Social Work Commons^™

Indigegogy: A Transformative Indigenous Educational Process, Gus Hill Phd, Alicia Wilkinson Msw

Lyle S. Hallman Social Work Faculty Publications

Social work training programs have not been able to keep step with the needs of Indigenous people since the advent of the profession. As former agents of government assimilation, social workers now find themselves in difficult positions where they are unable to help Indigenous people, despite their best intentions. Indigenous Social Work Education has become a necessary response to the growing needs of Indigenous people, and increasing social problems in Canada. Furthermore, Indigenous people who practice Indigenous social work have become vital to the survival of Indigenous people and their communities. The teaching and practice of Indigenized, social work education …

How Do You Build A Community? Developing Community Capacity And Social Capital In An Urban Aboriginal Setting, Gus Hill Phd, Martin Cooke

Lyle S. Hallman Social Work Faculty Publications

Previous literature has identified social capital as an important resource for successful community development activities, and there have been some attempts to adapt the concepts of social capital to the particular context of First Nations. However, little information is available about how social capital itself might be developed or improved in Aboriginal communities. Moreover, urban Aboriginal communities are different from rural First Nations, Inuit or Métis communities in structure, composition, activities, and diversity, and deserve specific attention and their own models of community development. This paper presents a framework to guide development initiatives in urban Aboriginal contexts that is drawn …

A Holistic Aboriginal Framework For Individual Healing, Gus Hill

Lyle S. Hallman Social Work Faculty Publications

This paper offers up an holistic Indigenous model of individual healing that utilizes medicine wheel teachings to break down the four aspects (spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental) of individual wellness. Teachings about each direction are presented followed by practice techniques for each aspect of the individual self. It is bookended by an introduction to the historical trauma faced by Indigenous peoples in Canada, and a conclusion that draws implications for healing.

Children's Cognitive Processing Of Abuse As Described In Investigative Interviews., Kayleen A. Willemsen, Kim P. Roberts

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A great deal of research has examined ways in which investigative interviewers can elicit accurate information from children. More recently, research has studied children’s own thoughts or comprehension of abuse, and how these types of statements relate to disclosure, others’ perceptions of child witnesses, and psychological trauma. However, little research has investigated multiple types of children’s thoughts about abuse as they occur in an actual investigative interview. The current study examined seven types of statements children made about their abuse in a sample of 86 transcripts of investigative interviews conducted by Child Protective Services and a police department in a …

A Heart-Based Sufi Mindfulness Spiritual Practice Employing Self-Journeying, Faruk Arslan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Spiritual Psychology is the study and practice of the art and science of the human evolution of consciousness. The heart occupies an important place in Sufism and is considered to contain the divine spark that leads to spiritual realization. Fethullah Gülen’s action-oriented Sufi methods described in his book series “The Emerald Hills of the Heart” provides the basis for a heart-based therapeutic intervention through self-journeying, which is the objective of this thesis. These self-purification and mindfulness-related transpersonal methods generate a form of treatment that is culturally sensitive. Through my reflections in this research, I transformed my personal experiences into …

Intersectional Exposures: Exploring The Health Effect Of Employment With Kaajal Immigrant/Refugee Women In Grand Erie Through Photovoice, Bharati Sethi Ms

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this community-based participatory research was to understand the employment-health association for immigrant/refugee women from Korea, Asia, Africa, Japan, Arab world and Latin America (KAAJAL) in Grand Erie –a mid-sized urban/rural region in Ontario, Canada. The study utilized photovoice –a visual qualitative research methodology in which participants were given cameras to record their experiences. Intersectionality analysis of 525 participant-generated photographs, diaries, and in-depth interviews of twenty women revealed that various markers of difference such as nationality (i.e. native or foreign-born), immigrant status (i.e. family class sponsorship), geography (i.e. rural or urban residence), …

Emerging From The Wreckage: The Exploration Of Mental Health, Stigma, And My Experiences Of Living With Obsessive-Compulsive "Disorder", Katelyn P. Harrington

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study is an autoethnography exploring my experiences of living with Obsessive Compulsive “disorder” (OCD). The stigma surrounding mental health is one of the most devastating and problematic issues in Western society today. Many individuals with a mental “disorder” suffer in silence due to the shame and fear of being ridiculed and discriminated against within their intimate and wider social networks. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is currently one of the most prevalent anxiety “disorders” and is characterized by intruding obsessive thoughts and ritualized or compulsive behaviours. Individuals experience a great deal of distress and embarrassment in dealing with the stigma and …

Youth Recidivism: A Qualitative Study Of Risk And Resilience, Jesse M. Near Ms.

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

The rates of reoffending for Ontario youth are high and come at a significant cost to both society and the youths involved. Research to date has explored risk and protective factors. Despite this progress, the relationships between these factors and recidivism are not well understood. Knowing that a youth is exposed to any of these identified risk or protective factors does little to explain why these factors do not affect all youth equally and why some youths reoffend while others do not. Resilience theory has increasingly been used as the framework to explore the concept of recidivism. The present …

"The Road Less Travelled;" Women's Journeys To Community Leadership In The Waterloo Region, Lyndsey A. Butcher

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this research study is to explore the experiences of women within the Region of Waterloo along their journeys to community leadership. The literature review reveals the predominance of deficits-based research on the barriers preventing women from attaining positions of leadership and a significant gap in scholarship on female community leaders. This qualitative study consisted of semi-structured interviews with 15 female community leaders. It was influenced by an intersectional feminist perspective and used a constructivist grounded theory approach. The findings of this study offer three groups of related factors that can encourage, support and recognize the increasing number …

Taking Up Space: A Case Study Exploration Of The Relationship Between Citizenship And Free Humanities Programs In Canada, Jessica L. Klassen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Citizenship is increasingly being utilized as the discourse to discuss inclusive and exclusive realities within a polity. This case study examines free humanities programs in Canada, which offer free university-level courses in the humanities to people experiencing marginalization in society. The stated intention of the programs is that, through education in the humanities, critical reflection, and access to the university space, students will increasingly engage in active citizenship and participate in the public sphere. This thesis explores the extent to which this intention has been realized. Primary data was collected from sixteen students, professors, and program coordinators of free humanities …

Agency Or Agencies? Catalysts Of Resilience In Drop-In Participants, Andy D. Bayer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In this thesis, the factors that contribute to resilience are explored in a sample of participants who attend a food bank/clothing bank drop-in program in North Hamilton, Ontario. Resilience is defined as obtaining positive outcomes despite a level of risk to development. This thesis expands on the literature clarifying the concept of resilience. This thesis also contributes importantly to the smaller amount of literature on resilience in adults and older adults. Purposive sampling was used to obtain participants from the drop-in program at which the researcher volunteers. Phenomenology was utilized for this research, semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, …

A Discourse Analysis Of Ontario's Family Health Teams, Rachelle Ashcroft

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Inspired by critical social work practice, this study engages in a discourse analysis of Ontario’s Family Health Team (FHT) model. The purpose for this study is threefold; namely, a) to deepen our understanding of health discourses promoted by Ontario’s FHT model; b) to explore how Ontario’s FHT model compares to Haggerty, Burge, Lévesque, Gass, Pineault, Beaulieu, & Santor’s (2007) conceptual model of PHC; and c) to promote critical reflection in order to help inform decisions on how to improve quality of care and enhance health equity in FHTs. This study is guided using the overarching question: What health care practices …

“It Feels Like Home”: The Impacts Of Supportive Housing On Male Youth – Perspectives Of Youth And Service Providers At Five Beds To Home, Sarah Michelle Ogden

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study identifies the impacts of supportive housing on the lives of male youth. The researcher studied the Five Beds to Home (Five Beds) supportive housing facility for male youth, located in Cambridge, Ontario. The study focused on two areas: one, the current engagement of tenants and second, the long term impacts on past tenants. Impacts include areas such as progress on or achievement of goals/overcoming challenges, employment and education status, happiness and health, and housing stability. The general research questions were as follows: 1) What are the impacts of supportive housing on the lives of male youth?, 2) What …

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury And Suicidal Behaviour In Children And Adolescents Accessing Residential Or Intensive Home-Based Mental Health Services, Michele Preyde, Hanna Watkins, Nicklaus Csuzdi, Jeff Carter, Kelly Lazure, Sara White, Randy Penney, Graham Ashbourne, Gary Cameron, Karen Frensch

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

Objective: There is a dearth of Canadian research with clinical samples of youth who self-harm, and no studies could be located on self-harm in children and youth accessing residential or intensive home-based treatment. The purposes of this report were to explore the proportion and characteristics of children and youth identified as self-harming at admission by clinicians compared to youth not identified as self-harming, compare self-harming children to adolescents, and to compare caregiver ratings of self-harm at intake to clinician ratings at admission.

Method: This report was developed from a larger longitudinal, observational study involving 210 children and youth accessing residential …

Improving Community Adaptation Outcomes For Youth Graduating From Residential Mental Health Programs: A Synthesis Review (Executive Summary), Gary Cameron, T. Smit-Quosai, Karen Frensch

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

Based on results from a synthesis review, this Executive Summary highlights elements of a proposed integrated program configuration that shows a demonstrated capacity to foster successful community adaptation for children and youth graduating from children's residential mental health programs. An expanded discussion of the synthesis review findings is available in both a full length synthesis report and summary version.

Improving Community Adaptation Outcomes For Youth Graduating From Residential Mental Health Programs: A Synthesis Review (Summary), Gary Cameron, T. Smit-Quosai, Karen Frensch

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

The focus of this synthesis review was to understand the capacity of systems of care and integrated program models to foster successful community adaptation for children and youth graduating from children's residential mental health treatment.

Improving Community Adaptation Outcomes For Youth Graduating From Residential Mental Health Programs: A Synthesis Review (Full Report), Gary Cameron, T. Smit-Quosai, Karen Frensch

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

The focus of this synthesis review was to understand the capacity of systems of care and integrated program models to foster successful community adaptation for children and youth graduating from children's residential mental health treatment.

A Critical Review Of The Mandatory Reporting Protocol, Elayne M. Tanner

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Mandatory reporting, although originally enacted to serve the single purpose of protecting vulnerable children from abuse, has been considered for ever expanding purposes. As a policy stance, mandatory reporting is frequently considered to support those socially sanctioned behavioural standards developed to regulate social institutions such as marriage, child rearing, aging and work. Although always embracing an inherent element of protection, a careful balance must be negotiated because mandatory reporting obligations also risk compromising the very rights that are the cornerstones of the social work profession, those of autonomy, confidentiality and self-determination. This research explored the mandatory reporting protocol specifically questioning …

Enhancing Elementary School Prevention Program Implementation Through Influential Contextual Factors, Alice Schmidt Hanbidge

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A current gap in the literature exists with regard to formulating a holistic view of contextual factors involved in school-based prevention programming implementation. The purpose of this grounded theory study is to further explore how multilevel ecological and cross-system factors influence prevention program implementation. This study builds on development of a theory to guide the practices for preventive program implementation with fidelity. The Integrated Program (IP) conceptual framework, initiated in an earlier paper (Schmidt Hanbidge, 2009) identified key program contextual and motivational factors that critically influence prevention program implementation. Taken from an ecological perspective, the IP framework incorporates multi-levels of …

An Exploration Of Factors Impacting Youth Volunteers Who Provide Indirect Services, Andrea M. Mcarthur

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Youth volunteerism is highly researched by volunteer organizations, but little is known about the factors impacting youth who provide indirect volunteering and the strengths and challenges which they face. Volunteering is indirect when the results of a volunteer’s work travels through more than one channel, (usually stakeholders spreading a message or raising funds), before reaching the intended client. Awareness raising and fundraising activities are two common examples of indirect volunteering that are attractive to many youth.

Ten youth volunteers from five different organizations in the Greater Toronto Area were interviewed in order to investigate three important questions about indirect volunteering. …

Fathers And Child Welfare: Stories Of Men’S Everyday Life Experiences, Gary Cameron

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

This report explores the life experiences of fathers involved with child welfare services and acts as both a stand-alone document and a companion document to the research report on father’s service experiences with child welfare. This report is intended for multiple audiences including child welfare service providers, community organizations working with men, students and instructors interested in men’s issues, and fathers. A summary of all the men's stories that were analyzed for these two reports are captured in the Fathers and Child Welfare (Story Volume).

Working Report #6: Values In Child Welfare Work: Perspectives Of Child Welfare Service Providers In Central And Accessible Service Delivery Models, Nancy Colleen Freymond

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

This report identifies what service providers across institutional settings say about the values that guide the work that they do with families and children, as well as their perspectives on professional identities and roles in the day to day delivery of child welfare services.

Working Report #8: Services And Supports (Parent Perspectives), Lirondel Hazineh, Gary Cameron, Karen Frensch

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

In this study, differences between accessible settings and centralized settings in terms of the range of services and supports that were reported to be available to clients were investigated. The numbers, types and variety of services described differed, as did the amount of advocacy and support in connecting with services. Also, client satisfaction with the services provided appeared to be somewhat different across models.

Number, Types and Variety of Services In accessible settings families were being connected with at least twice as many different services and supports as in the centralized sites. There were a few exceptions to this trend …

Transforming Front-Line Child Welfare Practice: The Impacts Of Institutional Settings On Services, Employment Environments, Children, And Families (Summary Of Final Report), Gary Cameron, Lirondel Hazineh, Karen Frensch

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

In 2006, the Ontario government launched an ambitious and multi-faceted Transformation Agenda for child welfare services. Among this Agenda’s objectives was the development of more cooperative helping relationships in child welfare, reducing the system’s reliance on legal authority to engage families, creating community and service partnerships and increasing child welfare capacity to respond differentially to families. Within this shifting child welfare context, the Transforming Front-line Child Welfare Practice Project research’s main purpose was to understand how centrally located service delivery settings and service delivery settings that were more accessible to families affected front-line child protection practice. A second encompassing objective …

Transforming Front-Line Child Welfare Practice: The Impacts Of Institutional Settings On Services, Employment Environments, Children, And Families (Synthesis Report), Gary Cameron, Lirondel Hazineh, Karen Frensch

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

In 2006, the Ontario government launched an ambitious and multi-faceted Transformation Agenda for child welfare services. Among this Agenda’s objectives was the development of more cooperative helping relationships in child welfare, reducing the system’s reliance on legal authority to engage families, creating community and service partnerships and increasing child welfare capacity to respond differentially to families. Within this shifting child welfare context, the Transforming Front-line Child Welfare Practice Project research’s main purpose was to understand how centrally located service delivery settings and service delivery settings that were more accessible to families affected front-line child protection practice. A second encompassing objective …

The Experience Of New Workers In The Field Of Child Welfare, Teena M. Shah

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This qualitative study examines the experiences of 18 new child protection workers in Southern Ontario. The workers, who had 5 to 18 months experience in child welfare, were interviewed regarding their experiences of joining a child welfare agency. A follow up focus group was conducted with child protection supervisors. The study examined what motivated workers to join, their training experience, the rewards and supports and the overwhelming nature of the experience. The study illuminated the struggles that new workers experience in child welfare with respect to value and belief challenges. The study reflects on the implications of new worker experiences …

The Dance In Contexts: Exploring The Complexity Of The Helping/Healing Process With A Focus On Client Satisfaction, Margriet De Zeeuw Wright

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This multiperspectual study was undertaken to explore and describe the complexity of the helping / healing process in a community-based counselling centre. The standard for evaluation was client satisfaction. Client and worker participants’ perspectives were sought in an exploration of whether and / or how the client as an individual, the worker both as an individual and as a staff member, the therapeutic relationship, and the organizational setting impacted client satisfaction.

Former clients of the agency (N=400) were asked to complete Greenfield, Attkisson, and Pascoe’s (©2005) Service Satisfaction Scale (SSS-30). Respondents (N=73) were profiled using descriptive statistics which led the …

An Exploration Of Counselling Practices With Women Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Should Therapists Ask About Thoughts Or Behaviour Involving Sex With Children?, Angela Karen Hovey

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Helping professionals and women, themselves, have been reluctant to recognize or acknowledge that females can and do sexually abuse children and adolescents. Research has also demonstrated that females most at risk to abuse children are those who were themselves victims of severe child sexual abuse (CSA) The purpose of this research was to explore whether or not current counselling practices with women survivors of CSA reflect the belief that women do not sexually abuse children. This study also focuses on whether or not therapists create space for discussion about thoughts and behaviour involving sexual abuse of children and adolescents with …

What The Body Stories Of Girls Tell Us About Autonomy And Connection During Adolescence, Colleen Mcmillan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This qualitative study aimed to understand what the body stories of girls who exhibit signs of disordered eating reveal about the concepts of autonomy and connection during early adolescence. The study was guided by the research question “Are the symptoms of disordered eating one of the ways the female body “talks” about the experience of disconnection during adolescence?” Informed by Relational Cultural Theory, data was collected from two focus groups of 16 adolescent girls aged 11 to 14 years. Each group met six times over a four month period. Because many aspects of lived experience cannot be expressed verbally, the …

Exploring The Concepts Of Partnership And Their Implications For Hiv And Aids Prevention And Care In Two Ghanian Communities, Jonathan Lomotey

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study was an exploration of the concepts of partnership in the La and Nsawam-Adoajiri communities of Ghana and their implications for HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support. Using qualitative data gathering methods, this study sought to discover what is referred to as a partnership, how it is initiated, why it is initiated, the meanings ascribed to it, and its structure and processes in either community. The study further sought to understand how the concepts of partnership in each community could facilitate the development of an effective community-based initiative for HIV and AIDS prevention and care in either …