Internment Camps In Australia

Deciding on a Research questions was a very difficult process for me, I had the idea of internment in my mind, however, I found it challenging to formulate my question from that. My original idea was focusing on a comparison between Australian World War I and II internment camps and modern detention centres. However, when I did some basic research on the topic I realised that the detention centres aspect simply wont engage me enough to allow me to get a good depth of understanding and knowledge on the subject. My second Idea was jut focusing on how the internment camps in Australia affected the internees mental health. I concluded that it would be very difficult to get factual evidence on mental health in a time period when mental health issues …show more content…
I also have visited the library of South Australia, in order to find some sources that I know will greatly help my research. These sources include some novels, and a text containing eight biographies of Australian internees. Sources types I have already used include: websites, novels, documentaries, photographs, newspapers, posters/propaganda, historical essays, and even a children's book. These sources provide a large amount of the information I need however, I am struggling to find information which supports the American, and Australian government’s decisions on internment. Finding a source that suggests that internment was the best solution is very difficult to find yet, necessary to complete my research. Another piece of information that I’m struggling to find, is a description of Japanese, German, and Italian life in Australia or America within the time period, outside of internment camps to use as a control or centre, to base all my conjectures …show more content…
Most of the sources I use are not modern and therefore are not as reliable as some others may be. Primary are in little numbers, because at the time the camps were entirely controlled by the government and therefore they controlled public opinion and press coverage. I also found it very challenging to write a survey, which would actually help my research. As a direct consequence of my question being historical it is very difficult to gain any information from the general publics opinion seventy years after the event. A large majority of people completing my survey will only have a very basic knowledge on the subject and therefore cannot be relied upon as a legitimate source. I’ve overcome these challenges by simply understanding that everyone has these issues, sometimes the standard process isn’t what your research needs to progress. The survey format simply doesn’t work for my question, however, the interview format works incredibly well for its historical nature. There are always alternatives to the formats that simply don’t