title: Māori experiences of bipolar disorder: pathways to recovery

authors: Waitoki, Waikaremoana

abstract: The findings of this research highlighted pathways into mental illness for Maori that could have been avoided earlier. The pathways to recovery however, showed the critical importance of maintaining connections with significant family members over the lifespan. Exposure to varying levels of childhood adversity, such as sexual and physical violence, parental mental illness, multiple and/or abusive foster care, and abandonment issues led to acute levels of post-traumatic stress, substance abuse, poor relationship choices, depression, anxiety and safety issues.

text: Māori experiences of bipolar disorder: pathways to recovery The findings of this research highlighted pathways into mental illness for Maori that could have been avoided earlier. The pathways to recovery however, showed the critical importance of maintaining connections with significant family members over the lifespan. Exposure to varying levels of childhood adversity, such as sexual and physical violence, parental mental illness, multiple and/or abusive foster care, and abandonment issues led to acute levels of post-traumatic stress, substance abuse, poor relationship choices, depression, anxiety and safety issues.

year: 2014

title: Integrating education for sustainability into secondary science classes: Practices and perceptions of New Zealand teachers

authors: Gundersen, Mandy

abstract: Global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss necessitate a collective shift towards sustainable living. Education for Sustainability aims to equip students with the essential knowledge, skills, attitudes and agency to meet sustainability goals and forge a better future. It is a holistic approach, yet single-subject school structures at the secondary level mean it must be integrated into subjects such as science. However, there is limited research, particularly in New Zealand, on how this integration is practiced in secondary science classes.

Grounded in an interpretivist paradigm, this study interviewed five New Zealand secondary science teachers to understand their conceptualisations of sustainability and sustainability education. It explored how their understanding was translated into practice through detailed descriptions of lessons and units. The study provides insights into how these teachers integrate sustainability across junior science, the new National Certificate of Educational Achievement Level One science standards, and senior science subjects, while also elaborating on the benefits they believed students received and the challenges they faced in this integration.

This research found that these New Zealand teachers had a broad understanding of sustainability and recognised key components of sustainability education. They saw sustainability as a way to make science engaging and to develop scientific literacy among their students. To incorporate sustainability into science, they had all designed units which included place-based approaches, integrated topics, considered multiple perspectives, and interwove mātauranga Māori, or New Zealand indigenous knowledge. The boundaries of science as a subject, senior-level assessment requirements, and the time needed for some sustainability-focused activities were noted as challenges to sustainability’s integration.

The research recommends that for the effective integration of sustainability, support is required, particularly regarding teacher education and the provision of resources that exemplify sustainability in science. Furthermore, curriculum and assessment changes designed to incorporate sustainability must remain clear about the required science content to ensure students are robustly prepared for senior science studies.

text: Integrating education for sustainability into secondary science classes: Practices and perceptions of New Zealand teachers Global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss necessitate a collective shift towards sustainable living. Education for Sustainability aims to equip students with the essential knowledge, skills, attitudes and agency to meet sustainability goals and forge a better future. It is a holistic approach, yet single-subject school structures at the secondary level mean it must be integrated into subjects such as science. However, there is limited research, particularly in New Zealand, on how this integration is practiced in secondary science classes.

Grounded in an interpretivist paradigm, this study interviewed five New Zealand secondary science teachers to understand their conceptualisations of sustainability and sustainability education. It explored how their understanding was translated into practice through detailed descriptions of lessons and units. The study provides insights into how these teachers integrate sustainability across junior science, the new National Certificate of Educational Achievement Level One science standards, and senior science subjects, while also elaborating on the benefits they believed students received and the challenges they faced in this integration.

This research found that these New Zealand teachers had a broad understanding of sustainability and recognised key components of sustainability education. They saw sustainability as a way to make science engaging and to develop scientific literacy among their students. To incorporate sustainability into science, they had all designed units which included place-based approaches, integrated topics, considered multiple perspectives, and interwove mātauranga Māori, or New Zealand indigenous knowledge. The boundaries of science as a subject, senior-level assessment requirements, and the time needed for some sustainability-focused activities were noted as challenges to sustainability’s integration.

The research recommends that for the effective integration of sustainability, support is required, particularly regarding teacher education and the provision of resources that exemplify sustainability in science. Furthermore, curriculum and assessment changes designed to incorporate sustainability must remain clear about the required science content to ensure students are robustly prepared for senior science studies.

year: 2025

title: Relationships between offenders’ crime locations and different prior activity locations as recorded in Police data

authors: Curtis-Ham, Sophie

abstract: Understanding the relationships between individual offenders’ crime locations and their prior activity locations is important to enable individual level predictions to support crime prevention and investigation strategies. This study examined a wider range of crimes and activity locations than included in previous studies, to determine whether offenders are more likely to commit crime near some types of activity locations than others. Using discrete spatial choice models, we identified relationships between proximity to pre-crime activity locations recorded in a police database (e.g., offenders’ homes, family members’ homes, schools, prior crimes, and other police interactions) and the locations of 17,054 residential burglaries, 10,353 non-residential burglaries, 1,977 commercial robberies, 4,315 personal robberies, and 4,421 extra-familial sex offences in New Zealand. Offenders were generally more likely to commit crime closer to their activity locations than farther away, and closer to those visited more frequently (e.g., home versus family homes) or more likely to impart relevant knowledge about crime opportunities (e.g., prior crimes versus prior victim or witness locations). The observed patterns for different activity locations and crime types broadly support a recently proposed extension to crime pattern theory and illustrate the benefits of differentiating activity location and crime types when examining criminal spatial behaviour. The results have implications for offender risk assessment and management, and geographic profiling in police investigations.

text: Relationships between offenders’ crime locations and different prior activity locations as recorded in Police data Understanding the relationships between individual offenders’ crime locations and their prior activity locations is important to enable individual level predictions to support crime prevention and investigation strategies. This study examined a wider range of crimes and activity locations than included in previous studies, to determine whether offenders are more likely to commit crime near some types of activity locations than others. Using discrete spatial choice models, we identified relationships between proximity to pre-crime activity locations recorded in a police database (e.g., offenders’ homes, family members’ homes, schools, prior crimes, and other police interactions) and the locations of 17,054 residential burglaries, 10,353 non-residential burglaries, 1,977 commercial robberies, 4,315 personal robberies, and 4,421 extra-familial sex offences in New Zealand. Offenders were generally more likely to commit crime closer to their activity locations than farther away, and closer to those visited more frequently (e.g., home versus family homes) or more likely to impart relevant knowledge about crime opportunities (e.g., prior crimes versus prior victim or witness locations). The observed patterns for different activity locations and crime types broadly support a recently proposed extension to crime pattern theory and illustrate the benefits of differentiating activity location and crime types when examining criminal spatial behaviour. The results have implications for offender risk assessment and management, and geographic profiling in police investigations.

year: 2022