29:T4c2,

In an effort to understand the segment of the juvenile population that seemingly ceases engaging in delinquency during adolescence, the relationship between a performance competency (task persistence) and offending was explored in 3,928 youth (2,005 boys and 1,923 girls) from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Three waves of data, with adjacent time periods separated by two years, were used to test the hypothesis that a change in task persistence would correlate with a change in future delinquency. Given that the two dependent variables in this study (delinquency at Time 2 and delinquency at Time 3) followed a negative binomial distribution, negative binomial regression and binomial logistic regression analyses were performed. Results from both analyses confirmed the hypothesis that a rise in task persistence from Time 1 to Time 2 would predict a decrease in delinquency from Time 1 to Time 2 to Time 3 and that a static measure of task persistence at Time 1 would predict a change in delinquency from Time 1 to Time 2. These results suggest that task persistence may be a competency capable of suppressing delinquency during a developmental period in which delinquency ordinarily rises.

2a:T559,

The prevalence of sexual assaults against older people in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs) is estimated to be more than double the incidents in the community, yet there is a paucity of empirical research focused on this context. Considering significant revelations and community concerns stemming from Australia's recent Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the current study sought to assess public knowledge of sexual assaults in RACFs, specifically, the causes, delegations of responsibility, and possible solutions to limit reoccurrences. Thematic analysis was conducted on 2,398 social media comments made in response to posts concerning sexual assault in RACFs (n = 27 sources). Results suggest systemic factors frequently contributed to incidents (e.g., staffing insufficiencies, apathetic management, and meagre regulatory requirements), while improved guardianship, sanctions, and regulation were expected to mitigate risk. Notably, the government was frequently blamed for its role in establishing and maintaining conditions that manifest in abuse within RACFs, with responsibility also delegated to family members. Importantly, public opinion strongly coincided with prior empirical prevention recommendations, endorsing the implementation of identified measures to limit sexual victimisation risk in RACFs.

2b:T520,

The concept of organised cybercrime has been the subject of much debate over the last decade. Many researchers who have applied scholarly definitions of organised crime to cyber-criminal groups have concluded that such groups are not “organised criminal groups” and do not engage in “organised crime”. This paper adopts a different perspective to argue that certain cyber-criminal groups involved in ransomware can and should be considered organised crime if a more contemporary and flexible framework for conceptualising organised crime is adopted. We make this argument using three primary domains of organised crime first described by von Lampe: criminal activities, offender social structures, and extra-legal governance. We narrow in on the concepts of violence and extra-legal governance in particular as they have been interpreted to hold significant differences for criminal groups operating in physical and digital domains. The paper argues that it is time to move on from criminological debates regarding whether organised cybercrime can exist to focus on the many rich questions that researchers can take from organised crime scholarship and apply to cyber-criminal groups. We put forward a reconceptualisation of organised cybercrime towards this end.