School of Social Sciences and Humanities

Permanent link for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10292/2105

The School of Social Sciences and Humanities draws together subject areas of Language, Culture, Social Science and Public Policy. This collection contains research on a wide variety of topics - from New Zealand Sign Language, creative writing, interpreting and intercultural competencies; to criminology and criminal justice, economics, human rights, psychology and social policy.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 203

Revaluing Overselected Stimuli: Effects of Degree of Posttraining Extinction on Stimulus Overselectivity
(Wiley, 2025-10-26) Gomes‐Ng, Stephanie; Cowie, Sarah; Elliffe, Douglas
When responding to a stimulus exerting overselective control over behavior is extinguished, control by underselected stimuli may emerge. We investigated how the degree of extinction influences control by underselected stimuli. Adult humans (N = 459) chose between rapidly presented compound S+ and S− stimuli in a simultaneous discrimination. Then, participants chose between individual compound-stimulus elements in an unreinforced testing phase. The S+ element that was chosen most often underwent revaluation, during which choice of that element was reinforced with a probability ranging from 0 (complete extinction) to 1 (no extinction) in different groups. In post-revaluation retesting, choice of the overselected element was lower than in pre-revaluation testing; this decrease was greater when the overselected element had been reinforced with a lower probability during revaluation. For the underselected element, choice decreased when the overselected element was completely extinguished and increased when the overselected element was sometimes or always reinforced. This highlights the role of the contingency change in post-revaluation changes in stimulus control. Our findings are consistent with comparator theories of overselectivity and suggest that control by underselected stimuli may emerge after partial extinction of an overselected stimulus. Future studies should establish the generality of these findings with clinical populations displaying overselectivity.
Moving Beyond Carceral Safety Logics in Aotearoa New Zealand
(Manchester Metropolitan University, 2025-10-28) Gordon, Grace
Carceral safety logics, which place institutions within the criminal punishment system as a source of safety, continue to dominate globally. Despite their dominance, during the last 5 years in Aotearoa New Zealand, surveys have reported that more people feel less safe (Ministry of Justice, 2023). This article problematises the reliance on carceral safety logics in Aotearoa and explores alternative approaches that may generate more collective and sustainable safety. This article draws on 16 semi-structured interviews with people who advocate or work in the ‘justice’ system to inform this perspective. Narratives shared within these interviews present a desired relational element of safety that is at odds with carceral safety logics and punitive approaches to safety. The participants, from penal populists to penal abolitionists, ultimately saw safety through community-building, ensuring wellbeing needs are met, and collective care. This article unpacks what these shared ideas could mean for abolitionist conceptions of safety and justice in the community.
The Shift to the Online Environment: The Experience of Chinese International Students During Covid-19
(The University of Hong Kong, 2025-10-18) Sun, Susan YH; Strauss, Pat; Yu, Bowen
This study investigated the experiences of a group of international Chinese students at a New Zealand university who were rapidly transitioned to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on research into the experiences of students during the pandemic, and ecological and systemic considerations of the learning environment, this study explores students’ activities, focusing on the challenges these students faced and the specific actions they took, i.e., what they actually did to navigate their learning environment to ensure effective learning and the achievement of their desired outcomes. The findings, based on semi-structured interviews with twenty participants, reveal that these challenges were complex but largely related to interaction and communication. Building on the findings, the study examines various ecological aspects within the complex online learning context and suggests design solutions to improve communication and interaction. The study highlights the importance of considering students’ sociocultural contexts to ensure effective communication in online learning environments. It concludes by emphasizing the need for an ecological approach to designing learning experiences in the post-COVID-19 era. The study’s recommendations highlight the importance of systemic planning, collaborative mechanisms, and cooperation across various departments and agencies within a university.
Algorithm-Assisted Decision Making and Racial Disparities in Housing: A Study of the Allegheny Housing Assessment Tool
(arXiv, 2024-07-30) Cheng, Lingwei; Drayton, Cameron; Chouldechova, Alexandra; Vaithianathan, Rhema
The demand for housing assistance across the United States far exceeds the supply, leaving housing providers the task of prioritizing clients for receipt of this limited resource. To be eligible for federal funding, local homelessness systems are required to implement assessment tools as part of their prioritization processes. The Vulnerability Index Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT) is the most commonly used assessment tool nationwide. Recent studies have criticized the VI-SPDAT as exhibiting racial bias, which may lead to unwarranted racial disparities in housing provision. In response to these criticisms, some jurisdictions have developed alternative tools, such as the Allegheny Housing Assessment (AHA), which uses algorithms to assess clients' risk levels. Drawing on data from its deployment, we conduct descriptive and quantitative analyses to evaluate whether replacing the VI-SPDAT with the AHA affects racial disparities in housing allocation. We find that the VI-SPDAT tended to assign higher risk scores to white clients and lower risk scores to Black clients, and that white clients were served at a higher rates pre-AHA deployment. While post-deployment service decisions became better aligned with the AHA score, and the distribution of AHA scores is similar across racial groups, we do not find evidence of a corresponding decrease in disparities in service rates. We attribute the persistent disparity to the use of Alt-AHA, a survey-based tool that is used in cases of low data quality, as well as group differences in eligibility-related factors, such as chronic homelessness and veteran status. We discuss the implications for housing service systems seeking to reduce racial disparities in their service delivery.
Just the Ticket? The Problem with Local Body Candidates Aligning with National Political Parties
(The Conversation, 2025-06-04) Molineaux, Julienne Andrea
Can Universities Be Considered Queer Institutions?
(Sociological Association of Aotearoa New Zealand (SAANZ), 2/04/2025) Eklund, Tof; Pilkington, Scott
Universities have Queer staff and students and conduct Queer research, so are they Queer institutions themselves? Can universities be ‘safe spaces’ for Rainbow Communities? Unfortunately, there is insufficient data in Aotearoa/New Zealand to be able to conclusively test that, so the historical and contemporary relationships with and treatment and experiences at university of women, Māori and Pacific Peoples are considered as alternatives for those with Rainbow Communities. For each of these marginalised groups, similar patterns of oppression and discrimination present through consistent lack of career progression, pay equity and representation in senior leadership, short-term and precarious employment, harassment and violence, and sidelining into small and out-of-the-way departments and disciplines held in lower validity to ‘traditional’ subjects. However, scholars from these communities are forming their own research and support networks which are inclusive, intersectional and interdisciplinary. Within this framework of bottom-up initiatives, universities could be Queer institutions in the same way that they could be feminist and Indigenous institutions. It is entirely possible—but may involve rebuilding our institutions from the ground up rather than applying a new coat of paint.
Developing Predictive Risk Models to Support Child Maltreatment Hotline Screening Decisions: Allegheny County Methodology and Implementation.
(Centre for Social Data Analytics, Auckland University of Technology, 2017) Vaithianathan, Rhema; Putnam-Hornstein, Emily; Jiang, Nan; Nand, Parma; Maloney, Tim
This methodology document traces the development and implementation of the Allegheny Family Screening Tool (AFST), a child welfare predictive risk-modelling tool built by a research team led by Rhema Vaithianathan. The AFST is intended to support call screening of child maltreatment referrals by Allegheny County Department of Human Services. The methodology document includes an overview of existing practice, methodology and performance metrics of the model and details of the external validation and next steps for the model rebuild.
Pragmatics of Second Person Address Variation in New Zealand Sign Language
(Elsevier, 2025-07-14) McKee, Rachel; Vale, Mireille; Major, Georgina; Pivac Alexander, Sara; Meyerhoff, Miriam
Expansion of contexts and purposes for the use of New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) and the affordances of online video communication modes have led to the emergence of new genre features which have not yet been described. Focusing on contemporary online informative videotexts in NZSL, we take a variationist pragmatics lens to examining variation in second person address between index-finger and whole-hand pointing forms. Forms of address are significant in the construction of social relations between speakers and addressees, having the potential to index dimensions of status, social distance and speaker stance. This study used mixed methods to investigate the use and social indexicality of a whole-hand pronominal variant in NZSL, including analysis of its distribution and associated factors in a dataset of online videotexts and data from other genres and time periods. Metapragmatic insight of NZSL signers about contextual and social motivations for the use of whole-hand pointing address enriches our interpretation of observations in the video data. In addition to confirming that the whole-hand form of address is a modern usage, participants identified four other associations with this form: genre, mode, politeness, and Māori context. We conclude that the typical use of whole-hand address in these informative online videos is a feature re-mediated from in-person public speaking contexts, which is now associated with and replicated in the online modality of this public address genre.
An uBuntu Research Methodology – Exploring the South African Coloured Identity in Aotearoa New Zealand Through Shisa Nyama and uKhamba
(SAGE Publications, 2025-06-03) Dunn, Stanton; Nakhid, Camille; Nakhid-Schuster, Lesina
The coloured identity of South Africa, arising as it did from the racism of colonialism, has held a contested place in the lives of South Africans in the country. For diasporic South Africans, where the term ‘coloured’ may be perceived differently by members of the host country, their relationship to this identity has prompted introspection and reflection particularly amongst younger South Africans. In seeking to culturally and affirmatively explore how coloured South Africans in Aotearoa New Zealand understand and apply the coloured identity, the authors employed the Affirming Methodologies theoretical framework which centres Local and Indigenous voices in the research process and recognizes the value of these voices in sharing knowledge. Within this framework, the uBuntu methodology was designed to keep faith with the cultural lens and practices of the co-researchers (participants). This paper focuses, not on the findings of the study, but on the development of and engagement with the uBuntu methodology. The uBuntu methodology, embodying the uBuntu principles of community, humanity and relationship, offered an authentic and affirming approach to seeking and sharing knowledges through the shisa nyama research method; the uKhamba method of data analysis was designed to discuss, critique and conclude on the knowledges shared.
Enhanced Empathy for English Language Learners: How ESOL Teachers' Past Language Learning Informs Their Teacher Knowledge and Practices
(Wiley, 2025-05-28) Willis, Rohan; Harvey, Sharon; Wohlfart, Irmengard
While there has been a growing interest in teachers' empathy within TESOL, the various dimensions of empathy remain less explored compared to other fields such as anthropology, medicine, and psychology. Guided by the theoretical framing of “teacher knowledge” (TK), this paper reports on one key theme from a doctoral study concerning how ESOL teachers perceive the ways their instructed additional language (AL) learning experiences contributed to their teaching practices. Two stages of teacher empathy, rooted in participants' recollections of their past instructed AL learning, emerged from the data. This paper drew on responses from 10 New Zealand‐based teachers across TESOL sectors, collected through focus groups and individual phenomenological interviews. Subsequent data analysis employing interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) described the theme of ESOL teachers' enhanced empathy for English language learners (ELLs). Findings suggest that such increased empathy is tied to teachers' personal experiences with AL learning. Consequently, participants reportedly made pedagogical decisions to incorporate empathetic teaching practices informed by their reflective insights. This paper contributes to the applied linguistics literature by introducing the notions of “reflective empathy” and “enacted empathy” in the context of instructed AL learning and teaching while exploring their significance. Furthermore, it proposes that more attention should be given to ESOL teachers' instructed AL‐learning experiences as a valuable resource of their TK.
Interpreting for LGBTIQ+ Asylum Seekers in the Netherlands: Challenges and Policy Recommendations
(Frontiers Media S.A., 2/07/2025) Crezee, Ineke; Monzo-Nebot, Esther; Ramirez, Elba; Sanders, Jona
LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers face unique challenges in proving their claims, as their identities are often criminalized or stigmatized in their home countries. Asylum processes rely heavily on credibility assessments, where interpreters play a crucial role in communication. Common issues in interpreter-mediated asylum interviews include lack of specialized training, linguistic barriers, cultural biases, confidentiality concerns, and structural undervaluation of interpreters. In the Netherlands, Work Instruction 2019/17 provides guidelines for assessing LGBTIQ+ claims incorporating international recommendations, but gaps persist in interpreter selection, training, and oversight. This review identifies best practices, including comprehensive interpreter training, trauma-informed approaches, and standardized ethical guidelines. Policy recommendations are suggested, emphasizing the need for clearer protocols, ongoing professional development, and institutional recognition of interpreters’ impact on asylum outcomes
Using a Predictive Risk Model to Prioritize Families for Prevention Services: The Hello Baby Program in Allegheny County, PA.
(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2025-04-22) Vaithianathan, Rhema; Benavides-Prado, Diana; Rebbe, Rebecca; Putnam-Hornstein, Emily
Population-based efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect are challenging because annual incidence rates are relatively low. Even among families that meet eligibility and risk criteria for intensive home-visiting programs, the baseline rate of maltreatment tends to be low because we use simple criteria. This creates both service (i.e., cost) and evaluation (i.e., power) challenges because a large number of families need to receive the preventive intervention to produce detectable changes in subsequent maltreatment. The increase in the availability of administrative data has made it possible to use predictive risk models (PRMs) to risk-stratify whole birth cohorts and identify children at the highest risk of maltreatment and other early childhood adversities. The current paper describes the development and validation of a PRM implemented in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, to stratify families and newborn infants into three levels of prioritized services based on the predicted risk of child removal due to maltreatment by age 3. Using a research dataset of anonymized records for children born in Allegheny County between 2012 and 2015, predictive features were coded using data available in the county's administrative data systems. This spine was linked to child removal outcomes between 2012 and 2018, so we had a 3-year follow-up for each child. A PRM was trained to predict removals in the first 3 years of life using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator. Predictive accuracy was measured for the highest 5% of risk scores in a holdout dataset. The model was validated using nontraining outcomes such as maternal mortality, infant mortality, and maltreatment-related fatalities and near-fatalities. The model achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of .93 (95% CI [0.92, 0.95]), recall of 19.93%, and precision of 54.10%. Children identified for the top tier of services had a relative risk ratio of maltreatment-related fatality or near-fatality of 5.54 (95% CI [3.41, 9.00]). Using alternative eligibility approaches (e.g., poverty, teen maternal age) proved far inferior to using PRM in targeting services for children at high baseline risk of maltreatment.
Being Mentally Flexible Might Influence Our Attitudes to Vaccination, a New Study Shows
(2024-10-24) Gomes-Ng, Stephanie
Knowing Superstitions Aren’t Real Doesn’t Stop Us Behaving Superstitiously – Why?
(The Conversation, 2024-11-22) Gomes-Ng, Stephanie; Cowie, Sarah
NZ’s Barriers to Economic Growth: Short-term Thinking, Political Concentration and Policy Flip-flops
(The Conversation, 2025-02-28) Nicholls, Kate
Dua Lipa is a Poet Too – On National Poetry Day, Let’s Celebrate the Power of Words to Move Us
(The Conversation, 2024-08-23) Harvey, Siobhan
The 2019 Local Government Elections in Aotearoa New Zealand
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2023-07-19) Molineaux, Julienne Andrea
The election report describes the organization of local government and analyses the results of the 2019 local elections in Aotearoa New Zealand (the bilingual Māori-English name for New Zealand). The report reveals a trend of declining turnout. Districts with higher numbers of electors and those with lower numbers of elected representatives per capita had the lowest turnout. Apart from three large cities, Auckland, Christchurch and the capital city Wellington, most council and mayoral candidates do not stand for a political party or on a local ticket. As the report highlights, 2019 did see an increase in the number of women elected to positions on councils.
Development and Validation of a Real-time Happiness Index Using Google Trends.
(Global Labor Organization (GLO), 2024-10-11) Greyling, Talita; Rossouw, Stephanie
It is well-established that a country's economic outcomes, including productivity, future income, and labour market performance, are profoundly influenced by the happiness of its people. Traditionally, survey data have been the primary source for determining people's happiness. However, this approach faces challenges as individuals increasingly experience "survey fatigue"; conducting surveys is costly, data generated from surveys is only available with a significant time lag, and happiness is not a constant state. To address these limitations of survey data, Big Data collected from online sources like Google Trends™ and social media platforms have emerged as a significant and necessary data source to complement traditional survey data. This alternative data source can give policymakers more timely information on people's happiness, well-being or any other issue. In recent years, Google Trends™ data has been leveraged to discern trends in mental health, including depression, anxiety, and loneliness and to construct robust predictors of subjective well-being composite categories. We aim to develop a methodology to construct the first comprehensive, near real-time measure of population-level happiness using information-seeking query data extracted continuously using Google Trends™ in countries. We use a basket of English-language emotion words suggested to capture positive and negative affect based on the literature reviewed. To derive the equation for estimating happiness in a country, we employ machine learning algorithms XGBoost and ElasticNet to determine the most important words and weight the happiness equation, respectively. We use the United Kingdom's ONS (weekly and quarterly) data to demonstrate our methodology. Next, we translate the basket of words into Dutch and apply the same equation to test if the same words and weights can be used in a different country (the Netherlands) to estimate happiness. Lastly, we improve the fit for the Netherlands by incorporating country-specific emotion words. Evaluating the accuracy of our estimated happiness in countries against survey data, we find a very good fit with very low error metrics. If we add country-specific words, we improve the fit statistics. Our suggested methodology shows that emotion words extracted from Google Trends™ can accurately estimate a country's level of happiness.
Translation Theories in the Context of the Chinese Language – How Applicable are they to Community Translation?
(International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies, 2022-04-01) Crezee, I; Teng, W
This article presents a critical review of translation theories advocated in the context of the Chinese language with a focus on their applicability to Community Translation (Taibi & Ozolins, 2016). Community Translation often aims to provide information crucially important to the basic human rights of linguistic minorities. Yet, Chinese translation theories have been largely developed for the translation of literary and religious texts, relying on literary critique of impressionistic and subjective ideas. Therefore, such an approach would not work in the field of Community Translation. A discussion of Community Translation in the context of the Chinese language could add a functional perspective, considerations of the pragmatic functions of both the Source and the Target texts and the perspectives of both the ‘producers’ and the end-users. Discussion in these aspects could help better investigate and evaluate a translated text that aims to help members of linguistically disadvantaged communities participate in the mainstream society of the language context
Interpreter Reports on Patient and Family Behaviour Impacting on the Healthcare Interpreter Role
(EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste, 2025-02-28) Crezee, Ineke; Julich, Shirley; Zucchi, Emiliano
This paper focuses on interpreter reports regarding behaviour of family and their relatives in the healthcare interpreting setting in Australia and how this impacted on them and their ability to carry out their role. These reports were part of a broader study in which professional community interpreters participated in a nationwide survey about the expectations of the health interpreter role. Three main themes emerged in this respect. Firstly, interpreters reported on the difficulty of dealing with situations where patients or relatives declined the need for an interpreter. Secondly, they reported experiencing issues where patients or relatives did not want the interpreter to behave impartially. Lastly, interpreters reported the impact of working in situations where emotions were running high for a range of reasons and described how this impacted on their ability to carry out the assignment. This paper will discuss examples of all three, before concluding with some suggestions of ways interpreters, interpreter educators, professional bodies, health organisations and the government could address this lack of understanding of the interpreter role.

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