Many women and children in North America and other parts of the world are impacted by male perpetrated violence and often experience responses to this violence in the form of sadness, anxiety, and fear. Some of these women use substances to cope with their frightening and traumatic life situations. These mothers and their children often engage with multiple systems and agencies including, but not limited to, Health Services, Child Protection Services, and Transition Houses. Women often do not receive positive social responses when they seek help from these services. This qualitative research project shares the stories of three mothers with histories of violence, mental illness, and substance abuse. Using Narrative Inquiry the researcher shares the stories as they have been presented by the women, exploring how their life experiences have influenced their sense of identity and choices in seeking support in their communities. Using feminist, mothering, and response-based discourse lenses, the women’s narratives are presented and discussed.

Courtesy stigma is the public disapproval evoked as a consequence of associating with a stigmatized individual or group. While there are few examples of research applying the concept of courtesy stigma to the professional associates of stigmatized persons, courtesy stigma has been shown to limit the social support and social opportunities available to family members who come to share some of the shame, blame and loss associated with their family member’s stigma(s). Research on the occupational health of persons performing frontline service work examines various sources of workplace demands and rewards, including the availability of public funding for the health and social service sectors, the devaluation of feminized forms of care-oriented work, and the downloading of responsibility for providing care to poorly paid or unpaid workers in the community and home. This research project blends the literatures on courtesy stigma and the occupational health of frontline service workers to understand the work experiences of those providing frontline social services to sex workers. A mixed methods design is used to study the workplace experiences of a small group of workers in a non-profit organization providing support and educational services to sex workers. The findings reveal that courtesy stigma is a discernable experience among this vulnerable group of service workers, affecting their work, community and family contexts. Courtesy stigma played a significant role in staff perceptions of others’ support for themselves and their work activities, leading to diminished opportunities for collaborative relationships, emotional exhaustion, altered service practices, and a low sense of workplace accomplishment. Thus, courtesy stigma forms part of the package of conditions that leads to high turnover, diminished workplace health, and a loss of service capacity in the frontline health and social service sector. The dissertation concludes with a consideration of the implications of the findings for the literatures on courtesy stigma and frontline service work, arguing that courtesy stigma is an underestimated determinant of occupational health for frontline service providers serving socially denigrated groups.

This thesis is a critical examination of newspaper coverage of Canadian-born cases of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) discovered between May 2003 and December 2005. Data for the thesis has been compiled from three newspapers: the Edmonton Journal, the Calgary Herald, and the Globe & Mail. The Alberta newspapers were chosen for their proximity to the BSE discoveries, and the Globe & Mail was chosen for the national focus of its coverage. Using Fairclough’s method of ordering discourses, I examine three discourses prominently featured in the coverage: the political discourse, the science discourse, and the socio-cultural discourse. I analyse the three discourses independently, incorporating relevant theory to further explicate the discourses. The primary focus of the thesis is on the newspaper coverage of the first Canadian-born BSE case, but newspaper coverage of additional discoveries are included to examine how the BSE media package changed over time.

The prevalence of crack use among illicit drug users has dramatically increased in Canada over the past decade. The sharing of crack pipes and other crack use paraphernalia is common among users of crack cocaine and is associated with unique negative health harms and costs (Haydon & Fischer, 2005). This thesis explores the phenomenon of crack pipe sharing among crack users in Victoria, British Columbia. The study uses data from in-depth interviews with thirteen self-reported crack users who regularly share crack pipes. Interviews explored the experiences of participants around crack pipe sharing, focusing on contextual, social and environmental factors that influenced the sharing of pipes. Crack pipe sharing is presented as a largely social act around which shared meanings have emerged. The findings illustrate the social context of crack pipe sharing, which is mediated by informal rules and etiquette, as well as distinct sanctions and consequences for deviating from the generally accepted norms around sharing pipes. Further, three distinct dimensions of crack pipe sharing are proposed - mutual, distributive and receptive sharing - each associated with various costs and benefits, and framed by relations of status and power. The results of this study also demonstrate that crack pipe sharing serves a number of real and distinct purposes in crack users’ lives, providing economic, control and social functions. My findings illustrate that, despite the various health and social harms related to crack pipe sharing, sharing pipes makes sense in the reality and lived experience of the participants.

Présentation et discussion des travaux en sociologie des usages des technologies de l'information et de la communication.

This study explores the one-child policy as viewed by the present generation of single daughters who grew up in urban China, and the extent to which this policy has affected their family values. Through snowball sampling methods, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 unmarried only-child daughters from urban China now studying in Victoria and Vancouver. For purposes of comparison, 11 unmarried only-child daughters of the same generation were also interviewed in Hong Kong during the same time period. The findings revealed that some only-child daughters from urban China experienced low dissemination and enforcement of the one-child policy and expressed noncompliance and dissatisfaction towards the policy. A comparison between the China and Hong Kong samples indicates that the one-child policy has limited effect on the family values of the only-child daughters in urban China. By exploring the concept of governmentality, the demographic transition theory, and the concept of resistance, this thesis aims to address the dynamics between action of state power and the reaction of only-child daughters from urban China born under the one-child policy.

This study explores the one-child policy as viewed by the present generation of single daughters who grew up in urban China, and the extent to which this policy has affected their family values. Through snowball sampling methods, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 unmarried only-child daughters from urban China now studying in Victoria and Vancouver. For purposes of comparison, 11 unmarried only-child daughters of the same generation were also interviewed in Hong Kong during the same time period. The findings revealed that some only-child daughters from urban China experienced low dissemination and enforcement of the one-child policy and expressed noncompliance and dissatisfaction towards the policy. A comparison between the China and Hong Kong samples indicates that the one-child policy has limited effect on the family values of the only-child daughters in urban China. By exploring the concept of governmentality, the demographic transition theory, and the concept of resistance, this thesis aims to address the dynamics between action of state power and the reaction of only-child daughters from urban China born under the one-child policy.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sociologists concern themselves with exploring, describing and explaining that which is different, unknown or misunderstood. I will endeavour to focus on the latter. International migration and the emergence of a global village have compelled one to embrace the “other” with insight and vigour. This thesis explores the experiences of South African expatriates living in Cairo, Egypt. The primary objective of this study is to explore and describe the constructed experiences of South African expatriates working in Cairo. The purpose of my study, however, is not to delineate an Egyptian work ethic as a typology or an ideal type, but rather to reflect on the experiences of tension and divergencies as constructed by South African. The methodological framework underlying this thesis is that of interpretivism. A qualitative study, which included semi-structured interviews and observations, provided the researcher with rich and nuanced data. Theoretical approaches of Max Weber, particularly The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and Weber’s incomplete works on Islam, are used. In agreement with Weber’s works, the main argument of this thesis is that an Egyptian work ethic is not solely fashioned through Islamic tenets per se, but that social, political and economic factors in Egypt are significant contributors. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit is die moeilike taak van Sosioloë om die vreemde beide te verstaan en te beskryf ten einde sin te maak van ‘dit wat anders is’. Die fokus van hierdie tesis is juis ‘n poging tot die laasgenoemde. Die toenemende belangrikheid van internasionale migrasie vereis ‘n betekenisvolle interaksie met mense van ander kulture, geloof en waardestelsels. Hierdie tesis sal die ervaringe van Suid-Afrikaanse ekspatriote in ‘n Egiptiese werksomgewing ondersoek en die moontlike bronne van konflik identifiseer. Die primêre rol van die studie is om die subjektiewe konstruksies van ‘n Egiptiesewerksetiek, soos ervaar deur Suid-Afrikaners in Kairo, te identifiseer. Die doel is egter nie om ‘n spesifieke en akkurate werksetiek te beskryf as ‘n ‘ideale tipe’ nie, maar eerder om te besin oor die struwelinge wat Suid-Afrikaners in ‘n vreemde milieu ervaar in terme van hul Egiptiese kollegas en hoe hul hierdie struwelinge en verskille interpreteer. Eindelik word hierdie tesis geplaas in die globale wedywering tussen die Euro-Amerikaanse Weste en Islamietiese Ooste. ‘n Interpretatiewe metodologiese raamwerk word gebruik om data-insameling en -analise te benader. ‘n Kwalitatiewe studie, met behulp van semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude en gepaardgaande observasies is gebruik om data te versamel. Die teoretiese werke van Max Weber, meer spesifiek, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, asook sy onvoltooide werke oor Islam, is gebruik om die navorsingsvrae te beantwoord. Samehangend met Weber se werke, is die deurlopende argument van die studie dat ‘n Egiptiese werksetiek nie alleenlik deur Islam en geloofswette gevorm word nie, maar dat die sosiale-, politiese- en ekonomiese realiteite van Egipte geweldig invloedryk is.

Depuis la fin des années quatre-vingt-dix, les technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC) envahissent tous les secteurs de la vie sociale, professionnelle ou culturelle. Pour éviter qu'un fossé numérique se creuse, les espaces publics numériques (EPN) ont été créés dès 1998 afin de permettre à toutes les personnes qui le souhaitent de bénéficier d'un accès accompagné aux TIC. Ces espaces ont aujourd'hui, malgré eux, la mission délicate d'accompagner certains publics qui se trouvent dans l'obligation d'utiliser ces outils numériques, en l'occurrence les demandeurs d'emploi pour lesquels l'usage d'Internet et autres logiciels sont devenus des outils indispensables à leurs démarches de retour à l'emploi. L'objectif de cette recherche est d'identifier les fonctions que jouent les EPN auprès de ces publics qui sont de plus en plus nombreux à fréquenter ces espaces. Face à un système de retour à l'emploi qui semble privilégier une logique de traitement des dossiers sur des critères d'efficacité quantitatifs, ce travail montre comment le public des disqualifiés sociaux s'approprient ces lieux de diffusion du numérique pour développer des usages des TIC et des stratégies d'empowerment afin de se libérer de l'assistance exercée par l'institution. Au-delà du rapport à l'emploi, cette recherche s'intéresse également à la fonction d'espace anonyme que remplit l'EPN. Elle porte une analyse sur la manière dont les publics s'approprient ces espaces pour échapper aux phénomènes de stigmatisation d'un statut " dévalorisé " que génère leur situation. Ce travail de recherche participe à la réflexion sur l'inclusion numérique et sur la manière dont s'articulent les dispositifs de retour à l'emploi et ceux qui mettent en place des actions autour des outils numériques.

Cette thèse vise à montrer que la psychiatrie d'urgence, intervenant dans le cadre de l'hôpital général, constitue une structure de médiation. Bien que les services d'urgence soient le lieu d'expression de la crise et de la catastrophe, ils mettent en œuvre des processus symboliques et imaginaires qui visent à redonner du sens à l'irreprésentable. A partir d'une enquête ethnographique par observations participantes, la thèse analyse les différents aspects de la communication mise en œuvre lors de l'accueil des patients. En s'inspirant de la psychanalyse et de l'anthropologie, cette recherche aboutit à une sémiotique de l'urgence psychiatrique qui articule les dimensions réelle, imaginaire et symbolique du phénomène à partir de la notion de flottance de l'urgence, que nous forgeons en partie. Cette approche interdisciplinaire, ancrée dans le champ des sciences de l'information et de la communication, permet de comprendre combien les services d'urgence psychiatrique constituent des espaces de renouage du contrat social. Cette thèse décrit et analyse les conditions de l'articulation de la clinique au politique, du singulier au collectif. A ce titre, ces services constituent des lieux d'interrogation et d'invention du politique dans la mesure où chaque sujet qui y a recours vient problématiser de façon singulière, inédite et imprévisible, l'articulation du désir et de la norme en exigeant, de la part de l'institution, qu'elle énonce de nouvelles formules de ce nouage. Sur le plan épistémologique, cette recherche est une invitation faite aux études portant sur la communication d'inclure dans leurs réflexions la catégorie du réel qui désigne la limite du symbolique et du représentable. Cette thèse montre qu'il est fructueux de penser les faits de communication à partir de l'impossible à communiquer, de penser la médiation à partir, précisément, des ruptures de la médiation et, finalement, de penser le contrat social à partir de ses limites, de ce qu'il est contraint de refouler pour se maintenir.