Transracial adoption continues to be a widely debated and controversial subject matter. The purpose of this study was to complete an examination of what adoption social workers do to teach adoptive parents regarding their adoptees' differing cultural and ethnic background. A questionnaire was sent to all adoption social workers employed by Children's Aid Societies in Ontario; 90 responded. The questionnaire included questions regarding demographic information, opinions of transracial adoption and also explored the actual actions taken to teach adoptive parents about their adoptees' differing cultural and ethnic background. Findings were that the majority of adoption social workers in Ontario are Caucasian, and that they have a high level of agreement with the appropriateness of transracial adoptions. The total actions taken by social workers to educate adoptive parents were found to be quite low; a higher number of actions taken was associated with: (1) The social workers being older; (2) The fact that they adopted transracially themselves; (3) Longer experience in social work, and specifically in adoption; (4) More transracial adoptions facilitated.

Culture shock and reverse culture shock are profoundly personal experiences affecting individuals in a multitude of diverse ways. They happen inside each person who encounters unfamiliar events and unexpected situations. For people who work abroad (sojourners), cultural adjustment is a significant time in their lives. Following the examination of cultural adjustment, a review of literature is explored, highlighting sojourners' acculturation and coping strategies. A case study of the JET (Japanese Exchange Teaching) Programme is presented through an analysis of public documents and interviews with JET staff and former sojourners. Findings report that JET sojourners experience adjustment difficulties with reverse culture shock and that there exists an unavailability of resources providing support. Limitations of the study are highlighted; areas of weakness were found in the lack of literature addressing the needs and experiences of sojourners, particularly JETs. Recommendations and suggestions for future research in the field of social work are made.

E-government services are rapidly becoming a permanent part of the governing process the world over. These services involve the use of the latest information and communication technologies to facilitate and enhance access to government information and services. E-government represents an entirely new mode of service delivery that promises some of the most important advances in the area of government accessibility since the advent of the modern welfare state. These resources have a number of unexplored social service applications that are examined in this study. E-government principles and practices are reviewed at the local and international levels, with particular attention paid to the Government of Canada's e-government initiative, known as Government On-Line (GOL). Seven specific e-government applications that can benefit social workers and clients are identified and discussed. The results of eight interviews with directors of local agencies regarding the future of e-government in social services are reported and examined. Specific recommendations and directions for future research are provided.

Conduct disorder is the second most common psychiatric disorder in adolescent girls. In a secondary analysis of an existing data set from a study of pregnant adolescent girls, recruited from three different sites in a Canadian city (N = 252), possible predictors of conduct disorder were examined. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) was used to measure conduct disorder. To investigate possible risk factors, three instruments were used: (1) Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), (2) Parental Bonding Instrument, and (3) Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory (KIDI). In a stepwise regression analysis, conduct disorder was found to be significantly associated with four risk factors: high levels of overall abuse as children, placement in foster care, few years of schooling and lack of paternal care. A possible preventive program, to encourage girls with conduct disorder to stay in school and cope with past histories of abuse, is discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the successes and challenges in implementing community art programs for youth in low-income communities. The National Arts and Youth Demonstration Project (NAYDP) was initiated in September 2001 in five program sites across Canada. This article reports on the qualitative findings of NAYDP staff implementation journals that were utilized in the first term of the project. Findings suggest that community partnerships in program recruitment, youth management and engagement and survey administration were all key aspects in the ability of staff to deliver the program. Positive Youth Development (PYD) provides a guiding framework and implications for social work practice, education and future research are explored.

Rushing waters pour down the bills like waterfalls and cleave massive ruts into the red clay surface of the road to Gishamvu during the rainy season. In the dry season, the scarred surface hardens, and a layer of dust rises from tires and wind in a murky red mist. The narrow road, eut aggressively up the mountain, is precarious. A bridge over a small stream is littered with broken logs used to patch gaping holes that trap the tires of passing trucks. The bridge barely holds its banks. At a crossroads, up a steep slope, sits a monument to the Virgin Mary. Colorfully dressed women walk slowly up the scorched hill, heavy loads on their heads, sorne with a baby or a small child wrapped tightly against their backs. Men with farm implements kick the dust on their way to Gishamvu. / fr

This thesis is a narrative analysis of a select number of "pro-eating disorder" websites. Demonstrated is the need to attend to the contextualized, unfolding, and metaphorical nature of their self-expressions, appreciation and exploration of which is curtailed within mainstream readings of this community. The latter, informed by some problematic psychiatric assumptions, overlooks the complexities and heterogeneity present within these websites, thereby constraining understandings. As opposed to using a pathological framework to interpret their subjective accounts, this project pulls upon developments from within narrative approaches and includes the incorporation of ethnographic, phenomenological, hermeneutic, and literary concepts and strategies. In particular, close attention is paid to the ways in which individuals engage with, and creatively manipulate, psychiatric as well as alternative discourses and symbolic resources in the making sense of their eating disorders, recovery, and their community itself. Employing such means of inquiry yields potentially rich insights into the nature of their distress, the meanings of their actions, and the ways in which dominant and non-dominant discourses impact upon them. In addition to enriching our understanding of the experiences of those with eating disorders, the limitations and dangers of reductive and objectifying tendencies within mainstream approaches are exemplified. The ensuing possibility for enlargement upon, and critical evaluation of, our conceptions and associated therapeutic responses reaffirms the need for an open and interdisciplinary approach to mental illness and well-being. / Cette thèse est une analyse narrative provenant d'un certain nombre de sites Web traitant de « troubles pro-alimentaires ». Ce qui est démontré est la nécessité de veiller à la contextualisation, au déroulement et la nature métaphorique de leurs expressions de soi, de l'appréciation et de l'exploration qui est abrégé dans les lectures courantes de cette communauté. Ce dernier, informé par certaines hypothèses problématiques psychiatriques, surplombe la complexité et l'hétérogénéité actuelle au sein de ces sites, et du même coup, freine les comprehensions. Au lieu d'utiliser un cadre pathologique pour interpréter les comptes rendus subjectifs, ce projet se prête aux développements à l'intérieur des approches narratives et comprend la constitution des concepts et stratégies ethnographiques, phénoménologiques, herméneutiques et littéraires. En particulier, une attention particulière est accordée à la façon dont les individus s'engagent en manipulant de façon créative avec des discours psychiatriques et alternatifs et resources symboliques, afin de pouvoir comprendre leur prise de troubles alimentaires, leur guérison et leur communauté. Employant de tels moyens d'enquête donne des perspectives potentiellement riches dans la raison de leur détresse, le sens de leurs actions et la manière dont les discours dominants et non-dominants se répercutent sur eux. En plus d'enrichir notre compréhension des vécus de ceux souffrant de troubles alimentaires, les limitations et les dangers des tendances réductrices et objectivantes dans les approches courantes sont démontrés. La possibilité qui en découlent pour l'élargissement sur, et une évaluation critique, de nos conceptions et nos associés des réponses thérapeutiques réaffirme la nécessité d'une approche ouverte et interdisciplinaire envers la maladie mentale et le bien-être.

This qualitative, quasi-phenomenological study presents strategies and methods hospital-based mental health social workers utilize to promote social justice and advocate for their clients. Three frontline mental health social workers and one mental health department head were interviewed. The findings of this research demonstrated that the participating social workers utilized a variety of creative and flexible approaches to promote social justice and successfully advocate for their clients. These approaches included: the use of appropriate language, using the system against itself, developing written standards and regulations for their tasks, and forming a network of allies.

The purpose of this study was to examine the links between child maltreatment and animal abuse, how these two forms of maltreatment often occur simultaneously within a family and how the existence of one maltreatment type should alert professionals to the potential for other types of harm. File reviews were completed at both Family and Children's Services of Renfrew County (FCS) and the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA), Renfrew County Branch. Data were collected on relevant variables, including maltreatment type, removal and return of children/animals, legal involvement and risk ratings. A total of 188 common files were found, representing almost 25% of OSPCA cases in a 6-year period; 48% of these cases were open at both agencies at the same time. When the files for the two agencies were merged, several statistically significant correlations were found, including: correlations between physical harm to pets and domestic violence for FCS clients; between Criminal Code charges for FCS clients and police involvement for OSPCA clients; and between removals of children from families involved with FCS and neglect of pets. These findings suggest that there is a need for cross-training and cross-reporting between child protection and animal welfare sectors to ensure better protection of both children and animals.

The purpose of this theoretical study was to examine factors associated with the development of attachment relationships for children in long term foster care who Overt demonstrating problematic sexual behaviour. Due to the dearth in available research on this topic, it was necessary to draw from studies in three distinct areas (1) Attachment, (2) Childhood Sexuality, and (3) Placement Stability. In total, the present study examines 13 studies drawn from these three areas, and includes 11 quantitative and 2 mixed method studies. / These studies were chosen for their attention to the middle age child in foster care who was demonstrating problematic sexual behaviour. Due to the lack of attachment studies on fostered middle age children, two infant studies were included with the rationale that middle age children and foster parents engage in a similar attachment process and infant studies would provide direction and context for future studies with older children. In the area of childhood sexuality, clinical samples were also included as they contained large numbers of children who had experienced sexual abuse or who had contact with child protection agencies even if they did not reside in foster care. / Studies were examined along dimensions of sample, methods and findings. The results of this inquiry are then discussed, weaving together the three areas of study to answer two research questions: Is there a relationship between problematic childhood sexual behaviour and the development of a successful attachment relationship with a foster parent? And secondly, is there a particular foster parent attachment profile that promotes attachment security with children who are in care? / Studies reviewed support the hypothesis that problematic childhood sexual behaviour presents challenges to foster parents significant enough to seriously impair the development of a secure attachment and that the foster parent's attachment state of mind will be an important factor in success. Results of the analysis of these questions contribute to an emerging hypothesis that the human sexual system may be intricately woven together with the attachment system, making an attachment analysis of problematic sexual behaviour in children particular relevant. A concluding discussion examines clinical issues which may be targets of intervention and the necessity of future research in this area is proposed.