[Commpsych] FW: [aehd] Invitation to Psychology Colloquium on Homelessness in NZ - Tue 21 July 3-4.30 @ VU Footscray E101

[Heather Gridley]

FACULTY OF 

ARTS,

EDUCATION &

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Invites you to a Colloquium

 

Making lives on the street: 

The psychology of homelessness and identity in Auckland

Presented by Shiloh Groot

Waikato University, Hamilton, New Zealand/Aotearoa 

 

When:                  Tuesday 21st July       Time: 3.00 - 4.30pm

Where:                 E101, Victoria University Footscray Park Campus (Ballarat Rd)

 

Shiloh is a social psychologist with research interests in indigeneity, resilience, poverty and illness. Shiloh is of Te Arawa descent. In this seminar, Shiloh will present findings from her present case-based research into street homelessness in Auckland. This research focuses on the experiences of four homeless people who had taken part in three photo-production exercises and follow up interviews over 18 months. During this period participants lived on the streets, accessed various services, experienced some form of re-housing, and in some cases returned to the streets. This presentation will focus on the case of Ariaa, a woman in her early 50s who strongly identifies as Maori. Ariaa was raised by her kuia (grandmother) and socialized into street life as a teenager by an older Maori homeless woman. Both women provided strong role models of manaakitanga (care), rangatiratanga (leadership) and pare (protection) inherent to the role of Maori women within whanau (family group). Many of Ariaa's younger whanau members live on the streets of Auckland and as a Maori woman reaching the age where she too will be considered a kuia, she is taking steps to assume a role of rangatiratanga for her whanau. These steps relate to fostering physical links to the land, knowledge of genealogy, living close to extended family, and emphasizing the importance of enacting cultural customs. In the case of Ariaa the values and patterns she learnt from her kuia are enacted within an alternative setting to that of her traditional turangawaewae (place of standing, the land which one comes from). A primary function of Maori identity is expressed as a need for belonging to a group that provides purpose and a place where one can stand. This presentation explores these processes of identity in relation to Ariaa's place within the Maori homeless community in Auckland. 

 

PLEASE NOTE THAT LIGHT REFRESHMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED.

 

RSVP:     9919 4673 or email Maureen_E_Ryan at vu.edu.au <mailto:Maureen_E_Ryan at vu.edu.au>  

 
 
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