title: The Experiences of Older Women Participating in the Workforce

authors: Squire, Marjorie Olwyn

subjects: older women

abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of older working nurses and the reason they were still in the workforce while the majority of their cohort had exited from active nursing.  New Zealand's legislative changes in the Human Rights Act, 1993 and the Employment Relations Act, 2000 makes it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of age.  In effect, this means the abolishment of mandatory retirement as the individual is now able to exit from the workforce by choice.  For nurses the choice for exiting the workforce occurs noticeably in the 50-54 age group with further declines in subsequent years.  This research study revealed a group of older nurses who valued autonomy in their nursing practice and valued the contribution they made as experienced practitioners in a variety of health sectors in the Waikato.  As the demographic shift in New Zealand's population is towards older age groups and likely to require future nursing care, it becomes essential to retain experienced nurses in the workforce.  This small scale qualitative study interviewed ten registered nurses over the age of 60 to discover how social life was constructed as they aged.

text: The Experiences of Older Women Participating in the Workforce The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of older working nurses and the reason they were still in the workforce while the majority of their cohort had exited from active nursing.  New Zealand's legislative changes in the Human Rights Act, 1993 and the Employment Relations Act, 2000 makes it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of age.  In effect, this means the abolishment of mandatory retirement as the individual is now able to exit from the workforce by choice.  For nurses the choice for exiting the workforce occurs noticeably in the 50-54 age group with further declines in subsequent years.  This research study revealed a group of older nurses who valued autonomy in their nursing practice and valued the contribution they made as experienced practitioners in a variety of health sectors in the Waikato.  As the demographic shift in New Zealand's population is towards older age groups and likely to require future nursing care, it becomes essential to retain experienced nurses in the workforce.  This small scale qualitative study interviewed ten registered nurses over the age of 60 to discover how social life was constructed as they aged.

year: 2008

title: Behavioural variation in extended and alternating extinction

authors: Neshausen, Leanne

subjects: Extinction

abstract: Hens were trained to peck a square stimulus on a touch-sensitive screen under an FR5 reinforcement schedule for a maximum of 30 reinforcers (taking approximately 10 minutes). Then hens experienced extinction sessions of 40 minutes duration. For a total of six conditions, reinforcement and extinction conditions were alternated. Each condition consisted of between approximately 7 and 10 sessions. Results show that structures developed during conditioning remain in extinction, at least for the duration of previous reinforcement sessions. After approximately 10 minutes, behaviour becomes more variable. There was also an absence of any 'extinction burst'. Extended extinction conditions, and alternating extinction conditions with reinforcement conditions had little effect on the variability of behaviour, but did influence the rate of responding. Responding persisted a little longer before gradually declining across sessions in the first extinction condition. In extinction conditions 2 and 3 responding tended to occur more as 'peaks'; short periods of increased responding with periods of non-responding between peaks.

text: Behavioural variation in extended and alternating extinction Hens were trained to peck a square stimulus on a touch-sensitive screen under an FR5 reinforcement schedule for a maximum of 30 reinforcers (taking approximately 10 minutes). Then hens experienced extinction sessions of 40 minutes duration. For a total of six conditions, reinforcement and extinction conditions were alternated. Each condition consisted of between approximately 7 and 10 sessions. Results show that structures developed during conditioning remain in extinction, at least for the duration of previous reinforcement sessions. After approximately 10 minutes, behaviour becomes more variable. There was also an absence of any 'extinction burst'. Extended extinction conditions, and alternating extinction conditions with reinforcement conditions had little effect on the variability of behaviour, but did influence the rate of responding. Responding persisted a little longer before gradually declining across sessions in the first extinction condition. In extinction conditions 2 and 3 responding tended to occur more as 'peaks'; short periods of increased responding with periods of non-responding between peaks.

year: 2008

title: Donna Awatere on Whiteness in New Zealand: Theoretical Contributions and Contemporary Relevance

authors: Norris, Adele N.

abstract: In June 2022, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern designated the US-based neofascist groups The Base and the Proud Boys as terrorist organisations. This designation marks one of the few times white supremacy entered the national political discourse in New Zealand. Discourses of whiteness are mostly theorised in the North American context. However, Donna Awatere’s 1984 examination of White Cultural Imperialism (WCI) in her book Māori Sovereignty advanced an analysis of whiteness in New Zealand that has received limited scholarly attention and is essentially unexplored. This paper reintroduces Awatere’s conceptualisation of WCI. It offers core tenets of WCI and theoretical insights into contemporary discussions of white supremacy that move beyond the focus of individuals and groups to a broader national framework of New Zealand. Two interrelated features of WCI, as defined by Awatere, are the minimisation and normalisation of whiteness and white racial hostility –  inherent features that maintain, protect, and reproduce the white institutionalised body as the primary beneficiary of Western European domination that will always thwart Indigenous sovereignty and equality. This paper concludes that Awatere’s articulation of WCI links whiteness in the New Zealand context to the broader network of global white supremacy that offers insight into contemporary criminal justice scholarship.

text: Donna Awatere on Whiteness in New Zealand: Theoretical Contributions and Contemporary Relevance In June 2022, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern designated the US-based neofascist groups The Base and the Proud Boys as terrorist organisations. This designation marks one of the few times white supremacy entered the national political discourse in New Zealand. Discourses of whiteness are mostly theorised in the North American context. However, Donna Awatere’s 1984 examination of White Cultural Imperialism (WCI) in her book Māori Sovereignty advanced an analysis of whiteness in New Zealand that has received limited scholarly attention and is essentially unexplored. This paper reintroduces Awatere’s conceptualisation of WCI. It offers core tenets of WCI and theoretical insights into contemporary discussions of white supremacy that move beyond the focus of individuals and groups to a broader national framework of New Zealand. Two interrelated features of WCI, as defined by Awatere, are the minimisation and normalisation of whiteness and white racial hostility –  inherent features that maintain, protect, and reproduce the white institutionalised body as the primary beneficiary of Western European domination that will always thwart Indigenous sovereignty and equality. This paper concludes that Awatere’s articulation of WCI links whiteness in the New Zealand context to the broader network of global white supremacy that offers insight into contemporary criminal justice scholarship.

year: 2023-07-27