Massey Documents by Type

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294

Browse

Has files: YesSubject: search.filters.subject.Power Dynamics

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Social privilege in the context of therapeutic groups : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Psychology), Massey University, Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2025) Peace, Charlotte E.
    In Aotearoa-New Zealand, mental health services are under strain, and group therapy is increasingly used as a modality that provides economic access to therapy to a large number of people. Therapeutic groups are typically diverse, comprised of a complex constellations of identity dimensions, values, and characteristics. Race, class, gender, sexuality, and religious positions confer privileges, marginalising those not occupying such dominant positions. Privilege can subsequently manifest as tension and conflict between individuals within therapeutic groups. Researchers have noted the need to study how privilege manifests and is managed in therapeutic groups. Furthermore, research tends to focus on oppression and marginalisation in therapy groups as the focal point to address, rather than on privilege as a cause of marginalisation and oppression. Through semi structured interviews, the researcher explores how eight group therapists understand and manage privilege in group therapy. Privilege emerges as relational, dynamic, and complex, presenting partial challenges to social microcosm theory. In therapeutic groups, privilege may not always be held by those who hold it on broader society. Therapists manage the potential risk of privilege having negative effects on group members, either through pre-emptively excluding some privileged people or utilising the exploration of its manifestations as a mechanism for individual change and growth. The findings support the need for targeted training in the understanding and management of privilege in group facilitation.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Power and multistakeholderism in internet global governance. Towards a synergetic theoretical framework
    (Massey University. Department of Management and International Business, 2007) Antonova, Slavka
    With the advancement of multistakeholder collaboration as a governance principle in theglobal Internet Governance, how to investigate the political process in a ‘shared power’environment emerges as a challenging methodological issue. In this paper, a synergetic theoretical approach is proposed to the study of Internet governance political process, which focuses on the concept of power, and crosses the boundaries of three academic fields, namely, Political Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations, and Organization Studies. This approach aggregates, in a descending analytical manner, concepts intrinsically linked to the contemporary shifting governance paradigm (i.e. governmentality, global governance, global public-policy networks, shared power, multistakeholder collaboration). In addition, such an approach brings the collaborative process into focus (rather than the decisions it leads to) by accentuating the productive potential of a collaboration based on the ‘shared power’ formula. Each of those theoretical reflections on shifting power relations provides building elements for a synergetic theoretical framework that can be, and has been, applied to the investigation of the emergent Internet governance regime. As a result, stakeholder alliances can be mapped, instances of power dynamics can be discerned, and some longitudinal tangible and intangible outcomes of the multistakeholder collaboration can be envisioned.