Social Work - Theses
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ItemYoung and Positive: Young People Living With HIV in Contemporary Australia( 2022)The scientific, political and community response to HIV has changed significantly over the last 40 years of the pandemic and, with it, the lived experience of people with HIV in Australia. Young people diagnosed with HIV today receive their diagnosis in a very different context than those diagnosed in previous generations. Biomedical advances in treatment have led to U=U (i.e., undetectable viral load = untransmissible virus through sex or breastfeeding) and pre-exposure prophylaxis and rendered HIV a chronic condition. However, despite these advances in the biomedical aspects of the virus, stigmas persist. The successes of the Australian HIV response mean that relatively few young people aged 18–29 are living with HIV in Australia. While young people aged 18–29 are considered ‘adults’ in existing health and HIV services, evidence increasingly defines this age group as being distinct from the broader adult population in important ways. This means that the needs of young people living with HIV risk being overlooked in the context of health promotion and service design and delivery. The changing nature of what it means to be young—and HIV positive—in Australia today raises questions about whether the HIV service infrastructure is catering for the needs of all people living with HIV. However, very little research has explored how young people with HIV in Australia feel connected to and access HIV services and support; this is a missed opportunity to ensure they are being meaningfully recognised and supported. The Young + Positive study used a convergent parallel mixed-method design underpinned by a multidimensional theoretical approach to address this gap. Survey data (n = 60) and qualitative interviews (n = 25) were gathered between 2017 and 2019. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis to explore how young people aged 18–29 understand HIV and their connection, capacity and willingness to access care and support, and aimed to identify opportunities for improving engagement around their HIV support needs. The implications of the research findings suggest that young people see themselves as a distinct cohort with specific needs in relation to their HIV and that opportunities exist to integrate young people more meaningfully into existing HIV service systems to better meet their support needs.
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ItemSocial work education in Aotearoa New Zealand: Advancing an equity agenda through democratising and decolonising policy, programmes and practice( 2020)Purpose The profession of social work has a long-standing commitment to addressing issues of equity and disadvantage. Giving effect to democratising and decolonising practices in social work education has nevertheless presented challenges for the discipline. An integrated three-part qualitative study was undertaken to consider how social work education in Aotearoa New Zealand operationalises its commitment to an equity agenda particularly through democratising and decolonising practices across three influencing domains: policies, programmes and practices. Methods Three mixed-method, qualitative waves of research were undertaken. A document analysis of the global, Aotearoa and Australian sets of social work education standards formed the first wave. This analysis raised questions about how the equity-based agenda, conceptualised in the twin themes of democratising and decolonising practices, was being operationalised in programmes and in teaching. In the second wave of research, interviews were undertaken with social work education leaders to examine how these two themes were being operationalised across programmes of social work education in Aotearoa. In the third wave of research, focus groups and interviews were undertaken with social work educators more broadly to examine how the equity themes were being operationalised in teaching practices in tertiary institutions in Aotearoa. Findings The findings from the first wave of research identified a number of equity themes, in particular: service user and student participation, student representativeness, indigenous rights and political action, gender and cultural equity, and equitable access for students. The findings from the document analysis specifically relating to democratising and decolonising practices informed Waves 2 and 3 of the research. In Wave 2, leaders identified opportunities for advancing democratising and decolonising practices across three spheres: first, by supporting students, including engaging with the student voice, maintaining systems of representation and creating a diverse student cohort; second, by recruiting, maintaining and supporting a diverse workforce and, in particular, developing an equity-focused workforce strategy to support these aims; and third, by using leadership to advance an equity-focused social work education. In Wave 3, social work educators highlighted the challenges in operationalising democratising and decolonising teaching and learning practices. In particular, they identified the importance of addressing issues of privilege: understanding settler and White privilege and the responsibility for addressing it in the classroom context; broader issues of privilege, including racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, ableism and ageism, and the value of an intersectional approach; the relationship between regulation and privilege; and the importance of developing decolonising frameworks for practice. Conclusion This thesis highlights both the challenges and the opportunities for developing democratising and decolonising programmes and practices in social work education in Aotearoa. In giving effect to positive change, the findings of the thesis reinforce the importance of values-based policies and practices, particularly when exploring the complexities of navigating a bicultural social work education. A number of frameworks for action are presented, including a leadership framework identifying key enabling elements that are important to the creation of equity-based programmes, and a framework supporting teaching practices that are decolonising and Treaty based. The importance of advancing policy, programme and practice equity through positive activism is reinforced.
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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.