Making and unmaking difference: a study of expatriate women’s relationship with domestic workers in Singapore

This thesis is based upon ethnographic research conducted in Singapore between September 2008 and October 2009 and over a decade of observation and experience as an expatriate woman. It explores the relationship between two migrant women, an expatriate woman and a migrant domestic worker (MDW), focusing on interrelated processes shaping migrant subjectivities. The relationship between between 'upper circuit' transnational elites and 'lower circuit' migrants is an area of transnationalism that has received little attention. Yet, expatriates and MDWs routinely live together. I consider how overlapping transnational fields impact how both groups of women deal with class, racial and cultural differences and how they negotiate versions of femininity in their domestic interactions. I argue that the women‘s dual migrant status renders visible coexisting and competing forms of power that are often overlooked in studies of domestic work. A crucial aspect of my research design is that I include the perspectives of both expatriate women and MDWs as well as those of expatriate men. Most studies of domestic work focus on either the employer‘s (usually female) or the employee‘s (usually female) viewpoint and overlook male influence on household dynamics and the shaping of domestic femininities. My approach allows for a richer analysis of how class, racial/ethnic and sexual positionings (among others) both motivate and constrain how individuals identify themselves vis-à-vis 'others' across national, racial, class and cultural divides. My findings are organised along four dimensions. First, I examine how shared migrant status is utilised by expatriate women and MDWs in their respective distance-making processes. Second, I explain how through performing domestic labour both groups of women are 'doing' different versions of femininity that are simultaneously accomplishments of class and racial identities. Third, I focus on how sexualised and racialised discourses about migrant women‘s bodies permeate expatriate women‘s and MDWs‘ relationships. Finally, I link my study of the micro-politics of migrant women‘s relationships with the larger context of increasing transnational migration and globalisation

The Problem of Water in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands: A Cultural Ecological Study

The island of St. Thomas has been home for many cultures over the past thirty-five hundred years, and each society has left its mark on the landscape. This study illustrates the changing relationships between culture and the island environment. It is an attempt to understand how a specific environmental problem has evolved, how a water shortage has come to exist in a relatively wet climatic zone

Investing in Well-being: An Analytical Framework

The NZ Treasury is currently engaged in a project to identify cost-effective interventions to improve outcomes for children and young adults in order to maximise the value of government expenditures across the social sector. The central aim of this paper is to provide an empirically-robust framework to compare intervention across a range of social sectors. There are two key components to the framework. The first is a life-course view of child development that emphasises that experiences and influences in childhood can affect well-being throughout life. The second component involves viewing social expenditures as investments addressed at achieving particular outcomes, typically directed at enhancing well-being. The paper presents evidence from a review of the literature on how the process and experiences of childhood have a later impact on wellbeing; how child development and outcomes are influenced by individual, family and communal factors and how risk and resilience can be used to indicate that an individual is at increased or decreased risk of negative outcomes. Case studies of youth suicide, teenage pregnancy, educational underachievement and youth inactivity provide evidence about what interventions work using key empirical findings from the literature.Well-being; social investment; life-course; child development; child and adult outcomes; portfolio; intervention

Building habit strength: A pilot intervention designed to improve food-safety behavior

The purpose of this study was to firstly design an intervention to decrease cross-contamination in the home by the development of the habitual behavior of microwaving the dishcloth/sponge and secondly to determine if this behavior could be maintained over time. Participants were randomly assigned to either a high-frequency or low-frequency reminder habit building condition or a control condition. Results indicated that for both habit building conditions, food-safety behavior significantly increased compared to the control group and these changes were maintained at follow-up. Additionally, improvement in behavior was mediated by anincrease in habit strength. The major conclusion of this study is that providing a cue to action and reminders builds food-safety habits that result in changes in food-safety behaviors. This has major implications for other food-safety interventions

Reducing patient delay with symptoms of acute coronary syndrome:a research protocol for a systematic review of previous interventions to investigate which behaviour change techniques are associated with effective interventions

Introduction: Delay to presentation with symptoms of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is common meaning many fail to achieve optimal benefit from treatments. Interventions have had variable success in reducing delay. Evidence suggests inclusion of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) may improve effectiveness of interventions but this has not yet been systematically evaluated. Data from other time-critical conditions may be relevant.Methods and analysis: A systematic review will be undertaken to identify which BCTs are associated with effective interventions to reduce patient delay (or prompt rapid help-seeking) among people with time-critical conditions (eg, chest pain, ACS, lumps, stroke, cancer and meningitis). A systematic search of a wide range of databases (including Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycInfo) and grey literature will be undertaken to identify all relevant intervention studies (randomised controlled trials, controlled clinical trials and cohort studies). Two independent reviewers will screen abstracts to identify relevant studies, apply inclusion criteria to full papers, assess methodological quality and extract data.Primary outcome measure: Change in patient decision time BCTs reported in each of the included studies will be categorised and presented according to the latest reliable taxonomy. Results of included studies will be synthesised, exploring relationships between inclusion of each BCT and effectiveness of the overall intervention. Where possible, means and SDs for differences in delay time will be calculated and combined within meta-analyses to derive a standardised mean difference and 95% CI. Analysis of (1) all time-critical and (2) ACS-only interventions will be undertaken

Teaching a Pronunciation Course to Korean EFL Students : An Analysis of the Problems Encountered and of the Methods and Techniques Used to Overcome Those Problems

This paper is an in-depth examination of pronunciation errors commonly made by Ko-rean EFL students and an exploration of methods and techniques used to alleviate the various difficultles the students experience. The data for the paper were gathered during an internship at a language school in Korea. Section I is an examination of the pronunciation errors commonly made, categorized under the following headings; a) phonemic substitution; b) stress and intonation; c) unfamiliar usages. Section 11 is an examination of the students\u27 attitudes and their effect on pronunciation. Section 111 is a discussion of the techniques and methods utilized in the class. The conclusion discusses the knowledge gained and the areas to be developed further