notes on Contributors
Anaru Eketone is senior lecturer in social work at the University of Otago,
Dunedin, New Zealand. His tribal affiliation is to the Ngāti Maniapoto and
Waikato tribes of the North Island of New Zealand. Anaru has a background
in community development and health promotion practice. At Otago, work-
ing closely with Shayne Walker, using a coteaching model, Anaru teaches
extensively in the area of indigenous/Māori social work and bicultural social
work. Anaru has published articles and book chapters about kaupapa Māori
research and biculturalism, as well as the importance of native and narrative
understandings of indigenous research and practice.
Anita Gibbs is an associate professor in social work and sociology at the Uni-
versity of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. She originally trained as a social
worker in the United Kingdom, working in justice services, and gained her
PhD in social work from the University of Bristol. Her teaching includes
criminology, the sociology of families, and social work with families. Her
research interests are varied, including probation, mental health, parenting
and adoption, and qualitative research methodologies. She has published ex-
tensively and internationally in all of these areas.
Emily Keddell is a senior lecturer in social work at the University of Otago,
Dunedin, New Zealand, and holds a PhD in social work. Her research interests
cover a number of related areas of child and family social work, informed
by critical social constructionism. Thus, her research explores the intersec-
tions of meaning, context, power, and actions/practices in the child welfare
context, including the underlying discourses of policy reforms, the effect of
different models of practice, and the decision-making drivers. Her recent
writings explore how meanings associated with risk, safety, and children’s
best interests inform social work decision making and what causes variability
in decision outcomes in child protection practice. She is also involved in
poverty advocacy and teaches child and family social work in the social
work program.