The co-residence of children with incarcerated mothers

In a national study this thesis examined the attitudes of key stakeholders about the co-residence of children with incarcerated mothers. A self-administered questionnaire was developed specifically for this research. The majority of respondents were not opposed to child co-residence in principle, conditional on the prison facilities and mothers' parenting competence. The clinical portfolio explored and highlighted practice and organisational issues arising for Victorian correctional services' psychologists when (i) assessing offenders for participation in the "Offence focused problem solving" program, and (ii) formulating treatment plans.Four case studies are presented.

Keeper of the faith : Jim Cairns and the search for a good society

Reassesses the public career of James Ford Cairns and his impact on Australian society over the past 50 years. Particularly focuses upon the development of Cairns' thinking on social change and locates that development within the context of the Labor Party's ideological evolution since WWII.

Dream dolls : misogyny and political mythology in fin de siecle Australian culture

Examines Australian nationalism from the 1890s onwards through the interaction between cultural stereotypes of the feminine and issues of identity, citizenship and political constructions of "democracy". The employment of an idealised masculine aesthetic as catalyst to creating an imagined state was compared in Australia and Wilhelmine Germany.

Kai Tai Chan

Analyses the work of choreographer and director Kai Tai Chan whose different pathway through dance and theatre opens up discourses about the nature of non-ballet concert dance in Australia. Orthodox paradigms of training and performance making are interrogated and a greater understanding of the relative nature of those practices is established by analysing the competing ideologies, philosophical frameworks and aesthetic understandings of these practitioners.

Woman principal : what's being feminist got to do with it?

This investigation of the experience and standpoint of women principals of Catholic schools revealed that dominant masculinist views of educational administration are neither popular, nor go unchallenged. It revealed that the unique achievements of women educators are largely ignored in a culture that still dismisses women's values and commitments.

Fractured lives : Australian prisoners of war of the Japanese and their families

Examines how the particular nature of captivity by the Japanese during World War II intensified and complicated the impact, legacy and memory of war for POWs and their families. It presents insights into the experience of the prisoners' wives and how battalion associations protect and promote the remembrance of war.

Civil society, social capital and the Twelve Step group

This article examines the nature of community and family by using the concept of civil society through a Twelve Step group called Al-Anon. Al-Anon is related to Alcoholics Anonymous and is a support group for families of alcoholics. The concept of civil society is addressed by looking at its development in political philosophy and sociology. The work of Putnam, in particular, is used to understand how civil society and the associations which make it up develop social capital [Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, Princeton University Press (1993); Journal of Democracy, 6(1), 65-78 (1995); The Responsive Community, 5(2), 18-33 (1995)]. Social capital is understood to be norms and values such as trust and reciprocity that enable sociability or social connectedness. Community, then, embodies these norms of trust and reciprocity through their development in Al-Anon. Al-Anon is studied as an example of an association in civil society. The data come from an ethnographic study in Australia and five European countries as well as in-depth interviews with women members in Australia. The article reviews the similarities and differences between the various countries as well as the form that social capital takes for individual members.

澳大利亚的民主和公民权

With the granting of the franchise to white men and women in 1902, Australia became one of the first mass electoral democracies. When the early federal governments passed innovative social and economic legislation, Australia also laid claim to being, or at least becoming, a social democracy. Nonetheless, these achievements built upon an earlier record of political, social, and economic reform in the Australian colonies. This paper offers a brief history of the evolution of Australian democracy that takes account of the interactions between institutional change and political struggles for citizenship rights. The process of democratisation has not been uniform, either in its evolution or scope, and the outcomes for citizens have been uneven. Where liberal and social democratic principles generally predominate, these remain in constant tension with more authoritarian tendencies, which then become a focus for resistance from individual citizens, organised labour, and social movements. Democratisation in Australia, as in many countries, is a process that inevitably involves conflict, not only over the character of its political and legal institutions, but also over who is to be included or excluded as citizens, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

The white doctors' burden

This thesis analyses the history of the influence of the Australian medical profession on government policies and community attitudes towards Asia. It concludes that, apart from their support of progressivist policies between 1880 and 1930, Australia's doctors had only a small and largely self-interested influence on Australia's Asian engagement.

'Unnatural', 'Unwomanly', 'Uncreditable' and 'Undervalued': the significance of being a childless woman in Australian society

Childlessness is an increasing trend, internationally and in Australia. The few studies exploring the lived experiences of childless women have been conducted in America, Canada and the United Kingdom; predominantly during the 1980s and 1990s. The experiences of childless women in contemporary Australia remain under-researched. This hermeneutic phenomenological study sought to enhance understanding of the lived experience of being a childless woman in contemporary Australia. In-depth interviews with five childless women revealed five key themes as significant facets of the experiences of childless women: notions of ‘natural’ and ‘unnatural’; woman = mother; childlessness as a discrediting attribute; feeling undervalued; and the significance of being childless. By privileging the experiences of childless women in a pronatalist society, it is apparent that misconceptions and stereotypes about childlessness continue to pervade. This study contributes to understanding this growing population group; highlighting that while childlessness is increasingly acknowledged, it is still not completely understood.

Development and psychometric properties of the Female Sexual Desire Questionnaire (FSDQ)

Introduction.  Sexual desire is often evaluated as part of a global assessment of female sexual function, which may not comprehensively evaluate the various facets of this experience. There currently exists a need to develop a psychometrically robust desire-specific measure for women.

Aim.  The aim of this study was to develop and validate a desire-specific, self-administered instrument that evaluates the multiple facets of sexual desire and factors influencing this experience for partnered heterosexual women, with or without sexual dysfunction.

Methods.  Preliminary items for inclusion in the Female Sexual Desire Questionnaire (FSDQ) were identified through a literature review and individual interviews with partnered heterosexual women, mostly from Australia. The resulting instrument was completed by a validation sample of 741 women, aged between 18 and 71 years, who were involved in a heterosexual relationship of between 3 months' and 49 years' duration.

Main Outcome Measures.  Exploratory factor analysis was used to refine the FSDQ item content and identify the underlying domain structure. The reliability (internal consistency) and validity (convergent validity) of the FSDQ were also evaluated.

Results.  The final version of the FSDQ consisted of 50 items organized into six domains that characterized the experience of, and factors influencing, sexual desire for heterosexual partnered women: Dyadic Desire, Solitary Desire, Resistance, Positive Relationship, Sexual Self-Image, and Concern. Each domain demonstrated high reliability, as did the overall measure. Evidence of construct validity was ascertained through convergence with the Sexual Desire Inventory and the Hurlbert Index of Sexual Desire. A short-form of the FSDQ, consisting of six items, was also developed.

Conclusions.  The FSDQ is a new reliable and valid multidimensional measure designed specifically for evaluating the facets of, and factors influencing, sexual desire among sexually functional and dysfunctional women who are involved in a heterosexual relationship.

A cultural models approach to osteoporosis prevention and treatment

This article identifies cultural models of osteoporosis, as shared by community-dwelling older women in southeastern Australia, and compares these with cultural knowledge conveyed through social marketing. Cultural models are mental constructs about specific domains in everyday life, such as health and illness, which are shared within a community. We applied domain analyses to data obtained from in-depth interviews and stakeholder-identified print materials. The response domains identified from our case studies made up the shared cultural model “Osteoporosis has low salience,” particularly when ranked against other threats to health. The cultural knowledge reflected in the print materials supported a cultural model of low salience. Cultural cues embedded in social marketing messages on osteoporosis may be internalized and motivating in unintended ways. Identifying and understanding cultural models of osteoporosis within a community may provide valuable insights to inform the development of targeted health messages.

Portrait of Josephine Evans: 1887-1969

The genre of historical women's biography has a moderately short history, and has evolved into the twenty-first century as women's studies. Simultaneously, biography has become a multifaceted genre that keeps a close relationship between biography, history, women's studies, and cultural studies. The biography of Josephine Evans embraces the genre as a vehicle to enlighten broader historical issues, as the life of an ordinary woman and her position in an historic Colorado family is revealed. Her story contributes to the history of women's roles and rights in the late nineteenth and twentieth century as her life story is representative of the time period. This biography of Josephine Evans is an illustration of a biography written from personal letters, diaries, and recollections.