Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social networks Victoria Melbourne'

The population of Australia is increasing in age, consequently the incidence of cancer diagnoses is rising. This rise will have a dramatic impact on hospitals with much of the disease burden extending to psychological support for cancer care. At present few men diagnosed with cancer seek support. This study sought to explore men's perceptions of support and prostate cancer support groups. The benefits of support groups for men with prostate cancer have been well documented in international studies. In Australia however, relatively few men diagnosed with prostate cancer join such groups and few studies have examined the factors that influence membership and attendance. This study investigated the experiences of a sample of 181 Australian men diagnosed with prostate cancer, 80 of whom were members of support groups and 107 who were not. The participants were recruited from prostate cancer support groups and an outpatient department of a major cancer hospital, in Melbourne, Australia. The two groups were compared on a range of factors, including disease characteristics, illness perceptions and views of prostate cancer support groups. Further, members of support groups rated a number of objectives to determine the effectiveness of the groups. The majority of members recommended prostate cancer support groups to other men with prostate cancer (92%), however of the non-members of prostate cancer support groups, almost half (48%) had never heard of them. Factors that discriminated between support group members and non-members were emotional perceptions of the illness, symptom reports and illness coherence, with support group members reporting higher scores on these variables. Length of diagnosis and age were also factors that discriminated between the groups with support group members younger and diagnosed longer than non-members. There were no differences between the groups on personal control, both groups reported high perceptions of control over the disease. Members reported more benefits and less costs associated with prostate cancer support groups than non-members. Benefits included information, support, sharing experiences, and supporting other men with the disease. Costs included negative discussions, other men dying, and the distance required to travel to the groups. Both members and non-members reported distance to travel to the groups as a major barrier to attendance. The majority of members had heard of the groups through friends and, for non-members who had heard of the groups, through hospital staff. General practitioners were one of the least likely sources of information about prostate cancer support groups reported by members. Prostate cancer support group members reported high levels of satisfaction with the groups on a range of objectives outlined by the Cancer Council of Victoria. Making friends and accessing community assistance exceeded men's expectations of attendance, however men reported a desire for more information and communication. A need for more funding, advertising, and recognition of prostate cancer support groups by medical staff was also reported. Many men with prostate cancer are unaware of support groups, however a number of benefits were noted by both members and non-members. Greater recognition of prostate cancer support groups by medical staff may provide men with prostate cancer an opportunity to access those benefits. Health service providers should consider the important role prostate cancer support groups play in the recovery of men from prostate cancer and consider ways of dispelling myths men may hold regarding the notion of support.

In Melbourne between 1880 and 1907, the construction and propagation of a vagrant stereotype and its manifestation in law, constituted an important means of controlling the behaviour of individuals and groups who were perceived to be socially undesirable or economically burdensome.

In Australia the Horn of African migrants are one of the fastest growing migrant communities. The majority of these migrants arrived under the refugee and humanitarian resettlement program. This study focuses on the social networks of these migrants and the impact of remittances they send on them, as well as on the lives of their families back home. The study begins with an analysis of the major trends and characteristics of migration from the Horn of Africa to Australia. The study examines different types of formal and informal social networks that migrants develop and which are used as coping strategies to address their personal, social, financial, and emotional problems. It is based on a survey of migrant settlers from the Horn of Africa. The survey also found that family and ethnic owned remittance providers play formidable roles in facilitating the cheap, fast and reliable sending of remittances from Australia to rural and remote areas (including refugee camps) in Africa. In addition to their roles in fighting poverty and improving the living and human development conditions in Africa, remittances link family and maintain social networks with those left behind, and they also are used to influence the political landscapes of their countries of origin. Due to their lack of English language and relevant labour market skills, many of the Horn of African migrants studied are unemployed and dependent on the social welfare system. Despite high unemployment rates and dependence on the social welfare system, the majority (the employed, under employed and unemployed) of these migrants send money to support their families and friends stranded in precarious situations in asylum countries and in their country of origin. However, while they believe that their remittances have improved the lives of their families back home, they openly admitted that sending money has affected their lives and reduced the quality of lifestyles of their families in Australia. The study examines a number of aspects of the lives of Horn of African immigrants in Australia, especially their engagement with the labour market, housing, social networks, the social and economic cost of not recognizing overseas qualifications and work experiences, the long and short term health consequences and the economic and social costs of allowing the import, selling and consumption of “Khat”. A number of conclusions are made regarding policies on settlement of refugees from Africa in Australia.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, 2012

It is difficult to locate the genesis of any subject of creative and critical inquiry. However, I consider I embarked on this MA research project because having a decent coffee was important to me, and I did not know why. I recall the precise moment I realised I was attaching special meaning to coffee. I was in a new cafe at Airey's Inlet, seaside town on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, my home State, and I had ordered a cafe latte: The woman serving me was in her sixties and appeared to be out of her depth; she was most likely helping her daughter set up the cafe and trying to be useful. I imagined she lived on one of the surrounding farms - she reminded me of my mother. Her hands had probably made a thousand morning teas for shearers with big pots of tea, the best china for the jug of milk and tea cups, and big baskets of scones with cream and jam. But using an espresso machine had baffled her. I, on the other hand, no longer wanted the life of tea and demanded a decent coffee (Cook, 2005:15). At that moment I realised there were a number of reasons for me wanting that coffee to be 'decent'. They related to my growing up in the country and wanting to live in the city, to my experience of cafe life in Europe, and finally to personal rebellion - against certain conservatism of the 1970s in Australia, and ultimately against a colonial English custom of tea. This project is located in food and social history and focuses particularly on the introduction of espresso coffee to Melbourne in the 1950s and '60s, as in my view the Italian cafes of that period had the greatest influence upon present cafe culture. However, this project is not pure social or food history, as it synthesises my own personal experience, and that of my interviewees, with archival, scholarly and more journalistic/literary research, and with a particular approach to the writing of non-fiction narrative, known as 'creative non-fiction'. The final thesis can be seen therefore as a fusion of qualitative and scholarly research, with memoir and oral history - or, in summary, as what I have termed a 'selective cultural history'.

Triestine migration to Australia is the direct consequence of numerous disputations over the city's political boundaries in the immediate post-World War II period. As such the triestini themselves are not simply part of an overall migratory movement of Italians who took advantage of Australia's post-war immigration program, but their migration is also the reflection of an important period in the history of what today is known as the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region. By examining the migrant experience of both first and subsequent generations of Triestines in the Australian city of Melbourne in a historical context, this study highlights the importance of both the past and the present experience in the process of migrant settlement and identity construction.

Small businesses represent by far the largest proportion of business entities within Australian business, and as such represent a vital component of the country’s economic structure (ABS, 2016). There has been a significant increase in the Australian population due to immigration from a range of countries. In fact, Australia is now very diverse, with migrants arriving from more than 200 countries across the world. There are approximately 5.3% of all small businesses that are run by Vietnamese entrepreneurs in Australia (ABS, 2016). It is clear from this figure that Vietnamese small businesses make up a significant proportion of this sector in Australia. This thesis examines the dynamics of Vietnamese migrants in small business in Victoria. The consideration of environmental and personal factors in understanding Vietnamese migrant business start-ups, survival and Ethnic Entrepreneurship theories has been the focus of discussion for this study. Firstly, there is a general consensus of what contributing environmental and personal factors influence the Vietnamese migrant in business start-up. Secondly, the thesis looks at how these factors are associated with the Ethnic Entrepreneurship theories identified in the literature. Lastly, the work identifies what factors have contributed to the Vietnamese migrant in sustaining their small business.

Stroke is the third most common cause of death in Australia. To date, there has been extensive research conducted on the reactive consequences following the diagnosis of stroke. In contrast, there has been limited research effort directed at understanding how some stroke survivors manage to adjust to their adversity and altered circumstances. This study took a phenomenological approach and explored the experiences and strategies stroke survivors employed in their renegotiation of living.

The nature of social capital in local leisure clubs today has become an area of interest. Although research has mainly made inferences on the possible outcomes of social capital there is currently little agreement on its factors or its measurement. Therefore there has been an urgent need to examine the possible social capital factors present in leisure clubs and develop a tool to measure these. This research addresses these two aims through an analysis of social capital in local leisure clubs and the development of a scale to measure social capital. A mixed method was adopted with the initial qualitative phase informing the main (quantitative) phase of the research by identifying social capital concepts and contributing to scale development. Focus groups, interviews and a panel of experts were used with aspects of grounded theory to develop and refine items. The quantitative phase employed factor analysis for scale item reduction and multivariate analysis to test the scale. The ‘Club Social Capital Scale’ (CSCS) was distributed to Victorian leisure clubs generating 1079 returned questionnaires. The final version of the CSCS included the factors trusting/reciprocity, friendly/ acceptance, norms and governance. The scale was noted as a good tool for measuring social capital, with high reliability (Cronbach) and all scale items measuring social capital and its components, highlighting strong validity and reliability. Analysis of variance showed variation in levels in social capital with the demographic characteristics age, gender, education and income. Results showed reduced social capital levels with age, while men reported higher overall social capital, trust, and governance than women. Higher levels of education and income reflected lower social capital levels. Finally, recreation clubs scored higher governance than sport clubs. This research developed theory on the factors associated with social capital in leisure clubs and developed a short and easy to complete CSCS which would be a useful tool for further research.

The purpose of this study was to enhance the clinical experience of undergraduate nursing students through an investigation into a Flexible Clinical Education Model offered at Victoria University. Clinical education is a vital component of the undergraduate nursing curriculum that provides students with the opportunity to develop the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed to function effectively as a qualified nurse. Despite the commitment of universities to produce competent graduates, there is continued debate regarding models of clinical education that provide best practice in the clinical learning environment.

This research investigates the roles that adult community education (ACE) providers and programs play in the development of social and cultural networks for people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds in a regional community context. Within the milieu of the Shire of Campaspe, a rural area in northern Victoria, there has emerged the issue of ‘new’ social diversity due to recent decades of internal population mobility and international migration to regional areas. Australian regional communities like Campaspe are growing and diversifying within a complex framework of ecological, economic, historical, social and human factors. This thesis explores the main themes emerging from this one regional context where adult education plays a role in facilitating social capital development for people from diverse cultural backgrounds. It shows individuals from a range of cultural backgrounds utilise adult education as a space to explore their own social and cultural isolation. Migration experiences, gender, life-stage and length of residence in Australia, all influenced the ACE experiences of the individuals who participated in the research. ACE organisations were able, in limited ways to respond to the needs of local adult learners but the providers also experienced difficulty in adapting to the complex individual needs of local people.

The steady decline of students’ competency in mathematics has become known as the “Mathematics Problem”. Researchers identified that the level of student engagement is one of the most important factors affecting the academic performance of mathematics students. Strong link between students’ attitudes towards the use of technology for learning mathematics and their achievements also has been identified by recent studies. The mathematical problems have a multidimensional source and are initiated from the students’ personal characteristics and attitudes. Thus attitude is important educational concept about learning mathematics with technology. The association between student engagement and the use of ICT suggests that a positive attitude toward the use of ICT in learning mathematics is an important outcome in itself, especially when ICT is used. Student engagement can be influenced by a plethora of factors. These factors include student personal characteristics, learning experiences, perceptions, three aspects of engagement (cognitive, affective and behavioural) and attitudes towards the use of technology in learning of mathematics. This study is aimed at further investigating the factors that might be affected by the use of ICT with two major purposes: (1) to investigate the complex interrelationships between students’ demographic factors, mathematics confidence, access to technology outside university, confidence with technology, perception towards the use of technology for learning and attitude towards learning mathematics with technology, cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement; and student achievement and (2) to determine if the use of ICT impacts on the level of student engagement and achievements in mathematics.

The goal of wetland assessment is to identify and quantify the condition of wetlands, taking into account the presences of threats likely to impact the services and functions the wetlands provide. There are a wide variety of methods available for undertaking wetland assessment; most rely on data collection across a broad range of attributes at wetland sites to gauge wetland condition. This thesis examines the practice of wetland assessment in West Gippsland, south-eastern Australia and it investigates the contribution, and potencies, of component biological, chemical, hydrological and physical data inputs, individually and collectively, to the identification of high social, economic and environmental value wetlands in the region. A systematic analysis using statistics and data-mining techniques was undertaken of the inventory data for 163 representative wetlands to discover pertinent relationships between the values of different site characteristics and the classification of high-value wetlands. Binary logistic regression and neural networks were used to build models mimicking the wetland assessment process, and an assessment of their abilities to do so was conducted. The influences of two wetland classification schemes: Corrick and Norman (1980) scheme, and Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVCs), on the naming of high-value wetlands were also investigated.