Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Exploring A Sense Of Canadianess: Canadian Muslims In Kitchener-Waterloo (Ontario), Soha Elsayed

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Despite the fact that Muslims have been part of Canada’s population for decades, there is a current lack of literature pertaining specifically to them. This qualitative study explores how Muslim Canadians living in Kitchener-Waterloo make sense of their Canadianess. I have selected two dimensions of citizenship#8212;rights-based and sense-of-belonging#8212;in which the former is categorized as the objective dimension and the latter as the subjective dimension. In this respect, subjectivity pertains to how people make sense of and understand their citizenship. This study used the interpretive critical approach; interpretive strategies were employed to unravel the deeper meanings the participants made of their …

Secondary Traumatic Stress: The Hidden Trauma In Child And Youth Counsellors, Michelle Linda Bloom

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The current research study was conducted to establish evidence based research identifying Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) in Child and Youth Counsellors (CYCs). 161 CYCs participated in an online survey responding to both demographic questions and Bride’s (1999) Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS). Data analysis included both descriptive and inferential testing. Scoring of the STSS revealed that 66.1% of the CYCs sampled experienced some level of STS. The overall mean score is 33.65 suggesting that CYCs experienced a mild level of STS. An independent group t-test indicated that CYC’s who were exposed to children and youth’s traumatic experience 1 to 3 …

Exploring The Nature Of Collaboration Between Organizations Assisting Persons Experiencing Poverty In The Region Of Waterloo, Ontario, Morgan E. Braganza

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The current study was designed to examine the experiences of organizations assisting individuals who are economically vulnerable in Waterloo Region through interorganizational collaboration. Several questions were explored in order to gain a deeper understanding of the definition of collaboration, for whom collaboration is useful, how often and with whom organizations collaborate, techniques used during collaboration, and whether collaboration should be increased and improved. Twenty Executive Directors from organizations most strongly involved in the assistance of those experiencing poverty were asked to participate in face-to-face interviews where they were asked questions based on the above mentioned questions. Qualitative analysis of the …

Including Spirituality: A Means To Cope With Cancer And Recommendations For Health Care Professionals, Lisa Green

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Although psychosocial oncology is gaining in popularity as more research is conducted to support its inclusion in health care, there is still a lack of incorporation of spirituality in health care. The purpose of this study is to answer the following research questions: 1) How do participants use spirituality to aid in their healing? 2) How would participants like their health care professionals, specifically social workers, to incorporate spirituality into their formal care?

A qualitative, phenomenological methodology was selected for this investigation in an effort to gain an understanding of the lived experiences of people with cancer. Semi-structured interviews were …

Non-Biological Caregivers’ Experiences Of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (Fasd) Support Groups, Sharon Porty

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Caregivers of children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) are an extremely valuable resource, and supporting a stable and nurturing home environment may be the most achievable intervention to improve the child’s prognosis. Very little research has been done to explore effective interventions that focus on the FASD caregiver, rather than the child, for the purposes of preventing caregiver burnout and placement breakdown. The central purpose of this study is to explore non-biological parent caregivers’ experiences of FASD caregiver support groups in order to capture a better understanding of the value of this resource as one part of a continuum …

Voices Of Anorexia Uncovered: The Healing Journey Unveiled, Elisha Van Harte

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness. The current rate of anorexia nervosa is 1% in North America, representing approximately three million cases. Consequently, this illness has attracted a growing body of research and treatment. Current research in the field has focused primarily on the etiology of the illness. Furthermore, outcome studies are primarily quantitative in nature and have indicated that there is no treatment modality that consistently results in longitudinal recovery. What appears to be absent from the literature is the exploration of the recovery process from the perspective of those who have recovered. The …

Exploring Newcomer Settlement And Integration Supports In Brantford, And Brant-Haldimand-Norfolk Counties: Community-Based Participatory Research, Bharati Sethi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Much of the literature on recent immigrants focuses on a needs analysis from a deficit model where primarily formal services and programs related to employment issues are analyzed from a post-positivist or interpretivist framework. Using a strength-based approach this study examined other settlement issues including employment that are vital to the long-term viability of newcomers and the host society such as access to education, training (language and/or vocational), health care, and social network. Using Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) philosophical framework and methodology, data were generated from various sources—quantitative and qualitative text in the survey questionnaire (service providers and newcomers), …

The Sexual Health Education Experiences And Needs Of Immigrant Women In Kitchener-Waterloo, Stefani Burosch

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In Canada, the sexual health education needs of individuals beyond their adolescent years are often overlooked. For immigrant women, silences around issues of adult sexual health are compounded by the perception of mystery and taboos surrounding minority women and sexuality. In exploring the experiences and needs of adult immigrant women related to sexuality and sexual health education in Kitchener-Waterloo—two mid-size cities located within the Waterloo Region in southern Ontario—this study sought to create space for dialogue and to bridge the perceived cultural divide on issues of sexual health that often arises between individuals from different cultural backgrounds.

Using a qualitative …

Exploring The Experience Of University Students Coping With Acquired Or Traumatic Brain Injury, Halina Kay Lin Haag

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Mild to moderate brain injury (MBI) can be a complex condition resulting in diffuse impairments that require flexible and creative supportive interventions for university students living with MBI. This study sought to increase awareness and understanding of MBI, enrich the body of lived experience research, amplify the voices of the participants and create a catalyst for change. The participants’ lived experience of the role of the negative social perception of impairment within an organizational context and the individual’s internalization of this social construct into chronic shame are critically examined. The study utilizes a multimethod approach that is influenced by the …

A Systems Theory Examination Of Factors Related To Inclusive Attitudes Towards Newcomers And Racial Minorities, Shannon A. Veurink

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between certain social aspects of education and community experiences and how they relate to inclusive attitudes towards ethnic and racial minorities. A self-report, internet hosted survey was administered (N=672) in order to assess participants’ Attitudese Towards Immigration and Tolerance, as well as their educational and community-based experiences. Correlation and regression testing was completed to examine the relationships between education and community system experiences and inclusiveness. The findings of this study support the notio that experiences occurring within various social systems relate differently with inclusive attitudes. Implications and future research directions …

Mothers’ Experiences Of The Care Provided To Their Child With A Life-Limiting Illness, Carolyn Miguelle Ouellet

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this study was to examine mothers’ experiences of the care provided to their child with a life-limiting illness. This study explored mothers’ experiences in finding, accessing, and providing care for their children and their perceptions of gaps, barriers, and strengths in care for their children. As a secondary focus, this study looked at how these mothers understand pediatric palliative care. A qualitative descriptive design was used to explore the experiences of six mothers caring for children with life-limiting illnesses in urban areas of Ontario and Quebec. Mothers shared their experiences through in-person interviews.

Findings revealed that the …

Understanding Tourist-Host Interactions And Their Influence On Quality Tourism Experiences, Tiffanie L. Skipper

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In response to the rise in visitor harassment in tourist destinations, there is a need to further our understanding of its impacts on the tourist experience. The purpose of this study was to understand tourist-host interactions in the context of harassment and its influence on overall quality of the tourism experience. Tourist attitudes towards hosts is an under researched topic in the academic literature. Thus, this thesis makes use of the social exchange theory, tourism development cycles, and the concept of segmentation (traditionally used to explain residents’ attitudes towards tourism/tourists), to help understand tourists’ attitudes towards hosts. Similarly, there are …

Computer Integration In Elementary And Secondary Schools: Variables Influencing Educators, Julie Mueller

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Given the prevalence of computers in education today, it is critical to understand teachers’ perspectives regarding computer integration in their classrooms. Research identifying stages of implementation, and literature identifying barriers and supports, fall short of explaining what variables impact an educator’s ultimate decision to integrate technology in their instruction. The current research surveyed a heterogeneous sample of 185 elementary and 204 secondary teachers in order to provide a comprehensive summary of teacher characteristics and variables that discriminate teachers who integrate technology from those who do not. Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) identified the following variables as making unique contributions to discriminating …

The Role Of Geospatial Thinking And Geographic Skills In Effective Problem Solving With Gis: K-16 Education, Niem Tu Huynh

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Effective use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) is hampered by the limited geospatial reasoning abilities of students. The ability to reason with spatial relations, more specifically apply geospatial concepts, including the identification of spatial patterns and spatial associations, is important to geographic problem solving in a GIS context. This dissertation examines the broad influence of three factors on GIS problem solving: 1) affection towards computers, geography, and mathematics, 2) geospatial thinking, as well as 3) geographic skills.

The research was conducted with 104 students in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Students were drawn from four educational levels: grade 9 students, 13 …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Short-Duration Reading Intervention On Grade One Phonological Awareness And Word Reading, Carrie Seward

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the influence of a summer intervention for children showing early signs of reading delay. The project evaluated two intervention components: a two week camp for children and two training workshops for parents. Data were collected for five groups of participants. Three groups participated in one or more intervention components: parent workshops only group, child camp only group, and both parent workshops and child camp group. All children who participated in the interventions were identified by teachers as having difficulty in phonological awareness and word reading skills at the end of senior kindergarten. …

Intuition, Rational Analysis And The Relation Between Implicit And Explicit Attitudes, Mervyn Lee Whitfield

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Across four experiments, reliance on rational analysis reduced the correspondence between implicit and explicit attitudes relative to reliance on intuition. In each experiment, implicit attitudes were measured, and then participants were induced to rely on either rational analysis or intuition. Following this manipulation, explicit attitudes were measured. We found that participants reported explicit attitudes that were more or less consistent with implicit attitudes depending on whether they relied more on intuitions or rational analysis. Notably, rational analysis only reduced the correspondence between implicit and explicit attitudes when it led participants to consider reasons for their attitudes that were inconsistent with …

The Tactile Motion Aftereffect, Peggy Joanne Planetta

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The tactile motion aftereffect (tMAE) is a perceptual phenomenon in which illusory motion is reported following adaptation to a unidirectionally moving tactile stimulus. Unlike its visual counterpart, relatively little is known about the tMAE. For that reason, the purpose of this dissertation was to gain a better understanding of the tMAE using both psychophysical and neuroimaging techniques. In a series of five experiments the skin was adapted using a plastic cylinder with a square-wave patterned surface. Chapter 2 consists of two experiments, both of which adapted the glabrous surface of the right hand. Experiment 1 showed that the prevalence, duration, …

Moving Beyond The Surface: Ethics Education In Canadian Social Work Bachelor Programs, Susan Lynn Hardie

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis is an exploratory analysis of: “How Canadian schools offering bachelor programs attend to social work ethics education in the 21st century?” A concurrent triangulation mixed method research design was chosen to draw upon the strengths of quantitative and qualitative analysis, and minimize the limitations of each method. Deans and Directors at the thirty-two Faculties, Schools and Departments of Social Work with bachelor social work programs in Canada were contacted and requested to identify an expert in social work ethics education to partake in this research. Fifty-three (53%) of the schools had educators either complete the survey and/or engage …

Responding To Change In A Northern Aboriginal Community (Fort Resolution, Nwt, Canada): Linking Social And Ecological Perspectives, Sonia Darienne Wesche

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Human and environmental systems in the circumpolar north are particularly affected by the Earth’s changing climate, thus acting as a bellwether for other parts of the globe. Rural indigenous communities are most visibly impacted due to their close relationship with the land. These challenges are compounded by socio-economic transformations typical of peripheral communities within a larger, centrally governed system.

This dissertation links a community-based study of environmental change in Fort Resolution, Northwest Territories, Canada to evolving adaptation science. The study was prompted by local concern about changing environmental conditions caused by climatic, hydrological and resource development drivers. Its collaborative research …

Institutional Analysis Of Integrated Treatment For Co-Occurring Mental Health, Substance Use And Gambling Problems In Ontario: A Case Study, Gabriela Novotná

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation explores the institutionalized response of the mental health and addiction sectors in Ontario to the pervasive demand for integrated services for people with concurrent disorders. Building on neo-institutional theory, I argue that despite the fact that different stakeholders on multiple levels—provincial governments, service providers, and clients—have called for the integration of treatment for concurrent disorders, this integrated treatment is implemented as a rationalized myth and adopted only ceremonially.

This is demonstrated through a case study of two treatment programs that provide services to populations with concurrent mental health and substance use problems and gambling problems. Both programs are …

Moral Emotion Expectancies And Moral Behavior In Adolescence, Megan E. Johnston

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In the present research we extended previous studies examining moral emotion expectancies in childhood to investigate the relationship between moral emotion expectancies and moral behavior in adolescence. A secondary goal was to explore the relationships among moral emotion expectancies, the moral self, and moral action. Two hundred and thirty-five adolescents in grades 7, 9, 11, and first year university completed a structured interview assessing moral emotion expectancies in various situations in which a moral norm is either regarded or disregarded. Participants distributed up to 10 plastic chips on nine emotional expressions to indicate how they expected to feel in each …

Satisfaction With Sexual Health Education Among Recent Graduates Of Ontario High Schools, Glenn J. Meaney

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Satisfaction with sexual health education can be seen as student evaluation of how effectively the sexual health education curriculum meets its goals. First-year university students completed one questionnaire containing measures concerning satisfaction with high school sexual health education, sexuality-related individual difference variables, and intentions to pursue further sexual health education at the university level. Question 1 was whether students were satisfied with their high school sexual health education. Results were examined for differences by gender and type of school attended (i.e., public or Catholic). Participants rated sexual health topics as very important; believed that most sexual health education should occur …

Made Me Who I Am: An Examination Of Grandparent And Parent Value Teaching And Young Adult Generativity, Identity, And Adjustment, Elise Bisson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Intergenerational value transmission plays an important role in child socialization. Although much research has been done on parent to child value teaching, there is little research on grandparent to grandchild value teaching. The purpose of this study was to explore parent and grandparent value teaching and how it relates to young adult generativity, identity development, and adjustment. This study involved 100 young adults, between the ages of 25 to 29 with a mean age of 26, taken from a longitudinal sample of participants in 2006. Participants were asked to tell parent and grandparent value teaching stories, in which they described …

Event Syntax And Event Semantics As Constraints On Availability Of Discourse, Raymond B. Becker

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The understanding of how temporal information constrains situation models is far from complete. In tehse two experiments participants read short stories, where the antecedent sentence was manipulated with respect to varying tense, grammatical and lexical verb aspect (Experiment 1), and then by varying grammatical and lexical verb aspect in conjunction with long and short duration events (Experiment 2). We used electrophysiological measures time-locked to the anaphoric referent to investigate how the brain responds to these temporal constraints. The purpose was to investigate teh possibility that these variables have an influence on the availability of discourse concepts in situation models. In …

Constructed Identity, Subjective Identity And Inter-Subjective Transformation: An Exploration By Way Of Motherhood And Canadian Maternity Benefits, Patricia Van Katwyk

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

When identity is conceptualized as a fluid and ongoing process that is mutually influenced by subjective and constructed experience, an interplay can occur that engenders and signifies collective life. With an acknowledgement of motherhood as a politically and emotionally charged identity experience, and asserting the capacity of social policy to sustain a constructed ideology, this paper explores a conversation that occurred between 28 mothers in Canada. The site of this conversation was an on-line journal (blog). Using a participatory narrative action method of research, the mothers participated as co-researchers, conducting a narrative analysis of one another’s narratives and a policy …

Getting The Bug: Exploring Running Group Therapy For Youth With Affective Disorders, Jamie Lee Bell

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Mental health problems in adolescents place them on a trajectory for ongoing difficulties into adulthood. Treating youth with affective disorders using conventional interventions such as medication and talk therapy can be problematic. Important questions have been raised about the efficacy and safety of medications and some youths’ willingness to engage in counseling. There is, therefore, a need for constant attention to innovative and youth focused treatment options.

Since 2006, Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada has offered youth diagnosed primarily with depression and anxiety an opportunity to address their mental illness with the alternative treatment of running. The purpose …

Exploring The Reintegration Process For Child Soldiers: A Case Study Of Young Women And Their Children In Northern Uganda, Allison N. Martin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Child soldiering has occurred throughout history in the never-ending battle over land, resources and human rights. The earliest mention of minors in war comes from antiquity however it was not until the 1970s that the first international convention came into effect in an attempt to limit the participation of children in armed conflict (Wikipedia, 2009b). Unfortunately, children remain active in armed conflicts around the world as combatants, porters, spies, messengers, sex slaves and human shields. Human Rights Watch (2007) estimates that 200,000 to 300,000 children are currently serving in rebel and government forces in over 20 countries around the world. …

Implementing Technology In The Classroom: Assessing Teachers’ Needs Through The Use Of A Just-In-Time Support System, Alissa N. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Given the importance of computer technology in classrooms today, it is crucial to identify the types of supports that will facilitate teachers’ effective implementation of technology. Ten teachers (four kindergarten, four grade one, and two grade one/two) received just-in-time support while introducing a reading software program in their class. An additional 12 teachers (four kindergarten, seven grade one, and one grade two) were exposed to the software, but did not receive just-in-time support. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses of instructional sessions were conducted in order to determine the kinds of support that teachers required throughout the intervention. Results provided an …

Assessing Tangible Support Efforts In English Canadian Christian Church Communities, Dana M. Friesen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis was inspired by one family’s need for support and how it came to be expressed and negotiated within their faith community. The purpose of this study was to survey English-speaking, Christian congregations across Canada in order to discover the range of tangible social supports available to congregants. Tangible supports were defined as practical (i.e. acts of service), material, and social/emotional support. An important component in this study was to identify strengths and gaps in the development and mobilization of congregational supports, as expressed by church leaders. Another important aspect included the exploration of church leaders’ and their congregations’ …

Personal Growth In Couples Caring For A Child With A Life-Threatening Illness, Kimberly Kennedy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Little is known about the potential for positive outcomes in couples who have a child with a life-threatening illness. The current study was a secondary analysis of demographics and personal growth data of 34 couples actively caring for children with various life-threatening conditions. There were three overarching goals in this research: (a) to examine differences in Posttraumatic Growth Inventory scores (PTGI) of mothers and fathers, (b) to examine the relationship between demographic variables and PTGI scores of mothers and fathers, and (c) to measure level of congruency in couple-dyad scores and test if partners’ growth scores are predictive of one …