School of Social and Political Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemA continuum of harm: How systemic interactions can multiply and entrench complex disadvantage(Revolving Doors, 2021-02-17)Together, as academics and practitioners, we explore the interconnectedness of poverty, trauma and multiple disadvantage in one of Australia’s most disadvantaged postcodes, which we call ‘Redlands’. In showing how everyday encounters with adults in authority can cause harm, we take up the challenge to recognise the “impact of interactions with formal and informal social structures, institutions and processes upon the lives of children and young people” (Armstrong, 2004, p.110). We briefly review relevant literature on trauma, multiple disadvantage and social exclusion, outlining the Australian and local context to set the scene for our discussion. We explain how we use the concepts of therapeutic justice, social ecological theory, and the notion of a continuum of harm, as a framework for our analysis. We draw on our work and practice experience in Redlands, using case studies to show how everyday encounters with authority unfold in the lives of children and families living with poverty and trauma, and how they can elicit reactions that exclude and punish. We explain how these interactions can normalise experiences of exclusion within families, and how trauma and disadvantage can become embedded across generations. We also show how interactions with children and families can become positive, and how therapeutic intervention can interrupt these patterns. We conclude our discussion by highlighting the universal issues that Redlands illustrates, and the policy and practice implications of thinking and working through a therapeutic-ecological lens.