bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Medical Students' Attitudes and Opinions About Human Sexual Behaviour
Authors: Blizard Peter J. , Smith Murray S. R.
Published: December 2016

In their professional capacities doctors are often confronted with clients who present with psycho‐sexual problems. At the present time Australian medical students are provided with very little instruction in the areas of human sexual behaviour. This paper examines the attitudes and amount of information possessed by a cohort of second year medical students compared with groups of first and fifth year students; these attitudes and levels of information are then related to students' sex, religious affiliation, strength of religious conviction, where this is seen to be relevant. It is shown that some areas of ignorance exist. The paper concludes by outlining some aspects relevant to courses in human sexual behaviour.
Objectives, Role and Functions of Social Welfare Services in Sweden
Authors: Malare Gudrun
Published: December 2016

The assumption in the 1930s that poverty was the cause of all social problems was clearly not borne out in the Swedish experiment in creating social security through massive insurance and other programmes. The public debate from the middle of the 1960s has therefore been concerned with an examination and re‐definition of the aims of social policies. The perception of the role and functions of the social welfare services consequently changed.

In 1974 a Parliamentary Commission published its report on the principles the services should follow in the future. The report emphasizes that the social welfare services have a definite role in the restructuring of society, and it spells out ways in which this aim can be achieved.
Immigrant Adjustment: A Note on Kovacs and Cropley's Model
Authors: Putniņš Aldis L.
Published: December 2016

While the model of immigrant adaptation used by Kovacs and Cropley improves on earlier models by allowing for a state of alienation, it is still restricted by not being able to describe cases of high integration. This can be done by employing a multi‐dimensional model which allows, at least in some instances, for assimilation and alienation to occur independently of each other. An important implication of such an approach is that immigrants may adopt host group characteristics without rejecting their ethnicity.
Population Redistribution in Australia: The Problem of Competing Location Preferences
Authors: Hay Colin G.
Published: December 2016

Results from an exploratory survey are used to indicate the importance of the subjective dimension in relocation decisions and policies directed towards population redistribution. The competition between alternative residential location preferences amongst the sample surveyed indicates possible obstacles to the implementation of selective decentralization programmes and the rapid development of designated growth centres.
Young and Unemployed
Authors: Barrington John
Published: December 2016

Unemployment can pose particular problems for school leavers and other young people. Some English studies on the effects of unemployment are reviewed, and some of the causes and effects of unemployment among young people in Australia are then discussed. Some suggestions are made for areas in which further research could be carried out.
Modern Medicine and Pregnancy
Authors: Pryke Margaret M.
Published: December 2016

A study of the relationship between anxiety and health attitudes in a group of women in first pregnancy demonstrates a significant correlation between the variables. Body threat scores on a projective test remain high despite reported realistic attitudes to health. The possible conflict between a rational, scientific approach to pregnancy and the primitive, irrational fears of the primigravida is discussed.
Student Withdrawal at the University of New England
Authors: Watkins David
Published: December 2016

Analysis of data relating to the rate of student withdrawal at the University of New England indicates that there has been a marked increase during the period 1971–1974. This is particularly true for males enrolled in science based faculties. The responses of 70 students to an open ended questionnaire suggest that their decisions to withdraw from UNE in 1974 were influenced by dissatisfaction with some aspects of tertiary life. It is suggested that even though UNE is presently considering ways of improving these supposed inadequacies the problem of the attitudes and motivation of our youth, particularly the young male, towards education in general, will still remain.
Aboriginal Children Belong in the Aboriginal Community: Changing Practices in Adoption
Authors: Sommerlad Elizabeth A.
Published: December 2016

The placement of aboriginal children has been the responsibility of white social workers attached to state welfare agencies. Many of these children have been fostered or adopted by white families and have had little or no contact with the aboriginal community. Aboriginal people are now voicing opposition to such practices and are calling for an end to inter‐racial adoption. They want the placement of all aboriginal children to be in the hands of the aboriginal community and are seeking to establish aboriginal placement agencies. These, and other demands, were voiced by an aboriginal task group at the recent First Australian Conference on Adoption.
Work Orientations of the Poor and Income Maintenance
Authors: Ternowetsky Gordon
Published: December 2016

Attitudes towards work are compared between a non‐poverty sample and a group of poor involved in an experimental income maintenance scheme. Two problems are examined. The first tests work orientation differences between the poor and the non‐poor. The second assesses the supposed ‘work disincentive effect’ of income maintenance. Contrary to the ‘culture of poverty’ thesis and the logic underlying many policy efforts, it was found that the poor are strongly motivated to achieve through work. Male/female comparisons revealed that non‐work tendencies are evident among the female poor. These, however, are attributed to their acceptance of different role expectations. It was also shown that over time the work orientations of the poor remained stable under conditions of guaranteed income support. The hypothesized ‘work disincentive effect’ of income maintenance was not supported.
Mental Retardation: Some thoughts on Strategies for National Planning
Authors: Bloor Geoffrey
Published: December 2016

The development of policies and services for the mentally handicapped tend to follow predictable patterns. In Australia services have been largely modelled upon systems which have evolved overseas, and there is inherent in this process the danger that the rights of the retarded may not be accepted by the general community. In order to safeguard the rights of the retarded and to encourage a truly Australian service system, a strong national association which can act as a mediator and consultant between the retarded and the governments is necessary.
A Framework for Looking at Causes of Changes in Ex‐nuptial Birthrates
Authors: Charlesworth Stephanie
Published: December 2016

An attempt is made, firstly, to sort out and summarize the causal influences mentioned in the literature on the subject of ex‐nuptiality; and secondly, to propose an initial step toward theory development in the area.
Canada's Social Security Review – A Comment from the Outside
Authors: Brown Joan C.
Published: December 2016

The voluntary sector in Canada made largely unavailing efforts to participate in Canada's Social Security Review from 1973 to 1977, although it was clear that it had a legitimate and direct interest in the outcome of the review.

The story of these efforts highlights a dilemma facing the voluntary sector. It desires to promote improved federal/state coordination and planning in the social services and social security. At the same time it claims the right to participate in policies which will vitally affect it. The Canadian experience suggests that to promote the first leads to a retreat from the second. This is not necessarily inevitable but some would argue that the only satisfactory answer lies in a Freedom of Information Act which will force policy making processes out into the open.
Research as a Social Process
Authors: Hunt F. J.
Published: December 2016

The activity of social research has been much discussed in recent years. It is examined here as a social process, with special attention to the participation of different groups of people. Four modes of doing research are identified. The framework accommodates and shows close relationships between established modes of research which generally have been seen to be substantially different. At the same time it includes modes which are more participatory in character and which have important implications for undertaking research, the development of theory, and the functioning of social groups, including society.
The Victim of Rape: WHAT Progress?
Authors: Goodman Ellen
Published: December 2016

This article utilizes a recent statement made by a member of the judiciary, in which female 'hitch‐hikers' are admonished on the basis that such behaviour is likely to provoke a sexual assault. The attitudes, recent research and genesis of sex‐role stereotypes are explored in order to elucidate the rationale underlying this statement. Particular attention is drawn to the fact that such statements are addressed exclusively to females.
Drug Education: An Abrogation of Professional Responsibility?
Authors: Kraus J.
Published: December 2016

Findings of research (conducted mainly by outsiders of the programs) have accumulated, which showed that the dissemination of drug knowledge not only does not prevent but could actually encourage drug experimentation by juveniles. Although a new ideology, which stresses education about ‘effective living’ instead of about drugs, has been propagated for a number of years now, its presumed prophylactic effects have yet to be demonstrated by its supporters. It is argued here that a continued reliance by professionals on empirically unvalidated educational programs, based on common sense and intuitive notions, constitutes an abrogation of professional responsibility; also, that at the present state of knowledge, the cutting off of drug supplies and possibly an attenuation of drug related publicity might be the only effective measures for primary and secondary prevention of drug abuse by children and juveniles.
Old People Living Alone—Is Organized Observation Necessary?
Authors: Prinsley Derek M. , Cameron Katherine P.
Published: December 2016

A survey of 192 old people was carried out to assess the need for a paid daily visitor as a means of ensuring prompt help in cases of illness or accident. The survey found evidence of a comprehensive network of care from neighbours for the elderly people living near them. Neighbour observation and support made a daily Street Visitor Scheme superfluous.
Socioeconomic Status, Gender Inequality and Women's Mental Health: Some Findings from the Canberra Mental Health Survey
Authors: Mugford Stephen , Lally Jim
Published: December 2016

Data from the Canberra Mental Health Survey are utilized to answer questions concerning the mental health status of women (especially married women). Using the Langner Scale as the main index it is shown that there is a complex relationship between the socio‐economic status of a married woman's occupation, and the status of her husband's job. It is also shown that there is an association between sex, marital status and mental health that runs in the direction of Jessie Bernard's summary ‘marriage is good for men, but not for women’.
Helping ‘Well’ Families to Change: A Pilot Study
Authors: Praetz Helen , Eastman Moira
Published: December 2016

This article describes a time limited, inter‐generational project which offered ‘well’ families an opportunity to define priorities and needs and practise changed behaviour within a secure group. The program lasted for twelve weeks and emphasized an educational rather than a treatment bias. Experiential learning techniques were used to teach family dynamics and alternative means of conflict resolution to whole families. In this task, the contracting process came to be an increasingly valuable tool for managing conflict within the group and within each family. Some evidence is cited to show that participation in the group enabled families to change disabling patterns of interaction.
On Being Unemployed and Being a Victim of Crime—A Commentary
Authors: Brown David
Published: December 2016

In a paper illustrating the shifting ground of Australian criminological debate Braithwaite and Biles claim the results of the National Crime Victim Survey (showing the unemployed have higher victimization rates for certain crimes: breaking and entering, peeping and assault, than ‘the wealthy’ or ‘the poor’) amount to a refutation of ‘a long tradition of radical criminology’. This tradition is portrayed as ‘crime is a manifestation of working class rebellion against the ruling class’.

It is argued that this belated entry into confrontation with marxist oriented radical criminology, evaded for so long, is to be welcomed. However certain formal requirements: properly reading, representing, documenting and referencing ‘the radical critique’ are essential for theoretical advance. On these criteria the Braithwaite and Biles paper is deficient and distorted. The results of the victimization survey bolster rather than deny adequately represented radical critiques.
The Problems with Social Indicators—A Commentary
Authors: Corcoran R. M.
Published: December 2016

Whilst continued interest in social indicators is praised, it is noted that little progress appears to have been made in overcoming methodological and political problems with their use.
An Experimental Multi‐Lingual Health Program in Industry
Authors: Boyton Helen , Lennie Ian
Published: December 2016

Health programs too frequently reflect the needs and experience of middle class health professionals rather than the real concerns of at risk populations. The migrant industrial workforce is one population frequently overlooked. The experiment described here, a multi‐lingual industrial health education program, was designed as a contribution to overcoming this discrepancy. The program was extensively evaluated and found to be moderately successful. Programs relevant to the industrial workforce are possible, but, as well as scientific and technical expertise, require skills in education, knowledge of industrial relations and awareness of and sympathy with the particular problems of migrant workers.
From Where I Stand I Can Almost See Society, or The Ups and Downs of Social Research
Authors: Ward Jim
Published: December 2016

In a hierarchically structured society such as ours, the problem of the place the student of society occupies vis‐à‐vis those he or she studies is of critical importance. Several social scientists have recently appealed to their colleagues to turn their focus away from those at the bottom of the structure and to spend more time studying those at the top. The present article discusses the pitfalls of exclusively ‘upward’ or ‘downward’ research.
The Mentally III in the Criminal Justice System in Western Australia: Definition and Disposition
Authors: Hartz‐Karp Janette
Published: December 2016

The definition and disposition of mentally ill persons involved in the criminal justice system has been a long standing problem in most western cultures. Most allied debates, however, have been theoretical and philosophical rather than pragmatic. The following paper examines data from the Western Australian courts, prison and mental health systems to determine the nature and extent of the problem, together with the current dispositions of mentally ill offenders. In so doing, fundamental problems in the system are highlighted and possible alternatives suggested.
When RIP Means Research in Progress—The Use of Brain Dead Subjects in Medical Research
Authors: Osborne L. W.
Published: December 2016

Recent research reported in a number of medical journals highlights some of the problems associated with performing experiments with human subjects who have been declared dead using the brain death criteria of death. These reports provide interesting illustrations of some of the real dilemmas involved in the regulation of human subjects experimentation. In particular, the traditional method of balancing risks and benefits in determining the ethical acceptability of research on human subjects is thrown into question. It is suggested that there should be a moratorium on the use of brain‐dead subjects in research until some of the issues can be clarified and appropriate guidelines for the conduct of this research can be prepared.
Confused and Confusing: Services for Mentally Handicapped Children
Authors: Rees Stuart , Emerson Anneke
Published: December 2016

Fifty‐two families with mentally handicapped children under five describe their confusing experiences with a variety of professionals and officials. Such confusion can be explained partly by the reluctance of different agencies and government departments to co‐operate with one another and by the dominance of the medical profession in services for the handicapped. But the main cause of the chaotic health and welfare arrangements lies in politicians' indifference, as expressed by their apparent free‐for‐all, private‐market attitudes to the planning of services.
Adoption of Vietnamese Children: An Australian Study
Authors: Harvey Ian J.
Published: December 2016

This paper briefly reports some of the findings from the first major adoption study involving transracial and transcultural transplantations of children into Australian families. The historical development of inter‐country adodption; the world growth of orphan populations; and the controversy and oppostion to adoption across racial arid cultural lines is briefly reviewed. Australian involvement in the adoption of nearly 300 Vietnamese children, of whom 111 were placed in 101 New South Wales families; the outcome of these adoptions; the development and adjustment of the children; and implications of the research are discussed. Positive early outcomes, as well as favourable development and behavioural adjustments, appear to have overcome deprivation, malnutrition and other traumatic ‘early experience’.
Custody and Counselling Under The Australian Family Law Act 1975 — Some Sociological Observations
Authors: Beecher Henry
Published: December 2016

Because the counselling provisions of the Family Law Act are such significant innovations with far‐reaching consequences, their periodic evaluation is mandatory. Drawing on the experience of the author in a custody case, the paper provides an analytic and sociological interpretation of the functioning of the Counselling Section. The paper looks not only at the interaction of different types of counselling—access, conciliatory, evaluative, adjustment — as they succeed one another in the career of a case, but it attempts to show where there are potential strains and difficulties within the system. The concluding sections consider relationships among principal processes surrounding custody: the counselling process; the adversarial process, as it is exemplified by the legal profession; and the adjudicatory process, as it is exercised in custody hearings.
Equal Marital Property Rights
Authors: Scutt Jocelynne A.
Published: December 2016

Although the Family Law Act recognizes the contribution of a marriage partner as homemaker and parent, in practice, such contributions are often not recognized as equal to those made by paid workers when property is divided on divorce. Because a woman's earning capacity is usually diminished by her family responsibilities, the existing discretionary approach to property division reinforces women's dependency on men. Under a system of equal marital property rights, the equal value of contributions of unpaid spouses would be clearly established. Assets accumulated before marriage would usually be excluded from the equal ownership rule (and hence from distribution to the other party on divorce), both partners would be informed of transactions during marriage, and parties who choose to could contract out of the equal rights scheme. Men and women would know from the outset of marriage what their rights were.
Australian Women: As Advertised Versus The Real Thing
Authors: Wyndham Diana
Published: December 2016

In the 1970s advertisers portrayed all women as housewives in a cosy world of mum, dad and two charming children. Happiness was simply a matter of having a whiter wash or a more beautiful complexion. Single parenthood, two‐income families, poverty, discord or divorce did not receive a mention.

This paper examines the extent to which advertisers have kept pace with the changed and expanded roles of Australian women in the 1980s. Most women ‘as advertised’ are still shown as either housewives or sex symbols with only a few being portrayed in a more realistic and non‐sexist range of roles.
The Social Impact of Industrial and Resource Development on Local Communities: A Survey of Residents' Views
Authors: Newton P.W. , Parin J.
Published: December 2016

This paper describes the results of two surveys of public attitudes, perceptions, and expectations regarding large‐scale energy development projects in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria. A baseline survey was conducted in 1974, before plans for a massive increase in planned energy generation for the Valley had begun to be instituted (projected to inject 440MW per year additional capacity to the year 1989, compared with an average annual increase of 52MW per year which characterized the period from 1921 to 1974 (State Electricity Commission of Victoria 1981)) and before construction commenced in 1977, on the first of two 2000MW power stations, located at Loy Yang, six kilometres from the town of Traralgon in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria. A subsequent survey was undertaken in 1981, with construction well‐advanced on the first two 500MW units. The community studies represent part of a major project concerned with impact assessment of new industrial and resource projects in settled (as distinct from isolated) regions of Australia.
Wanted: Information on the Information Age
Authors: Morrison Perry R.
Published: December 2016

This paper advocates the funding of social science research into the individual and societal effects of rapid technological change, particularly those changes posed by the new information technologies. In support of this argument and its relevance for Australia, some evidence of the current pace of technological development is given, along with an outline of existing gaps in our knowledge of technology's effects. Finally, some speculation is made on the possible futures we face, thereby hopefully underscoring the need for adequate research.
Public Sector & Private Sector Employment Programs as Competing Solutions to Unemployment
Authors: Toner Phillip
Published: December 2016

The object of this paper is to examine private sector wage subsidies and public sector job creation as competing solutions to unemployment. This has been undertaken firstly, by critically evaluating the general arguments adduced for the respective programs. Secondly, consideration is given to the outcomes from examples of such programs. In this case the Special Youth Employment Training Program (SYETP) and the Regional Employment Development Scheme (REDS) were selected as relevant examples of private and public sector employment programs conducted in Australia.

It was found that SYETP had difficulty fulfilling its twin objectives of providing training for those disadvantaged in the labour market and fulfilling their transition to unsubsidised employment. Wage subsidies have a major administrative flaw in that it is extremely difficult to determine whether a subsidy results in either net job creation, i.e., creating a position which would not exist in absence of the subsidy, or the substitution of subsidised for non‐subsidised labour. The operation of wage subsidies results in a degradation of the labour market, or substitution of permanent for casual, high turn‐over positions.

Public sector job creation is subject to certain benefits that do not accrue to private sector schemes. It is argued that RED type schemes have a greater capacity to incorporate more intensive formal skills training, and can more readily manipulate tax and employment multipliers.

An attempt has been made to compare the cost efficiency of SYETP and REDS in creating employment. One important, though tentative result of this exercise is that the effectiveness of wage subsidies as a job creation mechanism is dependent upon economic growth. Consequently there is a paradox in the use of wage subsidies whereby they are most effective when they are least needed and most needed when they are least effective.
Adolescent Leisure Activities: Social Class, Sex and Ethnic Differences
Authors: Poole Millicent E.
Published: December 2016

It has been suggested that leisure is increasingly important to quality of life, and that patterns of awareness of and participation in leisure activities are established in adolescence. A study of 520 fifteen‐year‐olds mapped their awareness of leisure opportunities in school and community, explored patterns in the forms of leisure they see as possible for themselves, and examined differences in awareness associated with sex, social class and ethnicity. In all dimensions significant variations were associated with gender; in most cases these tended to diminish, however, with decreasing socioeconomic status. Variations on the basis of ethnicity were limited mainly to home activities.
Teenage Awareness of Family Planning Matters
Authors: Neuendorff Desmond J.
Published: December 2016

Despite the rhetoric surrounding the adequacy of existing sex education/or young persons, little attempt has been made by local researchers to quantify teenage sexual awareness. While previous researchers have used Likert‐type inventories to quantify sexual knowledge indirectly, the ‘perceived adequacy’ approach does not provide a realistic basis for evaluating sexual awareness. A 24‐item multiple choice Sexual Knowledge Inventory was therefore developed by the author and administered in group form to 447 teenagers sampled from six private schools in the Brisbane Statistical Division. Data indicated that the family unit has failed to provide many young persons with reliable information about family planning matters. Multiple regression analysis revealed exposure to a formal school‐based sex education program to be the most powerful predictor of awareness, with birth order, family size and social status background also emerging as significant predictors of family planning knowledge.
In Whose Interests? A Case Study of Community Work in a Voluntary Welfare Agency
Authors: Kaldor Peter
Published: December 2016

This article traces the development of a community work project sponsored by a voluntary welfare agency. The context of its birth is outlined, as are the struggles it encountered during its operation. These struggles hinged on questions of accountability to the local community and the resistance to this concept from the sponsoring agency, resistance which led ultimately to the demise of the project.

Community work has been regarded at times as the ‘radical’ form of social intervention, the means of working for dramatic social change in society. Whether or not it can be that, it certainly need not be. The events to be related here concern a welfare agency of essentially conservative orientation seeking to redefine its role within the changing welfare environment of the 1960s and 1970s. In the event it was quite prepared to embrace the outward forms and codes of community work, so much a part of the new welfare ethos of the Whitlam era, while maintaining unaltered its conservative orientation. For its field staff, however, the situation was hot so easy. Themselves influenced by the thoughts and practices in community work, they found a real tension between accountability to local community on one hand and to the sponsoring agency on the other. Conflict was inevitable. It was only when the agency was faced with demands regarding community accountability, a concept cutting across its traditional practice and presenting a perceived threat to agency autonomy and control, that it moved away into other, safer directions.
Castles in the Air: Welfare Services for Ex‐prisoners
Authors: Cree M. J. , Hoffman J. A. , Riley D. N.
Published: December 2016

Prison aftercare in New Zealand has a history of haphazard planning and fragmented policy implementation, and a recent governmental review of penal policy recognized the inadequate provisions currently made for prisoners' re‐establishment in the community. The research reported in this paper has shown that, at a local level, a considerable degree of confusion and ignorance exists among people presumed to have knowledge in the field of prison aftercare. This shortfall of knowledge and lack of cohesion among existing services must be taken into account before effective policy changes aimed at improving prison aftercare can be implemented.
Assets Testing: Problems in Reconciling Economic, Welfare and Legal Perspectives When Defining Assets
Authors: Carney Terry
Published: December 2016

Australia's assets test on pensions is designed to advance a needs policy without trenching unduly on other values. This article explores the policy tension stemming from the different perspectives of economists, lawyers and welfare workers. It is contended that the policy balance is out of kilter, and that welfare objectives have been down‐graded. This is said to be due to an over‐reliance, in the framing and administration of the test, on manipulating the concepts and definitions coined by economists and lawyers. This is illustrated by reference to the overreach of the test in potentially impacting upon residents in nursing homes. The article argues that the remedy lies in placing greater reliance on the inclusion of discretions in the law (and their creative utilization). The hardship provisions of the present legislation are advanced as good examples of the potential which exists for this to be achieved, a potential which it is suggested the Department has only partially realised to date.
Psychiatric Non‐institutionalisation: Whose Needs are Served?
Authors: Horsfall Jan
Published: December 2016

This article outlines the social problems experienced by persons with a chronic psychiatric disability, and their families. The disabled person's lifestyle is characterised by poor social and vocational skills, poverty, inadequate accommodation and alienation. Many of these problems increase the dependence of the disabled person, emotionally and financially, on their family of origin. The author suggests that these social problems will only be ameliorated if family members are provided with active support and information, and if hospital and community services are integrated and complementary. The disabled person's quality of life can only be improved by accessible intensive social and vocational rehabilitation programs. As these issues are not being comprehensively addressed at the present time family self‐help organisations such as the Association of Relatives and Friends of the Mentally III (ARAFMI) will need to politicise their plight.
After Retrenchment: Labour Market Experiences of Women and Men
Authors: Curtain Richard
Published: December 2016

Job loss in manufacturing industry has been a marked feature of the Australian economy over the last decade but little is known about the prospects for re‐employment of workers who have been retrenched. This paper reports the results of a survey of the subsequent labour market experiences of 271 workers made redundant when a whitegoods plant was closed in December 1982 at Bankstown in Sydney's western suburbs. The retrenched workers were contacted twice, ten to twelve months apart and a response rate of 80 per cent was achieved.

The paper compares the labour market experiences of retrenched women and men. Does the lower labour force participation rate of women in the population at large apply to women who have previously shown a strong commitment to the labour force through their stable employment history? The paper discusses the factors which might affect retrenched women's response to unemployment, including institutional arrangements, a gender‐based domestic division of labour and the nature of the jobs available to unskilled blue collar workers.
Public Opinion On Taxes And Government Spending
Authors: Zagõrski Krzysztof
Published: December 2016

This article analyses egalitarian attitudes as well as opinions concerning taxation and government spending. Australians would prefer to have their taxes reduced than to increase government spending on social services, if faced with such an alternative. Typical welfare programs have a low priority, but the public would like to see increased spending on education and science, health services, roads improvements, military defence, and fighting against drug addiction. An individual's opinions about government spending are influenced by his or her socio‐economic characteristics, with unemployed people and urban dwellers being more supportive of government spending on social programs.
Aids And The Pursuit Of Happiness: Some Problems Associated With Psychosocial Discrimination
Authors: Ross Michael W.
Published: December 2016

This paper examines the effect of AIDS‐related discrimination on the philosophical right to the pursuit of happiness. Essentialisation of AIDS and homosexual status and blame for disease are associated with attitudinal, affective and behavioural discrimination. Such prejudice may lead to damaged self image and psychological dysfunction, and may also increase stress and disease progression. The possible effects of limiting discriminatory utterances are examined, in terms of both individual and social prejudice. It is concluded that the right to the pursuit of happiness exists and that there are legal remedies possible to counter the negative effects of psychosocial oppression which have been demonstrated. Dr Michael Ross is Co‐ordinator, AIDS Programme, South Australian Health Commission, PO Box 65, Rundle Mall, Adelaide SA 5000, and Clinical Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry and Community Medicine, Flinders University Medical School, Adelaide.
An East‐West Transect: Attitudes to Travel Isolation and Environment
Authors: Epps W.R.
Published: December 2016

A mail questionnaire was sent to a sample of residents of six towns in northern New South Wales located along a transect from the coastal zone to the far west The nature of the respondents' journeys and their distance was considered alongside their attitudes towards car travel. From east to west along the transect, an increasing sense of isolation was evident but with differing manifestations. Immunity from economic change was not associated with isolation. Displacement from the more obvious environmental attributes of the coastal zone appeared to promote a greater sense of community and friendship in the more isolated western regions.
Australian University Students' Views of the Nuclear Arms Race: Comparative and Qualitative Analyses
Authors: Lawrence Jeanette A. , Jennings Philip , Dodds Agnes E. , Styles Irene M.
Published: December 2016

Australian university students' views of the nuclear arms race were analysed in two studies. A sample comparison study used Nuclear Arms Race Questionnaire (NARQ) and Position on Nuclear Weapons (PNW) scales to compare university students' views with those of high school students and community groups. University students' views were more strongly anti‐nuclear than middle income and Middle European migrant groups, but not more than high school student and church member groups'. Females' attitudes were more strongly anti‐nuclear than males.

A qualitative analysis of ten university students' formulations of the arms races problem and Australia's involvement revealed the complex dimensions of perceived relationships between global and national interests and personal nuclear issues. Students' solutions were directly related to their formulations of the major aspects of the arms race problem, with six students who represented the nuclear problem in terms of superpower conflict, seeing individuals as powerless to influence solutions. Quantitative trends are interpreted in light of the varied representations of the problem and the association of students' generally anti‐nuclear attitudes with lack of involvement in the peace movement.
Foster Care and Permanency an Analysis of the Context for Practice
Authors: Mason Jan
Published: December 2016

This paper is an historical analysis of foster care, exploring its linkage with the concept of permanency in the United States (a major force in defining the direction of foster care policy) and in Australia. Use of the political economy and feminist approaches highlights the extent to which the child welfare system is based on policies which enhance social inequality, while promoting a particular ideal of the nuclear family which dichotomises mothers as good or bad.
What is this Thing called Economic Rationalism?
Authors: Battin Tim
Published: December 2016

Anyone well informed on current debate In Australian politics would have heard the term ‘economic rationalism’. It is used frequently in conjunction with such policies as closing down rail services, applying user‐pays principles, introducing reforms to higher education, attempting to privatise government‐owned assets, and so on. For a long time the term economic rationalism was used on the assumption that we all knew what it meant and how it worked. However, until recently, little writing had been devoted to its underlying assumptions or its implications for wider social and political questions. The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how economic rationalism has attempted to transcend the moral or ethical issues that are an inherent part of the social sciences and humanities. Economic rationalism is not just about economics; its precepts, whilst relying on the supposed neutrality of economics, go far beyond the economic into the realm of the social, the political, and the philosophical.
Leglislators, Social Policy and Action: The Case of ‘Dying with Dignity’
Authors: Stewart Donald E.
Published: December 2016

This paper describes a process of policy formation through the parliamentary committee system. The nature of a Victorian investigatory committee and its function as a medium for public consultation regarding complex social and ethical issues is explored. The Public Inquiry into ‘Options for Dying with Dignity’ is discussed as a case study. The Inquiry led to benchmark Australian legislation through the Medical Treatment Act 1988, as well as promoting significant changes in terminal palliative care.
Tobacco Advertising Bans: Some Thoughts
Authors: Alchin Terry Maxwell
Published: December 2016

This paper examines some of the evidence concerning tobacco advertising and tobacco consumption and discusses the imposition of various bans on tobacco advertising. Important examples of such bans are the 1971 electronic media ban in the U.S.A., the 1976 Australian electronic media ban and the recently introduced magazine and newspaper ban in Australia. The evidence is not totally convincing that tobacco advertising bans reduce tobacco consumption. However, this does not preclude a total ban as part of any future Australian comprehensive smoking control policy.
AMISH ABUNDANCE: HOW THE PLAIN PEOPLE PROSPER
Authors: Metcalf William J
Published: December 2016

Abundance is defined as having enough of whatever one craves and/or needs in life. Thus, one can speak of physical abundance as being distinct from spiritual or social abundance. Abundance is an inherently personal, experiential concept, not amenable to objective, economic measurement such as income. The Amish people of Canada and USA provide an excellent case study in avoiding poverty traps and achieving a sustainable, abundant and healthy life, on very low incomes. This study of Amish culture has important social lessons and policy implications, both on the micro and the macro level. The study also reveals how the social and material security which the Amish enjoy, is however, achieved at the cost of severely circumscribed personal freedoms of thought and action.
EXPERIENCING OCCUPATIONAL REHABILITATION IN NSW: NON‐ENGLISH SPEAKING BACKGROUND WOMEN'S VIEWS
Authors: Clapham Kathleen
Published: December 2016

Research suggests that work‐related disabilities suffered by women from non‐English speaking backgrounds (NESB) are disproportionate to their representation in the population. This paper presents data from a preliminary investigation into the experiences of work‐injured NESB women in the NSW workers' compensation system since 1987. It argues that NESB women are, and perceive themselves to be, disadvantaged by the present workers' compensation system particularly in regards to occupational rehabilitation. This is largely because the higher rates of chronic work‐related injury make the rehabilitation of NESB women less cost effective for rehabilitation providers. As a result both the quality of life and future productivity of these women are substantially degraded. The article concludes that changes at the organisational level, including improved data collection are required in order to meet the needs of this group of high injury‐risk workers more adequately and more equitably.
SEXUAL INTIMATE HOMICIDES INVOLVING OVERSEAS‐BORN IN AUSTRALIA: THE TIP OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ICEBERG?
Authors: Easteal Patricia
Published: December 2016

This article examines the results relating to offenders' birthplace in a study on homicide between adult sexual intimates. The research showed a disproportionately high number of overseas‐horn perpetrators and that cases were usually preceded by a history of physical or emotional violence often characterised by jealousy. The author concludes that these data may he an anomaly, or a sign of high domestic violence rates in these communities, or an indication that domestic violence is less reported by the overseas‐born women survivors. The latter two theories are discussed using overseas and Australian literature on domestic violence.
CONSOLIDATING AN INDUSTRY AND PROLONGING DEPENDENCY: PROFESSIONALS, POLICIES AND YOUNG PEOPLE
Authors: Bessant Judith
Published: December 2016

This article examines the nexus between professionalism and the representation of social problems among some young people. It considers how policy and professional interventions involve problem‐setting as well as problem‐solving activities. A central argument is that a primary effect of both professional activities and of major changes to the youth labour market has been an extension of dependency for many young people. No matter how young people experience the disappearance of the youth labour market, the fact remains: most young people have been permanently excluded from full‐time work. As we reach the close of the twentieth century and without essentialising ‘youth’ it seems that more and more young people are unable to live autonomous lives that resemble adulthood until their mid‐twenties. For some young people staying on in education, remaining out of the full‐time labour market until their mid‐twenties may not mark a dramatic shift in their experiences, but for other young people such trends have a dramatic impact on their life‐worlds.
THE IMPLICATIONS OF CHANGING EDUCATION AND GENDER INPUTS FOR POLICE DECISIONMAKING AND SUPERVISORY ROLES
Authors: Pope Nigel , Pitman Kendall , Voges Kevin
Published: December 2016

This article reports the results of a survey of 43 Queensland police officers, half in supervisory roles and half immediately prior to induction. The purpose of the survey was to identify gender and educational differences between groups, and to identify any effect that these differences may have had on attitudes toward decision‐making within the sample. The results were compared to a similar survey of American police chiefs. Attitudes toward decision‐making were found to be similar among all groups with the exception of the perception of the ability to implement change. This was found to be significantly higher among women and those with a tertiary education. It was also suggested that female officers have the potential to excel in police managerial positions due to higher education levels, but they are currently seriously under‐represented in supervisory and managerial positions.
DEPENDENT AUTONOMY: A NEW PHASE OF INTERNAL COLONIALISM
Authors: Hughes Ian
Published: December 2016

The history of colonialism in Australia is summarised into four phases, called external colonialism, internal colonialism, welfare colonialism and dependent autonomy. Four policy frameworks for Aboriginal affairs: subjection and exploitation; protection and segregation; assimilation and integration; and self‐determination and reconciliation; coincide with these phases. Contradictions arising from irreconcilable tendencies in liberal‐humanist philosophy marked official discourses, practices and strategies during each phase of colonialism. Current policies are analysed in terms of political paradox. The self‐determination policy, which promotes autonomy through increased dependency on the state, is analysed as a new phase of colonialism which is called ‘dependent autonomy’.
BREAKING THE LAST TABOO: CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE BY FEMALE PERPETRATORS
Authors: Koonin Renée
Published: December 2016

In the past two decades the truth about the sexual violation of children has been spoken over and over. Finally, the magnitude of this problem is being recognised. Volumes have been written about the prevention of and intervention in child sexual abuse, and services (although inadequate) have been established. Sexual abuse by women until recently, has been treated as a taboo subject. The knowledge that the overwhelming proportion of child sexual abuse is perpetrated by males left the issue of female perpetrators unexamined. Having only recently made progress in a hard‐fought battle to place gender and male power at the centre of an analysis of sexual abuse, practitioners and theoreticians are understandably reluctant to focus any attention on female abusers. However, it is now becoming clear that a significant minority of victims are abused by women and it is essential that no child should be silenced by ideology which denies the reality of abuse by females. This article examines the controversies surrounding the issue of female sexual abuse and the struggles which we have in confronting this abuse. An explanation of sexual abuse by women within feminist understanding is proposed. Current evidence on the prevalence of female sexual abuse and characteristics of perpetrators is outlined. Practice implications for practitioners working with child victims or adult survivors are explored.
NO WHERE TO GO: AN ANALYSIS OF THE SUPPORTED ACCOMMODATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Authors: Fopp Rodney
Published: December 2016

The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) provides services for homeless people. After demonstrating that the Program is intended to assist people to move on to independent living, the following paper examines the implications of remaining in SAAP services for longer than would otherwise be necessary because there is no where else to go. In particular, the broader social functions of SAAP are examined in the light of the work of Michel Foucault. It is suggested that SAAP serves a specific social function in exerting socially approved power over SAAP users who are forced to remain in SAAP services for longer than would otherwise be required if affordable and appropriate accommodation were available.
Eating Its Own: The Whistleblower's Organization in Vendetta Mode
Authors: De Maria William , Jan Cyrelle
Published: December 2016

This paper reports on Australia's largest whistleblower study. Specifically it focuses on the experiences of whistleblowers in the Queensland public sector during the Goss Labor government's first term. Rather than being affirmed as good citizen‐workers when they took disclosures of wrongdoing to their supervisors within the units in which they worked, the whistleblowers encountered obstruction and vilification. Their experiences offer a rare check‐up on the state of workplace dissent.