Mandy Wilson, Sherry Saggers and Helen Wildy
This paper aims to illustrate how narrative research techniques can be employed to promote greater understanding of young people's experiences of progress in residential alcohol…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to illustrate how narrative research techniques can be employed to promote greater understanding of young people's experiences of progress in residential alcohol and other drug treatment.
Design/methodology/approach
Narrative inquiry is used to explore client understandings of what characterises progress in treatment for young people attending a residential detoxification and a residential rehabilitation service in Perth, Western Australia. This article focuses on stories of progress collected through in‐depth qualitative interviews, observation and participation with clients of the two services, over a five‐month period.
Findings
Analysis of data revealed that young people were able to vividly describe their progress through treatment, and their drug taking trajectories can be conceptualised along five stages. The authors prepared narrative accounts to illustrate the features characteristic of each stage as identified by the young people. These composite narratives, written from the perspectives of young people, are presented in this article.
Practical implications
Clients’ own perceptions of their journeys through drug treatment might enable staff of such services to collaborate with the young person, in shaping and positively reinforcing alternative life‐stories; from those of exclusion and disconnection, to narratives of opportunity, inclusion and possibility.
Originality/value
Harmful adolescent drug and alcohol use is on the rise in Australia and elsewhere. However, our knowledge of how young people experience progress through residential treatment for substance use is limited. This paper highlights how creating narratives from young people's own stories of progress can broaden our knowledge of “what works” in residential youth alcohol and other drug treatment services.
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Keywords
Rochelle Spencer, Martin Brueckner, Gareth Wise and Banduk Marika
Using an integrated framework for performance management of nonprofit organizations, this paper aims to present an analysis of the activities of an Indigenous social enterprise in…
Abstract
Purpose
Using an integrated framework for performance management of nonprofit organizations, this paper aims to present an analysis of the activities of an Indigenous social enterprise in the town of Yirrkala in northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. The evaluation focuses on the social effectiveness of the organization and its ability to help generate income and employment and drive social capital creation.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is informed by data derived from “yarns” with social enterprise staff and semi-structured interviews conducted with key informants who were selected using snowball sampling. Data were transcribed and analyzed thematically.
Findings
The analysis reveals that the organization provides a successful community-based pathway for increasing Indigenous economic participation on local terms at a time of regional economic decline and high levels of Indigenous unemployment nationally.
Practical implications
The measured effectiveness of Nuwul highlights the need for targeted policy support for Indigenous enterprises and that social entrepreneurship is far more likely to be successful in a supportive government policy environment, a critical need for government-initiated policies to encourage the formation of Indigenous social enterprises that are entrepreneurial and innovative in their solutions to poverty and marginalization. Such policies should not only aid the establishment of Indigenous ventures but also facilitate their long-term growth and sustainability.
Originality/value
Although Indigenous entrepreneurial activities have been found to be effective in addressing Indigenous disadvantage in Australia, little is known about their community impact. The article provides original empirically grounded research on the measurement of Indigenous entrepreneurial activities and their wider community impact. The data show, against the backdrop of mixed results of government efforts to drive Indigenous economic mainstreaming, that the entrepreneurial activities analyzed in this paper are an example of more flexible and culturally appropriate pathways for achieving Indigenous equality in rural and remote regions of Australia.
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The Equal Pay Act 1970 (which came into operation on 29 December 1975) provides for an “equality clause” to be written into all contracts of employment. S.1(2) (a) of the 1970 Act…
Abstract
The Equal Pay Act 1970 (which came into operation on 29 December 1975) provides for an “equality clause” to be written into all contracts of employment. S.1(2) (a) of the 1970 Act (which has been amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) provides: