|
[Print-friendly version]
 Roy Monaghan
Faculty of Education, Centre for Learning Innovation
Thesis Title: Strengthening and Sustaining Governance Processes in a remote Indigenous community – a constructivist grounded theory approach
Current Thesis Abstract: The proposed study was motivated by a number of stimuli: the researcher’s personal experiences with Indigenous communities and groups working towards self-determination; a desire to document the processes employed by the community in response to the recent changes in legislation with the introduction of the Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act 2004 which effectively elevated Aboriginal Shire Councils to Local Government status; to discover what processes inhibit or enable ‘good governance’ in a remote discrete DOGIT community and the desire to a develop a substantive level theory concerning governance that can be used by a DOGIT community to improve outcomes for themselves and for others living in similar situations.
Indigenous communities and community based organisations have been widely criticized for their seeming inability to effectively govern their operations to satisfactorily meet the expectations of two of their key stakeholders: the Indigenous communities they serve, and the providers of funding (O’Donoghue, 1997; Turner, 1996)
The proposed study will examine the processes of governance concerning law and order in a remote Indigenous community, using a constructivist grounded theory methodology to (1) attempt to generate substantive level model or theory about why governance continues to problematic for remote discrete Indigenous communities and their inhabitants and (2) to inform policy makers to assist decision making in government, but perhaps more importantly, at the community level. The proposed study will involve the use of a qualitative methodology and techniques for the collection and analysis of data concerning governance processes to ascertain the full range of reasons governance continues to remain problematic in these communities.
The actual research process followed will be dependent on the community and will in some respects emerge as the study progresses. It is anticipated the research will address the following questions:
- How knowledgeable are Indigenous community members of what constitutes good governance?
- To what extent do clan and familial imperatives impact on the achievement or otherwise of good governance within a community?
- What obstacles exist in the Indigenous community and within government agencies and structures that hinder or prevent the achievement of good governance outcomes for Indigenous communities in remote discrete areas.
- How well are government priorities concerning Indigenous community governance disseminated throughout Indigenous communities and are they relevant to the day to day lives of Indigenous people and does this relevance have an impact on governance outcomes?
- If Indigenous communities wanted to create or alter current community governance structures, what knowledge, information and resources would they require to make informed decisions about the new structure.
|
