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    "Me and Mum" : New Zealand adolescent daughters' stories of their relationships with their mothers : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Education at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2001) Nicholls, Andrea Jane
    Adolescent daughters' perceptions of their relationship with their mothers were examined using a social constructionist approach, which identified two conflicting discourses regarding adolescence and the parent-adolescent relationship. The recent academic discourse emphasises the continuing importance of strong bonds between parents and adolescents, particularly between mothers and daughters. The popular culture discourse emphasises separation from and conflict with parents in adolescence, particularly between mothers and daughters. Ten adolescent girls aged between 15 and 17 were interviewed using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI: George, Kaplan & Main, 1996) to investigate which of these discourses they subscribed to. A narrative approach was used to identify individual relationship themes and cross-narrative themes of agency and communion. These themes were very similar to those found in other comparable research, both national and international. New findings included the influence of the following contexts upon daughters' perceptions: their childhood relationship with their mother, significant events in their lives, their childhood and current relationship with their father, and cognitive maturation. Two groups of five were identified within the ten participants, distinguished by their ability to reflect on their relationship, their perception of their mother, and the amount of reciprocity in their relationship. Overall, the emphasis on mothers' continuing support and availability in daughters' narratives challenged popular culture's emphasis on separation and conflict in parent-adolescent relationships, particularly between mothers and daughters.
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    Let's do it better : a look at how the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services works with adolescent girls with problem behaviour : a research report presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy, School of Social Policy and Social Work, Massey University
    (Massey University, 2000) Puharich, Eileen Jacoba
    This study was a small, retrospective, qualitative exploration of the experiences of adolescent girls and their families where the young women were referred to the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services for problem behaviour. The focus of this research was the perspective of the young women and their families. Three adolescent girls and four families who had been referred to a large urban office of the then New Zealand Children and Young Person's Service during the years 1993 to 1995 were interviewed in a mainly narrative style. Literature was reviewed covering a broad range of related topics including adolescence, adolescence for girls, problem behaviour, families and family situations, the New Zealand Children and Young Person's Service, the rights of clients, children and young people and research perspectives and methodology. The importance of the rights of children and of participants is a strong thread running through much of the literature. The data is presented and discussed under themes in an effort to preserve the confidentiality of the participants. These themes are: First contact; the problem; what happened; communication; effectiveness and comments and ideas. Generally the comments from the participants were negative about the service they had been given particularly with regard to the homes where the young women were placed, issues around communication with both the parents and the young women and the following up of plans. The research participants were impressive in their ability to relate traumatic incidents, to appreciate assistance given and in the manner in which they made reflective comments and proposals for change. The findings highlight issues such as the importance of the clients' perspective and the need to be able to assess this, adolescent and family problems, resources, the media, the difficult position of the social worker and the need for evaluation of the outcomes for young people and their families. These issues are the basis for the recommendations that relate to evaluation from the client's perspective, the rights of children, using the experience of clients, the need to share information and theory, the collation of resources and the use of the media. The participants were all interested in taking part in what they saw as an opportunity to have input into creating a better service for young people and their families who were going through situations similar to those they had experienced.
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    Has cutting become cool? : Normalising, social influence and socially-motivated deliberate self-harm in adolescent girls : a research project presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealan
    (Massey University, 2013) James, Shelley Anika
    The literature focusing on deliberate self-harm (DSH) has grown exponentially over the last decade. The most commonly understood reasons for DSH are based on distress relief and attenuation of emotional numbness. However, few studies have explored the social aspects of DSH. With the advent of some youth subcultures where DSH appears to be routine, the possibility arises that DSH may have become a normalised, social behaviour which is influenced by peers and which may not always be rooted in underlying psychopathology, such as borderline personality disorder (BPD), or it may derive from a somewhat different pattern of underlying psychopathology than that which is usually found among those who engage in DSH. This study aimed to explore the differences between self-harming and non-self-harming adolescent girls, and between girls who self-harm for social reasons and those who endorse other reasons for DSH, in terms of social influence, underlying psychopathology and normalising of DSH. Participants were 387 adolescent girls (303 non-self-harmers and 84 self-harmers) from schools in the greater Auckland area. Results showed that socially-motivated selfharmers were more susceptible to peer pressure and endorsed higher levels of normalisation of DSH than their counterparts, although overall levels of normalisation were low. However, those who endorsed social reasons for harm did not do so exclusively and were just as likely to endorse emotional reasons. Social harmers did not differ from other harmers in terms of psychological problems but indicated that the impact of their problems was less. When compared to non-self-harmers, the selfharming girls scored higher in peer influence and lower in parent influence, and also scored higher on measures of psychopathology. Clinical implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.
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    A cross-cultural examination of personality factors associated with text bullying in 13 - 14-year-old girls : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2009) Sanderson, James Edward
    This research set out to determine factors associated with text bullying. It examined the relationship between personality traits and the level of hostility expressed by students in reaction to sample text messages. One hundred and ninety eight girls aged 13 and 14 in Canada and New Zealand volunteered to complete a questionnaire consisting of four personality measures - the impulsivity subscale of the PRF-E, cynical distrust scale (revised), needs for power scale (revised), and the rejection sensitivity scale (adult, short). The survey also rated their proposed likely response to eight sample text messages that covered four themes and to two levels of intensity. Results using Pearson’s r correlation of .01 demonstrated a significant relationship between hostility and impulsivity. There was no significant difference in either the results of the personality measures or their level of hostility between the results of the Canadian and New Zealand participants. How these findings contribute to the current theoretical knowledge of adolescent bullying and the practical application of these findings for schools are also discussed.