Evaluation of the preventing lateral violence workshop in Adelaide, South Australia: Phase two qualitative aspects

Abstract

Lateral violence describes how members of oppressed groups direct their dissatisfaction toward each other. This inward deflection has been associated with Indigenous communities around the world and has shown to be destructive. The focus of this research concerns Aboriginal Strait Islander people in Adelaide, South Australia, as part of an evaluation of the preventing lateral violence workshops. The overall evaluation comprised both quantitative and qualitative components. This article reports on qualitative data, from interviews with seven Aboriginal participants, post workshop. These interviews, examined their ways of dealing with and strategizing to prevent lateral violence in various contexts as well as suggestions for improvements to the workshops. There were several interpretive themes that emerged from these interviews. This paper reports on the three main themes: improvements to workshops; participant support needs and their strategies to prevent lateral violence in their contexts. The information complemented and provided a deeper understanding of the phase one evaluation. It is hoped that such evaluation provides robust evidence for workshops to improve and be maintained as a useful resource for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to prevent lateral violence.