In 1995 the Government of Ontario introduced reforms that significantly changed the way welfare was delivered in the province. Welfare rates were cut and benefits became conditional on recipients participating in a workfare programme called Ontario Works. These reforms ignore women's responsibility for child care. Single mothers and their children will be the group most affected by these changes. Single mothers are interviewed about how these changes have affected them, with particular attention to their experiences with the Ontario Works programme and its impact on their ability to care for their children.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Georgia Southern University, 2007. / "A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education." Curriculum Studies, under the direction of Advis Dell Wilkerson. ETD. Electronic version approved: December 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-150) and appendices.

Thesis (M.A. (Health Social Science))--Mahidol University, 2008.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 151-163).

Thesis (M. Hous. M.))--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Family Sciences. / Bibliography: leaves 141-154.

Thesis (M.Hous.M.))--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 236-248). Also available on the Internet.

This thesis explores the experiences of Working Lone Mothers (WLMs) as they attempt to negotiate the complex articulation of public/private spaces whilst caring for their children and themselves. The focus of the research is set on WLMs “understanding and practice of care within their „relational network” of family and friends and against the contextual backdrop of the community in which they live. More specifically, it seeks to ascertain the type and quality of care currently articulated in the private domain against the assumption that changing gender roles may produce a 'care deficit' or caring 'gaps' within the family context of 21st century Britain. With this objective in mind, I have carried out 35 in-depth interviews of WLMs living in the South Wales area between the Rhondda Valley and Cardiff. The research is conceptually placed within the framework of an „ethic of care‟, which, as a moral theory, is only a few decades old and, as such, is still in the process of being formulated. With a relative small number of care ethicists currently publishing in the international and national arena, this thesis seeks to enhance the value and importance of care both as a private and as a public virtue and practice against the cultural and political dominance of an ethic of work. From this particular standpoint, if an ethic of work seems to be increasingly hijacked by consumer capitalism and shaped to respond primarily to “privatised” and “marketised” self-interest, an ethic of care appears to have been relegated to the private concerns and considerations of women in the domestic sphere of life. Against this backdrop, whilst the understanding of the public/private articulation has remained primarily a matter of theoretical discussion, the important dimension of care has not yet been thoroughly investigated within the empirical framework of these conflicting environments. This thesis intends to offer an empirical investigation of these issues by evaluating the inter-dynamic nature of WLMs “paid work in relationship to their caring commitments. In the process, the embedded tensions of both environments will be exposed and analysed. I will argue that whilst “enabling flexible arrangements” at work are conducive to a better management of caring work and promote a better balance between the two domains, “disabling flexible arrangements”are not. Given that the latter have emerged as the most common form of work management, many WLMs do struggle to find the time to care. Yet, under these constraints, WLMs have devised strategies that allow them to carry out their caring responsibilities by ways of maximising their limited resources of time, space and energy whilst minimising their overall investment. This process appears to be so clearly widespread amongst the respondents as to have generated definable patterns. Namely, under apparently normalised and routinised conditions, the cumulative effect of transferring and converting commodified values and practices from the public sphere and the workplace into the world of informal care has been increased and intensified to such an extent as to affect and change the type and quality of care that WLMs are able to experience and practice in relation to their children, to themselves and to some extent, to their "relational networks".

This qualitative study explored the lives of 11 Black men to better understand how Black men who were raised in single Black mother homes build romantic relationships with Black women. One focus group and a series of individual in-person interviews were conducted with the participants who ranged between 23 and 43 years of age. Participants were asked questions that inquired about their family of origin, messages they received about relationships, how they define masculinity, their perceptions of Black women, and their previous and current experiences building romantic relationships. Guided by a narrative approach, several different coding methods were used to help reveal six core themes related to the study. Some of the more significant themes include: 1) conflicted feelings towards their parents and Black women; 2) male mentorship; and 3) masculinity. Because the study was conducted using a non-deficit approach, the findings were analyzed using Helms’ “Black racial identity development model”, critical race theory, and intersectionality; to conceptualize the participants’ experiences though the lens of White privilege, racism, oppression, and racial identity. The study revealed an inequity of empathy among the group of men related to their feelings towards their mothers and fathers. Additionally, then men’s feelings towards their mothers had a larger impact compared to their fathers on their perceptions of Black woman and how they build romantic relationships. This study is significant because it is the first study to simultaneously explore single Black mother homes and Black men and romantic relationships. Additionally, the study is significant because it provides rich insight about this specific topic and other features of the Black experience along with culturally relevant interventions and implications for counselors and counselor educators.