Trudi Cooper

Measuring Community Development: Perspectives from Local Government in Western Australia

Local government in Australia has become an important site for discussions about community development and community well being, as increasing numbers of community services are being devolved to this level. Pressures towards greater accountability and demonstration of competitiveness, stemming from the implementation of National Competition Policy have led to attempts to better measure community development activities. In this paper we report on research conducted among management, elected members and community workers at five Western Australian Local Government Authorities which explored the nature and appropriateness of community development measurement. We found workers at all levels of employment struggling, not simply with notions of measurement, but also with fundamental understandings of community development.

Digital Eco-systems Pre-Design: Variety Analyses, System Viability and Tacit System Control Mechanisms

This paper reports research into the application of Ashbys Law of Requisite Variety to assist with identifying optimal choices of design solutions at the pre-design stage of designing digital ecosystems. This study of the application of Ashbys Law is a component of a larger research program investigating the application of classical systems analysis tools in pre-design optimisation processes in designing digital information systems. The paper describes three extensions to Ashbys Law of Requisite Variety developed by the authors that extend the analytical role of Ashbys Law in diagnosis of unintended design outcomes from changes in control of variety in complex, multi-layered and hierarchical systems (such as digital eco-systems) that have multiple stakeholders or constituencies. The paper demonstrates this application of Ashbys Law of Requisite Variety and the three extensions in a pre-design role in relation to digital learning object eco-systems. Analysis of variety generation and variety control is used to investigate how choice of software systems such as XML influences the control of system variety. The research draws attention to ways this leads to weaknesses in eco-system viability necessitating additional variety controlling measures that offer opportunities for hegemonic control of the eco-system by constituencies providing the additional variety controlling infrastructures and standards.

Complex built‐environment design: four extensions to Ashby

Purpose – This paper sets out to report on research by the authors into the development and application of four extensions to Ashbys Law of Requisite Variety (LoRV) that increase its utility in the arena of unplanned changes in hegemonic control of designed complex socio‐technical systems/digital eco‐systems in the built environment that are structurally dynamic or emergent.Design/methodology/approach – Research on which the paper is based focused on exploration of classical systems approaches to the design of complex socio‐technical systems in which ownership, power, control and management of structure and benefit generation and distribution are distributed, dynamic and multi‐constituent. Support for development of these four extensions to Ashbys Law comes from observation of four decades of socio‐technical systems development along with critical thinking that combined systems analysis theories with theories and findings from fields of hegemonic analysis, design research, management, management informa...

Co-Location of Services for Refugees: An Evaluation of a Pilot Program in Western Australia

In recent years newly arrived refugees from Africa, Burma and Middle Eastern nations have dominated the refugee intake to Australia. Coming from war torn nations, extremely poor economies and rural areas, their transition into Australia has not been easy. This paper is based on the evaluation of the Integrated Services Centre Pilot Project (ISC) which assessed co-location as an alternative service delivery model. The evaluation focused on project staff, service providers and a small sample of the refugees themselves. The objectives of the research did not warrant a greater focus on the clients as the evaluation centered on co-location as an alternate service delivery model. Data gathered from the evaluation indicated that the basic support needs of African refugees were not being met by traditional refugee services, but that the ISC Project was meeting these needs. Data also showed that African refugees had a higher level of need than other refugee groups. The article concludes with some recommendations on how current service provision can be more responsive to the needs of African refugees.

Bespoke program design for school-aged therapy disability service delivery.

This article uses the evaluation of a school-aged therapy service for children with disabilities in Western Australia to investigate models of service delivery. The current literature on family-centered practice, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, and 4 models of service are reviewed. The models include the life needs model, the relational goal-orientated model of optimal service delivery to children and families, the quality of life model, and the collaborative model of service delivery. Analysis of the data is presented together with a bespoke model of service delivery for children with disabilities, arguing that local contexts benefit from custom-made service design.

Critical Reflections on the Operation of Aboriginal Night Patrols

Much has been written about Aboriginal night patrols in recent decades; this has typically been ethnographic or evaluative. However, little work has been done to situate night patrols against wider historic trends in criminal justice and theorize their contribution in relation to neoliberal regimes of justice. Drawing on data collected as part of an evaluation of Aboriginal night patrols in New South Wales, this paper develops a critical approach to understanding night patrols. We interrogate the notion of ‘community’—central to the philosophy and practice of night patrols—examining the limitations of community forms of justice in challenging dominant understandings of crime and addressing the structural causes of crime.

Taking care of youth mentoring relationships: red flags, repair, and respectful resolution

Abstract Mentoring is portrayed in the literature as benefiting young people, but ineffective or early termination of youth mentoring relationships can be detrimental. Researchers have not adequately explored issues surrounding the breakdown of youth mentoring relationships. Underpinned by a socio-ecological perspective, in this exploratory study we consider the various contexts within which these important relationships exist and identify early warning signs or red flags that a mentoring relationship is struggling. We interviewed mentees, mentors, and coordinators from four Western Australian youth mentoring programs about their experiences of mentoring relationships. Our findings suggest that red flags and repair strategies may be specific to particular programs, and that program coordinators play an important role in supporting relationships. Our research will help youth mentoring programs work toward early intervention strategies or appropriate and respectful termination of a relationship.

Institutional Context and Youth Work Professionalization in Post-Welfare Societies

This article contends that opposition to professionalization has been led by writers from the United Kingdom and Europe who tacitly assume the (continued) presence of institutions that were a feature of the British context in the 1970s and early 1980s, and that still exist in modified form today. Most of these institutions are absent in the contemporary Australian context, and absent in many other post-welfare societies. The author concludes that in Australia there are significant gaps in institutional support for youth work, and that professionalization of youth work is necessary to address problems this creates. The article further concludes that in the current environment in Australia, on balance, the risks associated with failure to professionalize are greater than the problems associated with professionalization.

Heath services system improvements: case study of stroke unit using design research methods

Background This paper describes recent research involving a user focused design analysis of in-hospital residential treatment for stroke patients in a dedicated stroke unit. The focus of the research was to identify potential design strategies to improve stroke unit patient care from a health services user perspective. The theoretical perspective used is systemic in which the performance of the stroke unit in its hospital context is analysed as a designed socio-technical system that includes all of the designed objects, processes, infrastructure, subsystems, organisational behaviours, rules and legitimation, and resources that enable its functioning. Method The data collection and data analysis used systems and design research tools and analyses. Data collection is from a single ‘deep slice’ case study following a single patient through a stroke unit in a medium scale hospital of (approximately 280 acute beds overall) with 26 stroke unit beds. The case study involved over 200 hours of observations over nine weeks and liaison with hospital and family over the four months of the patient’s stay in hospital. Design analysis followed two pathways: 1) identifying problems of service to the health service user that offered design opportunities for improvement or resolution; 2) systems design analyses to identify root causes of user problems and process failures. Results The case study identified multiple problems and multiple design opportunities for resolving problems and addressing process weaknesses and failures. In addition, the systems design analyses identified three structural systemic problems that appear to be causal factors for most of the design problems identified in the stroke unit case study. Conclusion The paper concludes with three design proposals for improving stroke unit outcomes via improving the design of stroke unit organisational systems. These proposed design strategies may be of benefit more widely in hospital system design for improving health services’ outcomes, financial efficiency and user interaction.