title: Constructing and Reconstructing Criminality in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Dominant Media Discourses on Crime and Criminality and their Impact on Offenders’ Identities and Rehabilitation Efforts

authors: Riches, Murray

subjects: Media Discourse

abstract: This study investigates the dominant media discourses and ideologies surrounding crime and criminality in Aotearoa/New Zealand, how such discourses are constructed and legitimised by media reporting of crime, and the implications of these discourses for deemed offenders. 
The study firstly involves a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of ‘mainstream’ media reports relating to crime and criminality in Aotearoa/New Zealand over a 12-month period – paying particular attention to the reporting evident in two major newspaper outlets. This analysis reveals two key themes: the construction of criminal offenders as undeserving criminalised others – particularly through the use of truth-claims about criminality and the simplification of offenders’ identities – and the legitimisation of retributive, tough-on-crime, responses to offending. 
The analysis of media discourses is augmented by an ethnographic study of an offender rehabilitation programme. This investigation is used to explore how dominant discourses and ideologies on crime and criminality contribute to the construction of offenders’ self-identities, the impact of such identity construction on their patterns of offending and rehabilitation, as well as the ways in which these discourses are contested (or reinforced) by those deemed ‘offenders’. This follow-up ethnographic case study involves participant observation, focus groups and interviews with participants of the Good Lives Model offender rehabilitation programme at Anglican Action in Hamilton over a 12-month period. The participants of this programme are men transitioning back into the community after serving significant prison sentences. 
The ethnographic investigation reveals the ways the otherising discourses exposed in the CDA are present for, and effect, the men as they make the challenging journey out of prison, particularly in their experiences of discrimination and otherisation when seeking to engage with, and transition back into, the wider community. This exploration also reveals a nuanced negotiation of identity and power, whereby the men both draw on and challenge the dominant discourses at different times in the process of negotiating an identity position and accessing agency within a marginalising discursive framework. 
Thus, the discourse analysis and the ethnographic study together provide rich insights into the pervasive impacts of dominant public constructions of criminality on offenders’ sense of identity and on their attempts to reintegrate with society.
The study concludes by arguing that the CDA and ethnographic investigation together emphasise the need to challenge the destructive nature of the dominant discourses and cultivate a more inclusive and reasoned discursive framework for exploring ideas around crime and criminality in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The thesis argues that one way to counter the ‘wilful blindness’ exemplified in media and public discourses, is through the use of story for it is through listening and seeking to know the other that we can begin to have our assumptions challenged. 
It is important to note that this thesis in no way endorses any criminal offending nor does it seek to minimise the pain and suffering of any victims of crime. Rather, it argues that such a dualistic understanding of crime, and the relationship between victims and offenders, only inhibits our ability to look at the issues surrounding crime and criminality with clarity.

text: Constructing and Reconstructing Criminality in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Dominant Media Discourses on Crime and Criminality and their Impact on Offenders’ Identities and Rehabilitation Efforts This study investigates the dominant media discourses and ideologies surrounding crime and criminality in Aotearoa/New Zealand, how such discourses are constructed and legitimised by media reporting of crime, and the implications of these discourses for deemed offenders. 
The study firstly involves a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of ‘mainstream’ media reports relating to crime and criminality in Aotearoa/New Zealand over a 12-month period – paying particular attention to the reporting evident in two major newspaper outlets. This analysis reveals two key themes: the construction of criminal offenders as undeserving criminalised others – particularly through the use of truth-claims about criminality and the simplification of offenders’ identities – and the legitimisation of retributive, tough-on-crime, responses to offending. 
The analysis of media discourses is augmented by an ethnographic study of an offender rehabilitation programme. This investigation is used to explore how dominant discourses and ideologies on crime and criminality contribute to the construction of offenders’ self-identities, the impact of such identity construction on their patterns of offending and rehabilitation, as well as the ways in which these discourses are contested (or reinforced) by those deemed ‘offenders’. This follow-up ethnographic case study involves participant observation, focus groups and interviews with participants of the Good Lives Model offender rehabilitation programme at Anglican Action in Hamilton over a 12-month period. The participants of this programme are men transitioning back into the community after serving significant prison sentences. 
The ethnographic investigation reveals the ways the otherising discourses exposed in the CDA are present for, and effect, the men as they make the challenging journey out of prison, particularly in their experiences of discrimination and otherisation when seeking to engage with, and transition back into, the wider community. This exploration also reveals a nuanced negotiation of identity and power, whereby the men both draw on and challenge the dominant discourses at different times in the process of negotiating an identity position and accessing agency within a marginalising discursive framework. 
Thus, the discourse analysis and the ethnographic study together provide rich insights into the pervasive impacts of dominant public constructions of criminality on offenders’ sense of identity and on their attempts to reintegrate with society.
The study concludes by arguing that the CDA and ethnographic investigation together emphasise the need to challenge the destructive nature of the dominant discourses and cultivate a more inclusive and reasoned discursive framework for exploring ideas around crime and criminality in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The thesis argues that one way to counter the ‘wilful blindness’ exemplified in media and public discourses, is through the use of story for it is through listening and seeking to know the other that we can begin to have our assumptions challenged. 
It is important to note that this thesis in no way endorses any criminal offending nor does it seek to minimise the pain and suffering of any victims of crime. Rather, it argues that such a dualistic understanding of crime, and the relationship between victims and offenders, only inhibits our ability to look at the issues surrounding crime and criminality with clarity.

year: 2014

title: The impact of router outages on the AS-level internet

authors: Luckie, Matthew John

subjects: computer science

abstract: We propose and evaluate a new metric for understanding the dependence of the AS-level Internet on individual routers. Whereas prior work uses large volumes of reachability probes to infer outages, we design an efficient active probing technique that directly and unambiguously reveals router restarts. We use our technique to survey 149,560 routers across the Internet for 2.5 years. 59,175 of the surveyed routers (40%) experience at least one reboot, and we quantify the resulting impact of each router outage on global IPv4 and IPv6 BGP reachability.

Our technique complements existing data and control plane outage analysis methods by providing a causal link from BGP reachability failures to the responsible router(s) and multi-homing configurations. While we found the Internet core to be largely robust, we identified specific routers that were single points of failure for the prefixes they advertised. In total, 2,385 routers -- 4.0% of the routers that restarted over the course of 2.5 years of probing -- were single points of failure for 3,396 IPv6 prefixes announced by 1,708 ASes. We inferred 59% of these routers were the customer-edge border router. 2,374 (70%) of the withdrawn prefixes were not covered by a less specific prefix, so 1,726 routers (2.9%) of those that restarted were single points of failure for at least one network. However, a covering route did not imply reachability during a router outage, as no previously-responsive address in a withdrawn more specific prefix responded during a one-week sample. We validate our reboot and single point of failure inference techniques with four networks, finding no false positive or false negative reboots, but find some false negatives in our single point of failure inferences.

text: The impact of router outages on the AS-level internet We propose and evaluate a new metric for understanding the dependence of the AS-level Internet on individual routers. Whereas prior work uses large volumes of reachability probes to infer outages, we design an efficient active probing technique that directly and unambiguously reveals router restarts. We use our technique to survey 149,560 routers across the Internet for 2.5 years. 59,175 of the surveyed routers (40%) experience at least one reboot, and we quantify the resulting impact of each router outage on global IPv4 and IPv6 BGP reachability.

Our technique complements existing data and control plane outage analysis methods by providing a causal link from BGP reachability failures to the responsible router(s) and multi-homing configurations. While we found the Internet core to be largely robust, we identified specific routers that were single points of failure for the prefixes they advertised. In total, 2,385 routers -- 4.0% of the routers that restarted over the course of 2.5 years of probing -- were single points of failure for 3,396 IPv6 prefixes announced by 1,708 ASes. We inferred 59% of these routers were the customer-edge border router. 2,374 (70%) of the withdrawn prefixes were not covered by a less specific prefix, so 1,726 routers (2.9%) of those that restarted were single points of failure for at least one network. However, a covering route did not imply reachability during a router outage, as no previously-responsive address in a withdrawn more specific prefix responded during a one-week sample. We validate our reboot and single point of failure inference techniques with four networks, finding no false positive or false negative reboots, but find some false negatives in our single point of failure inferences.

year: 2017

title: Exploring the nature of intimate relationships: A Māori perspective

authors: King, Pita

subjects: Maori

abstract: The 2002 World Report on Violence states that violence occurs in about 70 percent of intimate relationships (Krug, Dahlberg, Mercy, Zwi, & Lozano, 2002). New Zealand research indicates that more than a quarter of relationships have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV), with Māori (Indigenous people of New Zealand) women three times more likely to experience IPV in their lifetime. Utilising Kaupapa Māori (Māori-centred approach) and narrative methodologies, this paper explores the nature of intimate relationships from a Māori perspective, investigating how Māori initiate intimate relationships, attempt to maintain positive intimate relationships and when applicable, exit intimate relationships. The findings from two case studies reveal that intimate relationships involve identity negotiation and an incorporation of cultural values. Communication processes are highlighted as a facilitating factor of intimate relationships.

text: Exploring the nature of intimate relationships: A Māori perspective The 2002 World Report on Violence states that violence occurs in about 70 percent of intimate relationships (Krug, Dahlberg, Mercy, Zwi, & Lozano, 2002). New Zealand research indicates that more than a quarter of relationships have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV), with Māori (Indigenous people of New Zealand) women three times more likely to experience IPV in their lifetime. Utilising Kaupapa Māori (Māori-centred approach) and narrative methodologies, this paper explores the nature of intimate relationships from a Māori perspective, investigating how Māori initiate intimate relationships, attempt to maintain positive intimate relationships and when applicable, exit intimate relationships. The findings from two case studies reveal that intimate relationships involve identity negotiation and an incorporation of cultural values. Communication processes are highlighted as a facilitating factor of intimate relationships.

year: 2012