Email siautu.alefaio@otago.ac.nz
Tel +64 3 556 5719
Leʻena Professor Siautu Alefaio-Tugia is of Samoan descent from the villages of Matautu-Tai, Sāsina, Manunu ma Fagamalo. Her research sits within the intersections of Pacific-indigenous and humanitarian psychology in climate and disaster resilience. Siautu’s pioneering publication Pacific-Indigenous Psychology disrupts psychology to focus on how the world of Oceania think, know and live. It provides a theoretical perspective embedded in Pacific-Indigenous knowledge and value systems for diasporic and village communities across the global sprawl. As a psychologist scholar-practitioner she has extensive experience of how this perspective can be applied in practice within Climates of Change for communities in crisis. This includes, forensic rehabilitation, family violence prevention, Matua tausi (Pacific carers for Ageing well) and village-led disaster response and recovery. By theorising a perspective in psychology from Pacific knowledges, her research leads the way for more equitable and just societies.
Visit Springer Nature to find out more about the Pacific-Indigenous Psychology publication
Listen to Siautu's UR (Urban Resilience) Podcast (YouTube)
Fellowships and awards
- Rutherford Discovery Fellow
- Global Fellow of the Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Studies at Brown University
- Fulbright NZ senior scholar awardee
Teaching
Teaching input to be confirmed
Research interests
- Climates of change for communities in crisis
- Diasporic and village-led humanitarian response
- Cultural-faith for mental resilience
- Intergenerational care for Pacific Ageing well
Siautu founded and leads NIUPATCH a collective of Pacific psychology researchers committed to community-focused studies. NIUPATCH stands for Navigate In Unity: Pacific Approaches to Community-Humanitarianism. As a community of Pasifika researchers and scholars it is dedicated to serving Pacific communities through psychology. NIUPATCH creates research with real-world impact, especially for Pacific Indigenous Communities. Studies directly address the needs of Pacific communities, offering practical solutions in areas like disaster resilience, elder care, and mental well-being. Every project aims to improve lives and build stronger, more resilient communities.
Publications
Auva'a-Alatimu, T., Alefaio-Tugia, S., & Loane, J. (2024). Understanding the impact of digital therapeutic engagement in promoting mental wellbeing for Pacific youth in Aotearoa New Zealand: An exploration of the literature. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 18(22). doi: 10.1186/s13033-024-00633-x Journal - Research Other
Havea, S., Alefaio-Tugia, S., & Hodgetts, D. (2023). Drawing wisdom from the Pacific: A Tongan participative approach to exploring and addressing family violence. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 20(3), 420-440. doi: 10.1080/14780887.2023.2180462 Journal - Research Article
Parker, J., Arrowsmith, J., Young-Hauser, A., Hodgetts, D., Carr, S. C., Haar, J., & Alefaio-Tugia, S. (2023). Perceptions of living wage impacts in Aotearoa New Zealand: Towards a multi-level, contextualised conceptualisation. Personnel Review, 52(4), 1233-1254. doi: 10.1108/PR-01-2021-0037 Journal - Research Article
Alefaio-Tugia, S. (2022). Pacific-Indigenous psychology: Galuola, A NIU-wave of psychological practices. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 208p. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-14432-5 Authored Book - Research
Arrowsmith, J., Parker, J., Young-Hauser, A., Hodgetts, D., Haar, J., . . ., & Alefaio-Tugia, S. (2022). Employer and employee perspectives on the living wage in New Zealand. In T. Dobbins & P. Prowse (Eds.), The living wage: Advancing a global movement. (1st ed.) (pp. 178-190). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003054078 Chapter in Book - Research