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Start date: 2020Subject: search.filters.subject.Emigration and immigration

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    Mental health conceptualisations and perspectives on mental health services of Black Sub-Saharan African migrants and refugees in Aotearoa New Zealand : a doctoral thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu Campus, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2025-08-22) Musakwa, Michelle
    The number of African migrants and refugees is increasing in Aotearoa-New Zealand (A-NZ). However, there is still limited understanding regarding the mental health experiences of Black Sub-Saharan Africans. Without adequate knowledge of the experiences of this population, it is difficult for mental health professionals to provide culturally appropriate services. As such, it is prudent to develop an understanding of the way this population conceptualises, experiences, and manages mental health and mental distress. This study explores how Black Sub-Saharan Africans in A-NZ conceptualise and manage mental health and their perspectives on mental health services in A-NZ. A qualitative approach was employed, with data collected through nine semi-structured individual interviews and two focus groups (each with four Black Sub-Saharan African women). Individual interview data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, highlighting the role of identity in mental health conceptualisation and the intergenerational and gender differences that exist. Focus group data were analysed through Reflexive Thematic Analysis and key themes identified included barriers to accessing services and participants’ preferences regarding mental health services. Overall, this study found that culture and identity play a critical role in how Black Sub-Saharan Africans perceive mental health. These factors also influence people's experiences with mental health services. Understanding the cultural nuances of Black Sub-Saharans in A-NZ can help mental health clinicians develop an ethos of engagement that promotes better quality of care.
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    'But we're just the same humans as you' : refugees negotiating exclusions, belonging and language in Sweden and New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2025-01-28) Svensson, Hanna Lena Katrin
    Refugee settlement is a complex process requiring the navigation of new linguistic and social spaces and the renegotiation of belonging and identity. The process can also be complicated by the contested nature of national belonging and the politicisation of social cohesion, as well as by forms of everyday exclusion. Drawing on a Bakhtinian dialogical framework, this study used qualitative data from interviews with language teachers, settlement support workers and refugee-background residents in New Zealand and Sweden to investigate dimensions of belonging, social cohesion, and language in relation to refugee settlement. The study sought to discover how belonging and social cohesion are perceived and experienced by refugee-background residents in these contexts, how they are promoted by the two settlement nations, and how they are operationalised in political and public discourse to enforce boundaries and construct national and refugee identities. Of particular interest was the intersection of public discourse and lived experience, and the tensions and contestations that may arise in these spaces. Language learning and use were seen as crucial aspects of belonging and social cohesion and were investigated both in terms of linguistic inequalities in the settlement location and in terms of the unique language learning journeys of adult learners. The findings suggest that there are significant gaps in the understanding of refugee experiences among policy makers and that discursive representations of refugees, particularly in terms of social cohesion and belonging, often impact negatively on the settlement process. The politicisation of belonging and the appropriation of social cohesion discourses as tools for differentiation, and potentially exclusion, can have negative impacts on individuals’ rights and settlement prospects while reductive representations of refugees lead to unrealistic expectations in terms of language acquisition and labour market participation and to restrictive policies that hinder the settlement process. The thesis concludes by arguing that in order to strengthen social cohesion and belonging, it is imperative that refugees are included as dialogical partners, practically and ideologically. It identifies theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the research and raises further questions in relation to gender, language acquisition, incentivisation and dialogical practice in the context of refugee settlement.
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    Essays on dynamics of the housing market : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Finance at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2021) Nguyen, Thi Thu Ha
    As the largest proportion of a household’s wealth is invested in houses, a household’s saving and consumption is highly likely to be affected by the movement of housing markets. Economists are also very interested in housing price movements, due to its significant impact on general economic wellbeing and business cycles. The US housing collapse is commonly referred to as the trigger of the global financial crisis (GFC), leading to stronger demand from both the public and policymakers for in-depth analysis of housing markets. This thesis provides three empirical studies that aim to explore the dynamics of housing markets. The first essay analyses the relationship between immigration and housing markets with a focus on the regional differences within a country. Among the three housing market indicators studied (prices, rents, and price-to-rent ratios), the impact of immigration is found to be most strongly associated with rents and most weakly associated with prices. A negative relationship is reported between immigration and price-to-rent ratios, implying that in an overvalued housing market, the extent of deviation from equilibrium would have been even greater without immigration. Increased global financial integration as a result of improvements in the specification of trade, innovations in finance, and advances in information technology has led to increased connectedness between financial markets. Against this backdrop, the second essay measures the equicorrelation and connectedness between housing and oil markets. The results provide robust evidence of the existence of strong connectedness between these markets. The results also indicate that the connectedness is time variant, reaching its peak during the financial crisis. Among the studied markets, the US housing market is found to be the dominant shock transmitter, spreading shocks to the other markets. During the GFC period, the oil market operated as an information transmission mediator, conveying shocks from the US housing market to other OECD housing markets, particularly in the net oil importing OECD countries. The third essay focuses on whether capital gain in housing markets smooths consumption. The results indicate that the appreciation of house prices is an effective channel of risk sharing. Furthermore, the analysis of the consumption response to long-run output shocks in three developed countries (Australia, Canada, and New Zealand) provides evidence that Canadian residents are the most sensitive to permanent domestic output shocks and that the consumption patterns of Australian residents remain unchanged.
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    "How is distance grandparenting for you?" A study of long haul, New Zealand distance grandparents and inter-generational transnational familying : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Ellis, Helen P.
    This thesis is the first academic study of New Zealand distance grandparents by a New Zealander. It is based on eight, in-depth qualitative, ethnographic interviews with distant grandparents whose global families live 20 – 30 hours flight travel away. I ask the question: “How is distance grandparenting for you?” My findings complement, to a large degree, the existing handful of similar global studies of this prolific but little researched contemporary kinship phenomenon. The participants’ responses and my analysis contribute to this literature by focusing on communication, the ambiguity of relationships, emotions, ‘being there’ and the practical realities, now and into the future. I bring to this discussion three factors which combined promise a unique contribution. First, I have known my participants for an average of 14 years. This infuses, on occasions, a deeper discerning to the participants’ responses that goes beyond our 1½ hour formal interviews and assists to paint a more longitudinal picture of each family ‘package’. Second, I am a 20+ year veteran of transnational familying with most, not just some, of my family living permanently far overseas. This affords me the opportunity, via autoethnographic methods, to weave an additional insider richness by way of personal reflections, encounters and storytelling. Finally, during the lead up and delivery of this project I lived through some of the most challenging times of my own transnational kinship journey. Rather than keep these family trials and tribulations private, I have shared them, exposing my vulnerability and a rawness of emotion that takes the reader to a place and understanding of transnational, intergenerational familying they may not have otherwise got to (Ruth Behar 1996:14). My argument is straightforward: how distance grandparenting is for my participants is the product of several interacting factors: their personal situation, their distance family and in-country family relationships, geographical boundaries and time zone restrictions along with cultural, religious and language issues. Furthermore, for my distance grandparents ‘Place’ is multi-sited: physically and psychologically. Distance grandparenting is ever changing, evolving and on occasions can be a lonely place. In general, my New Zealand distance grandparents ‘make the most’ of their situations accepting the good with the bad, the ‘pros and the cons’, and maintain an upbeat stance.