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Title
Aboriginal Practitioners Speak Out: Contextualising Child Protection Interventions
Author(s)
Bessarab, Dawn
Publication Date
2010
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008
Abstract
One month before the June 2007 Federal Government Emergency Intervention in the Northern Territory some 55 West Australian Aboriginal child protection workers attended a 3-day summit in Fremantle. Their purpose as front-line practitioners from across the State was to identify how more nurturing and healing communities could be developed and supported in a climate of despair. This paper reports on how the summit was designed and on some of the ideas and concerns that emerged within this dialogical space of cooperative inquiry. The project was a partnership between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal representatives of university, government, and community-service bodies. Aboriginal practitioners identified the complexity of what was happening in their experience and where changes were needed. Integral to this participation and coproduction of knowledge by Aboriginal child protection workers was the provision of a safe space for the articulation of reflected experience. Implications for policy, practice, and curriculum of both process and outcome dimensions to considering Aboriginal views on this contentious issue are discussed.
Publication Type
Journal Article
Source of Publication
Australian Social Work, 63(2), p. 179-193
Publisher
Routledge
Place of Publication
Australia
ISSN
1447-0748
0312-407X
Peer Reviewed
Yes
HERDC Category Description
Peer Reviewed
Yes
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