Despite the developmental and clinical importance of body image during the pre-adolescent and adolescent years, there remains a dearth of information on the body image experiences of immigrant children and adolescents. This thesis represents a purposeful attempt to examine body image experiences among immigrant and ethnic minority children and adolescents in Canada and the United States (US). Specifically, the thesis integrates multiple methods (scoping reviews, qualitative interpretive description, quantitative multi-level modeling) and samples (clinical and population-based samples) to systematically contribute to the academic literature focusing on body image experiences among immigrant and ethnic minority children and adolescents in Canada and the US. Consisting of four conceptually related studies, this thesis makes the following methodological and conceptual contributions to epidemiological and clinical research and practice. First, the results from all four studies point to the need to develop standardized approaches for identifying and classifying immigrant and ethnic-minority children and adolescents. This will substantially increase the field’s ability to systematically characterize the nature and magnitude of body image dissatisfaction, body image distortion, and their associated outcomes among immigrant and ethnic minority children and adolescents. In addition, this systematic classification has the potential to inform the development or adaptation of universal and targeted preventative intervention strategies. Second, Study’s 1 and 2 demonstrate a clear need to further examine the constructs and experiences of acculturation and acculturative stress in relation to the body image experiences of immigrant and ethnic minority children and adolescents. The literature is unclear with respect to whether or not immigrant adolescents’ adoption of the values, behaviours and ideals of the Canadian or US culture increases their risk for body image concerns. On the other hand, we are also unclear as to whether or not immigrant adolescents’ retaining of the values, behaviours and ideals of their culture of origin may offer protection from poor body image experiences. Similarly, we are unclear about whether—and to what extent—stress as a result of adolescents’ acculturative experiences (i.e. acculturative stress) influence the onset or pervasiveness of body image concerns. Greater understanding about these constructs and processes and the extent to which they are implicated in the body image experiences among immigrant children and adolescents has the potential to inform culturally competent and targeted intervention approaches. Results from Study 3 indicate that immigrant adolescents have body image and appearance-related concerns that extend beyond what has typically been found among non-immigrant adolescents. More specifically, immigrant adolescents are concerned about the appearance of their skin (texture, complexion), their hair, their teeth, as well as other bodily features. It would be prudent for future researchers and clinicians to consider this information in relation to measuring, classifying and addressing body image dissatisfaction among immigrant adolescents. Finally, Study 4 demonstrates that females and first generation immigrants with body image dissatisfaction are at significantly elevated risk for body image distortion. This suggests that the assessment and intervention for body image dissatisfaction—particularly among females—soon after the migratory experience may play an important role in reducing body image distortion experiences. Taken together, the findings of this thesis strengthen the body image field by demonstrating that there are several unique aspects about being an immigrant that can influence adolescents’ body image experiences; and therefore, should be considered from a conceptual and methodological standpoint in future research and implementation of body image interventions. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Body image dissatisfaction and body image distortion have been linked to serious psychological outcomes, including depression and eating disorders. Yet, we know very little about the nature of these experiences among immigrant and ethnic minority children and adolescents. This thesis uses qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as general population and clinical samples to investigate body image dissatisfaction and body image distortion among immigrant and ethnic minority children and adolescents in Canada and the United States. Results provide important information that can inform the development of preventative interventions targeting body image dissatisfaction and body image distortion among immigrant and non-immigrant children and adolescents.

Abstract   This study aims to investigate students' perspectives on three teaching methods within the subject of religious education at upper secondary school: factual teaching, discussions, and meetings with religious representatives. Employing a deductive approach and utilizing Robert Jackson's interpretive approach as the primary theoretical framework, the study explores students' own experiences with these methods. The theory of safe space is employed to further analyse students' perceptions of discussions and their application in secondary education. Research questions delve into how Jackson's interpretive approach can shed light on students' interpretations and how the concepts of Safe and Brave Space can elucidate students' views on discussions as a teaching method. Data are gathered through focus group interviews and analysed using thematic analysis according to Bryman. The results suggest that students' statements align with Jackson's interpretive approach, and that a blend of factual teaching, discussions, and meetings with religious representatives fosters diversity while avoiding the homogenization of religions. Moreover, the results indicate that students yearn for open discussions on contemporary issues, provided they occur in a secure environment to prevent conflicts. The didactic relevance of this study extends to all religious educators, offering insights into student perspectives regarding current teaching methods. Keywords: Religious education, The interpretive approach, Safe space, classroom discussions, teaching strategies

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This is a time of expanding futures for transgender youth who are able to “buy time” by blocking puberty and transitioning young. Twenty years of clinical literature indicates that suppressing puberty can be lifesaving for trans youth, allowing them to avoid the distress and harm associated with transgender lives writ large. A growing number of “gender affirming” clinics now offer young trans people greater autonomy over their bodies, their futures, and their future bodies. Yet there remain troubling disparities, with indications that clinics are primarily serving white middle class trans youth and that autistic trans youth face delays. This thesis is a discourse analysis of 18 interviews with international health and mental health clinicians and 10 interviews with key stakeholders. Drawing from the literature of queer temporalities, sociological work on time and social power, queer and trans of colour critique, critical disability studies, critical autism studies, and transgender studies, I use an “interpretive repertoire” analysis to ask: How have puberty suppression and early gender transition become thinkable futures for trans youth? This thesis finds that the conditions of possibility that make early transition possible for some, are the same that foreclose it for others. The discourses of maturity and cognitive age, the expected “chrononormative” narrative, and the discourses of crisis and the “race against time”, each work to make outsiders of autistic and racialized trans youth in particular. While there is much to celebrate in the new futures available to trans youth, I argue that puberty blockers currently function as a “switchpoint” moving privileged trans youth onto a track toward even greater privilege, and widening the gap in life opportunities. This thesis introduces the concept of “the temporality of privilege” and calls for greater attention to the political implications augured by the contemporary scene of gender-affirming care for trans youth. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / We are in a time of expanding futures for transgender youth who are able to “buy time” by blocking puberty and transitioning to a new gender while young. Clinical research and literature suggest this as a lifesaving option for trans youth, allowing them to avoid distress and harm. Yet there remain troubling disparities with this treatment. Many clinics report they are primarily serving white middle class trans youth and there are some indications that autistic trans youth may be stalled or delayed in the process. I report on a discourse analysis of 18 interviews with health and mental health clinicians across six countries, in addition to 10 interviews with community level experts. I draw on a range of theory and an “interpretive repertoire” analysis to theorize how these futures become thinkable and possible for trans youth, while considering the political implications and unforeseen consequences for those youth unable to benefit.

The aim of this qualitative research study was to explore the influences of pornographic material on the sexual exploitation of children. An interpretive research method, based on phenomenological principles, was followed. A total of 18 semistructured interviews were conducted with sentenced sex offenders who had committed an offence against a child (a person under the age of 18). The research findings, obtained through a process of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), highlighted personal and family characteristics that could increase individuals’ susceptibility to the effect of exposure to pornographic material. Moreover, it was found that early, recurrent exposure to pornography results in physical, cognitive and behavioural influences that considerably increase the level of sexual satisfaction and need for instantaneous sexual gratification. This uncontrollable need for sexual gratification often results in destructive behaviour such as addiction to pornographic material, criminal sexual acts involving children and damage to the family system. The effect of sexually explicit material is furthermore intensified by the availability of pornographic material on the Internet, which considerably increases the likelihood of individuals being exposed to a variety of pornographic images, including illegal material such as child pornography. Based on the outcomes of the research study, it can be concluded that pornography does have an effect on human behaviour in relation to the sexual exploitation of children which necessitates the effective regulation of pornographic material, especially on the Internet, and the evaluation of the help profession’s approach to effectively deal with issues stemming from exposure to pornographic material / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

In the past 30 years there has been a steady and growing appreciation in the literature of the importance and value of teachers' practical wisdom (TPW) - or phronesis as it is also known - to further an understanding of classroom practice and of the need to find ways to help teachers generate and share their perspectives with others. Nevertheless, the potential of this kind of knowledge (understood by Aristotle to be both practical and moral in its orientation) to contribute valuable insights to educational debates has still to be realised. Rather, educational decisions about policy and practice in many contexts (whether at a national or institutional level) are still largely driven by theoretical and technical knowledge perspectives and teacher practical wisdom perspectives are still often under-valued and remain under-represented in educational literature. One of the main reasons for this put forward in this thesis is the tendency in much of the literature to see this form of knowledge as classroom bound rather than to realise the ways in which it can inform broader pedagogical discussions. Bearing all of the above in mind, the aim of the study reported in this thesis into the TPW of 14 experienced expatriate English as a foreign language teachers (EEEFLTs) working in English language centres (ELCs) across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is threefold. Its first aim is to provide a platform for the EEEFLTs to demonstrate the contribution their TPW can potentially make in addressing syllabus related issues in the KSA ELCs they have worked and, in doing so, show how the use of TPW is not confined to the classroom. Its second aim is to increase the visibility of the participants' TPW and thus raise awareness of the importance of research into TPW and to provide a model for how this can be conducted. The study's final aim is to provide a deeper understanding of the nature of TPW. Located in the interpretive paradigm, this study uses a TPW-friendly methodology to investigate TPW: interpretive phronetic educational research (IPER), which approaches and conducts educational research through a moral and practical problem-driven lens. This understanding drives the study's methodology and all stages of its data collection and analysis and the methods used in both. The goal of such methods is an epistemological one to generate TPW whilst empowering it also by highlighting its validity and how it is easily articulated - and thus captured - and not confined to the classroom. To assist with its articulation and capture, the study employs a process defined as Problematisation: a four-stage process consisting of reflection, problematisation, deliberation and articulation which drives and shapes the semi-structured interviews the study employs and the secondary research questions that inform the primary research question. The study concludes that the EEEFLTs use their TPW as a lens (that has 12 qualities) through which to view KSA ELC syllabi and, in doing so, identify many problems with the syllabi and subsequent consequences and suggest solutions to address both. These problems, consequences and solutions have been organised under six prominent categories that represent six main problem areas to emerge from the data that suggest the syllabi are teacher, textbook and test-centred, top-down, teacher-proof and time-driven. These categories represent six problem areas that in turn reflect the problematic, negative and disempowering context from which the data informing such categories and themes have been drawn. In this study, TPW is considered disempowered knowledge as a result of the disempowering context within which it has been acquired and is used. Previous TPW studies have been conducted in more positive settings and have perhaps for this reason not focused on TPW's disempowerment. In contrast, this study takes on a much more political role as it explores TPW's disempowerment in the KSA ELC context as well as in the broader context of academia and the literature. TPW's lack of visibility in TESOL and education has several implications because unless TPW achieves greater visibility, it may fade into extinction and its potential may never be realised. This study has been conducted in an attempt to prevent this happening.

The aim of this qualitative research study was to explore the influences of pornographic material on the sexual exploitation of children. An interpretive research method, based on phenomenological principles, was followed. A total of 18 semistructured interviews were conducted with sentenced sex offenders who had committed an offence against a child (a person under the age of 18). The research findings, obtained through a process of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), highlighted personal and family characteristics that could increase individuals’ susceptibility to the effect of exposure to pornographic material. Moreover, it was found that early, recurrent exposure to pornography results in physical, cognitive and behavioural influences that considerably increase the level of sexual satisfaction and need for instantaneous sexual gratification. This uncontrollable need for sexual gratification often results in destructive behaviour such as addiction to pornographic material, criminal sexual acts involving children and damage to the family system. The effect of sexually explicit material is furthermore intensified by the availability of pornographic material on the Internet, which considerably increases the likelihood of individuals being exposed to a variety of pornographic images, including illegal material such as child pornography. Based on the outcomes of the research study, it can be concluded that pornography does have an effect on human behaviour in relation to the sexual exploitation of children which necessitates the effective regulation of pornographic material, especially on the Internet, and the evaluation of the help profession’s approach to effectively deal with issues stemming from exposure to pornographic material / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

A rise in the number of high-profile cases of management failure and leadership misconduct increased the awareness of one of the core challenges of management, namely to lead responsibly and with integrity. The environment which senior managers create and within which middle managers need to function seems to have a direct bearing on the moral behaviour and integrity of the middle manager. The aim of this research was therefore to gain a better understanding of how middle managers view the impact of senior managers on their experience of integrity. There is an increasing need in organisations for responsible leadership, leadership with integrity and leadership towards developing the integrity of the follower. This study was conducted within the interpretive research paradigm. Sampling was directed by criterion-based guidelines, focusing on current middle managers from different industries in the private sector. In-depth interviews were conducted and the data was analysed using a grounded theory method. The main findings indicated that senior managers should engage in two debates with middle managers in the organisation. Firstly, integrity is not something that is demonstrated but rather means that leaders can be differentiated from other leaders when they lead with integrity. Secondly, defining integrity and linking it to personal standards and values, as well as aligning these standards and values to the organisational strategy, vision and mission, are important. The findings of this study can assist senior managers with decreasing unethical behaviour and increasing integrity in the organisation. The research provided a basic framework that can assist in creating a positive context for the viii relationship between senior managers and middle managers within which to function, in order to decrease unethical employee activity and increase integrity. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)