants in patients in the medical market, service people, workload and equipment operation efficiency analysis data analysis. It was found that an effective prediction model that supports decisions regarding the hospital's scientific allocation of human resources is advantageous to the hospital's human resource optimisation, improves both operation equipment efficiency and patient satisfaction and is worthy of application and popularisation.

Lessons from the UK’s handling of Covid-19 for the future of scientific advice to government: a contribution to the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry

ABSTRACT Despite strong expertise and a sophisticated scientific advisory system, the UK’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been, and continues to be, weak in terms of preventing death and illness, and damage to the economy. This article argues that an important reason for this failure has been that the policies of the UK government have at critical times failed to take adequate account of scientific evidence, while at the same time attempts have been made to blame scientists for resulting policy failures. This paper analyses the role of scientific advice in addressing Covid-19 in the UK and draws three lessons for how such expertise can be better deployed in the future. It argues that: (1) Government scientific advisors and advisory bodies should be more independent of political influence and interference; (2) Government scientific advisors should be empowered to challenge misrepresentation and misuse by decision-makers of the scientific evidence, and undermining of public-health policies; and (3) Government scientific advice should be more transparent and advisors should engage more proactively with the public. Acting on these lessons will be important for ongoing handling of the current crisis, for the current UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry, and for the UK’s preparedness for future crises.

The social response to child sexual abuse: Examining parents, perpetrators, professionals and media responses as described in survivors' testimonies to the Israeli Independent Public Inquiry

BackgroundCSA is an extremely adverse experience, and its prompt and early disclosure is vital. Whether the effects of disclosure are positive or negative depends largely on the recipients' reactions to the disclosure. Early disclosure of abuse could help end the abuse, prevent repeated victimization, protect other children, enable psychological interventions, and make it possible to hold the perpetrator(s) accountable. ObjectiveSpotlighting the societal responsibility regarding CSA, the current study was designed to examine how adult survivors of CSA perceived and experienced various actors' responses to the CSA, as well as the impact of these responses on their lives. MethodsQualitative inductive thematic analysis was carried out on 35 written narratives of adult survivors of CSA submitted to the Israeli Independent Public Inquiry into CSA. ResultsThe results pointed to several actors responding to CSA, and delved into the perceived responses of the parents, preparators, professionals and media. ConclusionThe discussion emphasizes the crucial role of social responses to CSA, while addressing the various actors and their dynamics. The journey to justice through the inquiry process is being challenged throughout the social discourse highlighted in the current study. There is an urgent need to provide public platforms for survivors to share their testimonies to mitigate the stigmatization of CSA, which will hopefully promote more just societies.

The underlying causes of strategic surprise in EU foreign policy: a post-mortem investigation of the Arab uprisings and the Ukraine–Russia crisis of 2013/14

ABSTRACT The study of why and when governments are caught out by strategic surprise has been a major occupation of intelligence studies, international relations, public administration and crisis management studies. Still little is known, however, about the structural vulnerabilities to such surprises in international organisations such as the European Union (EU). EU institutions themselves have not undertaken rigorous investigations or public inquiries of recent strategic surprises, instead relying on internal review processes. In order to understand the most common underlying problems causing surprise in the EU context, this paper adapts and tests insights from the strategic surprise literature. It elaborates a theoretical framework with five hypotheses about why the leadership of EU institutions has been prone to being caught by surprises in foreign affairs: limitations in collection capacity, institutional fragmentation of policymaking, organisational culture, member state politicisation, and cognitive biases arising from collective ideas and norms. These hypotheses are tested using a post-mortem approach investigating two significant strategic surprises: the start and spread of the Arab uprisings of 2010/11 and Ukraine–Russia crisis of 2013/14.

Beyond Women’s Voices: Towards a Victim-Survivor-Centred Theory of Listening in Law Reform on Violence Against Women

Australia is witnessing a political, social and cultural renaissance of public debate regarding violence against women, particularly in relation to domestic and family violence (DFV), sexual assault and sexual harassment. Women's voices calling for law reform are central to that renaissance, as they have been to feminist law reform dating back to nineteenth-century campaigns for property and suffrage rights. Although feminist research has explored women’s voices, speaking out and storytelling to highlight the exclusions and limitations of the legal and criminal justice systems in responding to women’s experience, less attention has been paid to how women's voices are elicited, received and listened to, and the forms of response they have received. We argue that three recent public inquiries in Australia reveal an urgent need for a victim-survivor-centred theory of listening to women’s voices in law reform seeking to address violence against women. We offer a nascent theory of a victim-survivor-centred approach grounded in openness, receptivity, attentiveness and responsiveness, and argue that in each of our case studies, law reform actors failed to adequately listen to women by silencing and refusing to listen to them; by hearing them but failing to be open, receptive and attentive; and by selectively hearing and resisting transformation. We argue that these inquiries signal an acute need for attention to the dynamics of listening in law reform processes, and conclude that a victim-survivor-centred theory of listening is a critical foundation for meaningful change to address violence against women.

Judicial Review and Public Inquiries – Procedure, Case Studies and Some Observations on the (Long) Covid Inquiry

Judicial Review and Public Inquiries – Procedure, Case Studies and Some Observations on the (Long) Covid Inquiry

The Sexual Economies of Clericalism: Women Religious and Gendered Violence in the Catholic Church

As the sexual abuse crisis continues to plague the Catholic Church across the world, the focus on men as both perpetrators of sexual violence, and victims of child sexual abuse has been at the forefront of media and academic analysis. However, evidence from public inquiries, criminal investigations, academic research and survivor testaments identifies women religious as both perpetrators of sexual and physical violence against children and victims of clerical sexual violence. This indicates that women religious, colloquially known as nuns, belong to a very unsettled landscape in religious gender politics in that they have been both victims of male clerical abuse and perpetrators of child abuse. This article considers these two contested realities by examining and analysing the evidence from research studies and public inquiries. We found that nuns were not only perpetrators of physical and sexual violence against children, but they were also engaged in herding children into the pathways of organised clerical paedophiles, particularly in children’s homes and orphanages where children were considered sexual commodities. Simultaneously, the sexual abuse of nuns has recently become a major concern for religious communities and the wider Church. We argue that by bringing these two realities together through a new discourse—the sexual economies of clericalism—new understandings of the agency of nuns can be explored in a wider theoretical and methodological framework.

How colleges should lead on climate.

How colleges should lead on climate.

Lesbian mothers in twenty-first century Australia: creating a political subject position

ABSTRACT The creation of a political subject position based on the identity ‘lesbian mother’ was central to the achievement of law reform regarding reproduction and family matters in Australia in the twenty-first century. Authors identifying as lesbian mothers wrote submissions to a range of public inquiries, crafting detailed self-representations and often telling intimate stories of everyday experience of discrimination and marginalisation. This article understands the submissions as constrained by the practices of political subjectivity. They are governed by the rules of the authority to which submissions are addressed, even as they make claims for change. Investigation of available submissions from lesbian mothers from nine inquiries points to the classed and raced limits of the normative political subject which emerges and to the presence of historically dominant discourses of the good mother and the narrowed imagination of the marriage equality movement. Diversity in the submissions, however, also challenges the boundaries of the rules and avoids universal conformity to respectability. This analysis contributes to the scant historiography of lesbian mother politics in Australia and to the international literature on queer politics and sexual citizenship. It cautions against simple liberal readings of progress based in the achievement of rights and recognition for newly normative political subjects.

Sheku Bayoh – Immunity of Evidence in Public Inquiries: Truth versus the Administration of Justice?

Sheku Bayoh – Immunity of Evidence in Public Inquiries: Truth versus the Administration of Justice?

Pragmatist democracy and the populist challenge

This article intervenes in the debate on populism and democratic reform. Assuming that neither progressive populist counter-projects nor reforms broadening participation or deepening deliberation provide an immediate and realistic solution to the problematic political condition, the article engages with John Dewey’s work and presents a democratic praxis focused on problem solving as the most promising remedy to the populist challenge. The analysis shows that Dewey conceptualizes human action as inherently focused on problem solving, which allows him to think democracy as an associated activity to articulate and solve problems through public inquiry. Drawing on the critique that powerful groups prevent democratic problem solving activities, I develop his argument that a problem-centred democratic project must attach itself to ‘wants and interests that are actually operating’. Against this backdrop, the pragmatic way forward to the repression of populist authoritarianism lies in the expansion of democratic problem solving, which, I conclude, can be realized by interweaving intelligent action into the habits of democratic parties.

Independent investigation in marine spatial planning: necessary or discretionary?

Public Inquiry is an established process for effective testing and scrutiny of plans in terrestrial planning and is regarded as a means of providing credibility and accountability. Independent Investigation is its marine equivalent and was included as a provision in the UK marine planning regime and subsequent legislation since its inception. However, it has been noticeably absent in practice. This paper investigates the reasons behind this situation within the context of the proposed and actual role of II in the marine planning process in the UK. It additionally considers the future use of II in enhancing the quality and effectiveness of the marine planning system. This paper concludes that as the use of the marine resource of the UK becomes increasingly contested and controversial, II could be utilized to enhance marine plans and marine planning decisions and thus warrants further investigation.

Towards a criminology of public inquiries: From cautious optimism to contestation in the Brook House Inquiry  

Towards a criminology of public inquiries: From cautious optimism to contestation in the Brook House Inquiry  

Towards a criminology of public inquiries: From cautious optimism to contestation in the Brook House Inquiry

Although UK public inquiries garner huge amounts of public attention, there have been few systematic studies of their role in scrutinising and reforming criminal justice policy and practice. This is despite a growing number of inquiries, held under the Inquiries Act 2005, into critical matters relating to policing, justice and home affairs. This article explores the contested nature of statutory inquiries as mechanisms for accountability and opportunity for policy reform. We suggest that inquiries provide fertile grounds for criminological analysis, if we understand them as sites of contestation where political priorities compete over questions of procedure, scope and participation. Our focus is on the Brook House Inquiry into the mistreatment of detainees in a British immigration removal centre. The analysis shows a tension between the public-facing nature of inquiries and their legalistic processes.

Accountability mechanisms of inquiries and investigations into Australian governments’ responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic

Objective:Australian federal, state and territory government responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic have been subject to public oversight by various domestic inquiries and investigations, despite little analysis about what accountability these processes deliver in the context of public health emergencies (PHEs) involving communicable disease. This article identifies and describes recent inquiries and investigations. It examines their ability to promote accountability through mechanisms of answerability (information and justification) and enforceability (sanctions). Methods:A systematic scoping review was used to identify inquiries and investigations initiated by May 2021 and to examine the answerability and enforceability mechanisms present. Three diverse case studies were chosen for further description and examination. Results:Seven parliamentary inquiries, two commissions/boards of inquiry and one Ombudsman investigation were identified. All had numerous mechanisms of answerability. All but two embedded enforceability mechanisms; these were limited, however, to basic reporting. Conclusion:While inquiries and investigations can promote accountability through various mechanisms of answerability, external enforceability mechanisms may be beneficial to strengthen accountability and ensure learning. Implications for public health:Consideration of the kind of accountability that public inquiries and investigations should provide in the context of communicable disease PHEs, and how accountability mechanisms can be strengthened, may improve future public health responses.

“The most shocking thing was that I didn't respond to the abuse”: The peritraumatic responses and transitions as conveyed by survivors of continuous child sexual abuse

BackgroundChild sexual abuse (CSA) is a worldwide phenomenon with ongoing and far-reaching consequences for millions of children worldwide. It is a consensus among researchers that continuous CSA represents a unique challenge. ObjectiveThe current study aimed to explore the peritraumatic responses of survivors of continuous CSA as described in their written narratives of abuse. The transitions between the peritraumatic responses will also be examined, highlighting the unique context of continuous CSA. Participants and settingWritten narratives of CSA were recruited via an advertisement in the media inviting CSA survivors to share their stories of abuse on an anonymous online platform. The data collection was carried out under the Israeli Independent Public Inquiry on CSA. MethodsA qualitative thematic analysis was applied to 32 richly written accounts of abuse. ResultsThree peritraumatic responses were identified: the adaptive response, hinting, and attempts to fight and flight. Transitions between these responses were described by the survivors and addressed the heavy load of the abuse, realization of the abuse, fear of consequences and the central role of the survivor's environment. ConclusionsThe current study provides a unique platform for the exploration of peritraumatic responses in continuous CSA. Alongside the identification of three peritraumatic responses described by the survivors, the current study provides an initial glance into transitions between peritraumatic responses. This insight strengthens the developing notion that peritraumatic responses in the unique context of CSA are a top-down process, often shaped by various contexts and multidimensional dynamics in the children's lives.

Indigenous initiative for the start-up of health services in urban areas: The Holistic Strategy Project

Background: The report of the Public Inquiry Commission on relations between Indigenous Peoples and certain public services in Québec (2019) reported problems in accessing health and social services, specifically in urban areas. In order to better serve their members, the Centre d’amitié autochtone de Trois-Rivières (CAATR) launched the Holistic Health Strategy Project. The objectives were: 1) to assess the needs of CAATR members and of the partners in health and social services, and 2) to create a directory of resources intended for the Indigenous people in the region. Methods: An assessment of health and services needs was completed through consultation with members of the community. A literature review was carried out to draw a portrait of the health and social care services and models intended for Indigenous people. Results: A total of 25 participants took part in the consultation. Better access to services (e.g., transport and daycare) and a need for liaison with non-native institutions (e.g., interpreters in hospitals and liaison officers with schools) are expressed. A directory of resources intended for Aboriginals has been created, bringing together more than 20 services and organizations. Conclusion: The results of the Holistic Health Strategy Project highlight the health needs and health particularities of Indigenous people living in urban areas. Measures adapted to the realities of Aboriginal people in urban areas must support and facilitate their access to services.