This thesis explores the social construction of female online child sex offenders within Canadian newspapers from 2010 to 2017. While child sexual exploitation is not a new phenomenon, the nature of this threat, in terms of the ways in which it is facilitated, has changed significantly over the past decade. Notably, a key factor contributing to the sexual exploitation of children in today’s society is the Internet. The anonymity afforded by the Internet, the accessibility to the Internet, and the lack of accountability associated with the Internet (Cooper, 1998) all work together to create a social environment that is conducive to child sexual exploitation. This research explores this new phenomenon, as perpetrated by women. Informed by the social constructionist approach, relevant findings from a review of literature on the media representation of female offenders are then compared to findings from the examination of Canadian newspaper articles pertaining to female online child sex offenders to recognize similarities and differences between respective representations in the media. The results of this work suggest an increase from 2010 to 2017 in the number of Canadian media articles about female online child sex offenders as well as an increase in teacher representation in those crimes. As a result, a progression in the social construction of child sex offenders as well as teachers in Canada is presented.

There are different criteria that affect active leadership styles that enhance the role of a principal as an Instructional Leadership. However, many principals lack such criteria where a strong principal considered as an Instructional Leadership. To become Instructional Leaders, principals must transform their practices from managerial to instructional. They need to exercise their leadership by exhibiting the leadership styles in their role and character, or their role will merely perform administrative duties that are akin to an administrative position. Furthermore, a school principal as a leader should play an important role in enhancing teachers' satisfaction. This study investigated the moderating effect of four leadership styles Directive, Supportive, Participative, and Achievement-oriented (D, S, P, A) on Instructional Leadership and teachers' outcomes (job satisfaction, job expectancies and acceptance of leader). The study used mixed methods, qualitative survey and quantitative focus group to develop a model based upon empirical data. The findings are based on a survey of 536 participants including teachers, principals and senior chiefs at various levels of primary, elementary and secondary schools across the Kingdom of Bahrain. The statistical and thematic analysis of the data shows that there is a direct and positive relationship between Instructional Leaderships and teacher's outcomes when moderated by the four leadership styles. The contribution of this study is the empirically tested relationships between Path Goal Theory and Instructional Leadership which shows that there are statistically significant relationships between D, S, P, A and the relationship between Instructional Leadership and the teacher's job satisfaction, job expectancy and acceptance of leader. Focus group finding shows that Leadership styles D, S, P, A transforms Instructional Leadership into a form that enhances the leadership role in Kingdom of Bahrain that Transactional Leadership influences Job expectancy, whilst Referent Power influences acceptance of leaders.

Historically, research on racial microaggressions has focused on adult populations within clinical as well as work environments. The literature is just beginning to examine microaggressions within the K-12 education system and with younger populations. It is important to assess how racial microaggressions are impacting high school students given that research has indicated that this population is experiencing racial injustices. The perpetration of racial microaggressions is the basis for students’ discriminatory experiences within these institutions. This work has recently become even more necessary given that the high school student population is becoming increasingly racially diverse while our teaching population has remained mostly White. The purpose of this study is to investigate how White educators’ White identity development translates to the racial microaggression commission in the classroom setting. This study took place across three public schools within the South United States. This study included five White educators and 25 of their non-White students. The educators were interviewed and a selection of their non-White students were surveyed. This data was then analyzed using Thematic Analysis (TA). TA was utilized to uncover where White educators were in their White identity development and to assess students’ experiences with racial microaggressions. This study explored White identity development using Helms’ (1990, 1995) White Identity Development model. Findings indicated that White educators were at various levels of their White identity development. The educators ranged from those who endorsed colorblind ideologies to those engaged in racial activism. The findings were structured into six overcharging themes: Adherence to Colorblind Attitudes, Initial Response to Emerging Awareness of Racism, Denigration of POC, Intellectual Understanding of Racism, Desire to Achieve a Nonracist Definition of Whiteness, Positive White Racial Identity. The student participants reported diverse experiences within the school setting. The results were organized into two overarching themes: Positive School Experiences and Negative School Experiences. Recommendations were offered for educator preparation programs, ongoing training for educations, as well as larger systemic alterations.

Mental health professionals have an important role to play in assessing and addressing the needs of their clients, including those with severe mental illness. Research, however, has demonstrated a reluctance toward discussing sexual health topics with severely mentally ill clients. The purpose of this study was to explore social work practitioners’ attitudes and preparedness toward addressing the sexual health need of clients who are mentally challenged to a great extent. Under the qualitative research paradigm, this study sampled 8 licensed clinical social workers who currently work in the United States. Thematic analysis of interview data generated four major themes. First, social workers harbor positive attitudes toward mental health; second, social work practitioners perceived themselves as prepared to address sexual health concerns with clients; third, sexual health discussions with severely mentally ill clients should be a part of the solution, not of the problem; and fourth, empowerment of clients and normalization of mental health are ways to combat discomfort toward discussing sexual health issues with clients. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Throughout history, the media's rendering of slavery depicts vulnerable groups caught in a network of trafficking looking for a better life. Scholars of trafficking cite challenges in understanding the health care needs of domestic forced labor trafficking survivors in the United States. Seminal trafficking findings have shown that variations of trafficking affect the survivors' health after surviving trafficking. Therefore, in this qualitative, narrative inquiry I sought to understand how 8 survivors of forced labor trafficking, ages 25 years and older, described their health following trafficking beyond 5 years. The theory of social constructionism constituted the theoretical foundation, and the salutogenic model of health is the conceptual framework. The research questions for the study focused on understanding how adult survivors described experiences of entering and exiting trafficking, and their physical health, post-trafficking involvement. Criterion sampling facilitated identifying survivors of forced labor trafficking. Semi-structured interviewing guided the survivors' narrative storytelling. For analyzing the narratives, I used Braun and Clarke's Thematic Analysis strategy. The results of the pilot and main study showed that survivors suffer from an array of ongoing cognitive and general health concerns beyond surviving trafficking. The findings suggest that these ongoing health conditions influenced survivors' well-being beyond surviving trafficking. The results of the study may lead those in the medical field (e.g. health administrators) to identify other conditions influencing survivors' health after surviving trafficking.

The purpose of this study is to understand the experience of being a father first hand, as well as to understand how society creates expectations that influcenc their fatherhood. Fathers have expectations on how they should be in order to be a good father which, amongst other things, involves participation, gratulations and a good relationship to their child. Many times the mother is in the focus as it for many people comes most naturally to have it so. This does not always correspond well with the father’s wishes and can be cause for alienation. Fathers are today very keen to shape how they take on the role as a father and are by redrawing the boundries of fatherhood also reshaping much of masculinity and what it is to be a father. This study was made with five qualitive semi-structured interviews in Skövde, Sweden, with fathers who had a partner and had one or two children under five years of age. A thematic analysis method was used for the interviews which revealed two main themes: ”Participating fathers” and ”Fatherhood - a secondary parent”. The results showed that fathers wants to be a part of the family, not just to have one. It also showed that partners and society’s expectations effects father’s ability to create their own version of fatherhood. The study shows that even if fathers are willing to change the traditional role of fatherhood, they are not capable to do so because the role of notions of masculinity, in relation to fatherhood, is very entrenched in the norm of being a father from society. The conclusion is that there needs to be more open informational discussions with fathers and meeting groups for fathers to share their experience. Aslo, a wider understanding of the impact from the couple relationships and society regarding how fathers percieve themselves as individuals is needed.

This thesis investigates the potential for radio on the Internet to enhance processes of communication and media practice in the form of new a public sphere. Drawing on the work of Marshall McLuhan, the early stages of this thesis present an enquiry into the unique positive qualities of both radio and the Internet. The argument that follows contends that radio presented on the Internet can draw from the perceived technological benefits of each individual medium, combining as a potential site for public spheres. Both Habermas’s liberal public sphere and contemporary critiques of the concept are examined to define a range of principles that could be tested against relevant examples. The increasing commercialisation of the Internet is presented as a challenge to the normative ideals of a public sphere and counter-balances the optimism of a technologically determinist approach. A series of thematic codes are developed from the relevant theory and combined with qualitative interviews. This forms the framework for a thematic analysis of three individual case studies: Unwelcome Guests, an anti-corporate radio programme, SW Radio Africa, “the independent voice of Zimbabwe,” and NH Making Waves, the radio arm of a community peace activist group. The study investigates opportunities for these three individual case studies to act as public spheres, by examining the interplay that occurs between both Internet and radio practices. As the thematic analysis will demonstrate, placing radio content on the Internet presents new opportunities to diversify content and audiences through collaborative production and improved distribution. Recommendations for further research emphasise the need to pursue the Internet’s role in the public sphere potential of radio.

Many thinkers argue that major differences among languages lead to major differences in experience and thought. Each speech community possibly embodies a distinct world view. The purpose of this study was to explore, through the use of proverbs, the relationship between acculturation and world views among monolingual and bilingual Chinese, with proficiency in Chinese and/or English used a proxy for level of acculturation. Data were collected through questionnaires and qualitative interviews regarding attitudes to English and Chinese proverbs. Data were analyzed by means of SPSS and modified grounded theory methodology. The statistical and qualitative findings contradicted each other: the former found a significant effect for monolingual English speakers, while the latter indicated much more mixed responses with no clear patterns related to language. Implications of findings were discussed and a “global view” was proposed to take the place of a culturally-based world view.

<p>The purpose of this research was to ascertain how children in lowrisk, middle to upper income areas perceive violence and their experience of it. It explores their exposure to violence and how this may affect their view of the future in terms of their hopes and fears. The research was framed around Frantz Fanon&rsquo / s theory of violence and Urie Bronfenbrenner&rsquo / s Systems Theory. The aims of the research was to explore children&rsquo / s perceptions of violence and how this affects children&rsquo / s sense of wellbeing within the context of South Africa by: i) investigating how much children know and understand about the violence that is prevalent in the country, ii) discovering how this frames their perception of violence and finally iii) explore how this affects their sense of well-being. The participants of the study were 28 male and female grade 6 children, between the ages of 10 and 12 from a private school in the Cape Town metropole. There were three focus groups consisting of 8-11 children per group. This was a qualitative study. The data collection was interpreted through Thematic Analysis. The highest standards of ethical conduct and research practice were adhered to.</p>

This study examined the conditions and experience of students who were placed on academic probation in view of key elements of Dewey’s (1958, 1938/1997, 1934/2005) theory of experience. Core data emerged from 16 in-depth interviews with five students who received assistance from an academic support program while on probation. An additional interview was conducted with the academic companion and another with the program developer. A document analysis and a researcher journal supplemented the data. The interviews were analyzed according to a three-dimensional narrative inquiry space (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; Dewey, 1958, 1938/1997) to produce profiles and thematic connections (Seidman, 2006). Findings are presented in five texts. The first and second manuscripts depict the stories of two students using the profile genre. These texts disclose rich stories where the meaning of experience is lived. A third manuscript examines students’ experience from the student and professional perspectives. Major themes uncovered, include (a) resistance to seek help; (b) deep personal costs; and (c) a desire to succeed and complete their undergraduate studies. A fourth manuscript explores companioning as experienced by students and supported by resource personnel. It reveals that (a) the companioning role was defined by a specific form of guidance and attendance to self-confidence and (b) the program helped students clarify their needs, promoted their adaptation to the university context, and offered support through a positive relationship. A fifth manuscript examined the characteristics of a fruitful helping relationship. Findings suggest that (a) a rapport characterized by presence and trust and (b) an approach promoting responsibility, awareness, and holism were key. These findings offer a weighty contribution to the literature on post-secondary education by revealing rich and unique experiences. By tapping in the complexity of the participants’ experience, findings help shift away from the current focus on obstacles and deficiencies often attributed to probationary students. Résumé Cette étude a examiné l’expérience d’étudiants ayant été placés en probation académique à la lumière d’éléments-clés de la théorie de l’expérience de Dewey (1958, 1938/1997, 1934/2005). La principale source de données provenait de 16 entrevues en profondeur auprès de cinq étudiants ayant participé à un programme d’accompagnement universitaire alors qu’ils étaient en probation académique. Une entrevue a aussi été menée avec l’accompagnatrice et une autre avec la conceptrice du programme. Une analyse documentaire et un journal de bord de la chercheure complètent les données. Les entrevues ont été analysées selon une analyse narrative tridimensionnelle (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; Dewey, 1958, 1938/1997) de façon à produire des profils et des liens thématiques (Seidman, 2006). Les résultats sont présentés dans cinq textes. Les premier et deuxième textes dépeignent l’histoire de deux étudiants sous forme de profils. Ces textes découvrent de riches et profondes histoires véhiculant la probation comme expérience de vie et la signification attribuée à celle-ci. Le troisième texte présente l’examen collectif de l’expérience des cinq étudiants ayant participé au programme d’accompagnement. Cette analyse est enrichie des perspectives de l’accompagnatrice et de la conceptrice du programme. Trois thèmes se dégagent de l’expérience de ces étudiants en probation académique soit (a) une résistance à faire usage des services de soutien; (b) des coûts personnels considérables; et (c) un désir de réussir et de compléter leur programme d’études. Un quatrième texte explore l’expérience d’accompagnement tel que perçu par les étudiants et les professionnels. L’analyse révèle que (a) l’accompagnatrice agissait à titre de guide et était attentive à la dimension de la confiance en soi et (b) le programme a aidé les étudiants à identifier leurs besoins, a soutenu leur adaptation au contexte universitaire, et a offert un soutien personnalisé par l’entremise d’une relation d’aide positive. Le cinquième texte se concentre sur les particularités d’une relation d’aide efficace en contexte de probation académique. Les résultats relèvent que cette expérience est qualifiée par (a) un rapport de présence empathique et empreinte de confiance réciproque et (b) une approche globale favorisant la responsabilité et la conscientisation. En dévoilant la richesse et l’unicité de l’expérience, ces résultats offrent une contribution intéressante. Illustrant la complexité des expériences de probation ils contribuent à s’éloigner d’une vision centrée sur les obstacles et les déficits des étudiants en probation académique.