Social Work - Theses
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ItemYoung men speak: a study of mid-adolescence and masculinity( 1999)This study investigated the effect of dominant notions of masculinity in the lives of mid-adolescent males. A qualitative research design, based on the analysis of transcripts of in-depth interviews with eight sixteen and seventeen year-old young men, confirmed the existence of a harsh masculine culture that impinged significantly on their behaviour and attitudes. The findings are identified a possible turning point in young men’s lives, where they begin to develop highly valued close relationships with a small group of friends or mates, with whom they share and emotional bond, and around whom they feel less pressure to prove their manliness. While they described the possibility of sharing thoughts, and feelings and experiences, there were nevertheless limits to what was allowed to be spoken even between the closest of friends. These restrictions were attributable to the sanctions that operated to maintain an environment significantly influenced by dominant notion of masculinity, and in which these friendship groups were embedded. The young men conformed to the tacit restrictions on intimacy, from fear of exposing themselves as weak or poorly skilled. Nevertheless, participants demonstrated a developmental readiness for intimacy, and were beginning to experience emotional engagement with male or female peers. The study suggests the need for a new concept that values and acknowledges a sense of emotional connectedness in the absence of sharing verbalised thoughts and feelings. With intimacy constrained, and little discussion of personal issues, young men had inadequate knowledge of the complexity of problems that might confront them, and few models of coping strategies. Consequently, they risked feeling isolated and unresourced in times of stress. Similarly, while they recognised signs of stress in others, they had few helping skills. In any case, dominant masculinity required that young men handle their own problems, without showing any vulnerability. Counselling was seen as an ultimate failure of manliness. There were indications of intergender rivalry, and despite attempts to be fair and equitable, an underlying belief that men should be in control in families and relationships. Rock music was clearly a potent positive element in the lives of young men, and served a variety of purposes. Alcohol gave individual and group release from the debilitating restrictions of masculinity, removing the need for self-control and allowing greater intimacy. The young men showed they were able to discriminate between “real life” and media or sporting images of masculinity, and had independently identified personal role models from within their own family or friendships circles. This study has shown the importance of understanding the adolescent male world from his own perspective. In particular, it demonstrates the degree to which masculinity impacts on the adolescent behaviour and attitudes, and highlights the necessity for Social Work practitioners to factor the masculine code of behaviour into case and programme planning. Moreover, it is suggested that Social Workers take a proactive approach to teaching young men the language and skills to understand masculinity, and to pursue identity formation and the establishment of positive relationships despite its impact on their lives.
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ItemCrossing boundaries and lesson drawing: a case study of safe accommodation program transfer between Australia and India( 2008)This qualitative study examines the viability of India transferring safe accommodation for women leaving violent relationships from Australia. The objectives of the study are to examine safe accommodation programs for women leaving violent relationships in Australia and India, and identify transferable aspects from Australia to India. The service providers' account of the reality of overcoming challenges posed by cultural values and the knowledge that funding for women’s services is precarious provides the thrust of this work. This thesis argues that developing countries do not benefit from the knowledge exchange that is likely to occur between developed countries. Women's human rights principles and the “program transfer” approach inform this inquiry. A multi-method approach was chosen for developing the country case studies involving a literature review, field visits and semi-structured interviews with 10 service providers of safe accommodation services in Australia and India. Equal numbers of participants were interviewed in both countries. Expert sampling techniques were employed. The major finding of this study identifies that transfer of safe accommodation program for women leaving violent relationships between Australia and India is an aspiration particularly because of the incompatibilities that exist at various levels of service provision between the two countries. Crucially, the incorporation of the women’s human rights principles into the safe accommodation service delivery in both countries remains a challenge, and the analysis confirms that these principles remain largely unimplemented. In contrast to the popular belief that welfare programs in developed countries are consistently better than developing nations, the observations in this thesis identify that challenges remain in both country contexts. The thesis signposts areas of future research by establishing an agenda for ongoing research that is aligned with enhancing safe accommodation service provision in both Australia and India.
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ItemA comprehensive planning & evaluation framework for dual disability service systems: co-existing intellectual disability & mental illness( 2005)This thesis focuses upon those people who are disadvantaged through the coexistence of intellectual disability and mental illness. This group is among the most vulnerable in contemporary Australian society. The overall purpose of this research is to develop a comprehensive planning and evaluation framework for dual disability service systems. This framework will address the complex needs of people living with co-existing intellectual disability and mental illness through the development of a plausible service system model. The framework will identify the parameters, principles, boundaries, structures, components, and processes of an effective and quality DD service system. It is anticipated that the development of a service system model will provide the foundation for addressing consumer and carer needs in a comprehensive, coordinated, and systematic way.
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ItemThe pursuit of aboriginal control of child welfare( 1989)This is essentially a study of Aboriginal child welfare in Victoria today. However, from necessity it is more than this for the study cannot be undertaken without reference to the events and policies of the last 200 years. Nor can it be isolated from the range of issues confronting Aboriginal communities today including the realms of health and education as well as the broader community services arena. The theme of this study is Aboriginal community control, a call by Aboriginal people for an abandonment of past and present approaches by governments, and for the opportunity for Aboriginal people to determine their destinies in ways they wish. This call is particularly strong in the child welfare field where there has been a failure of governments, at both state and national levels, to address Aboriginal child welfare issues. Government rhetoric, both Commonwealth and Victorian, is about "self-determination". Aboriginal demands are for "community control". This study will be looking at the gap between government policies and practices, with the emphasis on the child welfare field, and between government policies and practices and Aboriginal demands. (From Introduction)
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ItemSetting policy in concrete: the impact of the built environment on older people who live in residential aged care facilities( 2008)Residents of residential aged care facilities live out the last days of their lives in an institutional environment. These facilities can potentially liberate and/or constrain. The voice of actual residents has been little explored to date. Critical gerontology, which underpins the study, demands that researchers endeavour to understand the lived experience of the older person. This thesis focuses on the impact of the built environment on older people (without dementia) who live in residential aged care facilities. Based on original research undertaken in Victoria and some of the latest thinking from Australia and overseas the study was undertaken using mixed methods. The research involved a review of the literature, in depth small group interviews with residents, staff, family and carers, and surveys and a best practice forum with architects and managers. The research identified and explored the key areas of concern for each of these stakeholders, considering how residential aged care services could do more to improve the quality of life for residents through the built environment. Three key areas emerged from the study. Firstly, the journey the residents make in their time in the RACF and how the built environment impacts on their quality of life in place and over time. Secondly, the ‘frames of reference’ the key informants to the study hold are explored and how they can impact on the design process. Finally, by analysing the data collected and placing the resident at the centre, a model is proposed which holds potential and significance in relation to the development of RACFs in the future
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ItemChild protection assessment: an ecological perspective( 1995)In a semi-longitudinal exploratory study using observational and in-depth interviewing methods the following questions were explored through an intensive analysis of 10 families involving 17 allegedly abused children. 1. What are the factors to which social work practitioners in different organisational settings (a hospital based child abuse service and a statutory child protection service) give salience in their assessment of alleged child abuse cases and what is the nature of their observed models of practice? 2. What is the nature of the interaction between different organisations, and in particular between the core organisations (the hospital, police and child protection services) in cases of alleged child abuse? 3. How do parents perceive their experiences related to the alleged abuse of their children, and how do they perceive their interactions with core organisations? Professionals were interviewed about their unfolding perceptions throughout the life of each case, with a total of 134 interviews being conducted with practitioners (an average of 13.4 per case). A total of 46 practice episodes were also observed (an average of 4.6 per case), including office interviews, home visits, groups sessions, meetings, case conferences and a court hearing. For all but one of the ten families it was also possible to conduct lengthy, in-depth home interviews with the parents about their experiences relating to the alleged abuse and their contact with services, thus bringing the combined total of professionals' and parents' in-depth interviews to 143. A content analysis of the field notes yielded a number of themes and key findings. In relation to the first question, it was found that social workers in both the hospital and the child protection service gave salience to quite different variables and both groups attended to a much narrower range of variables than the framework of psycho-social assessment traditionally taught in professional social work education. In relation to the second question, it was found that a pattern of marked tensions was evident in the relationship between the child protection service and both the hospital and the police. This mirrored the inter-organisational tensions which existed at a broader political level between these organisations. The tensions at the service delivery level were conceptualised as gate keeping disputes, dispositional disputes and domain disputes.
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ItemCrystallising meaning: attitudes of listening to illness narratives( 2008)This study involves listening to illness narratives embedded in in-depth life review processes. The method of multiple interview and multi-modal analysis and reflective responding utilised in the study aims to add to the existing field of research by expanding the understanding of what it is like to be heard or not heard, for people who are either patients, or family members. The study also aims to demonstrate how self-aware ,compassionate and reflective listening, particularly in healthcare relationships, can allow meaning to emerge from within the illness experience, thus enriching the wellbeing of patients, family members and their various healthcare professionals. Stories of disruption arising within healthcare settings often confronted me during more than forty years of nursing experience and also resonated within my personal experiences. These stories express a gulf between patients, family members, or residents in healthcare institutions, and the healthcare organization and its staff. A recurring theme was that these people felt that they had not been listened to by those they trusted to give them care, with a lasting sense of disruption to their wellbeing. In focusing on the dimensions of reflective listening and intersubjective responding, the implications of being heard on the well being of both narrator and listener can be elucidated. An objective of the research became to articulate the attributes and values of compassionate, reflective listening and elucidate the complex nature of the narrating and listening relationship. (For complete abstract open document)
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Item“Crisis is often when it comes out”: CATS workers’ experiences of sexual assault disclosures in crisis psychiatric settings( 2006)Crisis Assessment and Treatment Service (CATS) workers are often the first point of contact between an individual and the mental health system, thus these mental health professionals are the gatekeepers to further mental health service use and referral to other service sectors. Among the users of mental health services, there is an overrepresentation of women who have been the victim/survivors of sexual assault while research documents that these service users have a predominantly negative experience of disclosing, in other words, talking about sexual assault to mental health workers. The aim of this study was to explore the research question – what are the ways in which CATS workers understand their response to victim/survivors who disclose sexual assault in psychiatric crisis service settings? To achieve this aim, fifteen CATS workers from a Melbourne metropolitan service took part in a small scale, feminist based, exploratory study utilising a qualitative and quantitative survey design. Key findings of this research were that firstly, a majority of participants do not feel well equipped to respond to disclosures of sexual assault; secondly, workers indicated the need for training in this area; thirdly some participants held misconceptions about sexual assault including the lack of a gendered understanding; fourthly, some workers expressed a problematic understanding of trauma and awareness of how to effectively respond to a disclosure of sexual assault; and, finally, this study found minimal communication between CATS and specialist sexual assault services. The implications of these findings highlight the need for sexual assault training; a review of CATS role in relation to women disclosing sexual assault; and the need for cross-sectoral practice.
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ItemA constructivist approach to challenging men’s violence against women( 2005)This PhD by project consists of a Manual for workers engaged in men’s behaviour change programs and a dissertation that theorises the principles underpinning the approach. The Manual and the dissertation examine a constructivist approach to challenging men’s violence against women. The project, which is situated in rural Australia, is called the Men’s SHED (Self Help Ending Domestics) Project. The SHED Manual is based on a constructivist approach to men’s violence against women that reflects best practice principles within a profeminist framework. The Manual is comprised of eight sections that articulate various aspects of challenging men’s violence against women, with individuals, groups and communities. The dissertation details the journey of the project from its inception in 1994 to the beginning of 2002. Personal construct theory provides a philosophical basis for the approach being enunciated in this study and it enables an exploration of constructive alternatives in engaging and challenging men towards behaviour change. As such, it is utilised both in engaging men to become non-violent and at the same time, reflexively enabling workers and facilitators to examine ways in which they can construct more effective ways for this to happen. The project is thus one of hopeful anticipation leading to new constructive alternatives in the endeavour to stop men’s violence against women.
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ItemThe application of the Queensland Adoption Act 1964-1988 to the traditional adoption practice of Torres Strait Islanders( 1989)The intention of this study is to examine the relevance of applying the Queensland Adoption Act 1964-1988 to the traditional adoption practice of Torres Strait Islanders. The concept of adoption as defined by the Queensland adoption legislation reflects the cultural context of “white Australia” and the intention of the Adoption Act 1964-1988 is to legalise a specific concept of adoption. This study will show that the Queensland Government, through the Department of Family Services, the Department which has the responsibility for implementing adoption legislation, does not make any allowance for differing views of adoption. The accepted definition of adoption is biased toward the dominant white culture in Queensland and the legislation was intended to service the needs of the dominant white culture.