Social Work - Theses

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    Crossing boundaries and lesson drawing: a case study of safe accommodation program transfer between Australia and India
    Monani, Devaki Ghansham ( 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.