Reducing the risk of re-offending among Australian indigenous offenders : what works for whom?

This paper discusses the application of the “what works” approach to the rehabilitation of indigenous Australian offenders. It is suggested that those from indigenous cultures may not share some of the theoretical assumptions that underpin the “what works” approach, potentially leading to discussion about the cultural appropriateness of rehabilitation programs. Finally, some options are presented about how cultural differences might be understood in ways that facilitate the further development of rehabilitation programs for indigenous peoples.

Symptoms of trauma, perceptions of discrimination, and anger a comparison between Australian indigenous and nonindigenous prisoners

Although the need for the development and provision of culturally appropriate rehabilitation programs for offenders is widely acknowledged, there is a lack of empirical data that can be used as a basis for the development of new programs. This article reports the findings of a comparison of indigenous and nonindigenous male prisoners on a range of measures relevant to the experience of anger by indigenous prisoners in Australia. The results suggest that indigenous participants are more likely to experience symptoms of early trauma, have greater difficulties identifying and describing feelings, and perceive higher levels of discrimination than nonindigenous prisoners. The implications of this work for the development of culturally appropriate and effective anger management programs for indigenous male prisoners are discussed.

The recruitment and retention of Indigenous criminal justice agency staff in an Australian state

In Australia, as in other countries that have experienced colonisation, indigenous people are massively overrepresented in all stages of the criminal justice system. If criminal justice agencies are to provide culturally responsive and effective services to this group, it is important that they employ significant numbers of indigenous staff across all levels of their organisations. Despite the positive intentions of many justice agencies to increase the proportion of indigenous staff members they employ, the numbers remain low. In this article, we explore some of the possible reasons for this by reporting the results of focus groups conducted with existing indigenous justice agency employees. The employees raised a number of issues relevant to recruitment and retention. These are discussed in terms of their potential value in improving justice agency indigenous recruitment and retention strategies.

The rehabilitation of indigenous prisoners : an Australian perspective

The massive problems experienced by Indigenous Australians in their encounters with the criminal justice system have been well documented and widely discussed. This paper applies the Risk, Needs and Responsivity Model of rehabilitation to Indigenous offenders. While much of the review is devoted to a discussion of Australian Indigenous offenders, the issues raised are likely to be relevant to Indigenous groups from other countries and, possibly, ethnic minority offenders more generally. We concluded that whilst the model clearly has value, rehabilitation programs would benefit from a careful consideration of issues relating specifically to the Risk, Needs and Responsivity of Indigenous offenders.

Victims of violence among indigenous mothers living with dependent children

Objective: To identify individual and household factors associated with violence among Australian Indigenous women with dependent children.

Design and participants: Univariate and multivariable analysis of data from the 2002 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey, stratified by area.

Main outcome measure: Self-reported experience of being a victim of violence in the previous year.

Results: One in four Indigenous women living with dependent children younger than 15 years reported being victims of violence in the previous year; this corresponds to an estimated 24 221 Indigenous mothers (95% CI, 21 507–26 935) nationwide. Violence was more prevalent in regional areas and cities than remote areas. In remote areas, mothers who had been removed from their natural families during childhood had nearly threefold greater odds of being victims of violence (odds ratio [OR], 2.90; 95% CI, 1.82–4.61); in non-remote areas, the odds were 72% greater (OR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.23–2.39). Older maternal age (≥ 45 years) was associated with lower odds of experiencing violence in both non-remote areas (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.25–0.60) and remote areas (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.30–0.70). Women with partners residing in the household faced lower odds of violence in both non-remote areas (OR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.41–0.72) and remote areas (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.32–0.67).

Conclusions: The prevalence of violence against Indigenous mothers with young children is alarmingly high across remote and non-remote areas. This study identified distinctive characteristics of victims, but further research is needed to assess potential risk factors, such as history of removal from natural family.

Bottersnikes and other lost things : a celebration of Australian illustrated children's books

This is a history of illustrated Australian children's books published between 1845 and 2008 that emphasises the lesser known elements of the Australian child's literary history. Beyond the icons, such as May Gibbs' Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and Dorothy Wall's Blinky Bill, lie a wealth of illustrated books that broaden the potential for further research. Bottersnikes and Other Lost Things with over 400 full colour illustrations, is a tangible resource giving researchers the potential to expand our understanding of Australian children's literature: Advertising and ephemeral children's books provide insight into the varied nature children's reading from the turn of the 20th century; The educational reading reveals the expectations of the adults who wrote the School Papers and Readers and the aspirations they had for their readership; Attitudes to cultural difference across this period is remarkable for the overt nature of the racist portrayal of Indigenous Australians during the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. These are some of the aspects of the Australian child's literary heritage explored for the first time in this history of Australian children's literature.

A cost-based equity weight for use in the economic evaluation of primary health care interventions: case study of the Australian Indigenous population

Background : Efficiency and equity are both important policy objectives in resource allocation. The discipline of health economics has traditionally focused on maximising efficiency, however addressing inequities in health also requires consideration. Methods to incorporate equity within economic evaluation techniques range from qualitative judgements to quantitative outcomes-based equity weights. Yet, due to definitional uncertainties and other inherent limitations, no method has been universally adopted to date. This paper proposes an alternative cost-based equity weight for use in the economic evaluation of interventions delivered from primary health care services.

Methods : Equity is defined in terms of 'access' to health services, with the vertical equity objective to achieve 'equitable access for unequal need'. Using the Australian Indigenous population as an illustrative case study, the magnitude of the equity weight is constructed using the ratio of the costs of providing specific interventions via Indigenous primary health care services compared with the costs of the same interventions delivered via mainstream services. Applying this weight to the costs of subsequent interventions deflates the costs of provision via Indigenous health services, and thus makes comparisons with mainstream more equitable when applied during economic evaluation.

Results : Based on achieving 'equitable access', existing measures of health inequity are suitable for establishing 'need', however the magnitude of health inequity is not necessarily proportional to the magnitude of resources required to redress it. Rather, equitable access may be better measured using appropriate methods of health service delivery for the target group. 'Equity of access' also suggests a focus on the processes of providing equitable health care rather than on outcomes, and therefore supports application of equity weights to the cost side rather than the outcomes side of the economic equation.

Conclusion : Cost-based weights have the potential to provide a pragmatic method of equity weight construction which is both understandable to policy makers and sensitive to the needs of target groups. It could improve the evidence base for resource allocation decisions, and be generalised to other disadvantaged groups who share similar concepts of equity. Development of this decision-making tool represents a potentially important avenue for further health economics research.

The sword and the pen in the pre-modern Arabic heritage : a literacy representation of an important historical relationship

The so-called "literary debate" in Greek, Latin and many Near Eastern
languages is a well-developed genre. In his 1987 article, Geert Jan van Gelder surveyed its background more than adequately, 1 and very few details of that paper need to be repeated here. He assessed thoroughly the historical contribution of numerous poets to the relationship between "the sword and the pen," and also analyzed various aspects of this relationship in a few prose texts.

How to (re) value Indigenous performing arts

In their paper on “Excellence and access: Indigenous performing arts” the problem that Hilary Glow and Katya Johanson describe is discursive, one that also has a discursive solution. An alternative can come from thinking through the process by which “value” is created, supported and circulated in the art world. Strategies to re-value Indigenous performance can thereby be directed to the various sites of institutional value which have long characterized Australian cultural policy – its importance to national identity, in the connection between culture and economics as well as to the debate over access and excellence – and come from artists as well as the communities they serve.

Indigenous performing arts and the problem of judging 'excellence': A discussion paper

In this paper we look at the persistent debate over notions of access and excellence and intrinsic and instrumentalist rationales for arts practice within cultural policy discussion. Recent research into the Indigenous performing arts in Australia underlines the particular difficulties faced by the sector in balancing the demands of community participation, social inclusion and high-quality aesthetic outcomes. The balancing act has proven unsustainable for some Indigenous performing arts companies and their viability is now in doubt. This suggests that a re-consideration of the question of the purpose and value of the Indigenous performing arts is timely.