The purpose of this study was to examine the successes and challenges in implementing community art programs for youth in low-income communities. The National Arts and Youth Demonstration Project (NAYDP) was initiated in September 2001 in five program sites across Canada. This article reports on the qualitative findings of NAYDP staff implementation journals that were utilized in the first term of the project. Findings suggest that community partnerships in program recruitment, youth management and engagement and survey administration were all key aspects in the ability of staff to deliver the program. Positive Youth Development (PYD) provides a guiding framework and implications for social work practice, education and future research are explored.

<p>Despite the unpleasant living conditions in prison, recidivism seems to be an uncontrollable phenomenon. It is evident that prison life is harsh with inmates having to sleep on the floors due to overpopulation, frequently subjected to physical and sexual abuse, and overpopulation leading to numerous communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections. Prison should therefore, be the least favourable ecosystem in which to be incorporated. However, research indicates that thousands of youth return to prison habitually. This study aimed to explore juvenile inmates perceptions of their return to prison. Although recidivism is often measured in terms of the success of rehabilitation programmes, this study focused on eliciting socio-economic factors influencing recidivism.</p>

The New Zealand Government�s repatriation measures to assist Great War veterans have largely been considered a failure. This thesis examines repatriation through the experiences of Dunedin and Ashburton veterans, demonstrating that within the context of the 1920s pre-welfare state these provisions proved to be both generous and far more successful than is often suggested. The Government�s repatriation response to returning veterans reflected contemporary attitudes towards dependency and need. Belief in self-reliance underpinned repatriation policy, with a stated aim of restoring veterans to the civil position they held prior to enlistment rather than providing assistance to move up the occupational ladder. Fear of the morally corrosive effect of dependency, as well as economic concerns, meant the repatriation provisions were principally concerned with ensuring veterans regained financial independence through employment. To that end war pensions compensated for lost earning power, rather than providing a full living income, and repatriation provisions largely consisted of assistance in finding jobs or obtaining farms and businesses. The Government�s repatriation provisions also reflected contemporary medical knowledge. The repatriation legislation restricted war pensions and free medical care to veterans with disabilities directly attributable to military service. However the link between military service and disability remained unclear in many cases. Slightly more than half of those discharged unfit suffered from sickness rather than wounds, many from conditions common among the civilian population. Contemporary aetiological knowledge often did not support the war pension applications lodged by returned soldiers disabled as a result of non-contagious disease, and an absence of clinical evidence undermined claims of latent illness. In addition the medical profession�s failure to adopt psychological theory and practice meant that by the early 1920s shell shock sufferers were treated according to psychiatric medicine�s understanding of mental illness. Within the context of 1920s New Zealand the repatriation provisions were generous: the Repatriation Department�s work had no precedent; the war disabled were one of the few groups to receive state pensions and received more than other state pensioners; and the provisions of the soldier settlement scheme were available to all veterans, regardless of health, capital or farming experience. Despite the limited aims of the Government�s repatriation provisions many veterans did successfully re-establish themselves in civilian society. By the 1930s Ashburton soldier settlements had proved more successful than others in Canterbury, and compared well with other crown settlements in Ashburton County. More generally war service produced no dramatic change in the occupational structure of veterans: veterans generally retained their occupational status during the post-war decade, volunteers faring slightly better than conscripts but neither as well as their civilian counterparts. Although some veterans certainly did experience need and indigence after the war the majority of urban and rural men in the sample groups were financially stable, particularly after the boom and bust of the immediate post-war years. The men in the Dunedin and Ashburton sample groups represent the most successful of the returned soldier population nevertheless they show that a significant proportion of Great War veterans were successfully repatriated by the end of the post-war decade.

This thesis investigates first-year students� challenges in making sense of the learning and teaching environment during their first semester at university. The aims for the research are threefold. Firstly, mapping the range of challenges students at one university faced in their learning and teaching environments in the first semester. Secondly, developing a greater understanding of those challenges. Thirdly, identifying what educational initiatives the university could consider that might assist students to meet those challenges. The challenges were examined in the context of changes in higher education. My interest and motivation for this research project concerns improved practices in the first-year teaching and learning environment, rather than improved students. This means that I did not look for deficits within students, but for indications of what helps or does not help students� introduction to the new environment of academia. By mapping students� challenges in the first semester, I hope to contribute to the understanding of academic staff of the range of challenges students have to deal with. The interpretation of the results and my line of argument are partly influenced and shaped by the theoretical framework of academic literacies, and the notion of de-familiarisation. For this project, two data sources were used. The first source was data from a survey carried out in May 2004 amongst students enrolled in 100-level courses. The second source was data from interviews conducted with first-year students in the same year. In considering the analysis as a whole, a number of key issues could be discerned. These related to communication, academic skills, access to resources and help, and engagement and connection. The results showed that some of these issues had less to do with educational practices, and more to do with contested understandings of the nature of university education, and the nature of students now entering university. I argue that underlying these issues there are contentious questions of who should adjust or adapt to whom: students to the university, or the university to students? Students� reported experiences further suggest that some teachers seemed more aware than others that first-year students face particular challenges. Students did not consider their experiences as reflective of the university as a whole. The university was experienced as an institution with divergent ways of organising courses, of valuing aspects of university learning, and of interpreting seemingly similar things. This suggests that where students experienced challenges, these were not necessarily a function of students� characteristics, or students� attitudes to studying, but of particular course environments. The overall picture that presents itself, then, is that there are challenges that could be considered unnecessary. Whereas few students would experience all of the challenges identified in the results chapters, I argue that there are some aspects that warrant improvement. Improvement initiatives in first-year education, however, are not necessarily considered important by all academic staff. This is another contested issue in universities. A more explicit introduction of first-year students to academia as a range of heterogeneous communities would respond to first-year students� needs for familiarisation and clarity, as well as reflect some of the values that universities could be said to espouse. Successful interventions in first-year education, however, will also depend on ongoing dialogue with staff about various contested issues, the changed and changing context of higher education, and related challenges and opportunities.

Drug Consumption Rooms (DCRs), where injecting drug users (IDUs) can use pre-obtained drugs in a hygienic and professionally supervised low threshold setting, aim to engage high risk IDUs, reduce public drug use, injecting-related morbidity and mortality, and improve access to drug treatment. This thesis evaluates the service demand, accessibility, utilisation, and coverage of Australia???s first DCR, the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC), located in an area with a history of illegal shooting gallery operation. MSIC impact on injecting practices and injecting related health, and referral to drug treatment were also examined. Methods included cross-sectional IDU surveys, key informant interviews, staff focus groups, analysis of client registration and surveillance data and routinely collected data on needles and syringes - including multiple indirect prevalence estimation, and prospective follow-up of MSIC referrals. Shooting gallery users expressed demand for and willingness to use the MSIC. Injecting episodes previously occurring in shooting galleries appear to have been transferred to the MSIC, although shooting galleries continued to operate at a reduced level. The MSIC service model was accessible, with few refusals of entry, high levels of client satisfaction and limited non-use for reasons relating to the model. MSIC engaged high risk IDUs - regular injectors, sex workers, and those injecting in public places and shooting galleries - who were also more likely to be frequent attendees. MSIC clients were more likely than other IDUs to inject in public places and shooting galleries, be HCV seropositive, have riskier injecting practices and more severe injecting related health problems. MSIC achieved good coverage of the local IDU population (70.7%, range 59.1%-86.7%) and modest coverage of their estimated total injecting episodes during its operating hours (8.8%, range 7.3%-10.8%). MSIC use was associated with improvements in injecting practices and health. Frequent MSIC use was also associated with higher rates of referral to drug treatment than less frequent use. Drug treatment referral uptake was positively associated with a recent history of daily injection and sex work and negatively associated with a lifetime history of psychiatric treatment and/or self harm. This research was confounded by substantial changes in heroin availability during the study period but provides new evidence on DCR coverage, impact on injecting practices and health, and referral to drug treatment. Implications for future research are discussed.

Drug Consumption Rooms (DCRs), where injecting drug users (IDUs) can use pre-obtained drugs in a hygienic and professionally supervised low threshold setting, aim to engage high risk IDUs, reduce public drug use, injecting-related morbidity and mortality, and improve access to drug treatment. This thesis evaluates the service demand, accessibility, utilisation, and coverage of Australia???s first DCR, the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC), located in an area with a history of illegal shooting gallery operation. MSIC impact on injecting practices and injecting related health, and referral to drug treatment were also examined. Methods included cross-sectional IDU surveys, key informant interviews, staff focus groups, analysis of client registration and surveillance data and routinely collected data on needles and syringes - including multiple indirect prevalence estimation, and prospective follow-up of MSIC referrals. Shooting gallery users expressed demand for and willingness to use the MSIC. Injecting episodes previously occurring in shooting galleries appear to have been transferred to the MSIC, although shooting galleries continued to operate at a reduced level. The MSIC service model was accessible, with few refusals of entry, high levels of client satisfaction and limited non-use for reasons relating to the model. MSIC engaged high risk IDUs - regular injectors, sex workers, and those injecting in public places and shooting galleries - who were also more likely to be frequent attendees. MSIC clients were more likely than other IDUs to inject in public places and shooting galleries, be HCV seropositive, have riskier injecting practices and more severe injecting related health problems. MSIC achieved good coverage of the local IDU population (70.7%, range 59.1%-86.7%) and modest coverage of their estimated total injecting episodes during its operating hours (8.8%, range 7.3%-10.8%). MSIC use was associated with improvements in injecting practices and health. Frequent MSIC use was also associated with higher rates of referral to drug treatment than less frequent use. Drug treatment referral uptake was positively associated with a recent history of daily injection and sex work and negatively associated with a lifetime history of psychiatric treatment and/or self harm. This research was confounded by substantial changes in heroin availability during the study period but provides new evidence on DCR coverage, impact on injecting practices and health, and referral to drug treatment. Implications for future research are discussed.

Drug Consumption Rooms (DCRs), where injecting drug users (IDUs) can use pre-obtained drugs in a hygienic and professionally supervised low threshold setting, aim to engage high risk IDUs, reduce public drug use, injecting-related morbidity and mortality, and improve access to drug treatment. This thesis evaluates the service demand, accessibility, utilisation, and coverage of Australia???s first DCR, the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC), located in an area with a history of illegal shooting gallery operation. MSIC impact on injecting practices and injecting related health, and referral to drug treatment were also examined. Methods included cross-sectional IDU surveys, key informant interviews, staff focus groups, analysis of client registration and surveillance data and routinely collected data on needles and syringes - including multiple indirect prevalence estimation, and prospective follow-up of MSIC referrals. Shooting gallery users expressed demand for and willingness to use the MSIC. Injecting episodes previously occurring in shooting galleries appear to have been transferred to the MSIC, although shooting galleries continued to operate at a reduced level. The MSIC service model was accessible, with few refusals of entry, high levels of client satisfaction and limited non-use for reasons relating to the model. MSIC engaged high risk IDUs - regular injectors, sex workers, and those injecting in public places and shooting galleries - who were also more likely to be frequent attendees. MSIC clients were more likely than other IDUs to inject in public places and shooting galleries, be HCV seropositive, have riskier injecting practices and more severe injecting related health problems. MSIC achieved good coverage of the local IDU population (70.7%, range 59.1%-86.7%) and modest coverage of their estimated total injecting episodes during its operating hours (8.8%, range 7.3%-10.8%). MSIC use was associated with improvements in injecting practices and health. Frequent MSIC use was also associated with higher rates of referral to drug treatment than less frequent use. Drug treatment referral uptake was positively associated with a recent history of daily injection and sex work and negatively associated with a lifetime history of psychiatric treatment and/or self harm. This research was confounded by substantial changes in heroin availability during the study period but provides new evidence on DCR coverage, impact on injecting practices and health, and referral to drug treatment. Implications for future research are discussed.

The Australian Disability Rights Movement (ADRM) developed slowly during the century, with a major spurt of growth in the 1980’s, resulting in the formation of two national advocacy organisations controlled by people with disabilities. This thesis uses the insider perspective of the researcher, feminist research methodology, review of relevant theory, and the views of self-selected board members to explore the history and common themes of the ADRM, and the relationship of these organisations to social change. Theoretical sources have been explored concerning past and present status of people with disabilities, new social movements, and second wave feminism. / Participants identifies individual experiences of disability and most felt the formation of such collective action groups had positive effects on social change. Respondents named major significant events in the achievement of disability rights, most naming the development of the two national organisations Disabled People’s International (Australia) (DPI(A) and Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) as essential to positive outcomes. / Sexism was experienced by most women involved in the more traditional organisation. This, and recognition of feminism, gave impetus to the formation of WWDA. / Opinion was divided about the best way the disability movement could continue without a peak body for both genders. The movement was perceived as ongoing, but less organised in its confrontation of challenges to the citizenship of people with disabilities posed by social and economic changes and governments’ weakening of the concept of advocacy.

Otitis media and consequent hearing loss are known to be high in Koori communities. Previous research on otitis media in Koori communities has focused on its identification, treatment and management. Little research has focused on the prevention of otitis media. Victorian Aboriginal communities often have small populations which result in small sample sizes for research projects. Consequently use of traditional quantitative methods to measure of change arising from health interventions can be problematic. The aim of the research was to describe Koori children’s otitis media risk factors using a Koori research method in order to develop, implement and evaluate preventative interventions.

Although police generally exercise wide discretionary powers across most of their duties, it is with respect to young people that these powers are the most extensive. Both sociological and psychological factors influence the use of police discretionary powers. There are said to be strong relationships between authoritarianism, for example, and justice outcomes. Other measures, such as cynicism and punitiveness, have been observed to be influential predictors of police behaviour. Extending the work on jury decision-making, along with other police research, the present research examines use of police discretionary powers with young offenders. Sworn police officers from two jurisdictions, New Zealand and New South Wales, responded to written surveys about their past and intended future behaviour surrounding four crimes most commonly conducted by young offenders. In all, over 500 officers took part in the studies. Further, participants responded to a battery of personality and attitude questionnaires, along with questions about situational variables normally taken into consideration by officers. Results show that police behaviour towards the same offending varies greatly, both within and across jurisdictions. New Zealand police officers were much more likely than New South Wales police officers to report that they diverted, rather than arrested, young offenders who had committed shoplifting and burglary offences. However, when responding to scenarios of underage drinking and assault, it was New South Wales police who were more likely to divert young offenders. There were very few significant relationships between attitudes and behaviour when examining either group, with significant results possibly being a side effect of large sample sizes. Further there were few significant relationships when considering demographic or situational variables. However, in an exploration of police personality, through cluster analysis, evidence was found for different 'typologies', or resonances, of police. The results indicate that police are not an homogenous group. In addition, quite complex relationships between measures of police behaviour and individual difference were found within the resonances, with effect sizes showing moderate results. The findings support the need to investigate further personality typologies and extend them to the examination of attitude-behaviour relationships. In addition, research into the use of an attitudinal measure, such as discretionary ideology, as an alternative to measuring behaviour could be expanded. Moreover, broadening of the research into additional areas of the juvenile justice systems, such as legal representatives, magistrates, and youth detention centre officers, would provide further insight into the appropriate use of discretion within juvenile justice for both minor offending and more serious offending. / thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2004.