Social Work - Theses
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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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ItemFamily reunification : the journey home( 1997-07)Within the child protection system, children are separated from their parents in different ways and for different reasons. Family reunification following these separations, similarly occurs in a variety of ways and is experienced differently by those involved. Through a qualitative design, this study gathered together a range of perspectives regarding the experiences, emotions and beliefs of those involved in family reunification. By interviewing parents, protective workers, caregivers, family support workers, family preservation workers, health workers and others, the researcher hoped to capture their wisdom and insight. Overall, 38 people were interviewed in relation to five examples of reunification. Key concepts and categories were derived from the interviews in conjunction with descriptions of the cases. The researcher then developed a pathways tool which documented the journeys travelled through the process of reunification. Although all the children in these examples of reunification returned to their parents’ care and were still there up to two years later, there were different opinions as to whether or not the reunification was successful, and what barriers hindered and what strategies led to success. The different definitions of success appeared to be greatly influenced by the participants’ assumptions and perspectives regarding the role of state intervention in the lives of families. The findings in this research included a broader understanding of the emotional reactions of parents, caregivers and workers. The enormous sense of loss and other strong emotions felt by parents were often experienced prior to the children being removed, as well as during the separation itself. This therefore challenged the concept of filial deprivation being limited to physical separation of children from their parents and subsequently raised a number of practice issues. Many of the workers and caregivers also described feelings of powerlessness, lack of control and being confronted with limited options. Some of the workers, however, spoke of reunification as a more positive and fulfilling experience than other aspects of their work, even though it involved significant risk and difficult decisions. The principles under lying reunification practice, as outlined in the literature, were evident in aspects of the cases to a varying extent. Opportunities for parents to be actively involved in their children’s placements ranged from no contact with the carer, to visiting almost every day and being actively involved in all decisions. There were some principles which were absent in all of the case examples, such as none of the children experienced continuity of care due to being in multiple placements. There were descriptions of several service models involved at different times and stages along the families’ pathway through reunification, including different reunification programs. There did not appear to be any clarity regarding when a family would be referred to one type of service compared to another. There was also discussion regarding the influence of universal services, such as schools, on the family members’ experience of being included or isolated in each other’s lives. Dilemmas and challenges which arose through reunification included those which were common to many fields in social work, such as clashes of values and beliefs and needing to make decisions between limited and inadequate options. Some of the complex issues particularly relating to reunification were the impact of the separation on children and parents, and the experience of being a ‘parentless child’ or a ‘childless parent’. This was an example of the meaning of an issue being subjective and as important as the factual information. Some of the practice issues which arose through this study included: discussion regarding operationalising permanency planning principles rather than focussing on a parents’ rights or children’s rights dichotomy; developing a partnership perspective with parents, caregivers and workers; the importance of planning and preparation before reunification; whether to celebrate the day of home return or plan it to be as uneventful as possible; and the support and services required following the children’s return home. There were also a number of recommendations made for future research which could further inform practice in working with children and their families through the process of reunification.
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ItemReflecting on decision-making in child protection practice( 1988)The aim of the study was primarily to inform the protective services field by examining the nature of decision-making in protective intervention work, its unique features, its successes and failures. I shall argue that child protection services cannot be seen in isolation from the wider community services field of which they are a part. In addition, the discussion to follow will highlight the significant influence brought to bear on the child protection worker by those other workers in the child welfare field with whom there is constant interaction. On that basis, questions will be raised about the way in which we locate responsibility for the protection of children with one group in the community, namely the child protection services' workers.
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ItemA case study in the practice of social intervention: government intervention in Aboriginal affairs (Victoria) 1834-1972( 1975)The study is of the social intervention programmes undertaken by government in the State of Victoria with respect to the original inhabitants of that territory, the Aborigines. The study describes selectively and briefly some early programmes from 1834 to 1957 noting the existence of value conflicts, the resulting dilemmas and the compromises which ultimately produced these programmes. It is argued that these programmes were at best only partially successful in resolving some of the dilemmas, and in so doing created new ones for the future. It is also argued that they were programmes not aimed at resolving the problems in social functioning which existed for the Aborigines but were designed to effect social control, the goal sought being the conversion of the Aborigines from their way to the European one. In 1957 the fragmentary residual administration could no longer cope with the problem and pressure groups forced a government enquiry subsequently referred to as the McLean report. As a result the Aborigines Welfare Board was established. The study examines in considerable detail the policy and programmes of this administration through selective use of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative processes, and it is argued that for such a study the data must relate to the problem. Some of the categories of data include the historical record, government files, public comment in the press, parliamentary debate, economic, statistical and demographic records. It is noted that the focus of this administration shifts to the individual Aboriginal person and family and expresses primary concern in resolving their problems of social functioning. For the first time professional social workers are employed. As an effective broad aim intervention programme the Aborigines Welfare Board programme suffered from a number of significant flaws, however, it recognised its inability to come to grips with the dimensions of the task as it had come to perceive them and took steps which led to new legislation in 1967. The study then makes an analysis, comparing and contrasting the Aborigines Welfare Board and the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs administrations and draws a limited number of conclusions in the form of hypotheses about broad-spectrum social intervention programmes. The total thus forms a case study in the practice of social intervention with more intensive study of the period 1957-72.