The challenges of culture to psychology and post-modern thinking

Someone at a workshop in the Waikato once said to us, “You know a Maori, if they want to, can always learn to be a psychologist, but a psychologist can’t learn to be a Maori”. Cultural knowledge may or may not be accompanied by social science knowledge. Cultural knowledge can stand on its own. Those who possess it, and choose to work in the institutions we are associated with, have gifts this country desperately needs. All our organisations require such people, and they need to be properly resourced, have employment security and control over their work. Their own work away from our organisations also requires adequate resourcing. They can heal their own in ways that we will never be able to. They will almost certainly offer the field rich alternative metaphors and meanings that can free us from the tired old medical, biological and social science ones. This also has implications for those in other branches of psychology, including research, experimental and industrial psychology. There is perhaps a unique opportunity for psychologists in this country of Aotearoa/New Zealand to recognise other ways of describing events, which will lead to creative practices and enable the health and welfare resources to get to those who most need them, on their own terms. It would also enable other people, other workers from other cultures to develop new paradigms, and new shifts in our field. This will not lead to the abandonment of social science, but it will enable that body of knowledge, to sit appropriately along side other realms of knowledge such as gender knowledge, and cultural knowledge, without dominating. A new experience for the social scientists, but I suspect a liberating one

Old and poor or old and cared for?

While child poverty remains a critical issue, ageing is a critical factor in the demographic changes are taking place in New Zealand.  It is assumed in policy circles that belief that home ownership and New Zealand Superannuation (NZS) is a protective factor., but there is a trend towards declining home ownership and increases in poverty in the 65 plus age group.  Policy must reflect the increasing need of this older age group, in addition to addressing child poverty.  it is recommended that policy should address requirements for increased social housing and protection of the value of NZS

Old and poor or old and cared for? Some policy reflections on data from the first two waves of NZLSA

It is customary in New Zealand policy circles to assume that older citizens are financially protected by New Zealand Superannuation (NZS) and their high rates of home ownership. Furthermore, it is assumed that families with children are much more at risk of living below one or more of the various poverty thresholds. The evidence supports this belief and there is, of course, an urgent need to address child poverty. However, the status of NZS and home ownership as protective factors for older people in the years ahead is not guaranteed.&nbsp

Below the Line: an Analysis of Income Poverty in New Zealand, 1984 - 1998

The economic and social reforms between 1984 and 1999 led to claims of increasing economic hardship, a widening income distribution and adverse consequences on living standards from higher housing costs. This article provides a systematic discussion of those claims, based on an analysis of Statistics New Zealand annual Household Economic Survey. Using a focus group determined poverty line, the paper explores who was poor in 1998, as well as commenting on trends in poverty between 1984 and 1998, on both the basis of disposable income and when this poverty measure is adjusted for relative housing costs. Trends in the incidence and severity of poverty depend crucially on whether an absolute or relative approach is taken to adjusting the poverty line through time. Key Words: Poverty, focus groups, income distribution, trends

Summary of Panel Discussion on Skills and Social Mobility

This paper follows the discussion of a number of factors surrounding skills and social mobility by a broad panel of participants

Policy to Reduce Late-Life Social Exclusion – From Aspirations to Action

Drawing on interdisciplinary, cross-national perspectives, this open access book contributes to the development of a coherent scientific discourse on social exclusion of older people. The book considers five domains of exclusion (services; economic; social relations; civic and socio-cultural; and community and spatial domains), with three chapters dedicated to analysing different dimensions of each exclusion domain. The book also examines the interrelationships between different forms of exclusion, and how outcomes and processes of different kinds of exclusion can be related to one another. In doing so, major cross-cutting themes, such as rights and identity, inclusive service infrastructures, and displacement of marginalised older adult groups, are considered. Finally, in a series of chapters written by international policy stakeholders and policy researchers, the book analyses key policies relevant to social exclusion and older people, including debates linked to sustainable development, EU policy and social rights, welfare and pensions systems, and planning and development. The book’s approach helps to illuminate the comprehensive multidimensionality of social exclusion, and provides insight into the relative nature of disadvantage in later life. With 77 contributors working across 28 nations, the book presents a forward-looking research agenda for social exclusion amongst older people, and will be an important resource for students, researchers and policy stakeholders working on ageing

Summary of Panel Discussion on Skills and Social Mobility

This paper follows the discussion of a number of factors surrounding skills and social mobility by a broad panel of participants

A critical review and development of a conceptual model of exclusion from social relations for older people

Social exclusion is complex and dynamic, and it leads to the non-realization of social, economic, political or cultural rights or participation within a society. This critical review takes stock of the literature on exclusion of social relations. Social relations are defined as comprising social resources, social connections and social networks. An evidence review group undertook a critical review which integrates, interprets and synthesizes information across studies to develop a conceptual model of exclusion from social relations. The resulting model is a subjective interpretation of the literature and is intended to be the starting point for further evaluations. The conceptual model identifies individual risks for exclusion from social relations (personal attributes, biological and neurological risk, retirement, socio-economic status, exclusion from material resources and migration). It incorporates the evaluation of social relations, and the influence of psychosocial resources and socioemotional processes, sociocultural, social-structural, environmental and policy contextual influences on exclusion from social relations. It includes distal outcomes of exclusion from social relations, that is, individual well-being, health and functioning, social opportunities and social cohesion. The dynamic relationships between elements of the model are also reported. We conclude that the model provides a subjective interpretation of the data and an excellent starting point for further phases of conceptual development and systematic evaluation(s). Future research needs to consider the use of sophisticated analytical tools and an interdisciplinary approach in order to understand the underlying biological and ecopsychosocial associations that contribute to individual and dynamic differences in the experience of exclusion from social relation