Approaching responsivity : the Victorian Department of Justice and Indigenous Offenders

Offender rehabilitation has developed a stronghold on correctional practice in the past two decades. Further strengthening this grip have been three main  principles for effective practice; risk, needs and responsivity. This paper will focus on the responsivity principle, which dictates that effective rehabilitation involves consideration of an offender's cognitive behavioural characteristics and appropriate program delivery. In particular, this paper will analyse how this task has been approached by the Victorian Department of Justice in relation to  Indigenous offenders. Drawing on recent interviews with Justice staff, it will be  shown that Justice's approach to being responsive to the needs of Victorian Indigenous offenders is more complex than addressing cognitive behavioural characteristics and program delivery. It involves meaningful interactions that extend beyond the Department of Justice and Indigenous offenders to include Indigenous communities.

Theoretical passages and boundaries : the indigenous subject, colonialism, and governmentality

Theoretical paternalism and the convenience of working within ‘accepted’ frameworks have appropriated the Indigenous subject within the boundaries of colonial relations. The establishment of post-colonial theory as one of the only ‘acceptable’ frameworks for exploring the Indigenous subject has limited the subject’s theoretical development within the binary of coloniser/colonised. Breaking from this tradition, the Foucauldian concepts of governmentality, ethics and care-ofthe-self will be used as a template for expansion. This paper will explore the passages of the Indigenous subject in theoretical development. It will examine the significance of post-colonial and settler colonial theories in the conceptualisation of the subject, and consider the transformations that occur when the borders established by these theories are crossed. The paper will therefore be comprised of four sections. The first will address the value and limitations of post-colonial and settler colonial theory. The second will posit reasons and implications for why theoretical neglect has occurred. The third will present and critique the Foucauldian concepts of governmentality, ethics and care-of-the-self. Applying Foucault’s concepts to examples of Indigenous offenders in the settler societies of Australia and New Zealand, the final section will examine the impact of the Indigenous subject in Western thought and institutional practice.

Indigenous higher education student equity : focusing on what works

The rates of higher education access, participation and completion for Indigenous students are much lower than those for non-Indigenous students in Australia. This paper argues for a research-led focus on what works in terms of Indigenous  student equity in higher education. Undertaking independent evaluation of  existing initiatives and leveraging the experience of hundreds of successful Indigenous graduates, it may be possible to articulate some of the ways in which success has been, and can be, achieved, despite the challenges that face Indigenous students. In other words, it may be possible to articulate some aspects of what works for some Indigenous people in relation to higher education. A focus on articulating strategies that Indigenous individuals and communities might adopt in relation to higher education should be developed alongside the management of systemic problems through a range of means. The “successfocused” approach would provide one of a suite of approaches that may be helpful in addressing Indigenous student equity.

A comparison of the socio-cultural influences on body size perceptions and values among European Australian and Indigenous Fijian adolescent girls

Western women are experiencing increases in the prevalence of overweight and obesity despite valuing slimness as ideal and equating thinness with attractiveness and beauty. Pacific populations are also experiencing high prevalence rates of overweight and obesity. A lage body size, however, has many positive connotations among pacific populations that stem from rich cultural practices such as feasts and deliberate fattening of women. There appears to be many sociocultural factors however, such as images of the slim ideal portrayed in Western media, influencing body image concerns that are shared between the two groups. A qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews was conducted to examine and compare the sociocultural influences on body size perceptionsand values. Participants include 16 European Australian and 16 Indigenous Fijian adolescent girls aged between 15 and 17 years. Inductive thematic analysis and analytical induction were qualitativemethods employed to facilitate interpretation of the findings. Preliminary findings suggest that Fijian adolescent girls experience greater conflict than European Australian girls about the desired body size endorsed in their community. Results also suggest that Indigenous Fijian girls place less importance than Australian girls on manipulating their body to achieve a specific ideal. Specific results of this study are reviewed and recommendations for future research are discussed.

School and local environmental knowledge, what are the links? A case study among indigenous adolescents in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Understanding environmental learning is the first step to constructing successful environmental education programs. Little research has addressed the relation between the environmental knowledge learned inside and outside schools. Environmental educators and ethnobiologists have worked independently, without assessing how school and local environmental knowledge relate to each other. This research examines school and local environmental knowledge acquisition of 95 Mexican indigenous adolescents. Multivariate regression analysis was used to assess (1) school and local environmental knowledge overlap and (2) the association between individual environmental knowledge and socio-demographic characteristics. Data show that school and local environmental knowledge are not associated in a statistically significant way. A possible explanation for the finding is that the two forms of knowledge are complementary because they exist in parallel. Adolescents’ school and local environmental knowledge is associated with their level of schooling, but not with parental occupation in community forestry. The use of traditional pedagogical practices at school and the loss of traditional culture at home might hamper indigenous adolescents’ environmental learning.

Approaching responsivity : The Victorian Department of Justice and indigenous offenders

Effective rehabilitation involves consideration of offender's cognitive behavioural characteristics and appropriate program delivery - approach by the Victorian Department of Justice in relation to Aboriginal offenders - interviews with staff members show approach is more complex than addressing behavioural characteristics - involves interaction extending beyond the Department and offenders to include indigenous communities.

Cross talk : collaborative indigenous life writing in Australia and Canada

This thesis argues that the critical reading of Indigenous life writing needs to move beyond its concern for power relations operating between the narrators and editors of collaboratively produced texts. It discusses the role of Indigenous families and communities in both the production and the reading of Indigenous texts.

Thirnda ngurkarnda ityrnda : ontologies in indigenous tertiary education

When Indigenous knowledge production is shifted through critical work in curriculum, Indigenous employment and authority underpinned by stronger Indigenous philosophies and cultures, resistance emerges. A storied descriptive and reflexive approach from within Arabana philosophy and ontologies - Yalka - brings understanding for a new old way in tertiary education and life.

Exploitation of the Indigenous dot

This thesis argues that commercial and artistic appropriation of the Indigenous 'dot' motif from the Central and Western Desert amounts to exploitation of Indigenous sacred paintings. The author produced a suite of paintings that are discussed in relation to the above concerns, highlighting areas where it is suggested that changes in discourse should occur.