<p>Within Canada, the HIV/AIDS community is an extensively researched population where people living with HIV/AIDS (PHA) are minimally included in the research process. Community-based research (CBR) has become a widely recognized framework with which to engage in HIV/AIDS research in a response to the need for research frameworks that promote equitable collaboration between community members and community researchers. Coupled with a CBR approach, the Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA) principle can be incorporated into the research process so that the research is reflective of and responsive to community needs. Drawing on the experiences of five HIV/AIDS community researchers, this study seeks to better understand the tensions and challenges community researchers experience when facilitating CBR with participants with whom they identify with based on race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, and HIV status. Within the findings, several themes were explored by participants. The concept of multiple identities was predominately explored as well as the complexities regarding insider and outsider status. Participants also explored the tensions associated with maintaining confidentiality as well as discussing coping and self care practices. Expectations of community members and the research team were highlighted, and participants provided advice or recommendations based on their reflections of their personal experiences of engaging the CBR process. The themes explored by this particular group of community researchers demonstrate the complexities associated with their unique positioning within the research process. As the CBR approach is increasingly being utilized and recognized as an effective tool within a community research context, it is important as practitioners to be mindful of the challenges and benefits of facilitating CBR.</p> / Doctor of Social Work (DSW)

<p>This study examines how workers experience Japanese inspired manufacturing practices at Honda of Canada Manufacturing (HCM), Alliston assembly operations and associated parts suppliers. To address how lean production methods are changing production workers responsibilities and impacting job satisfaction, the nature of production work, and the implementation of the Kaizen philosophy are investigated. I predicted that production work at HCM and its suppliers consists of some of the same alienating working conditions as experienced by workers in traditional operations with less job rotation or formal employee participation schemes. The data revealed that despite job rotation production work at these operations is alienating: workers reported that their jobs were "mind-numbing" and that they were simply there for the pay-cheque. Interestingly, some of the same individuals also reported job satisfaction when their Kaizen suggestions were implemented-but most participants noted the difficulty in actually getting their suggestions to be acted on, and the arbitrary way in which managers can administer the participation programs. Secondly, it was predicted that lean production model would result in more alienating relationships between co-workers. The relations constructed through teamwork and total quality management, can combine to create situations where employees are encouraged to point out the inferior performance of their co-workers. Data demonstrating this hypothesis is more suggestive and less conclusive. While finding the answer to this question, two other issues that warrant attention were observed. Initially, production work at HCM is stratified into an informal hierarchy of jobs, beginning with assembly work and ending with final vehicle inspection. Intertwined with the stratification of jobs is a segmented internal labour market in which 'contract' and temporary help agency employees provide a just-in-time workforce. A secondary conclusion is made that suggests the team model results in more alienating relationships between co-workers when there is a two-tier employment system.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The purpose of this paper is to explore the work of bartenders employed in large nightclubs in the City of Toronto, Ontario. Using existing literature, interviews with five bartenders employed in nightclubs and my own personal experiences in such establishments, this paper explores the nightclub environment, what it is like to work there, and the implications of doing so.</p> <p>As I argue, nightclubs are much different than other establishments where food and beverages are sold. Clubs are much larger, louder, operate on a different schedule, have a unique atmosphere and cater to the needs of a different crowd than restaurants, fast-food outlets and bars. As such, how bartenders make their most important source of income, tips, in this environment differs from others who serve patrons in more traditional food and beverage establishments. As the fifth chapter reveals, bartenders have devised a number of strategies-some of which are legal, others that are not-that often involve an element of self-exploitation to make the most money possible while working at the club. Furthermore, there is a gendered dynamic associated with these strategies that causes many female bartenders to rely on their looks and sexuality to make money, and not the technical skills required to do the job as their male counterparts in this industry do.</p> <p>As I discuss in the sixth chapter! working at the club has its good and bad points. Nightclub bartending allows many people to make a decent income in an environment that most enjoy working in. However, issues of sexual harassment, emotional burnout, alcoholism and problems associated with the hours of work are prevalent in this occupation. The final chapter summarizes my research findings and presents potential solutions to the issues raised in this paper.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The researcher used a case study of unionized supermarket workers to examine how older and younger workers under economic restructuring relate to intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. First, the researcher illustrated how both age groups might be motivated differently by intrinsic and extrinsic rewards and how this might lead to differences in their levels and sources of job satisfaction. Second, the researcher examined what intrinsic and extrinsic rewards both age groups expect to receive. Third, the researcher investigated what intrinsic and extrinsic rewards both age groups actually experienced. Fourth, the researcher evaluated the similarities and differences between these two age groups. In the last section, the researcher discussed the implications for the union and suggested possible solutions to increase job satisfaction for both age groups.</p> <p>The results suggest economic restructuring has influenced how both age groups relate to intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. For younger workers, economic restructuring pressured unions to offer concessions to supermarket employers. These concessions limited the ability of younger workers to access hours, wage rates, and opportunities for promotion or advancement. The lack of access to these rewards created job dissatisfaction among younger workers. On the other hand, concessionary bargaining practices placed pressure on older workers to embrace the company's view that increased competition could prevent additional job loss. These older workers expressed dissatisfaction when increased competition failed to produce sufficient job security.</p> <p>The researcher used Herzberg's (1959) two-factor theory to evaluate job satisfaction for both age groups. For older workers, salary and interpersonal relationships tend to contribute to job satisfaction, while the lack of supervision, benefits, conditions of work, and job security tend to contribute to job dissatisfaction. For younger workers, benefits, interpersonal relationships, and job security tend to contribute to job satisfaction, while salary, supervision, and conditions of work contribute to job dissatisfaction.</p> <p>The researcher concludes that Herzberg theory is not entirely applicable to the unionized supermarket industry. The researcher's findings failed to confirm Herzberg's conclusion that motivator and hygiene factors operate independently from each other. For example, older workers tend to associate job security with other extrinsic rewards such as benefits, supervision, and working conditions. However, the results tend to confirm Herzberg's conclusion that the absence of hygiene factors can create dissatisfaction among workers. Both age groups tend to report job dissatisfaction when they do not have access to hygiene (or extrinsic) factors. Moreover, both age groups reported a significant level of job dissatisfaction when they did not access extrinsic rewards they felt were important. In addition, the results tend to confirm Herzberg's conclusion that motivators are the primary source of satisfaction for a worker.</p> <p>If unionized supermarket workers are to be motivated effectively, some factors such as salary and job security should receive greater attention from union representatives. The researcher recommends that United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada (UFCW) might consider the further development of its education strategy and greater use of committees for both age groups. In effect, UFCW could explain to its members how younger and older workers place different weights on intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. As a result, UFCW could reduce division of labour between both age groups.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>Unpredictable schedules, low pay and poor treatment are all too often central characteristics of the types of employment post-secondary students are able to find. Coupled with rising tuition many students face increased pressure to balance paid employment with their studies. The largest proportion of working students are found in the retail, hospitality and food services industries, where employer demands for flexibility are high. This thesis aims to understand how student working conditions affect their ability to pursue their education. The study posits the question as to whether the employment 'opportunities' available to students, where scheduling demands are high, risk affecting the very education they are working to pursue. How then do students navigate the difficult decision about whether to seek out paid employment or rely on student loans? The thesis also works to briefly examine if and how neo-liberal restructuring has exasperated conditions for student workers.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This qualitative case study looks at a partnership between the Aboriginal Health Centre and Living Rock Ministries. I explore what makes for a humanizing partnership between two communities when one has historically been oppressed, and the other has historically held positions of dominance within the same context. It is crucial to this study that we understand the colonial culture and the ongoing collective trauma experienced by Aboriginal peoples. This will shape our understanding of the challenges faced in partnership between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples today. Healing and resistance are vital to the decolonization process that Aboriginal communities are focused on. Paulo Freire (1970) describes a false consciousness which both the oppressed and the oppressors internalize. Here I identify this consciousness as the colonial reality. I argue that dominant institutions, specifically the Christian church, are in serious need of critical reflection upon their roles in reproducing the colonial culture. Critical reflection is required in order to take action and experience liberation from the unjust social order which is largely reproduced through white hegemony and Eurocentric dominance. Both the Aboriginal Health Centre and Living Rock Ministries explain that they value and pursue individual and collective healing. Their partnership is characterized by equality, authentic dialogue, reciprocity, trust and love. Humanizing relationship can only be realized through an authentic collective commitment to critical reflection and action. This thesis explores how the partnership between the Aboriginal Health Centre and Living Rock Ministries became what it is today, and suggests some principles which have the potential to foster humanizing relationships in other contexts. III</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>This thesis examines the challenges of addressing elder abuse within a First Nation Context. The paper suggests that issues of systemic and internalized racism, lack of personal/communal privacy and resistance to professional intervention need to be given consideration from an individual, familial, community and governmental perspective. The values behind these different perspectives are intertwined and their complexity hinders easy resolution. While no definite conclusions are drawn, the paper highlights the issues that must be considered prior to planning interventions for elder abuse in a First Nations community context.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>Kinship Care is a relatively new, organized concept and increasingly popular alternative to foster care in the Ontario child welfare system. The field is currently developing policies and practices in terms of how kinship care can be standardized and implemented to provide more permanency to children identified to be in need of protection. However, with the child welfare system operating within a larger system, there is a danger that the emergence of kinship care may re-produce the inequalities of women and their caring work. Similar to the foster care system, kin caregivers are mainly women yet the critical difference is these women are closely tied as kin to their external families who have reached out to them along with the child welfare agency with the expectation they provide care for kin children who cannot remain in the birth parent's home.</p> <p>This study has attempted to accurately examine and depict the experiences of 4 female kin caregivers in order to listen to their voices and gain a better understanding of their struggles in maintaining the autonomy and integrity of their extended families. The participants offer poignant examples in their stories of their strong maternal duty and commitment to care and how quickly the organizational structure can take advantage of their socially constructed place in the larger society.</p> <p>The interviews highlighted the fact that by way of societal expectations, the child welfare system in Ontario has inadvertently placed them in the centre of a panopticon, itself becoming the surveyor of these female kin caregivers. Due to the kin caregiver's gender and the social construction of maternal blame, the system intrudes to monitor how they parent their own kin. This in tum creates a perception or appearance that kin caregivers are less able to care and does not reflect a high social value.</p> <p>The findings highlight several implications for social work policy and practice and raises questions about the need to change some of the current practices of how we view kin caregivers. Furthermore, if there is to be a gaze upon kin caregivers due to bureaucratic obligations, the gaze must be a reciprocal one---one that identifies and sees injustices to kin caregivers with intent for resolution without judgment.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

No description available.

<p> The purpose of the grant proposal was to collaborate with a host agency to incorporate respite care as an additional support for post-adoption families adopting from the Los Angeles child welfare system. A literature review was conducted to examine the needs and challenges of post adoptive families as well as the benefits of respite care within other populations faced with similar needs and challenges. The respite care program will be implemented at Olive Crest in Los Angeles County as part of the Adoption Promotion and Support Services Program (APSS). The goal of this program is to provide additional supportive services to parents caring for children with special needs and prevent adoption disruption or dissolution. Submission and funding of this grant was not a requirement for the completion of the project.</p>