Browsing by Author "Kerr, Alison Lassie"

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    Senior citizens? : old age and citizenship in provincial New Zealand communities : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Massey University
    (Massey University, 2002) Kerr, Alison Lassie
    This research considers the extent and quality of the citizenship of older New Zealanders in the "Third Age", a stage in the adult life cycle between the second age of careers, partnership and parenting and the fourth and final phase of (usually) increasing dependency. The study questions: whether 'senior citizens' have access to the material and cultural resources to enable them to choose between different courses of action in their daily lives; whether existing intergenerational relations enable them to appropriate substantive rights and responsibilities; and what are the relational practices and processes, the networks and affiliations, through which citizenship may be 'performed' by older people? This research was carried out with six groups of elderly people in a range of communities in the province of Hawke's Bay on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The purpose of running six different focus groups, each over a six week period, was to generate discussion of the issues for older people as well as individual stories about the lives of elderly people in particular local communities. The aim was to investigate the meaning of old age for elderly New Zealanders by critically analysing the term 'senior citizen'. The study built on contemporary theories of ageing and citizenship, using a narrative collective life history approach in order to focus on older people's personal experience of policy, and the capacity for citizenship that they bring with them into old age. The study also identifies national and local government policies, national and local organisations, media representations of old age, local communities, families and the attitudes of elderly people themselves as important influences on the extent to which they are able to exercise and enjoy their rights and responsibilities as senior citizens. My central thesis is that senior citizenship depends on a civil society which supports autonomy and connectedness for all its citizens. The balance between these two aspects of citizenship is culturally determined and sensitive to outcomes in a range of social domains over the life span. Recommendations focus on self-determination and social inclusion for older people through anti-ageist policies and practices at the national and the local level, and further research into the plans and aspirations of senior citizens.
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    When you lack the word : stories from parents of children with visual and other disabilities : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Social Policy and Social Work at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1996) Kerr, Alison Lassie
    This document, submitted as a Master's thesis, describes a research project carried out during 1994 and 1995. The study arose out of my multiple identity as a parent of two children with a visual disability, as a professional working in the field, and as a researcher. The aim of the study was to find out how parents of children with disabilities cope: what strategies they employ to deal with the situations they face; how they effect the changes they see as necessary for their children and for their families; and what they want from professionals. Research data was collected through unstructured in-depth interviews with six respondents from a group of parents of children with visual impairment. I had access to this national group through membership of it, and was also known to the respondents as a social worker with the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind, of which all the children involved in the study are members. Data for analysis was also drawn from official documents dealing with disability issues, and from current New Zealand disability literature. Research methods were consistent with an emancipatory approach which aims to avoid appropriation and to share power. Strategies were employed which would privilege the stories and characterise the parents as co-researchers in a collaborative exploration of the lives of children with disabilities and their parents. Theory is used in this study to describe and explain what happens in the lives of children with disabilities and their families, and to imaginatively construct what could happen. My conclusions suggest ways in which professionals can support parents by listening to them, and by offering them respect, competence, and caring. I suggest that professionals should be prepared to take some risks and share some of the consequences of current social attitudes towards disability. I conclude that what parents of children with disabilities want is not so much partnership, but alliances with people who will listen to them and support them in their search for opportunities for their children.