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Commodities, donations, and moral contradictions : an exploratory study of the moral economy of a second-hand charity shop : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology at Massey University, Manawatu, Aotearoa New Zealand
No full textSecond-hand charity shops are ubiquitous in Aotearoa New Zealand, supporting numerous causes, from animal welfare to hospice care. Research on second-hand shopping, charity, and for-profit enterprises often focuses on their environmental sustainability, professionalisation, place within specific industries (e.g. global fashion), and desires to hasten their expansion. However, research into second-hand economies often does not investigate the structural realities of second-hand charity, with research in Aotearoa remaining sparse. Utilising participant observation fieldwork and participant interviews, this research investigated the moral economy of a second-hand charity store in Aotearoa. The study focused particularly on the gifting and commodity forms of second-hand goods, as well as the moral-economic complexities and contradictions within this context. I argue that second-hand commodities can become cyclical or regenerative, enmeshed in cycles of (re)possession, (re)donation, and (re)commodification, while also being continually rearticulated and ethically framed by shoppers, donors, and volunteers as gifts, with a constant dialogue between an item’s commodity, gifting, and possession forms. Furthermore, the ethical consumption of second-hand commodities, as routinely found in second-hand charity, significantly relies upon constant overconsumption of first-hand commodities, a structural condition that also underpins a potential for overconsumption by second-hand consumers. Although second-hand charity shopping facilitates and encourages the moral organisation of commodity transactions and gift relationships, offering an avenue for sustainable consumption, a critical examination of its structural requirements is necessary to truly develop sustainable and circular economies. This begins with understanding that its reliance on overconsumption and other factors of the capitalist economy ultimately limits its countervailing position within them
Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Application of the One-Parameter Item Response Model to the Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale (SCBCS)
No full textObjectives
International research has consistently demonstrated the positive impact of compassion towards others on both physical and mental well-being, with significant implications for mindfulness practice. Based on this evidence, we aimed to adapt the Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale (SCBCS) into German while simultaneously conducting a cross-cultural validation and enhancing its measurement precision using Rasch methodology across samples from Germany, Ghana, India, and New Zealand.
Method
We applied the unrestricted Partial Credit Model to analyze data from a randomly selected subsample of 500 participants, drawn from a total convenience sample of 1822 individuals recruited from the general populations of Germany, Ghana, India, and New Zealand.
Results
Our initial analysis of the SCBCS showed significant misfit to the Rasch model (χ2(30) = 58.48, p < 0.001), which was successfully addressed by testlet creation resulting in satisfactory model fit (χ2(24) = 24.80, p = 0.09). This included strict unidimensionality, strong reliability (Person Separation Index = 0.81), and invariance across personal factors, such as country, educational levels, sex, and age. We then developed an algorithm for transforming ordinal scores to interval-level data to enhance the accuracy of the SCBCS. The scale demonstrated sound divergent and convergent validity.
Conclusions
Our study has validated both the German and English versions of the SCBCS using Rasch methodology. The precision of measuring compassion towards others using the two versions of the SCBCS can be further enhanced by applying the ordinal-to-interval transformation tables developed in this paper.fals
A study of the taxonomic diversity and a phylogenetic assessment of New Zealand Sun Orchids (Thelymitra) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science in Biological Sciences at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 9th April 2027
No full textEmbargoed until 9th April 2027The sun orchids, otherwise known as Thelymitra, are a diverse genus of terrestrial orchids found in the South Pacific. Within New Zealand they are represented by approximately 15 species, although there has long been debate on the exact number, due to the existence of species complexes and suspected undescribed taxa, some of conservation concern. Historically taxonomists have struggled to accurately document diversity of this genus in NZ, and recent and rapid taxonomic revision of Australian species has left the taxonomy of NZ sun orchids lagging behind, and in desperate need of an update. In this thesis I present the most complete plastid marker-based phylogeny of New Zealand sun orchids to date, comprising 15 species and six entities known informally by tag names and thought to be undescribed species. This is paired with a nuclear marker phylogeny, with sequences obtained through a novel application of Oxford Nanopore Sequencing that has enabled the identification of putative allopolyploid species which had previously only been hypothesised. Finally, I present an analysis of the T. longifolia complex, investigating nuclear and chloroplast genome variations within it, and how those relate to the forms commonly reported in the national botanical literature. The findings of this work support the existence of new species of Thelymitra within NZ, although further morphological study is needed to circumscribe these. Evidence suggesting an allopolyploid origin for at least four species present in NZ, which had previously only been hypothesised, was detected in nuclear sequence data. Suggestions for future work is also made, particularly with regard to filling the gaps in understanding still remaining for the undescribed forms in this genus
How (In)Visibility Shapes Women's Experience of Inequity in Prison Work: A Cooperative Inquiry With Women Working in Australian Men's Prisons
No full textResearch shows that women working in men's prisons face both scrutiny and exclusion within a high-risk, masculinized occupational culture. Addressing a gap in theorizing the processes involved, this article explores the interplay of gender, visibility, and power through a poststructuralist-informed thematic analysis of data from 16 women participating in four cooperative inquiry groups in Australian men's prisons. Theorized through Lewis and Simpson's (in)visibility vortex, we demonstrate how gendered norms function to marginalize women. First, sexualization produces “abject exposure,” making women visible against the male norm, undermining their workplace legitimacy. Second, “disappearance” renders women invisible to the norm by positioning them as incapable and forms self-disappearance to protect oneself from exposure. Third, “revelation” occurs when women make gendered norms visible, which participants did through their existence as professionally competent prison workers and, at times, explicit challenges. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of (in)visibility in maintaining gender inequities in male-dominated organizational cultures, such as prison work, and offers a complex theorization of how sexualization, risk and fear, and professional competence operate within the (in)visibility vortex. We also evidence how cooperative inquiry can develop collective strategies for resistance, offering insights for transforming the gendered conditions of such environments.fals
“The Fact [Is] That There Is No Easy Way”. A Qualitative Study of the Experiences of Aotearoa New Zealand Clinicians with Opioid Tapering for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain
No full textObjective: Opioid tapering is a complex process for both clinicians and patients with chronic pain. This qualitative study explored the experiences of Aotearoa New Zealand clinicians in managing opioids for patients with chronic non-cancer pain.
Methods: Purposive and snowball sampling were used to interview nineteen health professionals including general practitioners (n=5), pain medicine specialists (n=5), addiction medicine specialists (n=4), pain fellows (n=3), addiction medicine registrar (n=1) and a pain nurse practitioner (n=1). Data were collected using a face-to-face focus group and fourteen individual interviews conducted via Zoom. The data were analysed using a Reflexive Thematic Analysis approach. Independent parallel coding was done by members of our research team, and the final themes were iteratively developed by mutual consensus.
Results: This qualitative study suggests that meaningful opioid tapering requires a patient-centred approach that considers the individual’s unique sociopsychobiomedical context. Clinicians emphasised the importance of building trust, addressing fears, and tailoring tapering regimens to patients’ needs and motivations. While opioid tapering is a complex process for all patients, participants acknowledged unique considerations for supporting people living in rural areas – Māori and Pasifika and their whānau (families and significant others) addressing social determinants of health. There were overwhelming accounts of clinician distress from all participants especially for rural general practitioners due to the lack of support, conflicting practices, limited resourcing, and time constraints.
Conclusion: These findings call for a co-ordinated, multidisciplinary approach to opioid tapering that addresses systemic inequities and prioritises patient and clinician well-being.fals
Cyborg knowledge production with an AI psychologist : tangled threads of gendered harm, ethics, and care amidst a mental health crisis : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, Aotearoa New Zealand
No full textThis thesis explores the use of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to provide mental health advice and the potential perpetuation of harmful gendered discourses through the technologisation of care. Situated within the ongoing mental health crisis in Aotearoa New Zealand and the exponential rise of generative AI, this study deals with the unprecedented complexities of operating within an emerging and rapidly evolving research field. Maintaining ethical relational dilemmas with limited institutional guidance and reinforcement of human exceptionalism challenged reflexive partnering with AI chatbots to co-produce knowledge. Donna Haraway's cyborg metaphor guided the methodological and epistemological considerations for the study, contributing to the introduction of critical concepts cyborgphancy (the sycophantic nature of AI chatbots) and cyborg knowledge production to facilitate understanding of this rapidly evolving research area. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the AI Psychologist chatbot from the Character.ai platform. ChatGPT was utilised as a research assistant and an emic advisor. A threaded narrative analysis embraced the contradictory nature of cyborg knowledge production, weaving together partial and multiple relationships between researcher, AI chatbot, and help-seekers within the reproduction of psychological, gendered and biological essentialist discourses. Findings challenge the illusion of neutrality, interrogating the AI Psychologist's gender-neutral responses as reproduction of androcentric knowledge bases, reinforcing gendered power dynamics and systems of oppression. ChatGPT's emic analysis confirmed the perpetuation of harmful discourses, attributing this to fundamental design features of AI chatbots. This study offers a qualitative feminist post-structural analysis to the emerging practice of engaging with AI chatbots for mental health support. There is substantial potential for harm to be perpetuated by AI within this context, due to the proliferation of AI chatbot usage and the failings of the mental health system to provide support. This risk necessitates greater scrutiny of AI chatbot use for mental health purposes, education of potential harms, and robust safeguards to protect help-seekers
Phlorotannins from New Zealand brown seaweeds: Extraction, antioxidant activity, and food applications
No full textBrown seaweed, a type of marine macroalgae, is a sustainable resource for human consumption that plays an important role in several cultures, including Aotearoa New Zealand. Brown seaweeds have a relatively high content of phenolic compounds and, exclusively, phlorotannins, which have garnered increasing attention due to their bioactive properties. Applications of these phenolic compounds have been developed for therapy, food additives, material manufacturing, and fertilisers. Among these, their antioxidant property is especially important for the food industry, but limited research has been conducted. This review investigated the nutrition profile of New Zealand brown seaweed species, which are rich in macronutrients, and addressed safety concerns regarding heavy metals and iodine. Phlorotannin content, extraction methods, and their promising antioxidant activities were then compared between New Zealand and global brown seaweeds. According to the current research, they have comparable phlorotannin content and antioxidant activities. More importantly, the potential of applying brown seaweed species as an antioxidant in food matrices was explored. Although successful trials have utilised (New Zealand) brown seaweed extracts as antioxidants for various foods, their widespread commercial use remains rare. The seaweed industry in New Zealand has not been established, and the seaweed is heavily reliant on wild harvest and imports. In conclusion, more effort is needed to develop a comprehensive, evidence-based understanding of New Zealand's brown seaweeds, ultimately enabling the commercialization of this promising resource as antioxidants in food products.fals
'Te rua o te taniwha' : pākehā settlement of the Ruataniwha plains : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History at Massey University, New Zealand
No full textHistorians have generally characterised the Pākehā settlement of Hawke’s Bay as a socially stratified frontier where men of capital controlled both the rural and fledgling urban spaces. A space where owners of extensive pastoral runs taken up in the late 1850s and early 1860s dominated, both politically and socially. Development of rural communities and settlements has also been characterised as being male dominated, due to both the nature of the rural labour force and to the paternalistic hand of wealthy runholders. Based on a database of 769 individuals and utilising archival research, including contemporary newspapers and genealogical sources, this thesis investigates the ‘settler world’ on the Ruataniwha Plains. After the initial sale of land, Māori continued to engage with settlers and government seeking to advance the interests of hapū, fighting alongside government forces during the New Zealand Wars. Pākehā settling on the plains arrived with their own cultural and economic agenda and lived largely separate lives from their Māori neighbours. Government regionally and nationally, prioritised immigration and distributed land to cement control of the lower North Island. Farmers, labourers, businesspeople, men and women then established themselves and their families in an isolated rural environment. Initially, social supports were fragile, and some individuals fell through the cracks. In this context, families became the key social unit and are the research focus of this study. Family relationships could also be fragile. Relationship and health problems left women particularly vulnerable. Tracing the lives of women both within and outside the context of the family unit is a further focus of inquiry for this thesis. Community life on the plains was fluid, dynamic and complex. The ‘settler’ community allowed for an openness, particularly in relation to status, compared to the standard social pattern of the age, where relationships and conventions were more fixed. ‘Settler’ society was often profoundly unsettled, giving greater room for ‘ordinary’ immigrants to have an impact in community life that was larger than their status would imply. Community life was rich, varied and not always polite and comfortable. This study seeks to determine how ‘ordinary’ individuals and families found ways, within the dynamism of the local context, to build social links and develop community institutions
Culpable Ignorance and Causal Deviance
No full textI argue that tracing theorists of culpability for ignorant wrongdoing should reject the widely accepted principle that culpability for ignorant wrongdoing should always be traced through culpability for the ignorance itself. Two kinds of cases are considered in which culpability for ignorant wrongdoing ultimately traces back to culpability for a benighting act, but where it appears that culpable ignorance is not part of the explanation of the ignorant wrongdoing's culpability. These are (1) cases in which the ignorant wrongdoing is a foreseeable consequence of a culpable benighting act and yet the ignorance is an unforeseeable consequence of that act (making the ignorance blameless), and (2) cases in which the ignorance is the foreseeable consequence of a culpable benighting act (making it culpable) but where the connection between the ignorance and the foreseeable wrongdoing from it is itself unforeseeable. I contend that culpability for the ignorant wrongdoing in neither kind of case requires an appeal to culpable ignorance. Both kinds of cases appear to involve causal deviance. However, I draw upon recent work on causal deviance to argue that any causal deviance in these cases does not fully excuse given the lack of intervening causes.fals
Human-centric integrated change management framework for digital transformation in construction
No full textPurpose – This study develops a human-centric change management framework to address the gap between building information modelling (BIM) potential and its practical implementation and adoption in the construction industry by focusing on human factors influencing digital transformation success.
Design/methodology/approach – A multi-phased methodology was employed, combining systematic literature reviews with advanced network analysis techniques. Two literature review rounds extracted key change management activities and human-centric principles. Social network analysis (SNA) was utilised to quantify relationships and significance within the construction industry context, identifying high-centrality nodes in the network.
Findings – The analysis identified training, organisational competency assessment and resource allocation as the most critical change management activities for successful digital transformation, which emerged as central nodes. The study developed a tailored three-phase framework (Strategic initialisation, Operational transformation and Sustainable integration) that enables construction organisations to implement BIM and digital technologies while maintaining focus on human factors. Practical implications include improved employee engagement, reduced resistance to technological change, enhanced organisational readiness for digital transformation and a structured pathway for construction organisations to move beyond current BIM implementation barriers. The framework provides actionable guidance for construction leaders to balance technological advancement with human-centric values, ultimately supporting sustainable digital transformation in the industry.
Originality/value – This study offers a novel data-driven approach to digital transformation in construction by quantitatively analysing relationships between change management activities and human-centric principles. The research addresses a critical gap in BIM and digital transformation implementation literature by developing an integrated framework that balances technological advancement with human considerations, helping organisations move beyond current adoption barriers in the AECO industry’s transformative journey.fals