title: Social support, coping strategies and the impact on relationships for adolescents who have experienced cancer

authors: Evans, Rebecca Sian

subjects: adolescent cancer

abstract: Adolescence is a period characterised by a number of biological, social and psychological changes. Those facing a cancer diagnosis in adolescence find that they have further challenges and changes to deal with, in addition to the normal challenges associated with adolescence. The purpose of this research was to understand the experiences of adolescents who have had cancer. The aim was to examine the impact their illness had on their social relationships, to explore how they coped and found support, and to investigate the impact having cancer had on the developmental tasks associated with adolescence. While there has been extensive literature on these topics internationally, there has been limited research conducted within a New Zealand context. Semi-structured interviews were completed with eight young people who had been diagnosed with cancer between the ages of 13 and 20. These interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Two topics that seemed to encapsulate the overall experiences of the participants were identified. These topics were coping with cancer and life will never be the same. In addition, seven themes were identified, which included: coping strategies, the importance of social support, obtaining illness related information, cancer as loss, cancer as a time of growth and development, relationships change and after the cancer is gone. The findings of this study highlighted the importance of providing information for adolescents at the right time in their cancer journey. Another major finding in this study was that many young people with cancer felt that their peers were not equipped to deal with their illness or offer support, and as a result many relationships were lost. Despite this, many participants reported that they were able to utilise social support by meeting others with cancer and receiving support from parents, siblings and some peers. Another key finding from this study was that following the completion of treatment, adolescents continue to face a number of challenges. Some of these challenges include dealing with the long term effects of their illness such as infertility or learning to adjust to a new identity as a cancer survivor. While findings in this study suggested that cancer was conceptualised as a time of loss including a loss of identity and a loss of opportunities, all participants were able to identify positive changes as a result of their illness. These changes included a newfound appreciation for life and making the most of opportunities they were provided. This thesis provides recommendations for professionals, agencies and services working with this population to ensure that appropriate emotional and psychological support is continued to be offered to young people and their families, particularly following completion of treatment. There was also a need identified for peers of young people with cancer to be given some sort of education in order to help support their peers through their cancer journey.

text: Social support, coping strategies and the impact on relationships for adolescents who have experienced cancer Adolescence is a period characterised by a number of biological, social and psychological changes. Those facing a cancer diagnosis in adolescence find that they have further challenges and changes to deal with, in addition to the normal challenges associated with adolescence. The purpose of this research was to understand the experiences of adolescents who have had cancer. The aim was to examine the impact their illness had on their social relationships, to explore how they coped and found support, and to investigate the impact having cancer had on the developmental tasks associated with adolescence. While there has been extensive literature on these topics internationally, there has been limited research conducted within a New Zealand context. Semi-structured interviews were completed with eight young people who had been diagnosed with cancer between the ages of 13 and 20. These interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Two topics that seemed to encapsulate the overall experiences of the participants were identified. These topics were coping with cancer and life will never be the same. In addition, seven themes were identified, which included: coping strategies, the importance of social support, obtaining illness related information, cancer as loss, cancer as a time of growth and development, relationships change and after the cancer is gone. The findings of this study highlighted the importance of providing information for adolescents at the right time in their cancer journey. Another major finding in this study was that many young people with cancer felt that their peers were not equipped to deal with their illness or offer support, and as a result many relationships were lost. Despite this, many participants reported that they were able to utilise social support by meeting others with cancer and receiving support from parents, siblings and some peers. Another key finding from this study was that following the completion of treatment, adolescents continue to face a number of challenges. Some of these challenges include dealing with the long term effects of their illness such as infertility or learning to adjust to a new identity as a cancer survivor. While findings in this study suggested that cancer was conceptualised as a time of loss including a loss of identity and a loss of opportunities, all participants were able to identify positive changes as a result of their illness. These changes included a newfound appreciation for life and making the most of opportunities they were provided. This thesis provides recommendations for professionals, agencies and services working with this population to ensure that appropriate emotional and psychological support is continued to be offered to young people and their families, particularly following completion of treatment. There was also a need identified for peers of young people with cancer to be given some sort of education in order to help support their peers through their cancer journey.

year: 2015

title: Playing right: Some virtual wrongs are real wrongs

authors: Munn, Nicholas

abstract: Many computer games ask us to act in ways which would be morally unconscionable, were we to so act in the physical world. Within the game world, these actions are seen as unproblematic. As such, simple translations of concepts such as assault and murder from the physical to the virtual fail. Killing an opponent in World of Warcraft is not morally equivalent to killing someone in the physical world. However, this does not mean that virtual murder is impossible. Rather, the social reality of particular game-worlds is distinct from, but connected to, the social reality in which we operate in the physical world. In this paper, I examine the ways in which immoral conduct can occur in virtual environments. I discuss the particular problems of the ‘magic circle’ model of gaming in the context of online, massively interactive computer gaming as popularised by World of Warcraft, Rift, Aion. (Castronova 2005, Zimmerman 2012) The most important of these problems is perhaps the lack of distinction many participants in these worlds make between their avatars and themselves. (Lehdonvirta, 2010) This connection between the virtual and physical worlds enables us to generate a moral framework for guiding action within virtual worlds. With this background established, I argue that it is the subversion of game mechanics and intentions which generates the wrongness of particular types of action within virtual worlds.

text: Playing right: Some virtual wrongs are real wrongs Many computer games ask us to act in ways which would be morally unconscionable, were we to so act in the physical world. Within the game world, these actions are seen as unproblematic. As such, simple translations of concepts such as assault and murder from the physical to the virtual fail. Killing an opponent in World of Warcraft is not morally equivalent to killing someone in the physical world. However, this does not mean that virtual murder is impossible. Rather, the social reality of particular game-worlds is distinct from, but connected to, the social reality in which we operate in the physical world. In this paper, I examine the ways in which immoral conduct can occur in virtual environments. I discuss the particular problems of the ‘magic circle’ model of gaming in the context of online, massively interactive computer gaming as popularised by World of Warcraft, Rift, Aion. (Castronova 2005, Zimmerman 2012) The most important of these problems is perhaps the lack of distinction many participants in these worlds make between their avatars and themselves. (Lehdonvirta, 2010) This connection between the virtual and physical worlds enables us to generate a moral framework for guiding action within virtual worlds. With this background established, I argue that it is the subversion of game mechanics and intentions which generates the wrongness of particular types of action within virtual worlds.

year: 2019

title: Mā Muri Ko Mua: An introduction to the issues associated with the translation of the Pene Haare manuscript

authors: Tipene, Jillian

subjects: translation

abstract: Keywords: translation; translation theory; translation practice; Ngakuru Pene Haare; Te Rarawa; manuscript; Māori-English translation; ethically grounded translation.

In September 2007, a copy of a typewritten transcript of a manuscript dated 1923 and written by Ngakuru Pene Hare was given to a member of staff of the University of Waikato by Stephen Burke and Bella Wade, descendants of the author, who requested that the University provide a scholarly treatment and translation into English of the text. Also provided later were copies of letters written by the author and a copy of the original handwritten manuscript. The original manuscript, written in the Te Rarawa ki Hokianga dialect of te reo Māori of the author's time, consists of 239 leaves and contains accounts of at least 62 Ngāpuhi battles, most of which took place between 1820 and 1840. 

The research reported here seeks to identify issues and problems that must be addressed if a competent and ethically-grounded translation is to be produced.  Among the issues and problems identified are a number of critical ones. These include the paucity of information that is publicly available about the author, the context in which he lived and worked and the events about which he wrote. Also identified as being problematic are aspects of the text itself. Thus, for example, many of the conventions associated with contemporary writing in Māori (such as paragraphing and the signalling of word and sentence boundaries) are applied only sporadically. Some of the words and expressions used are archaic and/or esoteric, and symbolism that is deeply culturally-embedded characterises much of the text. Also of significance is the impact of writing on conventions associated with the oral transmission of information. The author's intention in producing the text is also identified as being of fundamental importance in relation to the process and product of translation, as are issues associated with the putative readership of that translation. Of paramount importance is the sacred and sensitive nature of the text itself and much of its content. 

In addressing these issues, a wide range of sources are drawn upon. These include the text itself and the transcription of the text, letters and other material written by, or directly influenced by the author, photographs that reveal important information about him, and a wide range of sources of information and opinion (written and oral) about the author and/ or the times and places in which he lived and the events about which he wrote. Also drawn upon is literature in the areas of linguistics and discourse analysis and the theory and practice of translation, including literature written by the growing number of Māori scholars who have focused on issues associated with translation involving Māori and English.

Among the recommendations made are that the translation, a gloss translation that includes explanatory notes, be undertaken, with tikanga Māori as guiding principles, under the mentorship of knowledgeable elders and in consultation with those to whom the manuscript belongs.

text: Mā Muri Ko Mua: An introduction to the issues associated with the translation of the Pene Haare manuscript Keywords: translation; translation theory; translation practice; Ngakuru Pene Haare; Te Rarawa; manuscript; Māori-English translation; ethically grounded translation.

In September 2007, a copy of a typewritten transcript of a manuscript dated 1923 and written by Ngakuru Pene Hare was given to a member of staff of the University of Waikato by Stephen Burke and Bella Wade, descendants of the author, who requested that the University provide a scholarly treatment and translation into English of the text. Also provided later were copies of letters written by the author and a copy of the original handwritten manuscript. The original manuscript, written in the Te Rarawa ki Hokianga dialect of te reo Māori of the author's time, consists of 239 leaves and contains accounts of at least 62 Ngāpuhi battles, most of which took place between 1820 and 1840. 

The research reported here seeks to identify issues and problems that must be addressed if a competent and ethically-grounded translation is to be produced.  Among the issues and problems identified are a number of critical ones. These include the paucity of information that is publicly available about the author, the context in which he lived and worked and the events about which he wrote. Also identified as being problematic are aspects of the text itself. Thus, for example, many of the conventions associated with contemporary writing in Māori (such as paragraphing and the signalling of word and sentence boundaries) are applied only sporadically. Some of the words and expressions used are archaic and/or esoteric, and symbolism that is deeply culturally-embedded characterises much of the text. Also of significance is the impact of writing on conventions associated with the oral transmission of information. The author's intention in producing the text is also identified as being of fundamental importance in relation to the process and product of translation, as are issues associated with the putative readership of that translation. Of paramount importance is the sacred and sensitive nature of the text itself and much of its content. 

In addressing these issues, a wide range of sources are drawn upon. These include the text itself and the transcription of the text, letters and other material written by, or directly influenced by the author, photographs that reveal important information about him, and a wide range of sources of information and opinion (written and oral) about the author and/ or the times and places in which he lived and the events about which he wrote. Also drawn upon is literature in the areas of linguistics and discourse analysis and the theory and practice of translation, including literature written by the growing number of Māori scholars who have focused on issues associated with translation involving Māori and English.

Among the recommendations made are that the translation, a gloss translation that includes explanatory notes, be undertaken, with tikanga Māori as guiding principles, under the mentorship of knowledgeable elders and in consultation with those to whom the manuscript belongs.

year: 2009