You can use two main techniques to help you decide on a topic:
1. Searching
Use the Online search tips to help you search and decide on a topic for your research topic.
You need the following three elements for your project so you should experiment with search terms, link words and search techniques to find a suitable project topic
This kind of searching will work best in internet search engines so you can run a broad search to discover topics that may interest you and be suitable for your project.
Once you have identified your topic, you can use research tools like Library Search, Databases, and further tailored internet searching to trace documents and commentary around your chosen event.
Here are some examples of ways to search and look around for a suitable topic that encompasses the three elements of oppression, trauma and law. Think about areas you are interested in and experiment with your search terms and concepts
(racial OR ethnic) AND victim AND "criminal justice"
aboriginal AND (trauma OR discrimination) AND (law or justice or inquiry)
women AND "war crimes" AND (trial or tribunal)
You may have to try a variety of search terms to discover material.
For the trauma element you could try search terms/concepts like (trauma OR abuse OR harrassment OR killing OR torture OR rape)
For the legal element you could try search terms / concepts like (law OR legal OR court OR trial OR tribunal OR inquiry OR inquest OR legislation)
Be prepared to try various different searches in order to discover topic areas.
2. Browsing
An alternative way to look for inspiration for possible topics is to browse the legal databases like Westlaw and Lexis or look at organisational websites where issues around trauma, oppression and law are featured.
Examples include the following:
European Court of Human Rights
International Court of Justice
Public Inquiries - List (Wikipedia)
United Nations Criminal Tribunals
United Nations Human Rights: Office of the High Commissioner
This list is not exhaustive. There are many more places you can browse for content
If there is a particular aspect of oppression that you wish to focus on, look for organisational or campaigning websites in that area as that can be a useful way to discover events and case studies that may be an inspiration for your topic. For example:
Australian Human Rights Commission: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
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