scholarly journals “You look a little bit dark for my liking”: Māori and Pasifika women’s experiences of welfare receipt in Aotearoa New Zealand

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Gray

INTRODUCTION: Based on empirical research with Māori and Pasifika lone mothers, this article considers the way that discourses of ethnicity and welfare combine to shape the lived experience of welfare receipt. METHOD: Drawing from 16 focus groups and interviews conducted in 2014 throughout Aotearoa New Zealand with women receiving Sole Parent Support, we analyse the way participants spoke of their experiences with Work and Income New Zealand.FINDINGS: Our findings indicate that the negative experiences related to the receipt of welfare in New Zealand are intensified for women who identify ethnically as Māori or Pasifika. Many of the women who took part in the research attributed poor treatment, including the denial of access to welfare entitlements, to their ethnicity. Participants spoke of avoiding visits to welfare offices because of the racism they anticipated experiencing in these spaces. CONCLUSIONS: There are significant implications for these findings. We argue that identifying as Māori or Pasifika can have consequences in relation to accessing welfare entitlements and that ethnicity may negatively influence interactions within welfare offices in Aotearoa New Zealand.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Riah King-Wall

<p>The New Museology posits museums and galleries as institutions entwined with issues of social justice and political responsibility. The relationship between museums and their communities is the founding aspect of this theoretical and practical framework. ‘Path to Accessibility’ explores the ways museums and galleries around Aotearoa New Zealand are engaging with communities of people with disabilities, consulting both with representatives from the disability sector and cultural organisations from around the country. This dissertation addresses a current gap in the literature available on how New Zealand museums are adapting to the needs of these audiences; a shift that is necessary given one in four New Zealanders identifies as having lived experience of disability. It also forges a valuable contribution to the field of museum studies by drawing on theory such as audience development and visitor research, and utilising emancipatory research frameworks from disability studies, as well as conducting original research on an under-examined topic.  The research comprised a multi-method approach to ensure credibility. Focus group and interview stages collected the experiences and viewpoints of existing museum visitors with disabilities. This provided a foundation on which to create a nationwide survey of 41 museums and galleries. The survey explored multiple aspects of disability access, including physical ingress, inclusive exhibition design, tailored public programming, digital accessibility, and levels of disability representation in staff and management positions.  The findings of this research project reveal that museums and galleries in Aotearoa New Zealand are for the most part considering disability access in some way. However, actioning related initiatives is often limited to achieving minimum legislative requirements rather than approaching it comprehensively as part of wider audience development strategies. The analysis of data gathered puts forward a number of suggestions around improving practice in New Zealand museums, central to which is establishing relationships with communities of people with disabilities and their advocacy groups to ensure long-term sustainability. These recommendations have global applicability for museum practice as comparative overseas studies demonstrate strong similarities to the New Zealand context.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 32-44
Author(s):  
Yvonne Gordon ◽  
Christine Stephens

INTRODUCTION: Methamphetamine (MA) misuse is a recognised health issue in Aotearoa New Zealand, and there is a lack of appropriate treatment available for individuals who are methamphetamine dependent. This exploratory study, undertaken in 2019, sought to gain insight from individuals in Aotearoa who have experienced MA dependence and now identify as being in recovery, to discover which strategies, approaches or treatment appeared helpful in their recovery.METHODS: The participants in the study were seven adults (New Zealand European, Samoan and Māori ethnicity) who had abstained from methamphetamine for six months or more. In-depth interviews were audiotaped and transcribed before being analysed. The data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, which has its theoretical origins in phenomenology and hermeneutics.FINDINGS: Four themes emerged to describe the lived experience of recovery from methamphetamine misuse: Getting Away, Support, Personal Sources of Strength, and Treatment. Each theme held importance in the participants’ recovery from MA and provided insight into their journey in abstaining and being in recovery.CONCLUSIONS: These findings may be used to assist others entering recovery. The present findings are limited by the size of the sample; however, they provide valuable information on this important health issue as a basis for further research, which is urgently needed in Aotearoa.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Cosgrave

The Coronavirus (Covid-19) continues to reshape many lives socially, politically, and economically. Choreographic practice, performance, and those involved in dance are also affected in different ways. This article investigates the research question: How might the event of Covid-19 prompt the transformation of freelance dancers’ identities? Through a qualitative narrative inquiry, three freelance contemporary dancers from Aotearoa/New Zealand were interviewed. From a thematic analysis of the data, the theme of alienation and adaptability were drawn out. This research reveals that the event of Covid-19 has caused freelance dancers to question their identity and precarity within their communities and shifted their position to advance a sense of security. The stories shared by the dancers revealed that industry practices and conditions for freelance contemporary dancers in Aotearoa/New Zealand need redevelopment for greater sustainability, relevance and inclusion, which could pave the way for industry changes to occur post-covid-19.  


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Heather Anne Barnett

<p>This thesis provides a feminist critique of clinical psychology training programmes in Aotearoa New Zealand. Taking a feminist standpoint epistemological position I argue that most clinical psychology training programmes do not adequately incorporate analyses of gender, or convey an understanding of the connection between women's sociopolitical positioning and psychological health. The central focus of the thesis is to examine the way analyses of gender and other relations of power are included in clinical psychology curricula. The curriculum is important because it reflects and reproduces dominant psychological knowledge and impacts on the way clinical psychology is practiced. To examine these issues, questionnaires were administered to fifty clinical psychology students and twelve academic clinical psychology staff in six Aotearoa New Zealand universities. Some of these participants also completed a further interview. Additional interviews were undertaken with eleven feminist clinical psychologists. Taking a feminist methodological position, my research involved systematic thematic analysis using a constant comparative approach, as well as the use of quantitative analysis. The research findings, in conjunction with attention to the broader ontological, epistemological, theoretical and methodological foundations of the clinical psychology curriculum, highlight the ways in which psychology's dominant discourses minimise the effects of gendered structural relations and continue to marginalise women's experiences, realities and material lives. As such, an underlying argument of this thesis is that clinical psychology participates in the reproduction of gender inequities, and may perpetuate rather than alleviate the 'psychological' difficulties women experience. The thesis concludes by offering ideas for the future development of clinical psychology training which takes a critical-realist approach to the construction of knowledge, offers multi-level epistemological analyses grounded in the diverse experiences of women and other marginalised groups, and locates gender and other analyses of power as central to the clinical curriculum.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-394
Author(s):  
Jacquie Kidd ◽  
Heather Came ◽  
Sarah Herbert ◽  
Tim McCreanor

This pilot study explored Māori (Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa (New Zealand)) and Tauiwi (non-Māori) nurses’ perspectives of anti-racism. A critical qualitative design was utilised, informed by kaupapa Māori (Māori philosophical approaches). Senior nurses with more than 7 years experience were recruited for focus groups. Two focus groups, one Māori ( n = 5) and one Tauiwi ( n = 4), were conducted September 2019 in Auckland. Data were analysed using the framework of a continuum of praxis which included themes of (a) problematic or racist, (b) variable and (c) proactive or anti-racism. Problematic praxis included examples of racism and White fragility. Variable praxis included Māori language and commitment to professional development. Proactive praxis included Māori workforce and reflexivity. These overarching themes illustrate a broad spectrum of anti-racism praxis within nursing. This continuum illustrated with examples is a potentially useful tool to assess and build proactive anti-racism praxis in nursing.


2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bev Gatenby ◽  
Maria Humphries

Recent feminist theorising suggests that we view gender as a “stylised repetition of acts” (Butler, 1990, p. 140) and challenges. In an ongoing research project, we have been following and participating in the career development of a group of women graduates for nine years. In this paper we look at the shifting discourses around the notion of career and women's aspirations and the way in which those discourses reconstitute gender in everyday talk. In particular we examine the ways in which the women create and enact meaning for terms such as “career”, “balance”, “success” and “flexibility”. We take a critical look at changing interpretations in the light of current opportunities for women in Aotearoa/ New Zealand.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Riah King-Wall

<p>The New Museology posits museums and galleries as institutions entwined with issues of social justice and political responsibility. The relationship between museums and their communities is the founding aspect of this theoretical and practical framework. ‘Path to Accessibility’ explores the ways museums and galleries around Aotearoa New Zealand are engaging with communities of people with disabilities, consulting both with representatives from the disability sector and cultural organisations from around the country. This dissertation addresses a current gap in the literature available on how New Zealand museums are adapting to the needs of these audiences; a shift that is necessary given one in four New Zealanders identifies as having lived experience of disability. It also forges a valuable contribution to the field of museum studies by drawing on theory such as audience development and visitor research, and utilising emancipatory research frameworks from disability studies, as well as conducting original research on an under-examined topic.  The research comprised a multi-method approach to ensure credibility. Focus group and interview stages collected the experiences and viewpoints of existing museum visitors with disabilities. This provided a foundation on which to create a nationwide survey of 41 museums and galleries. The survey explored multiple aspects of disability access, including physical ingress, inclusive exhibition design, tailored public programming, digital accessibility, and levels of disability representation in staff and management positions.  The findings of this research project reveal that museums and galleries in Aotearoa New Zealand are for the most part considering disability access in some way. However, actioning related initiatives is often limited to achieving minimum legislative requirements rather than approaching it comprehensively as part of wider audience development strategies. The analysis of data gathered puts forward a number of suggestions around improving practice in New Zealand museums, central to which is establishing relationships with communities of people with disabilities and their advocacy groups to ensure long-term sustainability. These recommendations have global applicability for museum practice as comparative overseas studies demonstrate strong similarities to the New Zealand context.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Baker ◽  
Anna Bull ◽  
Mark Taylor

Within the growing field of publications on El Sistema and Sistema-inspired programmes around the world, a marked divide can be observed between the findings of critical academic studies and commissioned evaluations. Using evaluations of El Sistema in Venezuela and Aotearoa New Zealand as our principal case studies, we argue that this gulf can be explained at least partly by methodological problems in the way that some evaluations are carried out. We conclude that many Sistema evaluations display an alignment with advocacy rather than explorative research, and that the foundation for El Sistema's claims of social transformation is thus weak.


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