Responsibility for the homeless?
By MisTy The overwhelming fear when you fall asleep, you are at your most vulnerable. The long dark, harrowing hours endured every night, a fight with your inner fears. The reality of your situation, the judgements, the abuse. The stigma attached to those who find themselves homeless. The pain and anguish associated with the people…
White Privilege: A call to Pākehā social workers
By Novice Pākehā decoloniser Three years ago, I began a journey of critical reflection, what McIntosh (1989) refers to as, ‘unpacking your knapsack’. It wasn’t until I started my Bachelor of Social Work that anyone had challenged my positioning in society. I had never had to think about what my culture was. I started confused,…
Southside stigma
By Nakia WD I was born in and have lived in South Auckland my whole life. Growing up I had never given much thought to how the media portrayed my home or the way it influenced people and their ideas/attitudes, but that changed the older I got. When I started university a common question I…
Identity
By Polly Neshan “When you come to work, you have to put your Palagi hat on”. This phrase was commonly expressed to me by my Samoan supervisor while I was on my first placement of my social work degree. When I had first heard it, I remember feeling shocked and a bit offended at the…
Ripple effects of He Whakaputanga & Te Tiriti O Waitangi continue
By AnonSWstudent Ko wai hoki koe? Who the hell are you to share your opinion on Māori and historical trauma? First and foremost, it is appropriate to acknowledge tangata whenua, for words cannot describe the battles your ancestors, tupuna and whānau have endured and are continuously enduring of what happened in the past to this…
Elder abuse is important too!
By ElderAbuseAdvocater Before coming into this degree elder abuse was not an issue I thought much about. When someone mentioned elder abuse, my mind went toward physical abuse cases I heard about in care homes, however not much beyond that. To me it seemed like an issue that was present but not talked about a…
Media representation and social work
By AnonSW *This is purely based on observations and personal experiences. Media representations serve to re “present” or to create a new reality (Te Kete Ipurangi, 2020). Social work does not always get the media representation it wants. The reality is that it tends to get more negative than positive attention. Whilst social workers do…
MAN, or mouse?
By Manly Man Are you a MAN, or mouse? Man up, stop being a fafa, toughen up, you’ll be all good dox. Common sayings that I hear when I turn to “the boys” for advice. Depression and suicide within the Māori and Pasifika men have risen tremendously since records began 13 years ago. The conversation…
Children of Aotearoa, New Zealand – A Pacific perspective
By Jaime Trust New Zealand is one of the most diverse nations in the world and is a country that is so accepting of different cultures and nationalities. That’s not to say that it’s easy living in a predominantly white country. Don’t get me wrong, living in New Zealand has opened up many opportunities for…
Knitpicking or not?
By A women who knits After making over $70 million last year, the Warehouse claim that they are struggling. They will cut over 1000 jobs after taking the government’s wage subsidy of over $65 million. The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern announced her disappointment and commented that she was “angry” (RNZ, 2020b). After this was reported,…
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