Neville Robertson

Women's Experience of Emotional Abuse in Intimate Relationships: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT A qualitative study was conducted to examine womens experience of emotional abuse within the context of heterosexual relationships from a feminist perspective. Memory-work was used to collect and analyse data from seven women and findings indicate that being routinely subordinated by men has long-term and negative consequences for womens emotional health. Furthermore, results suggest that these women often perceived their partners to expect to be in positions of authority and to set the rules and standards in the relationship, as is commonly associated with the male gendered role. Similarly, such men are perceived as expecting special privileges, such as being seen to be right, and are often seen as behaving in a self-righteous manner. How ever, such expectations were not always described as being made overt. Similarities and differences in the way mens perceived behaviour impacted the women will be considered. Finally, the process of how the women regained their power, either prior to or after leaving the relationship, will be discussed.

Alcohol outlet density is related to police events and motor vehicle accidents in Manukau City, New Zealand

Objectives: To explore the cross‐sectional association between alcohol outlet density and police events in Manukau City, New Zealand.

The Development and Evaluation of a Sexual Harassment Contact Person Training Package

The effectiveness of a training package to teach listening and helping skills to three pairs of sexual harassment contact person trainees was evaluated, using a multiple probe design. The training package comprised five components: behavioral specifications, rationales, situational examples, study guides, and role-play exercises, provided in a written instructional format based on guidelines developed by Fawcett and Fletcher. Evaluation involved pre-and posttraining measures of target behavior occurrence, relevant knowledge, and self-rated confidence level. Ratings of performance were also provided by potential consumers as a measure of social validity. Findings indicated that the package was effective in increasing listening and helping skills, knowledge, and confidence of trainees and that skills generalized to new simulated cases and were maintained over time.

A conceptual framework for the analysis of social policies

Increasing the involvement of psychologists in policy analysis requires clarification of the specific contributions that can be made by community psychologists and other applied social scientists. The present article examines the nature of social policies and outlines a model of the policy-making process. The “cycle of social policy” model emphasizes the stages of problem identification, policy formulation and adoption, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination. Attention is focused on the sociopolitical and organizational contexts in which policy processes occur. Potential roles for psychologists and other social scientists in policy making are identified. Two New Zealand examples, police intervention in domestic disputes and legislation intended to reduce imprisonment rates, are used to illustrate the application of the model.

“We’re like the sex CPR dummies”: Young women’s understandings of (hetero)sexual pleasure in university accommodation

In this article, we explore the discourses that affect young women’s experiences of (hetero)sexual pleasure, drawing on data from focus groups with young women and young men who lived within a university residential setting in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Here we focus on the gendered understandings among the participants that prioritise men’s sexual pleasure and largely position women as the means of achieving that pleasure. The young women spoke of multiple barriers to gaining equality during (hetero)sexual experiences, with key issues being the coital imperative and women’s supposed sexual passivity. In challenging these barriers, the young women described various tactics used to resist their subordinate position. However, the women often placed the onus of responsibility for dismantling these barriers on themselves, thus bearing the burden of responsibility for not only young men’s sexual pleasure but also their own.

Shame and Resilience: A New Zealand Based Exploration of Resilient Responses to Shame

Shame can be a powerful and evocative experience. It can contribute to the development of mental illnesses, such as depressive, anxiety, and eating disorders. Shame can also contribute to social problems, such as violent crime. However, shame is experienced by almost everyone, and not everyone experiences such long-lasting negative effects. This chapter explores responses to shame, with an emphasis on resilience. We address the key question of why and how some people are devastated by shame, while others become resilient in the face of shame. Our research was conducted in New Zealand, and the findings represent the experiences of a selection of Pākehā New Zealanders.

Māori men, relationships, and everyday practices: towards broadening domestic violence research:

Relationships are central to the health and wellbeing of Māori (indigenous people of New Zealand). Through processes of colonisation, cultural ways of relatedness embedded within Māori social structures experienced disruption and were reshaped over decades of assimilation. Māori knowledge and everyday practices that assisted in protecting Māori from societal problems, such as domestic violence, began to dwindle. In contemporary New Zealand, Māori are over-represented in domestic violence statistics. Utilising an auto-ethnographic approach and case studies, our research focuses on five Māori men’s experiences within intimate relationships and whānau (extended family) life. A significant feature of this research is that it provides insights into the ways Māori men draw on their cultural ways-of-being to enhance intimate relationships and maintain bonds within whānau and community life to forge new ways-of-being. Such insights have the potential to inform preventative measures against domestic violence within Māori communities.