Massey Documents by Type

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

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.Family policy

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Social workers' perspectives : how can children and young people who have had contact with both Care and Protection and Mental Health Services be supported to experience positive outcomes? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2018) Mounter, Jessica
    This thesis explored social workers’ perspectives on how children and young people who have had contact with both care and protection and mental health services can be supported to experience positive outcomes. Through thematically analysing semi-structured interviews conducted with social workers, it examined the barriers to positive outcomes and the ways in which social workers are able to utilise practice approaches which can make a positive difference in the lives of children and young people. A particular focus was given to the ways that neoliberal beliefs shaped the policy environment that governed social work practice under the Fifth National-led Coalition Government between 2008 and 2017. The thesis found that, even in this environment, social workers were able to choose to practice according to social work approaches that make a difference; particularly strength-based practice, child centred practice, focusing on family, and collaboration. The findings of this thesis imply that social workers can make a difference regardless of the policies that govern them. However, barriers and gaps in services cannot be overcome by social work practice alone and need attention from policy makers. In particular, effective intervention for complex trauma that takes into account the long developmental course that trauma related difficulties take and involves both clinical and family-based interventions needs to be prioritised by policy makers.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Dissolution of marriage : public policy and "the family-apart" : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1999) Greenwood, Gaye Annette
    Policy making is a process which involves negotiation and reconciliation of the economic interests and well-being of citizens. Similarly dissolution of marriage is a process of negotiation and conciliation. At the level of the family, economic resources and the social and emotional needs of adults and children are negotiated. This thesis applies Considine's value-critical model of the policy process to the laws which have governed dissolution of marriage for families in Aotearoa New Zealand since 1840. The study has a dual purpose. One purpose is to illuminate the values which underpin dissolution policies and the second purpose is to explore the impact that contemporary policies have on family members. This qualitative study examines the policies in the context of the experiences of seven mid-life Pakeha women from long term marriages with dependent children. Legal professionals, judges and political actors share their respective professional experiences of implementing and making dissolution policy. Literature is analysed within a policy framework that includes policy actors, the policy culture, the political economy and policy institutions. Policy documents, statutes, court cases, parliamentary debates and research studies are examined and integrated with themes that have emerged, in chronological order. In this study the participants experiences and professional observations identify two important policy principles, gender equality and economic independence following dissolution. Those two principles are reconciled by policy makers at the level of the law and family members at the level of daily life. Some women from long term traditional marriages find that economic outcomes are not equal on dissolution when they have foregone employment to provide primary care giving for the children of the marriage. During the study it emerged that some men find custody and care arrangements difficult when they have foregone parenting for paid employment during marriage. The equal sharing of these advantages and disadvantages of marriage are at the heart of disagreement during the transition from a nuclear family to a family-apart. Drawing from the literature and the findings seven key areas for the consideration of families and policy makers emerge. They include the interests of the children, equality, economic independence, property, maintenance, conflict, and the legal process.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Queer(y)ing the family : an investigation into theories of family : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Women's Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1998) Hartley, Martine Jane
    Within society there are many varieties of family arrangements, however some New Zealand social policies overlook any groups which do not reflect the dominant family type. Certain aspects of social policy prevent their recognition, preventing the receipt of state welfare assistance. I argue provision exists for primarily one type of family group: the heterosexual nuclear family. Beginning with the definition of the New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings (Statistics New Zealand, 1994), I examine the implications that such a narrow definition may hold for alternatives to the dominant heterosexual model. This discussion develops into an examination of the construction of our social policy and the underlying ideologies which inform such policy. Specifically I examine some of the literature from a sociology of the family and provide an explanation for the disturbing fact that in New Zealand society it would appear that families which do not fit the definition outlined above are rendered invisible. This research engages with theoretical material to examine both the construction and ideology of New Zealand social policy. Given the current trend towards greater choice for the individual, the important nature of such research is emphasised. I refer to the concern of the New Zealand Income Support Service that a woman who chooses to become pregnant outside of a couple relationship, and then requires income support assistance may be viewed as having become pregnant for financial gain. Alongside this, I examine the ideology of the deserving and undeserving poor which underpins much of New Zealand's welfare history and defines who is deemed worthy of assistance.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The nature and role of the extended family in New Zealand, and its relationship with the State : based on a study of a provincial city : a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at School of Social Policy and Social Work, Massey University
    (Massey University, 2000) McPherson, Mervyl J.
    In New Zealand there is a widespread perception that European/Pakeha do not have extended families in the way that Maori and Pacific Islands' cultures do. Yet in recent years social policy has been moving away from reliance on the state towards increasing reliance on one's self and one's family. This study uses survey research, a focus group, demographic analysis and policy analysis to investigate the nature of the extended family in predominantly European/Pakeha New Zealand, and perceptions of the respective roles of the family and the state. Discrepancies are identified between what families are doing, what people think they should be doing, and what policy assumes they will do. The key factors affecting the supply of and demand for extended family support are identified and the trends in these analysed. These issues are then integrated in order to assess the implications for policy and the impact of policies on families and the intergenerational social contract. This thesis found that the predominantly European/Pakeha society of New Zealand does have extended families, in the modified sense rather than the classical sense, as categorised by Litwak (1965). That is, extended families which are based on egalitarianism and choice rather than power and control, and are characterised by a loose, informal set of kin relationships involving an interlocking set of nuclear families which may be geographically dispersed and economically independent, but are bound by a sense of obligation based on affective relationships and the exchange of mutual aid services. These family networks are not large, and little support extends to the wider family beyond parents, adult children and siblings. Also of concern for policymakers is that approximately a quarter to a third of participants in this study did not have extended family living close enough to provide any kind of practical support. This study also found that while people generally believe in helping family members, they believe this help should be given by choice, not obligation, and that nuclear family and labour force commitments take priority over commitments to the extended family. A further finding is that in the future we will face increasing demand for support from both family and the state, and a declining supply of family support, especially if policies make it necessary for the young elderly to stay in the labour force. Families are unable and unlikely to do more than they are already doing, which is already the bulk of social support. Theorists such as Thomson (1981) have proposed that there will be breakdown in the intergenerational social contract at the macro-level of the state as a result of neo-liberal policies of self-reliance, particularly for younger generations, and policies which have favoured the older generation at the expense of the young. It is concluded from this study that the balance of support towards the young rather than the old at the micro-level of the family is preventing this macro-level breakdown. But if more responsibility is put onto families, this will cause breakdown in the micro-level intergenerational contract and upset the balance. Thus there is a need for increased rather than decreased state support to complement what families are able to do and prevent breakdown in the intergenerational contract at both the micro-level of the family and the macro-level of society.