| PhD Candidate | Project Title | Abstract | Primary Supervisor/ Co-supervisor(s) |
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Andrews, Katrina ORCID ResearchGate | The social construction of hoarding | This study explores how hoarding is socially constructed, what the impact is on individuals with hoarding behaviours, and how such constructions may inform how such individuals interact with and are treated by others, particularly psychologists. The analysis uses a critical qualitative framework, focussing on extracting meaning from the topic, specifically latent or implicit meaning rather than semantic or surface meaning. In terms of theoretical framework, this approach to reflexive thematic analysis is constructionist; aiming to examine and unpack the various realities contained within the data. The analysis will critique current conceptualisation of hoarding as well as investigation of how hoarding is socially constructed by the media via media and textual analysis. The research will utilise interviews with individuals who hoard to investigate how they construct their own identity regarding their hoarding and will explore how hoarders conceptualise (socially construct) possessions and space through interviews and the use of visual methodology (photo-elicitation) with 10-15 participants from both metropolitan and rural areas. The study will also examine how the discipline of psychology constructs hoarding and how this may affect interventions. This part of the research will involve interviews with psychologists and gathering reflections from them regarding their perceptions of hoarding and hoarders. | Dr Rachael Fox Dr Gene Hodgins |
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Antonopoulos, Christine ORCID | Implicit Bias Towards People with Disability in the Workplace | The unemployment rate for people with disability in Australia has remained unchanged and lower than people without a disability for decades. People with disability face systemic barriers to obtaining meaningful employment and experience the effects of negative biases, including discrimination. This project firstly provides a systematic review and meta-analysis on implicit bias towards people with disability. Secondly, a qualitative approach is used to explore the perceptions of Australian employers towards hiring people with disability. Finally, a quantitative approach is used to explore implicit stereotypes, perceptions of job suitability, and associated factors such as personal values and experience with disability. This research will assist in understanding the longstanding issue of disability unemployment from a psychological and behavioural perspective. | Dr Nicole Sugden |
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Moore, Sheree | Family & domestic violence in Australian rural Emergency Departments: A critical analysis of institutional discourses and narratives | Australian research has indicated that the frequency and severity of family and domestic violence (FDV) increases with remoteness, resulting in higher rates of hospitalisation. Rural areas often lack access to specialist services, making them reliant upon Emergency Departments for health, safety and general wellbeing support, and prior research has suggested that some health-related policies and Emergency Department responses to FDV may not be meeting the needs of local communities. Discourses and narratives within the Australian public health institution could potentially influence understandings and practices related to FDV; however, there is little research investigating the discursive context of Australian rural Emergency Departments and how these environments might impact individuals and groups within rural communities. The current study aimed to understand how Australian rural Emergency Departments respond to FDV and why they respond in certain ways by examining institutional discourses and narratives in policy and practice. The study aimed to explore how sociohistorical and institutional context influenced FDV constructions. | Dr Rachael Fox Dr Brona Nic Giolla Easpaig Professor Linda Deravin |
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Najdenska, Elica ORCID | Let me talk about wellbeing: Development of a scale measuring wellbeing for people on the Autism Spectrum (AS) |
Wellbeing has become a standalone area of study, and we now have a good understanding of how to promote psychosocial wellbeing in the general population. However, less is known about psychosocial wellbeing for people on the autism spectrum. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental
disorder that presents with a deficit in social communication and restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities. Many individuals will not proceed to receive a diagnosis of ASD but will be aware that they have traits on the Autism Spectrum. One way to encompass these individuals
is via the Broad Autism Phenotype which is characterised by milder forms of ASD deficits, thus not meeting sufficient clinical threshold for an ASD diagnosis. This project will include both participants with an ASD diagnosis as well as participants who have self-identified as having autism characteristics.
The term autism spectrum is used in this research proposal to include both populations. While some studies (Feldhaus, 2015; Ikeda et al., 2014) attempted to adjust and validate existing scales of wellbeing for use with people with autism, such as the quality-of-life scale, others (Ayres et al., 2018; Cottenceau et al., 2012) suggest that what is required is giving people with autism a voice in building their own construct of wellbeing (McConachie et al., 2018). Adjusting a concept coined on research with a neurotypical population is still based on the assumptions that the understanding of wellbeing of the neurotypical population is the ultimate, correct and baseline understanding of wellbeing. The proposed research will create a new scale of wellbeing based on direct reports from the AS population. The research will employ a mixed methods design, interviewing people with AS to elicit their views, thus directly informing the development of appropriate psychosocial wellbeing survey items. Traditional scale development methodology will then be used to develop and validate a scale to measure psychosocial wellbeing in an AS population. The scale has promise to support under-serviced regional communities, which often rely on Telehealth rather than face-to-face meetings due to lack of local services. Using a scale rather than verbal responses in a clinical setting for a population with social and expression differences, has potential to enhance accurate and reliable assessment, treatment planning and treatment provision. Improved wellbeing will promote resilience and increase contributions to the wider community bringing economic, social, and environmental growth, thereby eliciting flourishing communities. | Professor Anthony Saliba Dr Donnah Anderson |
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Newlan, Tina-Maree ORCID | Marking me: Repositioning entangled post-breast cancer experiences with mastectomy artistic tattooing | This research explores women’s experiences of breast cancer survivorship and how artistic tattooing may support mirror viewing and embodied experiences for some women. Breast cancer is the prevailing cancer worldwide and survival rates are increasing with early detection, leaving a growing number of women living with its physical, emotional, and psychological impacts. The surgical treatment of mastectomy results in women living in, and with, a dramatically altered body, absent of the breast or breasts and in most instances, the nipple. Recommended treatment practices, medical hegemony and socio-cultural ideals encourage breast reconstructive surgery to achieve a restoration of the pre-cancer body aesthetics and post-cancer well-being. However, the literature demonstrates that reconstructive surgery does not always meet this goal. For some women, reconstructed or not, they are left feeling challenged by the experiences of their post-surgical, scarred body. Whilst scarce, extant literature on artistic tattooing of mastectomy scarring suggests these experiences can be reframed by artistically tattooing mastectomy scarring. A two-phase research design will investigate this phenomenon, utilising interviews with women who are undergoing or have completed post-mastectomy artistic tattooing and tattoo artists. Adopting a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, and considered within a symbolic interactionalist lens and Embodied Body Image framework, the overarching goal of this research is to explore: How does artistic tattooing of mastectomy scarring influence the dialectical relationship between the post-cancer body, Self, and identity? | Jenni Greig Rachael Fox Robyn Brunton |
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Northfield, Kirstie ORCID ResearchGate | Practical measures of adolescent wellbeing | While navigating the developmental hurdles of adolescence, maintaining moderate to high levels of wellbeing presents a challenge for some teens. For adolescents to be given every opportunity to thrive, identifying those with low levels of wellbeing, and offering support is paramount. There are two key barriers to identifying those in need. Firstly, the evaluative and reflective nature of the construct of wellbeing, making the adolescents themselves the most reliable reporter of their wellbeing. Secondly, the limited access that we have to adolescents’ own insights. Currently assessments of adolescent wellbeing most often come from adults observing behavioural or social indicators, such as sleep patterns, mood, eating patterns, and communications with the teen. These observations have not been validated as appropriate assessment criteria but appear to be the best available indicators we have. This study will systematically assess the ability that parents and teachers as proxy assessors have in reliably judging the wellbeing of their teen. This study will also characterise a more reliable proxy assessor. Working with Australian high school students, their parent and a related teacher, each party will assess the target adolescent’s wellbeing, by completing the Personal Wellbeing Index for School Children with reference to the target adolescent. By measuring the cross-informant variance (CIV) of wellbeing outcomes within the adolescent-parent and adolescent-teacher dyads we will quantify how closely the teacher and parent proxy can assess the adolescent’s wellbeing and their need for support. In addition, relationship factors, proxy’s level of distress or happiness and adolescent help-seeking attitudes and intentions will be analysed to understand if these variables influence the level of CIV in adolescent wellbeing outcomes. The potential real-world impact of this research may shift the way that wellbeing needs are identified, and lead to greater numbers of those adolescents in need of support being directed to appropriate programs. The short and long-term effects of identifying and improving the wellbeing of adolescent’s are numerous. These effects include greater connections in school, communities, and improved trajectories into adulthood, and they underlie the importance of this work. | Professor Anthony Saliba Dr Keith Harris |
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Robinson, Hilary ORCID | Caught in the Gap: Exploring Workers’ Understandings of Home Care for People Living with Dementia and the Navigation of Role Ambiguity | This research involves a qualitative exploration into how homecare workers, who provide support to clients with dementia at home, understand their role and navigate role ambiguity. Broadly, homecare is criticised for its lack of clearly defined scope and formal definitions of duties. While care is considered a personal concept, the lack of explicit role boundaries in homecare was found to put workers’ safety and wellbeing at risk. This was especially evident for those caring for clients with dementia, as role ambiguity exacerbates existing risks. This research seeks to explore how homecare workers are currently navigating the apparent ambiguity in their role, with a view to identifying specific avenues for support and intervention in future research. The research will be guided by an interpretive-descriptive design, informed by the interpretivist paradigm. Data will be collected from practicing homecare workers in Australia, specifically those who service clients with dementia, via a series of semi-structured interviews. In line with the reflexive and applied nature of interpretive-descriptive design, data will be analysed following Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis method. Due to the nature and demographics of the role, homecare workers share a marginalised position with those they provide care for. The proposed research seeks to recognise and give voice to the experiences of homecare workers. This is significant in informing participant-led interventions, working toward improving retention in the aged care workforce, and advocating for the safety and wellbeing of homecare workers. | Dr Rachel Hogg Associate Professor Rachel Rossiter Dr Jenni Greig |
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Schwarz, Jennifer ResearchGate | “I found answers that made my whole life make so much sense if I was Autistic”: a grounded theory of identity exploration around the concept of autism | The study involves an exploration of the process of identity construction in relation to autism. While existing research has focused exclusively on those who have constructed an autistic identity, this study involves semi-structured interviews with individuals who have given thought to some form of the question ‘where do I fit in relation to autism?’. Taking a social constructivist grounded theory approach, the study aims to develop a theory of the process involved. This has potential contributions to clinical practice and theoretical knowledge. In particular, this study and the questions it raises contributes to critical autism studies in widening the research lens from an exclusive focus on autistic people, challenging the ‘Othering’ of this group. | |
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Seers, Kate ORCID | The Therapist, Neoliberalism and the Construction of Women | This research aims to critically examine the ways neoliberal discourses shape the understanding and contextualisation of women in therapy. Existing research has primarily focused on the theoretical connections between neoliberalism, power, subjectivity, and the discipline of Psychology, however, this study aims to widen the research lens, exploring how these discourses manifest in the language employed by therapists. Through a detailed analysis of discourse, this research hopes to highlight how the ecology of therapeutic practice contributes to the dissemination of neoliberal ideals. The findings hope to demonstrate ways in which psychologists can disrupt neoliberal narratives and break the cycle of harmful ideologies. | Dr Rachael Fox Dr Rachel Hogg |
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Sharp, Jennifer ORCID ResearchGate | Virtual Friends: The use of technology to reduce loneliness in space | Space travel involves separation from others for extended periods of time, and loneliness is a fundamental challenge for people to live in this environment long-term. This research project will first provide a scoping review of the literature in relation to astronaut loneliness and the use of technology to facilitate social interaction. Then using a mixed methods approach interviews with people who have lived in isolated and confined environments (e.g., Astronauts) will be analysed to gain an understanding of their experience of loneliness and views on the utility of various types of social technology. Finally, the general population will be examined to identify whether social interaction via virtual reality, or with a voice-interfaced artificial intelligence program reduces loneliness. Broader terrestrial applications of this research will include using technology to facilitate social connection and reduce loneliness in people in rural, isolated, and remote locations, and those confined due to hospitalisation, disability, or pandemic lockdowns. | Professor Anthony Saliba Dr Joshua Kelson Dr Daryl South |