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    The arc of the moral universe bends towards justice : evangelical Christians engaging with social justice : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2016) Rivera-Puddle, Catherine
    This research explores how young evangelical Christians frame the concept of social justice, in particular relating to human trafficking. In the last fifteen years there has been a considerable increase in the number of Evangelicals who are becoming interested in, and participating with, initiatives that have an emphasis on social justice issues. This is a change from evangelical missionary activity which focuses mainly on proselytising and ‘soul winning’. My ethnographic research was conducted amongst of a group of young evangelicals who were students at a ‘justice based’ Christian training school in New Zealand. Fieldwork consisted of participant observation of the course lectures and interviewing fourteen students from eight different countries. I found the main motivator for the students’ interest in social justice were personal experiences they had with God where he ‘broke their heart’ over issues such as human trafficking. How they then engaged with social justice was mediated by digital technology, especially social media. They were also influenced by changing theology as to the character and nature of God, and what it means to be a Christian in a globalized world. Using Bruno Latour’s ‘modes of existence’ theory and Michael Jackson’s Existential phenomenological lens, I argue that social science needs to allow spiritual beings to be ‘real’ in order to understand the worldview of people like my participants, who order their lives through divine encounters and relationships with God. My findings showed that the literature on evangelicals and human trafficking is insufficient because the experiential nature of evangelical Christianity is not taken into account. Experience, rather than belief, is the primary motivation for interest in social justice for young evangelicals.
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    Christians' attachment to God and mental health : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2007) Duncan, Panagiota
    This study used a prospective design to examine the relationship between attachment to God and certain aspects of mental health on a Christian sample. 1265 participants responded to a survey which assessed their attachment to God, attachment to others, mental health variables, such as depression, positive and negative affect and well-being. Three to five months later, the same survey was re-administered to 437 of the initial participants who agreed to take part a second time. Hypotheses predicted that higher levels of anxious and avoidant attachment to God would be associated with poorer levels of mental health, that the results would remain significant after controlling for attachment to others and initial mental health, and that higher levels of stress would moderate the relationship between attachment to God and mental health variables. Findings provided support for a strong association between attachment to God and mental health, and a less strong association between avoidant attachment to God and mental health. Attachment to God showed stability over time, and stress only moderated the relationship between anxious attachment to God and well-being. This result remained significant after controlling for attachment to others and time 1 mental health.
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    Feminist Christians : a conflict resolved? : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Women's Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1997) Duncan, Anne Frances
    This grounded theory study explains how women make meaning through their participation in the community of La Leche League New Zealand (LLLNZ). It is firmly situated within the context of the need to acknowledge and value women's experiential learning and knowledge, particularly that which occurs through the activities and relationships of motherhood. Seventeen women from throughout New Zealand participated in the study. Written narratives were gathered from eleven of these women and the remaining six took part in a group conversation. In addition, women's stories were collected from twelve months of issues of LLLNZ's journal for mothers. All data were constantly compared using Glaser's emergent approach to grounded theory. Analysis identified a three-stage process and three interacting voices, together creating a basic social process. This basic social process was conceptualised and integrated into a theoretical framework named integrating voices. It is argued that women make meaning through the process of integrating voices. This process comprises three intertwined stages, coming to know (voices), engaging with (voices) and voicing, and is integrative and recursive. The voices implicated throughout the three stages are a tripartite, representing a woman's own voice, the voices of others and the voice of the LLLNZ community. Integrating voices presents an integrated model of meaning-making. The model is integrated through its three-stage process as well as through its tripartite voices. Five strong threads weave through all dimensions and processes of the model. These are: body, mind and emotions; relationships; narrative/story; identity and the practice of the community. The grounded theory integrating voices offers a holistic explanation of learning. It proposes an integration of mind, body and emotions, within the individual and the social, and embedded in context. Additionally, it emphasises that significant learning takes place within everyday activities and in the practice of those everyday activities. These findings have implications for adult education theory and practice where there is a need for a shift towards more inclusive and holistic accounts of adult(s) learning.
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    The relationship between lotu and ako for Pacific university students in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Social Policy at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2011) Havea, Sesimani
    Improving the educational achievement of Pacific peoples is an on-going development issue in Aotearoa, New Zealand. This thesis explored the relationship between lotu (spirituality/faith/church) and ako (formal education) amongst Pacific university students. Lotu is defined within the context of the Christian tradition. The value of lotu is used interchangeably throughout this thesis with spirituality, faith, and church. Ako as defined within the context of this study is a Tongan term signifying education or the formal process of learning. The primary objective of this study is to identify the mechanisms by which lotu influences academic achievement of Pacific university students. A blend of qualitative ethnography and the Talanoa approach provided the conceptual framework. Two focus groups and eight individual interviews of Pacific students and graduates were conducted. The findings suggest a positive relationship between lotu and educational achievement for Pacific university students. The participants described their spirituality as a personal relationship with Christ which was reflected in their active practicing of: prayer; reading, studying and meditating on the Word of God; and attending church fellowship. Spirituality for the respondents was also emulated in their relationships, with God, with their kainga and with other people. These relationships were key motivations for their desire to succeed in their academic pursuits. Linked to the significance of these relationships was the participants’ definition of academic achievement which was beyond the mere attainment of a qualification but also about their ability to reciprocally give back to their kainga and increase their community’s wellbeing. In the midst of the inevitable trials and tribulations of the respondents’ social and academic journeys, their spirituality gave them hope, wisdom (poto) and courage to persevere in order to complete their studies. The findings suggest a need for continued support of Pacific students using the pastoral care model, as well as better collaborative approaches to policy making among tertiary institutions, key educational policy agencies and the Pasifika community.
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    Christian social workers and their sense of effectiveness in social work practice : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work, School of Health and Social Services, Massey University, Albany Campus
    (Massey University, 2010) Hare, Jennifer Lois
    While social work roots are undoubtedly firmly in religious soil, over recent years the emphasis has widened to include a more inclusive definition of spirituality that seeks to mirror the diverse society we now live in. How social work responds to this increasingly complex environment is a matter of concern for social work educators, practitioners and academics, who all share the same aim of developing the most effective ways to deliver services to the client. The evidence-based practice movement is an evolving response, seeking to offer quality research based solutions to be implemented in practice. Missing in the equation to date is the ability to capture the spiritual aspects of practice both for practitioner (in terms of ‘use of self’) and client ( in relation to spiritual assets that assist them). To this end this qualitative study conducted semi-structured interviews with eight Christian practitioners as examples of spiritually motivated social workers. The research sought to explore how a Christian perspective contributed to a sense of effectiveness in social work practice. The findings produced discoveries that concurred with the literature and revealed insights from the participants about the ways in which they sought to practice that were consistent with their most valued beliefs. Using the findings and the literature, practical applications are suggested as a way forward for the inclusion of spiritual aspects in evaluating effective social work practice.
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    Jesus in New Zealand, 1900-1940 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2007) Troughton, Geoffrey M.
    This thesis addresses pervasive ways in which New Zealanders thought about Jesus during the years from approximately 1900 to 1940. In particular, it considers ways that he appeared within discourse, contexts in which he was especially invoked, and ends for which he was employed. It examines Jesus as a religious icon, but also as a reflexive tool for examining the place of religion in New Zealand culture and society. In this sense, it addresses Jesus as a phenomenon of social and cultural history. The thesis draws on a wide range of sources and methodologies, and is organised thematically into chapters that highlight predominant images of Jesus and important contexts that helped shape them. It considers Jesus in the languages of doctrine and devotion, social reform, and for children. It further assesses images of Jesus' masculinity, and representations of him as an 'anti-Church' prophet. The overarching argument is that Jesus constituted an increasingly important focal point in New Zealand religiosity during the period under investigation. Especially within Protestant Christianity, Jesus became a more important discursive focus and acquired new status as a source of authority. This movement reflected wider social and cultural shifts, particularly related to understandings of the nature of society and notions of personality. The increasingly Jesus-centred orientation of Protestant religiosity was fundamentally an attempt to modernise Christianity and extend its reach into the community. In particular, Jesus was invoked as the simple core of Christianity - the attractive essence of 'true religion'. Jesus-centred religiosity provided evidence of a changing social and cultural situation, demonstrating that religious language and ideals could be sensitive indicators of such shifts. The rise of Jesus as a focal point in religion was a response to change that reoriented Protestant Christianity in the process.
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    Being Anglo-Indian : practices and stories from Calcutta : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2005) Andrews, Robyn
    This thesis is an ethnography of Anglo-Indians in Calcutta. All ethnographies are accounts arising out of the experience of a particular kind of encounter between the people being written about and the person doing the writing. This thesis, amongst other things, reflects my changing views of how that experience should be recounted. I begin by outlining briefly who Anglo-Indians are, a topic which in itself alerts one to complexities of trying to get an ethnographic grip on a shifting subject. I then look at some crucial elements that are necessary for an “understanding” of Anglo-Indians in Calcutta: the work that has already been done in relation to Anglo-Indians, the urban context of the lives of my research participants and I discuss the methodological issues that I had to deal with in constructing this account. In the second part of my thesis I explore some crucial elements of the lives of Anglo-Indians in Calcutta: the place of Christianity in their lives, education not just as an aspect of socialisation but as part of their very being and, finally, the public rituals that now give them another way of giving expression to new forms of Anglo-Indian becoming. In all of my work I was driven by a desire to keep close to the experience of the people themselves and I have tried to write a “peopled” ethnography. This ambition is most fully realised in the final part of my thesis where I recount the lives of three key participants.