Effective approaches to working with male perpetrators of domestic violence in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in International Development at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

The rate of domestic violence has been increasing around the world today. Even though women do conduct abusive acts towards men, the majority of perpetrators of domestic violence remain men. A Men and Development (MAD) framework is used as an overarching framework for the research because it is believed that problem of domestic violence cannot be tackled if men are not involved. The purpose of this study is to investigate effective approaches to working with male perpetrators of domestic violence. The specific objective is to identify factors to be considered in programme design and delivery so as to maximize men’s engagement in intervention programmes and prevent them from reoffending. The study also explores whether cultural aspects are considered when delivering programmes for perpetrators, particularly for those with Asian, Pasifika and Maori backgrounds and if yes, how much it affects programme delivery. The data collection took place in New Zealand by interviewing people working for five organisations that have intervention programmes for male perpetrators of domestic violence. It was hoped that the research findings would provide some insights on how to establish and run a centre in Vietnam that offers intervention programmes for male perpetrators of domestic violence. Currently, such programmes do not exist in Vietnam. The research findings show that cognitive behavioural therapy, the Duluth model, and the strengths-based approach are believed to be effective for working with male perpetrators. Programme components that are important for effective programme delivery include an initial assessment, the existence of both male and female facilitators in a team, timeout planning, and anger/anxiety management. Regarding the cultural aspects, organisations do account for the cultural backgrounds of perpetrators. For example, during the initial assessment, their clients are asked if they have any cultural requirements that the facilitators should be aware of during the programme. Particularly, some special models are used with Maori perpetrators namely the Tangi Hepi or the Mason Durie model. Maori people can do hongi (a traditional Maori greeting) or karakia (prayers or incantations) if they wish provided that other clients do not oppose this. Having a Maori facilitator in the team also plays a crucial role for effective communication and better understanding among Maori perpetrators when they take part in the programme. The Men and Development framework is reflected in programme design and delivery in the organisations even though none of the facilitators named this framework when interviewed. For example, facilitators often talk with their male clients about the positive aspects of being a man and how this can help them improve their relationship with their partners rather than destroying it using violence. The facilitators help the clients navigate away from negative aspects of masculinities. They create conditions for men to work with men in the group, take responsibility for their violent behaviours and help one another in order to change their attitudes and behaviours towards domestic violence

Rights and Fairness: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Representation of Gender Relations in Marriages in Vietnamese and British Online Comments

Many researches have been conducted with the motivation of discovering a precise definition of gender equality (Beveridge & Velluti 2008; Verloo 2007). However, this conception depends on many factors relating to specific features of each society, and it also changes over time. After thousands of year of patriarchy, starting from the 19th Century, with the emergence of feminist theory in Europe, debates endure over women’s right and equality in every essential aspect of society. Even though women’s position in society and family has improved, the long period of patriarchal ideology still has its influence, especially in developing countries where the feminist movements were formed later than in Europe. Women in developing countries are still fighting for their rights while many women in developed countries have gained decisive achievements. In addition to that, each culture possesses its own perspective on specific phenomena, and these perspectives differ when we consider complicated issues, such as gender. This study therefore seeks to examine how people in different cultures perceive their gender roles and how their percipience influences their action by analyzing online comments under articles about household chore division in two tabloids. The first tabloid is from Vietnam (www.afamily.vn), a typical developing country; the second one is from Great Britain (www.dailymail.co.uk), one of the leaders of feminist movements. By combining qualitative content analysis by Mayring (2000), the analysis of cultural models as developed by Paul Gee (2008), with a stylistic analysis by Arp & Johnson (2009), and comparative research methods by Brislin (1976) the research not only demonstrates how gender and gender relation are constructed in different cultural contexts but also discloses different conceptions of gender roles in both the Vietnamese and British comments. Apparently, ultimate masculine power in the past still impacts on the conception of gender roles in both Vietnamese and British case and makes men resist sharing domestic chore with women. However, the needs of women are not really a fair share but actually being respected and appreciated by their partner for what they have done.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Binary-Continuous Sum-of-ratios Optimization: Discretization, Approximations, and Convex Reformulations

We study a class of non-convex sum-of-ratios programs which can be used for decision-making in prominent areas such as product assortment and price optimization, facility location, and security games. Such an optimization problem involves both continuous and binary decision variables and is known to be highly non-convex and intractable to solve. We explore a discretization approach to approximate the optimization problem and show that the approximate program can be reformulated as mixed-integer linear or second-order cone programs, which can be conveniently handled by an off-the-shelf solver (e.g., CPLEX or GUROBI). We further establish (mild) conditions under which solutions to the approximate problem converge to optimal solutions as the number of discretization points increases. We also provide approximation abounds for solutions obtained from the approximated problem. We show how our approach applies to product assortment and price optimization, maximum covering facility location, and Bayesian Stackelberg security games and provide experimental results to evaluate the efficiency of our approach

Expression of Estrogen Alpha and Beta Receptors in Prostate Cancer and Hyperplasia: Immunohistochemical Analysis

Objectives: Estrogen receptors are believed to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of prostate carcinoma (PCa). The aim of this study is to evaluate the expression of ER-α and ER-β in human benign and malignant prostatic tissue.Patients and Methods: The archival materials of 100 prostatic specimens (65 PCa, 35 BPH) were collected from the Department of Pathology, King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Seven PCa cases contained foci of high-grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN). Immunohistochemistry was used to test the protein expression of ER-α and ER-β utilizing monoclonal mouse antihuman antibodies.Results: Among the 65 cases of PCa, ER-α was expressed in 3 cases (4.6%) in epithelial cells and 4 cases (6.1%) in stromal cells. ER-α was not expressed in any of the HGPIN foci. Additionally, ER-α was not expressed in either luminal or basal cells in any of the 35 BPH cases. However it was expressed in 4 cases (11.4%) in stromal cells of BPH. In PCa, ER-β was expressed in 61 cases (93.8%) and 35 cases (53.8%) in the epithelial and stromal cells respectively. ER-β was expressed only in 2 cases (28.5%) out of 7 HGPIN foci. It was expressed in 33 cases (94.3%) of epithelialand stromal cells of BPH. Conclusion: The majority of PCa and BPH exhibited nuclear immunoreactivity for ER-β in both tumor and stromal cells and they are usually negative for ER-α. There is probably partial loss of ER-β in HGPIN. ER-β may have a role in the process of prostatic hyperplasia and malignancy.Key Words: ER-α, ER-β, prostate, hyperplasia, premalignant, cancer,  immunohistochemistr

Online Professional Development Training for Teachers of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Languages in the U.S.: A Design-Based Research Study

Ph.D

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چکیده هدف اصلی این پژوهش ، شناسایی سازههای مختلفی است که برسازندة هویت دانشـجویی در میان دانشجویان است. با اتکا به نظریۀ روانشناسی گفتمانی که یکی از نظریههای پساساختارگرا و گفتمانی هویت است، فرض ما دربارة وجود سه سازة هویتی دانشگاهی، نسلی و شهروندی در میان دانشجویان بر اساس کار میدانی حاصل از مصاحبههای مردمنگارانه تأیید شده اسـت . در ادامه ، این پژوهش با شناسایی و استناد به دو منبع اصلی هویتسـاز در نظریـۀ روانشناسـی گفتمانی (گنجینههای تفسیری و تجربۀ زیسته) به دلایل قوامنایافتهبودن هویتهای دانشـجویی و شهروندی در مقابل هویت نسلی پرداخته شده است. بر این اساس، یافتههای ایـن پـژوهش کیفی نشان میدهد که مهمترین دلیل قوامنایافتگی هویت دانشگاهی در میان دانشجویان متعلق به طبقات متوسط مدرن در ایران تطابق نداشتن گنجینههای تفسیری دانشگاهی با تحربـه هـای زیست ۀ دانشجویان در دانشگاه است