Urdimbres que constituyen la trama de la vida humana.

__________________________________________________________________ As was seen in Chapter Five, important issues regarding Māori participation and the responsiveness of the psychology discipline to Māori started to be more overtly raised in the 1980s. Since this time there has been a growth in the visibility of Māori within psychology, with Māori voices becoming collectively engaged and active within the discipline. Chapter Seven provides an analysis of indigenous psychology development in Aotearoa. I have collated and qualitatively analysed data from a range of sources, including interviews, focus groups and desktop sources to develop and explore themes relevant to the current status of Māori development in psychology.

Method

This chapter draws on a variety of data sources: 1. Key informant interviews

2. Stakeholder focus groups and submissions

3. Desktop analysis of Māori psychology workforce data collated by the New Zealand Health Information Service

4. Desktop analysis of university psychology department training programmes

5. Desktop analysis of Māori-focused conference presentations (New Zealand Psychological Society annual conferences)

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1. Key Informant Interviews

In 2002 I was commissioned by the New Zealand Psychologists Board (NZPB) to undertake a study examining barriers and incentives to Māori participation in psychology (Levy, 2002). The specific purpose of this project was to provide the NZPB with recommendations which would contribute to increasing Māori participation in psychology. However, it was also explicitly undertaken as part of my doctoral studies research programme. While the same dataset used for the 'Barriers and Incentives' study (Levy, 2002) is used for my thesis, it has been analysed and interpreted according to the specific aims of my thesis.

The major criteria for selecting key informants was to ensure the sample adequately reflected the diversity of Māori psychologists. A total of 17 Māori psychologists were interviewed, representing approximately 40% of Māori psychologists in 2002. Twelve of these were female and five were male. The majority of those interviewed were in the age range of 30-39 years, with small numbers represented in the remaining age categories of 20-29, 40-49, and 50+ years.

Key informants were asked where they undertook their psychology training, at both graduate and undergraduate level. All university psychology departments in New Zealand were represented in the key informant sample. The majority of those interviewed had undertaken clinical psychology training, although other fields such as counseling, community, educational, research, and industrial and organisational psychology were represented. Key informants were involved in a number of different, often concurrent settings, including academia, research, mental health, general health sector, private practice and education. Key informants were located in a number of different geographical areas, including all major metropolitan centres in both the North and South Islands (Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch), as well as two smaller North Island cities.

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Of those interviewed, eight were currently registered as psychologists and eight were not (one participant did not answer this question). Just under half (eight) of the key informants belonged to one or both professional psychology bodies, including the New Zealand Psychological Society (NZPsS) and/or the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists (NZCCP).

Procedure and Data Analysis

Key informants were contacted and invited to participate in this study. Prior to the interview, information sheets and interview schedules were distributed to all key informants1. The interviews canvassed the followed areas: barriers to Māori participation in psychology; practical ways to address the barriers; responsibility for addressing the barriers; coordination of initiatives to address barriers; addressing resistance to the inclusion of Māori perspectives in psychology; and issues faced by Māori psychologists in the workforce.

The majority of interviews conducted were face to face. One interview was conducted via telephone and one via email. Each interview included obtaining written consent and demographic details. Consent forms also provided key informants with the choice to be identified should they be quoted in the final report. Interviews ranged from 60-120 minutes and were held in locations convenient to the key informants. On completion of the interviews, summaries were completed and distributed to key informants for comment. The interview data was content analysed to identify key themes.

2.

Stakeholder Focus Groups and Submissions

The NZPB disseminated the report I compiled for them (Levy, 2002) to all relevant stakeholders, including the NZPsS, NZCCP, the Psychologists Workforce Working Party, Health Workforce Advisory Committee, Te Rau Matatini (National Māori Mental Health Workforce Development Organisation),

CHAPTER SEVEN

major organisations which employed psychologists and government policy making agencies. The stakeholders were asked to make a submission in response to the issues and findings identified in the study. Stakeholders who provided a written submission were:

• Minister of Health • Ministry of Health • Ministry of Education

• Ministry of Social Development • Department of Corrections

• New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists (NZCCP) • New Zealand Psychological Society (NZPsS)

• Te Rau Matatini

• Mental Health Commission • Te Puni Kōkiri

• NZPsS National Standing Committee on Bicultural Issues (NSCBI)

Two independent submissions were also received, one from a post-graduate diploma in clinical psychology student and the other from a registered psychologist.

Recognising the importance of university psychology departments and their submissions, I approached six psychology departments (Auckland, Waikato, Massey, Victoria, Canterbury, Otago) with a proposal to: present the study findings and recommendations to their staff; facilitate a focus group discussion examining responses to the report; and collate the findings from the focus group. Focus groups were subsequently conducted in three university psychology departments. Each group ranged from 3-20 people, comprising primarily psychology department staff, although two groups included Māori psychology students. Focus group participants were advised of the rationale for the focus

CHAPTER SEVEN

group and prior to beginning, their permission sought to utilise the focus group data collected for my doctoral research programme.

Two of the remaining three departments submitted a written response to the report. One indicated a response would be forthcoming, but this did not eventuate. The stakeholder and focus group submissions were content analysed for key themes.

3.

Desktop Analysis of Māori Psychology Workforce Data

The New Zealand Health Information Service (NZHIS) has maintained the New Zealand Selected Health Professional Workforce data collection since 1995. Data in this collection is obtained from workforce questionnaires which accompanied Annual Practising Certificate invoices sent by the Registration Boards. Because the data is based on surveys that have varying response rates, they should not be interpreted as a definitive description of each profession (New Zealand Health Information Service, 2001).

The NZPB has been active in maintaining a relationship with the NZHIS to ensure that the questionnaire sent to psychologists collects relevant information. An example of this is that, until recently very limited data has been collected in relation to the Māori psychology workforce. However, at the request of the NZPB, the 2003 questionnaire included a work-type category of ‘Kaupapa Māori’. The desktop analysis of Māori psychology workforce data has been obtained from the NZHIS New Zealand Selected Health Professional Workforce data collection. Published data was available for the years 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. Approximately 60-70% of psychologists who purchased an Annual Practising Certificate are represented in the survey data collated for these years.

I supplemented the 2003 psychology workforce data with additional analyses regarding the Māori psychology workforce which I requested from the NZHIS.

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Personal communications with major organisations employing psychologists (Group Special Education, Department of Corrections, Department of Child, Youth and Family Services) were also used to supplement the NZHIS data collection. Analyses of the total number of Māori psychologists, employment setting, and work-type are reported on in this chapter.

4.

Desktop Analysis of University Psychology Department

Training

The registration of health professionals in Aotearoa is governed by the Health Practitioners Competency Assurance Act 2003 (HPCA Act 2003). For the practice of psychology this legislation is administered by NZPB. The most common qualification for registration for those who study in Aotearoa is to have a post-graduate qualification from a New Zealand university psychology department. For this reason, the six2 _{university psychology departments which}

offered psychology training programmes from undergraduate level through to post-graduate qualifications required for registration were examined.3 Data pertaining to the following elements was sourced from each psychology department website in October 2003:

• Māori-focused course content • Māori-focused research outputs

• Psychology department initiatives aimed at supporting the retention and success of Māori students

• Official university policy regarding responsiveness to Māori • Psychology department stated commitment to Māori

2 _{Auckland, Waikato, Massey, Victoria, Canterbury, Otago}

3 _{Lincoln University offers psychology courses but does not offer a degree in psychology. The}

Auckland Technical Institute became the Auckland University of Technology in 2000. The AUT is seeking NZPB accreditation of a registration pathway through the Bachelor of Health Science (Honours), Master of Health Science and Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling Psychology (Auckland University of Technology, 2007)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Details regarding the specific analysis of this data are reported in the sections where the data is presented. To summarise, undergraduate and graduate psychology course descriptors were examined for evidence of Māori-focused content. Available research output information was accessed and examined for the extent to which Māori-focused psychological research was being undertaken. Findings regarding initiatives which support Māori students in psychology training and the extent to which universities generally, and psychology departments specifically, demonstrated a stated commitment to Māori are described.

5.

Desktop analysis of Māori-focused conference presentations

(NZPsS annual conferences)

Presentation abstracts for the NZPsS annual conferences from 1992 to 2003 were analysed for evidence of a specific Māori focus. The percentage of total Māori- focused presentations for each conference was calculated. Notable features of the conferences such as bicultural keynote speakers and Māori-focused symposiums were also recorded.