title: The role of helplines in the anti-trafficking space: Examining contacts to a major ‘modern slavery’ hotline

authors: Cockbain, Ella

abstract: Although increasingly deployed worldwide, human trafficking hotlines are sorely under-researched. Situated within a complex systems framework, we conceptualise such helplines as both a product of and an influence on broader anti-trafficking ecosystems. Taking the UK as a case study, we undertook exploratory analysis of potential ‘modern slavery’ cases (n=3,613) reported to a major independent anti-trafficking helpline. We examined who seeks help, why and what follows. Contrary to stereotypes, relatively few cases involved sexual exploitation. Many case characteristics varied significantly by exploitation type. Reports about car washes and beauty services heavily influenced overall trends, likely reflecting intense public focus on these sites. Most cases involved adults. Although people self-reporting exploitation are the core target audience, only around 1 in 10 cases derived from self-reports (with higher rates for domestic servitude). We show how third-party reporters vary in their proximity to the people about whom they raise concerns – who themselves may or may not self-identify as victims and/or welcome intervention. Findings around onward action both show a whole-systems response to addressing complex needs and raise difficult tensions around risks of police involvement. Our key contributions include showing what can (and cannot) presently be assessed from such helpline data, proposing a future research agenda and providing a tangible illustration of what it means to theorise helplines as a part of a complex system of anti-trafficking activity. We highlight how their central goal of victim support can be enabled and constrained by wider policies, funding decisions and other structures.

text: The role of helplines in the anti-trafficking space: Examining contacts to a major ‘modern slavery’ hotline Although increasingly deployed worldwide, human trafficking hotlines are sorely under-researched. Situated within a complex systems framework, we conceptualise such helplines as both a product of and an influence on broader anti-trafficking ecosystems. Taking the UK as a case study, we undertook exploratory analysis of potential ‘modern slavery’ cases (n=3,613) reported to a major independent anti-trafficking helpline. We examined who seeks help, why and what follows. Contrary to stereotypes, relatively few cases involved sexual exploitation. Many case characteristics varied significantly by exploitation type. Reports about car washes and beauty services heavily influenced overall trends, likely reflecting intense public focus on these sites. Most cases involved adults. Although people self-reporting exploitation are the core target audience, only around 1 in 10 cases derived from self-reports (with higher rates for domestic servitude). We show how third-party reporters vary in their proximity to the people about whom they raise concerns – who themselves may or may not self-identify as victims and/or welcome intervention. Findings around onward action both show a whole-systems response to addressing complex needs and raise difficult tensions around risks of police involvement. Our key contributions include showing what can (and cannot) presently be assessed from such helpline data, proposing a future research agenda and providing a tangible illustration of what it means to theorise helplines as a part of a complex system of anti-trafficking activity. We highlight how their central goal of victim support can be enabled and constrained by wider policies, funding decisions and other structures.

year: 2024

title: Taking the road less travelled: Exploring the link between curiosity and resilience with 1NZSAS

authors: Bojilova, Alexandrina

subjects: Resilience

abstract: The pivotal question- ‘what goes right?’ in resilience must be explored further. We need to reconstruct resilience- beyond recovery or equanimity and towards capaci-ty for learning and thriving. This research unveils curiosity as a vital enabler for resilience. The relationship is studied in the context of resilience as a holistic, multifaceted and developable capability.
The primary aim of this research is to understand ‘what goes right’ for individuals who perform and thrive in ongoing change, ambiguity and significant risks, and to study the contextual conditions enabling their resilience. The overarching re-search question asks: “How is resilience built, sustained and developed to support capacity for thriving?” or put simply, “What goes right?”. The three supporting questions are “In what ways does curiosity serve as a resilience enabler? “What are the heuristics individuals employ to sustain and grow resilient mindsets?”, and “What are the contextual conditions that support access to resilience?”.
This research employs the principles of social constructivism as a methodological framework. It uses semi-structured interviews and narratives to capture detailed insights from 35 New Zealand Special Air Service (1NZSAS) members, for whom resilience is a critical value-in-action. 
The present research extends understanding of and applied ways to resilience, by reconstructing it through the prisms of curiosity. It frames and explores the heu-ristics individuals nurture and rely upon to thrive in and grow through challenges and setbacks. This research also outlines the contextual conditions that enable capacity for resilience in some of the most demanding conditions. The present research presents an integrated model of the findings, using curiosity and resili-ence as the axis that shape, drive and sustain capacity for thriving in ambiguity and change. Further to academic contribution, this thesis offers invaluable contri-butions to practitioners and leaders, as well as individuals willing to broaden and build greater access to resilience.

text: Taking the road less travelled: Exploring the link between curiosity and resilience with 1NZSAS The pivotal question- ‘what goes right?’ in resilience must be explored further. We need to reconstruct resilience- beyond recovery or equanimity and towards capaci-ty for learning and thriving. This research unveils curiosity as a vital enabler for resilience. The relationship is studied in the context of resilience as a holistic, multifaceted and developable capability.
The primary aim of this research is to understand ‘what goes right’ for individuals who perform and thrive in ongoing change, ambiguity and significant risks, and to study the contextual conditions enabling their resilience. The overarching re-search question asks: “How is resilience built, sustained and developed to support capacity for thriving?” or put simply, “What goes right?”. The three supporting questions are “In what ways does curiosity serve as a resilience enabler? “What are the heuristics individuals employ to sustain and grow resilient mindsets?”, and “What are the contextual conditions that support access to resilience?”.
This research employs the principles of social constructivism as a methodological framework. It uses semi-structured interviews and narratives to capture detailed insights from 35 New Zealand Special Air Service (1NZSAS) members, for whom resilience is a critical value-in-action. 
The present research extends understanding of and applied ways to resilience, by reconstructing it through the prisms of curiosity. It frames and explores the heu-ristics individuals nurture and rely upon to thrive in and grow through challenges and setbacks. This research also outlines the contextual conditions that enable capacity for resilience in some of the most demanding conditions. The present research presents an integrated model of the findings, using curiosity and resili-ence as the axis that shape, drive and sustain capacity for thriving in ambiguity and change. Further to academic contribution, this thesis offers invaluable contri-butions to practitioners and leaders, as well as individuals willing to broaden and build greater access to resilience.

year: 2021

title: Te Tuhirau i Rehu i Ringa: Translating Sacred and Sensitive Texts: An Indigenous Perspective

authors: Tipene, Jillian

subjects: translation

abstract: This thesis centers on translator cognition. Through a series of interviews and think-aloud protocols (Chapters 3 – 5), it explores the ways in which a sample of translators (both Māori and non-Māori) negotiate the complex issues involved in translating between a local, Indigenous language (Māori) and an international one (English) and, in particular, how they approach the definition and translation of texts that could be regarded as being ‘sacred’ and/or ‘sensitive’. In their definitions of ‘sacred’ texts and ‘sensitive’ texts, all of the participants exhibited a peculiarly postmodern positioning, focussing primarily on perspective rather than on any absolute concept of truth or reality. With the exception of the Māori participants’ traditional definition of, and approach to texts deemed to be ‘tapu’ (see Chapter 3), all of the participants expressed beliefs about the translation process which were largely structurally-orientated. They emphasized the importance of respecting the cultural context out of which texts emerged and of attempting, in translation, to reflect the meanings deemed to reside in the source texts by virtue of the intentions of their authors. As witnessed in their think-aloud protocols, however, when involved in the actual process of translation the translators did not always adhere to the views expressed in their interviews, with translation procedures ranging from one that was primarily modernist and structural in orientation (but also reflecting the careful attention to co-text and cohesion that is characteristic of much recent research on discourse analysis) to one that was primarily postmodern and post-structural in orientation, being highly personal, autonomous and individualistic.  

In the absence of any clear agreement about translation theory in the literature on translation (see Chapter 2), and at a time when pre-modern, modern and postmodern positioning and structural and post-structural perspectives vie for acceptance, each of the participants in this research project appears to have found his or her own way of traversing the complex terrain of translation practice without necessarily being fully aware of the way in which the decisions they made positioned them theoretically. What this suggests is the need for a type of training that introduces novice translators in an explicit way to a variety of theories about human language and communication and the ways in which they can impinge upon translation practice, thus creating a context in which translators are able to make critically informed decisions about how they will proceed in any particular instance, why they will proceed in these ways, and what is required in order to ensure that their beliefs about translation are in accord with their actual practices. Critical awareness of these issues is likely to be particularly important in the case of those involved in translating between international languages such as English and more localized, Indigenous languages such as Māori, where discontinuity in the transmission of the language has occurred and where, therefore, texts that are deemed to be of particular significance would otherwise be unavailable to those for whom the texts form part of their cultural heritage.

text: Te Tuhirau i Rehu i Ringa: Translating Sacred and Sensitive Texts: An Indigenous Perspective This thesis centers on translator cognition. Through a series of interviews and think-aloud protocols (Chapters 3 – 5), it explores the ways in which a sample of translators (both Māori and non-Māori) negotiate the complex issues involved in translating between a local, Indigenous language (Māori) and an international one (English) and, in particular, how they approach the definition and translation of texts that could be regarded as being ‘sacred’ and/or ‘sensitive’. In their definitions of ‘sacred’ texts and ‘sensitive’ texts, all of the participants exhibited a peculiarly postmodern positioning, focussing primarily on perspective rather than on any absolute concept of truth or reality. With the exception of the Māori participants’ traditional definition of, and approach to texts deemed to be ‘tapu’ (see Chapter 3), all of the participants expressed beliefs about the translation process which were largely structurally-orientated. They emphasized the importance of respecting the cultural context out of which texts emerged and of attempting, in translation, to reflect the meanings deemed to reside in the source texts by virtue of the intentions of their authors. As witnessed in their think-aloud protocols, however, when involved in the actual process of translation the translators did not always adhere to the views expressed in their interviews, with translation procedures ranging from one that was primarily modernist and structural in orientation (but also reflecting the careful attention to co-text and cohesion that is characteristic of much recent research on discourse analysis) to one that was primarily postmodern and post-structural in orientation, being highly personal, autonomous and individualistic.  

In the absence of any clear agreement about translation theory in the literature on translation (see Chapter 2), and at a time when pre-modern, modern and postmodern positioning and structural and post-structural perspectives vie for acceptance, each of the participants in this research project appears to have found his or her own way of traversing the complex terrain of translation practice without necessarily being fully aware of the way in which the decisions they made positioned them theoretically. What this suggests is the need for a type of training that introduces novice translators in an explicit way to a variety of theories about human language and communication and the ways in which they can impinge upon translation practice, thus creating a context in which translators are able to make critically informed decisions about how they will proceed in any particular instance, why they will proceed in these ways, and what is required in order to ensure that their beliefs about translation are in accord with their actual practices. Critical awareness of these issues is likely to be particularly important in the case of those involved in translating between international languages such as English and more localized, Indigenous languages such as Māori, where discontinuity in the transmission of the language has occurred and where, therefore, texts that are deemed to be of particular significance would otherwise be unavailable to those for whom the texts form part of their cultural heritage.

year: 2014