Antecedents of innovation vs. conservatism in rural industries and communities. This project will investigate antecedents of conservatism and innovation within rural communities and industries. Whilst effort, from government, community and industry, has focussed on social, economic and environmental reform, intended shifts in thinking and practice are frequently not realised. .Personality literature suggests individual differences in conservatism/innovation. Further, people are drawn towards ....Antecedents of innovation vs. conservatism in rural industries and communities. This project will investigate antecedents of conservatism and innovation within rural communities and industries. Whilst effort, from government, community and industry, has focussed on social, economic and environmental reform, intended shifts in thinking and practice are frequently not realised. .Personality literature suggests individual differences in conservatism/innovation. Further, people are drawn towards situations that satisfy intrinsic needs and away from situations that do not. The result may be greater concentrations of particular personality types in conservative industries and communities and a quite different concentration in innovative groups. Validation of this hypothesis would permit more appropriate and effective policy and management strategy.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100903
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$451,885.00
Summary
Charitable triad: How donors, beneficiaries, & fundraisers influence giving. This project aims to test a new model of charitable giving to examine how donors, beneficiaries, and fundraisers together influence donor decisions. Until now, no holistic model has existed to explain donor behaviour: past research has focused on donors but neglected beneficiaries and fundraisers. This project is expected to provide evidence for a new bedrock theory of philanthropy. Findings can also inform practitioner ....Charitable triad: How donors, beneficiaries, & fundraisers influence giving. This project aims to test a new model of charitable giving to examine how donors, beneficiaries, and fundraisers together influence donor decisions. Until now, no holistic model has existed to explain donor behaviour: past research has focused on donors but neglected beneficiaries and fundraisers. This project is expected to provide evidence for a new bedrock theory of philanthropy. Findings can also inform practitioner toolkits, offering advice to nonprofits on how to raise money effectively by understanding how the particular organisation and its beneficiaries can influence donor decisions. By helping ensure the survival of charities, this research will contribute to the delivery of essential social services that benefit many Australians.Read moreRead less
Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back. Episodic Volunteering for Non-Profits. This project seeks to improve the policy and practice of volunteer involvement in the non-profit sector. Non-profit organisations rely on volunteers, and their capacity to deliver vital community services is threatened by the decrease in long-term, continuous volunteering and increase in episodic (short-term, flexible) volunteering. The interdisciplinary project aims to use mixed methods (qualitative interviews and quantitat ....Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back. Episodic Volunteering for Non-Profits. This project seeks to improve the policy and practice of volunteer involvement in the non-profit sector. Non-profit organisations rely on volunteers, and their capacity to deliver vital community services is threatened by the decrease in long-term, continuous volunteering and increase in episodic (short-term, flexible) volunteering. The interdisciplinary project aims to use mixed methods (qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys) and multiple perspectives (volunteers and staff who manage them) to develop an episodic volunteering definition; to explore the economic and social impact of episodic volunteering, and to develop a theoretical model of volunteer retention. The findings are intended to provide an evidence base and recommendations for non-profit sector policy and practice.Read moreRead less
Development of an intervention to enhance rural and regional service delivery to human service clients. A proactive program managing organisational stress and isolation in rural community service organisations is urgently needed to reduce unplanned absences and costly staff turnover among professionals working in a difficult environment. The intervention program focuses on extremely high risk regional workers - professional staff having daily contact with potentially difficult clients (e.g., per ....Development of an intervention to enhance rural and regional service delivery to human service clients. A proactive program managing organisational stress and isolation in rural community service organisations is urgently needed to reduce unplanned absences and costly staff turnover among professionals working in a difficult environment. The intervention program focuses on extremely high risk regional workers - professional staff having daily contact with potentially difficult clients (e.g., persons suffering from neglect, abuse, drugs). Strategies at both organisational and individual levels will be aimed at preventing rather than merely reducing stress. An educational package will be developed, subjected to two cycles of process and outcome evaluation, and prepared for use in this and other regional/rural organisations.Read moreRead less
Improving the identification of juvenile firesetters at high risk of recidivism. Young firesetters are not only responsible for some fifth of all fires, they also are at risk of becoming adult arsonists. Australian fire services provide educational programs for young firesetters but about a third may continue to light fires. This project will allow clarification of variables most associated with ongoing firesetting behaviour (recidivism), better prediction of high risk juveniles, understanding ....Improving the identification of juvenile firesetters at high risk of recidivism. Young firesetters are not only responsible for some fifth of all fires, they also are at risk of becoming adult arsonists. Australian fire services provide educational programs for young firesetters but about a third may continue to light fires. This project will allow clarification of variables most associated with ongoing firesetting behaviour (recidivism), better prediction of high risk juveniles, understanding of the predictive value of a screening tool, valid assessment of recidivism rates and an increased understanding of mental health agency involvement with firesetter families. These outcomes will help improve programs involving juvenile firesetters, thereby reducing arson and the high cost of uncontrolled fire.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100147
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$457,058.00
Summary
Child victims: Providing protection from re-victimisation and offending. This project aims to improve understanding of the impact of child abuse, neglect and exposure to domestic violence on young people’s future experiences of re-victimisation and offending. It expects to generate new evidence about the maltreatment experiences that increase risk of youth re-victimisation and offending, potential causal mechanisms and factors that might aggravate or buffer children from these harmful effects. E ....Child victims: Providing protection from re-victimisation and offending. This project aims to improve understanding of the impact of child abuse, neglect and exposure to domestic violence on young people’s future experiences of re-victimisation and offending. It expects to generate new evidence about the maltreatment experiences that increase risk of youth re-victimisation and offending, potential causal mechanisms and factors that might aggravate or buffer children from these harmful effects. Expected outcomes include increased knowledge to inform effective policy and interventions aimed at identifying at-risk children and meeting young people’s needs related to adverse legal outcomes. This should help improve public safety, reduce the economic impact of maltreatment and support vulnerable children to thrive.Read moreRead less
How economic prosperity hardens attitudes towards minorities. Most explanations for the current rise in popularity of anti-immigrant parties focus on economic hardship following the Global Financial Crisis, thereby being unable to account for the finding that support for such parties also increases in times of economic prosperity. For the first time, this project will provide a complete account of these relationships.
Consequences of inequality on social behaviour and political attitudes. This project aims to reveal how economic inequality shapes dynamics between groups within societies. Income inequality has effects beyond health but its effects on social behaviour and political attitudes are poorly understood. This project will move beyond a focus on the health and well-being costs of income inequality and study its effect on social behaviour and political attitudes. By uncovering these consequences of ineq ....Consequences of inequality on social behaviour and political attitudes. This project aims to reveal how economic inequality shapes dynamics between groups within societies. Income inequality has effects beyond health but its effects on social behaviour and political attitudes are poorly understood. This project will move beyond a focus on the health and well-being costs of income inequality and study its effect on social behaviour and political attitudes. By uncovering these consequences of inequality, the findings are expected to broaden the understanding of growing economic inequality, showing its consequences for the social health of a society and its citizens.Read moreRead less
A Public Health Framework of Effectiveness: Evaluating the Framework for Telephone Counselling. The demand for telephone counselling is strong and while this form of counselling has face validity, there is no substantive research into its effectiveness for clients. This project aims to adapt the public health model to evaluate processes and outcomes of Lifeline - a generic telephone counselling service in Melbourne. The public health model of effectiveness, will, in turn, also be evaluated.
Enhancing outcomes for separated families by improving family mediation. More than 100,000 adults and 60,000 children experience family breakdown each year in Australia, which wreaks enormous personal, social, and economic costs. This project aims to develop more effective ways to mediate disputes over shared parenting after family breakdown.