Browsing by Author "Alefaio-Tugia S"

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    Decolonising Qualitative Analysis: Collectively Weaving Understanding Using Talanoa and Fa’afaletui Pacific-Indigenous Research Methods
    (SAGE Publications, 2024-01-01) Mafile’o T; Vaka S; Leau K; Satele P; Alefaio-Tugia S
    Sense-making processes shape the messages and impacts of qualitative research. Using qualitative data analysis methods embedded within a Pacific-Indigenous research paradigm decolonises research. This article discusses the Pacific-Indigenous data analysis processes of talanoa and fa’afaletui employed within a study of Pacific elder care in Aotearoa New Zealand, conducted by scholars of Pacific/Moana heritage. While research literature has primarily identified talanoa and fa’afaletui as data collection methods, we discuss our use of talanoa and fa’afaletui as methods of analysis. Talanoa and fa’afaletui were engaged as collective processes of orality weaving understanding from the researchers’ lived experiences and navigating across languages. Enhancing authenticity and actionability are identified as benefits of talanoa and fa’afaletui collective data analysis. Considerations for implementing these methods are language, logistics and location.
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    Drawing wisdom from the Pacific: A Tongan participative approach to exploring and addressing family violence
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2023-08-15) Havea S; Alefaio-Tugia S; Hodgetts D
    The development of qualitative research approaches that are embedded within a Tongan worldview and associated relational practices is pivotal to enhancing knowledge of, and culturally-informed responses to violence within the Tongan kainga (family). We are currently in the early stages of such developments. This reflexive methodological article draws conceptual insights and cultural concepts from the exemplar of a Tongan faith-based family violence prevention programme, which was developed by Tongan community practitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand. We document the adaptation of Tauhi va (nurturing loving and harmonious relationships), Nofo (indigenous cultural immersion), and Talanoa (Pacific indigenous ways of dialogue and discussion) in the design and documenting of this culturally-embedded response to such violence. Elsewhere, we have documented the violence programme in question and its implications for participating families, and the broader faith-based community and leaders. In this article we present a Tongan methodology that we hope is used for other scholar activists also engaged in participative action-oriented research within Tongan and other Indigenous communities more broadly.
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    Fofola e Fala ka e Talanoa e Kainga: A Tongan approach to family violence prevention and intervention
    (SAGE Publishing, 2021-01-01) Havea S; Alefaio-Tugia S; Hodgetts D
    There is limited knowledge of how Pacific-indigenous approaches can aid efforts to curtail violence within the kainga (families). This article documents aspects of the inaugural application of the Tongan conceptual framework of Fofola e fala ka e talanoa e kainga (laying out the mat so families can dialogue) as part of the faith-based Kainga Tu’umalie (prosperous families) family violence intervention and prevention program in Aotearoa New Zealand. Fofola e fala symbolizes a place of safety and refuge for every member of the kainga to freely express their feelings. The first two authors were involved in evaluating the program with the first author engaged in direct observations and being immersed in Kainga Tu’umalie retreats. Given their depth of cultural knowledge and involvement in the development of this program, seven faith-based community leaders were engaged in talanoa (Pacific-indigenous way of dialogue and discussion). Participant accounts form the core basis of our analysis, which highlights the significance of Kainga Tu’umalie as a violence prevention program for Tongan families. Of key consideration is the importance of Tongan-indigenous approaches to reducing family violence that draw from a combination of traditional cultural knowledge and Christian values that are central to the realities of being Tongan today.
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    How Decent Wages Transform Qualities of Living – By Affording Escape from Working Poverty Traps
    (Hapres Co Ltd, 2021-03-31) Carr S; Young-Hauser A; Hodgetts D; Schmidt W; Moran L; Haar J; Parker J; Arrowsmith J; Jones H; Alefaio-Tugia S
    Research in this journal has suggested that job satisfaction and other job attitudes in New Zealand undergo a quantitative shift upwards once wages cross a pivotal wage range. However, the focus did not extend to actual changes in qualities of living beyond work. A fresh analysis of additional qualitative responses to the question, “How well does your wage work for you?”, from the same survey of N = 1011 low-income workers across New Zealand, content-analysed diverse qualities of living along a wage spectrum from Minimum to Living Wage, crossed with household income net of own pay (using median wage as a splitting factor). Converging with the quantitative research reported earlier, there was a reliable pivot range upwards in qualities of living as wages first rose from Minimum Wage, to become transformational after crossing the Living Wage value. This transformational effect of a Living Wage was most clearly pivotal when there was no buffer from any other incomes in the same household. A further, more idiographic analysis of case “outliers” from the wage-wellbeing curve (lower wage-higher satisfaction, plus higher wage-lower satisfaction) revealed additional contextual factors that moderated and mediated qualities of living. Examples included acute sense of a workplace injustice and reduced mental wellbeing. Such factors further inform the ILO’s and UN’s 2016–30 Decent Work Agenda, which includes justice and wellbeing at work.
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    Pandemic or Not, Worker Subjective Wellbeing Pivots About the Living Wage Point: A Replication, Extension, and Policy Challenge in Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Frontiers Media S.A, 2022-07) Carr SC; Haar J; Hodgetts D; Jones H; Arrowsmith J; Parker J; Young-Hauser A; Alefaio-Tugia S
    Recent pre-pandemic research suggests that living wages can be pivotal for enhancing employee attitudes and subjective wellbeing. This article explores whether or not the present COVID-19 pandemic is impacting pivotal links between living wages and employee attitudes and subjective wellbeing, with replication indicating robustness. Twin cohorts each of 1,000 low-waged workers across New Zealand (NZ), one pre- (2018), and one present-pandemic (2020) were sample surveyed on hourly wage, job attitudes, and subjective wellbeing as linked to changes in the world of work associated with the pandemic (e.g., job security, stress, anxiety, depression, and holistic wellbeing). Using locally estimated scatter-point smoothing, job attitudes and subjective wellbeing scores tended to pivot upward at the living wage level in NZ. These findings replicate earlier findings and extend these into considering subjective wellbeing in the context of a crisis for employee livelihoods and lives more generally. Convergence across multiple measures, constructs, and contexts, suggests the positive impacts of living wages are durable. We draw inspiration from systems dynamics to argue that the present government policy of raising legal minimum wages (as NZ has done) may not protect subjective wellbeing until wages cross the living wage Rubicon. Future research should address this challenge.
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    Talanoa Participatory - Impact Evaluation A Pacific Youth Gang Prevention and Intervention Programme Developed by Affirming Works (AW)
    (2023-07-03) Alefaio-Tugia S; Ioane J; Satele P; Satele J; Naepi M
    Aotearoa New Zealand has a diverse population, including a significant Pacific community. Unfortunately, some Pacific youth are susceptible to gang involvement due to socio-economic factors, limited educational opportunities, and feelings of disconnection. This report details community-led efforts through a localised place-based strategy for the prevention of Pacific youth gang involvement in Otara, South Auckland New Zealand. The Pacific community faces unique challenges that contribute to gang membership among its youth population. To capture the complexities of this diverse cultural community, this report co-created and termed Talanoa (Pacific indigenous approach to dialogue) participatory-impact evaluation, as a culturally-responsive approach to examining the Affirming Works (AW) place-based initiative on youth gang prevention. Research and literature on youth gang prevention in Aotearoa NZ is scarce, this report provides a cohesive and current account of research available as a starting point. An overview of Pacific youth in Aotearoa NZ as part of the broader history of Pacific peoples migration, brings to light current socio-cultural challenges experienced by new generations of the Pacific diaspora living in Aotearoa. It also emphasizes how Pacific-Indigenous cultural values embedded in community-led initiatives can help to resolve tensions such as identity development, that is at the core of Pacific youth wellbeing. The global influence of gangs is undeniable as is the history of NZ gangs with its impact on society. It highlights the rise of youth gangs with a specific focus on South Auckland and provides an overview of global and local gang prevention and intervention initiatives. It draws on books, publications, journal articles and grey literature to set the context of youth gang prevention and intervention in Aotearoa New Zealand, within which the Affirming Works (AW) placed-based initiative is developed and situated.