In response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of 2015, and the longstanding advocacy of Indigenous peoples, there is a national movement within Canada to better support Indigenous students in post-secondary institutions. Research that is strength-based, Indigenous-led, and community-focused recognizes the wealth of existing Indigenous knowledge, practices and programs across Canada. This includes the variety of interventions which are being employed to Indigenize and decolonize post-secondary institutions, such as the On-Campus Friendship Centre at Grande Prairie Regional College. The On-Campus Friendship Centre, which is an Indigenous-based support program for all students, has been running for nearly two decades. Nationally, there are 125 Friendship Centres, yet the On-Campus Friendship Centre is the only one that is directly situated within a post-secondary institution. Through the guidance of my Métis Sash Research Framework, which I created to reconcile Indigenous and qualitative methodologies, I have engaged in research that explores the role of the On-Campus Friendship Centre in the experiences of Indigenous students at Grande Prairie Regional College. From my findings, I discuss the role of the On-Campus Friendship Centre and address prominent challenges within the program. I also highlight wise-practices for improving Indigenous-based support within post-secondary institutions across Canada. / Graduate / 2019-08-31

This study will explore whether the relationships between grandparents and birthparents affect kinship care placement outcomes for court dependent children. Data was extracted from an existing study of kinship care providers.

Intergenerational relationships can be defined as interactions between members of different generations. There are two different groups of intergenerational relationships, historical and familial. The familial relationship consists of members who are familially related, while historical generations can be viewed as a cohort, or a group of people who have experienced similar historical events, because they are the same age or have lived through the same historical period. Most research in South Africa has focused on intergenerational relationships among African families. Research into these families highlights the role of grandparents as people with wisdom, life experience and the educative relationship they have with their grandchildren. Grandchildren, on the other hand, have to take care of their grandparents and respect them as older people. Members of the different generations provide social support, despite the fact that they are not familially-related. The norms that guided the interactions between these two generations provide individuals with a sense of continuity and stability. Social theories regarding intergenerational relationships are: the solidarity model, the solidarity and conflict model, and ambivalence. Current theories from the psychological perspective are: intergenerational intelligence and self-interactional group theory (SIGT). Little research has been conducted into intergenerational relationships among white familial generations in South Africa even though the phenomenon has been widely researched internationally. In order to establish the nature of the intergenerational relationship, young adults’ lived experiences of their relationships with older people was the focus of this research. This focus has been motivated by the fact that young adults and older people can benefit from effective intergenerational relationships; young adults provide a source of physical and emotional care for older people, where the older person in turn provide a source of affirmation and shared experience for young adults. This research is further motivated by the fact that it cannot be assumed that white generations in South Africa are necessarily following international trends. The study was conducted at the North-West University, at Potchefstroom in South Africa. Psychology Honours students were purposively selected to participate because of their age group as young adults, and their knowledge of human behaviour. It was thought that their description of their relational experiences would be of particular interest. Nineteen young adults (eighteen women and one man) aged 21 to 30 formed part of the study. Ethical approval for the research was obtained from North-West University. The participants gave informed consent that their participation was voluntary, and that they had been made aware that they could withdraw from the study at any time for whatever reason without any negative consequences. They were provided with the materials of the Mmogo-method®, which consist of clay, straws and colourful beads, and were invited to make a visual representation of their relationship with a person older than 60 years. When all the participants had completed their visual presentations, the researcher asked what each had made and why they had made it. An informal group discussion was conducted after each participant had told the others what they had made. During the discussion participants shared their subjective view of their experiences of their relationship with older people. The researcher employed visual data analysis and discourse analysis to analyse the data. Different guidelines were applied to ensure the trustworthiness of the research process and the findings. The results revealed that young adults experienced four types of relationships, which are presented as typologies. The two axes which describe the four types of relationships are: intimacy (physical and emotional) or distance and empathy or judgemental. The four types of intergenerational relationships that emerged from the combination of the different axes were: effective, normative-guided, ineffective, and double-bind. These findings can be used to develop programmes and interventions to promote intergenerational relationships. They also provide an opportunity for cross-cultural and international data to be compared with the four different relationship types. / MA (Clinical Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Intergenerational relationships can be defined as interactions between members of different generations. There are two different groups of intergenerational relationships, historical and familial. The familial relationship consists of members who are familially related, while historical generations can be viewed as a cohort, or a group of people who have experienced similar historical events, because they are the same age or have lived through the same historical period. Most research in South Africa has focused on intergenerational relationships among African families. Research into these families highlights the role of grandparents as people with wisdom, life experience and the educative relationship they have with their grandchildren. Grandchildren, on the other hand, have to take care of their grandparents and respect them as older people. Members of the different generations provide social support, despite the fact that they are not familially-related. The norms that guided the interactions between these two generations provide individuals with a sense of continuity and stability. Social theories regarding intergenerational relationships are: the solidarity model, the solidarity and conflict model, and ambivalence. Current theories from the psychological perspective are: intergenerational intelligence and self-interactional group theory (SIGT). Little research has been conducted into intergenerational relationships among white familial generations in South Africa even though the phenomenon has been widely researched internationally. In order to establish the nature of the intergenerational relationship, young adults’ lived experiences of their relationships with older people was the focus of this research. This focus has been motivated by the fact that young adults and older people can benefit from effective intergenerational relationships; young adults provide a source of physical and emotional care for older people, where the older person in turn provide a source of affirmation and shared experience for young adults. This research is further motivated by the fact that it cannot be assumed that white generations in South Africa are necessarily following international trends. The study was conducted at the North-West University, at Potchefstroom in South Africa. Psychology Honours students were purposively selected to participate because of their age group as young adults, and their knowledge of human behaviour. It was thought that their description of their relational experiences would be of particular interest. Nineteen young adults (eighteen women and one man) aged 21 to 30 formed part of the study. Ethical approval for the research was obtained from North-West University. The participants gave informed consent that their participation was voluntary, and that they had been made aware that they could withdraw from the study at any time for whatever reason without any negative consequences. They were provided with the materials of the Mmogo-method®, which consist of clay, straws and colourful beads, and were invited to make a visual representation of their relationship with a person older than 60 years. When all the participants had completed their visual presentations, the researcher asked what each had made and why they had made it. An informal group discussion was conducted after each participant had told the others what they had made. During the discussion participants shared their subjective view of their experiences of their relationship with older people. The researcher employed visual data analysis and discourse analysis to analyse the data. Different guidelines were applied to ensure the trustworthiness of the research process and the findings. The results revealed that young adults experienced four types of relationships, which are presented as typologies. The two axes which describe the four types of relationships are: intimacy (physical and emotional) or distance and empathy or judgemental. The four types of intergenerational relationships that emerged from the combination of the different axes were: effective, normative-guided, ineffective, and double-bind. These findings can be used to develop programmes and interventions to promote intergenerational relationships. They also provide an opportunity for cross-cultural and international data to be compared with the four different relationship types. / MA (Clinical Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The cost of climate policy depends on the no-policy alternative without which the opportunity cost of climate action cannot be determined. This reference path has to reflect the current failure in the market for carbon emissions: due to a negative externality, private investment decisions do not consider the climate damage they entail; agents overinvest in conventional capital and underinvest in climate capital. Internalization of climate damage lowers the private return to capital; agents reduce investment in favor of mitigation and consumption. Optimal climate mitigation increases welfare of the present and the future. Simulation of the inefficient no-policy scenario in DICE-07 confirms that this point numerically. (author's abstract)

Résumé : Le chant choral serait bénéfique à tout âge : cette étude choisit d’en mesurer les impacts auprès de personnes très âgées. Un devis quantitatif quasi-expérimental à trois groupes fut adopté : la Chorale, l’Hebdo-Bistro (ateliers et conférences, groupe de comparaison), et le groupe Témoin. L’étude longitudinale, intergénérationnelle, comporta trois saisons. La cognition (Mattis, 3MS, Trail Making, empan numérique, fluences formelle, catégorielle), l’humeur (bien-être général, dépression (GDS)), l’autoefficacité (GSES) et l’autonomie (QAF) furent mesurées à trois reprises (pré, post, 2e post). En outre, des mesures hebdomadaires furent administrées concernant la santé physique (consultations médicales, médicaments, chutes) et la participation sociale (activités). L’analyse intergroupe ne rapporta aucune différence significative. Les comparaisons intragroupe montrèrent une amélioration significative pour la Chorale (3MS et activités sociales), et une tendance d’amélioration pour la Chorale et l’Hebdo-Bistro (fluence formelle). Bien que le petit échantillon (n=21) exclue toute généralisation, les résultats demeurent inspirants en contexte de vieillissement populationnel. / Abstract : Choir singing is known to be beneficial : this study chose to measure its impacts on elderly people. The quantitative and quasi-experimental design included three groups : the Choir, Hebdo-Bistro (conference workshops), the comparison group, and the Control group. This longitudinal, intergenerational study lasted for three seasons. Cognition (Mattis, 3MS, Trail Making, Numeral WAIS Scale, Formal and Categorical Fluences), humor (Psychological Well-being of American Adults, Geriatric Depression Scale), self-efficacy (Schwartzer), and autonomy (QAF questionnaire) were administered three times (pre, post, 2nd post). In addition, weekly measurements were administered on health related topics (medical consultations, medication, falls) and social participation (activities). The analyses showed no significant differences between groups. However, the intra-group analyses showed a significant improvement for the Choir (3MS, social activities), and a tendency for improvement (Formal Fluence) for the Choir and Hebdo-Bistro groups. The small sample (n =21) excludes any generalization, but the results are promising in today’s aging context.

This thesis examines intergenerational change in prevalence of and attitudes to physical activity by comparing first and second-generation South Asians in Britain. British South Asians have poorer health outcomes including a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes than White British people. Physical inactivity is one of the risk factors for CVD and diabetes. Physical activity levels are lower among British South Asians than the White British population, for reasons that include cultural factors related to being South Asian, the low socioeconomic status of some South Asian groups, and living in deprived neighbourhoods. However, existing literature on physical activity levels does not clearly distinguish between first and second-generations. Understanding generational differences in the influences on physical activity among South Asians is important for developing appropriate interventions. First, I review the existing quantitative and qualitative literature on physical activity in second-generation South Asians. There is some evidence that second-generation South Asians are more physically active than the first-generation. Despite this, second-generation South Asians remain less active than White British people. Neither the quantitative nor the qualitative literature has adequately explored the reasons for these findings. I then use data from the Health Survey for England to explore the ways that adult Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are physically active. When analysed by age and sex, all South Asians and the White British group were physically active in different ways to each other. However, there was little difference between younger Indians and younger White British people in the contribution of walking to total activity. Finally, I present a qualitative analysis of how ethnicity influences physical activity in second-generation South Asians. I interviewed 28 Indian women living in Manchester, England. I found that a British schooling and messages from the media had strongly influenced second-generation Indian women's attitudes to physical activity. Consequently, their motivations and barriers to physical activity were generally very similar to those reported for White British women. Second-generation Indian women had mostly adopted Western gender roles, with Indian gender expectations having a limited impact on their physical activity. In contrast, the traditional roles of Indian women constrained the leisure-time physical activity of the first-generation Indian women. There was no generational difference in how the local neighbourhood influenced physical activity. This thesis demonstrates clear differences in physical activity prevalence and attitudes between first and second-generation South Asian women in the UK. Interventions aimed at improving local environments for physical activity are likely to help all people living in deprived areas, regardless of ethnic background. Changing generic Western social norms around femininity and being physically active may be more important than tailored interventions for second-generation Indian women.

What started out as a neat little argument for teaching about religion (AR) in public schools has become a wide-ranging essay asking why so many big ideas for education keep falling flat. The new argument, unifying the added themes, is that modern education is caught in self-defeating patterns of rationalizing and over-articulating its own meaningfulness and legitimacy. Thus, self-deception distorts the fulfillment of intergenerational responsibilities. The original topic has become a first example that leads into and illuminates the problem. As an educational idea, AR claims to address secularization for our times. If upon further thought the idea seems hollow, it becomes necessary to look again at the real world of secularization. AR reflects the contemporary obsession with diversity and the compulsion to turn education into a parade of possibilities. What is taught is merely a rationalized stance. Indeed, given that the legitimacy of an education system depends on locating authority within a recognizable source of meaning, and given that modernity foregrounds incommensurable diversity, there is an apparent obviousness to grounding the educational enterprise in bare proceduralism and then topping it up by tenuously claiming association with various deeper sources. But George Grant’s characterization of the religious education of an earlier generation still holds: “a few thin platitudes.” In religious contexts, a distinction is sometimes made between religious instruction and formation within thick tradition and community. Even in a secular age, the young deserve some kind of thick formation. Yet that seems unimaginable, because contemporary common sense is caught in what Hubert Dreyfus calls theoretical holism. Secularization presents education not with an array but with a dilemma: To go on trying to manage meanings for the young, or to allow them to find meaning in strong practices? Facing this dilemma will entail facing the disenchantment generated in our deepest Western educative impulses. Rediscovering true sources of educational authority for our times will entail going back to the origins of modern schooling in the breakup of the apprenticeship model and rethinking an institutional solution that so fundamentally denies the way in which human beings become oriented to meaning through strong practices. / October 2016

This study was conducted in the Indian state Kerala, among 15 physical education (PE) teachers. The aim of this study was to investigate intergenerational touch in the daily work of Indian PE teachers, and more precisely whether or not the teachers thought intergenerational touch was an issue and what their views on this subject were. The data was generated through semi-structured interviews with teachers from Keralan primary, secondary and upper-secondary schools. Collected data was analysed by using Michel Foucault’s theoretical concepts of discourse, power/knowledge, bio-power, governmentality, normalisation and panopticism. The study identifies a number of different discourses, in which physical interaction emerged as a dilemma for Indian PE teachers. Two of the most distinct ones were, what we refer to as, the “no touch”- and “risk”-discourses. Based on the findings of this study we conclude that the gender of the PE teacher plays a crucial role in whether a teacher choose to physically interact with their students or not. Societal norms have a great influence on PE teachers’ actions concerning intergenerational touch, which in this context cohere around no touch.

An important need exists to build a baseline understanding of the phenomenon of formal mentoring relationships involving adults and youth from the gay community. During the formative years when gay adolescents navigate through the process of understanding, defining, accepting, and sharing their identity as a sexual minority, they are often faced with high levels of environmental risks, including victimization, stress, and negative social sanctions by others. Formal mentoring has been recommended as a potential strategy to offer unique one-to-one support to gay youth that can help to foster resilience and a range of positive outcomes, including strengthening processes involved in identity development; yet, no previous studies have captured insights about these relationships. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), this study investigated the following research questions: (a) What are the most important characteristics of long-term formal mentoring relationships between gay adults and gay youth from the perspectives of the participants? (b) How, if at all, do mentors and mentees perceive potential benefits and limitations for gay youth participating in long-term formal mentoring relationships with gay adults? (c) How, if at all, do mentors and mentees perceive their mentoring relationship uniquely contributing to sexual-minority identity development in gay youth? After a 2-year search for participants, a purposeful sample of one mentoring dyad was chosen. Semi-structured in-person interviews were conducted with the match at the 17-month and 22-month mark of their relationship. This study contained four assertions based on this study's findings: (a) This long-term mentoring relationship between an adult and a youth from the gay community shared numerous similarities with other high quality mentoring relationships; (b) This mentoring relationship offered insight into how to create individualized and long-term support for sexual-minority identity development in youth; (c) This mentoring relationship represented an important but unrealized type of support that can potentially be used to complement existing peers, internet, and community-based resources for gay youth; and (d) Complexity continues to exist in using language and self-labeling to define, inquire, and provide support to individuals from the gay community--especially youth. Recommendations for programming, policy, and future research are provided.