Recent scientific investigations into ice sheet disintegration posit the possibility of rapid sea level rise and raise the social and political issue of how we, as individuals and collectives, will respond to potential non-linear Earth-system events prompted by climate change. Should non-linear events in the Earth-system be experienced as crises in social, economic and political systems, they may provide opportunities for the establishment of authoritarian political orders. In light of this consideration, this thesis explores the contribution radical phenomenology, which theorizes the relation between non-linear events and dominant modes of understanding, makes to maintaining and extending democratic traditions in the face of potential non-linear Earth-system events. In-depth qualitative interviews with campaign and communication staff in two B.C. environmental movement organizations (David Suzuki Foundation and Sierra Club of Canada – B.C. Chapter) explore dominant themes in current public-political articulations of climate change that are then put into conversation with understandings offered through radical phenomenology.

This thesis is an exploratory investigation of public opinion about open-street closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance in Canada. Since 1981, at least 14 cities in Canada have established CCTV monitoring programs to address crime, fear of crime, and social disorder. Opportunities for the public to participate in the establishment of CCTV are limited, yet the opinions and interests of Canadians are invoked in CCTV promotional rhetoric. This study involves the discourse analysis of data from focus groups on the subject of CCTV conducted with seniors and support shelter clients in downtown Kelowna, British Columbia; Kelowna has run a CCTV monitoring program since 2001. I argue that understandings of public CCTV are linked to normative visions of the downtown, rather than evidence of CCTV’s effectiveness. I also argue that public opinion about CCTV is contingent on the availability of resources and information. I recommend improved public consultation as one possible solution.

In recent years, research has come to focus on the empirical relationship between trust and voluntary association involvement within social capital literature. Scholars have explored the question of whether trust can be implicated as a cause, or as an effect of voluntary association involvement. In the same way, others have found evidence to support the claim that voluntary association involvement leads to increased levels of trust. The focus of this study is to examine the relationship and causal direction, if any, between trust and voluntary association involvement, using longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) 1990 through to 2004. Findings indicate that a reciprocal relationship exists between trust and voluntary association involvement. Results show that voluntary association involvement leads to an increased sense of trustworthiness of others. At the same time, causal links from generalized trust to voluntary association involvement were found to be significant. In addition, findings also suggest that type of voluntary association is a significant factor in the relationship between trust and voluntary association involvement.

Conceptualizations of social cohesion, social support, and social capital are often Overlapping. This thesis aims to clarify and operationalize the term social cohesion, and empirically test the mediating effects of social cohesion on the income and health relationship. First, the inequality/social cohesion treatise postulated by Wilkinson (1996) is deconstructed and its limitations extrapolated. Second, relevant literature is drawn upon to create a social cohesion model that is inclusive of both social capital and social support variables. Third, multiple regression statistical analyses is performed using survey data administered to randomly selected middle-aged residents (N=918) of Victoria, British Columbia. It is argued that past research concerning social capital has been hastily conducted and erroneous conclusions have been drawn concerning social capital as a social determinant of health. This research vindicates the hypothesis that a critical re-examination of the social determinants of health literature is necessary.

This exploratory study examines social work practice at Usma Child and Family Services and provides a descriptive understanding of social work practice within the Nuu chah nulth communities. An interpretive analysis explores participants’ views about social work practice in a First Nations child welfare context. Qualitative interviewing and thematic analyses provide the basis for theme identification, which includes: Historical and political influences; Family and extended family; Building relationships; Children in care: knowing where they are from; and Helper’s values. The study concludes with a discussion of Aboriginal social work practice as a decolonizing framework.

The concept of global citizenship has permeated the Canadian institutional landscape in recent years. Global citizenship is presented in contested and complex ways by academics, yet non-governmental organizations present it as a well understood, inherently positive, and unproblematic concept. The purpose of this study is to explore and contextualize the concept of “engaged global citizens” within youth-focused international development programs. Through a case study analysis of the World University Service of Canada’s International Seminar program, I examine Canadian post-secondary students’ understanding of global citizenship and explore the multiplicity of factors affecting their engagement. This study relies primarily on longitudinal interview data collected with a small sample of participants over a period of five months and a point-in time interview phase conducted with a larger number of participants while they were taking part in the International Seminar in West Africa.

In the present phenomenological study, mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) were interviewed using semi-structured, open-ended interview questions. The purpose of this study was to explore the stressors and joys, and parental coping associated with having a child with ASD, before and after out-of-home placement. A total of 9 mothers, six from British Columbia and three from Alberta, participated in the study. The findings suggest that along with stressors, parents experienced a multitude of joys throughout their caregiving experiences. Also, joys had an impact on caregiver's stress-coping process. This study, therefore, expanded upon current states of knowledge on the adaptational function of joys to caregivers of individuals with chronic conditions. In light of the findings, modified stress-coping process model based on the work of Lazarus and Folkman (1984), Folkman (1997), and Pearlin et al. (1990; 1980) is proposed. Also, findings shed light on mothers' lived-experiences leading up to and after out-of-home placement, illuminating an understudied aspect of caregiving for children with ASD.

This case study is specifically concerned with the implementation and impact of the Health and Social Services Delivery Improvement Act (Bill 29-2002) upon unions and the workers who deliver health care services in one health authority in British Columbia. The Act eliminated or reduced a number of union roles, and workers’ rights and benefits previously achieved through decades of collective bargaining. Qualitative, face-to-face interviews with four health care union leaders or designates combined with documentary analysis and literature reviewed were the methods employed to collect data. This study documents four major findings: 1. The legislation impacted all workers facing programme and facility closures but in particular support workers, mainly women, who were contracted out who also lost pay equity gains established through collective bargaining; 2. Amidst the government ideology and dogma of the public policy shift with contracting out there were initial reports of organizational impacts in health facilities with reduced morale, increased workload, a division between workers and reduced quality of service to patients and residents; 3. Unions experienced legislative interference in their role and described this as “union busting” in neo-liberal times of health care restructuring; 4. Unions employed several democratic mechanisms to resist and forged alliances to strengthen their resistance.

This report describes the evolution of a prototype portable amenity kiosk to be used by female outdoor sex workers. Following recommendations by Benoit and Millar (2001 pg. 96), I have worked collaboratively with Prostitutes Empowerment, Education and Resource Society (PEERS) to find solutions to two serious problems affecting the outdoor sex trade: 1. The lack of safety, security and well being for on-street sex workers; 2. The persistent negative perception of sex workers by the public, linked to depression and low self-worth. Through small focus groups with sex workers held at PEERS, interviews with social service providers and deep phenomenological immersion in the community, this research has attempted to elicit a strategy for making life on the street safer and better. Central to this thesis is the idea of a portable kiosk that would facilitate a cooperative, rather than territorial model of soliciting. This kiosk or Office idea was introduced at the outset of the meetings with sex trade workers. The concept was presented as a way to improve safety, self-worth, sense of place and level power relations between sex trade workers and their clients. The focus groups revealed that the participants were unanimously in favour of this cooperative or team based model and were forthcoming with design suggestions. The final design that emerged was a small, well-lit shelter with seating for three, safe storage for valuables, and a small toilet. The kiosk will be a stand-alone base for a self-selected, nonhierarchical group of five women per shift. It will be serviced and resituated in low impact areas every two weeks, freeing any given location from becoming a permanent host. This report explains my rationale for the project, outlines some of the preconditions that can lead to the deplorable experience of working on the street and the often repeated cycle of the “whore stigma,” resulting in sex workers being “sequestered” in the most desolate and dangerous parts of town. It argues that the sculptural design of the kiosk and its concomitant referential associations will help mitigate these conditions. Soliciting is illegal, and the issues of abetting this activity in relation to the police, city officials, local business, and the community at large are discussed. Finally, the obdurate physical presence of the kiosk as material discourse is the culmination of the findings of this research project although it still poses many questions. The stage is now set for field testing by PEERS, public discussion and introduction to the wider community.

The concept of moral panic has enjoyed a rich history in sociological literature. Since Stanley Cohen (1972) published his seminal study on the Mods and Rockers, scholars have used the concept of moral panic to identify and explain disproportional and exaggerated societal reactions to perceived threats against the social order posed by some condition, episode, person or group of people. However, recent scholars have sought to revise or problematize Cohen’s initial conceptualization, culminating in calls to ‘rethink’ (McRobbie and Thornton, 1995) and ‘think beyond’ (Hier, 2008) moral panic, as well as to ‘widen the focus’ of moral panic analysis (Critcher, 2008). In response, my thesis seeks to strengthen the conceptual and methodological approach to the concept of moral panic by integrating the meta-theoretical principles of critical realism. Critical realism, I argue, provides both the conceptual clarity and methodological insight necessary to enhance scholarly research on moral panic. In addition, the integration of critical realism allows me to more fully explore the internal dynamics and causal mechanisms involved in the genesis of moral panic. The result is a deeper understanding of the ontological nature of moral panic.