Enhancing Community Resilience: A Systems Approach to Social Issues
This document explores a systems approach to understanding communities, emphasizing parsimony, theoretical soundness, and practical utility. It identifies various cumulative disadvantages impacting localities, blending community functioning with specific indicators such as social distress, health concerns, community safety, economic factors, and education. By establishing indicators and visual representations, it highlights recurring characteristics of the most disadvantaged areas in Australia. The report advocates for integration, community engagement, and mutual support to foster resilient and inclusive communities.
Enhancing Community Resilience: A Systems Approach to Social Issues
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Presentation Transcript
(1) COMMUNITIES AS SYSTEMS APPROACH – PARSIMONY, THEORETICAL SOUNDNESS, PRACTICAL UTILITY
(2) APPLICATIONS • 1. LOCALITIES OF CUMULATIVE DISADVANTAGE • 2. BLEND COMMUNITY FUNCTIONING AND SPECIFIC PROBLEM INDICATORS (MILDURA) • 3. INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL INCLUSION INDICATORS
(3) THE INDICATORS • (1) SOCIAL DISTRESS: low family income, rental stress, home purchase stress, lone person households. • (2) HEALTH: low birth-weight, childhood injuries, immunisation, disability / sickness support, life expectancy, psychiatric patients: hospital / community, suicide. • (3) COMMUNITY SAFETY: child maltreatment, criminal convictions, imprisonment, domestic violence. • (4) ECONOMIC: unskilled workers, unemployment, long-term unemployment, dependency ratio, low mean taxable income, limited computer use / internet access. • (5) EDUCATION: non-attendance at preschool, incomplete education, early school leaving, post-schooling qualifications.
(5)RECURRING CHARACTERISTICS • deficient education and training • deficient labour market credentials • indifferent health and disabilities • low individual and family income • engagement in crime, and • where these characteristics are concentrated, confirmed child maltreatment.
(6) 3% MOST DISADVANTAGED • WESTERN AUSTRALIA (5) • Prison admissions x 15.0 • Long term unemployment x 5.5 • Disability/sickness support x 4.75 • QUEENSLAND (14) • Child maltreatment x 3.0 • Prison admissions x 3.0 • NSW (20) • Child maltreatment x 4.5 • Prison admissions x 3.5 • VICTORIA (22) • Yr 12 incomplete x 3.0 • SOUTH AUSTRALIA (4) • Child maltreatment x 3.75 • Long term unemployment x 3.2
(7) BLENDING SYSTEM/PROBLEM INDICATORS • “THE MOST LIVEABLE, PEOPLE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITY IN AUSTRALIA” • COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT GOVERNANCE TEAM • TWO ILLUSTRATIONS : • CRIME; • PSYCHIATRIC ADMISSIONS
(10) IMPORTANT CLUSTERS OF COMMUNITY ATTRIBUTES • Integration of people, groups and community organisations • Maintaining direction, energy and motivation • Substance and style of decision making, and • Resource generation and allocation.
(11) INTEGRATION • STRENGTHENING: • Sentiment of attachment to the local area • Consciousness of communal unity • Participation in community affairs • Spirit of mutual help and co-operation within the community • Working relationship between organisations in the community • Formation of alliances and partnerships between local organisations, and • Degree of trust between the people and organisations of the community.