title: The amendment to section 59 of the Crimes Act 1961: A case study in legislative change

authors: Austin, Geraldine Rachel

subjects: anti-smacking

abstract: In June of 2007 the New Zealand Government passed the Crimes (Substituted section 59) Amendment Act 2007, legally abolishing the right of parents to physically discipline their children and making New Zealand one of 29 States to have (so far) achieved full prohibition of corporal punishment. However the hypothesis of this thesis is that this process of abolishing corporal punishment can be characterised as a lost opportunity - the opportunity to engage in productive debate about the way in which our country’s children are viewed and raised and to address some of the underlying practices and attitudes which contribute towards our appalling rates of child abuse. Instead it degenerated into one of the most contentious debates in recent political history. Rational debate deteriorated into abuse, misunderstandings and deliberate thwarting of reasoned discussion. As a result in 2010 we are in a position where the boundaries surrounding permissible and impermissible discipline are arguably less clear than they were before. This thesis analyses the process of legislative change with a view to showing how, why and where things went wrong. It argues that this process was stymied by two crucial factors; firstly the influence of right wing lobby groups who garnered support for their religiously motivated viewpoints by capitalising on the public’s misplaced fears and underlying attitudes towards children ; and secondly the failure of the Government to adequately advocate for, and educate the public on, the law which it passed. Ultimately these two factors were heavily influenced by the fact that our collective and individual opinions on physical discipline have arisen as a result of the historically dominant construction of children as inherently evil – a construction which we inherited from Britain and which is intrinsically aligned with the practice of corporal punishment. The thesis then demonstrates that the negative repercussions of the debate process could be partially ameliorated through education and that lessons learned in this process can be utilised in the future

text: The amendment to section 59 of the Crimes Act 1961: A case study in legislative change In June of 2007 the New Zealand Government passed the Crimes (Substituted section 59) Amendment Act 2007, legally abolishing the right of parents to physically discipline their children and making New Zealand one of 29 States to have (so far) achieved full prohibition of corporal punishment. However the hypothesis of this thesis is that this process of abolishing corporal punishment can be characterised as a lost opportunity - the opportunity to engage in productive debate about the way in which our country’s children are viewed and raised and to address some of the underlying practices and attitudes which contribute towards our appalling rates of child abuse. Instead it degenerated into one of the most contentious debates in recent political history. Rational debate deteriorated into abuse, misunderstandings and deliberate thwarting of reasoned discussion. As a result in 2010 we are in a position where the boundaries surrounding permissible and impermissible discipline are arguably less clear than they were before. This thesis analyses the process of legislative change with a view to showing how, why and where things went wrong. It argues that this process was stymied by two crucial factors; firstly the influence of right wing lobby groups who garnered support for their religiously motivated viewpoints by capitalising on the public’s misplaced fears and underlying attitudes towards children ; and secondly the failure of the Government to adequately advocate for, and educate the public on, the law which it passed. Ultimately these two factors were heavily influenced by the fact that our collective and individual opinions on physical discipline have arisen as a result of the historically dominant construction of children as inherently evil – a construction which we inherited from Britain and which is intrinsically aligned with the practice of corporal punishment. The thesis then demonstrates that the negative repercussions of the debate process could be partially ameliorated through education and that lessons learned in this process can be utilised in the future

year: 2010

title: The Effect of a Myostatin Antagonist on the Healing of Burn Wounds in Skin.

authors: Fieten, Daniel John

subjects: skin

abstract: The body's remarkable ability to repair itself from damage is both very useful and extremely complex. The wound healing system is characterised by four overlapping phases: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodelling. It is designed to heal rapidly and efficiently any breach in the protective barrier we call skin, in order to restore normal body function in the quickest possible time. However, pathological conditions such as keloids or hypertrophic scar may arise if events in the wound healing cascade are not coordinated properly, which can lead to loss of skin function and disfigurement. The purpose of this study was to determine whether myostatin plays a role in the healing of burn wounds in skin. Myostatin is best known for its powerful negative regulation of muscle development. Absence of myostatin results in a heavy muscling phenotype, whereas over-expression is associated with muscle wasting conditions. Recently, myostatin has been shown to be involved in muscle wound healing, where knockout of the myostatin gene resulted in improved healing, with decreased fibrotic scar tissue formation. It is noteworthy that the cell surface receptor to which myostatin binds is also present in skin. In consideration of this information the prospect of myostatin involvement in skin biology represents a gap in scientific knowledge. Therefore, the present investigation was designed to ascertain whether the effects of myostatin in muscle regeneration can also be seen in skin wound healing. To this end, a mouse burn wound model was designed to determine the efficacy of antagonising myostatin to bring about improved healing and decreased fibrosis of skin burns. Wounds of mice treated with the myostatin antagonist showed no significant difference compared to saline-treated controls in collagen content at any time point. Gene expression studies on TGF-β1, TGF-β3, decorin and fibromodulin revealed that differences between antagonist-treated and saline-treated groups were possibly masked by the effect of the burn injury but were present in uninjured skin. Similarly, uninjured skin of antagonist-treated animals exhibited a significantly higher fluid content than uninjured skin of saline-treated animals, whereas the effect was not significant in burned skin between treatments. Histological analysis revealed that antagonist-treated wounds showed evidence of decreased wound contraction which may indicate improved scar resolution and decreased risk of fibrosis. Interestingly, the gene expression results in many ways parallel those seen in foetal skin, which after injury, heals without scar. These results warrant further study into the subject area, especially to observe whether further improvements can be made by adjusting the treatment regimen.

text: The Effect of a Myostatin Antagonist on the Healing of Burn Wounds in Skin. The body's remarkable ability to repair itself from damage is both very useful and extremely complex. The wound healing system is characterised by four overlapping phases: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodelling. It is designed to heal rapidly and efficiently any breach in the protective barrier we call skin, in order to restore normal body function in the quickest possible time. However, pathological conditions such as keloids or hypertrophic scar may arise if events in the wound healing cascade are not coordinated properly, which can lead to loss of skin function and disfigurement. The purpose of this study was to determine whether myostatin plays a role in the healing of burn wounds in skin. Myostatin is best known for its powerful negative regulation of muscle development. Absence of myostatin results in a heavy muscling phenotype, whereas over-expression is associated with muscle wasting conditions. Recently, myostatin has been shown to be involved in muscle wound healing, where knockout of the myostatin gene resulted in improved healing, with decreased fibrotic scar tissue formation. It is noteworthy that the cell surface receptor to which myostatin binds is also present in skin. In consideration of this information the prospect of myostatin involvement in skin biology represents a gap in scientific knowledge. Therefore, the present investigation was designed to ascertain whether the effects of myostatin in muscle regeneration can also be seen in skin wound healing. To this end, a mouse burn wound model was designed to determine the efficacy of antagonising myostatin to bring about improved healing and decreased fibrosis of skin burns. Wounds of mice treated with the myostatin antagonist showed no significant difference compared to saline-treated controls in collagen content at any time point. Gene expression studies on TGF-β1, TGF-β3, decorin and fibromodulin revealed that differences between antagonist-treated and saline-treated groups were possibly masked by the effect of the burn injury but were present in uninjured skin. Similarly, uninjured skin of antagonist-treated animals exhibited a significantly higher fluid content than uninjured skin of saline-treated animals, whereas the effect was not significant in burned skin between treatments. Histological analysis revealed that antagonist-treated wounds showed evidence of decreased wound contraction which may indicate improved scar resolution and decreased risk of fibrosis. Interestingly, the gene expression results in many ways parallel those seen in foetal skin, which after injury, heals without scar. These results warrant further study into the subject area, especially to observe whether further improvements can be made by adjusting the treatment regimen.

year: 2009

title: Building capacity for sustainable Iwi development

authors: Bishop, Russell

subjects: Māori community development

abstract: Since 1998, four iwi groups have participated in a Māori Sustainable Development project with researchers from the University of Waikato. This project has sought to develop a better understanding of iwi aspirations for economic, social and cultural development. Based on this research, the project seeks to identify, in conjunction with iwi, capacity building models and options in order to provide sustainable economic, social and cultural development. One finding of the research, based on the responses from iwi who have participated in this project, identifies iwi values and identity as the basis for a capacity building model for Māori sustainable development. It is this that is the focus of this paper.

text: Building capacity for sustainable Iwi development Since 1998, four iwi groups have participated in a Māori Sustainable Development project with researchers from the University of Waikato. This project has sought to develop a better understanding of iwi aspirations for economic, social and cultural development. Based on this research, the project seeks to identify, in conjunction with iwi, capacity building models and options in order to provide sustainable economic, social and cultural development. One finding of the research, based on the responses from iwi who have participated in this project, identifies iwi values and identity as the basis for a capacity building model for Māori sustainable development. It is this that is the focus of this paper.

year: 2002-09