Gambling among young Thai people in Melbourne,Australia: an exploratory study

The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to explore the gambling behaviours of young Thai people resident in Melbourne, Australia; the meaning that gambling had for this group; whether the attitudes of these young Thai people towards gambling changed as a result of their location in a society with more relaxed attitudes towards gambling than in Thailand; whether any such changes of attitude were reflected in gambling participation; and whether such participation had demonstrably negative impacts. It was also hoped to gain some insight into whether pre-existing beliefs and attitudes provided a protective factor in relation to the respondent's gambling. Fifty young people aged 18 to 25, forming five natural friendship networks, were observed on over 180 occasions in relation to their gambling and leisure behaviours. A number of major themes were identified from the observational data including money, fortune and luck, consumerism, entertainment, spirituality and superstition, gambling and family values. It was found that despite high levels of gambling participation there was little, if any, evidence of problematic play or its consequences. Strong adherence to values espoused in families of origin and to complex beliefs about luck in the context of beliefs about spirituality and the location of gambling within the context of a range of leisure pursuits served as protective factors for these young people.     

Preferences and Predictors of Aging in Place: Longitudinal Evidence from Melbourne,Australia

This article reports older Australians' preferences for aging in place and predictors of their subsequent experiences drawing on a longitudinal study in Melbourne over 16 years. At baseline, 40% had lived in their homes for 30 or more years and the majority had preference for aging in place. However, the proportion continuing to do so was lower, with reducing independence being a major barrier. Women, renters, those not living with a partner, or those with depressive symptoms were most vulnerable, while home ownership, socioeconomic resources, neighborhood satisfaction, and home modifications were positively associated with aging in place.     

Health,social integration and social support: The lived experiences of young Middle-Eastern refugees living in Melbourne,Australia

Based on the therapeutic landscape theory, this paper examines how young Middle-Eastern refugee individuals perceive their health and wellbeing and addresses the barriers they face in their new homeland and the means that helped them to form social connections in their new social environment. Qualitative methods (in-depth interviews and mapping activities) were conducted with ten young people from refugee backgrounds. Thematic analysis method was used to analyse the data. Findings suggested that the young refugees face various structural and cultural inequalities that significantly influenced their health and wellbeing. Mental wellbeing was their greatest health concern. All participants reported the significant influence of the English language on their ability to adapt and form connections with their social environment. The presence of positive social support in their new social environment had a great impact on the health and wellbeing of the participants. The findings of this study contributed to the role of therapeutic landscapes and social support in helping young refugees to feel that they belonged to the society, and hence assisted them to better adapt to their new living situation.     

Greek immigrants in Australia: demographic developments and economic integration

"The purpose of this article is to present and analyse the migration, economic standing and economic performance of Greeks in Australia and to make a comparative assessment with the Australian population. The demographic and education characteristics of Greek immigrants, and to some extent second generation ethnic Greeks, and their bearing on immigrant employment and income are investigated. Intertemporal developments and intergenerational and interethnic changes are explored in order to identify and explain similarities and differences, or inequalities, between Greek immigrants and the total Australian population." (EXCERPT)     

The evolving market structures of gambling: case studies modelling the socioeconomic assignment of gaming machines in Melbourne and Sydney,Australia

The expansion of gambling industries worldwide is intertwined with the growing government dependence on gambling revenue for fiscal assignments. In Australia, electronic gaming machines (EGMs) have dominated recent gambling industry growth. As EGMs have proliferated, growing recognition has emerged that EGM distribution closely reflects levels of socioeconomic disadvantage. More machines are located in less advantaged regions. This paper analyses time-series socioeconomic distributions of EGMs in Melbourne, Australia, an immature EGM market, and then compares the findings with the mature market in Sydney. Similar findings in both cities suggest that market assignment of EGMs transcends differences in historical and legislative environments. This indicates that similar underlying structures are evident in both markets. Modelling the spatial structures of gambling markets provides an opportunity to identify regions most at risk of gambling related problems. Subsequently, policies can be formulated which ensure fiscal revenue from gambling can be better targeted towards regions likely to be most afflicted by excessive gambling-related problems.     

Through their eyes: seeing experiences of settlement in photographs taken by refugee background youth in Melbourne,Australia

Although ‘refugees’ are frequently represented in visual media, it is predominantly as the central subject matter and rarely are they positioned as the photographers of their own journeys. In this article, we present photographic images that have been taken by refugee background youth portraying their experiences of the first years of settlement in Australia. We consider how, in our longitudinal research conducted with 120 refugee background youth, visual materials can provide equally important yet different insights in comparison to written or spoken narratives on the experiences of refugee settlement. Through an examination of the photograph’s visual content, we explore the ways in which they portrayed their early experiences of external suburban settlement environments and their depictions of interior spaces and home-making practices. We discuss how these visual insights capture an alternative way of seeing the experiences of becoming at home as the youth become emplaced post-resettlement in Australia. We argue that the photographs taken by these refugee background youth illustrate how visual methods and materials can provide equally important but often overlooked insights into early settlement experiences. Importantly, the photographic images offer a way of portraying the people, places and sentiments that are central to the everyday lives of refugee background youths in ways that oral and written narratives cannot.     

Strengthening Support to Families: Basing a Family Support Worker at a Primary School in Melbourne,Australia

This mixed methods study examines the benefits of basing a family support worker (FSW) at a primary school in Melbourne, Australia. The school has a number of high needs families requiring extensive support from school staff. Pre and post intervention data was collected on the time spent on social problems in the school community. These included managing students with behavioural and emotional issues, providing support and practical assistance to parents with problems and liaising with agencies to access support for students and families. Pre and post intervention Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires were completed by teachers whose students and families were clients of the FSW (n = 8) and compared with non clients (n = 10). Semi-structured interviews were held with FSW clients (n = 6), class teachers (n = 3) the assistant principal, principal and the FSW. Employing a FSW showed a reduction in the amount of time spent on welfare cases for teachers, and therefore a monetary saving for the school. Qualitative data collected from school staff and FSW clients was overwhelmingly positive. Having a FSW based at a primary school provides savings in teacher time, and expenses to the school. Teachers are freed to concentrate on education and the parents valued the relationship provided by the FSW.     

Composition of the plant community in remnant patches of grassy woodland along an urban–rural gradient in Melbourne,Australia

The composition of the plant community in remnant patches of open grassy woodlands with an overstorey of Eucalyptus camaldulensis was investigated along an urban–rural gradient in Melbourne, Australia. The plant community showed very little difference between patches along the gradient, particularly in terms of the indigenous plant species. Average annual rainfall was the main factor contributing to patterns of indigenous plant species richness, while the level of urbanization in the surrounding landscape had a strong influence on the number of non-indigenous species recorded in the remnant plant community. Patterns of species richness were largely influenced by landscape-scale factors, while the percent cover of indigenous and non-indigenous plant species were more strongly influenced by patch scale factors. The findings of this study suggest that the plant communities investigated during this study appear to be relatively resilient to changes in the landscape associated with urbanization, but the plant community may be affected by predicted changes in average annual rainfall associated with climate change.     

The Melbourne Marriage Guidance Council

“Unpublished research is nothing but vulgar curiosity.”¹ These words, especially in relation to social work research, demand to be taken seriously. Thus we now present the findings and implications arising out of a small survey which was undertaken in Brisbane in 1964.² This study was aimed primarily to focus on the felt and observed needs of haemophiliacs and their families, especially their psychosocial needs. Arising out of this was the secondary goal of trying to relate these to what is already known and formulated about the genetic and medical aspects of the disease.     

The University of Melbourne Social Studies Department

Abstract

This article seeks to explore, from a social justice perspective, as an issue of concern to social work, the manner in which the National Competition Policy has legitimated economic rationalism and its impact upon the community. It is argued under the influence of classical liberalism and economic rationalism, as reflected in the National Competition Policy, the value of individuals is being determined in terms of their contribution to the economy. In so doing notions of fairness, social justice and achieving community wellbeing through the promotion of equality, freedom and autonomy for individuals has been abandoned as governments increasingly allow market forces to structure social relations. Instrumental to the manner in which social relations are being restructured is the role of language which has enabled social justice concepts to be presented in terms of individualism.     

浅析古希腊神话中的城邦文明

古希腊神话具有的人本主义、民主精神、自由思想、享乐主义等特点,体现出城邦文明的特征。本文分析了古希腊神话的特点及其表现出的城邦文明,并对比了东西方文化视野中的古希腊神话和中国神话。     

Postmodern Dramaturgy,Premodern Drama: The Global Resurgence of Greek Tragedy Today

Numerous commentators have recently noted that the ancient art form of Greek tragedy has been undergoing something of a worldwide resurgence in popularity. This, they argue, can be attributed to the fact that contemporary societies are no less fertile a stage for tragedy than their ancient Greek antecedent. The objective of this article is to examine whether the resurgence of Greek tragedy possesses the potential to speak, metaphorically or otherwise, to political concerns today as the tragedies of Greece once did. In order to address this question, the article does two things. Firstly, it briefly outlines the political nature of tragic drama in ancient Athens, especially the connection between the political ascendency of tragedy and the rise of democracy. As illustrations of this claim, the article alludes to the political implications surrounding two notable Greek tragedies: Aeschylus' Suppliants and Sophocles' Antigone. Following this, it then makes the case for the political implications of tragic drama in the twentieth and twenty‐first centuries. To do so, it returns to the examples of Suppliants and Antigone to show how Greek tragedy can still be read as a powerful form of political discourse.     

The Matsis papers: A Greek settler in Tanganyika

Although the main sources of this article are the papers of one particular Greek immigrant into Tanganyika, the insights offered indicate a far wider perspective. It allows glimpses of British colonial policy up to the Second World War and the subsequent emergence of the movement for independence. As well as highlighting changes in the ‘official mind’ of British administration, the role of other European groups like the Greeks is explored. The relationship with the emerging nationalist movement is also analysed and the implications for Tanzanian development outlined. The value of such private archive material in any colonial history is emphasized.     

Implications for Practice: Exploring the Impacts of Government Contracts on Refugee Settlement Services in Rural and Urban Australia

This article presents the findings from a small qualitative study of Refugee Settlement Service (RSS) workers under Australia’s Humanitarian Settlement Services and Settlement Grants Program. Managers and front-line workers from five Refugee Settlement Services in rural and urban New South Wales were interviewed to examine the impact of new Government funding structures and contracts on the delivery of services and supports to newly arrived refugees. The comparative findings show that the Government’s contractual arrangements impact Refugee Settlement Services in different ways; ultimately prioritising market-like structures and undermining their core service roles. We argue that improving the relationship between Government and Refugee Settlement Services is critical to successful refugee settlement.

IMPLICATIONS

• Successful refugee settlement requires greater flexibility and responsiveness in rural and urban Refugee Settlement Service (RSSs).

• RSSs require increased autonomy and control over funding to enable locally responsive service provision for newly arrived refugees.