Social Work - Theses
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ItemGendered 'gerrymanders': a study of women candidates in the 1997 Victorian local government elections( 2000)Women’s political citizenship, particularly the right to represent locally is under a cloud since the Victorian council amalgamations of 1997. No longer is local government ‘the home’ of women’s representation. A reputation it earned when more women were elected to local government than State or Federal parliaments. Women’s local representation in percentage terms has failed to show increases like those recorded at State and Federal levels. This study describes the demographic characteristics of the 1997 local government women candidates and their policy issues. The candidates were identified as family women as most were married with children. Family and friends were also the main sources of candidate support. Two thirds of candidates worked either part-time or were not in the paid workforce at all, although most were highly educated. This could be explained by the age of the candidates which was late forties to early fifties. Only 9 per cent of candidates were of non-English speaking backgrounds. The candidates had strong backgrounds in community organisations, but organisations of all kinds including political parties were not supportive of women candidates. Most candidates supported the goals of the women’s movement, and wanted to be elected to local government in order to ‘bring back local democracy’ and to improve services. The experience of women candidates in the 1997 local government elections illustrates the need to develop a gendered theory of women’s participation in the so called ‘public sphere’. These women were in general disconnected from publicly defined power, such as high income networks. It might be useful to describe them as ‘privately empowered’. Women maximised the power of their private identities and relationships to transpose the barrier of public powerlessness. While ‘privately empowered’ election campaigns are not likely to reward women with equal political representation, they do illustrate the inextinguishable intentions of women to pursue legitimacy in the public sphere. Neat borders do not surround the public and private spheres. This finding needs to be considered in future analyses of public/private theory. Just like the pioneering women earlier this century, women enter local elections as independent candidates. The goal of equal and diverse representation appears more remote since collapsing 210 councils into 78 giving political gatekeepers permission to recreate so called ‘local democracy’ only in their image.
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ItemWomen and their journals: navigating depression through consciousness-raising, resistance and action( 2009)Depression in women is a major mental health issue and social work practitioners can, at some stage in their careers, expect to work with women experiencing depression. Journal therapy, the use of writing for therapeutic purposes, is one example of support and intervention offered to women. The use of journal therapy and specifically the use of journalling by women in Women’s Journalling Groups were investigated in this research. Limited research had been undertaken in the area of journal therapy with women experiencing depression. The research was undertaken in four phases and used a modified form of grounded theory to develop the research design and to identify and articulate ideas about women’s use of journalling during depression. Phase one established the baseline knowledge for the research through a Co-operative Inquiry underpinned by feminist research principles. Findings from the Inquiry identified: Two key methods of journalling and women’s responses to depression: • The Considered Acknowledgement, Acceptance and Contemplation framework • The Proactive Resistance, Rehearsal, Agency and Action framework; Four key narratives that women had created about their journalling and their understanding of depression in women: • Identification and expression of emotions; • Identity, sense of self and self-value; • Structural and social roles, relationships and expectations; and • Transformative choices, opportunities and accomplishments; Phase two involved the conceptualising, formalising and transfer of this knowledge into the development of a Women’s Journalling Group program. Through the facilitation of two Women’s Journalling Groups in phase three, the journalling activities were found by women to be relevant and meaningful for them in assisting them to understand their depression and move toward recovery. Phase four included the final stage of knowledge utilisation and transfer. A most significant and new finding from this research was that journalling undertaken by the women was a form of action in response to their depression. Far from being a passive, ruminative, purposeless pastime, journalling was an evolving and sustaining action that enabled the women to gain insights and understandings into themselves and their depression. Journalling activities enabled women to identify and express the many feelings and thoughts that attached to their depression. In reaching clearer understandings of themselves and their depression and in gaining confidence in making choices about their future, women were engaged in processes of consciousness-raising and resistance. Resistance to social and structural expectations, roles and stereotypes was important for the women who could then redefine and redevelop their authentic sense of self and identity. Resistance could occur on an individual level in the journal and on a collective level within Women’s Journalling Groups. The major outcomes of this research have resulted in a model of journalling that has been used to develop a theoretically grounded Women’s Journalling Group program. Whist some further developmental work is required with the program, it nevertheless provides a tested therapeutic intervention that can be offered to women experiencing depression.