This thesis presents a retrospective critique of the social and political construction of 'informal care' within community care policy from the period of the late 1970s to the mid 1990s. The thesis considers the question of the degree of 'choice' available to informal carers to say 'no' to caring, or aspects of caring, within the reforms' positioning of informal care as the first line of support for adult dependants. The critique focuses on subjectivity, difference, agency and choice. A theoretical and methodological synthesis is developed between feminist post-structuralism, feminist critiques of mainstream social policy, and feminist theory and research, within which a qualitative in-depth interview study with informal carers is situated. The critique is then expanded through the development of a 'Q' Methodology study with a larger cohort of informal carers. The research identified gendered generational differences between the carers, and a 'burden' of care imposed as an outcome of consecutive governments' attempts to residualise welfare. The older carers' levels of agency and choice were severely curtailed. However, the younger female carers were more able to resist the drive of the community care reforms, their counter discourses being based on a new emergent notion of 'rights'. The direction of community care policy was found to be out of step with how the carers within this study perceived their responsibilities and 'obligations'. The thesis argues that whilst post-modernism may have constrained the capacity of governments and reconstituted our understanding of 'care', it has not done so to the extent that we are no longer prepared to make demands for 'care' from and by the state.

The social work response to homelessness emerges from particular historical, sociopolitical and economic contexts. It is influenced by public perceptions of service provision as represented in the print media and by political and policy processes. This research study examines dominant representations of homelessness and social work in the print media, social policy and social work practice. The focus of the thesis is how discourses from the Australian print media, social policy and social work practice co-exist in constructing homelessness as a particular social problem and influence social workers and social work responses to homelessness. Two research studies provide the empirical basis for this thesis. A mixed method approach is used. Firstly, a quantitative content analysis of newspaper articles in three Australian capital cities examines public discourses relevant to the constructions of homelessness, 'homeless people' and service provision. Secondly, a qualitative discourse analysis of interviews with social workers employed in the field of homelessness in inner city Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney explores how social workers make meaning of their identity and responses to homelessness in contemporary practice settings. The social work study highlights the varied and complex contributions of social workers to Australian policy and practice responses to homelessness, which is a new and important contribution to the existing body of research. The theoretical influences on this thesis are social constructionist, feminist, critical and post-modern social work perspectives. These varied approaches enable an analysis of power that incorporates contradictions, complexities and social work resistances (Pease and Fook, 1999). / PhD Doctorate

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Concerns about suicide and self-harm in English prisons are not new (Third report of the commissioners of prisons, 1880, cited in Liebling, 1992). However, a distinct system of intervention and custody for children (as established by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998) is relatively modern, and as such contextual studies about self-harm have largely, to date, overlooked children as a discrete group existing within a separate framework from adults. Similarly, large-scale research exploring self-harm among children in community settings has largely excluded the group of marginalised young people who come to the attention of youth justice services. This study presents a unique analysis of 181 youth justice assessments (‘Assets’) for boys who were remanded or sentenced to custody in under-18 Young Offender Institutions during 2014-15, tracing the subjects of the assessments from the communities they offended in through to a period in custody, using incident reports completed whilst they were there. What results is a contextual study examining the characteristics of the boys and their behaviour in custody. The study considers two central hypotheses: first, that to result in meaningful and supportive interventions, a definition of self-harm among the boys in the research sample often needs to include the harm they have done to their own lives (what the middle classes might call their ‘prospects’) through offending, and, second, that children who display the common traits of self-harming behaviour in custody may be identifiable by a different set of characteristics and needs from those who self-harm in the community. The author concludes that there is a previously undefined set of risk factors which can be applied to children who self-harm in custody for the first time, moving beyond the known risks associated with adolescent self-harm in the general population. Furthermore, it is found that boys who self-harm in custody are often oing so to exercise agency in an environment where they have very limited power, in circumstances defined not only by the restriction of liberty they are experiencing, but by the difficulties they experienced before coming to custody. Recommendations are made as to how policy-makers, through the current reforms to the youth justice system and a revised approach to assessments upon entry to custody, and practitioners, through increased awareness and improved recording of children’s views can more appropriately intervene in these boys’ lives to benefit them and society more widely.

This study set out to answer the question: In what ways do social work practitioners in Philippine municipalities manage competing mandates? The research question was informed by a number of theoretical propositions outlined in Chapter 1 and a particular construction of social work as described in Chapter 2. The approach taken was to ground the study in a particular practice setting, with the study participants being social workers serving as Municipal Social Welfare and Development (MSWD) Officers in Philippine municipalities.

This thesis examines the spirituality and participation in faith-based activities of young Catholics in Whangarei, New Zealand. Six youth aged 16-17 years have shared their experiences in several areas of Catholicism such as religious attendance, Catholic identity and Catholic faith, morals and values, peer group socialisation and religious commitment. Using a qualitative mixed-methodological approach with the underlying philosophical stance of interpretivism, the intent of the study is to discover ways in which these young Catholics integrate their faith into their daily lives and make meaning out of it. It also compares the religious beliefs and values of Catholic youth in Whangarei to those reported worldwide. The findings reveal many similar themes to those from international studies. Although all of the participants in this study possessed a distinct sense of ‘spirituality’ and being ‘Catholic’ was a very important part of their identity, not all of them seemed to consider it practical to live out their Catholic beliefs. Similarly, although they did not face any insurmountable challenges in practicing their faith in daily life, only a few of them had strong convictions about their faith and, like their peers in other countries, only a few could concretely list the core Catholic beliefs. Concepts of moralistic therapeutic deism were found to affect half the participants while nuances of moralistic relativism were also prevalent. Results also showed a growing disinterest in attending Mass, participating in the sacrament of Confession, leading an active prayer life, being a part of church youth activities and some difficulty in finding similar peer group support. Overall, the findings presented in this thesis suggested that the participants involved in the study could be separated into two groups on the basis of their differing spiritual levels and commitment to the Catholic faith The findings suggest a need for Catholic youth in Whangarei to be supported in their spiritual development in order to help them grow in their Catholic faith. Accordingly, the main recommendations are for community-based services such as providing a variety of youth programmes/groups to engage young people and finding ways to facilitate the secure engagement of youth in a dialogue about their faith and religion, in order to spiritually encourage, nourish and sustain them at whatever stage they might be at.

This thesis is a study of older volunteers and their feelings of being valued and of worth within that role. The perceptions of older volunteers and their managers within three participating non-government organisations, government and organisational policy documents and relevant legislation and literature in the fields of ageing and volunteering provided data for the research. Changing political, economic and social conditions together with ageing of the Australian population have resulted in human services being increasingly contracted to non-government organisations. This in turn has resulted in more services than hitherto being delivered by volunteers many of whom are older people. Population ageing implies that there will be an increasing need for human services provision in the first half of the twenty first century. Whether there will be sufficient volunteers to maintain these services will depend at least in part on the responsiveness of organisations to their volunteer base and the effectiveness of their recruitment strategies. This research indicates that a sense of mastery over their circumstances is critical to volunteer satisfaction. Volunteers discussed their perceptions of maintaining control over their circumstances through the process of initiating volunteering arrangements and negotiating role changes in response to their changing health or abilities. Managers recognised the need to be responsive to the changing abilities of older volunteers and identified strategies for maintaining the volunteer contribution. Management style and in particular communication emerged as integral to volunteer satisfaction and an awareness of and responsiveness to differing motivators was important, particularly in relation to social networking and making a worthwhile contribution as a source of feeling valued.

Family Meetings occur frequently in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) yet little data existed to guide clinicians in the conduct of these meetings. The medical team is required to deliver complex medical information and navigate complex decision-making with a traumatised family during a meeting. The objectives of this study were to describe the content and process of 15 whanau/family meetings in the PICU, identify family meeting characteristics and patient and family attributes that influence family satisfaction and recommend guidelines for health professionals working in the PICU. The study was conducted in a PICU in a university-affiliated children’s hospital in New Zealand (NZ). The process and content of 15 family meetings were analysed using a coding framework previously developed through a qualitative study of family meetings in the adult intensive care unit (Curtis, 2002a). A questionnaire providing a quantitative assessment of family satisfaction drawn from the same study was administered to 30 family members. Demographic data for the study were collected from the patient’s hospital record and these were combined with data relating to the meeting recording and transcript to identify family meeting characteristics and attributes that might influence family satisfaction. The content and process of family meetings in the PICU were described using a framework detailing 28 codes from the six domains: introductions, informational exchange, discussions of the future, decisions, discussions about death and dying, and closings. A comparison of family meeting characteristics and patient and family attributes revealed that longer meetings (40 minutes plus) were associated with lower family satisfaction and should therefore prompt clinicians to consider whether there are unresolved conflicts, difficulties or misunderstandings between the medical team and the family. Recommendations are proposed to guide health professionals in family meetings in the PICU. This is the first study to record and code the content of family meetings in the PICU. The findings from this study will assist clinicians in their meetings with families. The description of the family meeting content will also provide a foundation for future communication training and research in the health environment.

In this dissertation, I sought to understand foster parents’ perceptions of giftedness, how foster children’s strengths, gifts, and talents affect their experiences and those of their foster parents, and what resources and information foster parents have for supporting their foster children’s education and gifts. To understand these beliefs, I analyzed quantitative and qualitative survey data from 53 foster parents throughout the United States and analyzed interviews from 14 of those foster parents. Most foster parents surveyed perceived their foster children as a little or very different academically and in other ways than their peers not in foster care, and perceived they had different educational experiences than their peers, largely attributed to their lived experiences prior to entering and during foster care. Most participants felt their foster children’s abilities, strengths, and talents affected foster parents a little or very much. Interviewed and surveyed foster parents defined giftedness as including the following attributes: academic achievement, natural ability or innate talent, intelligence, domain-specific capabilities, performance or skills above average for their age or above their peers, unique approaches to learning, and motivation for learning. Interviewees also addressed non-academic forms of giftedness, socioemotional characteristics of children with gifts and talents, and noted that these students may have some difficulties in school. Foster parents explained the adaptations they have made to their parenting because of their foster children’s strengths, talents, and abilities, and highlighted the unique life experiences of foster children, which were not only hinderances but also could help them succeed academically and in life. Participants also expressed why they think foster children are not identified for gifted education programming. Foster parents had many needs related to their foster children’s education and strengths, talents, and abilities. They made recommendations to those who train new foster parents and provide ongoing training to current foster parents; to schools and teachers of foster children; and to new foster parents about how to best meet the needs of foster children and encourage their gifts and talents.