This thesis concerns domestic violence in New Zealand. Its aim is to help find effective ways of preventing domestic violence in our homes through community level public education/awareness interventions. Domestic violence has a damaging effect within a large number of New Zealand households; the primary aim of this thesis is to contribute research to the efforts in New Zealand directed at preventing domestic violence.This thesis situates domestic violence within both a sociological and theoretical framework as well as within the context of New Zealand public education campaigns. Central to this thesis is a critical analysis of one particular community level public education and awareness intervention that was implemented in the United States throughout the 1990s. The core community-level principles of this US project have been analysed with regard to the suitability of integrating them into a hypothetical domestic violence public awareness campaign in New Zealand (one that would aim to help victims seek appropriate help from their situation).This US community level intervention was called the AIDS Community Demonstration Project (ACDP), its aim being to increase HIV risk reduction behaviours amongst at-risk people within the community. It is acknowledged throughout this thesis that the risk of HIV infection and the nature of domestic violence are very different issues although both are key health issues. However, the analysis of the ACDP was chosen predominantly because of the broad community focussed principles that it followed. The core research question of this thesis is as follows: Are the broad principles used within the ACDP suitable to be integrated into a victim-based domestic violence public awareness campaign in New Zealand? If so, to what extent? If not, why?My critical analysis has been informed by qualitative interviews with key experts in the field of domestic violence prevention in New Zealand. This critical analysis has highlighted a number of key elements in the complex task of domestic violence prevention and discusses the measures needed to sustain an abuse-free New Zealand.

In response to the growing interests in K-12 economic education among politicians and educators, this study was designed to fill in the gaps created by limited research in preservice teachers’ attitudes and intentions regarding the teaching of economics at the elementary and middle-school levels. Specifically, the purposes of this study were to identify significant predictors of PK-8 preservice teachers’ intentions to teach economics and to examine the effects of an educational intervention on preservice teachers’ intentions and attitudes pertaining to the teaching of economics. Fishbein and Ajzen’s theory of reasoned action (TRA) and Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TPB) served as the theoretical bases of this research. Quantitative data collected through a self-designed survey instrument and qualitative data collected through four focus group interviews were obtained from 234 preservice teacher participants enrolled in the social studies methods courses during the fall semester of 2006. Additional training in teaching economics, which included three one-hour sessions embedded in the social studies methods courses, was provided for the experimental group teachers. The results show that preservice teachers’ intentions to teach economics were affected primarily by their perceived support from school administration and their self-efficacy. No statistically significant differences were found between the experimental and the control preservice teachers. The findings of this study indicate that whether preservice teachers decide to teach economics mainly depends on whether economics is tested on state-mandated examinations, and to some extent, the preservice teachers’ own abilities to teach economics. The findings of this study also point to the need for more research in effective training for teaching elementary and middle-school level economics that can be incorporated into social studies methods courses.

In response to the growing interests in K-12 economic education among politicians and educators, this study was designed to fill in the gaps created by limited research in preservice teachers’ attitudes and intentions regarding the teaching of economics at the elementary and middle-school levels. Specifically, the purposes of this study were to identify significant predictors of PK-8 preservice teachers’ intentions to teach economics and to examine the effects of an educational intervention on preservice teachers’ intentions and attitudes pertaining to the teaching of economics. Fishbein and Ajzen’s theory of reasoned action (TRA) and Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TPB) served as the theoretical bases of this research. Quantitative data collected through a self-designed survey instrument and qualitative data collected through four focus group interviews were obtained from 234 preservice teacher participants enrolled in the social studies methods courses during the fall semester of 2006. Additional training in teaching economics, which included three one-hour sessions embedded in the social studies methods courses, was provided for the experimental group teachers. The results show that preservice teachers’ intentions to teach economics were affected primarily by their perceived support from school administration and their self-efficacy. No statistically significant differences were found between the experimental and the control preservice teachers. The findings of this study indicate that whether preservice teachers decide to teach economics mainly depends on whether economics is tested on state-mandated examinations, and to some extent, the preservice teachers’ own abilities to teach economics. The findings of this study also point to the need for more research in effective training for teaching elementary and middle-school level economics that can be incorporated into social studies methods courses.

The aim of this thesis is to explicate the concepts of ideology and science; in particular, social science, in the work of Marx and in later Marxism. These concepts are standardly discussed in close association with each other in both Marxist and non-Marxist contexts. Yet, in the literature on Marxism at any rate, the kind of significance they have for each other has been widely misunderstood. Historically the most important expression of such misunderstanding is the tendency in writings influenced by, or within the ambit of, 'Western Marxism' to assume that the central question concerns the precise nature of the distinction between science and ideology as rival or alternative forms of cognition. Answers to this question have generally sought to distinguish them in terms of cognitive success and failure, with ideology as the dark shadow or distorted 'other' of science. It will be shown that in relation to Marx's thought this mode of question and answer is wholly misconceived. Science and ideology function there as categorially diverse notions which are such that the problem of how to demarcate their individual shares of a common field of reference cannot arise. Problems that do pressingly arise in connection with this body of thought include the following. How does science succeed in being ideological, when it does? More specifically, how is the ideological status of Marx's own social science to be conceived? To answer these questions one has to recognise the diversity of the ways in which ideology operates and to devise theoretical models which can capture that diversity. In what follows, three basic models, labelled for convenience 'semantic', 'syntactic', and 'dialectical', will be distinguished. It will be argued that the dialectical model is the appropriate one for understanding Marx's social science. The account of the concept of ideology given here is based on that contained in my book The Real World of Ideology. ' The account there has been abridged in order to bring out what are for present purposes its essential features. A copy of the book is enclosed with the thesis. The basic plan of the thesis is as follows. The first chapter is concerned, as an essential preliminary, with explicating the conception of ideology that operates in the work of Marx and in 'classical Marxism'. The second chapter deals with a basic misconception of this legacy which has a special relevance in the present context. This is the idea that ideology is essentially to be understood as an epistemological category. The way is then clear to pose the question of the nature and status of Marx's social science. This is done in the third chapter, where it also proves possible to dispose of the claims of the syntactic model as the basis for an answer. The semantic model is a much more serious candidate and requires extended discussion. The paradigmatic version of the model in Western Marxism is the conception of Marxist social science as a 'critical theory of society'. The fourth chapter discusses the prototype of such interpretations in the work of the 'Frankfurt School' theorists. The next two chapters (5 and 6) deal with more recent attempts by writers in the British analytical tradition to vindicate the project of Marxist social critique. The failure of the project in all these versions clears the ground for an inquiry into the claims of the dialectical model. This is pursued in chapters 7 and 8, paying close attention to the evidence on the subject yielded by Marx's writings. The result is to establish the dialectical scheme as the basic instrument for understanding his social theory. In the final chapter developments treated earlier at the level of relations between ideas are set in a historical context. This enables the dialectical thesis to be grasped in a richer, more solid setting, and enables it in turn to shed its light on the question of the overall shape of the Marxist intellectual tradition.

This thesis presents findings from a study of fifteen multi-disciplinary child protection teams in New Jersey, USA. The agencies represented in the teams were the prosecutor's office, the Division of Youth and Family Services, law enforcement, hospitals and mental health organisations. The professionals who were members of the teams included caseworkers and supervisors from the Division of Youth and Family Services, assistant prosecutors, law enforcement officers and captains, mental health staff, social workers, psychologists, physicians, nurses, assistant district attornies and victim witness staff. The data was collected through questionnaires, direct observation and in-depth interviews. The thesis explores the teams' structures, processes and interactions from two perspectives, that of the observer and that of the team members. The general findings of the study are that the prosecutor's office dominates multidisciplinary teams in the fifteen counties of New Jersey that have them, although this domination is more marked in some teams than in others. The findings reveal differences among the teams on two dimensions: 'multidisciplinary sharing' and 'team members' perceptions of the teams'. When positive and negative values are attached to each of the two dimensions a matrix of four typologies is constructed, as follows: Depressed Team: negative multi-disciplinary sharing/negativep erceptions of the team. Realistic Team: positive multi-disciplinary sharing/positivep erceptions of the team. Repressed Team: negative multi-disciplinary sharing/positive perceptions of the team. Pessimistic Team: positive multi-disciplinary sharing/negativep erceptions of the team. Each of these team types is characterised by a complex combination of attributes which are not easily disentangled and isolated. Explanations for the findings are formulated as are suggestions for promoting multidisciplinary co-operation.

This thesis concerns domestic violence in New Zealand. Its aim is to help find effective ways of preventing domestic violence in our homes through community level public education/awareness interventions. Domestic violence has a damaging effect within a large number of New Zealand households; the primary aim of this thesis is to contribute research to the efforts in New Zealand directed at preventing domestic violence.This thesis situates domestic violence within both a sociological and theoretical framework as well as within the context of New Zealand public education campaigns. Central to this thesis is a critical analysis of one particular community level public education and awareness intervention that was implemented in the United States throughout the 1990s. The core community-level principles of this US project have been analysed with regard to the suitability of integrating them into a hypothetical domestic violence public awareness campaign in New Zealand (one that would aim to help victims seek appropriate help from their situation).This US community level intervention was called the AIDS Community Demonstration Project (ACDP), its aim being to increase HIV risk reduction behaviours amongst at-risk people within the community. It is acknowledged throughout this thesis that the risk of HIV infection and the nature of domestic violence are very different issues although both are key health issues. However, the analysis of the ACDP was chosen predominantly because of the broad community focussed principles that it followed. The core research question of this thesis is as follows: Are the broad principles used within the ACDP suitable to be integrated into a victim-based domestic violence public awareness campaign in New Zealand? If so, to what extent? If not, why?My critical analysis has been informed by qualitative interviews with key experts in the field of domestic violence prevention in New Zealand. This critical analysis has highlighted a number of key elements in the complex task of domestic violence prevention and discusses the measures needed to sustain an abuse-free New Zealand.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 84 p. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-77).

This investigation grew out of my experiences while working as a mental nurse with people deemed to be insane. The behaviours which they presented and the medical and legal control exercised over them became of concern to me because I felt their rights were not being respected. A primary issue is the extent to which adherence to the medical-somatic view of insanity held by psychiatrists, lawyers and politicians has led to the exclusion of viable custody and treatment alternatives. The purpose of this research is to question the role and functions of mental nurses. It suggests that 'caretakers' might be a more suitable title for such workers with the insane. The hypothesis underlying the research links the work of 'caretakers' of the insane to changes in government policies and legislation; the thesis examines this hypothesis in the light of changes in the roles and functions of 'caretakers' over the period from 1890 to 1990. Research activities included the examination of primary sources, Hansard, newspapers, and professional journals. Interviews were also carried out with nine contemporary caretakers who have worked with the 1959 and the 1983 Mental Health Acts. These research methods provided an historical background to the debates in the Houses of Parliament when mental health legislation was discussed; information from the writings of the professionals who worked with the insane at the times of new mental health legislation; data on the public and media debate of these issues; and information on the perceptions and duties of caretakers working with the insane at the times of new mental health legislation. The research findings show that both those who cared for the insane and the insane themselves have been subjected to changes brought about by mental health legislation since 1890. These changes affected the working conditions of the caretakers and the social control and rights of the insane. The changes in the work of caretakers led to new directions in their education. Workers with the insane became a part of nursing by adopting the somatic approach to care. When this occurred, many of the care activities of keepers, attendants and mental nurses became redundant. Over time, there has been a move to, and then away from, the clinical-somatic model of nursing towards caretaking skills such as group work, therapeutic community skills, counselling skills and psychotherapy skills. These caretaking skills are seen by contemporary caretakers as going beyond their custodial and social control functions, towards providing a space in which people can be respected, encouraged, supported and be open to new insights.

The purpose of this study was to discover the amount of growth in understanding of certain social science concepts that appears throughout the junior-senior high school; to compare the degrees of understanding achieved by low and high I.Q. groups; and to determine the causes of the various errors made by the students. Two interpretive tests, based on concepts typical of those appearing in social studies text books, were constructed and administered to 371 pupils in Social Studies I, III, and V classes of representative city schools. Results of both tests showed a gradual growth in the ability on the part of the groups tested to understand certain social concepts. On both tests there was a significant difference between the mean scores of Social Studies I, III, and V groups. In any one group there was no significant difference between boys and girls mean scores. Pupils of high I.Q,’s in the Social Studies I and V groups made higher scores than did those of less ability. Coefficients of correlation between I.Q.'s and test scores of both tests also indicated that the ability to understand certain social concepts was somewhat related to intelligence. An analysis of responses made to Test I items revealed that errors may be caused by verbalism, over-potency of certain sentence elements, difficulties arising out of figurative language, confusion with other concepts of similar spelling or sounds, "reading errors", and a complete failure to grasp the meaning of the concept. In Test II, verbalism, "reading errors", failure to follow directions, failure to weigh evidence, failure to interpret quantitative terms, and failure to compare trends contributed to the inadequacy of responses. Little difference in causes of errors was found to exist between high and low I.Q, groups at the Social Studies I and V levels. In general, throughout the groups studied, pupils did better on questions of a straightforward, fact-finding nature than they did on those requiring interpretation of data. Test results for the groups studied indicated that pupils need more opportunity to express themselves in writing, that is to tell in their own words what a concept means to them. Moreover, students need practice in interpretation of data exercises in order that they may learn to think critically, weigh evidence, and avoid drawing conclusions from insufficient data. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Mississippi State University. Department of Curriculum and Instruction. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.