Everyday gambling in New Zealand

There is a sizeable body of statistics on gambling in New Zealand which points albeit unintentionally - to the everyday status of this activity. Max Abbott and Rachel Volberg, two leading figures in the rapidly growing discipline of gambling studies, note that in 15 short years there have been no less than seven surveys on gambling in New Zealand (not including a large number of university theses). These include three assessments of people's participation in gambling by the Department of Internal Affairs, plus two surveys funded by the department focusing on problem gambling. To these can be added one conducted by a regional health authority, North Health, under contract to the Committee on Problem Gambling Management and one conducted on behalf of the Casino Control Authority. This much research on gambling should suggest to the reader that there is something about gambling that piques the interest of government bureaucrats and agencies. Here the frequency of the phrase `problem gambling' is the giveaway. In this section we will review some of the findings of this research and cover its more pathological rationale later

Gambling with communities

In this chapter we draw attention to spoken and unspoken aspects of government policy found in the disadvantaging of community forms of gambling. Much of the rhetoric presented by government claims to be about protecting communities from gambling, but we argue that this language is at odds with the realities of policy and of practice. Such rhetoric foreshadowed the recent Review of Gaming, but the outcomes to date are not designed to redress the balance. These outcomes include a moratorium on casino licences securing the existing monopoly, increased surveillance on gaming machines run by clubs and pubs by the Department of Internal Affairs, and a bizarre effort to check Internet-based gambling in New Zealand

Female suicidal behaviour: Initiation, cessation and prevention

This thesis explores non-fatal suicidal behaviour in young women. The approach taken is qualitative in orientation. The central form of data collection was the semi-structured interview. Interviews were conducted with key informants, including counsellors, clinicians and social workers and with women who had engaged in suicidal behaviour. The primary focus of the research was to explore the narratives of women who had engaged in suicidal behaviour, to contextualise their insights, understand their experiences and to examine the meanings of events leading to, and implicated in the recovery from, suicidal behaviour. This material demonstrates the importance of gender in suicidal behaviour and cessation as well as highlighting the limitations of many available therapeutic settings. A key finding of the research is the confirmation of sexual abuse as a common precursor to suicidal behaviour, especially when in conjunction with other, mainly familial, risk factors and an absence of protective factors. More significantly, the women noted that the effects of sexual abuse were exacerbated by problems with disclosure. Issues of control emerged as key to both suicidal behaviour and cessation, relating to family circumstance, abuse, disclosure of abuse and efficacy of forms of intervention. In contrast to the literature which suggests that any movement of self-harming behaviours is along a continuum from the less to more severe, the data gathered in this research suggests an episodic, or punctuated, pattern of behaviour, in which the protagonist moves between self-mutilation and suicidal behaviour. These findings problematise the notion of self-mutilation and suicidal behaviour as somewhat distinct behaviours. More generally, the material gathered from the women emphasizes the multi-causal and complex aspects of suicidal behaviour. The complexity of lived experience has implications for effective intervention and prevention strategies. Many of the women stressed the problematic nature of the forms of intervention they were able to access. Indeed, some regarded their experiences of intervention as reinforcing their feelings of lack of control This was largely confirmed by analysis of the interviews with key informants

Non-suicidal self-injury: Suicide risk or social activity?

Deliberate self-harm (DSH) has been conceptualised as indicative of mental illness, on a continuum ending with suicide. Recently our understanding of DSH has become more nuanced, with distinctions made between suicidal behaviour and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Indeed, there is some evidence that NSSI may be consciously countersuicidal. Moreover, NSSI appears to have recently increased markedly among young women. This research explores the motivations, meanings and functions of NSSI in young New Zealand women through 19 in-depth interviews. The results show that precursors range from serious anguish including suicidality, to purely social, with functions from the alleviation of distress to participation in a social activity. Often minimal physical or psychological harm is involved, either preceding NSSI, or as a result. Previous beliefs about the dynamics and the social contexts in which NSSI occurs are thus problematic, as are assumptions about the appropriate support. Though a potential indicator of mental ill-health, NSSI may be a harm-reduction technique, or a relatively normalised teenage activity within the peer group

Giving Voice Versus Gatekeeping: Negotiating Complexities in Research Collaborations

This paper explores the potential for conflict within research collaborations with particular regard to the ethical principle of respect (as described in the Belmont Report) that individuals should be treated as autonomous agents yet those with diminished autonomy must be protected. In conducting research with young women on risk and resilience, including sensitive topics such as self-harm and sexual abuse, a number of challenges have arisen. These include access, recruitment, the development of trust, and managing potential vulnerability. At the same time, participants frequently report benefits from participation, even when distress is experienced. Although collaborating with service providers with which potential research participants engage may reduce some of these difficulties, other tensions frequently arise. Further, research on sensitive topics and/or with vulnerable people poses specific ethical difficulties. These include tensions between researcher and participant needs, such as conveying the possibility of distress while not discouraging participation and staying within the confines of the research topic (as described to ethics review boards and funders) versus allowing participants to influence the direction of the research. Service providers are often cognisant of some of these possible issues and may take on a gatekeeper role through a desire to protect their clients. In so doing, the autonomy of potential participants is diminished. Thus, the development of trusting relationships on the part of both collaborating services and participants is key to the opening of research spaces. The challenges of complex and competing needs in research collaborations will be examined

The endorsement of cognitive distortions: comparing child pornography offenders and contact sex offenders

This study examined the endorsement of cognitive distortions in child pornography offenders (CPOs), using an established assessment tool, the Abel and Becker Cognition Scale. The scale was expanded to include cognitions specific to child pornography offending, extracted from Howitt and Sheldon’s Children and Sexual Activities Inventory (C&SA). Three samples of CPOs, child sex offenders and offenders with both offence types responded to the cognition items. An exploratory Principal Component Analysis suggested six main components of the scale. CPOs were significantly less likely to endorse these statements in general, and this was more pronounced on items that project blame onto the child or other people, describe a need for power and consider children as sexually active. The statements extracted from C&SA did not differentiate between the groups. These findings are discussed under consideration of the relationship between cognitive distortions and contact sex offending, and in reference to the general criticism concerning the definition and appropriate measurement of cognitive distortion

Non-suicidal self-injury in a New Zealand student population: Demographic and self-harm characteristics

There is an established international literature on the prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). However, New Zealand information regarding prevalence, attitudes, motivation, co-morbidities, etc., is limited. In this study data were collected using an on-line survey from approximately 850 university students regarding self-injurious behaviour, risk and protective factors, mental health co-morbidity, help-seeking, and addiction. Our data revealed that 293 participants (38%) had engaged in NSSI on at least one occasion in their lifetime, elevated risk for females who were lesbian or bisexual, and different patterns of site and function of injury by gender. Given research suggesting that Māori (indigenous New Zealanders) are at elevated risk for suicide it was surprising that those identifying as Māori were at no greater risk of NSSI than those identifying as New Zealanders of European origin. Females were more likely to exhibit chronic self-injuring and more likely to engage in more ‘covert’ forms of self-injury that can be hidden or disguised (e.g., scratching and cutting on their wrists, arms or thighs) whereas males were more likely to engage in ‘overt’ forms of self-injury (e.g., banging or punching themselves or objects with their hands or head). Patterns of NSSI were similar to international comparisons, although prevalence was somewhat elevated. A number of factors differed by gender, including underlying reasons, forms, rates and increasing severity of self-injury, which add to the international literature

Investigating the effects of perceived student gender on primary school teachers' recognition of autism

Recent research indicates that autism is under-recognized in girls and women. The current study investigated whether the gender-based assumptions of teaching staff impact the identification of autism. A survey was completed by 249 primary school teaching staff. After reading a vignette describing the behavior of a hypothetical child whose gender was randomly assigned, participants answered questions regarding possible reasons for the behavior described, including mental health and disability diagnoses and their confidence in their chosen answers. The gender of the described child was not found to have an impact on the likelihood of choosing autism as a potential diagnosis, suggesting that the participants did not make gender-based assumptions about autism characteristics. Higher qualified teachers were less confident in their answers than those with lower or no qualifications. Teachers may have more nuanced understandings of the complexities of autism than had been expected. Further research into the effect of gender on autism identification is needed

Identification of Class I HLA T Cell Control Epitopes for West Nile Virus

The recent West Nile virus (WNV) outbreak in the United States underscores the importance of understanding human immune responses to this pathogen. Via the presentation of viral peptide ligands at the cell surface, class I HLA mediate the T cell recognition and killing of WNV infected cells. At this time, there are two key unknowns in regards to understanding protective T cell immunity: 1) the number of viral ligands presented by the HLA of infected cells, and 2) the distribution of T cell responses to these available HLA/viral complexes. Here, comparative mass spectroscopy was applied to determine the number of WNV peptides presented by the HLA-A*11:01 of infected cells after which T cell responses to these HLA/WNV complexes were assessed. Six viral peptides derived from capsid, NS3, NS4b, and NS5 were presented. When T cells from infected individuals were tested for reactivity to these six viral ligands, polyfunctional T cells were focused on the GTL9 WNV capsid peptide, ligands from NS3, NS4b, and NS5 were less immunogenic, and two ligands were largely inert, demonstrating that class I HLA reduce the WNV polyprotein to a handful of immune targets and that polyfunctional T cells recognize infections by zeroing in on particular HLA/WNV epitopes. Such dominant HLA/peptide epitopes are poised to drive the development of WNV vaccines that elicit protective T cells as well as providing key antigens for immunoassays that establish correlates of viral immunity. © 2013 Kaabinejadian et al

The three dimensions of online child pornography offending

The internet has opened up opportunities for non-contact sex offending, such as the viewing of child pornography. This paper proposes a model for the classification of child pornography offenders as an aid for their assessment and treatment, deducted from empirical studies and existing typologies for child pornography offenders. Different subgroups of child pornography offenders may be described according to three dimensions: (1) type of offending, (2) the motivation behind child pornography offending and (3) the situational and social engagement in the offending behaviour. Distinct pathways of child pornography offending can be identified, related to differing criminogenic needs, severity of offending, and appropriate assessment and treatment strategies for the offenders