Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Analysing The Behaviour Change Techniques In An Effective Food Literacy Program To Inform Future Program Design, Lucy M. Butcher, Caylah Batt, Sophie Royce, Eamon Barron, Roslyn Giglia, Andrea Begley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aim: Food literacy programs aim to improve food related skills and knowledge and are selected Governments as a strategy to address dietary intakes at a community level. The purpose of this research is to identify behaviour change techniques in a food literacy program, which were assessed by the achievement of participant goals related to food literacy and dietary behaviour changes. Methods: Consensus methods were applied to map behaviour change techniques to an adult food literacy program. A second phase investigation applied content analysis of participant process evaluation data (collected between 2016 and June 2021) to align target behaviours and behaviour …

Cards Against Everyday Sexisms, Mindy Blaise, Emily M. Gray, Jacqueline Ullman, Emma Fishwick, Georgia Beardman

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This deck of cards has been created using direct quotes from participants who took part in a nation-wide survey about everyday sexisms in Australian Universities. For more information about the project see: www.everydaysexismsau.com

Adolescent Parent Perceptions On Sustainable Career Opportunities And Building Employability Capitals For Future Work, Denise Jackson, Claire Lambert

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

As primary career influencers, parents must support adolescent children in navigating evolving and increasingly challenging employment landscapes. Using a capitals lens, this study explores secondary school parents’ capacity to provide informed career advice and their perceptions on factors known to enhance youth employability and employment prospects. Survey data were collected from 301 Australian secondary school parents to examine their understanding of sustainable youth career opportunities, what can aid youth’s employment prospects, and their utilisation of available resources to support career advice for adolescents. While parents’ perceptions of opportunities by sector and industry aligned with wider thinking, many lacked awareness of …

Principals And The Careless Erosion Of Employment Standards In The Context Of School Autonomy And Marketisation: A Case Study Of School Support Staff, Brad Gobby, Jill Blackmore, Scott Eacott, Amanda Keddie, Katrina Macdonald, Richard Niesche, Jane Wilkinson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Devolved governance, school autonomy and marketisation impact the employment practices of schools and the working conditions of teachers. However, the employment-related effects on school services staff are under-researched. This study draws on data from interviews with staff at one public high school to analyse school services staff experience of school autonomy and the employment practices of principals in the context of competitive education markets. This case study illustrates how a principal's management of employment and labour relations in a school experiencing declining enrolments and reduced resources impacted the labour and working conditions of school services staff. We argue that the …

Framing Theory Insights: The Co-Existence Of Frame Coupling And Frame Mirroring In Social Media And Online News About A Disaster-Affected Destination, Violetta Wilk, Ashlee Morgan, Greg Willson, Ruth Sibson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Through the lens of framing theory, this paper explores social media and news media online narratives about a destination affected by a natural disaster. It presents original insights into the co-existence of frame coupling and frame mirroring in online content. Online news media, and local and overseas social media user-generated content (UGC) was examined. The aim of such triangulation of data, was to understand how different online sources framed the destination in the context of the disaster. 24,985 Twitter (now X) posts were sourced using Salesforce Social Studio and 1,248 online news media articles from Factiva. Leximancer-driven thematic analysis via …

The Role Of Team Compassion In Mitigating The Impact Of Hierarchical Bullying, Ben Farr-Wharton, Ace V. Simpson, Yvonne Brunetto, Tim Bentley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Hierarchical bullying in public healthcare organizations is an entrenched negative behaviour that results in a range of adverse outcomes for staff, including diminished wellbeing. This study integrates social exchange and conservation of resources theories as a lens for formulating hypotheses and employs multilevel statistical modelling to examine whether team-level compassion moderates the impact of hierarchical bullying on wellbeing. Using multilevel statistical modelling, the study analysed cross-sectional data from 632 healthcare workers nested within 48 teams in a single public health district in Australia. The findings indicate that work teams with higher levels of team compassion can mitigate the negative effects …

Understanding The Identity Work And Aspirations Of Indigenous Males Navigating Elite Australian Higher Education, James A. Smith, Garth Stahl, Andrew Harvey, Braden Hill, Himanshu Gupta, Sam Moore, Jianing Wang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In Australia, there has been increased attention to attracting Indigenous peoples into higher education but, despite a recent growth in enrolment numbers, they remain severely underrepresented. This underrepresentation is particularly notable among Indigenous males, who are the least likely to attend. In this paper, we investigate the experiences of four Indigenous young men who attended an elite higher education institution. Aligned with other research on the experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic males in higher education, the article captures how their experience in privileged institutions compels them to reflect on their own positionality and the cultural interface between Indigenous and …

Talking About Relational Youth Work: Why Language Matters, Trudi Cooper, Tim Corney, Hilary Tierney, Jamie Gorman, John Sutcliffe

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The literature on youth work emphasises the importance of ‘relationship’ to good practice, moreover, the characteristics of the youth-work relationship have been posited as a defining feature of youth work in the British-influenced tradition. Despite this, little attention is paid to the choice of language used to describe how professional youth workers relate to young people, or how language choices reflect political framing of youth work and of power relationships within their practice. Language choice has implications for how youth workers perceive their professional identity, for how accountability is construed, and for inter-professional working. In this article we undertake a …

The First International Study Into The Characteristics And Statistical Effectiveness Of Treatment For Indigenous And First Nations People Who Have Sexually Offended: A Meta-Analysis And Survey Of Routine Practice, James Finney

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Psycho-criminological literature has continued to examine post-treatment recidivism outcomes homogeneously for people who have sexually offended. Because results indicate clear differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who have sexually offended, this project set out to understand the characteristics and effectiveness of treatment for Indigenous and First Nations people from four jurisdictions: Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. A strategic three study strategy was implemented and resulted in a systematic narrative synthesis, meta-analysis and survey of sexual offender treatment organisations in Australia. The systematic review used a comprehensive and scientifically rigorous approach to identify studies (k = 14) that …

Young Women In Cities: Urbanization And Gender-Biased Migration, Yumi Koh, Jing Li, Yifan Wu, Junjian Yi, Hanzhe Zhang

Research Collection School Of Economics

Young women outnumber young men in cities in many countries during periods of economic growth and urbanization. This gender imbalance among young urbanites is more pronounced in larger cities. We use the gradual rollout of Special Economic Zones across China as a quasi-experiment to establish the causal impact of urbanization on gender-differentiated incentives to migrate. We highlight the role of the marriage market in increasing rural women’s chance of marrying and marrying up in urban areas during rapid urbanization.

"An Ancient Vanished Race:" Industrial Mythistory And The Alternative Archaeology Of Lake Superior Copper, Donovan C. Murphy

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis explores how the perspectives, biases, and values of Euro-Americans regarding the copper mining industry have shaped a mythology which centers Lake Superior copper in an imagined pre-Columbian global trade network. Notably, many iterations of this mythology are rooted in a rejection of Indigenous agency in the creation of these sites, ascribing them instead to a ‘vanished race’ which had surely once occupied the region. The core of this thesis is formed around a set of semi-structured interviews with representatives of regional heritage institutions and avocationalists which were conducted with the goal of identifying how and why these stories …

Rural Electrification For Heating And Cooling: Challenges And Opportunities For Equitable Development In The Rural North, Nelly Aghaei

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Abstract

This study examines the opportunities and challenges of electrifying heating and cooling systems in rural northern communities, with a focus on equity and justice. Anchored in three community case studies—Baraga County, Michigan; Ashland and Iron Counties, Wisconsin; and Beltrami and Clearwater Counties, Minnesota—the research investigates socio-economic and infrastructural barriers to electrification in regions historically impacted by extractive industries. These case studies, selected for their shared histories of resource extraction and active participation of Tribal Nations, including the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) and the Red Lake Reservation, reveal significant disparities in energy access and affordability. Using a mixed-methods approach, …

Overcoming Obstacles To Equitable Energy Transitions And Promoting Energy Sovereignty For Us Tribal Nations, Don Lee

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dissertation explores the potential of equitable energy transitions guided by the tenets of energy justice with a focus on Tribal energy sovereignty through renewable energy development. It contributes to the literature on the social acceptance of energy systems, public perceptions of renewable energy transitions, the ramifications of US federal Tribal law on Tribal energy development and sovereignty, and the implications of conforming to capitalist logics in the energy justice literature.

To understand the importance of building reciprocal and collaborative relationships, our team of researchers and Tribal members collaborated on the development of a methodology to survey respondents in a …

Bridging Indigenous And Western Knowledge Systems: Centering Ojibwe Perspectives For Just Forest-Climate Futures, Tran Thi Mai Anh

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dissertation addresses critical gaps in how environmental science and policy engage with Indigenous knowledges that hinder just and sustainable environmental futures. Through a multi-year partnership with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC), this research tackles a literature gap on applying Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) to forest restoration, an experiential gap in understanding differential climate impacts, and a governance gap perpetuated by colonial metrics that devalue relational ecosystem health.

A multi-method approach systematically addresses these gaps. First, a literature review confirms TEK's application in restoration is under-researched and often extractive. Second, a comparative survey of 232 Tribal and non-Tribal community …

Indigenous-Industrial Heritage: Centering Indigenous Voices In Minnesota's Iron Range, Larissa A. Juip

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Industrial heritage refers to the material remains, sites, landscapes, and practices associated with industrial and extractive activities. As a field, it has historically been concerned with the conservation, management, and interpretation of industrial sites and activities and forms a central narrative within Minnesota's museums. Yet such accounts often privilege object-centered narratives while silencing the presence, knowledge, and contributions of Indigenous and Descendant communities, obscuring their enduring relationships to extractive landscapes. In recent decades, critiques of traditional industrial heritage approaches have identified gaps in the discipline related to the exclusion of marginalized populations, including Indigenous Peoples. Minnesota is home to eleven …

Effectiveness, Coherence, And Justice Implications Of Clean Energy Policies In The United States, Josephine Amponsem

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Public policies have been adopted and implemented at various government levels in the United States, aiming to facilitate the clean energy transition process. This dissertation examines three distinct but related dimensions of clean energy policies: policy effectiveness, policy coherence, and distributional policy impact. First, I evaluate the impact of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) on clean energy adoption at the utility level using a quasi-experimental design: the Difference-in-Difference estimation. Secondly, I use the state of California as a case study to investigate the role of policy coherence in public policy success. Thirdly, I investigate whether communities with different …

China, Feminism, And The Legacy Of Confucius, Sor-Hoon Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As the double burden of paid work and family demands leads Chinese women to think twice about marriage and children, we can rush to blame Confucianism’s sexism. But this is a mistake, writes Sor-hoon Tan. We need to separate Confucian philosophy from the oppressive patriarchal norms of its time. Confucian values of care and cultivation can enrich today’s feminism and support equal opportunities for all.

Energy Transitions In Underserved Communities: Meaningful Engagement To Address Energy Burdens And Air Pollution, Nyasha Milanzi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This report presents two connected studies focused on environmental justice and community engagement in energy transitions. The first study examines engagement practices in EPA-funded projects using interviews and public abstracts. Applying the EngageINFEWS framework, it analyses stakeholder dynamics and offers recommendations for working with underserved communities. Key insights include addressing power imbalances, securing funding, building capacity, and fostering communication. The second study centres on the REJuST project, which supports energy justice in a rural northern community impacted by public health concerns linked to a bioenergy facility burning wood, paper, plastics, and tire-derived fuels. I use survey data to explore resident …

Climate Planning, Energy Sovereignty, And Electric Vehicle Perceptions Among Michigan’S Tribal Nations, Alexis Belle Tater

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Climate change will especially impact marginalized communities and communities with less government support for funding climate adaptation actions. The first chapter of this report focuses on climate change responses, specifically Tribal Nations in the state of Michigan. In the current U.S. context, funding for large climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in Tribal Nations can be achieved through federal funding from the CPRG (Climate Pollution Reduction Grant), which requires an established PCAP (Priority Climate Action Plans) to guide decision making in alignment with identified priorities. I discuss the importance of Tribal sovereignty, the potential implications of its inclusion and exclusion …

Investigating Dimensions Of Social Vulnerability To Wildfire: A Case Study Of Western Montana, Ella Brodowski

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Communities across the US are facing increased wildfire risks due in part to historic fire suppression efforts, a warming climate, and an influx of people residing in wildland urban interface (WUI) landscapes. Because of these increasing risks, there have been growing concerns about the social factors that can increase individual and community vulnerability to wildfires. This research adds to the discussion of social vulnerability by examining how people living in a geographic area with heightened wildfire risk think about the ways in which people can be more or less vulnerable to wildfires. Using semi-structured interviews, round table discussions, and field …

Place In Young Adults’ Alcohol Journeys, Lauren J. Gellatly, Cynthia M. Webster, Leanne Carter, Steve D’ Alessandro

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Drinking alcohol is highly situational and depends in part on place. This research takes an interpretivist approach to explore different social and physical aspects of place that enable or inhibit young adults’ alcohol consumption journeys. In 14 asynchronous online forums, 47 Australian consumers aged 15–24 recalled a time when they drank too much and another when they chose to drink less. Starting with an inductive approach and moving to abductive reasoning, established qualitative techniques of categorisation, abstraction, dimensionalisation and comparison were used to interrogate the data. Results link moderate drinking to ‘smooth’ journeys typically occurring in single locations with more …

Needs And Pathways For Strengthening The Contribution Of Qualitative Methods Toward More Effective Impact Assessment Practice, Heidi Walker, A. John Sinclair, Alan P. Diduck, Alan Bond, Jenny Pope, Angus Morrison-Saunders, Francois Retief

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Many jurisdictions are looking to next-generation impact assessment (IA) that includes sustainability considerations that extend beyond biophysical. Subjectivity is inherent in many of these additional impact considerations, and they are often not easily nor effectively quantified. Delivering effective IA within this broadening scope requires new, innovative, and rigorous applications of qualitative methods that enable meaningful inclusion of diverse knowledges, values, and information. While many qualitative methods are available for IA, there remains a significant opportunity to strengthen their contribution toward more effective IA practice. As such, we establish in this paper needs that must be addressed if qualitative methods are …

Good Arts, Good Mental Health®: The Effectiveness Of An Australian Health Promotion Media Campaign In Promoting Community Mental Wellbeing Via The Arts, Christina R. Davies, Melanie T. Pescud, Rhonda Clifford, Richard Mcgrath, Annie Thomson, Mia Jeffrey, Melissa Stoneham, Terri Pikora, Peter Wright, Sonya Girdler, Loretta Baldassar, Stephen Clift

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction: This study describes and evaluates Good Arts, Good Mental Health^® (GAGMH), a groundbreaking, population-level, arts-mental health promotion media campaign. The objectives of the campaign (Wave 1) were to increase brand awareness, comprehension, and agreement with the tagline Good Arts, Good Mental Health^® and empower the general population to form an intention to engage in the Arts for their mental wellbeing. Methods: The campaign ran from August to September 2024 (4 weeks), cost AUD$198,965 (23% creative and 77% media/advertising distribution), and targeted the Western Australian (WA) general population aged 18–65 years, all genders, in both metropolitan and regional …

Hybridity And Safety: The Lived Experiences Of Market Vendors In Urban Settlement Communities In Lae, Papua New Guinea, Wilma Langa, Verena Thomas, Jackie Kauli, Laurie Buys

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In most developing countries, informal economies–such as those that operate through urban markets–commonly support city dwellers’ livelihoods. However, public perceptions of safety and informality in urban markets have often focused on apparent deficiencies, resulting in a limited understanding of the dynamics and resilience of such spaces. There has been limited consideration of the perspectives of those who work within these spaces every day and the support structures they create for themselves. Drawing on focus group discussions and interviews with vendors and other actors at one market, Awagasi market in Lae City in Papua New Guinea, we argue that the history …

Bouncing Back Or Forward? Two Approaches To Democratic Resilience After Extremist Attacks, Selen A. Ercan, Jordan Mcswiney, Emily Beausoleil, Claire Fitzpatrick, Andrea Felicetti

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Violent extremist attacks pose a serious threat to democracy, undermining its institutions, norms and practices. This article examines the disruptive impact of violent extremism on the public sphere and considers the role of political leaders in responding to these challenges. Leaders are widely recognised as the key actors shaping the public discourse after extremist attacks, by either reinforcing or resisting the division intended by these attacks. Yet, their role in building democratic resilience – that is, fostering the public sphere’s ability to respond to extremist attacks without compromising its democratic commitments – remains underexplored. Drawing on a range of case …

Community Service Organizations And Actions For Climate Justice: An Exploration Of The Western Australian Context, Naomi Joy Godden, Bronte Alston, Kylie Wrigley, Shajimon Peter, Julie Nyanjom, Graham Hansen, Raphaela Raaber, Janine Joyce, Elizabeth Jackson-Barrett, Mehran Nejati, Doreen Wijekoon, Katharine Marsh, Caroline Porteous, Susan Bailey

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study utilized Feminist Participatory Action Research in collaboration with community service organizations (CSOs) in Western Australia to assess knowledges, capacities and capabilities regarding climate justice. Through surveys, interviews, and workshops, CSO workers explored organizational responses to climate change and social justice. Participants self-reported a low-to-medium understanding of climate justice and a desire for capacity building, especially in decolonial practice. Half of participating organizations had policies regarding climate change and social justice and engaged in climate advocacy, but identified a lack of sectorial and organizational leadership. Participants recommended opportunities for CSOs to operationalize climate justice and disaster resilience via climate …

Do Students’ Attitudes Toward Required Readings And Service-Learning For A Medical Humanities Course Predict Their Perception Of Whether The Course Fosters Their Personal And Professional Development?, Shane L. Rogers, Lon J. Van Winkle

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: To determine whether prospective medical students’ attitudes toward readings and service-learning for a Medical Humanities course predict their perceived impact of the course on their critical reflection and empathy for their peers. Methods: Following a Medical Humanities course, students completed surveys concerning their attitudes toward team-based service-learning and readings required for the course. And they completed surveys designed to measure their empathy for one another and thoughts and feelings about the course (e.g., “owing to this course, I have changed the way I look at myself” = critical reflection). Results: Students’ positive attitudes toward service-learning and readings for the …

Indigenous Wisdom For Regeneration: Reducing The Knowledge Gap, Sandra Wooltorton

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The author of this paper uses Indigenous-informed literature and explores the use of a Multispecies Collaboratory to hear place-based voices and practice ways of knowing often denied value by the mainstream. In the Indigenous nation of Australia, the author sets out to learn ways to practice environmental education that build upon aeons of experience at caring for and responding to Country. The starting point is a 2024 paper with three claims, which are: a culture of epistemic violence and denial support the mainstream paradigm which silences Indigenous voices; an Indigenous-informed way of being with living-places can inform the core of …

Investigating The Environmental Awareness And Attitudes Among Fisher Folks In Ghana: A Sustainability Threat, Nana Akua Okyerewa Djandoh, Enock Swanzy-Impraim

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Environmental concerns, such as human alteration, pollution, and the effects of climate change, have had a significant impact on the survival of beaches worldwide. In Ghana, beaches face numerous threats stemming from human activities, such as deforestation, construction, sand mining, open defecation, and disposal of waste into the sea. Moreover, other factors such as strong winds, high waves, and the effects of climate change contribute to beach vulnerability. This paper is part of a broader study that investigated the environmental attitude and behavior of the Fisher Folks along coastal beaches in the Winneba Municipality in Ghana. Although the broader study …

Speculative Documentary As World-Building: Contaminated Knowledge And Future-Making, Cassandra Tytler

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In the context of climate emergency and growing mistrust in knowledge institutions, both science and documentary practice have often been positioned as neutral authorities. Yet the knowledge they produce is shaped by political, social, and material conditions. This paper presents a creative practice research project that uses speculative documentary to trouble dominant narratives of truth and objectivity. Rather than rejecting science, it critiques the authority of singular truth claims in both scientific and documentary domains, asking how knowledge is constructed and maintained. The analysis centres on It Will Not Be Pure, a multi-channel video installation created as a form of …