title: Psychosocial pathways to inconsistent condom use among male sex workers: personality, drug misuse and criminality

authors: Cortez, Fernanda C. Prado

subjects: Brazil

abstract: Background: This research compared street male sex workers in Santo André, Brazil, that reported consistent condom use with those that revealed inconsistent condom use with their clients, concerning personality aspects, impulsiveness, alcohol and drug consumption, depressive symptoms, sociodemographic data and criminal involvement. Methods: Eighty-six male sex workers were evaluated in face-to-face interviews at their place of work. A ‘snowball’ sampling procedure was used to access this hard-to-reach population. Findings: Male sex workers with inconsistent condom use showed greater involvement with criminal activities, higher reward dependence level and more frequent self-report of being HIV-positive. Conclusions: Conceptualisation of male sex workers’ psychological characteristics may be required where HIV risk is not only attributed to sex work per se, but to other aspects such as personality-related factors and negative identity.

text: Psychosocial pathways to inconsistent condom use among male sex workers: personality, drug misuse and criminality Background: This research compared street male sex workers in Santo André, Brazil, that reported consistent condom use with those that revealed inconsistent condom use with their clients, concerning personality aspects, impulsiveness, alcohol and drug consumption, depressive symptoms, sociodemographic data and criminal involvement. Methods: Eighty-six male sex workers were evaluated in face-to-face interviews at their place of work. A ‘snowball’ sampling procedure was used to access this hard-to-reach population. Findings: Male sex workers with inconsistent condom use showed greater involvement with criminal activities, higher reward dependence level and more frequent self-report of being HIV-positive. Conclusions: Conceptualisation of male sex workers’ psychological characteristics may be required where HIV risk is not only attributed to sex work per se, but to other aspects such as personality-related factors and negative identity.

year: 2011

title: Sites of value? Discourses of religion and spirituality in the production of a New Zealand film and television series

authors: Hardy, Ann

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: This interdisciplinary study examines the nature of the discourses of religion and spirituality circulating in and around the production of a feature film, Saving Grace and a television mini-series, The Chosen, made and released in New Zealand during the period 1997-1999. Its interest is in the manner in which discourses of religion and spirituality are enlisted and modified in the process of mediation for public screening.
Drawing on various insights derived from post-structuralist theory, and informed by recent work in the sociology of religion, the study operates within a modified tripartite model which balances information about the production context of the projects with text-interpretation, and analysis of media constructions (or reviews) of the text. Initially, a description of the complex socio-historical context in which the texts are situated, both globally and locally, is developed. The manner in which selected members of the production teams for the two projects understood meanings around religion and spirituality is then explored through the discursive analysis of material gained by the process of depth-interviewing. The production of the projects was followed over an extended time-duration, in order to ascertain whether those understandings changed under the many influences constituting the conditions of production. The second aspect of the analysis is interpretation of the texts themselves through an analysis of their narrative and generic structures, as well as their discursive content. Finally, responses and evaluations of the text by, in the case of Saving Grace, a series of 'interim' audiences, and for both projects, by media reviewers, are outlined and analyzed.
On the basis of this research it is argued that investigation of the production of these projects provides valuable insights both into the changing nature of constructions of religion and spirituality within New Zealand culture and into the tensions involved in their textual encoding. These insights are to be found not just in the texts themselves, where professional norms of 'good' production, constrained and limited the ways in which discourses of religion and spirituality could be encoded, but also in the 'personal' speech of the research participants, marked both by a strong disapproval of institutional religiosity, and a wide-spread interest in informal varieties of spirituality.

text: Sites of value? Discourses of religion and spirituality in the production of a New Zealand film and television series This interdisciplinary study examines the nature of the discourses of religion and spirituality circulating in and around the production of a feature film, Saving Grace and a television mini-series, The Chosen, made and released in New Zealand during the period 1997-1999. Its interest is in the manner in which discourses of religion and spirituality are enlisted and modified in the process of mediation for public screening.
Drawing on various insights derived from post-structuralist theory, and informed by recent work in the sociology of religion, the study operates within a modified tripartite model which balances information about the production context of the projects with text-interpretation, and analysis of media constructions (or reviews) of the text. Initially, a description of the complex socio-historical context in which the texts are situated, both globally and locally, is developed. The manner in which selected members of the production teams for the two projects understood meanings around religion and spirituality is then explored through the discursive analysis of material gained by the process of depth-interviewing. The production of the projects was followed over an extended time-duration, in order to ascertain whether those understandings changed under the many influences constituting the conditions of production. The second aspect of the analysis is interpretation of the texts themselves through an analysis of their narrative and generic structures, as well as their discursive content. Finally, responses and evaluations of the text by, in the case of Saving Grace, a series of 'interim' audiences, and for both projects, by media reviewers, are outlined and analyzed.
On the basis of this research it is argued that investigation of the production of these projects provides valuable insights both into the changing nature of constructions of religion and spirituality within New Zealand culture and into the tensions involved in their textual encoding. These insights are to be found not just in the texts themselves, where professional norms of 'good' production, constrained and limited the ways in which discourses of religion and spirituality could be encoded, but also in the 'personal' speech of the research participants, marked both by a strong disapproval of institutional religiosity, and a wide-spread interest in informal varieties of spirituality.

year: 2003

title: Te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori: He aronga motuhake – ngā mokopuna a Te Kapunga

authors: Dewes, Te Kuru o te Marama

subjects: Reo Māori

abstract: Ko te tāhū o tēnei rangahau ko te reo Māori. Ko te ariā matua ko te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori, arā, ko te tuku iho o te reo ki rō whānau mai i ngā mātua ki ngā tamariki, ā, tae rawa iho ki ngā mokopuna. Kia whakawhāiti i te kaupapa, he aronga motuhake tēnei kei te titiro hāngai atu ki ngā whānau e whā ki ngā tāone e toru o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Tāmakimakaurau me Te Rotorua-Nui-a-Kahumatamomoe. Nā te hurahura i ngā āhuatanga reo i roto i ngā kāenga o ngā whānau e whā i kitea mehemea kei te tutuki tēnei tūāhua te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori. Tuia, he aha ngā momo āhuatanga kei te taunaki i tēnei mahi, ā, he aha hoki ngā ārai e whakahōtaetae ana i a ia.  piti atu, i noho ki te ketuketu i ngā whakaaro o ngā mātua e pā ana ki tēnei kaupapa te tuku iho i te reo ki ngā tamariki mokopuna. Kāre i aro ki te kounga o te reo, he kaute noa i ngā whakamahinga reo Māori me whakamahinga reo Pākehā. Kia whakaritea ngā āhuatanga reo o ngā whānau me ngā tamariki, i tū ngā mahi whakarongo ki ngā wāhi e toru, arā, ki rō kāenga, ki rō kura, ka mutu, i tū ki wāhi kē atu hoki. Nā runga i te whakaaro kei te mōrearea tonu te reo Māori, kua herea tēnei kaupapa ki te ahurea me te tuakiri Māori, te mana motuhake me te tino rangatiratanga.

text: Te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori: He aronga motuhake – ngā mokopuna a Te Kapunga Ko te tāhū o tēnei rangahau ko te reo Māori. Ko te ariā matua ko te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori, arā, ko te tuku iho o te reo ki rō whānau mai i ngā mātua ki ngā tamariki, ā, tae rawa iho ki ngā mokopuna. Kia whakawhāiti i te kaupapa, he aronga motuhake tēnei kei te titiro hāngai atu ki ngā whānau e whā ki ngā tāone e toru o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Tāmakimakaurau me Te Rotorua-Nui-a-Kahumatamomoe. Nā te hurahura i ngā āhuatanga reo i roto i ngā kāenga o ngā whānau e whā i kitea mehemea kei te tutuki tēnei tūāhua te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori. Tuia, he aha ngā momo āhuatanga kei te taunaki i tēnei mahi, ā, he aha hoki ngā ārai e whakahōtaetae ana i a ia.  piti atu, i noho ki te ketuketu i ngā whakaaro o ngā mātua e pā ana ki tēnei kaupapa te tuku iho i te reo ki ngā tamariki mokopuna. Kāre i aro ki te kounga o te reo, he kaute noa i ngā whakamahinga reo Māori me whakamahinga reo Pākehā. Kia whakaritea ngā āhuatanga reo o ngā whānau me ngā tamariki, i tū ngā mahi whakarongo ki ngā wāhi e toru, arā, ki rō kāenga, ki rō kura, ka mutu, i tū ki wāhi kē atu hoki. Nā runga i te whakaaro kei te mōrearea tonu te reo Māori, kua herea tēnei kaupapa ki te ahurea me te tuakiri Māori, te mana motuhake me te tino rangatiratanga.

year: 2017