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.

The postpartum period can be a lonely experience leaving some new mothers feeling isolated and under-supported. The phenomenon of the Internet has now made social support available within cyberspace. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate first-time mothers’ engagement in social support through online and offline communities. This study explored an online group of mothers from across an entire city, an online group of mothers living within a local community, and an offline comparison group. A total of 20 interviews were conducted. First-time mothers appreciated online support, as well as face-to-face social support. The citywide group provided parenting information and the online community network was popular for organizing social activities. Implications include the need for professionals to consider Internet groups as informal support resources. Additionally, increased access to high-speed Internet and computer training is required. Directions for future research are also presented.

Based on five semi-structured in-person interviews with self-identified polyamorous people, I argue that people construct their relationships from the options they view available to them. Polyamory, the philosophy and practice of ethical and open non-monogamy, became how the five interviewees in my study decided to live out their relationships only after having heard of the term and concept. They found that polyamory answered crisis in their relationships and relationship views for which monogamy could not provide an adequate solution. The in-depth interviews conducted focussed on how polyamorous people envisioned, created, and maintained their multiple, loving relationships. The results speak to how people create their world from what they see around them and the options they feel are available to them. It points to how invisibility of options curtails people from being able to choose a life suited to them.

This thesis explores the alternative dispute resolution method of family group decision making that is used in child welfare in Ontario. Using a qualitative case study, my research sought to answer the question: What are the experiences of caregivers who have participated in family group decision making in the District of Algoma? I examined the legislative framework, policy directive and guiding policies surrounding the use of FGDM in child welfare in the District of Algoma in rural Ontario. I also collected data through interviews with five participants and transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The themes that emerged relate to the process of FGDM empowering families, the outcomes for children, and the ability for families to implement and maintain long-term plans for children. These themes and sub themes are discussed along with the implications for policy and practice and directions for future research.

While it is generally agreed that family homelessness is rapidly increasing, there is very little research to find out how families have exited homelessness and become stable. There is even less research to investigate the strengths that were employed by family members as they journey toward housing stability. Is it possible that this potentially dis-empowering experience can be enriched by the care and support of fellow community members and helping professionals? More importantly, can family members draw on this experience to recognize their inner strengths and move toward greater happiness and self-sufficiency? This thesis shows how families who have been displaced from their community due to an experience of homelessness can be better supported to return to a stable life. A narrative lens was used to investigate the findings from semi-structured, one-on-one interviews with three mothers. One of the main criteria was that they found and retained stable housing for at least one year. The families in question currently live in Victoria, B.C. Canada, where this research took place. Examination of participant’s narratives revealed a five-stage process in which inner strengths and outer community supports combined to assist them in moving toward their goals. Participant mothers were able to access new ways to view the situation that did not leave them feeling marginalized. They also built both material and social assets that led to greater happiness and stability. Participants were able to develop resilient behavior by drawing upon past experience for knowledge, insight and inspiration. They overcame inner and outer barriers to these strengths by communicating their needs and reaching out to family, friends or services in a more confident way.

This thesis is an investigation of pregnancy advice books for expectant fathers. It explores how male partners are encouraged to participate in contemporary pregnancy management through medico-moral discourses, This study challenges current theoretical conceptions of responsibilization by contending that responsibilization is a necessarily social process. Working within a governmentality framework, this study uses both content analysis and critical discourse analysis. I found that responsibilization of expectant fathers followed two stages. First, they were invited to accumulate knowledge about pregnancy, and then to adopt behaviours befitting the ideal father. The structure and content of advice invited expectant fathers to become “responsible” by changing their own behaviour—and the behaviour of their pregnant partners. In most cases, the only behavioural modifications required of the expectant father are those that will influence the behaviours of their pregnant partners.

This research examines the experiences of Malaysian Neurosurgeons in managing communications with patients and their families in the aftermath of adverse medical events. These experiences were interpreted from a conflict avoidance and management perspective and the data from the research was analyzed using heuristic methodology. (Douglass and Moustakas 1985) The field of Neurosurgery in Malaysia was chosen firstly as a model of a high-risk medical specialty and secondly because of the researcher’s lived experience with the phenomenon being studied. Participants in the research were eleven Malaysian Neurosurgeons with at least ten years of independent clinical practice as specialists. Qualitative data was obtained through semi-structured in-depth interviews that were subsequently transcribed and analyzed heuristically, looking for different conflict management and patient-physician communication themes. The observations indicate that adverse medical events precipitate a major shift in the focus of tacit conflict management skill sets applied by the participants. The patient-Neurosurgeon relationship is abruptly transformed from one of high trust to one imbued with patient anxiety and suspicion of malpractice or medical error, and physician defensiveness. The observations also indicate that in multicultural Malaysia physician-family relationships were prioritized more than would be expected in a Western context. This may have implications for humanistic and interactive skills training for medical students and residents.

While studies in masculinities and globalization are a rapidly growing field, few studies address the role of marriage in shaping masculinities. This project explores the emerging pattern of young, urban Fijian men who marry non-Fijian women and in doing so, challenge neo-traditional marriage formations and gender roles. In this particular project, I investigate how Fijian men experience these types of marriages with non-Fijian women and how they negotiate their masculinity within their marriages. I also explore how the confluence of colonial experiences, current globalization trends, and culture affect how these men understand their masculinity. I employ several methodologies including multiple interviews, participant observations, and visual anthropology methods. Through these methods, I explore how the relationship between Fijian men and non-Fijian women alters men’s experiences of masculinity and identity at the individual level. Results illustrate the importance of work in defining manhood, according to these men. As well, results suggest that the wives play a powerful role in influencing their husbands’ values with regards to work ethics and the general acceptance of global values. These relationships show the intersection and complexities that emerge between evolving ideas regarding masculinities and marriage, Fiji’s colonial experience and current global values.

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.