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<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)

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<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>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine stress and general self-efficacy among Latino immigrant parents in California. This was achieved through quantitative cross-sectional research. The results revealed that the older Latino immigrant parents indicated higher perceived stress. Living in the United States for a longer period was associated with a higher general self-efficacy. Past or current fear of deportation was associated with higher perceived stress. Latino immigrant parents in the lowest income categories indicated higher perceived stress, as did those with a greater number of children. Latino immigrant parents who reported a smaller household size indicated greater general self-efficacy. The results may be beneficial to families, professionals, and agencies so that they may better understand and help Latino immigrant parents and their families and work to implement programs specifically for this population.</p>

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