Susan Collings, Meredith McLaine, Sarah Ciftci, Betty Luu
Achieving timely “permanency” for children after statutory child removal has become a key policy driver internationally. In New South Wales, child protection reforms include prioritising reunification; introducing time frames for resolution of legal proceedings; and outsourcing a substantial proportion of casework to the non-government sector. In assessing the viability of reunification, courts place responsibility for behaviour change on parents and obscure the role of systems in supporting these changes. Professionals, as actors within a complex system, have an insider perspective on factors that influence reunification. A qualitative study was undertaken to elicit the perspectives of professionals working with parents involved in care proceedings. A total of 29 caseworkers and lawyers took part in focus groups. Complexity theory was used as an interpretive framework, and thematic analysis was completed. Themes about barriers to reunification exposed the unintended consequences of change in a complex adaptive system. Far from making reunification more achievable by streamlining the legal process, changes introduced impediments in the form of role, goal and process confusion and low levels of professional confidence in their capacity to help parents and achieve predictable legal outcomes. These results strengthen calls for a different approach to confront system-induced barriers. Embedding interagency collaboration, challenging risk narratives about parents and offering them dedicated services are areas that demand urgent attention in order to ensure no child, whose safety and best interests could be met by reunification, remains in care.
{"title":"Working toward reunification in New South Wales: Professional perspectives on navigating complex systems","authors":"Susan Collings, Meredith McLaine, Sarah Ciftci, Betty Luu","doi":"10.1002/ajs4.333","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.333","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Achieving timely “permanency” for children after statutory child removal has become a key policy driver internationally. In New South Wales, child protection reforms include prioritising reunification; introducing time frames for resolution of legal proceedings; and outsourcing a substantial proportion of casework to the non-government sector. In assessing the viability of reunification, courts place responsibility for behaviour change on parents and obscure the role of systems in supporting these changes. Professionals, as actors within a complex system, have an insider perspective on factors that influence reunification. A qualitative study was undertaken to elicit the perspectives of professionals working with parents involved in care proceedings. A total of 29 caseworkers and lawyers took part in focus groups. Complexity theory was used as an interpretive framework, and thematic analysis was completed. Themes about barriers to reunification exposed the unintended consequences of change in a complex adaptive system. Far from making reunification more achievable by streamlining the legal process, changes introduced impediments in the form of role, goal and process confusion and low levels of professional confidence in their capacity to help parents and achieve predictable legal outcomes. These results strengthen calls for a different approach to confront system-induced barriers. Embedding interagency collaboration, challenging risk narratives about parents and offering them dedicated services are areas that demand urgent attention in order to ensure no child, whose safety and best interests could be met by reunification, remains in care.</p>","PeriodicalId":46787,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Social Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajs4.333","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142435148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper is focussed on literacy and the literacy experiences of people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness. Drawing on 23 in‐depth interviews with people who have lived experience of homelessness in Sydney, Australia, the paper examines literacy, literacy needs and interest in literacy programmes from a social practice perspective of literacy. Amartya Sen's (1999) capability approach is drawn on to examine the multidimensional barriers that impede access to literacy. Our findings show literacy needs and how literacy is understood and valued in the lives of people with lived experience of homelessness. We show the ways that spatial and temporal conditions enable and create (im)possibilities for the realisation of literacy as a capability. We also discuss how the capability is imagined to fit into existing worlds, as both an instrumental tool, as well as for personal satisfaction and broader participation in social life. Our interviewees also point to the possibilities of literacy learning and programmes supporting the realisation of other capabilities, emphasising the prospects of achieving multiple capability realisations through program design. We show how the findings bear out the principles of a social practices pedagogy in adult literacy programmes.
{"title":"On (not) being literate enough: The literacy experiences and literacy programme needs of people experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness","authors":"B. Hanckel, Alan Morris, Keiko Yasukawa","doi":"10.1002/ajs4.324","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.324","url":null,"abstract":"This paper is focussed on literacy and the literacy experiences of people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness. Drawing on 23 in‐depth interviews with people who have lived experience of homelessness in Sydney, Australia, the paper examines literacy, literacy needs and interest in literacy programmes from a social practice perspective of literacy. Amartya Sen's (1999) capability approach is drawn on to examine the multidimensional barriers that impede access to literacy. Our findings show literacy needs and how literacy is understood and valued in the lives of people with lived experience of homelessness. We show the ways that spatial and temporal conditions enable and create (im)possibilities for the realisation of literacy as a capability. We also discuss how the capability is imagined to fit into existing worlds, as both an instrumental tool, as well as for personal satisfaction and broader participation in social life. Our interviewees also point to the possibilities of literacy learning and programmes supporting the realisation of other capabilities, emphasising the prospects of achieving multiple capability realisations through program design. We show how the findings bear out the principles of a social practices pedagogy in adult literacy programmes.","PeriodicalId":46787,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Social Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140380856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Delia Rambaldini-Gooding, Lynne Keevers, Narelle Clay, Lisa MacLeod
Pathways into and the impact of homelessness on young people have been extensively explored. There is less emphasis on young people's perspectives of the interventions designed to assist them to avoid or exit homelessness. This study undertook a systematic review of the youth homelessness interventions literature that included the perspectives of young people experiencing these interventions. Our review identified five key approaches as useful in assisting young people to exit or avoid homelessness, namely (1) the centrality of relationships, (2) a youth-centred approach, (3) integrated and multi-disciplinary service provision, (4) a beyond housing approach and (5) strength-based therapeutic models/interventions. The review enhances the capacity of practitioners to provide supportive and contextually situated services to young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. However, further research is required to understand the bundles of interconnected practices within these approaches that are performed by workers and young people to address homelessness and risk.
{"title":"Researching effective practices to reduce youth homelessness and disadvantage from a young person's perspective: A systematic review","authors":"Delia Rambaldini-Gooding, Lynne Keevers, Narelle Clay, Lisa MacLeod","doi":"10.1002/ajs4.332","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ajs4.332","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Pathways into and the impact of homelessness on young people have been extensively explored. There is less emphasis on young people's perspectives of the interventions designed to assist them to avoid or exit homelessness. This study undertook a systematic review of the youth homelessness interventions literature that included the perspectives of young people experiencing these interventions. Our review identified five key approaches as useful in assisting young people to exit or avoid homelessness, namely (1) the centrality of relationships, (2) a youth-centred approach, (3) integrated and multi-disciplinary service provision, (4) a beyond housing approach and (5) strength-based therapeutic models/interventions. The review enhances the capacity of practitioners to provide supportive and contextually situated services to young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. However, further research is required to understand the bundles of interconnected practices within these approaches that are performed by workers and young people to address homelessness and risk.</p>","PeriodicalId":46787,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Social Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajs4.332","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140221148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Shay, G. Sarra, Jo Lampert, Daeul Jeong, Amy Thomson, Jodie Miller
Codesign is an increasingly common term in Indigenous education policy settings. However, it is unclear exactly what it means and how it is enacted. This systematic review examined 15 papers relevant to codesign in the context of Indigenous education, clearly distinguishing between codesign as a process and a method. These papers provide a snapshot of the various ways codesign is conceptualised, enacted as a process and evaluated in Indigenous education settings. In this paper, we respond to these three areas of codesign to inform a more nuanced framework to help policymakers and practitioners in the future.
{"title":"Codesign in Indigenous education policy and practice—A systematic literature review","authors":"M. Shay, G. Sarra, Jo Lampert, Daeul Jeong, Amy Thomson, Jodie Miller","doi":"10.1002/ajs4.320","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.320","url":null,"abstract":"Codesign is an increasingly common term in Indigenous education policy settings. However, it is unclear exactly what it means and how it is enacted. This systematic review examined 15 papers relevant to codesign in the context of Indigenous education, clearly distinguishing between codesign as a process and a method. These papers provide a snapshot of the various ways codesign is conceptualised, enacted as a process and evaluated in Indigenous education settings. In this paper, we respond to these three areas of codesign to inform a more nuanced framework to help policymakers and practitioners in the future.","PeriodicalId":46787,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Social Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140224749","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Steven Roche, Natalie Taylor‐Zach, Robert Taylor, Philip Mendes
Since 2007, income support recipients in the Northern Territory (NT) have been subjected to compulsory income management (CIM), a form of welfare conditionality which continues, despite the withdrawal of CIM from other locations in Australia and research that identifies negligible benefits. Implemented with the goal of improving social well‐being and health outcomes, CIM quarantines a proportion of income support payments which cannot be used to purchase alcohol, gambling, pornography and in some cases tobacco, to direct payments to priority needs of recipients and encourage socially responsible behaviour. This article presents the perspectives of welfare sector stakeholders in the NT on the ongoing impact of CIM on income support recipients and their communities. It draws on semi‐structured interviews with 26 participants with expertise across non‐government service delivery, government, legal and advocacy sectors. The findings detail that CIM is considered ineffective in reducing social harms such as substance misuse, can contribute to situations of family violence, and exacerbates challenges for recipients living in regional and remote areas. It also highlights the poor compatibility of community income management in regional and remote contexts, its top‐down design, and views that CIM is a form of social control and disempowerment.
{"title":"Perspectives on the ongoing impact of compulsory income management in the Northern Territory","authors":"Steven Roche, Natalie Taylor‐Zach, Robert Taylor, Philip Mendes","doi":"10.1002/ajs4.323","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.323","url":null,"abstract":"Since 2007, income support recipients in the Northern Territory (NT) have been subjected to compulsory income management (CIM), a form of welfare conditionality which continues, despite the withdrawal of CIM from other locations in Australia and research that identifies negligible benefits. Implemented with the goal of improving social well‐being and health outcomes, CIM quarantines a proportion of income support payments which cannot be used to purchase alcohol, gambling, pornography and in some cases tobacco, to direct payments to priority needs of recipients and encourage socially responsible behaviour. This article presents the perspectives of welfare sector stakeholders in the NT on the ongoing impact of CIM on income support recipients and their communities. It draws on semi‐structured interviews with 26 participants with expertise across non‐government service delivery, government, legal and advocacy sectors. The findings detail that CIM is considered ineffective in reducing social harms such as substance misuse, can contribute to situations of family violence, and exacerbates challenges for recipients living in regional and remote areas. It also highlights the poor compatibility of community income management in regional and remote contexts, its top‐down design, and views that CIM is a form of social control and disempowerment.","PeriodicalId":46787,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Social Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140230971","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Huu Nghia Joey Nguyen, Fiona Mensah, Sharon Goldfeld, Rheanna Mainzer, Anna Price
Australian Governments are increasingly understanding the impacts of early adversity, evidenced by ongoing policy and investment in two of the most widely implemented early interventions: nurse home visiting (NHV) and early childhood education and care (ECEC). Neither intervention fully redresses the developmental inequities engendered by early adversity, yet their synergistic impacts (“dynamic complementarity”) are unknown. In this research, we aimed to (1) inform evaluation of policy implementation by (2) experimentally testing the dynamic complementarity of NHV and ECEC. We capitalised on an opportunity afforded by the Australian “right@home” randomised trial, which involved 722 pregnant women experiencing adversity, randomised to receive NHV or usual care to child age 2 years. Detailed data describing family-accessed ECEC were collected from parents at 3–4 years, and “quality ECEC” was categorised according to meeting quality recommendations defined by Australian policy and provision. Children's developmental outcomes (language, executive functioning, behaviour and well-being) were parent-reported or assessed directly at 4 years. At 4 years, 33 per cent of families had received neither intervention; 40 per cent NHV only; 14 per cent quality ECEC only; and 13 per cent had received both. We used linear regression to estimate differences in mean outcomes between exposure groups, including interaction between NHV and ECEC. Unadjusted analyses indicated modest effects of the combination of NHV and ECEC, which attenuated after adjustment for socioeconomic confounders. We present the design and preliminary findings as an approach that could be used to evaluate equitable implementation at scale and enable policymakers to determine the most effective evidence-based policy.
{"title":"The complementary impacts of nurse home visiting and quality childcare for children experiencing adversity","authors":"Huu Nghia Joey Nguyen, Fiona Mensah, Sharon Goldfeld, Rheanna Mainzer, Anna Price","doi":"10.1002/ajs4.331","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ajs4.331","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Australian Governments are increasingly understanding the impacts of early adversity, evidenced by ongoing policy and investment in two of the most widely implemented early interventions: nurse home visiting (NHV) and early childhood education and care (ECEC). Neither intervention fully redresses the developmental inequities engendered by early adversity, yet their synergistic impacts (“dynamic complementarity”) are unknown. In this research, we aimed to (1) inform evaluation of policy implementation by (2) experimentally testing the dynamic complementarity of NHV and ECEC. We capitalised on an opportunity afforded by the Australian “right@home” randomised trial, which involved 722 pregnant women experiencing adversity, randomised to receive NHV or usual care to child age 2 years. Detailed data describing family-accessed ECEC were collected from parents at 3–4 years, and “quality ECEC” was categorised according to meeting quality recommendations defined by Australian policy and provision. Children's developmental outcomes (language, executive functioning, behaviour and well-being) were parent-reported or assessed directly at 4 years. At 4 years, 33 per cent of families had received neither intervention; 40 per cent NHV only; 14 per cent quality ECEC only; and 13 per cent had received both. We used linear regression to estimate differences in mean outcomes between exposure groups, including interaction between NHV and ECEC. Unadjusted analyses indicated modest effects of the combination of NHV and ECEC, which attenuated after adjustment for socioeconomic confounders. We present the design and preliminary findings as an approach that could be used to evaluate equitable implementation at scale and enable policymakers to determine the most effective evidence-based policy.</p>","PeriodicalId":46787,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Social Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajs4.331","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140230947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Early Islamic scriptures mention the use of corporal punishment parenting strategies to rectify behaviour in children. However, many Islamic scholars strongly warn against employing corporal punishment as a discipline strategy. This discussion paper aimed to examine the misconceptions surrounding the use of corporal punishment as a parenting strategy in religious teachings and explores the sociocultural norms that act as a barrier to effective Islamic parenting practices. This discussion asserts that parenting practices engaging corporal punishment discipline strategies are not an inherent part of Islamic doctrine and both historic and contemporary Islamic scholars endorse alternative, peaceful parenting strategies in line with Islamic values. Dissemination of a holistic understanding of religious teachings regarding parenting strategies within the Muslim population is needed. It discusses the recommendations for educational opportunities to encourage and promote effective parenting strategies, which aim to avoid the use of corporal punishment in Muslim communities and nations.
{"title":"Misconceptions about corporal punishment in Islam","authors":"Mohammed Shafiq, Akhtar Munir, Sarah Little","doi":"10.1002/ajs4.326","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ajs4.326","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Early Islamic scriptures mention the use of corporal punishment parenting strategies to rectify behaviour in children. However, many Islamic scholars strongly warn against employing corporal punishment as a discipline strategy. This discussion paper aimed to examine the misconceptions surrounding the use of corporal punishment as a parenting strategy in religious teachings and explores the sociocultural norms that act as a barrier to effective Islamic parenting practices. This discussion asserts that parenting practices engaging corporal punishment discipline strategies are not an inherent part of Islamic doctrine and both historic and contemporary Islamic scholars endorse alternative, peaceful parenting strategies in line with Islamic values. Dissemination of a holistic understanding of religious teachings regarding parenting strategies within the Muslim population is needed. It discusses the recommendations for educational opportunities to encourage and promote effective parenting strategies, which aim to avoid the use of corporal punishment in Muslim communities and nations.</p>","PeriodicalId":46787,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Social Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140242118","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Justice Reinvestment aims to prevent young people coming into contact with the criminal justice system through place-based, data-driven and evidence-based community solutions developed through community-based leadership and partnerships. The initiative also advocates for strategic changes to the justice system, with any savings reinvested into successful community programs. This paper will discuss the historical, international and local perspectives of Justice Reinvestment, recent Commonwealth funding opportunities, and how well these initiatives work for young people in New South Wales.
{"title":"Justice reinvestment—Local solutions for young people in contact with the criminal justice system, but should more be done?","authors":"Leigh Haysom","doi":"10.1002/ajs4.318","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.318","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Justice Reinvestment aims to prevent young people coming into contact with the criminal justice system through place-based, data-driven and evidence-based community solutions developed through community-based leadership and partnerships. The initiative also advocates for strategic changes to the justice system, with any savings reinvested into successful community programs. This paper will discuss the historical, international and local perspectives of Justice Reinvestment, recent Commonwealth funding opportunities, and how well these initiatives work for young people in New South Wales.</p>","PeriodicalId":46787,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Social Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142435712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Intergenerational financial assistance with home ownership has attracted increasing scholarly interest in recent years. Existing research has focussed primarily on its impact on inequality, housing market outcomes and notions of meritocracy, as well as the relational dynamics through which it is negotiated. The topic of financial elder abuse has, however, remained an area of relative silence in this literature despite concerns raised by advocacy groups. In this article, we consider how intergenerational financial assistance may facilitate attitudes and behaviours that can result in financial elder abuse. To do so, we draw on an analysis of the Banking Code of Practice and the presumption of advancement, each of which shapes the way intergenerational financial assistance with home ownership unfolds in Australia. We then consider how such arrangements play out in practice through analysis of interviews conducted with donors and recipients of assistance of this type. We ultimately argue that in the context of intergenerational financial assistance with home ownership, the potential for financial elder abuse should be considered not just as an individual or family issue rooted in relationships, but as the outcome of ageist social attitudes and structural problems in the asset economy.
{"title":"Intergenerational financial assistance with home ownership: Considering the potential for financial elder abuse","authors":"Julia Cook, Peta S. Cook","doi":"10.1002/ajs4.319","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.319","url":null,"abstract":"Intergenerational financial assistance with home ownership has attracted increasing scholarly interest in recent years. Existing research has focussed primarily on its impact on inequality, housing market outcomes and notions of meritocracy, as well as the relational dynamics through which it is negotiated. The topic of financial elder abuse has, however, remained an area of relative silence in this literature despite concerns raised by advocacy groups. In this article, we consider how intergenerational financial assistance may facilitate attitudes and behaviours that can result in financial elder abuse. To do so, we draw on an analysis of the Banking Code of Practice and the presumption of advancement, each of which shapes the way intergenerational financial assistance with home ownership unfolds in Australia. We then consider how such arrangements play out in practice through analysis of interviews conducted with donors and recipients of assistance of this type. We ultimately argue that in the context of intergenerational financial assistance with home ownership, the potential for financial elder abuse should be considered not just as an individual or family issue rooted in relationships, but as the outcome of ageist social attitudes and structural problems in the asset economy.","PeriodicalId":46787,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Social Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140446530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Concerns about institutional child sexual abuse within Jewish communities have been documented in two recent national inquiries into child sexual abuse, in Australia, and England and Wales. Yet to date, there has been little analysis of how media reporting informs public awareness of these concerns, and potential programme and policy responses. This paper examines media reports of the high-profile case of ultra-orthodox Jewish school principal Malka Leifer who was found to have sexually abused several girls in her school in Melbourne, Australia. It draws on five Australian media publications (two specifically Jewish and three mainstream newspapers), from the initial committal hearing in September 2021 until the completion of her trial and conviction in July 2023. Our findings highlight the importance of child safety processes as being aligned with the specific religious and cultural context of faith-based communities in order to be effective in preventing institutional child sexual abuse.
{"title":"How does the media represent institutional child sexual abuse within Jewish communities? A case study of the Malka Leifer court case","authors":"Philip Mendes, Marcia Pinskier, Susan Baidawi","doi":"10.1002/ajs4.317","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ajs4.317","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Concerns about institutional child sexual abuse within Jewish communities have been documented in two recent national inquiries into child sexual abuse, in Australia, and England and Wales. Yet to date, there has been little analysis of how media reporting informs public awareness of these concerns, and potential programme and policy responses. This paper examines media reports of the high-profile case of ultra-orthodox Jewish school principal Malka Leifer who was found to have sexually abused several girls in her school in Melbourne, Australia. It draws on five Australian media publications (two specifically Jewish and three mainstream newspapers), from the initial committal hearing in September 2021 until the completion of her trial and conviction in July 2023. Our findings highlight the importance of child safety processes as being aligned with the specific religious and cultural context of faith-based communities in order to be effective in preventing institutional child sexual abuse.</p>","PeriodicalId":46787,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Social Issues","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajs4.317","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139775230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}