Meeting The Needs Of Victims: An Examination Of Victims' Coping Strategies And Victim Services In Canada, Jenniffer Olenewa

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Victimization creates harms that can take an emotional and financial toll on victims and their communities. As a result of the trauma, many victims will have physiological, safety, and emotional needs that require support. All community members benefit when victims can receive support that meets the needs generated by the harms of a victimization. This mixed-methods study using Canadian data examines what factors contribute to victims engaging in behavioural changes to meet their safety needs, and explores how Victim Service workers view their role in assisting victims to meet their needs. Using data from the 2014 General Social Survey, Study …

From Brain Drain To Brain Train – A Transnational Case Analysis Of Nigerian Migrant Health Care Workers, Sheri Adekola

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study involves a micro-analysis of the experience of Nigerian-trained health professionals in Canada and is designed to understand the experiences of these skilled migrants, the impact of their migration, and how further migration might be stimulated or reduced through engagement in transnational activities with workers still in Nigeria. The research questions asked, (a) Which discourses of skill exchange are most meaningful to Nigerian health care workers in Canada? (b) How is this process of value exchange and extraction structured by transnational connectivity? (c) How does this research contribute to current concepts regarding skilled migration?

Framed by the Integrative Model …

Immigration, Integration And Ingestion: The Role Of Food And Drink In Transnational Experience For North African Muslim Immigrants In Paris And Montréal, Rachel D. Brown

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation is motivated by two research questions: (1) how can food act as a means of reimagining, recreating, reaffirming, and expressing, sometimes complicated and contested identities for minority religious immigrant communities in highly secular contexts? (2) What impact does the context of reception, particularly the host society’s unique and complex history and interaction with colonialism, immigration, secularism, and nationalism, have on these identity negotiations? To examine these questions, I conducted a comparative ethnographic study of the foodways of North African Muslim immigrants in Paris, France, and Montréal, Canada, in 2012-13.

The results presented here show that food is often …

Uncovering The Processes And Consequences Of Egyptian Immigrant Parental Involvement In Their Children’S Education: Bridging Cultural Differences, Hend Shalan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

For more than a decade, researchers have concluded that immigrant parents face several barriers to becoming involved in their children’s education. All studies agree that language and cultural differences are the most significant barriers to immigrants’ involvement in their children’s education, yet we know little about what these cultural differences are and how these cultural differences influence the school involvement of immigrant parents. This study integrates theories of cultural differences, acculturation, and culture shock and the corresponding literature to investigate the lesser involvement of immigrant parents in school-related activities.

A focused ethnographic design was employed and a thematic analysis …

Jailhouse Informants In Canadian Criminal Courts, Olena Beshley

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Criminal justice systems in Canada and around the world have been established to deal with matters that require attention, punishment, and justice. An important function of criminal justice systems is the evaluation of evidence presented in the court of law. Evidence from jailhouse informants who testify that they have been privy to confessions of crimes is a contentious issue. Much of the scholarly literature available to date on wrongful conviction cases focuses on causes of insufficient and unreliable evidence obtained through different techniques and from different sources. Despite the high number of investigations into wrongful conviction cases, the subject of …

Bye Bye Binary: Exploring Non-Binary Youths' Experiences Of Mental Health, Discrimination, And Community Belongingness, Ellis Furman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In recent years, there has been an increase in research focusing on the impacts of social exclusion and discrimination on the mental health of transgender populations. Despite this, few studies have focused on the experiences of gender non-conforming, or “non-binary” individuals. This community-based participatory research (CBPR) study (N = 10) used the arts-informed method of body mapping, individual interviews, and group discussions to examine non-binary young peoples’ experiences of discrimination in relation to mental health. Participants consisted young people (ages 16-25) living in Waterloo, Ontario. A visual analysis, thematic analysis, and member-checking session were employed to analyze collected data. …

Exploring Police Officers' Perceptions Of Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Teams Within A Nodal Policing Framework, Trevor Viersen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

An increasing portion of police service resources are being dedicated to interactions involving persons with mental illness (PMI). As a result, Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Teams (MCT) comprised of mental health professionals have been recently implemented to assist police officers in more efficiently handling police calls for service involving PMI. The current ethnographic study used data collected through researcher ride-alongs with police officers at a mid-sized police service in Ontario to assess how police officers interact with and perceive MCTs. Results from thematic analysis indicated that officers value the skill sets possessed by MCT workers, had relatively positive perceptions towards …

Exploring The Pluralization Of Community Safety: A Qualitative Analysis Of The Perceived Operation And Implications Of Situation Tables, Taylor Knipe

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Recent attention has been placed on the sustainability of policing, in that, increasing demands for public safety have been met with decreasing police budgets. The acknowledgement of this problem by Public Safety Canada has initiated the push towards new collaborative models of community safety. These collaborative models are often referred to as Situation Tables, which seek to mitigate acutely-elevated risks of crime and/or victimization in the community through multi-sectoral intervention. The present study explores how the lived experiences of those working on the frontlines of one Situation Table, the Community Partners Risk Intervention Table (CPRIT), fit within the broader community …

"It Ain't Easy Being On The Streets": Understanding The Needs Of Street-Involved Youth In Southern Ontario Through A Client-Centred Approach, Samantha Danielle Styczynski

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Tens of thousands of street-involved youth in Canada live in various forms of precarious housing – living outside on the streets, in youth shelters, couch surfing, and so on. Research into the needs of street youth often employs a “top-down” approach, relying on health researchers as experts on their needs as opposed to directly engaging the sentiments of the youth themselves. This literature is often based on the assumption that meeting the needs of street youth involves providing access to opportunities for minimizing the risks posed by street life. This study serves as a counterbalance to this literature by employing …

Loose Coupling And Defining Deviance Down: Correctional Officers’ Perceptions Of Organizational Responses To Mental Health And Well-Being., Victoria M. Baker

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Correctional work is characterized by high rates of occupational stress, which can produce a plethora of negative outcomes for the officers employed within such institutions. The present study examines Canadian provincial correctional officers’ perceptions of how occupational stress is created within the context of their employment. Through in-depth interviews with 11 correctional officers, I examine the political, organizational, and cultural factors that are perceived to negatively affect employee stress and well-being. From this analysis, I present three principal arguments. First, I uncover how correctional officers perceive ministerial policies to be loosely coupled from frontline practices. I argue that this loose …

“Serial Killers Are Interesting, They’Re Not Heroes”: Moral Boundaries, Identity Management, And Emotional Work Within An Online Community, Michael Spychaj

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research project examines the functioning of one specific serial murderer fandom community present online. Using ethnographic content analysis, the fandom was shown to undergo the creation, reinforcement and subversion of its own moral boundaries, undertake strategies of identity management in relation to their fan identity, and undergo emotion work to cope with the realities of serial murderers.

Correctional Officers "Through The Looking Glass": Understanding Perceptions And Their Impact On Personal And Professional Identity, Emma Mistry

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

ABSTRACT

The external and institutional stressors that correctional officers face while performing their duties, such as managing a demanding workload, staffing shortages, and monitoring potentially dangerous inmates, have received some attention in the literature. However, researchers have not examined correctional officers’ perceptions of how others view their role and professional identity—whether prisoners, their families, or members of the general public—and how these perceptions are believed to influence an officer’s perspective of their work and their well-being. To explore this gap in the literature, this project seeks to analyze whether or not correctional officers sense these perceptions while performing their duties …

Using Social Disorganization Theory To Explore Neighbourhood Effects On Violent Crime: A Case Study Of The City Of Brantford, Ontario, Ni-Shan Ho

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this study was to explore neighbourhood characteristics related to social disorganization theory and to ascertain whether socioeconomic disadvantage, family disruption, residential instability and young population structure were predictive of neighbourhood violent crime in the city of Brantford, Ontario, as a case study. A two-step analysis was conducted using data derived from the National Household Survey (NHS), the 2011 census and the Brantford Police Service records management system (BPS-RMS). A descriptive analysis of Brantford’s 21 census tracts (CT) was conducted to explore patterns of social disorganization variables and violent crime in each of the city’s 21 CT neighbourhoods. …

Islam In Higher Education: Exploring The Intra Religious Interactions Between Shia & Sunni Students, Ghaith Khadour

Sociology Major Research Papers

No abstract provided.

No. 05: Mapping The Informal Food Economy In Cape Town, South Africa, Jane Battersby, Maya Marshak, Ncedo Mngqibisa

Hungry Cities Partnership

The informal food retail sector is an important component of urban food systems and plays a vital role in ensuring access to food by the urban poor. Yet, policy frameworks both to address food security and to govern the informal sector neglect informal retail in the food system and, as a result, the sector is poorly understood. This discussion paper argues that it is essential to understand the dynamics of the informal food retail sector, which is diverse in terms of products traded as well as the business models utilized. The paper attempts to identify the characteristics of the sector …

'I Am Rohingya': A Pedagogical Study On The Roles Of Ethnographic Theatre For A Refugee Youth Population, Yusuf Zine

Social Justice and Community Engagement

No abstract provided.

Low German Mennonite Experiences In Alternative Education Programs In Southwestern Ontario, Cameron Brubacher

Social Justice and Community Engagement

Low German Speaking (LGS) Mennonites have had a tumultuous relationship with Canadian educational institutions in the past, resulting in many from the community migrating to Mexico in the 1920s. Since the 1950s, LGS Mennonites from Mexico and South America have been migrating back to Canada, with over 40,000 making their homes in Ontario. Many in Ontario, however, still have misgivings about public education. With such a large presence in Ontario, Ontario schools need to make sure that they are inclusive places for this minority group. This MRP utilizes open-ended interviews to hear the experiences and views of Low German Speaking …

The Biopolitical Critique Of The Notion Of Being Human And An Affirmation Of Lives, Ramanpreet Bahra

Sociology Major Research Papers

This major research paper (MRP) interrogates the discourse of ableism and disableism and its impact on disabled and fat bodies. The general theme of this MRP is the division of life through the dichotomy of human and non-human, and nondisabled and disabled. Humanism, overall is the benchmark from which other life forms, the animate and non-animate, are disaffirmed and looked at as being a deficit. With the use of DisCrit and Fat studies, in particular, an autoethnographic methodology will be used to situate how the writer embodies racism, ableism and sizeism and the ways theory is carried through the body. …

Enhancing Planning And Preparedness Capacities For Climate Change Resilience In Wawa, Ontario: A Community-Based Photovoice Approach, Samantha Russo

Geography and Environmental Studies Major Research Papers

The integration of local community and Indigenous Knowledge in disaster planning and management has the potential to increase resilience in rural and Aboriginal communities across Ontario. This research incorporates findings from a literature review, and builds on the existing gaps within community-based participatory action research, through a case study of the 2012 Wawa-Michipicoten First Nation flooding event. Ten local citizen community participants from Wawa, Ontario and the Michipicoten First Nations were involved in a photovoice project to visually document their experiences and understandings of the flooding event. This research project seeks to document community perceptions and understandings to the flooding’s …

Queerly Faithful: A Queer-Poet Community Autoethnography On Identity And Belonging In Christian Faith Communities, Eric Van Giessen

Social Justice and Community Engagement

In a cultural climate characterized by increasing polarization and hostility towards difference, the lives and bodies of those standing at the intersection of religious and marginal sexual identities are actively shaped by and reshaping our social and cultural landscape. Cultural narratives that conflate religion with oppression and pit religion against ‘progressive’ political movements create artificial divisions that undermine the efforts of LGBTQI+ people of faith to effect change in their communities by pressuring them to compartmentalize—or closet— their spiritual or sexual selves. These constructions also reinforce discourses that claim there are no queer people in faith communities and no people …

Students' Use Of Personal Technology In The Classroom: Analyzing The Perceptions Of The Digital Generation, Debra A. Langan Dr., Nicole D. Schott, Timothy G. Wykes, Justin K. Szeto, Samantha Lynn Kolpin, Carla Lopez, Daniel Smith

Criminology

Faculty frequently express concerns about students’ personal use of information

and communication technologies in today’s university classrooms. As a requirement

of a graduate research methodology course in a university in Ontario,

Canada, the authors conducted qualitative research to gain an in-depth understanding

of students’ perceptions of this issue. Their findings reveal students’

complex considerations about the acceptability of technology use. Their analysis

of the broader contexts of students’ use reveals that despite a technological revolution,

university teaching practices have remained largely the same, resulting in

‘cultural lag’ within the classroom. While faculty are technically ‘in charge’, students

wield power through …

Taking One Step At A Time: Understanding Pulmonary Hypertension Through The Voices Of The Patients, Renae J. Mohammed

Sociology Major Research Papers

This paper presents and discusses the findings of a qualitative thematic analysis of interviews with eight Pulmonary Hypertension patients who discussed their illness experiences. This is an important topic to research, as Pulmonary Hypertension is a rare, invisible and potentially terminal illness about which little substantive research in both the medical and social scientific fields has been done. The diagnosis experience, day-today life, and resilience and coping are the three dominant themes found in these interviews. The analysis of these themes indicates that the participants in this study who are living with Pulmonary Hypertension have been able to maintain a …

Stone: Walking Through The Burren, Nancy Ellen Miller

The Goose

Poetry by Nancy Ellen Miller

Nine Poems On The Death Of My Mother, Jaime Robles

The Goose

Poetry by Jaime Robles

Poetry Editorial: Seeing Words, Camilla Nelson

The Goose

Poetry Editorial by Camilla Nelson

A A Novel 40-45, Derek A. Beaulieu

The Goose

Poetry by Derek Beaulieu

Visual Poetry Responses To A Changing City-Scape, Andrew Taylor

The Goose

Poetry by Andrew Taylor

Wave Equations, Matt Martin

The Goose

Poster poem by Matt Martin

Three Poems, Scott T. Starbuck

The Goose

Poetry by Scott Tarbuck

Rapid Museum, Gary Barwin

The Goose

Poetry by Gary Barwin