Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

First Language Loss And Maintenance In Adolescents And Young Adults From Immigrant Backgrounds, Wanxin Li

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

Language attrition is a documented phenomenon that occurs when individuals progressively lose their first language (Schmid et al., 2007). This is particularly common among individuals who relocate to a country that speaks a foreign language that differs from their first language, as the societal language eventually becomes their dominant language. Deterioration and loss of the first language (L1) may result in consequences such as loss of ethnic and cultural identity, leading to the loss of a link to one’s country of origin (Cho & Krashen, 1998). Thus, the present study examined factors that may contribute to L1 attrition. The …

Impression Management Among Municipal Employees As A Barrier To Engagement: An Explorative Study, Alicia Bevan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As municipalities adapt to the climate crisis through mitigation and adaptation strategies it is important that all citizens are meaningfully included in local-level planning and decision-making. Authentic, long-term relationships need to be built between municipal actors and citizens so that municipal development benefits all citizens and is informed by a diverse array of perspectives that truly represents the local context and those within it. There are, however, barriers to fostering genuine relationships and meaningful engagement between municipal governments and their citizens; one such barrier is ‘organizational impression management’ – that is, presenting an ideal or overly positive impression of the …

Adrift In Uncharted Waters: A Case Study Of A Muslim Family Involved With Child Protection Services In Ontario, Bibi Baksh

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation sought to understand how Muslims experience mandated child protection services in Ontario within the Canadian (and specifically, Ontarian) socio-political context. Ongoing experiences of racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia within systems that intersect with child welfare, including schools and the criminal justice system, have compounding effects on Muslim families who are singled out politically and socially. Drawing from trends in child welfare literature, policy initiatives, and practices that consider the system’s impacts upon racialized peoples, this research contributes to the discourse by highlighting religious diversity as an under-investigated source of discrimination. Set against systemic challenges inherent in the child protection …

'Indirect Pathways Into Practice': Philippine Internationally Educated Nurses And Their Entry Into Ontario's Nursing Profession, Lualhati Marcelino

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

While there are several studies that highlight the quantitative and statistical profiles of internationally educated nurses (IENs) from the Philippines who migrate to countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Europe, the United States and Canada, there is little research that delves deeply into the qualitative review and analysis of their experiences in their own words. This study addresses that gap by applying the transnational feminist concept of “global care chains” in a single case study design that explores the experience of nurses who migrated to Ontario through permanent and temporary immigration streams and were interviewed in 2011 to 2012 to …

Loose Coupling, Burden Shuffling, And Pervasive Penality: The Role Of Bylaw Enforcement In Managing Homelessness, Natasha Martino

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In Canada, over 235,000 people experience homelessness per year. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the visibility of homelessness and the use of homeless encampments across Ontario. As visibility has increased, so too have community members’ expectations to manage homelessness or find a solution to minimize the visibility of homelessness. While there has been some scholarship about the police management of homelessness, far less is known about the role of bylaw enforcement. Yet, bylaw officers play a critical role in responding to homelessness due to their increasing responsibility for enforcing municipal bylaws and COVID-19 public health mandates, such as stay at …

Exploring Individuals’ Views On The Malleability Of Their Moral Self-Concept, Steven Hertz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Drawing on work by Carol Dweck, Moral Self-Theory was conceptualized as describing lay views of the moral self-concept as either malleable (incrementalist view) or fixed (entity view) in order to better capture the goal-achievement aspect of morality. To this end, research into the areas of implicit theories of intelligence and personality were drawn upon to explore the possibility that lay views of morality could help inform our understanding of moral behaviour. Three studies were designed to: 1) examine individuals’ perceptions of their moral self-concept over time for evidence of change and assess participants’ opinions towards that change, as well as …

The Untended Garden: How Adoptees Navigate Relationships With First Family Members, Dawn Michele Mccormick Tracz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research explores how people who were adopted over the age of 6 years old in open adoption arrangements navigate ongoing relationships with first family members. It explores perceptions of how a connection with both adoptive and first family members impacts self-concept. Using an interpretivist-constructivist lens, the narratives of four women are presented and analyzed. In addition to qualitative interviews, each participant was invited to create images that represented relationships with significant family members. The narratives are re-presented in detail adhering closely to the teller’s organization and emphases. In the analysis, themes related to relationships with first family members and …

Exploring Intersectional Factors Associated With Mental Health Service Utilization In A Sample Of Lgbt2q+ Canadians, Samson Tse

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present thesis explores LGBT2Q+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (trans), Two-Spirit, queer/questioning, plus) and racialized mental health service utilization within Canada using intersectionality-informed quantitative methodology, separated into additive and multiplicative stages. Data from the 2020 LGBT2Q+ Health Survey (N = 1542) were analyzed using modified Poisson regression. Additive analyses explored mental healthcare utilization as framed by the Andersen Behavioural Model of Healthcare Utilization categories: predisposing, enabling, and need. Results show that predisposing and need factors are more statistically associated with mental healthcare utilization, and that there are distinct intracategorical (within-group) differences in subgroups, particularly between racialized and Indigenous respondents. …

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 …

Inducing Kindness To Cope With Social Stress: Comparing Self-Compassion With Cognitive Reappraisal, Cortney Burnham

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Self-compassion involves being accepting and caring toward oneself when dealing with failure and hardships. Inducing self-compassion has been shown to be helpful, particularly for individuals with high levels of social anxiety. However, few studies have compared a self- compassion intervention to another adaptive strategy. The primary aim of the present study was to examine the impact of a self-compassion induction for social stress compared to another beneficial strategy. Three studies were conducted to compare self-compassion and cognitive reappraisal as strategies for coping with past stressful social situations and current social stress. In Study 1, participants (N = 276) were …

Bee Cities And More-Than-Human Communities: Protecting Pollinators In The Anthropocene, Jennifer Marshman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Grounded in political ecology and the ecological humanities, the aim of this research is to examine the Bee City movement as a conservation engagement strategy at the municipal level. While pollinator research occurs from a variety of perspectives – biology, entomology, phylogeny, ecology, and agricultural sciences - social engagement strategies and the human dimensions of pollinator conservation have yet to be widely investigated. This research questions if these strategies put in place, and contribute to, important political and socio-ecological mechanisms in the local context. Through a collective case study methodology, this research points to the Bee City movement as a …

Adaptive Capacity And Mobility In The Bahamas: Examining The Social Costs Of Displacement In Response To Hurricane Dorian, Kearney Coupland

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In 2021, over 30 million people were displaced by disasters, most of which were weather related and nearly half of which were the result of storms. While research on disaster displacement has provided broad observations of post-hurricane human mobility and the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics that influence displacement, few studies examine the factors that influence household mobility decisions after a disaster. My dissertation uses a primarily qualitative research approach to empirically investigate the relationship between mobility and the capacity of displaced households to cope and adapt to the impacts of hurricanes through a detailed examination of Hurricane Dorian displacement in …

An Analysis Of Collective Efficacy As A Predictor Of Gun Violence In Toronto, Carly Richards

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

There has been a 42% increase in gun violence in Canada since 2013, largely due to increases in Toronto (Statistics Canada, 2022a). To gain a better understanding of this phenomenon, this study evaluated collective efficacy as a predictor of gun violence. Seven correlates of collective efficacy were identified including, low economic status, ethnic diversity, mobility, family disruption, employment rate, low educational attainment, and youth percentage in a population. This study included data from the City of Toronto’s Open Data Portal and the 2016 Canadian Census. The data were pulled from various datasets and then were reorganized into one file, which …

Does Air Pollution Cause Residents Of New Delhi, India To Migrate Internationally?, Snigdha Basu

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Delhi, India, and the surrounding cities of Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad consistently rank among the world's most polluted cities. For many parts of the year, air pollution levels are so high as to cause significant harm to human health, economy and the environment. Despite overwhelming evidence of the severity and consequences of air pollution, institutional measures to control it remain insufficient.

There is growing evidence that environmental degradation has the potential to generate migration of people out of affected areas. However, the links between environmental factors and migration are complex, with migration often being a result of interactions between …

Fifth-Dimensional Warfare And National Security In Canada: Situating Microdeviation Theory Within C-59: An Act Respecting National Security Matters, Hayden Slight

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In an era of rapid technological change, the growing threat environment in the cyber dimension will continue to influence how a sovereign nation contends with attacks that can occur from any corner of the world. The growing adaptation and expansion of technology belonging to the Internet of Things (IoT) and the increasing prevalence of social media (Facebook, Twitter) has also influenced the spreading of attack surfaces that can become victim to exploitation by motivated parties including foreign states and terrorist groups. Against this backdrop, Canada’s own efforts to modernize and reinforce its own national security agencies resulted in the developing …

Early Predictors: The Impact Of Childhood Exposure To Interparental Conflict On Developmental Outcomes For Emotion Self-Regulation And Related Problem Behaviour., Katrina Abela

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The capacity to independently regulate emotions occupies a central role in children’s physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing as they progress through their development. The influence of adverse childhood experiences on the absence of attuned emotion self-regulation (ESR) abilities has been recurringly linked to, and coupled with, a range of adverse developmental outcomes for children and adolescents, such as internalizing problem behaviours (i.e., anxiety) and externalizing problem behaviours (i.e., peer bullying and victimization). Although exposure to interparental conflict has been widely associated with such short- and long-term adverse effects for children’s physical, emotional, social, and behavioural development, further investigation is needed …

Exploring Visitor Perceptions And Behaviours Related To Ticks And Lyme Disease Risk In An Ontario Protected Area, Ryan Brady

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne zoonosis in North America and over the past decade, reported cases of the disease have been rapidly increasing in many regions throughout Canada. The relative novelty of this public health threat presents nature-based tourism and recreation organizations with a range of policy and management challenges. Currently, there is a limited understanding of public perceptions and behaviours associated with tick and Lyme disease risk, especially within a Canadian parks and protected areas visitation and visitor experience context. To address this practical and scholarly knowledge gap, this study utilized in-situ surveys to explore visitor perceptions, …

Relationships Between Executive Functioning, Memory, And Source Judgements On Children’S Responses To Online Advertising, Samantha Barbosa

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Children’s understanding of online content is a topic of interest, yet little is known about how children distinguish distracting and often misleading information (e.g., advertisements) from relevant information. Our aim is to measure the relationship between executive functioning, memory and source monitoring in a population that has heavy internet usage and are also the most at risk for mistakenly recalling false or irrelevant information. Children aged 7-12 years old (N = 30), with no known developmental or cognitive disorders, were recruited for the study. In an online session, the children viewed two novel online media sources (i.e., a website …

Exploring Climate, Wellbeing, Resilience, And Resistance In 2slgbtq+ Leisure Spaces: A Mixed Methods Study To Advance Inclusion, Tin Vo

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Participating in queer sports groups, rainbow choirs, trans virtual discussion groups and other Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexually and gender diverse (2SLGBTQ+) leisure activities can offer participants safety from societal heterosexism and cisgenderism and opportunities for community connection and peer support, as well as foster their overall wellbeing. Yet, transgender/gender nonconforming (TGNC), racialized, and/or disabled individuals, and those with other diverse identities are often marginalized in these spaces. Though researchers have studied exclusion within 2SLGBTQ+ leisure spaces, relatively little is known about how the climate of these spaces shapes social and mental health outcomes. Connected to …

Parental Incarceration And Stigma: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Children's Books, Samantha Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Children of parental incarceration are often forgotten victims and have been noted to experience collateral consequences such as stigma, poor mental health, and isolation. Since children are often forgotten, there is a lack of information regarding their experiences, what resources are available to them, and whether or not these resources intended to be beneficial. One of the resources that are available to children, caregivers, and other adults are children’s books regarding parental incarceration. To determine whether or not these children's books act as a guide, this study examined the content and illustrations of 19 children’s books on parental incarceration. The …

Thinking About Making A Connection: Exploring The Role Of Metacognition In Recognition Memory For Associative Information, Mario E. Doyle

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In a set of six experiments, the relation between metacognition and associative memory was explored. The purpose was to determine whether the metacognitive behaviors that are used with item memory are also used with associative memory. Different memory systems have separate underlying processes which can cause mnemonic strategies to only be useful for some types of memory. People use metacognition to monitor and control their memory; however, it is uncertain whether metacognitive monitoring and control are the same for different types of memory. The research presented in this dissertation demonstrates the similarities and differences between metacognitive behavior for item and …

Exploring The Relationship Between Drought And Population Change On The North American Great Plains, 1970-2010, George Heath

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Through the second half of the 20th century, the North American Great Plains saw widespread rural out-migration, a continuation of trends that began with the Dust Bowl crisis during the Great Depression of the 1930s. As part of a wider academic focus on the roles climate and environmental changes have on migration, this research project sought to understand the relationship between drought conditions and rural population decline on the Great Plains. In this explorative research, census population data for Canada and the US from 1970-2010 were analyzed along with temperature, precipitation, and Palmer Drought Severity Index data for the same …

"If We're Not Loud, We're Not Cared For": Empowerment In Transgender Peoples' Healthcare Experiences, Chase Valiant

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Healthcare plays a crucial role in the health and quality of life of transgender (herein trans) people. The experiences people have when accessing healthcare, can have significant effects on future interactions with the healthcare system as well as individual health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to gather insights into trans peoples’ positive healthcare experiences and health outcomes through the lens of empowerment. Fifteen interviews with trans men and trans women were drawn from a larger study of trans peoples’ experiences of discrimination. Thematic analysis was undertaken to identify key themes in the data. Experiences of empowerment were facilitated …

Visual Perception And Action In Reaching During Upper Limb Obstacle Avoidance, Nondon Chakraborty

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

During everyday activities, people reach to specific objects with their hands and avoid obstacles. For people to move successfully through an obstacle gap, it is necessary to be able to accurately perceive the actions that the surroundings afford and adjust hand movements accordingly. Reaching behaviours, including planning (perception) and execution (action), depend on visual information. This study aimed to understand and detect the differences between perceptual judgment and actual performance of both hands during a reaching task at the time of obstacle avoidance by using a hand-scaled approach. Participants were young adults (male (n=7) and female (n=10) aged 18 to …

Invisible Wounds: Assessing The Awareness Of Moral Injury Among Toronto Police, Daniel Saugh

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Moral injury is believed to exist within the Canadian Police Services though it is difficult to recognize and is usually ignored. The research data emerging from military and first responders (i.e., police, firefighters, and EMS personnel) reveal the effects of moral injury and its implications for mental and spiritual health as it persists throughout the life and career of those affected.

This study investigates how moral injury may emerge from a potentially traumatic event(s) and/or psychological trauma and/or independent from such trauma and how moral injury may come to exist in members of the Toronto Police Service, as well as …

Decipher The Effect Of Gamification In Harnessing Boredom And Improving Performance, Zhuoyi Zhao

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

My thesis investigates the effectiveness of gamification in harnessing boredom and improving performance in a repetitive work process. In video games, “loot” rewards are unpredictable, intermittent gains used to motivate players to repeat boring actions. In a 2 X 2 experiment, I examine how loot rewards in point form may impact 1) disengagement, which is an immediate outcome of boredom, and 2) performance in settings where the points have and do not have cash value, respectively. More specifically, I manipulate the level of point reward unpredictability (fixed versus loot) and whether point rewards have cash value (absent versus present).

In …

The Combined Transitions Of Great Power Politics And The Global Energy System A Comparative Analysis Of China, The United States And Russia, Roger Boyd

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The objective of this study is to provide a framework that allows for a holistic and integrated analysis of what will become, if they are not already, the two most significant determinants of foreign policy – the need for a fundamental change in the global energy system and the nature of major power competition within the international system. It specifically rejects the eco-modernist framing of the required energy transition as simply a technocratic challenge, and instead accepts the large-scale nature of the social, political and economic changes and disruptions that will be required. By framing these changes within the dynamic …

How Did We Learn About Sex? —— Sex Education And Sexual Health In Chinese Youth, Yujuan Liu

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Attitudes toward sexuality among Chinese youth have become more liberal in recent generations, but sex education remains controversial and limited. Due to the lack of awareness of sexual risks, many Chinese youth engage in unprotected sexual activities resulting in unintended pregnancy, abortions, and STIs. Therefore, understanding successful pathways and unique challenges are crucial to develop adequate sex education for youth’s sexual health in China. The current study used semi-structured in-depth interviews and investigated 28 Chinese youths’ experiences of sex education and sexual health. The results mapped out youth’s sex education experiences by age and sources and demonstrated the impacts of …

Park Agency Social Media Communication During The Covid-19 Crisis, Raluca Oprean

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all industries and organizations, including park agencies. There is a lack of research on how park agencies utilize Twitter during times of crisis, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. How park agencies communicate with the public and how they use their social media has not been extensively studied. In addition, the coronavirus pandemic is a novel management issue for these agencies, and there has been no empirical analysis in the ways in which information is being communicated to the public or how that information is being perceived.

This study aims to better understand park agency response …

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 …