In our global world, ideas in general and social work models in particular are spread and implemented in a variety of socioeconomic, political and cultural contexts, generating different outcomes. Many ideas and services launched in different countries by international organisations or governments in order to bring social justice to marginalised and oppressed groups, such as people with disabilities, have been criticised for not reaching or involving those such services aim to serve. Low impact of social programs on the welfare of people and communities has put the effectiveness of such programs into question and can leave people with disabilities dissatisfied with the social services available in their environment. The main purpose of this dissertation is to examine how an international idea for social work practice, as community based rehabilitation (CBR), is implemented in different structures and institutional contexts. To examine how an idea is implemented in different contexts, following research questions have guided the work: “How was the idea of CBR introduced to and implemented in Uganda and Sweden?”, “What contextual factors influenced the implementation of CBR in these countries?”, “What limitations and possibilities affected CBRs chances of continuity and institutionalisation in the two countries?” and finally“Can international ideas and models for social work be successfully used in different structural and institutional contexts?”. The study is based on a qualitative design with a comparative approach using qualitative content analysis for analysing data collected through official documents and interviews with parents to children with disabilities and professionals working in the children’s surrounding. The results show how difficult it is to monitor development through projects in both non-Western and Western countries. International ideas of social work, such as CBR, can make a difference in both Uganda and Sweden for the improvement of the living condition of those in need of services; at least, as long as there are funding for the projects and cooperation between authorities, NGOs and the parents of children with disabilities. The results show also that there are many differences in the process of the implementation of CBR in Uganda and Sweden. The colonial past of Uganda and its weak welfare state make CBR an important project for the improvement of the life conditions of children with disabilities. Meanwhile, the Swedish strong welfare state and legal protection of children with disabilities make CBR much more marginal in Sweden than in Uganda. However, CBRs successes to promote social justice for children with disabilities and their families makes it necessary to integrate the project to the existing organisation of the welfare state in the two countries. Changing existing welfare services requires engagement in political decision-makings, cooperation, and a critical examination of structural and institutional arrangements, in order to include successful projects in the daily functions and duties of the welfare state of every country. This will prevent an international idea for social work to not only be a temporary trend to follow, but also an established working method for helping people in need of proper services.

The process of defining heritage is fraught with the inequalities of social and political power concomitant with colonialism. As a result, disenfranchised and marginalized groups worldwide have been given little say in heritage matters until recently. Though often perceived as "experts" on the past, archaeologists are just one of many stakeholders with interests in how the past is used in the present. As such, archaeologists today face the challenge of decolonizing heritage work through engagement with diverse stakeholder communities. In this dissertation, I explore the ways that archaeologists have been working at this over the last two decades through a variety of community-based approaches to the archaeological dimensions of heritage work. I propose a multi-stakeholder model--what I call a "poly-communal approach"-- that builds on and address several shortcomings I identify in these efforts. This approach engages diverse local and non-local stakeholders in collective heritage work that aims to restructure traditional power relationships in archaeological projects. I explicate this approach and, through a case study, evaluate its effectiveness as a tool for decolonizing practice and dominant histories. The case study focuses on the social relationships of multiple stakeholders (Native American descendant communities, heritage institutions, archaeologists, landowners, avocational archaeologists, local residents, and scholars) catalyzed by the archaeology of a seventeenth-century Native American site in Deerfield, Massachusetts. The site, believed to be a fortified place of Pocumtuck peoples, plays a critical role in the dominant English and early American colonial history commemorated in the town for a century. The Pocumtuck Fort is popularly, though inaccurately, believed to be the last place the Pocumtuck lived before they "disappeared" just prior to the first English settlement in Deerfield and this dominant narrative has contributed to historical erasures of Native American peoples in the New England interior. Here, I combine a poly-communal approach to heritage work, archaeological research, and current fieldwork in this case study. I conclude that poly-communal heritage work, like that of the Pocumtuck Fort Archaeology and Stewardship project, can transform sites of historical erasures to places that mobilize and facilitate intercultural discourse and action, demonstrating that heritage and the power to mobilize the past can be shared.

A pocket of HIV infection has grown to epidemic proportions in a mostly Aboriginal1 community in Northern Alberta. At the start of the research my assumptions were that Aboriginal2 sexuality is affected by political, historical, cultural, psychological, and social factors that underpin the social determinants of health. STI/HIV is a symptom of the marginalized status of Aboriginal peoples who experienced historical trauma due to colonization. As an insider researcher, using an exploratory design I addressed the following questions: 1) is popular theatre a culturally appropriate medium for introducing information to increase knowledge of STI/HIV in an Aboriginal audience? 2) Is popular theatre an effective way to encourage audience members to express their attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours related to sexual health? 3) How are popular theatre and action research methodologically and conceptually appropriate for preventing STI/HIV? 4) How do the influence of elders and a popular theatre practitioner affect the intervention? 5) Can the use of action research and popular theatre influence the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours to promote healthy sexual choices? 6) Is narrative analysis a good way for Aboriginal people to tell their stories or have their stories told? Completing this exploratory research was financially possible through the Aboriginal Health Strategy. The funds enabled me to recruit a popular theatre practitioner, a group of young Indigenous community members and supportive elders to answer my research questions. The data was obtained through one-to-one interviews, journals, talking circles, and field notes of the community-based theatre and action research process. Due to a lack of time in the field, narrative analysis was not used. Instead I introduced Grandmother Spider and developed a dream catcher that I refer to as the Indigenous Iterative Webbed Circle to analyze the real and fictional stories that led to the community performance of My Peoples Blood. The methods are appropriate and effective if the principles of Community Based Participatory Research and action research are followed by all group members involved in this popular theatre project.

Ethiopia is a country well endowed with a number of development related NGOs who have been involved in socio-economic development at national, regional and grassroots level. In a country like Ethiopia, where natural and man-made hazards persist, NGOs play a crucial role in terms of reducing poverty and other human sufferings. As one of the non-governmental organizations, the Ethiopian Kale Heywot Church Development Program (EKHCDP) has played an important role in supporting and encouraging the development aspirations of local communities in the areas of environmental rehabilitation, water and sanitation, agriculture, health, education, credit and saving schemes.<br /> <br /> The study focused on the Ethiopian Kale Heywot Church community development program in five selected project areas, namely Lambuda, Durame, Shashamane, Debraziet and Nazret. The analysis subsequently examined the nature and extent of community participation in the project planning, implementation and decision-making phases. Thereafter, the study brought into focus general observations gleaned from the investigation and provides recommendation to the EKHC and other stakeholders that have been involved in development activities.<br /> <br /> Quantitative and qualitative methods of research have been applied throughout the investigation. Accordingly, observation, in depth interviews, focus group discussions and structured and semi-structured questionnaires were used to gather information. The qualitative mode was employed to gather socially dynamic information on issues relating to beneficiaries&rsquo / perceptions of processes in order to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics at play. On the other hand, the quantitative mode was used to test variables related to the research problem. <br /> <br /> The findings indicate that the Ethiopian Kale Heywot Church development program has played a significant role in terms of community development. Moreover, its development approach is responsive to local needs and able to mobilize local and external resources to support the poor, so that through empowerment and participation they will be released from the deprivation trap that they find themselves in. The study also indicates that the EKHCDP has good linkages and networks with other communities and partners. However, the study indicated that the intensity of community participation in decision-making is still low in certain cases. Meanwhile, the beneficiaries did not show a clear understanding of aspects such as project ownership. Finally, this study recommends that genuine community participation should be maintained because it is the core activity contributing to beneficiary empowerment and grassroots institutional capacity building and an essential ingredient for self-reliance and project sustainability.

Community service as an alternative to imprisonment at its inception was taken up very strongly by the judiciary as part of the reform of the criminal justice system in Uganda. The successful enactment of the Community Service Act, Act no: 5/2000, was an achievement towards the implementation of the programme in the country. However, its implementation as an alternative sentence is currently proceeding at a slow pace. The Ugandan law still allows courts to exercise their discretionary powers with regard to either using prison sentences or community service. Courts still seem to prefer to use imprisonment irrespective of the nature of the offence, thus leading to unwarranted government expenditure and prison overcrowding. An additional problem is that some offenders come out of prison having been negatively affected by their interaction with even more serious offenders. This study was undertaken to establish whether community service as an alternative to imprisonment can be effective with regard to reducing recidivism and to accelerating reconciliation and reintegration of minor offenders back into their communities.

Abstract Nature-based tourism and wildlife tourism are becoming increasingly popular worldwide and are often promoted as a means of protecting and preserving environmental resources. These forms of tourism are usually accompanied by interpretation such as signs, presentations and activities specifically designed to raise visitors‟ awareness of, and concern for, environmental issues. The rationale behind this approach is that enhancing visitors‟ environmental knowledge, understanding and attitudes prompts the adoption of environmentally responsible behaviours. This is supported by a growing body of research that suggests that environmental interpretation has considerable potential to impact upon visitors‟ conservation knowledge and attitudes, and that well-designed interpretive experiences and messages are an effective means of reducing a range of negative „on-site‟ behaviours such as littering, straying from walkways and feeding wildlife. However, there has been little exploration of whether environmental interpretation influences the uptake of conservation practices „off-site‟ or how the positive impacts of nature-based tourism can be maintained over time. Until recently, tourism research exploring post-visit behaviour has used visitors‟ immediate post-visit intentions as a measure of behaviour change. There is increasing evidence, however, that stated intentions to engage in conservation behaviours rarely manifest as actual behaviour, and that visitors‟ on-site enthusiasm and commitment tends to wane following their visit. The current research aimed to investigate whether providing visitors with post-visit support in the form of learning materials and reminders would prevent this decline and enhance long-term conservation learning (hereby defined as knowledge, attitudes and behaviour). This research explores short and long-term changes in families‟ conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour following their visit to Mon Repos Conservation Park, a world renowned turtle rookery in Queensland, Australia. Stage one of the study involved surveying 100 Australian families to identify barriers and benefits associated with six conservation practices (re-using containers, buying minimal packaging, reducing use of plastic bags, picking up litter, recycling and composting). Using Community-based Social Marketing theory, responses informed the development of printed and online post-visit action resources specifically designed to reinforce the wildlife tourism experience and support families‟ conservation learning. Resources focused on the six conservation behaviours outlined above but also included other environmental activities and conservation information of relevance. v In stage two, two hundred Australian families visiting Mon Repos in December 2007 and January 2008 were sampled and assigned to either a treatment group (provided with post-visit action resources and regular contact) or the control group (no post-visit support). All families were asked to complete pre-visit, post-visit and follow-up questionnaires to enable the researcher to ascertain short-term and long-term changes in their conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour and to identify factors contributing to the uptake of off-site conservation practices. The final sample comprised the one hundred families who completed all three questionnaires. Comparisons between responses of the control and treatment groups revealed that post-visit action resources reinforced respondents‟ knowledge of threats to turtles and enhanced their attitudes towards protecting wildlife and the natural environment. Families who received post-visit support were also significantly more likely to pick up litter and introduced more conservation actions than those who did not receive this support. Aspects of the post-visit action resources that were particular effective were updates of turtle activity at Mon Repos, emails, fact sheets and the newsletter. Other factors that prompted the adoption of conservation practices included Mon Repos‟ interpretation and the opportunity to view wildlife in its natural surroundings. The influence of other family members and pre-visit knowledge and interest were also found to be associated with subsequent uptake of conservation behaviours. Implications for wildlife interpretive practice and the design and delivery of post-visit support are discussed and recommendations for future research presented.

Abstract Nature-based tourism and wildlife tourism are becoming increasingly popular worldwide and are often promoted as a means of protecting and preserving environmental resources. These forms of tourism are usually accompanied by interpretation such as signs, presentations and activities specifically designed to raise visitors‟ awareness of, and concern for, environmental issues. The rationale behind this approach is that enhancing visitors‟ environmental knowledge, understanding and attitudes prompts the adoption of environmentally responsible behaviours. This is supported by a growing body of research that suggests that environmental interpretation has considerable potential to impact upon visitors‟ conservation knowledge and attitudes, and that well-designed interpretive experiences and messages are an effective means of reducing a range of negative „on-site‟ behaviours such as littering, straying from walkways and feeding wildlife. However, there has been little exploration of whether environmental interpretation influences the uptake of conservation practices „off-site‟ or how the positive impacts of nature-based tourism can be maintained over time. Until recently, tourism research exploring post-visit behaviour has used visitors‟ immediate post-visit intentions as a measure of behaviour change. There is increasing evidence, however, that stated intentions to engage in conservation behaviours rarely manifest as actual behaviour, and that visitors‟ on-site enthusiasm and commitment tends to wane following their visit. The current research aimed to investigate whether providing visitors with post-visit support in the form of learning materials and reminders would prevent this decline and enhance long-term conservation learning (hereby defined as knowledge, attitudes and behaviour). This research explores short and long-term changes in families‟ conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour following their visit to Mon Repos Conservation Park, a world renowned turtle rookery in Queensland, Australia. Stage one of the study involved surveying 100 Australian families to identify barriers and benefits associated with six conservation practices (re-using containers, buying minimal packaging, reducing use of plastic bags, picking up litter, recycling and composting). Using Community-based Social Marketing theory, responses informed the development of printed and online post-visit action resources specifically designed to reinforce the wildlife tourism experience and support families‟ conservation learning. Resources focused on the six conservation behaviours outlined above but also included other environmental activities and conservation information of relevance. v In stage two, two hundred Australian families visiting Mon Repos in December 2007 and January 2008 were sampled and assigned to either a treatment group (provided with post-visit action resources and regular contact) or the control group (no post-visit support). All families were asked to complete pre-visit, post-visit and follow-up questionnaires to enable the researcher to ascertain short-term and long-term changes in their conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour and to identify factors contributing to the uptake of off-site conservation practices. The final sample comprised the one hundred families who completed all three questionnaires. Comparisons between responses of the control and treatment groups revealed that post-visit action resources reinforced respondents‟ knowledge of threats to turtles and enhanced their attitudes towards protecting wildlife and the natural environment. Families who received post-visit support were also significantly more likely to pick up litter and introduced more conservation actions than those who did not receive this support. Aspects of the post-visit action resources that were particular effective were updates of turtle activity at Mon Repos, emails, fact sheets and the newsletter. Other factors that prompted the adoption of conservation practices included Mon Repos‟ interpretation and the opportunity to view wildlife in its natural surroundings. The influence of other family members and pre-visit knowledge and interest were also found to be associated with subsequent uptake of conservation behaviours. Implications for wildlife interpretive practice and the design and delivery of post-visit support are discussed and recommendations for future research presented.

Abstract Nature-based tourism and wildlife tourism are becoming increasingly popular worldwide and are often promoted as a means of protecting and preserving environmental resources. These forms of tourism are usually accompanied by interpretation such as signs, presentations and activities specifically designed to raise visitors‟ awareness of, and concern for, environmental issues. The rationale behind this approach is that enhancing visitors‟ environmental knowledge, understanding and attitudes prompts the adoption of environmentally responsible behaviours. This is supported by a growing body of research that suggests that environmental interpretation has considerable potential to impact upon visitors‟ conservation knowledge and attitudes, and that well-designed interpretive experiences and messages are an effective means of reducing a range of negative „on-site‟ behaviours such as littering, straying from walkways and feeding wildlife. However, there has been little exploration of whether environmental interpretation influences the uptake of conservation practices „off-site‟ or how the positive impacts of nature-based tourism can be maintained over time. Until recently, tourism research exploring post-visit behaviour has used visitors‟ immediate post-visit intentions as a measure of behaviour change. There is increasing evidence, however, that stated intentions to engage in conservation behaviours rarely manifest as actual behaviour, and that visitors‟ on-site enthusiasm and commitment tends to wane following their visit. The current research aimed to investigate whether providing visitors with post-visit support in the form of learning materials and reminders would prevent this decline and enhance long-term conservation learning (hereby defined as knowledge, attitudes and behaviour). This research explores short and long-term changes in families‟ conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour following their visit to Mon Repos Conservation Park, a world renowned turtle rookery in Queensland, Australia. Stage one of the study involved surveying 100 Australian families to identify barriers and benefits associated with six conservation practices (re-using containers, buying minimal packaging, reducing use of plastic bags, picking up litter, recycling and composting). Using Community-based Social Marketing theory, responses informed the development of printed and online post-visit action resources specifically designed to reinforce the wildlife tourism experience and support families‟ conservation learning. Resources focused on the six conservation behaviours outlined above but also included other environmental activities and conservation information of relevance. v In stage two, two hundred Australian families visiting Mon Repos in December 2007 and January 2008 were sampled and assigned to either a treatment group (provided with post-visit action resources and regular contact) or the control group (no post-visit support). All families were asked to complete pre-visit, post-visit and follow-up questionnaires to enable the researcher to ascertain short-term and long-term changes in their conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour and to identify factors contributing to the uptake of off-site conservation practices. The final sample comprised the one hundred families who completed all three questionnaires. Comparisons between responses of the control and treatment groups revealed that post-visit action resources reinforced respondents‟ knowledge of threats to turtles and enhanced their attitudes towards protecting wildlife and the natural environment. Families who received post-visit support were also significantly more likely to pick up litter and introduced more conservation actions than those who did not receive this support. Aspects of the post-visit action resources that were particular effective were updates of turtle activity at Mon Repos, emails, fact sheets and the newsletter. Other factors that prompted the adoption of conservation practices included Mon Repos‟ interpretation and the opportunity to view wildlife in its natural surroundings. The influence of other family members and pre-visit knowledge and interest were also found to be associated with subsequent uptake of conservation behaviours. Implications for wildlife interpretive practice and the design and delivery of post-visit support are discussed and recommendations for future research presented.

Abstract Nature-based tourism and wildlife tourism are becoming increasingly popular worldwide and are often promoted as a means of protecting and preserving environmental resources. These forms of tourism are usually accompanied by interpretation such as signs, presentations and activities specifically designed to raise visitors‟ awareness of, and concern for, environmental issues. The rationale behind this approach is that enhancing visitors‟ environmental knowledge, understanding and attitudes prompts the adoption of environmentally responsible behaviours. This is supported by a growing body of research that suggests that environmental interpretation has considerable potential to impact upon visitors‟ conservation knowledge and attitudes, and that well-designed interpretive experiences and messages are an effective means of reducing a range of negative „on-site‟ behaviours such as littering, straying from walkways and feeding wildlife. However, there has been little exploration of whether environmental interpretation influences the uptake of conservation practices „off-site‟ or how the positive impacts of nature-based tourism can be maintained over time. Until recently, tourism research exploring post-visit behaviour has used visitors‟ immediate post-visit intentions as a measure of behaviour change. There is increasing evidence, however, that stated intentions to engage in conservation behaviours rarely manifest as actual behaviour, and that visitors‟ on-site enthusiasm and commitment tends to wane following their visit. The current research aimed to investigate whether providing visitors with post-visit support in the form of learning materials and reminders would prevent this decline and enhance long-term conservation learning (hereby defined as knowledge, attitudes and behaviour). This research explores short and long-term changes in families‟ conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour following their visit to Mon Repos Conservation Park, a world renowned turtle rookery in Queensland, Australia. Stage one of the study involved surveying 100 Australian families to identify barriers and benefits associated with six conservation practices (re-using containers, buying minimal packaging, reducing use of plastic bags, picking up litter, recycling and composting). Using Community-based Social Marketing theory, responses informed the development of printed and online post-visit action resources specifically designed to reinforce the wildlife tourism experience and support families‟ conservation learning. Resources focused on the six conservation behaviours outlined above but also included other environmental activities and conservation information of relevance. v In stage two, two hundred Australian families visiting Mon Repos in December 2007 and January 2008 were sampled and assigned to either a treatment group (provided with post-visit action resources and regular contact) or the control group (no post-visit support). All families were asked to complete pre-visit, post-visit and follow-up questionnaires to enable the researcher to ascertain short-term and long-term changes in their conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour and to identify factors contributing to the uptake of off-site conservation practices. The final sample comprised the one hundred families who completed all three questionnaires. Comparisons between responses of the control and treatment groups revealed that post-visit action resources reinforced respondents‟ knowledge of threats to turtles and enhanced their attitudes towards protecting wildlife and the natural environment. Families who received post-visit support were also significantly more likely to pick up litter and introduced more conservation actions than those who did not receive this support. Aspects of the post-visit action resources that were particular effective were updates of turtle activity at Mon Repos, emails, fact sheets and the newsletter. Other factors that prompted the adoption of conservation practices included Mon Repos‟ interpretation and the opportunity to view wildlife in its natural surroundings. The influence of other family members and pre-visit knowledge and interest were also found to be associated with subsequent uptake of conservation behaviours. Implications for wildlife interpretive practice and the design and delivery of post-visit support are discussed and recommendations for future research presented.

Abstract Sustainable community development is a current approach to development that has evolved from previous approaches. In Malaysia, the community-based homestay programme, which is a collective project undertaken by community members, is promoted to rural villages by the Malaysian government as a development strategy. In fact, the homestay programme has the potential to generate additional income for the villagers and provide an avenue for them to participate in tourism development. It also offers cultural exchange between the hosts and the guests, and incorporates the surrounding environment, including farms and the rural landscape, as the main attractions. Nevertheless, research on the Malaysian homestay programme as a development strategy is scarce and predominantly focuses on villages with programmes that are performing well in terms of generating tourist revenue. Although it may be economically viable, economic criterion alone does not guarantee that the programme and the community will be sustainable in the future, justifying the sustainable community development focus of this thesis. Sustainable community development is based on the principle that the community is able to utilise its resources while ensuring future generations have enough resources, reflecting the concepts of equity, a development by the people and for the people, and self-sufficiency. Consequently, three important issues are addressed in this thesis; 1) the distribution of costs and benefits among local people, 2) the nature of local participation, and 3) the self-reliance of the community. In framing the issues, the thesis is underpinned by several theories relating to earlier development theories, sustainable tourism development, sustainable community development, and pro-poor tourism. Unlike previous research which concentrated primarily on the host group with only minor representation from other village members, this thesis seeks to assess all groups in the village; the host, non-host and non-participant. A total of 90 interviews were undertaken in three different categories of homestay villages, in addition to another 10 interviews with representatives from the government and the Malaysian Homestay Association. Semi-structured interviews provided primary data for this study while secondary data was sourced from document analysis. Consequently, the multiple data collection method, including field notes, and various types of data heighten the credibility of this research through triangulation. To provide a framework for the discussion, the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (DFID, 1999) was applied to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of each homestay village. Overall, the results of this research reveal that the homestay programme is not able to contribute to sustainable community development when it is not accepted by all members of the community. Based on the results, this thesis proposes a framework towards an improvement in the organisation, the management and the community of homestay through an assessment and monitoring system. By implementing the concepts in the proposed Sustainable Livelihoods Framework for Homestay Programme (SLF-HP), it is hoped that such programmes will increase, sustain and expand the benefits to a larger number of community members.