Being civic in a small town

This paper presents some findings from research undertaken for a Masters of Social Work at La Trobe University. The research used qualitative methods to develop an understanding of the meaning, experiences, and perceptions people give to their civic engagement. In a rural town, in twenty indepth interviews, partipants were asked to talk about their history of community involvement, current activities, what it was like to live in the town and their engagement with social and political issues and various levels of government. Findings were thematically analysed using Envivo qualitative software.