The coast of Bangladesh, comprising the complex delta of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river system has immense resources for development. In the concept of present development efforts, this zone is among the most neglected in Bangladesh. It is very often affected by natural calamities and the situation is further aggravated by some man-made hazards, which cause heavy casualties in human lives, cattle, in reducing the size of the coastal areas and in severe damage of properties worth billions of dollars. This thesis envisages looking into the particular issue of non-farm employment. This is more important in an economy in which the land-person ratio is continuously on the decrease and dissemination of intensive crop culture has limitations. This study is exploratory in nature and uses both quantitative and qualitative methods, employing survey interviews for 80 households, 20 key informant interviews and a case study on an organization in order to assess the dynamics and prospects of non-farm employment in the coastal regions of Bangladesh. Findings of the study indicate that practically all of the non-farm field of the entire coastal belt is not yet a government priority. As such, there is need for some persuasive work in formulating some policies to develop sustainable harvests from the abundant maritime resources of the area. This will create provision for non-farm employment as well as producing a vast quantity of exportable commodities for the national well-being. It is expected that it will benefit the people of the area in particular and the entire country in general.

Much debate on the conceptualization and implementation of anti-racist (AR) and multicultural (MC) education exists both in the literature and in practice. But often overlooked is the influence that students have in generating these initiatives against racism. This qualitative research draws on the experiences of ten student activists and leaders, and explores student-involved AR and MC programs in Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto. Specifically, the roots of student involvement, their views of AR and MC, the factors which limit action within schools, and the sources of hope and discouragement will be documented. It is argued that school ethos, a hierarchy of student activities, bureaucracy, and power relations between adults and students all act to marginalize and affect the outcome of student programs which challenge racism. Genuine collaboration, and the influence and necessity of adult allies, are emphasized.

The Clubhouse model of psycho-social rehabilitation is a growing movement providing non-traditional mental health services worldwide. Little research has been done on how working in such an un-structured environment affects burnout levels among staff. The study sample was chosen by categorizing the Clubhouses by city size, and selecting 14 American and six Canadian Clubs at random with a total of 149 staff, of whom 97 responded, including both frontline staff and executive directors. Respondents completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and a questionnaire which was designed for this study, to measure work-related, worker-related, and client-related predictors of burnout. Burnout scores for this sample matched the scores for Maslach's postsecondary education subgroup most closely and were lower than the scores for her mental health subgroup. No significant differences were found between the Canadian and American samples, and supervisory role appeared to be a significant predictor of burnout levels among staff. These findings suggest that the International Centre for Clubhouse Development should examine how effectively supervisors support their staff, how the model itself may be inhibiting supervisors from doing so, and that staff needs should be incorporated into Clubhouse standards.

Comorbid substance use disorders are quite common among patients with schizophrenia. Such individuals' substance use has been associated with psychiatric instability, psychosocial problems and an increased use of health care services. / An existing data set encompassing a range of health care services was analysed, along with patient demographics such as age, living arrangements and education. The subjects were 444 patients with a lifetime diagnosis of schizophrenia, with and without a secondary substance use disorder. / It was found that 32.4% of the male patients and 14.7% of the female patients in this study had a concurrent disorder. The substance abusers tended to be younger than the non-abusers. Male patients who lived in group homes were less likely to have a substance use disorder than male patients in other living situations. Patients with a substance use disorder were more intensive users of hospital services. / The need for the development of integrated services and role of the social worker was discussed.

This small exploratory study considers the use of the narrative approach in eliciting and understanding illness stories. The four participants, (two male and two female) range in age from 29 years to 74 years. They live with a variety of chronic illnesses (heart disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and Pick's disease). Narrative analysis of the four semi-structured transcribed interviews revealed four dominant themes: the emotional reaction to diagnosis; the role of stress in aggravating and coping with chronic illness; a view of death; the meaning attributed to illness. / A postmodern perspective is employed to explicate the social construction of the notion of chronic illness. A critique of the medical discourse regarding chronic health challenges is offered. / This study invites social workers to consider their position of power and privilege as they learn new ways of listening to illness narratives.

Over the past decade, research attempts have been made to clarify the relationship between female child sexual abuse (CSA) and dissociation and furthermore, its impact on sexual revictimization. However, these research efforts have yielded mixed findings, which have left the role of dissociation to still remain unclear. Indeed, there has been an upsurge of research literature questioning the role of dissociation within revictimization frameworks, and moreover, whether dissociation should be further researched or dropped from further analysis. Accordingly, the objective was set out to better understand the link between dissociation, CSA and revictimization. As a result, this study was aimed at informing potential revisions to the role of dissociation, by utilizing a meta-analysis technique and comparing dissociation scores of both revictimized and non- revictimized women subsequent to CSA. Following Lipsey & Wilson’s (2001) guidelines, a comprehensive literature search identified 8 eligible studies, both from published and unpublished sources, appearing in the literature from 1987 to 2007. Fixed effects analyses, incorporating a hedges g unbiased method indicated associations between dissociation, CSA and revictimization, by establishing a moderate effect size (d=0.38). These meta-analytic findings suggest that among CSA survivors, dissociation is associated with sexual revictimization in women. Furthermore, this thesis supports that dissociation should be reconsidered as a possible mediator, along with other psychological and systemic factors, which contribute to the sexual revictimization process in women subsequent to CSA. / Au cours de cette dernière décennie, des recherches ont tenté de clarifier le rapport entre l’agression sexuelle (AS) vécue par les filles durant leur enfance et les symptômes de dissociation, ainsi que son impact sur la revictimisation sexuelle. Cependant, ces efforts ont donné des résultats mitigés, ce qui explique jusqu'à date le rôle ambigu de la dissociation. Conséquemment, il y a eu une forte augmentation des recherches mettant en question le rôle de la dissociation dans le cadre de la revictimisation, et de plus, si la dissociation devrait être recherchée davantage ou exclue des analyses subséquentes. Dans cette lignée, l’objectif de la présente recherche était d’avoir une meilleure compréhension du lien entre la dissociation, l’AS durant l’enfance et la revictimisation. Cette étude visait à faire part de toutes révisions éventuelles du rôle de la dissociation, en utilisant une technique de méta-analyse et en comparant les scores de dissociation chez les femmes ayant subi une AS durant leur enfance et qui ont vécu une AS à nouveau à l’âge adulte de celles qui ne l’ont pas revécue. Suivant les directives de Lipsey et Wilson (2001), une recension systématique des écrits a identifié 8 études éligibles provenant de sources publiées et non-publiées, figurant dans la période des années 1987 à 2007. Des analyses d’effets fixes, incorporant le g de Hedges, une méthode non biaisée, ont démontré, par le résultat d’une ampleur d’effet modérée (d=0.38), que la dissociation, l’AS durant l’enfance et la revictimisation sont liées. Ces résultats de méta-analyse suggèrent que, parmi les survivants d’AS durant l’enfance, la dissociation est associée à la revictimisation sexuelle chez les femmes. En outre, cette thèse soutient la position que la dissociation devrait être reconsidérée comme médiateur possible au même titre que d’autres facteurs psychologiques et systémiques, dans la$

The importance of ethnic origin as a factor in delivery of social services has been recognised internationally as relevant at different levels of organization. This study examined 500 dossiers, a random sample of clients referred in 1985 to one hospital social service department in Montreal. Age, gender, status of children, referring hospital service, problems experienced and involvement with community social service agencies were found to be related to ethnic origin, using the Kruskal-Wallis and Pearson chi-squared test. After accounting for differences between ethnic groups in age, type of problem and referring hospital service by the use of logit analysis, ethnic origin significantly affected the changes of involvement with Social Service Centres and Departments of Youth Protection. Among the implications of the results for social services in Montreal were the need for the following: recognition that some ethnic minorities have very different social service needs than the larger ethnic groups; development of skills in cross-cultural social service provision because of the clientele's varied ethnic background; consideration of the impact, desirability and viability of ethnic/socioculturally specific agencies and services. The urgent need for further research is emphasised.

This study focused on the challenges facing the Ukrainian community in Montreal, within the parameters of their support and mutual aid services. Key informants from the community were interviewed. A mail-in questionnaire was administered to a sample of Ukrainians (N = 145), from the community at large. Key findings: (a) a high level of interest in community planning, (b) for women, social policy and health and social services were more important, (c) 18% were uncertain about remaining in Quebec, and (d) internal conflicts within community infrastructures. Areas of concentration for community development: (a) health and social services for independent elderly and others in need, (b) residential placement for elderly, and (c) counselling and information services for immigrants.

Little research has examined how mothers experience involvement with child protective services (CPS). Qualitative interviews were conducted with three mothers formerly involved with CPS who lived in rural communities on the East Coast of Canada to explore how they made meaning of a child protection encounter. Mothers detailed a deterioration of the helping relationship linked to both relational and systemic factors. They undertook overt and subversive efforts to protect their families against the negative consequences of CPS involvement. Those consequences included family dissolution and persistent feelings of mistrust, anxiety, and isolation that lingered long after involvement ceased. Mothers proposed numerous changes to improve CPS, such as providing: information on the process of involvement; follow-up and peer support; and more empathetic and collaborative practice. A discussion of the implications of these findings, including how they may be used to inform fundamental changes to contemporary child welfare practice and programming is presented. / Peu de recherches à ce jour ont examiné le point de vue des mères impliquées avec les Services de la Protection de la Jeunesse. Des entrevues qualitatives ont été menées auprès de trois mères vivant en milieu rural sur la côte est canadienne et ayant fait l'expérience d'une intervention des SPJ pour explorer comment elles ont vécu le processus et ce qu'elles en ont retenu. Les mères ont fait état d'une détérioration de la relation d'aide selon des facteurs systémiques et relationnels. Elles ont ouvertement et subversivement initié des efforts pour protéger leur famille contre des effets négatifs de leur implication avec les SPJ, tels que la dissolution du milieu familial ainsi que des sentiments persistants de méfiance, d'anxiété et d'isolation qui ont pe rsisté longtemps après l'intervention. Ces mères ont proposé de nombreux changements pouvant améliorer les SPJ, dont fournir: de l'information sur le processus d'intervention; un suivi, ainsi qu'un support d'autres parents; une pratique plus empathique et collaborative. Une discussion sur les avenues ouvertes par ces résultats et de la manière dont ils peuvent être utilisés pour initier des changements fondamentaux aux services et aux pratiques des SPJ est donc présentée.

Stress and burnout have received a great deal of attention in the child welfare field. This has been due to such issues as the high workload, the complexity of the cases, working with resistant and at times violent clients and the negative work environment of the youth protection agency. These factors have a detrimental effect on the worker's personal and professional resources and undermine the healthy functioning of the agency, all of which ultimately affects best practice with clients. One way in which child welfare organizations could make an effort towards reclaiming clinical practice is to engage in training for its workforce. Training can benefit practitioners by improving their skills and knowledge and this can lead to greater job satisfaction. Agency functioning is improved by having a trained workforce as well as social workers who are knowledgeable regarding agency policies, values and models of intervention. Children and families ultimately benefit by working with practitioners who are equipped with the appropriate skills. These benefits for workers, clients and the agency cannot materialize unless barriers are removed and changes within the agency take place in order to support the effective transfer of knowledge and training.