In pursuit of the subject of happiness : a genealogy : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand /

This study is a Foucauldian genealogy of the truth and knowledge produced by the Science of Happiness, which is part of the Positive Psychology movement; this is a an historical analytic of the scientific truths and knowledges of the present. Psychological well-being, or happiness, has become a legitimate, and burgeoning, object of scientific inquiry since the formation of the Positive Psychology movement in 2000. The first section reviews the literature for findings from the new Science of Psychology and also reviews the literature on the use of the methodology of genealogy as a research practice. The second section contains the genealogy which, following Foucault's advice, starts with Descartes and the ruptures of the Enlightenment, following the transition of happiness from a matter of luck or chance or the gift of the gods, to a matter that man has control over and the Science of Psychology has an interest in. This section takes fragments of text from Descartes, Spinoza, Bacon, Locke, Blackstone, Jefferson, Bentham, Mill, Carlyle, Dickens, and Skinner to build the genealogy and to show the contingencies of the past that brought us to the scientific 'truths' of the present. The final section briefly reviews the genealogy and explores the trajectories for future work on the subjectivity produced by the scientific subject of happiness

Communicating for change: media and agency in the networked public sphere

This paper is aimed at anyone who is interested in the role of media as an influence on power and policy. It especially about the role of news journalism, NGOs and other activists who use communication for change. It looks at the context for those actors and their actions. It asks how much the Internet and social networks are changing advocacy. It takes an ethical and political rather than technological or theoretical approach. It ask whether the ‘public sphere’ needs to be redefined. If that is the case, I argue, then we need to think again about journalism, advocacy communications and the relationship between mediation and social, political or economic change. I would identify three overlapping, interrelated media dynamics that might add up to the need for a new notion of the public sphere: the disruption of communication power; the rise of networked journalism; the dual forces for online socialisation and corporatisation. This is not only a theoretical concern. From these dynamics flow all the other arguments about what kind of media we want or need, and what effect it will have on our ability to communicate particular kinds of issues or information. Unless we understand the strategic context of these changes we will continue to make the kind of tactical blunders that Kony2012, for example, represents. This is not just an academic question, it is an ethical, political and practical set of problems

The New Section 1202 Tax-Free Business Sale: Congress Rewards Small Businesses That Survived the Great Recession

On September 27, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Creating Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (“SBJA”) that contains a temporary amendment to Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) § 1202. The amendment permits original shareholders of eligible corporation stock to sell the stock without being taxed on the sale. The temporary amendment initially only applied to certain stock acquired after the enactment of the SBJA and before January 1, 2011, but the amendment was extended on December 17, 2010 for another year ending January 1, 2012. With the impending sunset of the 15% capital gains rate at the end of 2012, this 100% exclusion from both capital gains taxes and the alternative minimum tax (“AMT”), would be a very big financial windfall to business owners with qualified small business stock (“QSBS”). A qualified small business (“QSB”) is a C corporation with assets of $50 million or less where at least 80$10 million or 10 times the adjusted basis in the corporation. Victor Fleischer stated that the main purpose for enhancing the IRC § 1202 exclusion is to encourage investment in certain new C corporation ventures and small businesses. Manufacturing, construction, and retail wholesaling industries appear to be some of the main areas promoted by the expanded exclusion, since the definition of “qualified trade or business” excludes many other major areas of industry. This Article provides an overview of the IRC Section § 1202 tax-free business sale provision, the history behind the development of the IRC amendments, the apparent intent for enactment, the likelihood the Act will achieve its purposes, the statute’s ambiguities, and some policy implications of creating a tax-free business sale provision

Health anxiety and hypochondriasis : the patient's perspective : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Appendix C page 107 removed due to Copyright restrictionsThis qualitative study using a social constructionist epistemology looked at seven individuals' experiences of health anxiety and hypochondriasis. Participants were recruited using advertisements on local public notice boards, word of mouth and a published newspaper interview. Participants self-identified as having health anxiety or hypochondria and ranged between 18-64 years of age. There were three male and four female participants. A thematic narrative analysis was undertaken. Common themes that were identified were: childhood attachment styles, trauma, personal experience with illness, the function of health anxiety, health anxiety developing into adulthood, stigma of being labelled a hypochondriac, participants' positioning of self and others, participants' views on their doctors and communication styles. Also outlined were participants' recommendations for managing symptoms and coping with doctors' consultations. Implications include integrating attachment theories into therapy for health anxiety and working towards improving communication skills between medical doctors and health anxious and hypochondriacal patients

Combined Log System

Busy Internet archives generate large logs for each access method being used. These raw log files can be difficult to process and to search. This paper describes a system for reading these growing logs, a combined log file format into which they are re-written and a system that automates this building and integration for multiple access methods. Automated summarizing of the information is also provided giving statistics on accesses by user, site, path-name and date/time amongst others

Crossing the Border: Locating Heterosexuality as a Boundary for Lesbian Women and Disabled Women

NoThis article draws on my personal experience, and on the separate experiences of 'leaving heterosexuality' and of 'being disabled'. I have attempted to find common ground for action between these two groups by interrogating the experience of being sexual. I argue that heterosexuality functions as a social matrix, with exclusionary practices that operate in similar ways towards both groups. Mechanisms may be different, but the experience of exclusion is similar, and is based on similar practices. This article focuses on specific points in the exclusionary process, and illustrates similarities

NGOs as Gatekeepers to Local Media: Networked News for Developing Countries

This paper illustrates how innovations leading to networked media have the potential to support the work of non-governmental organisations engaged in development work through providing new means of achieving accountability and transparency. The trend towards new forms of participatory media does not necessarily lead to better engagement with local media, civil society or citizens in developing countries. As the analysis in this paper, suggests there is some resistance in the development community towards a deeper involvement in networked forms of journalism.

From Fortress to Network: Changing Structures of News Media Production

A new form of networked journalism based on new media is changing the core of news production and consumption, challenging the business models of the past and the efforts of traditional journalism organizations to control the news. News values are changing even in the BBC and other mainstream news outlets. Although the meaning of news itself is changing, the author argues that even more significant is that we are gaining a whole new means of producing and consuming news. This has implications for empowering citizens, though the outcomes are by no means certain. Policy choices will shape the consequences of current shifts in news but the changes are global and there is increasing evidence of the major potential for change as news production becomes much more like a service - a service co-produced by citizens and journalists.

Suffering in silence: children and unreported crime

This report presents the findings of a Scoping Inquiry into the hidden victimisation of children and young people, undertaken on behalf of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Victims and Witnesses of Crime. The Inquiry was commissioned in response to findings from the most recent Crime Survey for England and Wales which indicates that less than one-fifth of children and young people who experience theft or violent crime report this to the police. The charity Victim Support, who provides the secretariat to the APPG, undertook research for the Inquiry in partnership with the University of Bedfordshire. Evidence was gathered in four ways: • a short review of existing literature; • an analysis of relevant data sources including the Crime Survey for England and Wales; • a rapid call for evidence from charities, service providers, statutory bodies and campaigners; and • three focus groups with children and young people