title: Swings and roundabouts… The making of child injury prevention policy in Aotearoa New Zealand: an exploration

authors: Chambers, Julie

subjects: children

abstract: Unintentional injuries (accidents) are a global child health problem. Many child injury prevention measures are proven to be effective, yet government and community focus on prevention waxes and wanes through time and across locations. Within New Zealand some measures, such as child car seats, are mandated and enforced while the provision of other equally effective strategies, such as the enforcement of swimming pool fencing regulation, appears inconsistent.

This research set out to discover what influences the government’s adoption of injury prevention policies and programmes. The research analysed interview and case study data using a Foucauldian understanding of everyday practice underpinned by the analysis of interview and case study data, while also applying critical and grounded theory and public policy research. Foucault’s concept of governmentality assisted in the exploration of government actions.
 
The findings demonstrate support for improving child safety from government employees at various levels of responsibility across many agencies. Such support has been provided both with and without endorsement by political decision makers. 

Positivist, quantitative research is the foundation of injury prevention science, but at times can have perverse effects, especially if work to count and reduce injury events is construed as an effort to displace valued childhood experiences. Advocacy and lobbying for child injury prevention are acknowledged by those active in injury prevention as essential activities but are not well explored or researched within New Zealand.

Collaboration has long been recommended as best practice for child injury prevention, because it enables wider distribution of messages and better use of resources. This research identified organisational cascades, where backbone organisations provided resources to other organisations, so they could also act as backbone organisations and support collaborative ventures. Collaboration can be counterproductive however, when child safety practitioners and advocates develop strongly coherent identities and reduce their communication with other groups. Such behaviour risks safety groups being unaware of emergent discourse that undermines injury prevention measures and sets them up to be negatively stereotyped and marginalised from decision making. 

This research highlights how success at preventing child injuries is contingent upon both positivist research and the presence of a widely accepted safety culture, where the use of safety equipment and safe practices are promoted by everyone as ‘the way we do things’.

New Zealand’s child injury effort has been mostly effective, and injuries are reducing in number. Despite this, there is a risk that gains in child safety might be lost, should there be insufficient recognition of the factors that have been important for these improvements to have occurred. There is also the possibility successful initiatives might prompt their premature demise by fostering an impression that government’s support for unintentional child injury prevention is no longer justified. This research concludes with recommendations for injury prevention practitioners and researchers.

text: Swings and roundabouts… The making of child injury prevention policy in Aotearoa New Zealand: an exploration Unintentional injuries (accidents) are a global child health problem. Many child injury prevention measures are proven to be effective, yet government and community focus on prevention waxes and wanes through time and across locations. Within New Zealand some measures, such as child car seats, are mandated and enforced while the provision of other equally effective strategies, such as the enforcement of swimming pool fencing regulation, appears inconsistent.

This research set out to discover what influences the government’s adoption of injury prevention policies and programmes. The research analysed interview and case study data using a Foucauldian understanding of everyday practice underpinned by the analysis of interview and case study data, while also applying critical and grounded theory and public policy research. Foucault’s concept of governmentality assisted in the exploration of government actions.
 
The findings demonstrate support for improving child safety from government employees at various levels of responsibility across many agencies. Such support has been provided both with and without endorsement by political decision makers. 

Positivist, quantitative research is the foundation of injury prevention science, but at times can have perverse effects, especially if work to count and reduce injury events is construed as an effort to displace valued childhood experiences. Advocacy and lobbying for child injury prevention are acknowledged by those active in injury prevention as essential activities but are not well explored or researched within New Zealand.

Collaboration has long been recommended as best practice for child injury prevention, because it enables wider distribution of messages and better use of resources. This research identified organisational cascades, where backbone organisations provided resources to other organisations, so they could also act as backbone organisations and support collaborative ventures. Collaboration can be counterproductive however, when child safety practitioners and advocates develop strongly coherent identities and reduce their communication with other groups. Such behaviour risks safety groups being unaware of emergent discourse that undermines injury prevention measures and sets them up to be negatively stereotyped and marginalised from decision making. 

This research highlights how success at preventing child injuries is contingent upon both positivist research and the presence of a widely accepted safety culture, where the use of safety equipment and safe practices are promoted by everyone as ‘the way we do things’.

New Zealand’s child injury effort has been mostly effective, and injuries are reducing in number. Despite this, there is a risk that gains in child safety might be lost, should there be insufficient recognition of the factors that have been important for these improvements to have occurred. There is also the possibility successful initiatives might prompt their premature demise by fostering an impression that government’s support for unintentional child injury prevention is no longer justified. This research concludes with recommendations for injury prevention practitioners and researchers.

year: 2019

title: Drivers and temporality of internal migration in the context of slow-onset natural hazards: Insights from north-west rural Bangladesh

authors: Kabir, Mohammad Ehsanul

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: This paper examines the association between slow-onset natural hazards and the temporal aspects of human mobility— that is, short-term and long-term internal migration in the context of north-west Bangladesh. The paper contributes to the current understanding on the multiple stressors influencing individual's decisions to migrate from their rural origin, while examining the interplay between factors such as tipping points of migration (identified as drivers of migration), socio-demographic variables, and the contexts of slow-onset natural hazards. The analysis is based on empirical data relating to disadvantaged internal migrants or their household members living in drought-prone and riverine areas. A binary logistic regression model is used to analyse how various factors influence the temporality of migration. Key findings indicate that in the context of the natural hazards studied, financial stress at the household level and lack of economic resources are strongly associated with people's decisions to migrate for the-long or short-term. Based on such findings, the paper argues for diversified policy interventions for different groups of internal migrants in order to address difficulties associated with their mobility to and settlement at new locations.

text: Drivers and temporality of internal migration in the context of slow-onset natural hazards: Insights from north-west rural Bangladesh This paper examines the association between slow-onset natural hazards and the temporal aspects of human mobility— that is, short-term and long-term internal migration in the context of north-west Bangladesh. The paper contributes to the current understanding on the multiple stressors influencing individual's decisions to migrate from their rural origin, while examining the interplay between factors such as tipping points of migration (identified as drivers of migration), socio-demographic variables, and the contexts of slow-onset natural hazards. The analysis is based on empirical data relating to disadvantaged internal migrants or their household members living in drought-prone and riverine areas. A binary logistic regression model is used to analyse how various factors influence the temporality of migration. Key findings indicate that in the context of the natural hazards studied, financial stress at the household level and lack of economic resources are strongly associated with people's decisions to migrate for the-long or short-term. Based on such findings, the paper argues for diversified policy interventions for different groups of internal migrants in order to address difficulties associated with their mobility to and settlement at new locations.

year: 2018

title: Indigenous data sovereignty

authors: Kukutai, Tahu

abstract: Indigenous Peoples have always been ‘data warriors’. Our ancient traditions recorded and protected information and knowledge through art, carving, song, chants and other practises. Deliberate efforts to expunge these knowledge systems were part and parcel of colonisation, along with state-imposed practices of counting and classifying Indigenous populations. As a result, Indigenous Peoples often encounter severe data deficits when trying to access high quality, culturally relevant data to pursue their goals, but an abundance of data that reflects and serves government interests regarding Indigenous Peoples and their lands. 
The concept of Indigenous data sovereignty (ID-SOV) is a relatively recent one, with the first major publication on the topic only appearing in 2016.1 ID-SOV is defined as the right of Indigenous Peoples to own, control, access and possess data that derive from them, and which pertain to their members, knowledge systems, customs or territories.2,3,4 ID-SOV is supported by Indigenous Peoples’ inherent rights of self-determination and governance over their peoples, territories and resources as affirmed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), as well as in domestic treaties. ID-SOV recognises that data is a strategic resource and provides a framework for the ethical use of data to advance collective Indigenous wellbeing and self-determination.5,6 In practice ID-Sov means that Indigenous Peoples need to be the decision-makers around how data about them are used.
Given that most Indigenous data is not in the possession of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous data governance (ID-GOV) is seen as a key lever for addressing ID-SOV. ID-GOV harnesses Indigenous Peoples’ values, rights and interests to guide decision-making about how their data are collected, accessed, stored, and used.7 Enacting ID-GOV results in Indigenous control of Indigenous data through both internal Indigenous community data governance policies and practices and external stewardship of Indigenous data via mechanisms and frameworks that reflect Indigenous values.

text: Indigenous data sovereignty Indigenous Peoples have always been ‘data warriors’. Our ancient traditions recorded and protected information and knowledge through art, carving, song, chants and other practises. Deliberate efforts to expunge these knowledge systems were part and parcel of colonisation, along with state-imposed practices of counting and classifying Indigenous populations. As a result, Indigenous Peoples often encounter severe data deficits when trying to access high quality, culturally relevant data to pursue their goals, but an abundance of data that reflects and serves government interests regarding Indigenous Peoples and their lands. 
The concept of Indigenous data sovereignty (ID-SOV) is a relatively recent one, with the first major publication on the topic only appearing in 2016.1 ID-SOV is defined as the right of Indigenous Peoples to own, control, access and possess data that derive from them, and which pertain to their members, knowledge systems, customs or territories.2,3,4 ID-SOV is supported by Indigenous Peoples’ inherent rights of self-determination and governance over their peoples, territories and resources as affirmed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), as well as in domestic treaties. ID-SOV recognises that data is a strategic resource and provides a framework for the ethical use of data to advance collective Indigenous wellbeing and self-determination.5,6 In practice ID-Sov means that Indigenous Peoples need to be the decision-makers around how data about them are used.
Given that most Indigenous data is not in the possession of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous data governance (ID-GOV) is seen as a key lever for addressing ID-SOV. ID-GOV harnesses Indigenous Peoples’ values, rights and interests to guide decision-making about how their data are collected, accessed, stored, and used.7 Enacting ID-GOV results in Indigenous control of Indigenous data through both internal Indigenous community data governance policies and practices and external stewardship of Indigenous data via mechanisms and frameworks that reflect Indigenous values.

year: 2020