Siautu Alefaio-Tugia

Associate Professor of psychology and Associate Dean Pacific in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Massey University

Associate Professor Siautu Alefaio-Tugia (Samoan lineage from the villages of Matautu-Tai, Sāsina, Manunu ma Fagamalo)

As a scholar-practitioner Siautu uses her 20 years of psychology practice and research to shine a light on cultural ways of knowing and being that push psychology outside of the box. Her work in family violence, humanitarian response, and disaster resilience focus on Pacific diaspora as key mobilisers in climates of change. She has spent over a decade working at the School of Psychology Massey University and leads as Associate Dean Pacific in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Rutherford Discovery Fellow and Global Fellow of the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies at Brown University. Of Samoan descent from the villages of Matautu-Tai, Sāsina, Manunu ma Fagamalo, Siautu's pioneering publication Pacific-Indigenous Psychology disrupts psychology to focus on how the world of Oceania think, know, and live. Today she helps others go beyond uncharted waters to reveal what has been there all along - our own transformational treasure. 

RELATED PUBLICATIONS AND RESEARCH

Mobilizing the Pacific diaspora: a key component of disaster resilience

Escape from Working Poverty: Steps toward Sustainable Livelihood

Pacific-Indigenous community-village resilience in disasters

Alefaio-Tugia, S., & Havea, S. (2016). Formative evaluation of Pacific faith-based family violence services: Formative evaluation of Pacific faith-based family violence services (1). New Zealand: Pasefika Proud. Retrieved from http://www.pasefikaproud.co.nz/

Alefaio-Tugia, S., Carr, S., Hodgetts, D., Mattson, T. and van Ommen, C. (2015). Ending Poverty and Inequality? Toward Psychologies of Sustainable Development. Psychology Aotearoa, 7(1), 32-36.