Masters Theses

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https://hdl.handle.net/10292/5
The Masters Theses collection contains digital copies of AUT University masters theses deposited with the Library since 2002 and made available open access. From 2007 onwards, all theses for masters degrees awarded are required to be deposited in Tuwhera Open Theses & Dissertations unless subject to an embargo.

For theses submitted prior to 2007, open access was not mandatory, so only those theses for which the author has given consent are available in Tuwhera Open Theses & Dissertations. Where consent for open access has not been provided, the thesis is usually recorded in the AUT Library catalogue where the full text, if available, may be accessed with an AUT password. Other people should request an Interlibrary Loan through their library.

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 3052
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    Falling Apartness: Vessels of Decay
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2023) Coffin, Te Rina
    Falling-Apartness takes the position that that there is inherent decadence in decay. Objects and places that have been discarded are eventually reclaimed by decay where they exist as a shadow of former vitality until oblivion. This research project seeks to disrupt the temporality and placement of decay in clothing by pushing the structural limits of its tangibility and function. Through this, the project seeks to challenge the role of clothing as providing shelter, warmth or protection by designing clothing that seeks to expose the vulnerability and mortality in its wearer as it decays by ripping, un-weaving and crumbling apart. Perspectives on decay, clothing, fashion and death are explored through writers such as Daniel Trigg, Ghassan Hage, Walter Benjamin and Giacomo Leopardi. The Aesthetics of Decay, a set of principles, were incorporated as they observe the key reactions of the relationship between clothing and wearer. Practice-based and reflective-practice methodology are implemented to position iterative design and diarising as methods to gain new knowledge as part of an original investigation involving practice and the outcomes of that practice. Falling-Apartness seeks to explore and contribute to the dialogue between decay, clothing, fashion and death. It is a recognition and inquiry into the decay between whole and disintegrating, life and death.
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    Transforming Terrains: a Site's Narrative Shaped by the Occupancy of External Forces
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2023) Juno, Jessica
    This research investigates a methodology as a means to translate the narrative of a site’s transformation, through giving presence to the marks embedded within the terrain. Drawing and casting processes are used predominantly to articulate a narrative of the external forces occupying a site. The purpose of the developed methodology is to understand how a terrain has been shaped over time due to the influence of the external forces occupying its surfaces. Throughout this research the methodology has been trialed on three sites in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland: Takapuna Beach (coastal), pavers outside my house (domestic), and St Paul Street (urban). The most significant and present forces identified throughout this research have been caused by human intervention and by erosion. This research communicates the immeasurable timeline of a site’s transformation. By undertaking methods of drawing and casting to identify, then visualize the trace embedded upon its terrain. Traces of external forces are recorded and embedded in the ground causing and becoming a part of the site’s narrative of transformation. Drawing lines and making marks translates material transformation into a narrative that can depict terrain as an accumulation of transformations over time. Identifying the terrain as a compression of layers forms a snapshot of its compact timeline, while also providing the opportunity to read each individual layer of transformative detailing. Through both the drawing and casting processes, each layer becomes a moment preserved. The process of reading is important because it speaks to the geological process creating compressed layers of time; unpacking these layers we can begin to more deeply understand a site’s compressed transformation.
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    Tending: Drawing and Gardening as Ecological Care
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2023) Houching, Megan
    This practice-led research investigates how an expanded drawing practice explores the intimate collaborative relationship that has been progressively formed with two suburban vegetable garden sites and the more-than-human vitalities progressively encountered there. Parallel drawing and gardening processes have formed cyclical drawing sites, working simultaneously between labour-intensive graphite drawing work and garden compost drawings on the floor and calico substrates. An ecological site-responsive approach has led to engagement with the garden as a materially active site. I have progressively developed homemade compost and garden soil as a regenerative drawing medium recycled throughout the duration of the project. This provided the potential to investigate the crucial acts of tending to often unseen labour and care, which led me to understand compost and garden soil as a complex accumulation of vitalities. This research has fostered the ecological engagements occurring in/with soil and investigated how these engagements may provide a relational understanding of the fluctuating nature of my vegetable garden as an everyday environment and as a generator for drawing.
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    Exploring Latin American Women Migrant’s Experiences of Accessing and Utilising Primary Health Care for Mental Health Care Needs in Aotearoa, New Zealand
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2023) Ribeiro Garcia de Rezende, Mariana
    What barriers and facilitators do Latin American women migrants face when accessing and utilising primary health services for mental health care needs in Aotearoa New Zealand, and how do these experiences affect their perception of mental health care in the country? New Zealand has experienced an increased influx of Latin American migrants. The migration process is recognised as a significant source of stress, and various factors associated with the migrant status contribute to an increased risk of mental health issues. Migrants usually face multiple barriers to accessing healthcare services in the host country. Women migrants may accumulate risk factors for mental distress and face more challenges in accessing healthcare services than men, Ensuring that effective mental health support is offered to this population is crucial. A qualitative descriptive approach underpinned by a transnational feminist theoretical framework was used in this study to explore the barriers and facilitators faced by Latin American women migrants when accessing and utilising primary health services for mental health care in New Zealand. The analysis also investigates how these experiences shape their perception of mental health care in their host country. Through semi-structured in-depth interviews, eight Latin American women currently living in New Zealand shared their experiences. A thematic analysis of the data was conducted, and the findings were organised into three themes: “Accessing Primary Health Services for Mental Health Needs”, “Engaging with Primary Health Services for Mental Health Needs”, and “Connecting with Primary Health Services for Mental Health Needs”. The subtheme “Obtaining mental health information as a migrant” offered findings that aligned with existing literature, as it suggested that globally Latin American women migrants have low mental health literacy regarding available support services to receive and continue to receive mental health assistance. The subtheme “Seeing the GP as a condition to accessing psychological therapy services” revealed that the requirement to see the general practitioner (GP) to obtain a referral for psychological services was seen as a barrier to accessing timely and efficient mental health care, besides also being viewed as being invasive. Other findings included the perception that non-comprehensive medical assessments are inadequate for mental health support and that dismissive responses to mental distress complaints are due to a lack of empathy and mental health skills among GPs. Lastly, primary healthcare services are perceived as unreliable in addressing mental health needs for this population. Recommendations that can be applied to guide improvements for the mental health support of these women in New Zealand include the promotion of mental health information; facilitating direct access to psychological services; fostering collaborative participation of mental health care professionals to discuss their subjectivities and intervention plans; offering a better quality of mental health assessments with extended duration consultations; and educating professionals that show sufficient cultural sensitivity and recognition of the population’s vulnerabilities, and who encourage their active participation in care planning.
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    Violence Against Women, Women Against Violence: Exploring the Experience of Women Who Have Participated in the Diamonds in the Ring Boxing Event in Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Auckland University of Technology, 2023) Roebuck, Ruby
    The sport of boxing is often viewed negatively and associated with violence, aggression, and masculinity (Davies & Deckert, 2018; Mayeda, 2008). Yet, women’s participation at a social and competitive level is increasing with research suggesting their experience may lead to a sense of personal development and empowerment (Hargreaves, 1997, Nash, 2019; Velija et al., 2013). Research has found that many women who have experienced domestic violence are not only choosing to participate in boxing and other combat sports but are also experiencing positive outcomes (Gammage et al., 2021; McCaughey, 1997; Velija et al., 2013), with some boxing-based programmes being implemented specifically for this social group (Van Ingen, 2011a, 2011b, 2016). However, no research to date has specifically explored this area within the New Zealand (NZ) context. In NZ, some survivors choose to participate in boxing, specifically Diamonds in the Ring (DITR). DITR is a boxing event that fundraises for the Women’s Refuge while “empowering families through fitness and boxing” (DITR, 2017). The women complete a 15-week boxing training camp that culminates in a fight exhibition. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of the experience of these women, to gauge their motivations and the extent to which their experience may have facilitated any form of personal development and empowerment. The study is guided by the following three research questions: 1) What motivates women who have been victims of domestic violence to participate in DITR? 2) In what way has their experience facilitated a sense of personal development? 3) If any, what aspects of their experience facilitated a sense of empowerment? A qualitative research design grounded in feminist criminological theory was utilised. One-on-one, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five DITR participants who had survived domestic violence. The data were thematically analysed. The overarching theme is transformation, which consists of six sub-themes: 1) pre-transformation self-assessment, 2) physical development, 3) mental change, 4) identity shift: from victim to fighter, 5) empowerment, and 6) healing and recovery. In brief, the research questions were answered as follows. 1) Women were motivated to participate in DITR for several reasons, including, to support a friend, for personal growth and development, and to support the Women’s Refuge. 2) Participants experienced a strong sense of personal development characterised by physical and mental strength, self-confidence, self-esteem, change in mindset, and overall positive wellbeing. 3) There was a clear indication that participants experienced a strong sense of empowerment which was facilitated by the development of strength, voice and agency, a shift in mindset, and a sense of healing and recovery from past trauma. Collectively, these developments represented a transformation that culminated into an identity shift in which the strong, empowered woman they felt they had become was very different to who they were when they entered DITR. The study concludes that boxing is a powerful facilitator of change, however, one of the key contributions to this change was the contact aspect of boxing training. As this raises questions around the vulnerability of survivors of violence and the need to potentially reframe our thinking about this demographic, further research is required to determine whether this finding extends more broadly to other women survivors of violence and other combat sports.
Theses are protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use:
  • Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person.
  • Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate.
  • You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the thesis.