School of Social Sciences and Public Policy
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There is a wide range of research activity in AUT's School of Social Sciences and Public Policy. The school has an active research community, with staff and postgraduate research in areas such as psychology, sociology and public policy.
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- ItemTrust Predicts Compliance With COVID-19 Containment Policies: Evidence from Ten Countries Using Big Data(Elsevier, 2024-07-20) Sarracino, Francesco; Greyling, Talita; O'Connor, Kelsey; Peroni, Chiara; Rossouw, StephanieWe use Twitter, Google mobility, and Oxford policy data to study the relationship between trust and compliance over the period March 2020 to January 2021 in ten, mostly European, countries. Trust has been shown to be an important correlate of compliance with COVID-19 containment policies. However, the previous findings depend upon two assumptions: first, that compliance is time invariant, and second, that compliance can be measured using self reports or mobility measures alone. We relax these assumptions by calculating a new time-varying measure of compliance as the association between containment policies and people's mobility behavior. Additionally, we develop measures of trust in others and national institutions by applying emotion analysis to Twitter data. Results from various panel estimation techniques demonstrate that compliance changes over time and that increasing (decreasing) trust in others predicts increasing (decreasing) compliance. This evidence indicates that compliance changes over time, and further confirms the importance of cultivating trust in others.
- ItemHealthcare Interpreting As Relational Practice: Understanding the Interpreter’s Role in Facilitating Rapport in Health Interactions(SAGE Publications, 2024-07-26) Major, GeorginaThis article explores the extent to which healthcare interpreting can be considered “relational practice.” It describes an interactional sociolinguistic study conducted in Australia, based on video recordings of two naturally occurring interpreted general practice consultations. Participants were hearing Australian Sign Language (Auslan)/English interpreters, deaf patients, and hearing doctors. Analysis of these recordings was supplemented by reflective interviews with participants. The study examines the ways in which interpreters facilitate good working relationships between participants, and to explore the extent to which their decision-making is driven by relational considerations. The analyses presented in this article provide evidence that relational work is an important aspect of the healthcare interpreter’s role. Some of the ways in which it is achieved, however, may challenge our ideas about “appropriate” interpreter behaviour. Thus, the skilled and experienced interpreters in the study were seen to modify face threats, directly influence the flow of interaction, and actively facilitate social talk and humour, occasionally even engaging in it themselves. It is argued that interpreters’ decisions can only be understood within the discursive context in which they occur, and such behaviour can highlight interpreters’ attentiveness to the maintenance of good rapport.
- ItemA Critical Comparative Evaluation of English Course Books in EFL Context(Macrothink Institute, Inc., 2014-02-14) Roshan, SaeedChoosing an English course book which suits students in EFL/ESL settings is always a contentious issue for practitioners. This study is an investigation into the comparative critical evaluation of New Interchange Intro and New Headway Pre-intermediate series - two well-known series employed in EFL/EFL contexts - and some teaching challenges the teachers encounter during teaching these books in the context of Iran. The evaluation is done in terms of two assumptions; firstly, cultural and ideological assumptions, and secondly, assumptions about language, language learning and best practice. Findings reveal that both New Interchange and New Headway texts reflect ideological and cultural assumptions through their focus on the US and UK way of life respectively. The pictures and the material are found biased towards the culture of these countries in their depiction of local cities and lifestyles and in the inclusion of subjects. Regarding assumptions about language, language learning and best practice, the books focus on both form and meaning, and the grammar included is inductive and implicit. In the context of Iran, however, New Headway seems to be better for school students while New Interchange would be suitable for students and persons who aim to migrate or travel overseas. The study gives some suggestions for improving the usability of these books in the context of Iran.
- ItemNothing for Us, Except by Us - Support for Queer Ethnic Young People in Aotearoa New Zealand(Emerald, 2024-06-13) Nakhid, Camille; Long, Tommy Sokun; Fu, Mengzhu; Tuwe, Makanaka; Ali, Zina Abu; Vano, Lourdes; Subramanian, Pooja; Yachinta, Caryn; Farrugia, ClairePurpose: This paper looks at mainstream lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) support services in Aotearoa New Zealand, which predominantly center white queer voices and services and fail to account for the intersectional identities of young ethnic queers. Design/methodology/approach: This exploratory, qualitative study investigated the social and professional support experienced and responded to by 43 young ethnic queers living in Aotearoa New Zealand, who were between 18 and 35 years of age. Participants identified as queer, non-binary, gay, pansexual, demisexual, gender fluid, non-binary and trans among others and held ethnic heritage from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. Persadie and Narain's Mash Up methodological approach (2022) was used to analyze the data. Mash Up allowed us to understand the intersectional spaces of queer ethnic lives in white-dominated spaces, the ways in which young ethnic queers resisted the marginalization of their racialized being and took agency to counter actions and decisions that negated their presence and intersectional identities. Findings: The findings from the study showed that young ethnic queers responded to the lack of adequate support services by establishing their own voluntary organizations and support networks. The study revealed that ethnic queer young people were critical of the white-dominated LGBTQIA+ support organizations; they created their own transformative spaces where they found “family” and community where they could be open about their queerness without the fear of rejection and stigma, while still advocating for equitable resources and an intersectional approach in queer mainstream services. Originality/value: This paper provides valuable information on the lack of support for queer ethnic young people in Aotearoa New Zealand. The absence of information on the needs of this group poses a challenge to government departments, which rely on data to inform policy and allocate resources. The limited research and knowledge of this community make them less visible and, consequently, less likely to be given resources. It also means that harmful practices and behaviors toward queer ethnic young people by families and communities are more likely to go unnoticed and unaddressed. The paper also shows that the agency of young ethnic queers to create their own transformative spaces and to challenge the white-centric spaces, which have failed to consider their intersectional identities, has been instrumental to their well-being.
- Item‘It Has Totally Changed How I Think About the Police’: COVID-19 and the Mis/Trust of Pandemic Policing in Aotearoa New Zealand(SAGE Publications, 2023-08-07) Deckert, Antje; Long, Nicholas J; Aikman, Pounamu Jade; Appleton, Nayantara Sheoran; Davies, Sharyn; Fehoko, Edmond; Holroyd, Eleanor; Jivraj, Naseem; Laws, Megan; Martin, Nelly; Roguski, Michael; Simpson, Nikita; Sterling, Rogena; Tunufa'I, LaumuaIn the initial phase of COVID-19, Aotearoa New Zealand was internationally praised for its pandemic response that included lockdowns to control the spread and work toward elimination. Community compliance with control measures was thus essential when pursuing elimination as a policy. Using a mixed-methods approach, we sought to explore whether New Zealand Police (NZP) were trusted to police the lockdown rules at Levels 4 and 3. We analyzed 1,020 survey responses comparing trust among respondents who had been stopped by NZP over the lockdown rules (contacts) with those who had not (non-contacts). We found that both contacts and non-contacts expressed greater trust in NZP to enforce the Level 4 than the Level 3 rules; contacts expressed less trust in NZP to enforce the lockdown rules than non-contacts; contacts perceived NZP more heavy-handed than non-contacts; contacts perceived NZP as only somewhat procedurally just and feeling somewhat encouraged to comply with the lockdown rules and; that unexpected high-profile policing-related events during the survey only affected contacts’ trust significantly. We offer two explanations: (1) NZP were perceived as procedurally unjust or inconsistent in applying the lockdown rules, (2) members of the public and NZP learned the lockdown rules simultaneously. We caution that the unfamiliar character of pandemic policing may jeopardize trust in NZP even among segments of the population that typically express high levels of trust in NZP, that is, people of European descent. We conclude that community compliance with pandemic control measures is no matter to be dealt with by the criminal legal system.