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
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/269044 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Zufferey, Carole |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | EN-AUS |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Carole Zufferey 2007 |
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