This research was conducted to determine the extent to which Jewish adults perceive themselves ethnically and/or religiously Jewish and how a range of personal characteristics, attitudes and practices related to the importance of ethnic and religious identity. A random sample of 540 individuals was taken from the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver's mailing list comprised of Jewish individuals in the Lower Mainland that identify with the Jewish community This sample completed a survey on the importance of Jewish ethnic and religious identity. There were significantly more people who felt it was very important or somewhat important to be ethnically Jewish than felt it was very important or somewhat important to be religiously Jewish: 92.1% versus 59.8%. Three hypotheses were tested to examine the relationship between the importance of ethnic and religious identity (dependent variables) and the importance of ethnic and religious identity and certain personal characteristics, attitudes and practices. Cross-tabulations and analysis of variance were done to test these hypotheses. A fourth hypothesis was tested with logistic regression which was used to build a model to predict whether a subject would rate "ethnic" Jewishness as "very important" vs. "not very important" and "religious" Jewishness as "important" or "unimportant" based on a set of predictor variables. The findings indicate a significant relationship between the two dependent variables, very few personal characteristics were related to the dependent variables, and a significant relationship was found between all the attitudes and the majority of the practices and the two dependent variables. The most important predictor of whether a subject would rate "ethnic" Jewishness as "very important" or "not very important" was the global attitude score. The most important predictors of whether a subject would rate "religious" Jewishness as "important" or "unimportant" were global attitude and attitudes and practices reported as important because they are divinely ordained. When global attitudes were taken out of the logistic regression model due to their high degree of overlap with the global practices, the most important predictor of whether a subject would rate "ethnic" Jewishness as "very important" or "not very important" were the global practices, proportion of Jewish friends, and attitudes and practices reported as important because they provide a connection to the Jewish people. The most important predictors for whether a subject would rate" religious" Jewishness as "important" or "unimportant" were marital status, global practice, denominational affiliation and attitudes and practices reported as important because they are divinely ordained. The individual's sense of identity and the factors that contribute to that identity are important aspects in the psychological functioning of members of ethnic, racial and religious minority groups. The information gathered from this study aids those in the helping profession in understanding the important and unique role religion and ethnicity plays in individual lives as well as identifying ethnic and religious priorities for community services. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Le domaine de l’imagologie est défini, par les comparatistes, comme un domaine de frontière, entre littérature comparée, histoire, ethnopsychologie. Nous nous sommes situés dans une perspective imagologique dans le cadre de cette recherche, pour décrire les étapes de la formation de l’image des Roumains dans des écrits français du XVIIIe et XIXe siècles. Ces étapes sont marquées par des textes de référence dans l’histoire des relations franco-roumaines, nous mentionnons ici le premier grand livre sur les Moldo-Valaques de Jean-Louis Carra, en passant par le livre de Stanislas Bellanger, jusqu’aux écrits d’Abdolonyme Ubicini, sans oublier ceux des divers consuls français, ou historiens, amis des Roumains.La Roumanie ne s’est pas faite en un jour. L’image des Français sur les Roumains s’est cristallisée durant le XIXe siècle. Il est vrai, dès le XIIIe siècle, des militaires français, des commerçants étaient arrivés sur les terres habités par les ancêtres des Roumains. Mais l’attraction vers l’Orient, cultivée surtout par le XVIIIe et le XIXe siècle, tout comme l’inquiétude qu’exerçaient en Europe les Empires Ottoman et Russe ont fait que de plus en plus de Français, aventuriers, révolutionnaires, exilés, hommes politiques, militaires voyagent vers l’Est européen.Même s’ils sont rédigés durant un séjour en pays roumain, au début, les écrits français sur les Roumains sont influencés par les chroniques moldo-valaques et par les textes antérieurs. Au fur et à mesure que les moyens de transport s’améliorent et que le kéroutza est remplacé par le train ou le bateau sur le Danube, les ouvrages sont beaucoup plus personnels, sans ignorer les textes antérieurs. Nous avons démontré que cette reprise des mêmes fragments d’images, faisant référence à des domaines récurrents (histoire, habits, logements, moeurs, organisation, ressources naturelles, paysage, ethnies), a abouti à composer une image qui est loin de la touche négative du cliché. Les enregistrements scripturaux sur les Roumains du XIXe siècle allaient préparer le terrain pour la naissance de la nation roumaine. Ce moment, ouvrant la voie à la grande amitié France-Roumanie, coïncide avec l’apparition dans les textes officiels des mots Roumain, Roumanie.Nous nous sommes intéressés aux écrits français sur les Roumains d’une période mal connue, sinon pas du tout, mais ce n’est pas une analyse exhaustive, notre recherche ne fait que commencer un travail qui pourra déboucher sur l’étude des textes d’ambassade, des échanges de messages entre les consuls français et le gouvernement français, avant même que la première ambassade française s’installe en Roumanie au XIXe siècle. L’étude des écrits sur lesquels nous nous sommes arrêtés se constitue en analyse de divers documents, essais historiques, mémoires, récits de voyage, statistiques. Notre analyse opère avec les concepts d’image (au sens de représentation), de8 stéréotype, d’ethnotype, en termes de réception de l’Autre, avec tout ce que l’altérité a de caractéristique. L’image finale ressort des récurrences des mêmes éléments sur lesquels les auteurs insistent (stéréotypes). / The field of imagology is defined by comparatists as a frontier domain, somewhere in between comparative literature, history and ethnopsychology. We have approached the subject matter from an imagological perspective in order to describe the image formation stages of the Romanians in several French writings in the 18th and 19th century. These stages are marked by several reference texts along the history of the French-Romanian relations, we mention here the first great work on the Moldo-Vlachs by Jean-Louis Carra, following Stanislas Bellanger’ book to Abdolonyme Ubicini’s writings, without forgetting those of various French consuls or historians, friends of the Romanians.Romania has not come into being within a single day. The French people’s image on the Romanians crystallized along the 19th century. True, in the 13th century French military men and merchants arrived in the lands inhabited by the ancestors of the Romanians. But the attraction of the Orient, cultivated especially in the 18th and 19th century, as well as the apprehension exerted in Europe by the Ottoman and Russian Empires determined more and more adventurers, revolutionaries, exiles, politicians and soldiers to travel towards Eastern Europe. Even if they were written during a stay in the Romanian countries, at first, the French writings about the Romanians bear the influence/ mark of the Moldo-Vlach chronicles and earlier texts. As transport is getting better and the keroutza is replaced by train or ship along the Danube, later works become increasingly personal without disregarding previous writings. We have demonstrated that this resuming of the same fragments of images referring to recurring domains (history, habits, dwellings, morals, organization, natural resources, landscape and ethnic groups) resulted into composing an image which is far from the touch of the negative cliché. The scriptural records about Romanians in the 19th century would prepare the ground for the foundation of the Romanian nation. This point coincides with the appearance in the official texts of the words Romanian, Romania, everything preparing the ground for the great France-Romania friendship. We are mainly interested in the period when the writings are scarce, as compared with the French books appearing in the 20th century. The study of these writings constitutes in the analysis of various documents, historical essays, memoirs, travel narratives and embassy reports. This analysis operates with concepts of image (meaning representation), stereotype, ethnotype in the terms of perceiving the Other with everything Alterity has characteristic. The finale image is appearing of recurrence of the same elements which the authors insist on (stereotypes).

Over the century 1880-1980, settlers of Chinese origin in Vancouver, British Columbia have been perceived primarily through the nexus of a racial category that defines them as pre-eminently "Chinese" or "Oriental." Similarly, their place in the urban landscape, "Chinatown," has in one sense been a product of host-society categories and institutional practices that have acted to single Chinatown out, and to render it continuously a place apart. The point of departure for this thesis is the view that "race" is not an objectively given biological trait, but an idea, defined by the significance people attach to it. It is an idiom around which have been erected epistemological distinctions of insider and outsider, "we" and "they." In view of the problematic nature of race, it is argued that one of the tasks of the social science of race relations is to uncover the socio-historical process by which racial categories are themselves constructed and institutionalized over time and in certain contexts. In developing this argument, the thesis demonstrates the role played by place and the state in the continuous making of a racial category, the "Chinese." The significance of place is identified for its role as the historically evolving nexus through which the racial category is structured. It is argued that "Chinatown" - like race - is an idea, a representation that belongs to the white European cultural tradition and the intention of the thesis is to trace the career of its social definition over the course of a century. In so doing, the claim is made that Chinatown reveals as much of the "West" as it does of the "East." Ideas of place and identity would not be so enduring or effective, however, but for the fact that they have been repeatedly inscribed in the practices of those with the power of definition. It is argued that the three levels of the Canadian state, as the legislative arms of a hegemonic "white" European historical bloc, have granted legitimacy to, and reproduced the race definition process through their national, provincial and neighbourhood practices. This process continues through the long period when "Chinatown" was reviled as a public nuisance, promoted as a "Little Corner of the Far East," reconstructed as a "slum" and finally under the aegis of multiculturalism, courted in the 1970s by the Canadian state precisely for its perceived "Chineseness." Underlying these changing definitions of Chinatown, it is argued, is a deeper racial frame of reference that has been continuously re-created through discriminatory and more subtle ways as part of the exercise of white European cultural domination. Lying behind the career of the racial category, therefore, is the history of the relationship between place, racial discourse, power and institutional practice in a British settler society. The study is undertaken with a view to uncovering those relationships and by way of a contribution to the recent rediscovery of place in human geography. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The study examined relations between a cross-cultural geographically mobile childhood and adult cultural identity, attachment to cross-cultural identities (CCIs) and self-esteem. CCIs are loosely defined identities (e.g., third culture kids [TCKs], military brats, missionary kids) that describe some individuals' childhood cross-cultural experience. The 475 participants spent at least two years before age 18 in a culture different from their parents' and completed an online survey including childhood cross-cultural experiences, Cultural Homelessness Criteria, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and Self Label Identity Measure (SLIM) that captured strength of affirmation, belonging and commitment to any CCI. Cultural homelessness (CH) was related to lower self-esteem; higher SLIM scores was related to higher self-esteem and lower CH. TCKs reported lower self-esteem than non-TCKs and older participants experienced less CH and higher self-esteem. SLIM scores buffered the CH-self-esteem relationship, whereas a TCK CCI and having more cross-culturally experienced social networks did not.

The present study explored whether use of Spanish language sayings, or dichos, improved group climate within multi-ethnic chronic pain groups. Use of this form of figurative language fits within psychological theory identifying use of metaphor as a means of promoting change and creating new meaning. Further, metaphor use is consistent with the broader aims of experiential therapy. Group climate was measured by group members' self reports using the Group Climate Questionnaire-Short Form. A pilot study involving Latino Americans in medical and non-medical contexts aided in categorizing dichos as high versus low-relevance. It was anticipated that clients would rate high-relevance sessions as involving greater engagement, and less conflict and avoidance than low-relevance groups. Participants were recruited from four multidisciplinary pain management clinics offering similar programs. Once every four to six weeks, group leaders were provided with a list of either high or low-relevance dichos, and were blind to the existence of dichos categories. Three hierarchical regression analyses were employed to determine whether dichos relevance, characterized as low, mixed or highly relevant, contributed to variance in group conflict, avoidance and engagement. Dichos familiarity was the last variable entered into the regression equation, with gender, ethnicity and acculturation score entered in sequential fashion. Consistent with predictions, low-relevance groups yielded higher conflict scores than all groups combined. Also, high-relevance groups predicted lower avoidance when compared to all groups. In contrast to hypotheses, high-relevance groups predicted lower ratings of group engagement when compared to all groups. Post-hoc analysis indicated the mixed-relevance groups yielded significantly higher engagement scores than the low and high-relevance groups. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to impact on approaches to group therapy with Latino American clients, and within the chronic pain population. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are offered.

The purpose or this study is to present a comparison of physical and physiological traits of American and Japanese racial types which appear to me to read to certain facts and factors of both races.

This study investigated the process of bereavement in the Xhosa, Zulu and Tswana cultures with participants including three cultural experts and a bereaved family from each ethnic group. Data was collected using semi – structured interviews mainly in the participants’ homes. Analysis was used by comparing and contrasting the information gathered. Empirical research findings revealed that the process in the African culture specifically in these three ethnic groups is different from the western culture as stated in the literature. The literature review findings show that the western culture’s processes of bereavement seem focused in the intrapersonal processes. However, the African Black cultures seem to be focused more on interpersonal processes of bereavement. Recommendations are made in the study on how a western trained Educational Psychologist can approach a bereaved client coming from these ethnic groups. Recommendations are also made for Educators and Parents. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

This study investigated the process of bereavement in the Xhosa, Zulu and Tswana cultures with participants including three cultural experts and a bereaved family from each ethnic group. Data was collected using semi – structured interviews mainly in the participants’ homes. Analysis was used by comparing and contrasting the information gathered. Empirical research findings revealed that the process in the African culture specifically in these three ethnic groups is different from the western culture as stated in the literature. The literature review findings show that the western culture’s processes of bereavement seem focused in the intrapersonal processes. However, the African Black cultures seem to be focused more on interpersonal processes of bereavement. Recommendations are made in the study on how a western trained Educational Psychologist can approach a bereaved client coming from these ethnic groups. Recommendations are also made for Educators and Parents. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Within the framework of ethnography, an inquiry was made into the many dimensions of psychological treatment and training in a psychiatric hospital, with particular reference to State Patients. Ethnography is the study of an intact cultural or social group based mainly on observations over a prolonged period of time in which the researcher is a participant. The multicultural aspects of the therapeutic community were also inquired into. Ethnographic data was collected and processed over a period of 16 years in three psychiatric hospitals, the main source of data gathered from Weskoppies Hospital in Pretoria. The ecosystemic psychotherapeutic perspective was used as a meta-model to describe eight therapeutic approaches in which intern-psychologists were trained. The hospital is described as a therapeutic community in which rehabilitation is a multi-professional responsibility. Each profession, or sub-culture, has its own framework and culture in which it works within the broader system of the psychiatric hospital. Ethical considerations and recommendations are levelled at the academic and practical aspects of clinical psychology, hospital management, and different levels of government. / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil.

Despite the rationalism implicit in contemporary thinking, in many parts of the world like South Africa, belief in witchcraft exists and is a core belief, influencing the world-view of many people. In these contexts, witchcraft is believed to be responsible for every social experience including, illnesses, sickness and death. The witch-figure, imbued with jealousy, is believed to derive power to harm others with witchcraft through supernatural capacity and an association with the Devil. Witchcraft, it seems represents a theory of misfortune guiding the interactions between people and provides explanations, steeped in the supernatural, for almost every misfortune. Extending on the commonly held notion of violence against women, this doctoral study reflects witchcraft accusations and its violent consequences as an under-represented facet thereof. This follows the fact that historic and contemporary accounts of witchcraft position women as primary suspects and victims. Accused of witchcraft, many women face torture and ultimately death, even today. In this study it is argued that witchcraft accusations result from within a social context, supporting gendered relations that are powered. To this end, I apply a feminist psychological approach as a theoretical lens, allowing us to see witchcraft accusations as one strategy among those supporting male domination. In the first chapter, I outline the feminist psychological approach as an appropriate lens to view witchcraft-related violence. The understanding of witchcraft accusations gained through the application of feminist psychological theory is then applied in the second chapter, focusing on news reports. A focus on the newspaper representations of witchcraft violence is vital, given the media’s influential role in the lives of many. Attention is then focused on understanding of witchcraft held by community members, usually responsible for the violent attacks on those accused. The final chapter locates the witchcraft experience with women so accused. The purposeful repetition of theoretical points made in each chapter was essential. The repetition enabled me to apply the theoretical lens appropriately for each paper and to elaborate on the fundamental premise the PhD argues towards. The reader’s attention is drawn towards awareness of this purposeful repetition of the theoretical lens. It is imperative as together and separately, the chapters in this PhD, function to accentuate on an expression of gendered violence, steeped in a tradition supporting male domination. / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil.