Complete Projects & Publications

For recent publications by Director Dr. Jan Pryor, please refer to Jan's bio.

Post Separation Parenting

(December 2007). Most couples who separate in New Zealand make their own decisions about living arrangements for their children, without going to the Family Court. What arrangements do parents make, and how do they make them? How do their decisions affect their children? These questions and others were the focus of research undertaken by Dr Jan Pryor and Dr Jeremy Robertson supported by the Families Commission.
http://www.familiescommission.govt.nz/publications/index.php

Family Wellbeing - Confusions and Challenges

(2007). Dr Jan Pryor. This paper addresses the questions "what is family?" and "what is wellbeing?". By identifying the functions and practices of families, we can then move toward an examination of wellbeing as it is linked to those aspects of families.
Download Report

Beyond Demography: History, Rituals and Families in the Twenty-first Century.

(2006). Dr Jan Pryor. This research was completed for the Families Commission, Blue Skies series.
http://www.familiescommission.govt.nz/publications/index.php

Parental Decision Making

(2006). Dr Jeremy Robertson completed reports on two pieces of research. One has examined the decisions parents make about the use of early childhood education, and has been completed for the Ministry of Education. The other piece of research looks at decisions about out-of-school care, and has been done for the Ministry of Social Development. The report is currently being finalised and will be available on the Families Commission website.

Impact of Government Policies on Changes in Family Form

(November 2006). Dr Jeremy Robertson and Dr Jan Pryor. This review was completed for the Families Commission, examining the research literature on the impacts of government policies and services on changes in family form (e.g. marriage, dissolution, and fertility). This has been published by the Families Commission as Review of the empirical literature assessing the impacts of government policies on family form.
http://www.familiescommission.govt.nz/publications/index.php

Children in Changing Family Structures

The discipline of developmental psychology can be characterised as the efforts to understand change in individuals from conception and throughout the lifespan. Impinging on individual change, and happening at an historically rapid rate, is change in the crucible of early individual development - the family. See link below for paper.
(July 2005 - Address to 14th Biennial Australasian Human Development Conference. Perth, Western Australia.)
Paper by Jan Pryor (Word Doc - 56.5KB)

Understanding and Responding Effectively to the Impact of Separation

In the past two decades there has been kaleidoscopic changes in the foci taken on issues to do with children and the law - particularly family law. As an underpinning, we have taken children's well-being and best interests seriously for a long time, and children have been seen as of primary concern in issues such as separation and divorce.
[Continued in Paper below].
(March 2005. Keynote address for Child Law Conference, Auckland).
Paper by Dr Jan Pryor (Word Document 62.5KB)

Resilience in Stepfamilies

The project 'Resilience in Stepfamilies' was funded by the Ministry of Social Development. The study included 100 stepfamilies, and interviews with children, resident and non-resident parents, stepparents, and information from teachers. Project manager, Meg Dawson, did an impressive job in finding and arranging interviews with the families. The report is available from MSD.

Partnership and Parenting

Early in 2003 married and cohabitting heterosexual couples with children were interviewed about their experiences, perceptions and expectations as partners and parents. The small-scale study received an unexpectedly high level of response, with over 100 couples coming forward to take part. Fifty couples were able to be included in the research. Participants were interviewed separately and also filled out a small survey. The results of the study have been analysed for what they tell us about partnership and parenting, as well as the relationship between the two. Feedback of key findings has been sent to all those involved in the study.

Options for Measuring Youth Confidence

In 2003, the Roy McKenzie Centre completed a project for the Ministry of Youth Affairs about options for measuring youth confidence in New Zealand.