INDIGENOUS: RESEARCH

Bringing back respect: the role of participatory action research in transferring knowledge from an Aboriginal mens group to youth programs
Janya McCalman, Komla Tsey, Bradley Baird, Brian Connolly, Leslie Baird and Rita Jackson

Objective: This case study describes the efforts of an Aboriginal mens group to facilitate and support the empowerment of young people in their community. It is part of a broader participatory action research (PAR) study of mens groups. Method: Data was derived from quarterly reflective PAR sessions with mens and youth workers and steering committee members, interviews with workers, and focus groups with young people. The data was coded and categorized, with five themes identified. Results: Key opportunities and challenges related to building staff capacity, engaging young people, giving voice to young people and reconciling diverse community views. Emerging outcomes included young peoples definition of vision and values, social cohesion, personal achievements and recognition. The youth projects also resulted in local employment, improvements in workforce capacity and proposals to extend the empowerment model in Yarrabah and transfer it to another community. Conclusion: PAR frameworks provide a useful tool for facilitating and sustaining empowerment outcomes. They can be used to support the transfer of knowledge and skills from one Aboriginal community group to another. Key words: Aboriginal, empowerment, mens groups, participatory action research, young people.

Janya McCalman Senior Research Officer, School of Indigenous Australian Studies, James Cook University, Smithfield, QLD, Australia. Komla Tsey NHMRC Research Fellow, James Cook University, Smithfield, QLD, Australia. Bradley Baird Mens Health Coordinator, Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service, Yarrabah, QLD, Australia. Brian Connolly Social Health Manager, Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service, Yarrabah, QLD, Australia. Leslie Baird Suicide Prevention Officer, Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service, Yarrabah, QLD, Australia. Rita Jackson Crime Prevention Officer, Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service, Yarrabah, QLD, Australia. Correspondence: Janya McCalman, School of Indigenous Australian Studies, James Cook University, PO Box 6818, Smithfield, QLD 4878, Australia. Email: Janya.mccalman@jcu.edu.au

ecades of policy action have not improved the complex and interrelated problems of Aboriginal young people. These include juvenile crime,1 poor school achievement,2 alcohol and other substance misuse, and welfare dependence.3 In Australia, researchers have been good at describing these problems, but still have a poor track record of conducting intervention research that can show what works to produce change.4 This paper draws attention to the potential of participatory action research (PAR) processes in bringing together action and reflection, theory and practice to develop practical solutions to issues of pressing concern to Aboriginal people. It describes a PAR process with and by Aboriginal men to take responsibility and bring back respect in response to what they perceived as young peoples lack of vision and hope in the face of rejection by the Australian economic and social systems. It seeks to address two questions: to what extent can one Aboriginal community initiative facilitate and support the empowerment of another community group, and what are the opportunities and challenges in transferring knowledge and skills using PAR?

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BACKGROUND
Yarrabah was recently ranked Queenslands most disadvantaged local government area based on income, job status, occupation, personal qualifications, service availability and housing conditions.5 Although it is just 50 kilometres over the hill from Cairns, only one in five adults have full-time employment and family incomes are 55% of the Australian median. Two in five families have only one parent and approximately 500 of the 3000 residents are young (defined here as 1017 years).5 The traditional owners of Yarrabah are the Gunganghi and Yindinji peoples but 80% of residents are descendants of people relocated as part of the stolen generations. From 1983 to 1996, Yarrabah experienced three tragic waves of suicide within which 22 people died. These prompted community-led responses including the establishment of a crisis intervention group, funding for two life promotion workers, the closure of the alcohol canteen, and a feasibility study for a multipurpose healthcare service.6 A voluntary mens support group was formed in 1997 to address the needs of men at risk of suicide.7 The mens group initially focused on providing weekly support meetings. In 2001, a University of Queensland (UQ) researcher introduced the Family Wellbeing (FWB) program at one of these meetings. An Aboriginal-developed empowerment program, FWB aims to build communication, problem solving, conflict resolution and other necessary skills to enable individuals to take greater control and responsibility for family, work and community life.8 The positive response by men engendered an enduring partnership between the auspicing organization (Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service), UQ and James Cook University. PAR processes were established, with university researchers mentoring community-based workers.8 One such activity was the development of mens vision statement, values (the dos and donts), and a strategic plan. Operating for more than a decade now, mens group evaluations have reported modest but significant changes in mens personal development and in their response to family responsibilities, especially housework, and behaviour changes such as reduced drinking, and efforts to stop violent behaviour. Men also reported a renewed hope for the future, vision for a better community and mastery over their environment.7 Yarrabah community members reported a perception that mens group is the right way to go and may be helping to prevent suicides; combat family violence and prevent reoffending.7 From the peak of suicides in the mid-1990s, both completed suicides and attempted self-harm fell.6 Reflection by mens group members through PAR on their own lack of opportunity, lack of achievement, struggles with identity, and consequent sense of hopelessness, low self-esteem and (past) anti-social

behaviour prompted them to consider means to prevent the same patterns in young people (particularly boys). Observing young peoples high levels of marijuana use, school absenteeism, and lack of respect for authority, mens group leaders suggested at a local managers meeting in October 2004 that men, as mentors, fathers, uncles and grandfathers, could influence young peoples development. The men suggested that the teenage years were traditionally a time for young people to be initiated and proposed teaching them traditional hunting, fishing, camping, dance, song, and bush medicine. Other stakeholders at the meeting were supportive.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIVE YOUTH PROJECTS

With the assistance of university partners, mens group leaders then wrote successful funding submissions for the five projects. As Figure 1 details, the five short-term grants each had varying foci, goals and objectives. However, they all utilized an empowerment and PAR framework, employed local workers, and attempted to shift social norms towards rebuilding a strong social, cultural and spiritual identity by and for young Yarrabah people and their families, hence contributing towards their empowerment and sense of hope for the future. The key strategies across the projects were: (i) promoting mens role as three-way fathers (for the family, the community and the land), (ii) encouraging young people to embrace their culture, (iii) providing recognition and healing to the descendants of the stolen generation, and (iv) promoting reconciliation. This consistency made it possible to develop a 4-year PAR approach with the youth workers as an extension of the longer-term research partnership with mens group.8 We therefore report on the five interventions as though they were one seamless process, with each project consolidating and building on the previous.

PAR PROCESS
Based on the mens groups stated goal of empowerment, we utilized Wallersteins definition of empowerment9 as: a social action process by which individuals, communities and organisations gain mastery over their lives in the context of changing their social and political environment to improve equity and quality of life (p. 17). PAR is a systematic methodology for studying such social action processes. It is based on continuous cooperation between researchers and practitioners and invests in the recruitment, training and support of the main change agents, with ongoing improvement as the goal.7 In this study, a university researcher used sets of phronetic questions adapted from Flyvbjerg10 (and previously used with mens group workers) to facilitate quarterly PAR sessions with youth workers and the

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Figure 1:

Yarrabah youth projects.

analysed. The data were coded and categorized using thematic analysis.

crime prevention projects steering committee. They were also adapted for use by youth workers with young people. They were: What are the main things you have been doing? What has been hard? What have been the highlights or good things? How could the hard things be overcome? And what have we learnt? The participants defined the local problems, determined goals, then, in a spiraling process, developed action, reflection and new understanding. Issues arising and relevant community indicators (school attendance and court statistics) were analysed and fed into the process. Hence, the project became informed by the PAR process, and vice versa.

FINDINGS
We were interested in the extent to which mens group could facilitate and support the empowerment of young people, and the challenges and opportunities in operationalizing knowledge transfer and PAR. Five major themes were identified, each of which is described in turn using examples from the data.

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BUILDING YOUTH WORKER CAPACITY

The mens group workers assisted university researchers to train youth workers in the FWB program and PAR methods and provided ongoing support to the four male youth workers (the female worker was supported by womens group workers). They were also active steering committee members, facilitated a youth vision statement and values, and mentored boys activities such as camping, National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Commemoration celebrations and cultural dance. Not surprisingly, however, although mens group workers had built capacity with PAR

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

The main data sets for this paper comprised: notes from PAR sessions with mens group and youth workers, interviews with workers at the end of each completed project (n 06); steering committee minutes; data from three focus groups with young people (January 2005, November 2006 and March 2008) (n 0 31) and evaluation surveys on completion of the dance group workshops (n 026). Project records were also

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processes, they were unable to meet all of the support and training needs of local youth workers (with grade 1012 educations) to undertake the complex and challenging work of organizing programs, facilitating groups and enabling community development processes. Short-term funding also created challenges in sustaining local workers employment and providing consistent program delivery. Unfortunately, turnover of staff was high and, at the time of submitting this paper, the contracts of three workers were about to conclude.

determinants: respect for self and others, caring for family, cultural and spiritual growth, reconciliation, prosperity, community control, and improving education, employment opportunities, housing, land tenure, sporting and other activities, and services.

RECONCILING DIVERSE COMMUNITY VIEWS

The steering committee included representatives from the local school, police, health service, justice group, and council as well as external agencies such as a Cairns-based youth service. Quarterly meetings provided an opportunity to discuss a range of issues and build partnerships: The Police alone cant combat the (crime) problem. It needs to be tackled by all agencies (Yarrabah Police Sergeant). But given the breadth of concerns, it became challenging to prioritize project commitments and community expectations. The school principal, for example, identified disengagement from school (and its links with substance abuse, gambling at a young age and anti-social behaviour) as a major concern, and asked for assistance with intervention. But youth workers were concerned that policing truants would compromise their relationships with young people. The committee resolved that the project should assist opportunistically, but focus on delivering prevention programs.

THE CHALLENGE OF ENGAGING YOUNG PEOPLE

The steering committee estimated that since 80% of Yarrabahs young people could be considered at risk of offending, the program should be accessible to all. As one committee member said: Its no good trying to separate the good and bad. But recruiting young people to programs, particularly those hard head ones who were disengaged from school, was an ongoing challenge. A youth worker described some of the competing diversions in young peoples daily lives: looking for money for yarndi (marijuana), . . . these boys with that alcohol in their mind . . . thats the kind of peer pressure they get from friends as well. Youth workers used their local knowledge of community issues and family and community links, as well as their personal interests (cultural dance, music, cultural craft activities and sport) to engage participants. Programs were run in the evenings and weekends, and activities were informal and voluntary. With inconsistent participation, it became clear that it was more effective to integrate programs such as FWB topics within activities such as camps than to attempt a structured 30-hour program.

EMERGING OUTCOMES
Stories about young people gaining confidence, increased social cohesion, recognition of talents, and behaviour change provided indicators of individual empowerment over time. For instance, a youth worker observed: Girls are responding to the program and are really interested. A young dancer described being part of the dance troupe, we hold together. The Justice Group Coordinator acknowledged an increased recognition of talents: for one particular kid, Ive seen him go from someone with small dreams and small visions into something quite, you know . . . Weve allowed a few kids who didnt really have a name or a place in community to become someone. He also observed that the number of youth justice orders (mostly for break and enters by boys) declined from 3035 in 2006 to 1220 in 2007. Organizational empowerment outcomes also became evident. The mens group attracted and sustained five grants, and proposals have been written to extend the project in Yarrabah and transfer it to another community. Employment was created for five local people, three of whom enrolled in higher education. Given the long-term nature and complexity of mens groups goal of changing social norms, the timeframe of the youth projects was too short to achieve community-level outcomes. The Justice Group Coordinator, for example, reflected on the dance group project: With regards to the number of years it took to destroy our

GIVING VOICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE

A key principle of the youth projects was to make young peoples voice central to all strategies. In the first focus group in 2005 a Yarrabah boy reflected: we need to . . . find out where we came from so we know where were going in the future. Mens group workers responded by facilitating a young peoples vision statement and dos and donts process (used by university researchers with mens group in 2001). Young people (n 015) concurred that: Yarrabah needs to change so that young people can grow culturally and spiritually and also have the same rights and opportunities as other young people. They stated a strong sense of belonging to Yarrabah, but said the community should become a healthier, more supportive place. They said that despite their desire to take greater responsibility, they felt powerless to do so. Problems identified included: underage drinking, drug use, fighting, screaming, swearing, and break and enters. But they were most concerned about

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culture to the time that its going to take to try and restore itself, if youre judging success based on the short period, I dont think it was successful. I think they needed more time.

Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health and Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre.

REFERENCES
1. Homel R, Lincoln R, Herd B. Risk and resilience: Crime and violence prevention in Aboriginal communities. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology 1999; 32: 182196. 2. Winch J. Aboriginal youth. New Doctor 1999; 70: 224. 3. Pearson N. Arthur Mills Oration. Royal College of Physicians, 7 May 2006. 4. Sanson-Fisher R, Campbell E, Perkins J, Blunden S, Davis B. Indigenous health research: A critical review of outputs over time. Medical Journal of Australia 2006; 184: 502505. 5. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Census of Population and Housing: Socio-economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA). Canberra: ABS, 2008. 6. Hunter E, Reser J, Baird M, Reser P. An Analysis of Suicide in Indigenous Communities of North Queensland: The Historical, Cultural and Symbolic Landscape. Canberra: Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, 2001. 7. Tsey K, Wenitong M, McCalman J et al. A participatory action research process with a rural Indigenous mens group: Monitoring and reinforcing change. Australian Journal of Primary Health 2004; 10: 130136. 8. Mayo K, Tsey K and the Empowerment Research Team. The research dance: University and community research collaborations at Yarrabah, North Queensland, Australia. Health and Social Care in the Community 2009; 17: 133140. 9. Wallerstein N. What is the evidence on effectiveness of empowerment to improve health? WHO Regional Ofce for Europe. Health Evidence Network Report, 2006. Available from URL: http://www.euro.who.int.Document/E88086.pdf. 10. Flyvbjerg B. Making Social Science Matter: Why Social Inquiry Fails and How it Can Succeed Again. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 11. Chandler M, Lalonde C. Transferring whose knowledge? Exchanging whose best practices? On knowing about Indigenous knowledge and Aboriginal suicide. In: Beavan D, White J, eds. Aboriginal Policy Research. London: Althouse Press, 2009. Available from URL: http://web.uvic.ca/lalonde/manuscripts/2003INAC.pdf 12. Iwasaki Y, Bartlett J. Culturally meaningful leisure as a way of coping with stress among Aboriginal individuals with diabetes. Journal of Leisure Research 2006; 38: 321338. 13. Adams M. How Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Men Care for their Health: An Ethnographic Study. Perth: Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University of Technology, 2001.

DISCUSSION
This paper documents the sincere efforts of Yarrabah mens group to improve the wellbeing of young people in their community and young peoples responses to knowledge sharing. Yarrabah men developed locally appropriate strategies to strengthen social norms towards bringing back respect, which resonate closely with strategies for coping with stress described in the international literature for Aboriginal spiritual renewal, cultural belonging, promoting values and traditions, reconciliation and the generation of hope for healing.12,13 There is international evidence that empowerment interventions can achieve improved health outcomes and quality of life for disadvantaged groups,9 and emerging data from Yarrabah suggests that knowledge sharing has resulted in some indications of improved individual and organizational capacity. These promising local findings imply that existing resources of Indigenous knowledge within Aboriginal communities may have been overlooked or underdeveloped.11 PAR provides a way forward for implementing intra- and/or inter-community knowledge sharing and further documenting the extent to which it can support empowerment.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Yarrabah mens and youth workers: Colin Costello, Merton Bulmer, Dennis Warta and Malcolm Canendo; JCU: Associate Professor Wendy Earles; and AIATSIS researchers: Graham Henderson and Kerry Arabena. Funding from: National Health and Medical Research Council (ID 0301022) and funding bodies listed in Figure 1. Ethics approval: JCU (2113) and Cairns Base Hospital (317). This paper is an in-kind contribution to the

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