Virginity Testing, a traditional Zulu pre-nuptial custom that determines the worth of a bride, has been resurrected in communities in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa as a response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The practice takes place during large community festivals when young girls have their genitals physically examined to determine whether they are virgins and results are made public. Supporters of the tradition claim that in fostering a value of chastity among its youth, it encourages abstinence from sexual intercourse which leads to a lower HIV infection rate and prevents the disease from spreading. Human rights activists disagree; Rather than slowing the spread of a disease, they argue, the practice instead endangers girls. Those who fail are often shunned and turn to prostitution, while those who pass may be exposed as potential targets for rape (due to a myth that says intercourse with a virgin cures HIV/AIDS). Despite a ban on the practice in 2005, the testing festivals continue, and are described by supporters as an important part of the preservation of Zulu culture. This thesis examines the ways in which human rights may be re-negotiated for young girls in Zulu communities while maintaining a respect for local culture. It moves beyond the traditional debate between relativism and universalism in order to propose solutions to rights violations in culturally diverse contexts by exploring ideas of inclusive human rights and capabilities theories.

Tree transplanting practices influence plant survival, establishment, and subsequent landscape value. The inability to adequately quantify effects of inappropriate tree planting and transplanting practices threatens long-term viability and productivity (sustainability) of trees within terrestrial ecosystems. Tree planting depth, i.e. location of the root collar relative to soil grade, is of particular concern for tree growth, development, and performance in the landscape. A series of model studies was conducted to investigate effects of planting depth, container production methods, and transplanting practices on landscape establishment of container-grown trees. Studies included determining the effect of planting depth and soil amendments on live oak (Quercus virginiana Mill.) and baldcypress (Taxodium distichum (L.) L. Rich.), the effect of planting depth during container production and subsequent landscape establishment of lacebark elm (Ulmus parvifolia Jacq.), the effect of planting depth and irrigation practices on landscape establishment of sycamore (Platanus occidentalis L.), and the effect of planting depth and transplant season on landscape establishment of baldcypress. Optimum planting depth varied among species and was dependent on cultural practices and/or environmental conditions. Overall, live oak and baldcypress growth was better when planted with root collars at grade in sand in raised beds compared to planting below grade in control soils. Lacebark elm growth was greater when planted at grade during the initial container production phase and below grade in the second container production phase. Subsequent landscape establishment was variable, but planting at grade to 5 cm above grade produced greater growth. Sycamore trees planted below grade had increased mortality and decreased growth compared to trees planted at grade or above grade, while irrigation had no effect. Baldcypress planted above grade had reduced growth compared to those planted at or below grade, while transplant season had no effect. Species and cultivars within species may differ markedly in their response to environmental/cultural stresses, including planting depth. Each tree species originating from a specific environment may represent an ecotype adapted to that particular environment. Therefore, tree survival and performance may depend on the difference between the environment from which the tree was grown and the experimental system into which it is introduced.

Specialists in conservation have recently reached a consensus about accepting cultural values as the basis of both problems and solutions within historic environments. In this respect, besides tangible properties, the intangible values need to be considered in the conservation studies. This study aims to develop a conceptual framework and methodology for the analysis and the conservation of historic environments as entities of intangible and tangible values to provide the integration of intangible values in conservation studies. As an entity, a historical urban fabric is formed by tangible features, namely, the physical structure made of built and natural structures / and intangible values, specifically, cultural practices and expressions within the built environments, meanings expressed by them and values attributed to them. Understanding and documenting intangible values which shape tangible values, help to explain the variability of buildings and settlement forms within historic environments. This study develops a conceptual and methodological framework for the documentation, conservation and sustainability of the interrelations of intangible and tangible values in the case of Ibrahimpasa Village. First, the research questions are elaborated to understand the relations between tangible and intangible values theoretically and to develop a methodological framework for the documentation and analysis of these. Then the conceptual and methodological framework is applied to the case of Ibrahimpasa Village using a combined methodology composed of the case study and the ethnographic research. As a result, the study puts forward a conservation approach, asserting that the sustainability of the interrelations between tangible and intangible values is vital for the conservation of historic environments and that specific approaches need to be developed for particular interrelations to provide their continuation.

Being an immigrant mother poses a unique challenge to the parenting experience because she is removed physically from her original cultural setting. In this novel situation the mother must balance her own parents' parenting values with the set of belief systems present in the new culture. This study identifies the unique ways and critical features of bi-cultural parenting decisions that the Chinese immigrant parents have come to make. Fifteen Chinese immigrant mothers participated in this study. Each participant completed a background information survey prior to the interview. Qualitative methodology was used to gather and to analyze the data. Descriptive quantitative statistics were used to organize the data. A substantive theory of accommodation of bi-cultural childrearing practices was generated that revolved around the three psychological processes of deviation, accommodation, and balance of views about education and learning. Four bi-cultural parenting strategies were identified that immigrant parents used: comparison process, opportunity education, child-inspired education, and the education of love. Specifically in order for the balance in their bi-cultural childrearing decisions and parental satisfaction to occur, the immigrant mothers had to deviate from the perceived negative cultural values and accommodate to the perceived positive cultural belief of both home and host countries. This research not only fulfills the need for empirical research on the role of acculturation in changing and modifying the central values of a cultural group, but also broadens the area of migration by examining in depth the change of cultural values in the context of migration. By using familial level of analysis (i.e., by using the memory of the parents as a factor contributing to the outcomes of parenting beliefs and practices), the continuity of vertical transmission of value congruence from parents to children in the context of dual cultures is achieved. Furthermore, this study explores value congruence between parents and offspring by taking not one, but two, cultures into account. / text

Haisla Nuuyum is our way of life and laws and includes knowledge of place, seasons, weather, feasting, and oolichan fishing including cultural practices that are important to sustain our Nuuyum. Throughout this dissertation work, I examine whether our Nuuyum and its philosophical underpinnings can intertwine and have a productive relationship with contemporary forms of leadership and Chief and Council governance systems. I draw on old Haisla stories of place and identity to examine how they affirm our governing responsibilities within contemporary community leadership. I show how our cultural practices have been affected and have shifted through colonial encounters. I argue that despite the effects of colonialism, the philosophical underpinnings of our Nuuyum have remained at the core of who we are as a Haisla people. This dissertation work is a compilation of published articles and as such, is organized thematically. I introduce each article to weave together the elements of Nuuyum. / Graduate / 0422 / 0326 / 0740 / jlgreen@uvic.ca

Virginity Testing, a traditional Zulu pre-nuptial custom that determines the worth of a bride, has been resurrected in communities in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa as a response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The practice takes place during large community festivals when young girls have their genitals physically examined to determine whether they are virgins and results are made public. Supporters of the tradition claim that in fostering a value of chastity among its youth, it encourages abstinence from sexual intercourse which leads to a lower HIV infection rate and prevents the disease from spreading. Human rights activists disagree; Rather than slowing the spread of a disease, they argue, the practice instead endangers girls. Those who fail are often shunned and turn to prostitution, while those who pass may be exposed as potential targets for rape (due to a myth that says intercourse with a virgin cures HIV/AIDS). Despite a ban on the practice in 2005, the testing festivals continue, and are described by supporters as an important part of the preservation of Zulu culture. This thesis examines the ways in which human rights may be re-negotiated for young girls in Zulu communities while maintaining a respect for local culture. It moves beyond the traditional debate between relativism and universalism in order to propose solutions to rights violations in culturally diverse contexts by exploring ideas of inclusive human rights and capabilities theories.

abstract: This dissertation examines Japanese preschool teachers' cultural practices and beliefs about the pedagogy of social-emotional development. The study is an interview-based, ethnographic study, which is based on the video-cued mutivocal ethnographic method. This study focuses on the emic terms that Japanese preschool teachers use to explain their practices, such as amae (dependency), omoiyari (empathy), sabishii (loneliness), mimamoru (watching and waiting) and garari (peripheral participation). My analysis suggests that sabishii, amae, and omoiyari form a triad of emotional exchange that has a particular cultural patterning and salience in Japan and in the Japanese approach to the socialization of emotions in early childhood. Japanese teachers think about the development of the class as a community, which is different from individual-centric Western pedagogical perspective that gives more attention to each child's development. Mimamoru is a pedagogical philosophy and practice in Japanese early childhood education. A key component of Japanese teachers' cultural practices and beliefs about the pedagogy of social-emotional development is that the process requires the development not only of children as individuals, but also of children in a preschool class as a community. In addition, the study suggests that at a deeper level these emic concepts reflect more general Japanese cultural notions of time, space, sight, and body. This dissertation concludes with the argument that teachers' implicit cultural practices and beliefs is "A cultural art of teaching." Teachers' implicit cultural practices and beliefs are harmonized in the teachers' mind and body, making connections between them, and used depending on the nuances of a situation, as informed by teachers' conscious and unconscious thoughts. The study has also shown evidence of similar practices and logic vertically distributed within Japanese early childhood education, from the way teachers act with children, to the way directors act with teachers, to the way government ministries act with directors, to the way deaf and hearing educators act with their deaf and hearing students. Because these practices are forms of bodily habitus and implicit Japanese culture, it makes sense that they are found across fields of action. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2011

In most epidemiological studies, one in every five children and adolescents are said to display Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (EDB), with greater risk of school and wider social exclusion (Brauner & Stephens 2006; Costello, Egger & Angold 2005). Although no formal statistics are currently available with regards EBD in Brunei, there was a formal report stating that quite a number of young people are now being referred to professionals for assistance and support for EBD. There is currently no assessment tool for EBD in Brunei and no ‘Brunei Malay’ translation for most of the Western design measures. Although some of these measures have Malay translations, it was formally back-to-back translated among professionals from Malaysia, who are known to speak slightly different standard Malay language than those Malays who reside in Brunei. Despite the differences in some technical language, Malays in Brunei and Malaysia share a very similar culture and geography. The aim of this study was twofold, to explore the responses of parents, teachers and adolescents in Brunei using the translation of the Western designed assessment tool for EBD as well as to determine how useful the original subscales of those measures are in reporting problems associated with EBD in Brunei Darussalam, a Malay speaking country based in the South East Asian region. A single phase cross sectional survey of 11-16 year-old adolescents attending mainstream public (i.e. government) schools in Brunei was carried out. Responses of parents and teachers were measured using the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQ) and a subsample of the participants received a second copy of Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher Report Form (TRF) of Achenbach measures. Responses from adolescents were measured using the Youth Self Report (YSR) of Achenbach measure. In total, responses were obtained from 396 parent version SDQ and 92 parent version of CBCL; 329 teacher version of SDQ and 71 teacher version of TRF; and 282 adolescent Youth Self Report (YSR) were obtained for analyses. Results indicated that there are some differences in the three different groups of respondents in Brunei in relation to the identification of EBD and that this differed somewhat from Western population studies. It is suggested that this may be due to differences in interpreting behavioural norms and that this might be linked to cultural differences. It was found that the YSR did not produce factor structure like that of the original study and this might indicate necessary refinement to ensure better fit as revealed by the psychometric analyses. Teachers’ responses to the SDQ items were more similar to those of teachers in other evaluation of the SDQ, whilst parents differed more in their responses when compared to those of Western respondents. Despite the clear differences in their responses when describing EBD using these Western measures, exploration of other statistical tests offered some possible reasons for continuing using the measures to report the prevalence of the problems. Previous studies have also highlighted some critical insights into the use of the measures in other cultures, which are discussed in the finding of this study. Some age and gender differences also appeared in responses, and there were a tendency for parents and adolescents in Brunei to report higher Total Difficulties Score (TDS) among girls than boys. The cut-off scores that were adjusted based on the criteria advocated by the founder of these measures indicated slight differences in the level of point describing the clinical range. This again served to highlight the possible cultural behavioural expectation that varies from one country to another. This exploratory study suggests that reporting a prevalence rate of a given culture using a measure that was designed elsewhere might pose risk of wrongly describing problems of a particular nature without investigating the way in which it has been understood by the respondent. The study stresses that it is important to understand cultural determinants of respondents when reporting EBD of adolescents and points out the necessity of planning and networking across social context to meet young people mental health needs.

Orientador: Ana Cláudia Moreira Almeida Verdu / Banca: Maria Amália Pie Abib Andery / Banca: Kester Carrara / Resumo: Políticas públicas têm estabelecido diretrizes para que seja garantida igualdade de oportunidade de acesso aos diversos ambientes a despeito diferenças presentes na população, visando a promoção de uma sociedade menos segregatória e mais inclusiva. Enquanto prática, para que a igualdade de acesso seja garantida, requer que o foco das ações seja deslocado da diferença individual para a adaptação do ambiente físico e social. A inclusão pode ser descrita enquanto um fenômeno social complexo, resultado de ações que são estabelecidas e mantidas por diferentes agências como governo, instituições formadoras de educadores, escolas, pessoas com necessidades educativas especiais, suas famílias e a mídia. Uma das ações que pode oferecer condições para que práticas inclusivas sejam apresentadas é o estabelecimento de leis. Leis, no âmbito deste trabalho, são compreendidas enquanto formulações verbais que descrevem comportamentos e que, para melhor compreensão e governo do comportamento dos indivíduos de um grupo deve especificar as ações a serem realizadas, sob quais circunstâncias e prever consequências para seu cumprimento ou não. Este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar o Projeto de Lei do Senado nº 6, de 2003, que "Institui o Estatuto da Pessoa com Deficiência e dá outras providências", que está em processo de reformulação com possibilidades de votação ainda para o presente ano e identificar e descrever enunciados de contingências e caracterizá-las em relação à: presença dos termos em completas ou incompletas... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Public politics established lines to ensure the equality of access opportunity to several environments in spite of the population differences, aiming at promoting of a less segregated and more inclusive society. In practice, so that the equality of access be guaranteed, requires that the focus of the actions be dislocated from the individual difference to the physical and social environment adjustment. The inclusion can be described as a complex social phenomenon, a result of actions established and kept for different agencies such as the government, formative educators institutions, schools, people with educative special necessities, their families and the media. One of the actions which can provide conditions so that the inclusive practices be adopet is the establishment of laws. Laws, inside his project, are understoods as verbal formulations which describe behavior, and for a better understanding and the behavior contol of the individual from a group, must specify the actions to be done, under such circumstances and predict consequences for its accomplishment or not. This project had as objective to analyse The Senate Law Project nº 6, from 2003, which "Institutes The Statute of the Person with Disability and provides other measures", which is in process of reformation with the possibility of being voted in the current year and identify and describe uncertain propositions and characterize them according to: a presence of the terms in complete and incomplete; at the presence of the orders of governmental consequences; whether... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-04-22T18:00:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Luciana Anunciacaoseg.pdf: 1924373 bytes, checksum: bae257e7a2c9b07ff3d991d03dd89756 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Meirelles(rodrigomei@ufba.br) on 2013-05-26T11:09:16Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Luciana Anunciacaoseg.pdf: 1924373 bytes, checksum: bae257e7a2c9b07ff3d991d03dd89756 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-26T11:09:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Luciana Anunciacaoseg.pdf: 1924373 bytes, checksum: bae257e7a2c9b07ff3d991d03dd89756 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Este trabalho trata da irmandade da Boa Morte de São Gonçalo dos Campos-Bahia, o cotidiano e visões de mundo de suas integrantes, mulheres negras que pertenciam aos segmentos mais baixos da sociedade. A irmandade da Boa Morte é produto da ressignificação de instituições femininas africanas e da religiosidade católica e, concomitantemente, tornou-se espaço de outras práticas religiosas de origem afro, à sombra do catolicismo. O universo cronológico é de 1900-1950. Período em que a Igreja Católica queria restaurar a sua influência na sociedade brasileira a fim de enquadrar o catolicismo popular nos parâmetros estabelecidos pela ortodoxia eclesiástica e reaproximar-se do Estado. A irmandade da Boa Morte foi uma das maiores expressões da religiosidade popular no município, além de ter sido um espaço de sociabilidade para mulheres negras e discriminadas na sociedade local. / Salvador