An exploratory study of the impacts of gambling on affected others accessing a social service

Problem gambling affects many people beyond the problem gambler themselves. Help-seeking is relatively rare among affected others, especially those in lower socioeconomic communities. However, these affected others are sometimes in contact with other support agencies. The present research interviewed 10 people seeking support through a social agency who reported being affected by someone else’s gambling. Data from semi-structured interviews were analysed using an inductive descriptive approach to identify three themes: 1) This is ugly; 2) It affects everything; and 3) I just do it by myself. The results highlight the normality of harmful gambling across generations, the lack of any positive aspects to gambling for affected others, and the impacts on families and children. Specific gambling-related help seeking remains rare, however the opportunity to provide support, information and advice on approaches to coping to affected others as they contact social services is highlighted

The ethics of knowledge production- Pacific challenges

People from all over the Pacific came to talk about ethical principles relating to the preservation, production, exchange and use of knowledge at the Regional Pacific Ethics of Knowledge Production Workshop in Apia (13– 15 November 2007). This workshop was the third in a series of UNESCO meetings between 2005 and 2007 that encouraged Pacific-wide debate on the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (UDBHR) (UNESCO 2005) and discussion of ethics-related issues more generally. The articles in this Pacific section of the ISSJ on global knowledges are a sample of the positions debated and the insights generated at that workshop. They illustrate the connections and differences among Pacific peoples about issues relating to the ethics of science – including fundamental questions about what counts as knowledge, how knowledge is produced and shared, and who benefits. They also demonstrate how Pacific people are taking responsibility for assessing the relevance of the UDBHR in the Pacific, articulating indigenous ethical principles, identifying the researchrelated questions they consider a priority and determining strategies for ethical research practice

Pacific youth connecting through Poly

No abstract

Creating community‐based indicators of gender equity: A methodology

It appears that an almost unquestioned development pathway for achieving gender equity and women's empowerment has taken centre stage in mainstream development. This pathway focuses on economic outcomes that are assumed to be achieved by increasing women's access to material things, including cash income, loans, physical assets, and to markets. Gender equity indicators, which measure progress towards these outcomes, cannot escape reinforcing them. We argue that far from being neutral, indicators are embedded in political and ideological agendas that serve as guides to the appropriate conduct of those whose performance or behaviour is being measured. Drawing on participatory feminist, diverse economies and strengths based approaches, we outline a research methodology for developing community-based indicators that recognises women's and men's participation and relationships in all spheres of life, including the ‘non-economic’. If indicators are grounded in local meanings and realities, we propose that community members can use them to identify aspirational goals for gender equity, and measure progress towards these goals