Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Food Systems: Community-Shared Agriculture, A Means Of Empowerment And Social Vitality, Godwin Samuel Ashiabi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In this thesis I focused on the Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) as an alternative form of farming to industrialized agriculture. CSA connects the growers of food directly with the people who eat it, in a way where everyone shares the benefits and risks involved in agriculture. The Huron Community Garden in Goderich is the setting that was selected for this study because of its five-year history as a form of CSA. A naturalistic participant-observation mode of enquiry was employed. As a participant-observer, I was involved in all activities of the Garden—weeding, tilling of the ground, transplanting of seedlings, watering of …

A Community-Based Needs And Resource Assessment On Youth Mental Health: Bay Of Islands/Pasadena, Newfoundland, Joanne A. Mills

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In this research project, I undertook a community-based needs and resource assessment on youth mental health within a western Newfoundland community to assist a mental health planning team, the Community Mental Health Initiative (CMHI). CMHI is a stakeholder-based committee dedicated to addressing mental health concerns for all citizens in a geographical area in western Newfoundland, encompassing the city of Corner Brook, the communities along the north and south shore of the Bay of Islands, and the community of Pasadena. The mandate of CMHI includes identifying mental health needs and promoting the general well being of all persons of all ages …

Social Identity And Integrative Complexity: The Effects Of Silent Group Membership On Reasoning About Social Issues, Stephen Leonard Friedman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The works of self-categorization theorists (e.g., Conover, 1988, 1984; Turner et al., 1987) suggests that presenting individuals with social issues central to the interests of their social group, and individual differences in group identification, can accentuate the salience of one’s group membership. Further, they suggest that social group salience may affect individuals’ viewpoints on group central social issues, resulting in more extreme, black-and-white thinking. The present study was designed in order to investigate the extent to which social group salience and/or individual differences in group identification affect the complexity with which gender group members think about a gender-central social issue. …

Coping With The Transition To University: The Impact Of A Social Support-Based Intervention, Daniel Jeff Lamothe

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The transition to university can be a particularly stressful time for incoming students, as indicated by high first-year attrition rates (Levitz & Noel, 1989). This stress may be produced in part by a reduction in social support that many students experience when they begin their university studies (Albert, 1988; Kenny, 1987). The present study examined an intervention program based on social support, and its impact on students' adjustment to university. Fifty-five first-year university students completed pretest questionnaires in August aimed at assessing levels of social support, as well as self-esteem, depression, stress, and integrative complexity of reasoning about university issues. …

Resources For The Church In The Prevention Of Suicide, Robert Ian Cuthbertson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This paper is an analysis of the history and signifcance of suicide in relation to the church and its mission to be "the salt of the earth". It will be an analysis of the types of suicide and its frequency in Canada. The paper will also review the resources, both literary and community, which are available for the minister. Interviews were conducted with ministers of various denominations, primarily in the Hamilton Region to determine the extent of their contact with suicidal situations. Possible reasons for the lack of interest on the part of the church in this issue are discussed. …

Rituals Of Engagement And Disclosure: The Assessment Of Male Batterers In Clinical And Pastoral Perspective, Kelvin Frederick Mutter

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study explores the dynamics of engaging the male batterer in the assessment interview. A model of interviewing is employed which considers both the interpersonal processes as well as the extent and relevance of the information which is gathered. Engagement is understood to have occurred when the client is committed to the process of therapy. The study focuses on the processes by which the battering client might be engaged in therapy. Consideration is also given to identifying factors which might prevent engagement. Theories of battering and engagement are explored in relationship to the work of Alan Jenkins. The extent and …

Some Motivations And Expectations Of Rural Men Regarding Professional Counselling Services: 'You Can't Just Go To Town And Get Counselling', Neil Stanley Lackey

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A qualitative research report focused on interviews with twelve rural men between the ages of 30 and 55 living for at least 10 consecutive years in a community with a population of less than two thousand persons. Most were farmers. Findings indicate that the rural male's motivation to use a professional counsellor may be greatly increased when the following three factors are attended to: (1) Professional Public Relations (PR) (advertising/marketing geared to the rural language and setting; (2) Individual men Naming their issue and Knowing someone who might be helpful (N/K) AND (3) Normalization (via PR) of knowledge that rural …

Coping And Support Needs Of Family Caregivers Of Older Adults With A Developmental Disability, Caroline Cochrane

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Due to the policy of deinstitutionalization there is a population of adults with a developmental disability who are aging in the community and who are living with their aging parents as caregivers. This study used a phenomenological, qualitative approach to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of these aging family caregivers of aging adults with a developmental disability. A literature review indicated that some sources of support and service needs have been identified for this population of caregivers, and that planning for the future of their adult child with a developmental disability was important to these caregivers. Six caregivers, …

Social Work Education From A Lesbian Standpoint, Robin Hjordis Stevenson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study looks at social work education from the standpoint of lesbian students and faculty. The literature indicates that many social workers manifest signs of homophobia, and that this affects the provision of services to gay and lesbian clients. The purpose of this study is to explore how issues of same-gender sexual orientation are addressed in schools of social work and to make recommendations for change. My approach is based on the view that “knowledge” is reflective of the values and experience of those who create it and that education serves to perpetuate and reinforce dominant social values. Looking at …

All In The Family Home: The Biological Children Of Parents Who Foster, Judith Heidburrt

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Foster families are intended to provide children at risk with a secure environment. But how secure is this environment for the biological children of the foster family? While foster parents may feel drained by the needs of the foster children in their homes, the biological children may feel neglected by their parents. How do these children respond to—and perceive—the reality of foster children in their home? To address these questions, nine children were interviewed individually. Five of these children were still living at home, four were adult children reflecting back on their experiences growing up. The results from these interviews …

The Biographic Impact Of An Hiv Diagnosis (Immune Deficiency), Leanne Carol Baird

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

No abstract provided.

Resolving Community Conflicts With Public Participation: A Case Study Of A Southwestern Ontario Community, Rosalba Stocco

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This qualitative case study of a southern Ontario urban fringe community demonstrates that unresolved community conflict continues to be played out in the political arena by different actors in on-going disputes. A macro, meta and micro level of analysis reveals that negative patterns of interaction have contributed to a fatalistic attitude to community problem solving. Furthermore, the study confirms that the traditional processes did not address the needs and fears of the residents, thus contributing to the entrenchment and impasses the community faced.

Eramosa Township was chosen for its highly conflictual nature and its extensive public participation practices. Participants from …

Safe Families: A Model Of Child Protection Intervention Based On Parental Voice And Wisdom, Sharon Patricia Mccallum

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study aimed to hear and understand parental voice and experience in regard to a statutory child protection system and to use this experience in the development of a model of intervention. The study was undertaken in the Kitchener-Waterloo area of Ontario and participants are, or have been, clients of Family and Children’s Services of the Waterloo Region. The study utilised grounded theory, a form of qualitative research, and data were collected via a number of in-depth interviews with each of the ten participants. The participants, both men and women, included people who had abused their children and non-offending partners. …

A Naturalistic Study Of The Relationship Between The Process Of Empowerment And Mental Health During Adolescence, Michael Terrence Ungar

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A qualitative study of 21 at-risk adolescents led to the development of a grounded theory which shows that mental health and resilience depends on the acceptance of teenagers experiences for their self-definitions and the power they exercise in the social discourse which constructs these defining labels. Using the metaphor of drift, this paper explores how teens seek acceptance for the most powerful personal labels accessible to them. The process of empowerment is conceptualized as a protective mechanism giving a young person power in the social construction of his or her identity. The young people in this study explained that participation …

The Discontinuation Of Life-Prolonging Medical Treatment From Infants In The Nicu: The Parental Perspective, Carolyn Daniels

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Discontinuation of intensive care treatment is a factor in most infant deaths occurring in the neonatal intensive care unit. Parents participate in and are affected by decisions to discontinue intensive care. Yet, few studies have been reported which examine parental views and experience. The purpose of this study was to explore parental involvement in the discontinuation of intensive care treatment from critically-ill infants. Using a qualitative methodology, decision-making in 28 sets of parents, 27 mothers and 17 fathers, was examined. The key themes reported by parents were personal process—individual feelings, thoughts, and reactions; the marital partnership—parents’ experiences and relationships with …

Children Who Witness Mother-Assault: An Expanded Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Conceptualization, Peter John Lehmann

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The impact on children who witness mother-assault was conceptualized as an expanded posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and an exploratory research study testing this formulation was carried out. The current conceptualization was based in part on the work of V. Wolfe and associates who utilized a model whereby a number of mediating factors were thought to determine adjustment to traumatic. An important part of their model was the utilization of the Type I and II trauma typologies of Terr (1990, 1991). These typologies were used to measure the PTSD symptoms of children in response to the severity and course of mother-assault. …

The Role Of The State And The Community In Community Participation: A Case Study, Joseph Jean-Marc Andre Belanger

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study analyzes the principles and the practice of the concept of community participation. The purpose of research is to address the degree and manner of autonomy that can be exercised at the local community level and also what kind of participation should come from the state when communities are engaged with the state in a community participation process. The methodology of qualitative nature, is a case study of the Sudbury Better Beginnings, Better Futures Associations. An analysis of the public documents comparing the state and the Sudbury Association’s position on community participation principles is portrayed before performing an analysis …

Trade And Wages: Choosing Among Alternative Explanations, Jagdish N. Bhagwati

Faculty Scholarship

The decline in unskilled workers’ real wages during the 1980s in the United States and the increase in their unemployment in Europe (due to the comparative inflexibility of European labor markets vis-à-vis those in the United States) have prompted a search for possible explanations. This search has become more acute with the evidence that the adverse trend for the unskilled has not been mitigated during the 1990s to date.

A favored explanation, indeed the haunting fear, of the unions and of many policymakers is that international trade is a principal source of the pressures that translate into wage decline and/or …

Legal Enforcement Of Morality, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

In modern Western political and legal thought, the subject of legal enforcement of morality is narrower than the literal coverage of those terms. That is because much legal enforcement of morality is uncontroversial and rarely discussed. Disagreement arises only when the law enforces aspects of morality that do not involve protecting others from fairly direct harms. More precisely, people raise questions about legal requirements (1) to perform acts that benefit others, (2) to refrain from acts that cause indirect harms to others, (3) to refrain from acts that cause harm to themselves, ( 4) to refrain from acts that offend …

Attachment Theory And Self-Disclosure Of Hiv Status, Amy H. Grimshaw

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the influence of attachment style on self-disclosure of HIV seropositive status. Subjects were classified according to Bartholomew's model of adult attachment (i.e., secure, preoccupied, fearful, or dismissing). Steps were then taken to assess differences in the subjects' willingness to disclose their HIV seropositive status, the communication style chosen for disclosure, the subjects' perceptions of the importance of disclosing their HIV seropositive status, and the feared negative consequences of disclosure. To increase generalizability subjects were asked to assess their self-disclosure to three types of target persons: lover, same-sex friend, and opposite-sex friend. Attachment style significantly affected perceived importance …

Comparing Traditional Statistical Models With Neural Network Models: The Case Of The Relation Of Human Performance Factors To The Outcomes Of Military Combat, William Oliver Hedgepeth

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Statistics and neural networks are analytical methods used to learn about observed experience. Both the statistician and neural network researcher develop and analyze data sets, draw relevant conclusions, and validate the conclusions. They also share in the challenge of creating accurate predictions of future events with noisy data.

Both analytical methods are investigated. This is accomplished by examining the veridicality of both with real system data. The real system used in this project is a database of 400 years of historical military combat. The relationships among the variables represented in this database are recognized as being hypercomplex and nonlinear.

The …

On-Site Water Retention Strategies: Solutions From The Past For Dealing With Jordan's Present Water Crisis, Oystein S. Labianca

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Measure Of Homosexual Stress: A Factor-Analytic Approach, Lynn Marie Morris

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Although homosexual stress has been studied in the past, an examination of the literature indicated a need for a reliable and valid measure of this construct. The current study describes the creation and validation of the Homosexual Stress Inventory (HSI), a new measure for I} stressors specific to homosexual men and women. A 70-item measure was created and factor analyzed. For the female subjects, 50 of the original items were retained and four factors emerged, which were labeled Visibility, Family, Work Discrimination, and Violence and Harassment. Among lesbians, homosexual stress seems to be related to more depression, to less social …

Gvsu Graduate Bulletin, 1995-1996, Grand Valley State University

Course Catalogs, 1963 - Current

Grand Valley State University 1995-1996 graduate bulletin published annually to provide students with information and guidance for enrollment.

Gvsu Undergraduate And Graduate Bulletin, 1995-1996, Grand Valley State University

Course Catalogs, 1963 - Current

Grand Valley State University 1995-1996 undergraduate and/or graduate bulletin published annually to provide students with information and guidance for enrollment.

A Qualitative Analysis Of The Non-Lds Experience In Utah, Jesse Smith Bushman

Theses and Dissertations

Utah's foundation under the influence of the LDS church, and the continued influence of the majority LDS population in the state make this area unique in the United States. This situation makes life for the non-LDS in Utah somewhat different than in other areas. Through a series of interviews with members of the Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist (National Baptist Convention), Buddhist, and Jewish faiths, this thesis produced a large body of qualitative data concerning the non-LDS experience in Utah.

The experience of non-LDS people in Utah can by typified, with a few exceptions, as a traditional majority/minority interaction. Elements of …

Adolescents' Use Of Discretionary Time: A Time Use Study Of The Central Utah Area, Rebecca Hirschi

Theses and Dissertations

This study provides Central Utah school and recreation leaders with local data on which to base their program development by collecting and analyzing data on adolescents' use of time, and to compare local statistics with national data. The research included participants from Nephi, Spanish Fork, and Provo schools. Each participant completed 7 days of a leisure time diary, which detailed daily activities. Single sample t-tests on the data revealed that Central Utah adolescents' time use is significantly different from national statistics. The differences in the statistics indicate that school and recreation leaders need local data on which to base adolescent …

An Impact Analysis Of Employment Programs In Hungary, Christopher J. O'Leary

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper presents estimates of the impact of retraining and public service employment (PSE) on reemployment and earnings in the Republic of Hungary during the early phase of post-Socialist economic restructuring. Since assignment to programs resulted in groups with vastly dissimilar characteristics, impact estimates were computed using a variety of methods. Controlling for observable characteristics, retraining may have slightly improved the chances for reemployment in a non-subsidized job, but the gain in reemployment was probably not sufficient to justify the cost of retraining. However, since the durability of jobs appears to be better for those who were retrained, the long …

Wage-Rate Subsidies For Dislocated Workers, Carl Davidson, Stephen A. Woodbury

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

An array of innovative policies has been suggested to address more effectively the needs of dislocated workers. In this paper, we model and simulate the impacts of a wage-rate subsidy (or salary supplement) program in which a dislocated worker who becomes reemployed would receive a payment equal to one-half the difference between the wage previously earned and the wage currently earned. The simulations are based on a search model that is institutionally rich and that provides estimates of the impacts of a wage subsidy by incorporating empirical results from the reemployment bonus experiments that were conducted in the mid- to …

Economic Development Strategies, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper provides a guide to economic development policies for local government managers. Local economic development policies today include not only tax subsidies for branch plants, but also job training to provide workers to businesses, advice and support services for potential entrepreneurs, and extension services to help businesses modernize and export. To help local government managers, this paper suggests a number of guiding principles, including: local economic development should be pursued cooperatively across the local labor market; economic development programs should consider the quality of jobs created; tax subsidies are expensive per job created; development subsidies are more effective if …