Australian Journal of Social Issues最新文献

HEALing Matters is an online professional development training program being implemented across the Victorian out-of-home care sector. HEALing Matters uses a trauma-informed philosophy to guide carers' understanding of the link between young people's healthy lifestyle behaviours and improved physical and psychosocial outcomes. This article reports the findings of a qualitative evaluation, which sought to understand whether participation in HEALing Matters fostered a sense of commitment, dedication and/or the introduction of new practices to create a healthy “home.” Semistructured interviews were conducted with 27 residential carers who completed the training and transcripts underwent thematic analysis. Four major themes evidencing healthy lifestyle behaviours were developed: (1) promotion of a healthy eating environment, (2) making physical activity a habit, (3) building connection through food and physical activity and (4) improved predictability and consistency. Implementation of HEALing Matters facilitated positive changes in health behaviours, supported carers to use food and activity to provide responsive caregiving and created a sense of safety and security through the introduction of household routines. The findings emphasise the importance of upskilling carers in preventative health practices and approaches to best support the health and well-being of young people in care.

Worldwide, many children experience corporal punishment. Most research on corporal punishment has focused on parents' attitudes and use of corporal punishment; however, other relevant parenting factors and practices have rarely been examined. This study explored differences among countries with various levels of progress toward a total legal ban of corporal punishment in parents' acceptability of corporal punishment, perception of parenting as a private concern, relationship with their child and parenting practices: consistency, coercive parenting, use of smacking and positive encouragement. Parents (N = 6760) of 2 to 12-year-old children from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom completed the International Parenting Survey, an online cross-sectional survey. One-way ANOVAs, and MANCOVAs (after controlling for parent age, gender and educational level), indicated significant country differences. Overall, there was no clear link between corporal punishment bans and positive parenting beliefs, practices and behaviours. The two countries where corporal punishment is banned showed different patterns. Parents in Germany showed less acceptability and use of smacking; however, parents in Spain reported the highest use of coercive parenting. Country differences suggest that beyond a legal ban, attention is needed on how to support parents to raise their children in a positive, nurturing environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created major challenges globally. The social work and human services profession has been required to rapidly respond to policy and social changes. This research aimed to understand how the pandemic has affected social work and human services staff within Melbourne, Victoria. In this paper, we analyse the practice and policy implications of these responses, and outline learning for the human services sector. We draw on interviews with social work and human services practitioners, exploring their experiences during the pandemic, including social and economic impacts on service users and agencies, and organisational and practice changes. Participants highlight compliance requirements, digitalisation of services, loss of social connection for service users and service impacts. In addition, participants highlight how people from low socioeconomic backgrounds were immensely affected throughout COVID-19 lockdowns. However, this research also identifies service benefits, resulting from the rapid adjustments made by agencies that need further exploration for future practice. This article highlights how, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, agencies and workers developed innovative responses to this crisis. Drawing on these insights can help to understand how such initiatives can be implemented in the future. This article contributes to knowledge about innovation in a time of crisis.