Social Work - Theses
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ItemThe accounts of men in an Aboriginal-controlled Alcohol and other Drug Recovery Service: contributions to relationally-informed practice( 2023-04)This thesis documents the experiences and knowledges of men at an Aboriginal-controlled alcohol and other drug service. The men participated in the project in the hope that their accounts would be helpful for others. The contributions of the men supported new ways of thinking about the delivery of respectful AoD (alcohol and other drug) services to Aboriginal peoples by ‘universal’ services, and for all peoples irrespective of culture and the kinds of services involved. A framework of relational theory is proposed, drawing on social construction and related contributions. This framework reflects the role of culture in determining identity, knowledge, meaning and lived-experience. The framework provided the theoretical basis underpinning the project. The men provided access to transcripts of narrative therapy counselling and groupwork sessions, which were then examined using a narrative inquiry methodology. The men described the importance to them of identities as Aboriginal men, fathers, family and community members. They gave accounts of how the service had contributed to significant developments in these identities. Key themes included the Aboriginal-managed nature of the service, providing an environment free from judgment, supporting recovery, healing and re-connection with culture. Relationships with staff differed from those experienced by the men in other services: including respect for culture, being ‘on the same level’, sharing of experiences and different approaches to role boundaries. The thesis draws on these accounts and literature to propose implications for universal services seeking to provide culturally-respectful and responsive support to Aboriginal men. Attention is then directed at implications for all services, irrespective of the particular sector or cultural context. Drawing on a range of literature, it is argued that all practice and research should be assumed to be ‘cross-cultural.’ Theory and practice frameworks are proposed to support this approach. A schema for a ‘borderlands’ concept of practice is proposed, drawing on Anzaldúa (1999), Bhabha (2004), Baltra-Uloa (2013) and others. In this schema, practitioners would draw on Western and Indigenous relational understandings. The schema is also applied to social research, drawing on Chilisa (2020). Both schemas include the Journey of the Self proposed by Bennett et al. (2011), as a metaphor for the progressive development of self-awareness and decolonisation of methodologies, irrespective of the cultural setting. The thesis brings attention to the limited explorations in literature of the contributions of the ‘therapeutic relationship’ to therapy and casework. It is also argued that contributions of peoples subject to therapy, casework and research to the professional and personal lives of practitioners are under-acknowledged. Frameworks proposed in the thesis could be used to explore these important areas of practice and research. Training materials prepared in association with the project are included in Appendices.
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ItemJourneys of connecting: Understanding cultural connection for First Nations children and young people in out-of-home care in Victoria, Australia( 2022)On the continent now known as Australia, European colonisation has greatly affected First Nations families’ lives. As in other colonised contexts, there has been enormous cultural loss experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples over time, in part because of child removal practices. In Australia, these practices resulted in the ‘Stolen Generations’, whereby 10–30% of all First Nations children were forcibly removed from their families, communities, Countries—and, by extension, cultures (Wilson, 1997). Today, recognition of this cultural loss and the importance of Indigenous children’s rights to culture is reflected in international law (United Nations, 1989, 2007) and in contemporary out-of-home-care (OOHC) policy and practice. While cultural rights are recognised and protected, it remains that cultural connection is poorly understood and inconsistently supported in Australian OOHC systems. This thesis makes a critical contribution to better understanding how cultural connection is understood, and experienced in OOHC contexts by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members, including Aboriginal young people who have lived in OOHC, in Victoria, Australia. Using a mixed-methods approach, underpinned by Indigenous Standpoint Theory, the findings highlight the complex nature of cultural connection as a process of culturally connecting, which intertwines identity and culture. It demonstrates the importance of reconceptualising cultural connection as a journey of culturally connecting, experienced over time. The findings highlight how journeys of culturally connecting are best supported by Indigenous peoples, in accordance with Indigenous relationality, to impart knowledges of mob and ancestry that are pertinent to belonging, identity and the practice of mob-specific culture. This thesis shows that it is possible to better support cultural connection in OOHC where cultural disconnection has already occurred. However, there are no easy set of solutions to realise cultural connection for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people within a system that produces cultural disconnection by design. The best way to support cultural connection is to prevent First Nations children and young people from entering OOHC in the first place. Our self-determination, as First Nations peoples, is paramount to this venture.