Special Features - Selected Research Projects
- Measuring and Mapping the Experience of Racism in Australia
- Police Culture and Professionalism: A Follow-up Study of Recruits
- Creative Culture: The Development of Innovative Research Practices in Science, Technology and Art
- The Making of Creative Artists
- Living on the Margins: The Worlds of Older Private Renters
- Motivations of Investors in the Private Rental Market
- Early Warning Signs of Prolific Offending
- Risk Factors for Indigenous Imprisonment
Measuring and Mapping the Experience of Racism in Australia
Dr Rogelia Pe-Pua, with Dr Kevin Dunn of UNSW and Professor Jim Forrest of Macquarie University
This is the first empirical assessment of the circumstances and frequency of the experience of racism in Australia. A nationwide telephone survey measured and mapped the experience in terms of the nature of the racist incident, frequency and location of occurrence, reaction of and outcome for the victim, and general feeling about anti-racism. Variations across geographical areas, gender, ethnicity, and religion are explored. The project also provided a PhD scholarship at the School. The scholarship holder, Maria Hollero, focused on the racialisation experience of Asian-Australians, linked to anti-racism, sense of belonging and hope. Another component of the project is the setting up of a racism database (http://www.bees.unsw.edu.au/school/staff/dunn/racism.html). (Funded by an ARC Discovery-Grant)
Police Culture and Professionalism: A Follow-up Study of Recruits
Professor Janet Chan
This is a follow-up study of an ARC-funded longitudinal research which began in 1995. The original research analysed the experiences of a class of police recruits in New South Wales and the processes through which concepts of police professionalism become developed. The research also examined the relationship between the socio-political conditions of policing and the socialisation process. The Recruit Study was one of very few systematic studies in the Anglo-American world that have been conducted into the processes of police socialisation. The proposed follow-up study aims to track the careers of the cohort and examine any change in their attitudes to policing and their conception of professionalism since the original study. The research will provide a deeper understanding of the processes of cultural transmission and cultural change beyond the immediate period following recruitment. It will contribute to further theorising of the relationship between police culture and the socio-political conditions of policing. At a more practical level, the research will inform police reformers and policy makers in formulating recruitment, training and management strategies which are likely to promote professionalism in police practice. (Funded by an ARC Discovery-Grant)
Creative Culture: The Development of Innovative Research Practices in Science, Technology and Art
Professor Janet Chan
The concept of ‘creativity’ has become a cultural obsession in modern society, yet its meaning and how it can be fostered is less adequately researched. This project aims to provide a critical and empirical understanding of the concept of creativity, how it varies with context, and how it can be fostered and maintained in organisations. It does so through an examination of the conceptions of creativity and research practices among leading-edge scientists and artists working in academic research centres. Using a combination of longitudinal, ethnographic and case-study approaches, the project compares the practices of graduate students, early-career researchers and established scholars in two research sites: the Centre for Quantum Computer Technology, a research centre in science and technology, and the iCinema Centre for Interactive Cinema Research, a research group working at the intersection of art and technology. This project aims to make a theoretical and empirical contribution to creativity research. (Funded by an ARC Discovery-Grant)
The Making of Creative Artists
Professor Janet Chan, with Professor Neil Brown of the College of Fine Arts, UNSW
This project is designed to examine how creativity is developed among artists. Through analysing the experience of five groups of artists (from undergraduate students to established practitioners), it investigates subjects' conceptions of creativity and the creative processes emergent within their practice. Using a theoretical framework based on Pierre Bourdieu and refined by one of the chief investigators (Chan), the project employs a longitudinal research design to examine the development of creativity among novices. Contrasted against a background of orthodox literature in creativity research the project breaks new ground in explaining the role of creativity in the sociology of occupations. (Funded by an ARC Discovery-Grant)
Living on the Margins: The Worlds of Older Private Renters
Dr Alan Morris
This project examines the world of older private renters in Sydney. Through in-depth interviews it explores how older renters cope financially on income support, what proportion of their income is spent on rent, the process which led to them to become renters rather than owners and what support they have from family, neighbours and friends. The research has found that many older renters, especially those without family support, are in a desperate situation. After paying the rent, electricity and phone bill there is little money left for food. (Funded by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Research Grant)
Motivations of Investors in the Private Rental Market
Dr Alan Morris
An increasing proportion of the accommodation available is now rental accommodation. What are the motivations, expectations and experiences of rental property investors in New South Wales, Victoria, West Australia, Tasmania and Queensland. The project seeks to answer this question. In-depth interviews are conducted with real estate agents, developers and small, medium and large investors. Initial findings suggest that some small investors are feeling very insecure with their investment and have no intention of re-entering the market. (Funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute)
Early Warning Signs of Prolific Offending
Professor Don Weatherburn
It is generally thought to be easier to reduce the risk of recidivism among juvenile offenders if the problems causing them to offend are addressed very early on in their criminal career (preferably before the first court appearance). There has been very little Australian research, however, into the characteristic pattern of contact with Government agencies that might predict later 'prolific' offending. The purpose of this study is to try and identify early but obvious warning signs of juvenile recidivism so as to assist in the targeting of early intervention programs. (Funded by the Bureau of Crime and Statistics Research)
Risk Factors for Indigenous Imprisonment
Professor Don Weatherburn
Although there has been much discussion of the high rate of Indigenous imprisonment, very few studies have actually attempted to measure the influence of various factors on the risk of imprisonment for Indigenous offenders. This study is designed to measure the influence of various factors (e.g. prior record, offence, nature of past convictions, prior non-custodial sanctions) on court sentencing decisions in relation to Indigenous offenders. It is hoped that the study will assist in developing more effective policies through which to reduce the rate of Indigenous imprisonment. (Funded by the Bureau of Crime and Statistics Research)
