abstract: This thesis investigates how homeless men and women who use one of only six human services campuses (hscs) in the nation negotiate the stigmatization they may feel as homeless people living in Phoenix, Arizona. An hsc centralizes services to one area of the city to decrease the run around of scattered-site service delivery. It also creates a legitimized space for the homeless in the city. A place for the homeless can be a rarity in cities like Phoenix that have a history of implementing revanchist policies and neo-liberal land use planning, most notably found in its downtown revitalization efforts. During Phoenix's development as a major metropolitan area, the homeless population emerged and lived a life on the margins until the 2005 creation of the Human Services Campus. This research unearths the experiences of homeless men and women who use the HSC today. I used qualitative methods, including document review, 14 in-depth interviews with homeless men and women, 7 interviews with service providers, informal conversations with additional homeless clients, and 14 months of field observations at the HSC to collect the data presented in this thesis. The results of this research illustrate reasons why the homeless clients interviewed were sensitive to the stigmatization of their social status, and how they managed their stigmatization through relationships with homeless peers and staff on the HSC. The presence of an action plan to exit homelessness was critical to the nature of these relationships for clients, because it influenced how clients perceived their own stigmatization as a homeless person. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Sociology 2011

M.Ed. / The research was done in Sections A, DI, D2 and E, Giyani Township, in the Northern Province. The main participants were mothers who had lost their adult children in fatal traffic accidents. Other members of the community were also interviewed to find out about their attitudes towards traffic fatalities of young people in Giyani. The research methods used were interviews, questionnaires and observations. These three methods were found to be appropriate in the elicitation of the data. The main purpose of the research was to find out what the views of bereaved parents were with regard to an awareness campaign in road safety. After the analysis of data, it was found that people in Giyani do really need a solution to the said problem, but they would most probably prefer a support group whereby people would be offered assistance after traumatic experiences - not necessarily only when confronted with fatal traffic experiences, but all types of trauma. The opinion of a support group was that people believed traffic fatalities are unpredictable and unavoidable.

During this research project, an attempt was made to understand the role of ecotherapy as a therapeutic model in post conflict healing. The aim was to evaluate the application and significance of ecotherapy as an intervention strategy for post conflict healing for individuals who were exposed to violent encounters during the liberation struggle. Eight respondents (involved in the arms struggle) from Mdanstane Township in the Eastern Cape, were taken through a series of workshops as part of an ecotherapy healing process. The research concluded that all the participants had suffered from some form of traumatic stress because of their exposure to violence and violent experiences. Moreover, on closer examination the situation of ex-combatants proved to be more complex and often volatile, due to the absence of social support, loss of social status, absence of economic, employment opportunities, and the dislocation from their families and communities. Subsequent to the ecotherapy intervention, a positive outlook amongst the participants was recorded. Furthermore, there was an indication of a significant increase in their sense of self-worth and personal development, which influenced the manner in which the participants viewed the world, related to their families or communities and responded to life in general. Essentially, the research findings, conclusions, and recommendations contributed towards a better understanding of ex-combatants and the value that could be derived from ecotherapy as a post conflict healing method for individuals and groups exposed to violence and trauma.

In recent years, there has been a trend in Canada towards a model of social assistance which is pro-active in getting people off social assistance and into the labour force. Despite the proliferation of supply-side focussed programs emphasizing training and employment-counselling, however, there has been little research and evaluation of workfare models in the Canadian context. The purpose of this study is to explore the primary and secondary effects, as perceived by the clients, of a three month employment-counselling program (PSDN) that serves long-term unemployed social assistance recipients in Edmonton, Alberta. The qualitative study utilizes a basic time series (A-B) design for exploratory-descriptive purposes. Four categories of participants in the PSDN program are identified: Reactive, Pro-active, Restricted and Reluctant. The findings suggest that policies and programs need to acknowledge the diversity and heterogeneity of problems being faced by the unemployed on social assistance. There are potential benefits in developing programs for the unemployed on social assistance which are flexible, positive, motivating, and supportive. Clients require different levels of interventions and services depending on their needs. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Discusses the importance of social skills in young children, and the need for "naturalistic" procedures rather than teacher direction to intervene in social development of children with disabilities. Presents strategies for supporting social behaviors in preschoolers that foster social skills development in areas including large- and small-group activities, sociodramatic play, and instructional materials and toys. (HTH)

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