This work is based on a study of the personal, family and social meanings associated with the pregnancy of adolescent (teenage) girls. / The most immediate goal was to acquire theoretic and methodological tools allowing to progress in the study of the meanings of pregnancy from the point of view of adolescent girls and in the analysis of the underlying semantic network. In particular, the research specifically explores and compares the meanings and the social representations of teenage pregnancy in low-income sectors, in the family and among peers. It also examines how these meanings and representations circulate in a non pregnant teenage group from the same social sector. / Family meanings associated with pregnancy have been studied through the pregnant and non pregnant teenage perceptions. / Social meanings have been studied from the interpretation that the social group of reference--peers group--gives to pregnancy, according to the perception of the interviewed girls. / The sample is comprised of 17 teenagers: 7 pregnant teenagers, 6 non pregnant teenagers and 4 teenage mothers in low income, french speaking sectors. / The methodology is qualitative and based on exploratory instruments. Interviews are semistructured. / The variables describing the meanings and social support figure prominently in the present study. / Research was carried out in two east-end areas of the city of Montreal.

Firstborns' behaviours were examined at different weeks of the mother's pregnancy. Their behaviours were compared to those of preschoolers whose mothers were not expecting. Eighty preschoolers participated: 20 from each trimester of the mother's pregnancy and 20 in a comparison group. At 16 and 20 weeks, first trimester firstborns had fewer difficulties with separation, insecurity, and dependency than at 12 weeks. At 24 and 28 weeks, second trimester firstborns were less dependent than at 20 weeks, and at 28 weeks less insecure than at 20 weeks. At 38 weeks, third trimester firstborns exhibited fewer separation and dependency behaviours than at 28 weeks. First and third trimester firstborns differed from the comparison group, but not in the expected direction. At 16 and 20 weeks, firstborns showed fewer separation problems than the comparison group. At 16 weeks, firstborn boys were less insecure than their counterparts, and at 38 weeks, firstborn boys had fewer separation problems and were less angry than comparison boys. It would appear a mother's second pregnancy does not appear to be particularly distressing for firstborns.

Personal laws regulate the family, which is the sphere in which Indian women experience the sharpest discrimination. Despite constitutional guarantees of equality and freedom from discrimination, Muslim personal law perpetuates the subordination of women within the family. The political manipulation of Muslim personal law reform by the State and by fundamentalist leaders has resulted in the marginalization of Muslim women's interests. This thesis focuses on the issue of Muslim women's equality within the family. It explores how arguments relating to 'religion', 'culture' and 'group identity' have been used to subordinate Muslim women. Their rights have been recast as oppositional to Muslim collective interests. In this context, there is a critical need to interrogate hegemonic categories that bind Muslim women to an essentialist notion of identity and deny the possibility of internal challenges to Muslim tradition. This thesis seeks to problematize and contest the exclusion of Muslim women's voices from the very discourse that attempts to define their rights and articulate their interests. It aims to reconceptualize and reformulate the frameworks within which inequality and discrimination are sought to be addressed.

A qualitative study design was used to describe the quality of life as perceived by spouses of persons who have had a laryngectomy within the preceding two years to treat cancer. A convenience sample of 17 spouses of individuals with laryngectomies participated in this study. / Data were collected through guided interviews. Data were analyzed according to Giorgi's (1985) phenomenological method of analysis. Spouses described their quality of life by referring to marital relationship, communication and life style. Spouses identified nine factors that affect their quality of life. These are stress, coping, social support, caring, knowledge, body image, uncertainty, emotional status, and physical function. / Findings from this study give the nurses an empirically derived perspective on the quality of life of spouses of individuals who have had a laryngectomy to treat cancer.

<p> This production thesis utilizes an artistic-creative methodology through the workings of both heuristic and hermeneutical approaches to explore the function of story&mdash;how we are told stories and how we retell them&mdash;throughout an individual&rsquo;s life. Furthermore, this thesis examines their role and effect on the mental-emotional realm. Through the craft of creating her own personal fairy tale by way of active imagination, the author offers an example of working with archetypal images (common to the author as well as the collective) to come into contact with unconscious drives and shadow impulses, confront their intentions, and ultimately come to resolution over their tensions, resulting in psychological transformation. This thesis offers a look into the importance of play, the imaginal realm, and the endless nature of meaning making and their relationship to healing.</p>

<p> This study investigates women's future family and work expectations and anticipations. It uses data gathered from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), specifically from the Washington Post: DC-Region Moms Poll, April 2005 dataset. Focusing on women and their expectations for future family and work life, the study aspires to examine what motherhood has to offer women as well as how women experience employment. Regarding workplace suitability for women who are also mothers, it was hypothesized that attitudes in agreement with workplaces being set up to handle the needs of mothers would be higher for (1) white women than women of racial minority, (2) women who are currently married than women who are not currently married, (3) women who report that they have a paid job in addition to being a mother than women who report that they do not have a paid job in addition to being a mother, (4) women aged thirty through thirty-nine years than for women of other ages, and (5) women who have attended college than for women who have not attended college. The dependent variable is attitude about whether workplaces are set up to handle the needs of mothers; the independent variables are race, marriage status, paid job in addition to motherhood, age, and education level. My findings suggest that race and education level significantly predict one's attitudes about whether workplaces are set up to handle the needs of mothers. However, marital status, paid job in addition to motherhood, and age did not significantly predict one's attitudes about whether workplaces are set up to handle the needs of mothers. This study is consistent with previous research and suggests there are differences between individuals in terms of their future family and work expectations.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to write a grant and obtain funding to begin a training and support program for foster parents caring for children with Autism. The Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders was identified as the partner agency and the Annenberg Foundation was located as a potential funding source.</p><p> A literature review was conducted to study common behaviors exhibited by children on the Autism spectrum. Common outcomes for both children diagnosed with Autism and children living in foster care were examined. Challenges faced by foster parents who care for these children, interventions, and available resources were also considered.</p><p> The training program aims to educate and prepare foster parents for the challenges faced by the children. The encouragement received from the other foster parents and the group leader may encourage foster parents and provide additional resources and support. The actual submission and/or funding were not a requirement for the successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> The purpose of this thesis was to write a grant and locate a funder for the creation of a new program for recruitment, training and support for foster parents in the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services in order to increase the number of homes for children birth to 4 years. An extensive literature review was performed to investigate the most effective way to implement the program.</p><p> The project aims to provide age specific recruitment strategy that incorporates current foster parents, the development of coping skills for foster and adoptive parents through increased parent education and intensive training focused around trauma and child development, as well as a 24-hour support "warm line" for foster parents. Actual submission and or funding of this grant was not required for the successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to develop a grant proposal to fund mental health services targeted towards enhancing social emotional well-being of children ages 5 years and younger at Foothill Family Service. The proposed program will provide mental health services to children who are experiencing early childhood mental health disorders, living in the San Gabriel Valley, and unable to receive services due to lack of Medi-cal insurance. A literature review was conducted to investigate the risk factors for developing mental health disorders, how symptoms are exhibited, and the effectiveness of current mental health treatments among young children. The goal of the program is to enhance their social-emotional well-being. The completion of this project required identification of a potential funding source and completion of a grant application for the proposed program. Submission and securing funds for the program was not a requirement for the successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> This dissertation explores catalysts to divorce and the effects of different shocks to marital stability. In order to determine how marriage market participation and job opportunities affect marital stability, a panel data set was constructed of all marriages and divorces (or annulments) granted in each county in the United States from 1965 to 1988. The divorce records are merged with county- level employment and population levels to estimate the employment and divorce rates. Using county level data this dissertation is able to exploit a number of labor-market geographical observation levels, such as state border regions, Statistical Metropolitan Areas (SMA), and Labor Market Areas (LMA). </p><p> The first chapter analyzes how changes in the number of available marriage-market participants in a community affect the marital stability of existing couples in the area. The analysis focuses on border regions of neighboring states and assesses the impact of fluctuations in divorcee population in one state on the divorce rates in the neighboring states' border region. Large and statistically significant effects are identified in border regions where the neighboring state's border population is larger than one's own border population, which is consistent with the theoretical models on the subject. </p><p> In the second and third chapters, attention is turned to how employment opportunities affect marital stability. In chapter two, I use my unique data to more precisely determine the relationship between employment rates and divorce. Using a fixed-effect panel-data model at the LMA level, the results indicate a strong a pro-cyclical relationship between divorce and the business cycle. Finally, in chapter three, the focus of the research transitions, from temporary employment fluctuations, to how permanent changes in the labor market affect marriage. Exploiting structural changes to the labor markets of steel and coal mining, an instrumental variable approach is used that interacts county-level steel and coal industry-concentrations with a national-level demand measure. The model estimates a strong positive relationship between the real-earnings of low-skilled male workers in the county and the county-level divorce rate in steel regions but finds minimal effects on divorce rates in coal regions.</p>