title: Feelings of home and belonging amongst Bhutanese women and girls with refugee backgrounds who live in New Zealand

authors: Basnet, Sunita

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: This thesis focuses on the everyday home geographies of Bhutanese women and girls with refugee backgrounds in Aotearoa New Zealand. It examines feelings of being at home and belonging for 37 resettled Bhutanese women and girls, and eight men, aged between 12 and 85 years, all living under the third-country resettlement programme in Auckland, Christchurch, Nelson and Palmerston North. Three key informants, who assist with resettlement, are also included in this research. It is argued that everyday experiences of home and belonging are embodied, emotional, and contradictory for Bhutanese women and girls.

Feminist scholarship on gendered feelings of belonging and home informs the framework of the research. Qualitative performative methods are used, comprising 40 semi-structured in-depth interviews; five photo-elicitations; and seven cooking sessions with Bhutanese women. A focus group of five girls aged from 12 to 16 years was also involved in the study. In addition, I adopted a new approach called ‘accidental ethnography’, which comprised stayovers, participant sensing, and cooking sessions in the field. The data gathered was analysed using thematic and discourse analytical approaches. 

My findings are organised into three central themes that relate to belonging and home: bodies; households; and communities. First, I pay attention to the corporeal practices of resettled Bhutanese women and girls in everyday life. Clothing, jewellery, norms, values, language and traditions can enable belonging and feeling at home but they can also generate feelings of discomfort, segregation and being outsiders when two extreme cultures confront each other. Second, I focus on day-to-day activities within households. Creating a familiar environment within households, including being with family, having backyard gardens, consuming culturally appropriate food, maintaining one’s religion and having a sturdy house with meaningful material objects, enable resettled Bhutanese to accept their new country as home. Third, my study shows that a sense of community can enable or hinder participants’ feelings of belonging in New Zealand. Living in smaller cities, being able to exercise and observe Bhutanese traditions, living longer in New Zealand, developing satisfaction with the neighbourhood and feeling safe are all factors that play an important role in forming feelings of community for resettled Bhutanese women and girls.

Feelings of belonging and a sense of being at home are about maintaining, reinforcing and negotiating cultural and gendered identities in New Zealand. This study responds to the lack of critical attention paid to the relationship between home and belonging for resettled Bhutanese women and girls. Considering everyday practices encourages a more critical understanding of belonging and home for women and girls with refugee backgrounds.

text: Feelings of home and belonging amongst Bhutanese women and girls with refugee backgrounds who live in New Zealand This thesis focuses on the everyday home geographies of Bhutanese women and girls with refugee backgrounds in Aotearoa New Zealand. It examines feelings of being at home and belonging for 37 resettled Bhutanese women and girls, and eight men, aged between 12 and 85 years, all living under the third-country resettlement programme in Auckland, Christchurch, Nelson and Palmerston North. Three key informants, who assist with resettlement, are also included in this research. It is argued that everyday experiences of home and belonging are embodied, emotional, and contradictory for Bhutanese women and girls.

Feminist scholarship on gendered feelings of belonging and home informs the framework of the research. Qualitative performative methods are used, comprising 40 semi-structured in-depth interviews; five photo-elicitations; and seven cooking sessions with Bhutanese women. A focus group of five girls aged from 12 to 16 years was also involved in the study. In addition, I adopted a new approach called ‘accidental ethnography’, which comprised stayovers, participant sensing, and cooking sessions in the field. The data gathered was analysed using thematic and discourse analytical approaches. 

My findings are organised into three central themes that relate to belonging and home: bodies; households; and communities. First, I pay attention to the corporeal practices of resettled Bhutanese women and girls in everyday life. Clothing, jewellery, norms, values, language and traditions can enable belonging and feeling at home but they can also generate feelings of discomfort, segregation and being outsiders when two extreme cultures confront each other. Second, I focus on day-to-day activities within households. Creating a familiar environment within households, including being with family, having backyard gardens, consuming culturally appropriate food, maintaining one’s religion and having a sturdy house with meaningful material objects, enable resettled Bhutanese to accept their new country as home. Third, my study shows that a sense of community can enable or hinder participants’ feelings of belonging in New Zealand. Living in smaller cities, being able to exercise and observe Bhutanese traditions, living longer in New Zealand, developing satisfaction with the neighbourhood and feeling safe are all factors that play an important role in forming feelings of community for resettled Bhutanese women and girls.

Feelings of belonging and a sense of being at home are about maintaining, reinforcing and negotiating cultural and gendered identities in New Zealand. This study responds to the lack of critical attention paid to the relationship between home and belonging for resettled Bhutanese women and girls. Considering everyday practices encourages a more critical understanding of belonging and home for women and girls with refugee backgrounds.

year: 2018

title: Case study: An in-depth exploration of male survivors of female-perpetrated domestic violence

authors: Jervis, Samantha

subjects: Abuse

abstract: Male survivors of female-perpetrated violence are often overlooked within the academic, social, and judicial systems. The current thesis highlights this gap in research as well as provides readers with a deeper understanding of the difficulties faced by male survivors. Using a case-study based approach, and narrative inquiry a single participant was interviewed over multiple meetings. This allowed the researcher to get a more in-depth and complete picture of his experiences. His story was then told and analysed using the existing literature as a means of comparison and contrast. Unfortunately, it appears as though victims often feel re-victimized by the legal system and service providers to whom they turn for assistance. This was the case with the participant and was corroborated by participants in existing studies. The research revealed that extensive physical, social and mental supports are available for female victims of violence; in contrast, there is very little available to men. Despite growing recognition of male victimisation, it is still a difficult subject to discuss. The legitimacy and validity of men as victims of domestic violence are still feverishly debated amongst academics and mainstream media. The hope is, that with further research and attention, the same forms of assistance that are available to women will be created and offered to men. It is imperative that such supports are designed specifically for men, rather than simply adjusting those services already available to women. Gender differences in the perpetration of violence and the experiences with service providers must be taken into consideration. Throughout the interview and research processes, it was evident that the participant was searching for validation of his experiences and required services that support the gender specific needs of men.

text: Case study: An in-depth exploration of male survivors of female-perpetrated domestic violence Male survivors of female-perpetrated violence are often overlooked within the academic, social, and judicial systems. The current thesis highlights this gap in research as well as provides readers with a deeper understanding of the difficulties faced by male survivors. Using a case-study based approach, and narrative inquiry a single participant was interviewed over multiple meetings. This allowed the researcher to get a more in-depth and complete picture of his experiences. His story was then told and analysed using the existing literature as a means of comparison and contrast. Unfortunately, it appears as though victims often feel re-victimized by the legal system and service providers to whom they turn for assistance. This was the case with the participant and was corroborated by participants in existing studies. The research revealed that extensive physical, social and mental supports are available for female victims of violence; in contrast, there is very little available to men. Despite growing recognition of male victimisation, it is still a difficult subject to discuss. The legitimacy and validity of men as victims of domestic violence are still feverishly debated amongst academics and mainstream media. The hope is, that with further research and attention, the same forms of assistance that are available to women will be created and offered to men. It is imperative that such supports are designed specifically for men, rather than simply adjusting those services already available to women. Gender differences in the perpetration of violence and the experiences with service providers must be taken into consideration. Throughout the interview and research processes, it was evident that the participant was searching for validation of his experiences and required services that support the gender specific needs of men.

year: 2023

title: The 2020 cannabis referendum: Māori voter support, racialized policing, and the Criminal Justice System

authors: Dempster, Craig

abstract: In the New Zealand 2020 cannabis referendum, 50.7% of all voters rejected the creation of a legally-regulated cannabis market and instead supported retaining the current prohibitionist policy. Although the referendum failed to pass, a majority of Māori voted in favor of cannabis law reform. This paper suggests that within the Māori community there is a more nuanced appreciation of the impact of policing cannabis. Māori perceive that greater harm is caused by the racialized policing of cannabis than by the usage of it. Following McCreanor, et al. (2014), this paper employs a thematic, content analysis of the New Zealand Herald’s coverage of the 2020 cannabis referendum to investigate the presence of race-based targeting/policing in discussions of the legislation. The results reveal that racial disparities emerged as secondary to framing both the impact of cannabis and the referendum as race-neutral and affecting everyone in society equally. This paper argues that the impact of the policing of this particular drug impacts Māori differently, wherein they bear the brunt of racialized policing. Thus, Māori possess a more sophisticated understanding that warrants consideration because it is inextricably linked to lived experiences of policing that differ from wider social narratives of policing and drug policy in New Zealand.

text: The 2020 cannabis referendum: Māori voter support, racialized policing, and the Criminal Justice System In the New Zealand 2020 cannabis referendum, 50.7% of all voters rejected the creation of a legally-regulated cannabis market and instead supported retaining the current prohibitionist policy. Although the referendum failed to pass, a majority of Māori voted in favor of cannabis law reform. This paper suggests that within the Māori community there is a more nuanced appreciation of the impact of policing cannabis. Māori perceive that greater harm is caused by the racialized policing of cannabis than by the usage of it. Following McCreanor, et al. (2014), this paper employs a thematic, content analysis of the New Zealand Herald’s coverage of the 2020 cannabis referendum to investigate the presence of race-based targeting/policing in discussions of the legislation. The results reveal that racial disparities emerged as secondary to framing both the impact of cannabis and the referendum as race-neutral and affecting everyone in society equally. This paper argues that the impact of the policing of this particular drug impacts Māori differently, wherein they bear the brunt of racialized policing. Thus, Māori possess a more sophisticated understanding that warrants consideration because it is inextricably linked to lived experiences of policing that differ from wider social narratives of policing and drug policy in New Zealand.

year: 2022