Multicultural Social Work and Ethnic Identity Positioning

The recent trend in postmodern social work discourses in Australia espouses anti-essentialist views of identity for social work subjects and deconstructs the uniformity of self into hybrid and changeable identities. However, there are few studies that focus on the problem of anti- essentialism in social work theories in relation to the analysis of neoliberal discourses in actual social welfare fields for middle-class migrants like the Japanese community in Australia. This paper explores the perceptions toward ethnic identity positioning among ethnic community leaders in social welfare activities. The research also attempts to examine the relationship between social welfare activities by ethnic minorities and ethnic identity discourses in social work. The case studies revealed that the essentialist practices of Japanese community organizations aimed at keeping their Japanese ethnicity could co-exist with the production of an anti-essential, hybrid culture in Australian society. It is important to consider cultural complexity in the ethnic identification processes that emerge through social welfare practices by ethnic minorities.     

Giving and Identity: Why affluent Australians give – or don't – to community causes

The trend to affluence in Australia is noteworthy. There are more Australian millionaires than ever before and the rate at which Australians are joining this group is one of the fastest in the world, with average assets held now worth US$4.1m, nudging the world's average of US$4.8m (Merrill Lynch and Capgemini 2005). This is positive news for the community sector because the Giving Australia household survey indicates that Australia's affluent are more likely give to community causes than those on lower incomes and are more likely to give more (PMCBP 2005). This trend is reflected in analyses of tax deductions claimed for charitable giving (McGregor‐Lowndes and Marsden 2006). This paper presents the findings of qualitative research conducted as part of the Giving Australia project describing why affluent donors give – or don't – to community causes. Findings from eight focus groups and eight in‐depth interviews with affluent individuals suggest that giving by the affluent at lower levels may be linked to a sense of identity and responsibility within social groups, as well as the perceived worthiness of both the cause and recipient organisations. In contrast, major donor behaviour appeared to be linked to passion and personal commitment to social change. A range of barriers were also indicated such as a need for privacy and concerns about the capacity of community organisations. Overall, the study's findings add to the understanding of giving behaviour by the affluent in Australia and confirm US findings that motivations for affluent donors are complex (for example, Boris 1987; Prince and File 1994; Schervish 2005; Johnson 2005).     

Giving and Identity: Why affluent Australians give – or don't – to community causes

The trend to affluence in Australia is noteworthy. There are more Australian millionaires than ever before and the rate at which Australians are joining this group is one of the fastest in the world, with average assets held now worth US$4.1m, nudging the world's average of US$4.8m (Merrill Lynch and Capgemini 2005). This is positive news for the community sector because the Giving Australia household survey indicates that Australia's affluent are more likely give to community causes than those on lower incomes and are more likely to give more (PMCBP 2005). This trend is reflected in analyses of tax deductions claimed for charitable giving (McGregor‐Lowndes and Marsden 2006). This paper presents the findings of qualitative research conducted as part of the Giving Australia project describing why affluent donors give – or don't – to community causes. Findings from eight focus groups and eight in‐depth interviews with affluent individuals suggest that giving by the affluent at lower levels may be linked to a sense of identity and responsibility within social groups, as well as the perceived worthiness of both the cause and recipient organisations. In contrast, major donor behaviour appeared to be linked to passion and personal commitment to social change. A range of barriers were also indicated such as a need for privacy and concerns about the capacity of community organisations. Overall, the study's findings add to the understanding of giving behaviour by the affluent in Australia and confirm US findings that motivations for affluent donors are complex (for example, Boris 1987; Prince and File 1994; Schervish 2005; Johnson 2005).     

TWO WAVES OF CROATIAN MIGRANTS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA: CLASS AND NATIONAL IDENTITY

This paper examines the ways in which two waves of Croatian migrants in Western Australia have constructed their ethnic/national identity following migration. These two waves – the first took place during the 1960s and the early 1970s and the second in the late 1980s/early 1990s – are considerably different in terms of their socio-economic background. The earlier wave came from rural areas of Croatia and can be described as typically working class, while the recent wave came from the cities and predominantly consists of professional people. Migrants from the 1960s wave express a strong identification with their place (village, town, island) of origin and form a rather close-knit ethnic ‘community of place’. There is a strong link between territory, ethnicity and identity in this group of migrants. Recent developments in Croatia (the war for independence) have helped to ‘enlarge’ this local-ethnic focus into an ‘imagined’ national identity. Ethno-national belonging and identification is not emphasised in the recent group of Croatian migrants. Their ‘Croatianness’ is secondary in the re-construction of their identity following migration. It is their professional identification that seems to be central in this process. They consider the Croatian ‘ethnic community’ to be irrelevant to their life in Australia and seek to integrate into the broader Australian community primarily through their professional work.     

Anglo‐Australian and non‐Anglophone middle classes: ‘foreign accent’ and social inclusion

Building on the concept of ‘multicultural middle class’, this paper explores social inclusion of professionally educated and employed non‐Anglophone immigrants in Australia. We focus specifically on the perceptions and implications of ‘foreign accent’ in the interaction between two groups of middle‐class Australians: non‐Anglophone immigrants and Anglo‐Australians. ‘Non‐Anglophone immigrants’ are defined as those who arrived in Australia as adults, grew up speaking a language other than English, and therefore usually speak English with a ‘foreign accent’. ‘Anglo‐Australians’ are defined as people born in Australia who grew up in families/households where only English was spoken, therefore speaking with a ‘native Australian’ accent. Through a survey of a targeted sample of respondents, the two groups were asked about their intergroup communication, wider interaction (e.g., intermarriage, friendships and working together) and mutual perceptions. Our findings indicate high levels of agreement between the two groups that Anglophone/non‐Anglophone communication is minimally hindered by comprehension problems due to foreign‐accented speech and cultural differences. Although the positive picture that emerges may reflect specific experiences and attitudes of middle‐class professionals and may not be generalisable, increased contact of the 'multicultural middle class' with its Anglo‐Australian counterpart is likely to be a factor in dissociating foreign accent and negative stereotyping.     

The attitudes and beliefs of the child protection workforce and why they matter to children who live with violence

In Australia, like other developed countries, there has been an increase in reports to child protection services about children experiencing domestic violence. While there is research on the importance of the skills and knowledge of the child protection workforce for this growing problem, little is available about practitioner attitudes and beliefs. This paper presents findings on research undertaken in New South Wales, which is the most populated state in Australia. The research considered the attitudes and beliefs of the statutory child protection workforce about domestic violence. It relied on a large-scale survey of 1041 child protection practitioners. In order to compare the attitudes and beliefs of child protection workforce with those of the general community, the survey replicated questions from the Australian National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Surveys. Overall, the attitudes and beliefs of the workforce more closely reflected contemporary theory and evidence about domestic violence than those of the community. The research also examined variations in the attitudes and beliefs of the child protection workforce according to practitioner characteristics, finding variations by gender. The implications for the fields of child protection and social work are discussed.     

“I can be a mum or a professional,but not both”: What women say about their experiences of juggling paid employment with motherhood

Past research has identified the salience of the notion of “good motherhood” in countries such as Australia, where women are expected to invest significant time and energy, often through self‐sacrifice, to raise their children. We analysed free‐text comments provided in response to an open‐ended question from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) to examine whether the discourse of “good motherhood” played any role in how women articulate their experiences of juggling paid employment with motherhood. Eighty women from the cohort born 1973–78 were included, providing 223 comments. “Good motherhood” underpinned many of the accounts about combining motherhood with paid employment. Women reported life as stressful and hectic as they attempted to juggle the demands of childcare with paid employment and domestic chores. Although some identified “good motherhood” as an unachievable ideal, most were largely unable to disengage with this discourse. Broader social structures, such as inflexible working conditions, were found to reinforce and support this ideal, contributing to the strength of the discourse.     

Framing microfinance in Australia – gender neutral or gender blind?

In Australia, microfinance is gaining visibility as a distinct poverty alleviation strategy. Within the Australian microfinance policy and program discourses, the microfinance sector is framed as targeting both men and women equally. Yet at the practice level, the majority of loan recipients are women. Such a gender neutral framing is in stark contrast to microfinance policy and practices developed elsewhere. This paper explores how gender is represented in microfinance policy and practice in Australia, drawing on an analysis of the policy and practice statements of Australian microfinance programs. It is argued that the robust feminist assessments of the relationship between microfinance and gender equality that have emerged in developing countries could usefully inform Australian developments in this area of social policy, but that this shift requires acknowledging gender in the framing of the problem Australian microfinance seeks to address.     

ARE THERE MIGRANT ENCLAVES IN AUSTRALIA? - A SEARCH FOR THE EVIDENCE

Studies have shown that although migrants in general fare worse in the labour market, some migrant groups perform better than others (McAllister 1986; Evans and Kelley 1986; Kelly and McAllister 1984). Studies from the US have also shown that migrant workers working in the ethnic enclaves attain higher socioeconomic rewards compared to the immigrants employed in the secondary sector (Wilson and Portes 1980; Portes and Jensen 1989). Using data collected from the Survey of Issues in Multicultural Australia (1988), this paper reports that ethnic enclaves as a separate economy do not exist in the Australian labour market where migrants can obtain higher status or higher earnings. The paper concludes that the formation of ethnic enclaves as a separate economy needs much more than the establishment of ethnic owned enterprises.     

Social inclusion under Labor in South Australia

Social inclusion policies were championed by the former Rann Labor government in South Australia from 2002 to 2011. In 2011 the Social Inclusion Unit was dissolved by the South Australian government. It is argued that the relatively narrow focus of the former SIU on ‘problem’ communities limited its capacity to provide more than residual solutions. The diminishing political returns on social inclusion also encouraged the South Australian government to abandon this initiative. In 2014 this government has had to grapple with the end of car making in Australia and a declining manufacturing labour force, traditionally a ‘mainstream’ constituency of the Labor Party. The return to ‘mainstreaming’ social policy in South Australia might offer limited space for realignment of social policy with the concept of social citizenship. It might also represent a move away from the functionalist morality of social inclusion. Social inclusion as practiced in South Australia has limited capacity to address generalised social disadvantage. The latter is likely to concern a re‐elected Labor minority government grappling with significant job losses and a declining local economy.     

“Moving from transactional government to enablement” in Indigenous service delivery: The era of New Public Management,service innovation and urban Aboriginal community development

Over the last 40 years, Aboriginal Community Based Organisations have played a distinctive role in society in relation to urban Aboriginal peoples and their rights to self‐determination and community development in the Australian city of Newcastle. They have proven essential to advocacy, the maintenance of community development, and the creation of new Aboriginal social infrastructure (community organisations, facilities, services, and supporting infrastructure). Autonomy has been empowering for local Aboriginal people. Major reforms to the delivery of government social services, particularly government enablement of a new social service market based on New Public Management principles, threaten this success. This interpretive, qualitative case study illustrates the effects of social service market enablement. It draws on a case study of the effects of social service market enablement on urban Aboriginal Community Based Organisations in Newcastle, showing the antagonistic relationship between social service market enablement and Aboriginal community enablement and development. It ends with a discussion of how Aboriginal community development in this city could be re‐enabled in light of the Prime Minister's arguments in his 2017 Annual Parliamentary Closing the Gap speech providing particular value in the context of policy discussions about moving from transactional government to enablement in Indigenous affairs.     

The social and economic impacts of drought

Although the environmental and economic impacts of drought have been widely studied, few large‐scale studies have examined the broader social impacts of drought. To fill this knowledge gap, the Australian Institute of Family Studies undertook the Regional and Rural Families Survey in 2007, when a significant part of Australia was experiencing a severe drought. This paper analyses that survey to measure the extent to which drought affects a range of economic, health and social outcomes. Drought is found to have a substantial negative economic and health impact on farmers and others employed in the agricultural sector. There is some evidence that groups that are not employed in agriculture are adversely affected, with a widespread loss of services in drought‐affected areas and some marginal labour market groups (e.g. carers) experiencing poor employment outcomes in a drought‐affected local economy. Policymakers need to take these impacts into account in designing effective responses to future droughts.     

Social cohesion in rural Australia: Framework for conformity or social justice?

While social cohesion has become a commonly accepted policy goal and framework in many ethnically diverse societies, there is a general concern in some academic literature that it can be a form of governmentality that constructs manageable subjects and communities, represses diversity and distracts attention from the social, political and economic production of inequalities. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in two rural Australian towns with ethnically diverse populations, this article engages with these criticisms of social cohesion while simultaneously asserting that social cohesion is viewed by local practitioners as a desirable objective for both strengthening intercultural community and addressing issues of social justice and inequality. We also aim to bring some needed clarity to relevant debates in the literature in distinguishing between social cohesion discourses used for normative and/or homogenising purposes versus frameworks developed in the academic literature with a concern for social justice and equality among diverse populations.     

Not a Solution at All? Communities and Social Policy

Bryson and Mowbray wrote about the uncritical use of the term community by governments in 1981 and ways in which ‘evidence‐based policy’ in relation to communities became little more than a ‘catchphrase’ in 2005. Both articles appeared in the Australian Journal of Social Issues. This paper reports research that utilised qualitative methods to gather data on subjective, practical meanings of community in one local government area of South Australia to assess the goodness of fit with the language of community contained in social policy. It is argued that in 2009, community, as it is applied by social policy makers, has little resonance with the large body of research around this topic or the current situation of individuals and families and this results in a poor match between the intentions and outcomes of social policies aimed at communities.     

The role of local government in migrant and refugee settlement in regional and rural Australia

Government responsibility for the settlement of newly arrived refugees and migrants in Australia is shared between the federal, state and local levels. While Australia's settlement policies are predominantly top‐down and Commonwealth driven with some state involvement, local government has the potential to play a greater role in facilitating the settlement of newly arrived migrants and refugees. A growing body of literature in Australia and overseas highlights the role of local‐level policies in supporting integration and social cohesion, which is arguably even more crucial in the context of migrant and refugee settlement in regional and rural areas. This paper draws on focus groups with 90 local stakeholders in eight local government areas in Victoria to propose a typology of local government involvement that shows the variable but potentially significant role of local government in the regional and rural settlement of recent arrivals. We argue that Australia's over 560 local governments provide crucial but underutilised governance resources for improving the settlement process. This finding has implications for settlement policies and funding, intergovernmental coordination, and the retention of migrants and refugees in regional and rural communities in Australia.     

A lonely society? Loneliness and liquid modernity in Australia

This paper reviews recent studies of loneliness in order to assess whether it is becoming endemic in Australian society. It develops the idea that loneliness is an embedded social structural feature of contemporary Australian life likely to affect people through the life course, creating psychological stress, ill health and social dysfunction. Zygmunt Bauman's writing on liquid modernity is used to trace a sequence of less binding social bonds from the community the workplace, intimate relationships, friendship and kinship that may account for a more generalised distribution of loneliness. Empirical evidence from recent national surveys in Australia demonstrates how Bauman's gloomy prognosis is particularly applicable in Australia. The paper argues that it has been invisible as a social issue until recently, but that its scope and scale have grown such that robust policy initiatives are now warranted. It argues that Australia's gendered pattern of loneliness indicates that Bauman's broad theory of liquid modernity must be mediated by several factors relating to national cultures, historic patterns of family formation, and the gender role distribution in the creation and maintenance of social bonds.     

National Identity,Citizenship and Immigration: Putting Identity in Context

In this paper we suggest that there is a need to examine what is meant by “context” in Social Psychology and present an example of how to place identity in its social and institutional context. Taking the case of British naturalisation, the process whereby migrants become citizens, we show that the identity of naturalised citizens is defined by common‐sense ideas about Britishness and by immigration policies. An analysis of policy documents on “earned citizenship” and interviews with naturalised citizens shows that the distinction between “elite” and “non‐elite” migrants is evident in both the “reified” sphere of policy and the “common sense” sphere of everyday identity construction. While social representations embedded in lay experience construct ethno‐cultural similarity and difference, immigration policies engage in an institutionalised positioning process by determining migrants' rights of mobility. These spheres of knowledge and practice are not disconnected as these two levels of “managing otherness” overlap—it is the poorer, less skilled migrants, originating outside the West who epitomise difference (within a consensual sphere) and have less freedom of mobility (within a reified sphere). We show that the context of identity should be understood as simultaneously psychological and political.     

“It's not all tied up with bureaucrats and funding”: Autonomous volunteer participation in the rural resettlement of refugees

This paper reports on a study that explored the experiences, perceptions and motivations of a new type of autonomous volunteer emerging in modern society, in particular, those working to assist in the rural resettlement of refugees in Australia. The volunteers filled a gap left by under resourced government and community services. In‐depth semi structured interviews revealed that their motivation was due in part, to the lack of bureaucratic' red tape'. Their drive to address social issues was based also in part on values to see social justice expressed in their community. Some challenges and tensions due to cultural differences were identified. Questions for community development and social capital are raised. Implications are raised for volunteer groups' and resettlement organisations' policy and practice to enhance the resettlement process for both the host community and those with a refugee background.     

Enhancing Social Support for Migrant Families: A Case Study of Community Services in a Shanghai Urban Village and Implications for Intervention

Recent years have witnessed the growing emphasis of the Chinese central government to develop community services as a method of building communities and strengthening social solidarity. With the increased involvement of multi‐generation households in China's internal rural‐to‐urban migration, however, little is known about what community services are available for migrant families. Nor do we know much about how such services can enhance social support for migrants, which is crucial for their psychological well‐being in managing the ongoing challenges that arise from migration and further integration into cities. This article presents a case study conducted in Shanghai where social services are emerging in a few urban villages. We begin with a brief background on China's rural‐to‐urban migration and the emergence of urban villages, followed by a discussion of community services and social support for Chinese migrant families. We then document existing services in an urban village to explore how they can influence migrant families' social support. Drawing on the perspective of service providers, we highlight the effects social work interventions can have on improving social support for migrant families. Finally, we propose an intervention framework based on multi‐dimensions of social support, emphasizing an integration of formal and informal social support through community services for migrant populations.     

Social inclusion,exclusion, and well‐being in Australia: meaning and measurement

This paper begins by examining the social inclusion agenda that formed the centrepiece of the social policy agenda of the Australian Government between 2007 and 2013. It discusses several features of the agenda, including its objectives (as articulated by the government) and some of the administrative and bureaucratic mechanisms that were put in place to assist with its development and implementation. Although no formal assessment of the impact of the agenda is attempted, some of the ways in which such an agenda could make a difference are identified. The paper then summarises the social inclusion indicator framework developed by the Australian Social Inclusion Unit with assistance and advice from the Australian Social Inclusion Board, and compares its structure and content with the frameworks developed by two of Australia's leading social research institutes. Finally, data from two national surveys of poverty and social exclusion are used to examine recent changes in social exclusion and the association between the severity of exclusion and levels of subjective well‐being. These latter results show clearly that subjective well‐being is consistently lower among those who experience the greatest degree of social exclusion, suggesting that exclusion as identified and measured reflects external constraints rather than internal preferences.