This thesis reports a phenomenological hermeneutical critical realist inquiry into violence prevention educators promoting desirable and ‘good’ relationships in practice. This inquiry is based on the premise that promoting desirable alternatives to violence in violence prevention education is a moral activity; in so far as the question of what is desirable in relationships is a moral question. Based on in-depth phenomenological interviews with twelve Australian human service professionals working in the field of primary relationship violence prevention, the thesis provides descriptions of how and why certain versions of desirable relationships are promoted in this field. It will be demonstrated that individual workers’ personal moral commitments are influential in making certain versions of the ‘good’ relationship possible in violence prevention education. The field of primary violence prevention has a dual function; the first is to ameliorate risks associated with using violence, and the second is to promote desirable alternatives to using violence in relationships. This thesis argues that when workers in violence prevention education promote desirable ways of being in relationships they are promoting moral goods. Few fields in human service work offer an inquirer direct access to the issue of promoting moral goods in practice. The focus of most human services practice is less about the question of the good or flourishing life, and more about assisting people to cope with or change existing social and personal problems. In contrast, violence prevention education is bound up with constructing and promoting desirable human living. In this inquiry the conceptual task was to understand and describe the interplay between individual workers beliefs and practice style when doing violence prevention education. The thesis identifies four different conventions of this interplay. In two conventions, there was a tendency for workers not to recognise or avoid recognising the moral complexities involved when promoting good alternatives to using violence in relationships. These workers use an ‘expert’ or prescriptive practice approach. In the third convention workers recognised there is moral and ethical complexity in the practice of promoting desirable relationships. These workers conceive that practicing well in the field of violence prevention education is less about promoting certainty and prescription, and more with posing ethical questions. In the fourth convention was observed inconsistencies between workers’ personal beliefs and how they construct desirable relationships in the public realm of practice. These workers conceal aspects of their personal beliefs because these beliefs sit uncomfortably with secular values, or otherwise dominant cultural norms in the field. Hermeneutical engagement with the field findings accommodated the literary tradition of human service work ethics, the moral philosophy tradition in so far as it has addressed the question of what makes a human practice ‘good’, and interpersonal violence prevention literature. Interpretation of these literary traditions was underscored by a ‘strong’ hermeneutical framework (Taylor 1989; Gadamer 1976; Heidegger 1962), combined with elements from transcendental critical realism (Archer 2004; 2003; 2000). The interpretations given in the thesis are evaluative. I argue that that promoting desirable relationships in violence prevention education should be recognised as a practice with implicit ethical and moral dimensions. Based on this recognition, I argue that workers in this field must demonstrate a broader range of ethical skills. Workers should be able to recognise and engage purposefully with a variety of moral traditions that people in the community draw upon to evaluate what is ‘good’ in human living. I argue that it is important for violence prevention educators to develop moral understanding, a personal moral commitment, and a capacity for skilful engagement with groups concerning ethical dilemmas in human living. This thesis can make a contribution to that tradition in human services literature where scholars and practitioners have engaged the problem of how to conceive ‘ethical’ practice. However, the final contribution of this thesis will be perhaps less with the findings discussed and more with observing that moral dimensions in the field of violence prevention education have not been adequately recognised. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/235920 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Evans, Susan P., University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
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