title: Sexual childhood: Questions for practice to prevent harmful/problematic behaviour

authors: Flanagan, Paul G.

abstract: Workshop Title: Sexual childhood: Questions for practice to prevent harmful/problematic sexual behaviour. Abstract: Children are sexual beings, but what does this mean to parents, teachers and practitioners concerned with how to respond to problematic and harmful sexual behaviour? Reflecting on 20 years of practice and research, I examine societal and community views of childhood sexuality, with a view to re-imagining what a sexual childhood might look like. Paediatric and psychological research has identified normative and abnormal sexual behaviour, and what constitutes consent and power between children related to their age, cognitive and physical dis/ability and size. Questioning current notions of childhood as innocent and ignorant of sexuality, this presentation explores cultural practices that might lead to more acceptance of sexual childhood. Reporting on a recent study, this presentation will question practices that hide sex/sexuality in children’s lives as reproductive knowledge and pleasure, and proposes a therapy that works with significant adults that does not fear children as sexual citizens. Using discourse theory to explore and analyse dominant western understandings of childhood, it is proposed that an effective approach to working with children and families is one that requires confrontation and interrogation of the silence around child sexuality, rather than reaction and panic. This workshop aims to: - Examine the language around children and sex/sexuality - Explore the notion of sexual childhood - Respond to issues of problematic sexual behaviour in the light of this notion - Engage with practice examples of therapy with children and families - And consider ethical issues around this work

text: Sexual childhood: Questions for practice to prevent harmful/problematic behaviour Workshop Title: Sexual childhood: Questions for practice to prevent harmful/problematic sexual behaviour. Abstract: Children are sexual beings, but what does this mean to parents, teachers and practitioners concerned with how to respond to problematic and harmful sexual behaviour? Reflecting on 20 years of practice and research, I examine societal and community views of childhood sexuality, with a view to re-imagining what a sexual childhood might look like. Paediatric and psychological research has identified normative and abnormal sexual behaviour, and what constitutes consent and power between children related to their age, cognitive and physical dis/ability and size. Questioning current notions of childhood as innocent and ignorant of sexuality, this presentation explores cultural practices that might lead to more acceptance of sexual childhood. Reporting on a recent study, this presentation will question practices that hide sex/sexuality in children’s lives as reproductive knowledge and pleasure, and proposes a therapy that works with significant adults that does not fear children as sexual citizens. Using discourse theory to explore and analyse dominant western understandings of childhood, it is proposed that an effective approach to working with children and families is one that requires confrontation and interrogation of the silence around child sexuality, rather than reaction and panic. This workshop aims to: - Examine the language around children and sex/sexuality - Explore the notion of sexual childhood - Respond to issues of problematic sexual behaviour in the light of this notion - Engage with practice examples of therapy with children and families - And consider ethical issues around this work

year: 2019

title: Education for power: English language in the workplace

authors: Hunter, Judy

abstract: Developed countries around the world are increasingly competing for highly skilled, educated immigrants. A case in point is Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). The NZ Immigration Service actively encourages skilled migrants, and around the country there are numerous English language programmes focussing on English for employment. The dominant focus of these programmes is on migrants' acquisition of correct, appropriate language form, with some attention to intercultural communication. In the view of the authors, this focus is reductionist and provides inadequate preparation for communication in the workplace. This article considers ambiguity and power relations in positioning and interpreting migrant employees in the workplace. Two sets of data are drawn upon. First, a workplace ethnography in a 'migrant friendly' NZ engineering office reveals a management culture that exercises the power of the dominant Anglo-Saxon population to control and exclude a Japanese migrant engineer. Second, a published analysis of immigrant employees' interactions is revisited in order to interrogate the interpretation of workplace texts and underlying discourses of 'appropriate' workplace language. The analysis traces implications for both formal and informal education, and the discussion raises larger questions of social justice concerning migrants.

text: Education for power: English language in the workplace Developed countries around the world are increasingly competing for highly skilled, educated immigrants. A case in point is Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). The NZ Immigration Service actively encourages skilled migrants, and around the country there are numerous English language programmes focussing on English for employment. The dominant focus of these programmes is on migrants' acquisition of correct, appropriate language form, with some attention to intercultural communication. In the view of the authors, this focus is reductionist and provides inadequate preparation for communication in the workplace. This article considers ambiguity and power relations in positioning and interpreting migrant employees in the workplace. Two sets of data are drawn upon. First, a workplace ethnography in a 'migrant friendly' NZ engineering office reveals a management culture that exercises the power of the dominant Anglo-Saxon population to control and exclude a Japanese migrant engineer. Second, a published analysis of immigrant employees' interactions is revisited in order to interrogate the interpretation of workplace texts and underlying discourses of 'appropriate' workplace language. The analysis traces implications for both formal and informal education, and the discussion raises larger questions of social justice concerning migrants.

year: 2014

title: Improving prediction of potential for treatment completion at Tai Aroha

authors: Astridge Clarke,  Abigail Darcy

subjects: Treatment

abstract: Participant non-completion can be a major problem for treatment programmes. Staff may try to minimise non-completion by deciding who to select for treatment using professional intuition and referral information. It can be difficult for treatment staff to make these decisions regarding the potential for programme completion due to a lack of clear guidelines about what information to consider. This lack of clear guidelines can increase susceptibility to biases, and lead to unreliable and potentially inaccurate decisions. Research has identified ‘simple rules’ that are tools to aid decision-making quickly, effectively, and consistently. Therefore, using past treatment data, we1 aimed to identify predictors of programme completion vs. non-completion at Tai Aroha—a residential treatment programme based in Hamilton—to explore whether a “simple rule” can be developed from information readily available at the time of referral, to support staff decision-making when selecting offenders to attend treatment, with the potential to increase programme completion. We were successful in the development of a simple rule to aid Tai Aroha staff selection decisions. The implications, and limitations of our rule and our study are discussed, and future research relating to simple rules are identified.

text: Improving prediction of potential for treatment completion at Tai Aroha Participant non-completion can be a major problem for treatment programmes. Staff may try to minimise non-completion by deciding who to select for treatment using professional intuition and referral information. It can be difficult for treatment staff to make these decisions regarding the potential for programme completion due to a lack of clear guidelines about what information to consider. This lack of clear guidelines can increase susceptibility to biases, and lead to unreliable and potentially inaccurate decisions. Research has identified ‘simple rules’ that are tools to aid decision-making quickly, effectively, and consistently. Therefore, using past treatment data, we1 aimed to identify predictors of programme completion vs. non-completion at Tai Aroha—a residential treatment programme based in Hamilton—to explore whether a “simple rule” can be developed from information readily available at the time of referral, to support staff decision-making when selecting offenders to attend treatment, with the potential to increase programme completion. We were successful in the development of a simple rule to aid Tai Aroha staff selection decisions. The implications, and limitations of our rule and our study are discussed, and future research relating to simple rules are identified.

year: 2023