- Adelaide, South Australia
- 61414447675
- Dee Michell is a feminist theologian and social researcher whose research interests pivot around the themes of lived ... moreDee Michell is a feminist theologian and social researcher whose research interests pivot around the themes of lived experience, marginalisation and transformation.Dee was made a Ward of the South Australian State in 1960 and remained in foster care for 15 years. She worked as an administrator for a multi-national corporation before going to university in her 40s, when she combined study with primary care for her three children.edit
This book draws on archival, oral history and public policy sources to tell a history of foster care in Australia from the nineteenth century to the present day. It is, primarily, a social history which places the voices of people... more
This book draws on archival, oral history and public policy sources to tell a history of foster care in Australia from the nineteenth century to the present day. It is, primarily, a social history which places the voices of people directly touched by foster care at the centre of the story, but also within the wider social and political debates which have shaped foster care across more than a century. The book confronts foster care’s difficult past—death and abuse of foster children, family separation, and a general public apathy towards these issues—but it also acknowledges the resilience of people who have survived a childhood in foster care, and the challenges faced by those who have worked hard to provide good foster homes and to make child welfare systems better. These are themes which the book examines from an Australian perspective, but which often resonate with foster care globally.
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Real Life Super Heroes provides brief glimpses into the lives of 200 people around the world who were displaced from their birth families as children, or who have a care experienced family member. All of these people have gone on to live... more
Real Life Super Heroes provides brief glimpses into the lives of 200 people around the world who were displaced from their birth families as children, or who have a care experienced family member. All of these people have gone on to live successful lives, contributing to their communities as academics, activists and actors through to scientists, singers and writers.
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Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849-1925) is recognised as the primary founder of the New Thought movement, an American new religious movement that arose in the late 19th century and continued to be influential throughout the 20th century. This... more
Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849-1925) is recognised as the primary founder of the New Thought movement, an American new religious movement that arose in the late 19th century and continued to be influential throughout the 20th century.
This book is an adaptation for contemporary readers of her 1888 book, Scientific Christian Mental Practice, first published in 1888.
This book is an adaptation for contemporary readers of her 1888 book, Scientific Christian Mental Practice, first published in 1888.
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Bread and Roses is an Australian first, a collection of stories from academics who identify as coming from working-class backgrounds. At once inspiring and challenging, the collection demonstrates how individual narratives are both... more
Bread and Roses is an Australian first, a collection of stories from academics who identify as coming from working-class backgrounds. At once inspiring and challenging, the collection demonstrates how individual narratives are both personal and structural, in that they illustrate the ways in which social forces shape individual lives. Central themes in the book are generational changes in university education provision in Australia, the complexities of coming from a working class background and being female, or coming from a working class background and being female and a recent migrant, and the particular challenges facing students and staff from rural and regional areas.
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Universities are social universes in their own right. They are the site of multiple, complex and diverse social relations, identities, communities, knowledges and practices. At the heart of this book are people enrolling at university for... more
Universities are social universes in their own right. They are the site of multiple, complex and diverse social relations, identities, communities, knowledges and practices. At the heart of this book are people enrolling at university for the first time and entering into the broad variety of social relations and contexts entailed in their ‘coming to know’ at, of and through university
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Deidre Michell is a Forgotten Australian, one of six children taken into State Care during the 1960s, In this book Deidre describes the healing process which enabled her to move through the grief of losing her family and into a new, more... more
Deidre Michell is a Forgotten Australian, one of six children taken into State Care during the 1960s, In this book Deidre describes the healing process which enabled her to move through the grief of losing her family and into a new, more fulfilling stage of her life.
In this volume we have 13 Australian women who tell the stories of journeying with religion and spirituality. Each woman continued to grow and develop even when that desire for growth has led to them pruning off from their lives religious... more
In this volume we have 13 Australian women who tell the stories of journeying with religion and spirituality. Each woman continued to grow and develop even when that desire for growth has led to them pruning off from their lives religious traditions which inhibit flourishing. The cultural context means that each woman has encountered Christianity at some point, but not all continue with that tradition. Instead some have embraced Wicca, others have explored Goddess, Buddhism and New Thought.
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"In 1879 Mary Baker Eddy founded her Christian Science church on the basis that her spiritual healing system would transform all who used it, physically, mentally, and morally. For many Victorian women, this was true: they were healed,... more
"In 1879 Mary Baker Eddy founded her Christian Science church on the basis that her spiritual healing system would transform all who used it, physically, mentally, and morally. For many Victorian women, this was true: they were healed, they were transformed, and Eddy’s church flourished with a majority of women members. However, by the second wave feminist movement, the church was in decline and has not revived despite late twentieth century interest in the conjunction between women, religion and healing.
In this study I argue that a number of decisions made and policies implemented by successive Boards of Directors of the church have impacted negatively on women’s experience of the religion during the twentieth century. "
In this study I argue that a number of decisions made and policies implemented by successive Boards of Directors of the church have impacted negatively on women’s experience of the religion during the twentieth century. "
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Ten years ago, when I was a graduate student in Politics at one of Australia's most prestigious universities, I was invited to join a reading group. The group was composed of faculty and graduate students from a range of disciplines, with... more
Ten years ago, when I was a graduate student in Politics at one of Australia's most prestigious universities, I was invited to join a reading group. The group was composed of faculty and graduate students from a range of disciplines, with a common interest in gender and feminism. The group met at members' homes for pizza, wine, and discussion. I was pleased to join, and looked forward to attending my first meeting. Shortly after arriving at that first session, and before the "real" discussion started, one group member announced, in a gossipy, lighthearted tone, that she was apparently, "officially," White Trash. In response to other members' promptings, she explained that she had just come across a new definition of the term. To be classed White Trash, she said, you had to have a relative in jail. And, she went on, because her sister's husband's cousin's son was doing time for theft, or possession, (or something), she fit the bill. The murmurs of amusement that followed were whimsically ironic-to them, this was a quaint, slightly silly exercise in categorization. If I'd had the nerve, I would have asked "If you're White Trash, what does that make me? My dad's doing 8 years." Of course I said nothing. Anything I might say would be wrong: I would dampen the mood; expose the chip on my shoulder; I would be "whining"; I would embarrass the woman who had spoken (who may well have been
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ABSTRACT In this article, we report on a feminist memory work project conducted with 11 working-class women in Australia. Participants responded to the question: what helps and hinders working-class women study social science degrees? The... more
ABSTRACT In this article, we report on a feminist memory work project conducted with 11 working-class women in Australia. Participants responded to the question: what helps and hinders working-class women study social science degrees? The women confirmed that to succeed at university, they needed opportunities, resources, support and encouragement. We called these enablers and considered the role of ‘enlightened witnesses’ [Miller, 1997. The essential role of an enlightened witness in society. Retrieved from http://www.alice-miller.com/index_en.php?page=2]. Hindering the possibility of university success were detractors of many forms including inadequate resources and social conventions that discouraged the women from study. We describe saboteurs as undermining people and forces that the women had to overcome. We found that enlightened witnesses, broadly conceptualised, go some way but not all, to mitigating detractors and saboteurs that continue to hamper fair and meritocratic access to tertiary education.
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This is a report on how (pro)feminist social workers might use the qualitative research methodology, memory work. The first section acknowledges the pioneering work of Frigga Haug in the conception and use of memory work and considers the... more
This is a report on how (pro)feminist social workers might use the qualitative research methodology, memory work. The first section acknowledges the pioneering work of Frigga Haug in the conception and use of memory work and considers the underlying assumptions of the methodology and prescribed uses of the method. In the second section, we use a recent memory-work project conducted with women social science students/graduates, who come from low-socio-economic backgrounds, to illustrate memory-work processes in action. Here, we emphasise the potential benefits of using the method, which include its ability to inspire trust and solidarity in a group setting and connect the personal with the political.
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Close family bonds among individuals who are not blood-related are explored here in three works of Australian award-winning children’s author Eleanor Spence. Although written in 1967, 1969, and 1982, Spence created narratives with... more
Close family bonds among individuals who are not blood-related are explored here in three works of Australian award-winning children’s author Eleanor Spence. Although written in 1967, 1969, and 1982, Spence created narratives with authentic Australian contexts around what is currently acknowledged as evotypical families. These books support the education of Australian young people in developing progressive views of family formation and realizing the
significance of family bonds that go beyond blood relatives.
significance of family bonds that go beyond blood relatives.
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In this chapter I draw upon Alice Miller's notion of the "enlightened witness" to explore whether an empathic oral history interviewer can take on this role. To illustrate this, I use my experience of conducting oral history interviews... more
In this chapter I draw upon Alice Miller's notion of the "enlightened witness" to explore whether an empathic oral history interviewer can take on this role. To illustrate this, I use my experience of conducting oral history interviews with adults who were in foster care as children, adults who in my presence connected with the wounded child within. I came to realise I was doing more than collecting their story for a research project, I was acting as an "enlightened witness".
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Given the general lack of attention paid to the education of children in state care, and low expectations of them, it is widely accepted that we are unique, two former foster kids with the highest level of academic degrees, doctorates. In... more
Given the general lack of attention paid to the education of children in state care, and low expectations of them, it is widely accepted that we are unique, two former foster kids with the highest level of academic degrees, doctorates. In this chapter we explore our journeys to and through university and doctoral studies with attention to our similarities as outliers, and differences across time and space. We also draw into our conversation the experiences of other care leavers who have gone to university, care leavers we have encountered through our research into this topic. We conclude that care leavers can and do complete university degrees and every child in state care should have this opportunity.
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In this paper I explore the research process I undertook to recover from research. For three years from 2013 I was involved in a research project exploring the history of foster care in Australia. At the end I was exhausted and suffering... more
In this paper I explore the research process I undertook to recover from research. For three years from
2013 I was involved in a research project exploring the history of foster care in Australia. At the end I was
exhausted and suffering trauma symptoms I initially attributed to the difficulties of juggling a major
research project while teaching and undertaking key administrative tasks. Reluctance to write up the
research findings, however, made me reconsider this attribution and at the end of 2016 I set out to make
sense of what had happened to make me feel so bad while undertaking a research project I was thrilled to
be involved with. Recovery came through identifying as a survivor-researcher, exploring the literature on
trauma and recovery from trauma, and thinking through a “wish list” of protocols and self-care activities I
should have put in place earlier. I conclude the paper with recommendations for ways by which survivorresearchers can look after themselves, and ways for others to support survivor-researchers.
2013 I was involved in a research project exploring the history of foster care in Australia. At the end I was
exhausted and suffering trauma symptoms I initially attributed to the difficulties of juggling a major
research project while teaching and undertaking key administrative tasks. Reluctance to write up the
research findings, however, made me reconsider this attribution and at the end of 2016 I set out to make
sense of what had happened to make me feel so bad while undertaking a research project I was thrilled to
be involved with. Recovery came through identifying as a survivor-researcher, exploring the literature on
trauma and recovery from trauma, and thinking through a “wish list” of protocols and self-care activities I
should have put in place earlier. I conclude the paper with recommendations for ways by which survivorresearchers can look after themselves, and ways for others to support survivor-researchers.
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In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott suggests breaking writing projects down into small tasks the size of a ‘one-inch picture frame.’ To not do so, she says, risks ‘your mental illnesses arriv[ing] at the desk like your sickest, most secretive... more
In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott suggests breaking writing projects down into small tasks the size of a ‘one-inch picture frame.’ To not do so, she says, risks ‘your mental illnesses arriv[ing] at the desk like your sickest, most secretive relatives…’ (p.16).
In this chapter I riff on Lamott’s advice and turn around to confront the various ‘mental illnesses’ that have arrived at my desk since I became an academic: ontological insecurity, imposter syndrome and reversion to childhood coping strategies. In facing these ‘mental illnesses’ I also reflect on my capacity to grow beyond them, to develop academic resilience and increased agency.
In this chapter I riff on Lamott’s advice and turn around to confront the various ‘mental illnesses’ that have arrived at my desk since I became an academic: ontological insecurity, imposter syndrome and reversion to childhood coping strategies. In facing these ‘mental illnesses’ I also reflect on my capacity to grow beyond them, to develop academic resilience and increased agency.
In this chapter I draw upon Alice Miller's notion of the "enlightened witness"1 to explore whether an empathic oral history interviewer can take on this role. To illustrate this, I use my experience of conducting oral history interviews... more
In this chapter I draw upon Alice Miller's notion of the "enlightened witness"1 to explore whether an empathic oral history interviewer can take on this role. To illustrate this, I use my experience of conducting oral history interviews with adults who were in foster care as children, adults who in my presence connected with the wounded child within. I came to realise I was doing more than collecting their story for a research project, I was acting as an "enlightened witness".
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In this chapter we explore the experience of six mature age care leavers, including the effect on their adult relationships of their time in Out of Home Care (OOHC). The care leavers interviewed ranged in age from their late twenties to... more
In this chapter we explore the experience of six mature age care leavers, including the effect on their adult relationships of their time in Out of Home Care (OOHC). The care leavers interviewed ranged in age from their late twenties to their early sixties. Three had been in OOHC organised formally through state agencies, and three had been in OOHC was organised informally by relatives. Although none of the participants went straight to university from school, three have bachelor level university degrees and one is currently working toward that. Each participant has been assigned a pseudonym for this chapter unless they elected to retain their own names.
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In this paper I argue that present expressions which describe the deliberate and unconscious alienation of children from birth parent/s are inadequate to describe or account for the alienation experienced by those who have grown up in... more
In this paper I argue that present expressions which describe the deliberate and unconscious alienation of children from birth parent/s are inadequate to describe or account for the alienation experienced by those who have grown up in Australian foster care. Instead, a new expression, ‘systemic familial alienation’, is warranted.
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Stories – fictional, biographical and autobiographical – are one way in which we can imagine what it has been like to experience foster care in Australia. In this paper I look at the trends in stories told about foster care from the 19 th... more
Stories – fictional, biographical and autobiographical – are one way in which we can imagine what it has been like to experience foster care in Australia. In this paper I look at the trends in stories told about foster care from the 19 th century, across the 20 th and into the early 21 st century. While exploring trends I make some observations about the shift from fictional accounts where foster parents and foster children were heroic characters to often searing tales of hurt and trauma inflicted on children in foster care by violent women and men.
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Computer Science, like technology in general, is seen as a masculine field and the under-representation of women an intransigent problem. In this paper we argue that the cultural belief in Australia that Computer Science is a domain for... more
Computer Science, like technology in general, is seen as a masculine field and the under-representation of women an intransigent problem. In this paper we argue that the cultural belief in Australia that Computer Science is a domain for men results in many girls and women being chased away from that field as part of a border protection campaign by some males—secondary school teachers, boys and men playing games online, and young men on campus at university. We draw on American feminist philosopher, Iris Marion Young's analysis of the 'five faces' of oppression to suggest strategies whereby Australian universities could support women in Computer Science and educate men about respectful behaviour and gender equity.
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This paper reports on our use of a two-phased, feminist memory work in a project conducted with 11 women, social science students at an Australian university. We found that the research method invited reflection on the nexus between the... more
This paper reports on our use of a two-phased, feminist memory work in a project conducted with 11 women, social science students at an Australian university. We found that the research method invited reflection on the nexus between the personal and the political, and boosted women's confidence as they considered the powerful role of social structures in their circumstances.
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In this article we report on a feminist memory work project conducted with eleven working-class women in Australia. Participants responded to the question: what helps and hinders working-class women study social science degrees? The women... more
In this article we report on a feminist memory work project conducted with eleven working-class women in Australia. Participants responded to the question: what helps and hinders working-class women study social science degrees? The women confirmed that to succeed at university they needed opportunities, resources, support and encouragement. We called these enablers and considered the role of 'enlightened witnesses' (Miller, 1997; Miller, 1997a). Hindering the possibility of university success were detractors of many forms including inadequate resources and social conventions that discouraged the women from study. We describe saboteurs as undermining people and forces that the women had to overcome. We found that enlightened witnesses, broadly conceptualised, go some way but not all, to mitigating detractors and saboteurs that continue to hamper fair and meritocratic access to tertiary education.
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Research Interests:
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Inspired by Aileen Moreton-Robinson's Talkin’ Up to the White Woman, in this reflection on the beginnings of foster care in Australia I talk back to a dead white woman, Catherine Helen Spence, and argue that she should no longer be... more
Inspired by Aileen Moreton-Robinson's Talkin’ Up to the White Woman, in this reflection on the beginnings of foster care in Australia I talk back to a dead white woman, Catherine Helen Spence, and argue that she should no longer be honoured for her role in the nascent system because of the classism at the heart of it.
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Some interventions by social workers, teachers and parents take time to develop but can produce, in the longer term, powerful and unexpectedly positive results. We were reminded of this in 2013, when we undertook a small qualitative study... more
Some interventions by social workers, teachers and parents take time to develop but can produce, in the longer term, powerful and unexpectedly positive results. We were reminded of this in 2013, when we undertook a small qualitative study where we used feminist memory work to explore the experiences of 11 women from low socio-economic backgrounds studying social sciences at an Australian university. Of the eleven participants, seven were from social work. When asked to remember their journey into tertiary education, the women revealed memorable encounters with social workers, teachers and parents, the impact of which had lasted well into the future. We use the gardening metaphor of ‘planting a seed’ to refer to interventions that may not blossom in the short term but can bear fruit months or years later. Yet, we also note that ‘seeds of doubt’ can be planted too. We conclude by suggesting that planting seeds of possibility is a worthy but potentially overlooked professional activity. Yet, since ours is a small study, further research is warranted to explore the influence of social workers who plant seeds of possibility and whose actions help to recruit and retain socially disadvantaged students in higher education.
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Despite increased attention from Universities and Industry, the low representation of female students in Computer Science undergraduate degrees remains a major issue. Recognising this issue, leading tech companies have established strong... more
Despite increased attention from Universities and Industry, the low representation of female students in Computer Science undergraduate degrees remains a major issue. Recognising this issue, leading tech companies have established strong and committed diversity initiatives but have only reached up to 17\% female representation in their tech departments. The causes of the reduced attraction and retention of female students are varied and have been widely studied, advancing the understanding of why female students do not take up or leave Computer Science. However, few analyses look at the perceptions of the females that have stayed in the field. In this paper, we explore the viewpoints of female academics and postgraduate students in Computer Science with various undergraduate backgrounds and pathways into academia. Our analysis of their interviews shows the influence of family, exposure, culture, sexism and gendered thought on their perceptions of the field, and of themselves and their peers. We identify that perceptions of identity conflict and a lack of belonging to the discipline persist even for these high-performing professionals.
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Foster care has been provided for thousands of vulnerable Australian children from the early nineteenth century. Despite the prevalence of this system of care as the preferred means of providing out-of-home care across the country from... more
Foster care has been provided for thousands of vulnerable Australian children from the early nineteenth century. Despite the prevalence of this system of care as the preferred means of providing out-of-home care across the country from the late nineteenth century, very few people who lived in foster care as children have written about their experiences, a total of 23 in all. Although a small sample, these few stories tell a larger one of the complexities of lived experience of foster care: for some it was entirely positive, for others it was wholly negative and for most it was somewhere between those two extremes. What I show in this paper is that what many of the stories have in common, no matter where they sit on that continuum, is the painful acquaintance with social stigma at an early age.
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In this chapter we explore how perspectives on age and ageing are shaped and reveals through film. Our investigation is guided by the central question: What does it mean that some films use technology in order to convey ageing while... more
In this chapter we explore how perspectives on age and ageing are shaped and reveals through film. Our investigation is guided by the central question: What does it mean that some films use technology in order to convey ageing while others mask age. What are the gendered implications for men and women when ageing is represented in film?
We begin with a brief overview of both Citizen Kane and J Edgar, and then move into explorations of the mother blaming and ageism we contend are at the heart of them. We use ‘mother blaming’ to describe the common practice of mothers being made accountable for their children’s behaviour even well into their adult years and without regard to the social, political, economic and cultural milieu of the family. By ageism we mean a type of prejudice or discrimination of a group of people based on their age. ‘Aging technology’ is a term we are coining to cover the multiple ways in which the age of an actor is manipulated, for example, by the use of latex
We begin with a brief overview of both Citizen Kane and J Edgar, and then move into explorations of the mother blaming and ageism we contend are at the heart of them. We use ‘mother blaming’ to describe the common practice of mothers being made accountable for their children’s behaviour even well into their adult years and without regard to the social, political, economic and cultural milieu of the family. By ageism we mean a type of prejudice or discrimination of a group of people based on their age. ‘Aging technology’ is a term we are coining to cover the multiple ways in which the age of an actor is manipulated, for example, by the use of latex
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On August 14, 2012, the University of Adelaide celebrated 20 years of Women’s/Gender Studies on campus. This auspicious anniversary prompted pause for reflection on the considerable successes, but also ongoing challenges, of feminist... more
On August 14, 2012, the University of Adelaide celebrated 20 years of Women’s/Gender Studies on campus. This auspicious anniversary prompted pause for reflection on the considerable successes, but also ongoing challenges, of feminist teaching and practice. The history of Women’s/Gender Studies at the University of Adelaide has been one marked by struggles to maintain administrative legitimacy and ideological integrity within the male dominated environment of the academy. Yet the department has remained resilient; providing those involved in the struggle with a sense of purpose and identity as academic feminists.
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In this chapter we introduce the term ‘classism’ into the higher education debate in Australia. By ‘classism’ we mean the tendency to construct people from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds as inherently deficient according to... more
In this chapter we introduce the term ‘classism’ into the higher education debate in Australia. By ‘classism’ we mean the tendency to construct people from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds as inherently deficient according to prevailing normative values. Using an analysis of the Bradley Review, we show that low SES students are constructed as inherently lacking in aspirations in current policy discourse and are regarded as ‘needier’ higher education students in comparison with their higher SES peers. This construction, we argue, is an example of classism, and therefore we suggest that adding ‘classism’ to existing understandings of disadvantage will help to raise awareness of discrimination as well as formulate best practice in higher education.
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In this chapter I argue that Kylie Tennant's novel Tell Morning This can be read as containing the traces of a feminist protest against the New South Wales Child Protection System, despite Tennant being renowned for her solidarity with... more
In this chapter I argue that Kylie Tennant's novel Tell Morning This can be read as containing the traces of a feminist protest against the New South Wales Child Protection System, despite Tennant being renowned for her solidarity with working class people but not for her feminism, and even though she has left no statement saying she was objecting to the NSW CPS in her papers or autobiography. Nonetheless, there are crumbs of evidence scattered throughout these and the novel which I have gathered together to demonstrate this was her intention.
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Well known as a church which promises physical healing through prayer and change of consciousness, Christian Science is less well known as one that promotes mental wellbeing through the same means. However, the founder, Mary Baker Eddy... more
Well known as a church which promises physical healing through prayer and change of consciousness, Christian Science is less well known as one that promotes mental wellbeing through the same means. However, the founder, Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) could be held up as a model of psychological resilience through her own methods as she went from being an invalid suffering from the scourge of the nineteenth century, hysteria, to a dynamic business woman and religious leader who established an international church from her headquarters in Boston. In this paper I show that many of Eddy’s twentieth century followers have, like her, been able to become resilient and happy women treating psychological distress as they would physical concerns.
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A review of The Market in Babies: Stories of Australian Adoption, by Marian Quartly, Shurlee Swain and Denise Cuthbert
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While G08 universities are marketed as research intensive, there has been little opportunity for Bachelor of Social Science students enrolled at the University of Adelaide to receive dedicated research training. Social Research Advanced... more
While G08 universities are marketed as research intensive, there has been little opportunity for Bachelor of Social Science students enrolled at the University of Adelaide to receive dedicated research training. Social Research Advanced (SRA) was designed for students to experience and practice the various stages in the research process from design, literature review, ethics, field work, and finally, the writing of the research report. Student response to driving their own research was that it provided a more dynamic, practical and ‘hands on’ approach to understanding and ‘doing’ social research. This “learning by exuberance” (Nygaard, Højl & Hermansen, 2008) finding resonates with other academics from different disciplinary backgrounds who have included student research projects in their teaching (Frishman, 2001; Hequet, 2010; Bernard, 2011).
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Graduation ceremony and celebration in December 2008, I decided to spend the evening viewing the 1985 television adaptation of Lucy Maud Montgomery's 1908 book, 'Anne of Green Gables'. Still clad in my mortar board, gown and stole, and... more
Graduation ceremony and celebration in December 2008, I decided to spend the evening viewing the 1985 television adaptation of Lucy Maud Montgomery's 1908 book, 'Anne of Green Gables'. Still clad in my mortar board, gown and stole, and clutching my graduation teddy bear, I watched as the delightfully energetic, imaginative and enthusiastic young Anne arrives at the train station in Avonlea, desperately anxious to stay with her prospective new foster parents. "Who wouldn't want to live there with all those green hills, the blossoming apple trees, and quaint weatherboard farmhouse," I thought, knowing full well that as a foster kid I had longed for Anne's life. Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert had decided to take on an orphanage boy whose job it would be to assist the ageing Matthew on the farm. Since Anne had been mistakenly sent to the farm instead, her future hangs in the balance for a time until, appalled by stories of brutality and over work that little Anne had experienced in orphanages and foster care, Marilla finally agrees with Matthew and the pair adopt the child.
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In this paper I examine the experiences of two influential 20 th century women, Betty Archdale (1907-2000) and Kylie Tennant (1912-1988), through the lenses of social class and religion. Both women were born into middle-upper class... more
In this paper I examine the experiences of two influential 20 th century women, Betty Archdale (1907-2000) and Kylie Tennant (1912-1988), through the lenses of social class and religion. Both women were born into middle-upper class families and both had mothers who continued to identify as Christian Scientists until they died. Archdale and Tennant, however, converted to the Anglican church as adults, sharing this as well as their ongoing critiques of the Australian establishment. Despite their conversion to mainstream Christianity, I argue that some aspects of Christian Science doctrine influenced both women in their public lives.
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The need to confront men who behave violently toward women is still very much in evidence in Australian society. In this article we discuss an innovative activity, called the Reverse Role Play, which was designed as a conversation with... more
The need to confront men who behave violently toward women is still very much in evidence in Australian society. In this article we discuss an innovative activity, called the Reverse Role Play, which was designed as a conversation with the partners of violent men. During the Reverse Role Play, violent men have the opportunity to walk around in their partners' shoes for awhile and by doing so they often become aware, perhaps for the first time, of the consequences of their damaging behaviour. This can lead to the development of empathy in violent men, which in turn can motivate them to begin the process of taking responsibility for and changing their behaviour.
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‘Troublemakers,’ ‘a burden on society’, and ‘damaged goods’ are among the many negative stereotypes about people with lived experience of out-of-home care. Such deficit representations can lead to discrimination against care leavers based... more
‘Troublemakers,’ ‘a burden on society’, and ‘damaged goods’ are among the many negative stereotypes about people with lived experience of out-of-home care. Such deficit representations can lead to discrimination against care leavers based on low expectations in education, employment, and other life domains. Social exclusion can lead to feelings of isolation, loneliness, and low self-worth among care leavers. A succession of inquiries has found that enormous numbers of children in Australian out-of-home care were badly mistreated, subjected to abuse, and sent out into the world with few life-skills or sources of support. Yet for generations, care-experienced people have been blamed for their struggles in an environment of negative political and social disinterest.
This paper draws on Goffman’s (1963) conceptualisation of social stigma as a ‘spoiled identity’ and Lindsay’s (1996) definition of prejudice against people who have experienced out-of-home care as ‘careism’. Careism is a growing concern among survivor-activists in Australia and the United Kingdom (Fitzpatrick 2005; Harrison 2019). Through activism and advocacy, many care Leavers have led some of the most significant changes in social policy in Australian history. This paper draws on evidence from a larger participatory research project examining the long history of societal stigma towards care leavers and the rising prominence of survivor-activism in this area. It employs a life course perspective analysis to construct narratives of care leavers that break out of the deficit model and highlight our contributions to community and culture.
The focus of this paper is the ongoing development of an online biographical database of care leavers, More Than Our Childhoods, aimed at disrupting ‘deviant’, ‘delinquent’ or deficit narratives. This project originates from a collection of over 300 short form biographies of people displaced from birth family during childhood. These biographies are built from public domain material, and thus primarily feature well-known people like 17th century mathematician, Isaac Newton, American actor Marilyn Monroe, and the longest serving Australian Prime Minister, Robert Menzies. Data collection is on-going with an emphasis on Australians. People who have been in formal and/or informal care are invited to share their stories.
Emerging findings suggest that care leavers have made extraordinary contributions to the Australian community, personally, politically, and culturally. Notably, a significant number of care leavers participating in the study have pursued social-work related careers. This includes roles in front-line service delivery, research, and influencing policy through activism and government work.
This paper argues that the narratives in our database are a form of ‘flaunting’ (Goffman 1963), a refusal by care leavers to hide our ‘social blemish’, to continue being ashamed. The narratives will act as a form of public pedagogy (Sandlin 2011), a way by which the public can be educated on who care leavers are beyond negative stereotypes. Overall, they represent a form of historical advocacy that seeks to reinforce narratives of survival. They are intended to benefit care leavers and young people currently in OOHC by highlighting our resilience, informing service provisions to support wellbeing, and promoting strengths-based research approaches.
This paper draws on Goffman’s (1963) conceptualisation of social stigma as a ‘spoiled identity’ and Lindsay’s (1996) definition of prejudice against people who have experienced out-of-home care as ‘careism’. Careism is a growing concern among survivor-activists in Australia and the United Kingdom (Fitzpatrick 2005; Harrison 2019). Through activism and advocacy, many care Leavers have led some of the most significant changes in social policy in Australian history. This paper draws on evidence from a larger participatory research project examining the long history of societal stigma towards care leavers and the rising prominence of survivor-activism in this area. It employs a life course perspective analysis to construct narratives of care leavers that break out of the deficit model and highlight our contributions to community and culture.
The focus of this paper is the ongoing development of an online biographical database of care leavers, More Than Our Childhoods, aimed at disrupting ‘deviant’, ‘delinquent’ or deficit narratives. This project originates from a collection of over 300 short form biographies of people displaced from birth family during childhood. These biographies are built from public domain material, and thus primarily feature well-known people like 17th century mathematician, Isaac Newton, American actor Marilyn Monroe, and the longest serving Australian Prime Minister, Robert Menzies. Data collection is on-going with an emphasis on Australians. People who have been in formal and/or informal care are invited to share their stories.
Emerging findings suggest that care leavers have made extraordinary contributions to the Australian community, personally, politically, and culturally. Notably, a significant number of care leavers participating in the study have pursued social-work related careers. This includes roles in front-line service delivery, research, and influencing policy through activism and government work.
This paper argues that the narratives in our database are a form of ‘flaunting’ (Goffman 1963), a refusal by care leavers to hide our ‘social blemish’, to continue being ashamed. The narratives will act as a form of public pedagogy (Sandlin 2011), a way by which the public can be educated on who care leavers are beyond negative stereotypes. Overall, they represent a form of historical advocacy that seeks to reinforce narratives of survival. They are intended to benefit care leavers and young people currently in OOHC by highlighting our resilience, informing service provisions to support wellbeing, and promoting strengths-based research approaches.
Research Interests:
Presentation Given at the Remembrance Day Event, Lotus Place, Brisbane, 7 September 2022
Research Interests:
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, ‘misery memoir’ (or misery lit) is a genre of memoir or autobiography that emerged in the 1990s “notable for its account of the narrator suffering and subsequently surviving”... more
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, ‘misery memoir’ (or misery lit) is a genre of memoir or autobiography that emerged in the 1990s “notable for its account of the narrator suffering and subsequently surviving” childhoods replete with abuse and neglect. Well known in this genre is Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes (1996) and Dave Pelzer’s A Child Called “It” (1995). Some in the genre (including Pelzer’s story) have been regarded as hoaxes and sociologist Frank Furedi has dismissed them as a “literary striptease”, whereas other scholars see the ‘sad stories’ or ‘trauma narratives’ as allowing for new voices and the exposure of systemic abuse (Douglas, 2010; Schaffer & Smith, 2004). In this theme we explore this genre in light of Erving Goffman’s idea of “flaunting”, where, in response to social stigma, members of a socially discredited group refuse to continue to ‘pass’, ‘cover’ or ‘correct’ the
‘social blemish’ and instead, show off or flaunt it in order to challenge stigmatisation. We explore early examples in Australia and argue that these, plus significant state and federal government inquiries, have exposed the once hidden.
‘social blemish’ and instead, show off or flaunt it in order to challenge stigmatisation. We explore early examples in Australia and argue that these, plus significant state and federal government inquiries, have exposed the once hidden.
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Research Interests:
"I'm working from a premise that's too often neglected: just because a goal is unattainable, that doesn't mean we can't take it as a goal and make progress toward it. If we decide it's desirable, we can figure out which steps move us... more
"I'm working from a premise that's too often neglected: just because a goal is unattainable, that doesn't mean we can't take it as a goal and make progress toward it. If we decide it's desirable, we can figure out which steps move us closer - even though we'll never actually get there" (Peter Elbow, 2012, 124).
As Lemn Sissay—care leaver, acclaimed poet and Chancellor of Manchester University—has noted, many fictional super heroes have been in out-of-home care as children, eg, Superman, Batman, Harry Potter. However, there is a considerable mismatch between the heroic status of fictional heroes and the actual status of most children and young people in care. Part of the reason is long-term stigmatisation, but another part is the ongoing tendency of advocates for needed improvements in the care system to tell only one story, that of poor outcomes.
In this interactive workshop I offer a counter-narrative to the usual one and draw on biographies of Real Life Super Heroes with an out-of-home care background to encourage conference attendees to dream big – for themselves and/or for the children and young people in their care. Amongst others I will use the examples of iconic actors Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe, significant American writer Jim Tully, and award winning British writer Jenni Fagan; renowned Australian art historian Bernard Smith and Nancy Russell, Australian writer Kate Grenville’s mother.
As Peter Elbow says, the point is to figure out what steps are needed to achieve our dreams. Even if we do not achieve them, we are likely to achieve way more than if we never tried. Therefore a primary focus of the workshop is to hear from children and young people about their dreams, and to begin a discussion about the steps they’ll need to take to achieve them.
As Lemn Sissay—care leaver, acclaimed poet and Chancellor of Manchester University—has noted, many fictional super heroes have been in out-of-home care as children, eg, Superman, Batman, Harry Potter. However, there is a considerable mismatch between the heroic status of fictional heroes and the actual status of most children and young people in care. Part of the reason is long-term stigmatisation, but another part is the ongoing tendency of advocates for needed improvements in the care system to tell only one story, that of poor outcomes.
In this interactive workshop I offer a counter-narrative to the usual one and draw on biographies of Real Life Super Heroes with an out-of-home care background to encourage conference attendees to dream big – for themselves and/or for the children and young people in their care. Amongst others I will use the examples of iconic actors Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe, significant American writer Jim Tully, and award winning British writer Jenni Fagan; renowned Australian art historian Bernard Smith and Nancy Russell, Australian writer Kate Grenville’s mother.
As Peter Elbow says, the point is to figure out what steps are needed to achieve our dreams. Even if we do not achieve them, we are likely to achieve way more than if we never tried. Therefore a primary focus of the workshop is to hear from children and young people about their dreams, and to begin a discussion about the steps they’ll need to take to achieve them.
Research Interests:
Presentation given at the Faculty of Arts Research Forum, held 29th August 2017
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
One of the most striking findings emerging from stories I both heard and read while undertaking the Long History of Foster Care in Australia project is the number of women– birth mothers, foster mothers, step-mothers and aunties – accused... more
One of the most striking findings emerging from stories I both heard and read while undertaking the Long History of Foster Care in Australia project is the number of women– birth mothers, foster mothers, step-mothers and aunties – accused by female and male storytellers of treating them while children in ways they experienced as cruel, abusive, negligent, and complicit in male violence.
To make such a finding is an uncomfortable one for a feminist. As Kate Douglas (2010, 64) says, in speaking of women’s acts of child abuse we risk taking the “attention away from long-fought battles to place gender and male power at the centre of analysis of abuse.” But to ignore this finding is to dishonour those who have risked disbelief, censure and retraumatization to speak of their pain, to record or ‘make real’ that which is amorphous until witnessed (Laub, 1992, 57).
In this paper I argue, following Hanna Pickard (2014), that adopting a therapeutic stance of ‘Responsibility without Blame’ toward perpetrators may provide a way to explore the difficult stories of child abuse by women, and to hold women to account for the (often long-lasting) hurt caused, but without undermining the feminist project of challenging male dominance.
To make such a finding is an uncomfortable one for a feminist. As Kate Douglas (2010, 64) says, in speaking of women’s acts of child abuse we risk taking the “attention away from long-fought battles to place gender and male power at the centre of analysis of abuse.” But to ignore this finding is to dishonour those who have risked disbelief, censure and retraumatization to speak of their pain, to record or ‘make real’ that which is amorphous until witnessed (Laub, 1992, 57).
In this paper I argue, following Hanna Pickard (2014), that adopting a therapeutic stance of ‘Responsibility without Blame’ toward perpetrators may provide a way to explore the difficult stories of child abuse by women, and to hold women to account for the (often long-lasting) hurt caused, but without undermining the feminist project of challenging male dominance.
Research Interests:
Stories – fictional, biographical and autobiographical – are one way in which we can imagine what it has been like to experience foster care in Australia. In this presentation I look at the trends in stories told about foster care from... more
Stories – fictional, biographical and autobiographical – are one way in which we can imagine what it has been like to experience foster care in Australia. In this presentation I look at the trends in stories told about foster care from the 19th twentieth century, across the 20th and into the early 21st century. While exploring trends I make some observations about the shift from fictional accounts where foster parents and foster children were heroic characters to often searing tales of hurt and trauma inflicted on children in foster care by violent women and men, a callous and cold child protection ‘system’, and a cultural environment of racism, classism and stigma.
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Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Foster care has been provided for thousands of vulnerable Australian children from the early 19th century. Despite the prevalence of this system of care as the preferred means of providing out-of-home care across the country from the late... more
Foster care has been provided for thousands of vulnerable Australian children from the early 19th century. Despite the prevalence of this system of care as the preferred means of providing out-of-home care across the country from the late 19th century, there is currently no national history of Australian foster care and remarkably little is known about the successes and failures of it. This project aims to redress the current situation by examining the experience of foster care from the perspective of those involved, including the children. The project will provide a historical context for informing future policy and practice
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In this project we are conducting a pilot project consulting with young people (aged 18-25 years) who have been in State Care (called in this project ‘Care Leavers’). The intention of the consultations is to explore what aspirations the... more
In this project we are conducting a pilot project consulting with young people (aged 18-25 years) who have been in State Care (called in this project ‘Care Leavers’). The intention of the consultations is to explore what aspirations the young people have, how their State Care experience impacted on their education, what messages about potential careers have been conveyed to them, whether university is on their radar, and if not, why not. Questions about their university experience have been included when the groups included current university students.
Research Interests:
This project focuses on how women with low socio-economic status (SES) experience their entry to and study of social science degrees. The project employs a feminist memory methodology. Memory work is a qualitative, narrative research... more
This project focuses on how women with low socio-economic status (SES) experience their entry to and study of social science degrees.
The project employs a feminist memory methodology. Memory work is a qualitative, narrative research method that has been historically conducted with groups of women (Haug, 2000).
The project employs a feminist memory methodology. Memory work is a qualitative, narrative research method that has been historically conducted with groups of women (Haug, 2000).