Dancing Around And Through Harm: Examining The Lived Experiences Of Women Of Colour With Gender-Based Violence In The Toronto & Kitchener-Waterloo Latin Dance Communities, Lexi Salt

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Given the systemic nature of gender-based violence in Canada, as well as the increasing popularity of Latin dance, it is important to better understand the particular and culturally-specific ways gender-based violence manifests itself within the Latin dance community. This research study examines the lived experiences of women of colour with gender-based violence in the Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo Latin dance communities. Two groups of participants took part in semi-structured interviews: 14 women of colour dancers, and six “Power Players”, leaders in the Latin dance community who are in a position of power (e.g., instructors, organizers, DJs). The data was analyzed using …

Leadership And Emergent Faith Communities In Canada: A Phenomenological Study, Anne Anderson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this study is to explore how participants within emergent faith communities in Canada experience leadership. Through a phenomenological approach, members from five emergent faith communities across Canada have been interviewed in a semi-structured format. Emerging themes of transformational leadership, community along with belonging, and possible future areas of research will be discussed.

Mapping With The Land: Co-Developing A Cumulative Impact Monitoring And Land Stewardship Framework With Sambaa K’E First Nation, Northwest Territories, Canada, Michael S. Mcphee

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Across the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada, Indigenous populations are striving to achieve effective environmental protection, whilst navigating complex methods, policies, and research relationships within co-management contexts. This thesis seeks to identify how differing cultural systems, environmental change, and fractured partnerships may be unified to align with the needs of the Sambaa K’e First Nation (SKFN), a remote Dehcho Dene community. Indigenous methodologies guided co-development of research questions with SKFN leadership which yielded objectives a) develop a GIS-based method to manage, organize and mobilize cultural and environmental data; b) develop a new stewardship monitoring procedure so that users can apply the …

Shifting Blame And Gendered Differences: A News Media Study Of The Characterization Of Police Sexual Violence, Brittany Nieman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis offers a critical analysis of media representations of police sexual violence cases in Canada. This paper looks to fill the gap on media representations of police sexual violence cases and to contribute to long standing literature on gendered issues in policing. Symbolic interactionism, framing theory, and critical feminist ideologies make up the theoretical background for this work. Using Altheide and Schneiders (2012) Qualitative Document Analysis Process, a media analysis was conducted on 104 Canadian news articles revolving around police sexual violence cases occurring on Canadian policing services. This study primarily revealed a dichotomy in representations of the complainant …

Troglodyke's Delight: A Deep Listening Of Pauline Olivero's Troglodyte's Delight, Calum Robertson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Pauline Oliveros, renowned lesbian composer, left a legacy of experimental music and groundbreaking ideas about music and sound, both as maker and listener. She is best known for her concept of Deep Listening, the active engagement of listening to sound and being open to all possibilities, being receptive to the resonant currents emanating from the sounds, to go beyond hearing and to listen, to Deeply Listen, to the sounds, to experience fully those sounds. Deep Listening was inspired by an experience Oliveros had in a cistern in 1988, where beneath the earth she truly experienced listening and the sounds present …

Kirtan In The Americas: Music And Spirituality In A Transcultural Whirlpool, Gustavo Moura

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Kirtan (Sanskrit: कीर्तन; IAST: Kīrtana) is a broad term referring to various forms of devotional singing commonly done in South Asian traditions. It is a core practice in the Hindu and Sikh faiths that is becoming increasingly popular around the world among people of all ethnicities. Beyond its expected propagation within Hindu and Sikh diasporas, kirtan is also spreading among members of new religious movements such as ISKCON and the 3HO/Sikh Dharma, who may engage in this practice as part of their daily cultivation. Even more broadly, a form of what has been called “neokirtan” has been gaining popularity in …

A Departmental Dilemma: The Genesis Of Canadian Military Export Policy, 1945-1960, Paul Esau

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Recent sales of Canadian military equipment to Saudi Arabia have highlighted a contradiction between Canadian policy on paper and in practice. This dissertation seeks to explain these contradictions by exploring the evolution of Canadian conventional military export policy in the key years between 1946 and 1960. It loosely divides this 15-year span into three periods, which correspond to the genesis of Canadian military export policy (1946-1949), its expansion and formalization (1950-1955), and its first existential challenge (1956-1960). With a particular focus on the Department of External Affairs, this work explores the political considerations and bureaucratic debates which shaped government decision-making …

Adding Women To The Conversation On Safe Consumption Sites: A Qualitative Interview Study With Poor And Marginalized Women Who Use Illicit Substances, Kaitlin Waechter

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Women’s erasure from discourses pertaining to substance use and safe consumption sites (SCSs) means harm reduction efforts are developed through the male lens. This research seeks to discover why women do (or do not) access SCSs so as to determine if and how SCSs address the unique gendered needs of women who use illicit substances. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 14 women-identified individuals who use illicit substances. Participants were recruited from a non-profit organization that offers harm reduction, but is not itself a SCS in order to capture a full range of perspectives on the SCS in their community. …

Exploring Graduated Court Diversion Clients' Experience Of Psychotherapy In Their Community Reintegration, Daniel Oduro Sem

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Court Diversion Program (CDP) seeks to reduce the criminalization and reoffending among people living with mental illness to ensure their community reintegration (Schneider, 2010). The complex nature of achieving this goal calls for a comprehensive strategy, which requires a collaborative effort of legal, health care, and allied professionals including psychotherapists. However, because most CDP clients frequently receive medication treatment, not much is known about how CDP clients find psychotherapy services even though psychotherapy is effective for addressing mental illnesses and offending behaviors (Feingold & Fox, 2018; Feucht & Holt, 2016), To gain more insight into the issue, this study applied …

Biyyaa Baanus Biyyi Nu Keessaa Hinbaatu: Changing Gender Norms And Traditional Mediation Impacts On Marriage Among Ethiopian Immigrants In Three Southwestern Ontario Cities, Dinku Korsa

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract Immigrant spouses face culture shock in the host countries because they are disconnected from their social fabric and, at the same time, must adhere to the host countries' lifestyles. One of the immigrants' spouses' challenges is the marital conflicts that arise because of changing gender norms in the host countries and the absence of family support to solve their conflicts. The purpose of this study is to examine changing gender norms and traditional meditation's impact on marriage among Ethiopian immigrants living in Kitchener, Waterloo and Guelph. The study asks overarching research question: what is the impact of changing gender …

Paper Gangsters: White Collar And Corporate Crime On Film, Jacob Kavoukis

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Many of us have never been victims of a serious crime and as a result, rely on the media in its various forms to provide us with information that we can rely on as being accurate in order to learn about it. Information on white-collar crime in the media differs from more common street crime in that it receives very little attention. The lack of attention could be because these crimes are considered non-violent and victimless, are committed by those of high social stature and power and are often complex and challenging to understand. Films can play an important role …

God's Story, Our Story: Telling, Re-Telling, Re-Storying, Kara Carter

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Shifting trends within and beyond the walls of the church are reshaping Christianity in our present context. Many Christian denominations are in the midst of a paradigm shift as great as or greater than the 16th century Reformation. Because the way forward looks nothing like the path the church has journeyed, church leaders, theologians, and scholars recognize the need for innovative and adaptive leadership expertise to meet the opportunities and challenges of the present time. For more than two decades, Mennonite Church Canada congregations have been on a journey of development, learning, and growth, transitioning theologically and experientially to a …

Exploring The Impact Of Social Media On The Religious And Spiritual Beliefs Of Emerging Adults, Mark Ehlebracht

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The adoption of social media has been suggested to contribute to a syncretic behavior in emerging adults. The rate of innovation and change that occurred in the church during the Reformation, concurrent with the rise of the printing press, is similar to the rate of cultural change occurring today; a primary missional challenge of the Christian church is to incarnate the gospel in the digital world. While much research has been conducted on the effects of social media in a variety of demographics and its unintended consequences, limited research has examined the impact of social media on the religious and …

Political Culture: An Unexplored Factor In Climate Change Diplomacy, Alexander Suen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As climate change continues to ravage the world, mitigation efforts continue to be insufficient to rise to the challenge. Inaction on climate change has been traditionally explained by economic incentives, but some of the variability in climate policies cannot be explained by economics alone. Some variations could be accounted for by the deeply rooted national political culture of Anglo-settler colonies. This political culture may inhibit the willingness of such states to cooperate on climate change. In this dissertation, I describe the political philosophy of the Anglo-settler colony, and the histories of domination of its white settlers over the indigenous peoples …

From Tajikistan To Russia And Back: Understanding Changes In Gender Relations Through The Lived Experiences Of Tajik Migrant Workers In Russia, Tahmina Shokirova

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation is the story of Tajik migrant workers who have lived and worked in Russia. It examines how gender relations of power change in the context of labour migration through the lived experiences of the migrants. The study asks the overarching research question: How do gender relations change in the context of Tajik labour migration to Russia? Following the social constructionist epistemology, gender is framed through the lens of post-structural, intersectional, and transnational feminist theories. The study employs a conceptual framework that integrates the following into a coherent whole: feminist theories of gender relations, the general context of international …

Exploring The Perspectives Of Service Providers Who Assist Men Subjected To Intimate Partner Violence, Abigail White

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been largely associated with male perpetrators and female victims (Drijber, Reijnders & Ceelen, 2013). Although women are more likely to be victims of IPV, men are also victimized at the hands of their intimate partners (Statistics Canada, 2013). As such, academic literature has tended to focus on the experiences of women subjected to IPV while the experiences of men subjected to IPV remain under explored (Machado, Santos, Graham-Kaven, & Matos, 2017). The limited literature pertaining to the experiences of men has consistently found that men are largely dissatisfied with help-seeking services. Another consistent finding within …

Second Generation Christian Korean Canadians: Exploring Their Lived Experiences Of Mental Health Issues And Services, Kyoung Jung Kim

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

This study explores the lived experiences of second-generation Christian Korean Canadian young adults with mental health issues (MHI) and their use of health services (MHS). In addition, this study asked this cohort to discuss their beliefs about the views their parents held about MHI and MHS. All research participants were born and raised in Canada by Korean born immigrant parents. This study was descriptive, phenomenological, and qualitative in nature; it consisted of in-depth interviews with six male and six female participants. In their experience with MHI, seven participants experienced fear and sadness (depression and anxiety) and three of them …

Messages From The Margins: How Mature Women At Risk Of Homelessness Sustain Their Psychosocial And Spiritual Lives, Catherine E. Tovell

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This community based qualitative study examined the psychosocial and spiritual lives of 10 mature women (age 50 and older) who were at risk of becoming homeless, in other words, the hidden homeless. A narrative inquiry research design was employed to explore the lived experiences of these women. Voluntary participants were recruited through Life*Spin, a community based non profit organization that works primarily with low income families and individuals in London, Ontario. The Executive Director of Life*Spin circulated the recruitment flyers and handbills throughout her networks of social agencies. Individual interviews were arranged with participants who met the inclusion categories of …

Singing Difference Amid Relational Connectedness: A Narrative Study Of How Singing Together Shapes Worldview, Debbie Lou Ludolph

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The experience of singing together holds the potential to constrain or set free the imagination to shape worldview. Undergirded by Walter Brueggemann’s argument that a contest of narratives exists in twenty-first century North American church and society, the researcher draws from Mary (Joy) Philip’s call for “in-between space” created by safe haven and adjacency and Lee Higgins’ “boundary-walking” to understand the place of difference in a theological orientation to community singing practice. Rooted in a narrative paradigm and undergirded by an interdisciplinary approach, this inquiry explores the storied lives of sixteen singers in a faith-based singing community called Inshallah to …

The Sower, The Story & Kingdom Space In The Gospel Of Mark, Susan Lankowski

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The kingdom of God is an ambiguous term that Jesus does not explicitly define. Traditional scholarship has explained the kingdom in terms of its social, cultural and time aspects. Recent scholarship is examining the spatiality of the kingdom of God to uncover its characteristics as a “space.” Spatiality seeks to understand how humans interact with space. Space captures the experience of human life and activity and stories, and storytelling reveal that experience. It is at the intersection of space and storytelling that this project examines the kingdom of God. The Gospel of Mark is a story that grew from an …

Rainbow Writes: Peer-Led Creative Writing Groups’ Potential For Promoting 2slgbtq+ Youth Wellbeing, Ceilidh Harrison

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Though mainstream acceptance for the 2SLGBTQ+ community is on the rise, elevated risks of mental health challenges still pervade this community, particularly for youth growing up in this changing environment. Based on previous literature citing the benefits of creative interventions and youth autonomy, the current study sought to explore the implementation of an online, peer-led creative writing program as a possible means to increase emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing in 2SLGBTQ+ youth. Twenty self-identifying 2SLGBTQ+ youth from across Canada were recruited to form two 10-week, online peer-led creative writing groups titled “Rainbow Writes”. Based on Lerner et al.’s (2003) “Five …

Exploring Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy In Clinical Practice, Tim Rieck

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

ABSTRACT

Key Words: religion, spirituality, sacred, intervention, spiritual intervention, soul

Over the past twenty years, spirituality and religion have gained increased attention in the field of psychotherapy. In the research of psychotherapy, psychology, and social work, there is recognition that spirituality and religion can contribute to positive outcomes when people are faced with various challenges and distresses in life.

The main challenges are tied into determining how to move the research beyond the fact that spirituality has importance in psychotherapy to exploring how spirituality is integrated in psychotherapy. There are numerous questions to explore regarding the application of spirituality into …

Holy Estrangement: The Poetics Of Estrangement In John Donne's Divine Poems And Sermons, Anton Bergstrom

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation examines literary estrangement, that is the act and effect of making the familiar strange in a literary work, in the religious poems and sermons of the poet-preacher John Donne (1572–1631). My study uncovers and explores what Donne "estranges," how he achieves this, and for what purpose, as well as the practices and modes of thinking that shaped his poetics. In Donne's religious verse and prose, making the familiar and traditional tropes, images, doctrines, and events of Christianity strange forms active readers and revitalizes those elements, imbuing them with newfound interest, significance, and affective power.

My study offers a …

Well-Being, Discrimination, And Self-Management Among Racialized Lgbq+ Newcomers Living In Waterloo Region, Ontario, Emily Cox

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Racism and homo/biphobia may negatively impact the well-being of racialized LGBTQ+ newcomers. While current research focuses predominantly on negative aspects of well-being (e.g., distress, exclusion), research on resilience and positive aspects of well-being (e.g., positive affect) is limited. Although self-management strategies (i.e., activities and attitudes to improve one’s well-being) could be a key factor in promoting well-being, previous research has not addressed how racialized LGBTQ+ newcomers use self-management strategies. Further, there is limited research about the role service providers (e.g., settlement services, mental and physical health services) play in supporting these strategies. In this study, eight racialized LGBQ+ newcomers and …

A Marriage Of Intersecting Needs: The Procurement Of The Canadian Patrol Frigates By The Pierre Trudeau Government, 1977-1983, Garison Ma

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In December 1977, the Liberal government of Pierre Elliot Trudeau authorized the Department of National Defence to begin the acquisition of new warships for the navy. The decision to acquire fully combat capable warships was a shocking decision which marked the conclusion of a remarkable turnaround in Canadian defence policy. The navy, which had grown into a substantial and capable force during the early Cold War in the 1950s, had been in a steady decline since the mid-1960s as a result of the shifts in defence policy, cuts in personnel, and still deeper cuts to the capital funding needed to …

Straight Outta Films: A Qualitative Media Analysis Of The Hyperrealities Of Youth Gangs, Naima Lakha

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Much of what people learn outside their neighbourhoods and personal boundaries is through mass media. As such, it is not surprising that the media has potential to significantly influence public perceptions (Bourke, 2013). Due to the media’s profuse ability to influence public perceptions and the frequency in which gangs are depicted within the media, it is important to understand how they are portrayed. Involvement in a gang is depicted in the media as being intriguing for individuals, and as Preston et al. (2012), note that the media is often inclined to sensationalize criminal gang activity. They cite Gordon’s 2001 research …

Beyond A Mapping Exercise: Inclusion Of Aboriginal Traditional Ecological Knowledge In Parks And Protected Areas Management, David Cook

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This paper examines current approaches for Parks and Protected Areas (PPA) managers in incorporating Aboriginal Traditional and Ecological Knowledge (ATEK) into their management plans. This paper focuses on two case-studies. They are Nahanni National Park and Reserve in the Dehcho region of the Northwest Territories, and the Whitefeather Forest Protected Area in the Pikangikum First Nations Traditional Territory in Ontario. They were chosen because of their unique approaches to include Aboriginal communities in the planning process and their designation as UNESCO World Heritage sites. The broader indigenous involvement policies of both Parks Canada and Ontario Parks are examined using academic …

‘Not Shap’D For Sportive Tricks:’ Representations Of Disability In Film And Digital Broadcast Cinema Adaptations Of Early Modern Drama, Grace Mccarthy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In films that feature disability, we see the recursive and discussion-limiting impulse to say “this representation is negative. Therefore, the representation should not be seen,” based on critical theories and methodologies outside the purview of film studies. Unfortunately, the overlay of an English, narratological, sociological, or medical methodology and terminology onto a film representation of disability is ultimately recursive and self-limiting; critical and advocate calls for accuracy to the lived experience of people with disabilities in on-screen representations decline to engage with the visual construction of cinematic representations of disability and the often fascinating cinematographic and thematic patterns that emerge …

Social Transition, Coming Out, And Challenging Transnormativity: Non-Binary Experiences In Healthcare, Drew Burchell

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Transgender and non-binary individuals are highly stigmatized in North America, and this has staggering adverse effects on their physical and mental health. This stigma is structured and driven by cisnormativity and transnormativity, ubiquitous sets of social rules that determine “right” and “wrong” ways to do gender. Non-binary people experience excess stigma from cisgender (i.e. not transgender) people for “deviating” from the rules, but also from within the transgender community for not adhering to medical and binary definitions of transness. Specifically, non-binary people may choose not to transition medically, but very little research has been done on this. A sample of …

Tradition As Flow: Decolonial Currents In The Muslim Atlantic, Jason Sparkes

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study contributes a decolonial critique of the world-system from the longue durée perspective of the Muslim Atlantic. It connects contemporary Traditionalist Islamic discourse in North America to human networks developed since the long sixteenth century. Traditionalist Islam can be described as a discourse about traditional Islam. Genealogically, it draws upon many sources. Two important ones are (1) the oeuvre of French metaphysician and Sufi René Guénon, and (2) the Shâdhilî school of Sufism born in North Africa. Traditionalist Islam distinguishes itself from what it depicts as fundamentalist (or Salafist) and modernist (or progressive) currents, representing two extremes of …