Past Graduate Research Theses

The Department of Social Work offers a wide range of expert specialisations in Health, Mental Health and Disability; Family Violence and Child and Family Welfare; and Criminal Justice

The tables below are a historic record of all theses completed by students of the department and include names of supervisors and links to the full thesis where available. Prospective students are encouraged to use these both to seek supervisors, and to explore the vast range of topics in social work research.

Graduate research at the Department of Social Work

Applying for graduate research

2022-2016

Student name	Thesis title	Year of completion	Primary supervisor	Type of theis
Weizenegger, Bree	“What do you do that’s so special, anyway?”: A critical realist examination of the mechanisms of change in feminist-informed sexual assault counselling	2022	Louise Harms	PhD Thesis
Webster, Kim	How do we understand and measure the role of attitudes in violence against women?	2022	Kristin Diemer	PhD Thesis
Wojciechowski, Lisa	Young and Positive: Young People Living with HIV in Contemporary Australia	2022	Louise Harms	PhD Thesis
Krakouer, Jacynta	Journeys of connecting: Understanding cultural connection for First Nations children and young people in out-of-home care in Victoria, Australia	2022	Sarah Wise	PhD thesis
Andrews, Shawana	Cloaked in Strength An exploration of Aboriginal mothers’ experiences of family violence and the role of cultural practice as a tool of engagement, resilience and resistance	2021	Cathy Humphreys	PhD Thesis
Tan, Wei Wu	Population dynamics modelling of child protection populations in Australia	2020	Arno Parolini	PhD thesis
Lainson, Kristina Janet	Enduring anorexia: A multi-storied counter document of living and coping with anorexia over time	2020	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
Beecher Kelk, Aviva Elisabeth	Informing NDIS market stewardship through consumers' information preferences: An exploratory study	2020	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
Steiner, Vera	Parenting while dying: Hospital-based supportive care of parents with advanced cancer	2020	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
Albers, Bianca	Implementation frameworks: their usability and limitations within child, youth and family services	2020	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
McNabb, David John	Social work education in Aotearoa New Zealand: Advancing an equity agenda through democratising and decolonising policy, programmes and practice	2020	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
Donovan, Jennifer Ann	Socio-legal collaborations in Australia - models of service provision and the influence on practice	2019	David Rose	PhD thesis
Kwan, Edward	The experience of Chinese female spouses of problem gamblers in Hong Kong: a grounded theory study of multi-dimensional impact	2019	Jackson Alun	PhD thesis
Thornton, Rebecca Kate	Memory-making in neonatal end-of-life care	2019	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
Mackieson, Penelope Kathleen	The introduction and implementation of permanent care orders in Victoria	2019	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
Jenkins, Dagmar Anne	The Victorian Centres Against Sexual Assault: responding to victim/survivors with intellectual disability or complex communication needs	2018	David Rose	Masters Research thesis
Kellett, Connie Sandra	Experiences of anger following the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires: implications for post-disaster service provision	2018	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
Kosta, Lauren Giovanna	Parenting after Black Saturday: lived experiences since the 2009 Victorian bushfires	2018	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
Smith, Fiona	Identifying the key factors shaping the construction of a social work identity in mental health	2018	Louise Harms	Masters Research thesis
McCoy, Alicia Anne	The practice of evaluation in Australian child and family organisations	2018	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
Lamb, Katie	Seen and heard: embedding the voices of children and young people who have experienced family violence in programs for fathers	2017	Cathy Humphreys	PhD thesis
Levi, Katherine Sarah	The experiences of parents of children who have dyslexia in Victoria, Australia: a social justice perspective	2017	Cathy Humphreys	PhD thesis
Sellick, Kathryn	Responding to sexual abuse survivors who hear voices: a challenge for mental health services	2017	David Rose	PhD thesis
Liddicoat, Stephanie	Architecture and the design of therapeutic environments: the case of self harm	2017	Gregory Missingham	PhD thesis
Lambert, Caroline	Exploring medical students' perceptions and experiences of bullying amongst hospital-based doctors	2017	Lou Harms	PhD thesis
Maughan, Katherine	Complexity and service provision in the Royal Children's Hospital's Family Choice Program	2017	Louise Harms	Masters Research thesis
O'Mara, Kelly	An exploratory study of the psychosocial experiences of parents of infants diagnosed with Infantile Spasms	2017	Louise Harms	Masters Research thesis
Pleban, Alex	An evaluation of an assertive community linkage intervention for patients presenting to the Sunshine Hospital Emergency Department with suicidal behaviours	2017	Lynette Joubert	Masters Research thesis
O'Brien, Meghan	From suspicion to intervention: improving responsiveness to abuse of the elderly in acute and sub-acute healthcare	2017	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
Kiraly, Meredith Patricia Ruth	Family links: kinship care and family contact	2016	Cathy Humphreys	PhD thesis
Huang, Dolly Hsaio-Yun	Understanding aged care use by older Chinese-speaking immigrants in Australia	2016	Elizabeth Ozanne	PhD thesis
Pfitzner, Naomi	Engaging new fathers: learning from baby makes 3	2016	Kelsey Hegarty	PhD thesis
Vassos-Anagnostopoulos, Sevasti	Changing paradigms in social work field education: an exploration of a team-based rotation model of field education	2016	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
Smith, Catherine Jane	Effective allied health teams in hospital emergency departments	2016	Louise Harms	Masters Research thesis

2015-2012

Student name	Thesis title	Year of completion	Primary supervisor	Type of thesis
Kinrade, Trisha Anne	Consumer centred care in nephrology social work: understanding the psychosocial experiences of adult patients living with chronic kidney disease and their carer	2015	Alun Jackson	PhD thesis
Bingham, Aaron Ross	Supporting young people following the February 2009 Victorian bushfires: The views of professionals	2015	David Rose	Masters Research thesis
De Leo, Maria Ann	Community aged care management an exploratory study	2015	Elizabeth Ozanne	PhD thesis
Alam, Md Jahangir	Exploring the feasibility and utility of microcredit programs in alleviating poverty of the rural aged in Bangladesh	2015	Elizabeth Ozanne	PhD thesis
MORRIS, ANITA	Safety and resiliency at home: voices of children from a primary care population	2015	Kelsey Hegarty	PhD thesis
Lok, Marian	Taking matters into their own hands: an exploration of being online and disaster-affected	2015	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
KIM, HYUN SEUNG	The meaning of the lived-experience of couples with a traumatic spinal cord injury	2015	Lynette Barbara Joubert	PhD thesis
BERGER, ILANA	An exploratory study into the experience of healthcare professionals caring for adolescent and young adults (AYA) with cancer when cure is no longer the goal of care.	2015	Lynette Joubert	Masters Research thesis
Miller, Catherine Jane	The predominance of American influences on the establishment of social work education at the University of Melbourne 1920-1960	2015	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
MCFADYEN, BRONWYN	Family caregiving and neonatal surgery: an exploration of parents' experience of caregiving following neonatal surgery for non-cardiac congenital anomalies	2014	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
ALEXANDER, MELINDA	How do early childhood intervention professionals reflect on their practice?	2014	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
POON, WENG CHEONG	A longitudinal study of the health and wellbeing of a population based sample of caregivers of people with psychosis: influences of patients' clinical factors and carer characteristics	2014	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
GRAVEN, Christine Jane	Evaluation of a goal-based intervention to reduce depression post-stroke	2014	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
BARRETT, CHRISTINE	School social work in the state of Victoria, Australia: 65 years of student wellbeing and learning support	2014	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
Webster, Susan Margaret	Fostering health: an Australian health policy and systems study of health assessment for children and young people in out-of-home care	2014	Meredith Temple-Smith	PhD thesis
SMITH, JOANIE	Experiences of consequences, accountability and responsibility by men for their violence against women and their children	2013	Cathy Humphreys	PhD thesis
HOCKING, ALISON	An exploratory study into the psychosocial effects and patient experience of women undergoing treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer	2013	Lynette Joubert	Masters Research thesis
Beovich, Denise	An exploratory study into the understanding health professionals have about the impact of culture on the experience of Vietnamese patients diagnosed with cancer.	2013	Lynette Joubert	Masters Research thesis
Lee, Jin Su	The quality of relationships in the comparison of cultural influence on the psychosocial well-being of university students in Australia	2013	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
Moore, Kirsten Jane	Informal carer' experiences of Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia packages: Issues of access, quantity and quality of care	2012	Elizabeth Ozanne	PhD thesis
Cantwell-Bartl, Annie Marie	Parenting a child with a constant life-threatening condition: the psychosocial experiences of parents whose child has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome	2012	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
Lockhart, Stephanie Jayne	Terror, taboo and transformation: the undergraduate nurse's and midwife's experiences of patient death	2012	Louise K Harms	PhD thesis
McPherson, Vivien Ruth	An exploratory study into the use of Christian spirituality in counselling	2012	Lynette Joubert	Masters Advanced Seminar & Shorter thesis
Manguy, Alys-Marie	An exploratory study into the psychosocial service needs of patients and families admitted to an acute paediatric hospital following a transport accident	2012	Lynette Joubert	Masters Research thesis
Egan, Veronica	Social work supervision practice in Australia: does the rhetoric match the practice?	2012	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
MISRACHI, SUZETTE	Lives unseen: unacknowledged trauma of non-disordered, competent Adult Children Of Parents with a Severe Mental Illness (ACOPSMI)	2012	Winsome Roberts	Masters Research thesis

2011-2000

Student name	Thesis title	Year of completion	Primary supervisor	Type of thesis
Salmon, Catherine Lee	Social work in secure forensic mental health inpatient services: towards cultural competence	2011	Fiona McDermott	Masters Advanced Seminar & Shorter thesis
Kallianis, Voula	Sliding doors: how we can effectively manage the transition from palliative hospice care to residential care	2011	Lynette Joubert	Masters Research thesis
Bishop, Jessica Rebecca	To be a family: changes experienced within south Sudanese families in Australia	2011	Winsome Roberts	Masters Research thesis
HALL, JULIE	Families' experiences of keeping children healthy: learning from parents of children who are outpatients of general paediatrics clinics of a children's hospital	2010	Cathy Humphreys	PhD thesis
Daniel, Catherine Elizabeth	Mechanical restraint in acute health: identifying staff perceptions, alternatives and the sustainability of restraint reduction initiatives	2010	Stephen Elsom	Masters Research thesis
GILLINGHAM, P.	The use of assessment tools in child protection: an ethnomethodological study	2009	Cathy Humphreys	PhD thesis
Western, Deborah Jane	Women and their journals: navigating depression through consciousness-raising, resistance and action	2009	Fiona McDermott	PhD thesis
NEWALL, FIONA HELEN	Unfractionated heparin therapy in paediatrics	2009	Paul Monagle	PhD thesis
Brophy, Lisa Mary	Using the emancipatory values of social work as a guide to the investigation: What processes and principles represent good practice with people on community treatment orders?	2009		PhD thesis
GREHAN, MADONNA MAY	Professional aspirations and consumer expectations: nurses, midwives, and women's health	2009		PhD thesis
Zuluaga, Beatrice Harrison	Impact of multiple sclerosis on committed caring relationships: the experience of twelve spousal carepartners dealing with this "uninvited guest"	2008		PhD thesis
HAMPSON, RALPH	Setting policy in concrete: the impact of the built environment on older people who live in residential aged care facilities	2008		PhD thesis
Monani, Devaki Ghansham	Crossing boundaries and lesson drawing: a case study of safe accommodation program transfer between Australia and India	2008		PhD thesis
Foster, Sandra Joan	Crystallising meaning: attitudes of listening to illness narratives	2008		PhD thesis
Summers, Michael	Great expectations: a policy case study of four case management programs in one organisation	2007		PhD thesis
Lindeman, Melissa Ann	Emerging identities: practice, learning and professional development of home and community care assessment staff	2006		PhD thesis
ABSLER, DEBORAH	Relationships, connectedness and engagement: a study of the multidimensional components of 'good-enough' collaborative approaches for young people with complex needs and their families	2006		PhD thesis
O'Neal, Paul Douglas	A comprehensive planning & evaluation framework for dual disability service systems: co-existing intellectual disability & mental illness	2005		PhD thesis
Laming, Chris	A constructivist approach to challenging men's violence against women	2005		PhD thesis
Bedford, Ian Alexander	Reaching out beyond itself: a framework for understanding the community involvement of local church congregations	2004		PhD thesis
Richardson, Lisa-Jane	Disclosure patterns in children's allegations of sexual abuse	2003		PhD thesis
HARMS, LOUISE KAY	An analysis of experiences of psychosocial recovery from road trauma	2001		PhD thesis
O'CALLAGHAN, CLARE	Music therapy's relevance in a cancer hospital researched through a constructivist lens	2001		PhD thesis
ZIGURAS, STEPHEN	Evaluation of the Bilingual Case Management Program in community mental health services in Melbourne	2001		PhD thesis
Cumberland, Rhonda	Gendered 'gerrymanders': a study of women candidates in the 1997 Victorian local government elections	2000		PhD thesis
JORDAN, BRIGID	The treatment of persistent irritability in infants: a randomised controlled trial comparing anti-reflux medication with an infant mental health intervention	2000		PhD thesis

2004-2007