No description available.

This qualitative study explores the intra-bush and post-bush experiences of formerly abducted child mothers (FACM) in Northern Uganda. Critical events in the lives of young women who were abducted as young girls to join rebel soldiers in the recent civil war are examined. These critical events include sexual violation, training and participation in battles as child soldiers, motherhood, intra-bush trauma and, escape or release. The study also explores how the young women coped with life in the post-bush society they had rejoined. I examine approaches, resources and opportunities for the rehabilitation of returning FACM, their resettlement process and reintegration. The methodology borrows from narrative analysis, phenomenology and grounded theory with the main methods being in-depth interviews with FACM and key informants as well as focus groups with community members and agency staff. Structuration theory, African feminist theories, child rights discourse and a conceptual framework focusing on rehabilitation, resettlement and reintegration are utilized as lenses through which the experiences of the young women are viewed. Findings suggest that while the FACM demonstrated considerable agency in managing the challenges they came across both in the bush and in the post-bush periods, this agency was significantly curtailed by social structures. The young women‘s experiences, both in captivity and post-captivity were influenced by structural factors which were embedded within social systems and relationships. These factors formed the context for the lived realities of the young women which were in turn impacted by gender and culture. The FACM had to assume a multiplicity of roles and identities as girls, mothers, ‗wives‘, fighters, which interconnected with individual agency. This contributed to the strengths and resilience the young women possessed and also led to non-compliance with traditional cultural practices in some instances making reintegration more difficult. The main contributions of the study are: in its demonstration that some African cultural traditions have points of convergence with the promotion of children rights; in increasing understanding of the role of patriarchal and matriarchal power in social life; and in the revelation of the agency of the young women and their resistance to structural violence, although this agency was not adequate for protection from abuse. The study isolates not only individual but social agency which can be utilized to support rehabilitation, resettlement and reintegration planning. It raises the significance of the quality of personal relationships in carrying out interventions for FACM, sheds lights on the issues surrounding social rejection of the young women, where this occurs, and argues for interventions that build on their strengths and considers not only post-bush but intra-bush experiences.

Personal and Social Development (PSD) is a statutory subject in Maltese schools. Whilst PSD does not exist as a subject in Maltese higher education, PSD practice is present within the academic content as well as the co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. Its’ claimed purpose is to support the students’ personal and social development. This study explores stakeholder perceptions of PSD practice in Malta, the way in which it is included within the University of Malta (UoM) undergraduate experience and its contribution to the holistic development of undergraduates. Findings indicate that a number of factors impact upon the need, and resulting provision of PSD practice in Malta. These include: smallness of the Maltese Islands; their lack of natural resources and Malta’s reliance on human capabilities. While these factors may generate the need for PSD practice in Malta, other factors, like the traditional academic oriented system and the sense of fear for change, tend to hinder its provision. On the other hand, PSD practice in Malta is facilitated through policies which promote it; the compulsory PSD subject in schools and the different opportunities for PSD practice. In general, UoM students from the Science and Social Sciences faculty clusters, those attending the Degree Plus programme and those participating in extra-curricular groups, ranked highly the provision of generic competences training, the emphasis on their active role and the holistic aims. The thesis suggests that PSD practice at the UoM is not consistent across faculties, but whenever there was PSD practice, students appeared to value it and recognise its contribution to their holistic development. Such link is hindered by factors like the traditional pre-tertiary education, the influence of the European Union with the economic agenda and a neo-liberal, globalized and capitalist society that glorifies competition, performativity and market demands. In conclusion, it is recommended that there is genuine movement towards PSD practice for holistic aims.

The choices and behaviours of individuals in social systems combine in unpredictable ways to create complex, often surprising, social outcomes. The structure of these behaviours, or interactions between individuals, can be represented as a social network. These networks are not static but vary over time as connections are made and broken or change in intensity. Generally these changes are gradual, but in some cases individuals disagree and as a result \fall out" with each other, i.e. , actively end their relationship by ceasing all contact. These \fallouts" have been shown to be capable of fragmenting the social network into disconnected parts. Fragmentation can impair the functioning of social networks and it is thus important to better understand the social processes that have such consequences. In this thesis we investigate the question of how networks fragment: what mechanism drives the changes that ultimately result in fragmentation? To do so, we also aim to understand the necessary conditions for fragmentation to be possible and identify the connections that are most important for the cohesion of the network. To answer these questions, we need a model of social network dynamics that is stable enough such that fragmentation does not occur spontaneously, but is simultaneously dynamic enough to allow the system to react to perturbations (i.e. , disagreements). We present such a model and show that it is able to grow and maintain networks exhibiting the characteristic properties of social networks, and does so using local behavioural rules inspired by sociological theory. We then provide a detailed investigation of fragmentation and confirm basic intuitions on the importance of bridges for network cohesion. Furthermore, we show that this topological feature alone does not explain which points of the network are most vulnerable to fragmentation. Rather, we find that dependencies between edges are crucial for understanding subtle differences between stable and vulnerable bridges. This understandingof the vulnerability of different network components is likely to be valuable for preventing fragmentation and limiting the impact of social fallout.

Cette thèse a pour sujet la rupture amoureuse chez de jeunes hommes et s’inscrit dans les études sur les hommes et les masculinités. L’intérêt initial découle d’une expérience d’animation d’un groupe d’hommes en rupture dans un centre pour hommes de Québec, AutonHommie. Ainsi, la rupture peut être problématique, elle serait l’un des principaux déclencheurs d’une tentative de suicide (Houle, 2005), d’homicide (Comité d'experts sur les homicides intrafamiliaux, 2012), et serait impliquée dans bon nombre de dépressions (Rotermann, 2007). L’expérience masculine de rupture serait complexe en raison de difficultés à vivre le deuil, les pertes, et à accepter l’impuissance (Baum, 2003). Cette impuissance pourrait résulter en honte, elle-même liée au constat que les hommes sont réticents à demander de l’aide (Dulac, 2001). L’objectif principal est de comprendre comment des hommes vivent la rupture amoureuse et s’adaptent. Quatre thèmes sont déployés dans la problématique : les masculinités, l’amour, la rupture et le deuil. Le tout a été mis en contexte sur fond d’hypermodernité (Charles, 2007). L’approche théorique se compose de paradigmes compréhensifs des masculinités et d’un modèle du deuil sensible au genre (Martin et Doka, 2000). La méthodologie est qualitative, s’appuie sur des entrevues réalisées auprès de 24 hommes de 18-31 ans et implique une procédure d’analyse de contenu thématique (Paillé et Mucchielli, 2012). Les résultats démontrent que la rupture serait une expérience de vulnérabilité, ces hommes s’y sentiraient dénudés. Ceux qui vivraient mieux la rupture auraient plus de ressources adaptatives et présenteraient un équilibre entre se laisser vivre la peine, la colère et la vulnérabilité, tout en étant dans l’action. Ensuite, ils ressentiraient moins la nécessité de se conformer aux contraintes de rôle de genre, ils vivraient moins la rupture comme un affront à l’ego et ressentiraient moins de honte, de difficultés à demander de l’aide et d’impuissance. Enfin, ils auraient des périodes de tourments mais se mettraient ensuite en posture d’apprentissage, essayant de saisir les aspects constructifs de la rupture. Ces résultats conduisent à proposer différentes suggestions pour les hommes en rupture, leurs proches et les professionnels de la relation d’aide, voire de formuler quelques souhaits pour une société meilleure.

La maladie à issue potentiellement fatale (MIPF) chez l’enfant perturbe non seulement la vie du jeune malade, mais inévitablement l’ensemble de la vie familiale. Tant du point de vue des soins que de la recherche, le soutien à la famille s’inscrit comme une dimension incontournable dans la planification et la dispensation des services auprès de cette clientèle. Toutefois, peu d’études ont porté spécifiquement sur l’évaluation des besoins des frères et sœurs d’enfants atteints de MIPF. En conséquence, il n’existe que très peu d’instruments de mesure pour évaluer les besoins spécifiques de cette population et aucun ne serait disponible en français. Cela porte préjudice à l’avancement des connaissances dans ce domaine et conséquemment au développement des pratiques en soins palliatifs pédiatriques. La présente thèse s’intéresse aux besoins de la fratrie d’enfants atteints d’une MIPF et vise l’atteinte de deux buts. Premièrement, contribuer à l’élaboration d’un nouvel instrument dédié à la mesure des besoins non comblés de la fratrie d’enfants atteints d’une MIPF : l’inventaire des besoins de la fratrie d’enfants malades sévèrement (IBesFEMS). Deuxièmement, procéder aux premières étapes de la validation psychométrique de cet instrument. Quatre phases de recherche sont incluses. La première phase, réalisée dans le cadre de travaux de recherche antérieurs avait pour objectif de produire une typologie de besoins spécifiques à cette population, à partir de laquelle un bassin initial d’items de mesure a été généré dans le cadre de l’élaboration de cet instrument. La phase 2 a consisté en la validation de contenu de ces items auprès de quatre groupes d’experts. Dans le cadre de la phase 3, une première vérification préliminaire des qualités psychométriques de la première version de l’IBesFEMS a été réalisée. Celle-ci a conduit à l’actualisation d’une quatrième phase où les caractéristiques de validité et de fidélité de l’IBesFEMS ont été vérifiées. Bien que des analyses psychométriques complémentaires devront être réalisées dans le futur, l’IBesFEMS qui est composé de 48 items répartis en 10 dimensions, semble posséder les caractéristiques satisfaisantes afin d’être utilisé par les cliniciens et les chercheurs œuvrant auprès des enfants atteints de MIPF et leurs familles. Mots-clés : besoins, fratrie, soins palliatifs pédiatriques, développement d’instrument, propriétés psychométriques. / Life-threatening illnesses in children disrupt not only the lives of the young patients affected, but inevitably the life of the entire family as well. From both a care and research perspective, supporting the family is essential when planning and providing services for these clients. Yet few studies have expressly attempted to measure the needs of siblings of children with a life-threatening illness. Consequently there are very few measurement instruments available to assess the specific needs of this population, and none are in French. This impedes knowledge advancement in this field and thus the development of pediatric palliative care practices. This thesis concerns the needs of siblings of children with life-threatening illnesses. Its objectives are twofold: first, to develop a new instrument designed specifically to measure the unmet needs of siblings of children with a life-threatening illness, called the Inventaire des besoins de la fratrie d’enfants malades sévèrement (IBesFEMS), and second, to complete the preliminary steps of the psychometric validation process for this instrument. Four research phases were carried out. The first phase, completed during previous research work, aimed to produce a typology of the needs specific to this population, which was subsequently used to generate an initial pool of measurement items when the instrument was developed. Phase 2 consisted of having four groups of experts validate the content of these items. During Phase 3, a preliminary verification of the psychometric properties of the first version of IBesFEMS was completed. This led to the fourth phase in which the validity and reliability of IBesFEMS were verified. While further psychometric analysis is needed, IBesFEMS, which comprises 48 items over 10 dimensions, appears to have the characteristics needed for use by clinicians and researchers working with children with a life-threatening illness and their families. Keywords: needs, siblings, pediatric palliative care, measurement, psychometrics

Tableau d'honneur de la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales, 2005-2006 / L'objectif principal de ce mémoire est de mieux comprendre ce qui retient certains anglophones au Québec. L'identité a-t-elle un impact sur la décision des anglophones de rester? Une étude générationnelle a permis d'étudier les changements s'opérant au sein de la communauté anglophone de la région de Québec. Une analyse typologique d'entrevues qualitatives a mené à la conclusion suivante : même si d'autres facteurs expliquent ce qui retient certains anglophones, il reste que l'identité est au c?ur de l'explication de cette rétention. Plus encore, ce mémoire pose l'hypothèse d'un changement identitaire entre les nouvelles générations anglophones et leurs prédécesseurs.

The post-accession migration to the UK from the eight Central and Eastern European countries that joined the European Union in 2004 has attracted a significant amount of attention in public discourse as well as from scholars and policy-makers. On the one hand, these migrants are praised for their contributions to the local or national economy, for their work ethic and self-reliance as mostly young and well-educated labour migrants; on the other hand, post-enlargement migration is depicted as a threat to local public services and the British welfare system, or to British society more generally. Our knowledge about the 'new European migrants' in the UK, however, is limited in so far as the existing literature tends to adopt these interests and perspectives of the 'host society' or analyse migrants' experiences through an ethnic lens. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted over a twelve-month period, this thesis provides an empirically-grounded, contextually rich and theoretically informed understanding of how Czech- and Slovak-speaking migrants who arrived in Glasgow after 2004 negotiate insecurities and risks and build social security in their everyday lives in the city. The thesis offers novel insights and contributes to existing theoretical, methodological, and empirical research on the nexus of (post-accession) migration, social security, and risk. Methodologically, by focusing on a language-based group across ethnic, national, and cultural boundaries and by analytically probing the heterogeneity of the research group, the study challenges simplistic generalisations and the uncritical adoption of ethnocentric concepts and ideas. Each of the empirically-driven chapters develops both the theoretical and empirical argument in its own right, exploring, for example, the various processes through which a 'risk population' was produced in the field; my informants' notion of zkancelovali with regard to state-provided support in Glasgow; the significance of past experiences and everyday knowledges in negotiations of risk and in/securities; or the notion of 'exploring potentialities of care' in Glasgow and beyond. Theoretically, the thesis fruitfully integrates socio-cultural concepts of risk with an anthropological reconceptualisation of social security and refines these in relation to migrants' lived experiences. Overall, this ethnographic study argues for the value of shifting our gaze from a sole focus on migrants as research objects to wider processes and contexts in which migrants' specific meaning-making activities and everyday practices of negotiating in/securities and risks are situated and embedded.

This thesis examines the cultural consumption of live music events in contemporary South Korea. It explains the structure and emergence of the contemporary popular music industry, and offers a historical background to the development of South Korea’s society and culture. Live concerts, now a crucial part of music industry in Korea, are the central object of analysis, through which the current conditions of cultural consumption in South Korea are assessed. The thesis argues that music consumption experience in South Korea provides an opportunity through which a set of dilemmas and tensions in contemporary Korean identity can be explored. It proposes a theoretical concept, ‘Confucian Postmodernism’, with which to understand the contradiction and coexistence of Western postmodern and traditional values within the practices of cultural consumption. While academic research on music, culture and consumption is growing, there remains little research on the impact of the consumption of cultural products on East Asian social culture. This thesis offers a review of traditional and contemporary scholarly approaches to the study of music experience and consumption, identifying a deficit of research attention in the area of cultural consumption in South Korea. Through twenty semi-structured in-depth interviews, this study looks at both the Korean music market and consumer experiences, focusing on a specific experience of cultural consumption through the theories of ‘postmodern cultural consumption’ and Bourdieu’s ‘cultural capital’. Two major contemporary characteristics of Korean social identity are identified: (i) the tension between the activity of individual selfpresentation and necessary social conformity, and (ii) the struggle to gain symbolic differentiation within the Korean popular music field, the constitution of which betrays both traditional Confucian and postmodern influences. Assessing the role of music in terms of consumer experience dissolves previous theoretical distinctions between musical form content and aesthetic experience, while affording the opportunity to consider the broader socio-cultural shifts in South Korea.

Children with early language delay form a heterogeneous group. Although a significant number will catch up and develop language in the normal range, some will continue to have difficulties with language. Predicting the outcome for these children represents a challenging task for clinicians. It has been suggested that the assessment of sociocognitive skills contributes distinctively to the prediction of persistence of language and communication difficulties and the nature of these difficulties. In the absence of standardized assessments in Saudi Arabia for children with early language delay, this study aimed to take a first step to filling this gap by developing a battery of early sociocognitive and language measures. The battery consisted of six measures assessing sociocognitive and language skills using direct and indirect methods, some existing and some newly developed or adapted for this project. Sociocognitive measures were the Early Sociocognitive Battery (ESB; Chiat & Roy, 2006b), together with a new Motor Imitation test (MI) and Sociocognitive Questionnaire (SCogQ); language measures included the Sentence Repetition test (Wallan, Chiat, & Roy, 2011), a new Arabic research adaptation of the Language Use Inventory (O’Neill, 2009), and a preschool adapted version of the Arabic Picture Vocabulary Test (Shaalan, 2010). Since this project was performed in a very different language culture and included a wider range of sociocognitive and language measures than most previous studies, a second aim was to investigate relations between the different sociocognitive and language skills. The battery was administered to 161 Saudi children between the ages of 2;0-3;5 years, divided into three six-months age groups and almost equally divided into boys and girls. Addressing the first aim of this study, results showed that all the measures with the exception of the SCogQ were reliable, valid, and age sensitive. These findings suggest that the measures are fit for purpose and have the potential to identify children with early language delay. Parental concern matched children’s performance on direct and indirect measures of language for the majority of children. Turning to the second aim of the study, regressional analyses using the three language assessments as outcome measures showed that the ESB and MI were important predictors of pragmatic language and receptive vocabulary when other measures had been taken into account. It is concluded that the substantial set of data that this study has produced on the wide-ranging battery of assessments can serve as a reference for clinical comparison and as a foundation for standardization with a fully representative sample of young Saudi children. These measures not only enable the formal identification of a delay in Saudi preschoolers but are also informative about strengths and difficulties and can guide intervention. The results add to current understanding of the role sociocognitive skills play in language development, and provide the foundation for longitudinal research investigating relations to longer term outcomes.