This study aimed to explore and develop a fresh understanding of the community service needs of persons with spinal injuries. Different concepts of need were explored, which required multiple methodologies including a review of government policies and legislation, analysis of demographic, injury related and service usage data obtained from a survey, and analysis of interviews with persons with spinal injuries and their carers. Normative need was interpreted by government and service providers in terms of functional impairment and economic disadvantage, which did not reflect the individual needs of persons with spinal injuries. Neither were services for persons with spinal injuries provided to individuals according to the criteria of their felt or expressed need for services, their perceptions of the intrinsic importance of services, nor on the basis of redressing comparative inequities in service distribution. Persons with spinal injuries’ need for community services could only be understood on the basis of the contribution services made to the realisation of their plans of life, that is, to be ordinary. In order to parallel plans of ordinariness, services need to be offered in partnership with, or under the control of the person with spinal injuries, foster an essential relationship between the provider and the person with spinal injuries, and not inappropriately assess and judge the life plans of persons with spinal injuries based upon providers’ perceptions of difference. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The aim of the study was to explore and describe the experiences of children who have been raped. It is a known fact that children are raped every day in South Africa, but how the consequences are experienced by the child victims of rape is another matter. Specifically, the researcher wanted to determine whether these children receive the support that is their constitutional right and whether or not they are subjected tc secondary victimization. The sampling strategy employed was purposive sampling. This type of sampling wai selected, as the researcher was looking for a particular type of participant, that is, children who had disclosed rape. The sample consisted of six female children between the ages of 5 and 17years. Participants' parents were consulted for their consent at c counseling centre for abused children in Durban, where participants attended group counseling and individual sessions. The data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and analyzed usin^ thematic analysis. Unstructured interviews were tape recorded and transcribed. Thesi transcriptions were coded for descriptive themes and were analyzed using thematic conten analysis. The research findings suggest that children have mixed views regarding the quality of the help they receive; some had positive experiences and some had negative experiences. Despite the fact that most participants experienced a sense of being interrogated and had feelings of being not involved during discussions, two participants reported that although rape is an atrocious experience there were positive consequences for them. For example, getting attention from significant people in their lives was one of their positive experiences. It was the experience of the researcher that there is a lack of research pertaining to the experiences of children who are rape victims, especially research focusing on the quality of support that rape victims ought to receive. Further research is recommended to clarify and measure the prevalence of typical feelings and experiences of children who have been raped / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

An estimated 800,000 Canadian children are exposed to domestic violence in their homes every year. Families experiencing domestic violence use various community and government agencies along with the criminal and civil court systems. Unfortunately, collaboration between these agencies and the courts is described by professionals in Montreal as being problematic and strained. Elsewhere in Canada and the United States, some cities and communities have made progress in working through the complex obstacles inherent in the coordination of services in the area of domestic violence. This thesis will examine 14 inter-agency programs and coordinated models of intervention that have been initiated outside the province of Quebec to respond to the needs of children exposed to domestic violence. The history of these programs, their objectives and along with coordination mechanisms will be examined. A discussion regarding the implications of these findings for practice in regards to coordination of services in Montreal will also be presented.

The delivery of youth protection services by indigenous social workers in native communities is a fairly recent development in Quebec. This research project is a qualitative study of the practice experience of Inuit community workers located on the Ungava Bay coast of Arctic Quebec. Using participant observation and dialogue as methods of inquiry, an attempt is made to render an account of the workers' day-to-day experience of youth protection work. The findings suggest that their conditions of work encourage a passive subordination to the bureaucratic organization of practice. This tendency emerges in response to the difficulties workers encounter while trying to conform to the requirements of the Youth Protection Act and, at the same time, to the norms and realities of Inuit village life. The resultant tension is central to the Inuit workers' experience and not amenable to any simple resolution. Implications for social work practice, policy and research are examined in light of these findings.

Thesis (M.H.S.A.)--University of Michigan, 1979.

Thesis (M.H.S.A.)--University of Michigan, 1979.

Thesis (MTech(Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2006 / One of the challenges facing the South African community is the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The epidemic not only disrupts the economy but one of its emerging impacts is through the children who are left orphaned. The challenge has come at a time when economic circumstances are making it difficult for extended families to lend a helping hand to children who are orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS. The children left behind are usually left on their own or are absorbed through care and support centres which are being becoming popular. The challenge of these care and support centres has come at a time when an increase in abuse by the personnel of care and support centres has emerged internationally. Communities can no longer turn a blind eye to the atrocities that are being experienced by the children within these centres. This challenge is double edged as communities feel isolated by the care and support centres which are based within their communities. The challenge is how communities can breach the gap between children within care and support centres and children who are left on their own. The care and support centres available for HIV/AIDS orphans in Khayelitsha are predominantly run by foreign donors, which limit community participation. This has led to the isolation of community members and care and support centre staff and the core problem of this study will address the evaluation of the care and support centres. Questions such as what happens to children's properties after their parents' death, and do they belong in care and support centres or within their communities arise. These are the areas which will be scrutinized in the study. Areas in which this thesis will attempt to provide insights and make concrete recommendations. Simultaneously with the extensive exploration of care and support centres available for HIV/AIDS orphans theories include the : • Available care and support centres • Community participation within care and support centres • The concept of "ubuntu' in relation to family existence It is hoped that the focus on the care and support centres available for HIV/AIDS orphans will make some contribution to effective care and support centres in this areas, thereby increasing community participation which in turn will revive the concept of ubuntu within communities. Finally, recommendations such as the direct involvement of community members is required to attain which services the care and support centres can offer to the community and how the community play an active role within care and support centres will be offered in this thesis, as informed by the survey results, to effectively manage care and support centres for HIV/AIDS orphans in Khayelitsha.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the program focus and contributing factors to program composition of five health promotion programs for seniors. The programs are selected using opportunistic sampling from five different local areas in metropolitan Vancouver. The five areas together constitute metropolitan Vancouver. A theoretical framework based on health promotion as a process which enables people to take control of their health promotion programming and recognizes that social, political, and organizational interventions are as important as individual actions, is used to support the purpose of this study. An ethnographic approach is used to collect observational, interview and documentary data on program focus, process and organization. The data are analyzed qualitatively to further the understanding of health promotion as a process central to individual and group empowerment in program focus and organization. The findings confirm that these programs focus predominantly on individual behaviour change efforts and only minimally on underlying environmental and community change factors. In the process of examining these health promotion programs for seniors, themes emerged which shed light on which factors most influence program composition. Program organization and process which involves multiple historical, theoretical and organizational factors are seen to most heavily influence program composition. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate

An effort to investigate the quality of services at community correction facilities from the perspective of both inmates and staff led to the proposition of four hypotheses. These hypotheses were formulated to show the relationship between key independent variables, such a facility type, time at facility, age, ethnicity, educational level, and dependent (outcome) variables, which included inmate's and staff's views of privacy, safety, rules and regulations, and crowding at these respective facilities.

No description available.