This thesis examines the origins and function of Vancouver Transition House as an agent of role change and of social change. It is based on observations made during a three-year period as a member of the Transition House staff collective, on formal and informal interviews with the founders, staff, and residents of the house, and on Stephenson's, Garden's, and Freeman's studies of the new feminist movement. The work commences with a discussion of the growth of the women's movement in Vancouver to a stage where the need for social action was understood to be necessary. The effort of the society formed to found the house is then delineated. It is noted that involvement with that group created changes in self-concept and inter-personal relationships similar to those described by Stephenson as occurring in the founders of the original Vancouver women's groups (Stephenson, 1975). The operation of the house and the role of the staff are detailed. There follows an analysis of the transition process undergone by residents, focussing on the importance of a milieu controlled and inhabited exclusively by women in facilitating this process. It is noted that changes in self-concept and in interpersonal relationships, again similar to those experienced by women involved in feminist groups, do occur, but that these may not be sustained after the period of residency without changes in the social context. Recommendations for change in the legal and social systems necessary to sustain individual chang accorded to by a group of transition house workers from refuges throughout North America, are examined. The author concludes that such recommendations demand extended social change, and notes the necessity of recognition of the value of work done by women, and of equality of responsibility in the domestic and public spheres. Until these conditions prevail, women's powereto control institutions and bring about fundamental social change will be limited. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the role of physical activity in the lives of three Indian women living in Canada, specifically in the Lower Mainland, and to examine some of the more prominent issues they are facing in today's physical activity context by giving voice to their experiences and stories. This is a vital area to investigate because of the tendency to universalize and stereotype Indo-Canadian women without properly understanding their cultural backgrounds and the content and context of their physical activity experiences. I wish to understand what has motivated Indo-Canadian women to get involved with and continue with physical activity pursuits; and to what degree have social support structures (family, school, community, peers) influenced their decisions. Women in this particular age bracket (25-35) will hopefully be able to articulate not only their sporting experiences, but also their opportunities, constraints, dissatisfactions and accomplishments as they relate to physical activity. Social support structures such as family, community and school, physicality and the body, leadership and mentoring and self-promotion and marketing are some of the more prominent themes. The methodology chosen to extract the data is that of life story interviews. A series of in-depth interviews conducted with each of the individual participants reveals their own unique, complex and selective life and physical activity experiences. Each woman seemed to view, and construct the issue of participation in physical activity as a personal responsibility for community development. For example, one woman struggled to create and find support for an all-Indian dragon boat team and define a space for Indian women, while another desired to promote alternatives and encourage women to dance and maintain culture at a community level. The third participant's goals included increasing the participation rates of younger Indian women, by providing positive leadership. The participants are teaching Indian women and girls to un-learn an exclusion of self. Solutions proposed and implemented by them included: female-only environments, minimal or no-cost sessions, training and employing South Asians, daycare, accommodation of religious calendar, transportation, education in community and family, choice of attire, use of ethnic language, and redefinition of common images.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the role of physical activity in the lives of three Indian women living in Canada, specifically in the Lower Mainland, and to examine some of the more prominent issues they are facing in today's physical activity context by giving voice to their experiences and stories. This is a vital area to investigate because of the tendency to universalize and stereotype Indo-Canadian women without properly understanding their cultural backgrounds and the content and context of their physical activity experiences. I wish to understand what has motivated Indo-Canadian women to get involved with and continue with physical activity pursuits; and to what degree have social support structures (family, school, community, peers) influenced their decisions. Women in this particular age bracket (25-35) will hopefully be able to articulate not only their sporting experiences, but also their opportunities, constraints, dissatisfactions and accomplishments as they relate to physical activity. Social support structures such as family, community and school, physicality and the body, leadership and mentoring and self-promotion and marketing are some of the more prominent themes. The methodology chosen to extract the data is that of life story interviews. A series of in-depth interviews conducted with each of the individual participants reveals their own unique, complex and selective life and physical activity experiences. Each woman seemed to view, and construct the issue of participation in physical activity as a personal responsibility for community development. For example, one woman struggled to create and find support for an all-Indian dragon boat team and define a space for Indian women, while another desired to promote alternatives and encourage women to dance and maintain culture at a community level. The third participant's goals included increasing the participation rates of younger Indian women, by providing positive leadership. The participants are teaching Indian women and girls to un-learn an exclusion of self. Solutions proposed and implemented by them included: female-only environments, minimal or no-cost sessions, training and employing South Asians, daycare, accommodation of religious calendar, transportation, education in community and family, choice of attire, use of ethnic language, and redefinition of common images. / Education, Faculty of / Kinesiology, School of / Graduate

The proportion of women in the Canadian labour force has grown steadily in recent decades. Many of these, however, are younger women who retire from gainful employment after marriage. Married women who work are a special section of the population; they have been the subject of social studies in several countries, but not so far in Canada. This thesis is a supplementary study, influenced by the national survey of married women who are gainfully employed now being undertaken (1956) by the Women's Bureau of the Canadian Department of Labour. The facts reviewed in this present report are obtained from only fifty of the women Interviewed in one of the sample cities (Vancouver); but the opportunity has been taken to make them the basis of all the pros and cons of the situation, including the reasons for working, the types of work, and the effects on family life. The schedule used for the interviews is a standardized, comprehensive one worked out with the assistance of a national advisory committee including the research directors of the Schools of Social Work in Canada. Only a minimum of statistical tabulation is undertaken for this limited sample; a few other schedules obtained from university students were added, and there is no intention to present the information as statistically representative. A systematic review of the qualitative material is attempted, however, to illustrate the differentials which must be considered in a definitive assessment. After experiment with other classifications, it was found most effective to distinguish three main groups (a) families composed of husband and wife without children (or younger dependents); (b) "complete" families with husband and wife and children in the home, and (c) "broken" families, in which the working mother was a widow, separated or divorced, or with dependent or partially dependent husband. The significance of these differences is readily apparent from the views recorded. It was also apparent that the socio-economic differences associated with different levels of income and grade of work (e.g., professional, clerical, service, factory) are of direct importance in modifying the consequences for the family; but these could only be indicated illustratively. In a final section, an endeavour is made to bring together all provisional findings, distinguishing broadly the implications (a) for the woman as a person and as a marital partner, (b) for the children, and parental aspects of family life, and (c) for the community as a whole. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This study is an attempt to examine contemporary Chinese women immigrants from Mainland China and their adaptation into Canadian society. In this locally based research, I focus on how Chinese women integrate into Canadian society as immigrants; how they identify themselves in the new social context; what factors affect their identification; and how inherent power relationships between men and women within Chinese society have been redefined and transformed as the immigrant women assert themselves in the new society in response to new opportunities and obligations that are presented to them. This study is based on a series of face-to-face interviews that were chosen through snowball sampling method. 20 interviews were conducted and the data were qualitatively analyzed. I found that changes occurred with their multiple identities, which include class identity, ethnic and cultural identity, and gender identity. Most women experienced downward mobility in social and economic status after immigration due to lack of appropriate positions in the labor market and also the feeling of a lack of power as a consequence of ethnic minority membership; almost all of them have bidimentional cultural identity which means they identify with some aspects of Canadian culture while maintaining their Chinese culture of origin; and traditional Chinese gender ideology still plays a main role in redefining.gender identity which is embodied in the immigration decisions and the conflict between family and occupation. Economic, educational, occupational, social and relational power resources are factors affecting the transformation and redefinition of the power relationship between husband and wife. These factors work together in changing the allocation of power resources between husband and wife and affect the decision making process within a family.

This study is an attempt to examine contemporary Chinese women immigrants from Mainland China and their adaptation into Canadian society. In this locally based research, I focus on how Chinese women integrate into Canadian society as immigrants; how they identify themselves in the new social context; what factors affect their identification; and how inherent power relationships between men and women within Chinese society have been redefined and transformed as the immigrant women assert themselves in the new society in response to new opportunities and obligations that are presented to them. This study is based on a series of face-to-face interviews that were chosen through snowball sampling method. 20 interviews were conducted and the data were qualitatively analyzed. I found that changes occurred with their multiple identities, which include class identity, ethnic and cultural identity, and gender identity. Most women experienced downward mobility in social and economic status after immigration due to lack of appropriate positions in the labor market and also the feeling of a lack of power as a consequence of ethnic minority membership; almost all of them have bidimentional cultural identity which means they identify with some aspects of Canadian culture while maintaining their Chinese culture of origin; and traditional Chinese gender ideology still plays a main role in redefining.gender identity which is embodied in the immigration decisions and the conflict between family and occupation. Economic, educational, occupational, social and relational power resources are factors affecting the transformation and redefinition of the power relationship between husband and wife. These factors work together in changing the allocation of power resources between husband and wife and affect the decision making process within a family. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

This study examines the way that Native women incorporate the history of colonization into the way that they think about, and organize against, family violence in Vancouver's urban Aboriginal community. Using Melucci's (1989) model of collective action, this thesis focuses on the social process behind Native women's organized resistance to domestic violence. This thesis studied family violence intervention programs among Vancouver's Aboriginal organizations in order to understand the underlying process of negotiation between collective identity, solidarity, and environment. The study was divided into two levels: the organizational and individual. The thesis studied the narratives, or discourse of both organizations and individuals who delivered family violence intervention projects to the urban Native community. On the organizational level, data consisted of promotional texts that were produced by the organizations (posters, leaflets, brochures). The texts were then subjected to a content analysis, to identify the frequency of rhetorical devices, and then a rhetorical analysis, to see how these concepts were used. On the individual level, data was collected by means of loosely-structured interviews that asked questions about why participants were involved in family violence intervention. Nine interviews were collected from individuals who worked the organizations sampled. A rhetorical analysis of the interviews was also conducted, and compared with organizational discourse. The study found that the anti-violence movement among Vancouver's urban Native women was articulated primarily through the rhetoric of healing through cultural identity and spirituality. Both on the organizational and the individual levels, violence against Aboriginal women was explained as a result of the colonial process. The low status of Native women was linked to the oppression of First Nations people. "Healing" from the destructive cycle of family violence involved recovering "traditional" ethnic and gender identities, which in turn involved raising the status of women in Aboriginal communities.

This study examined the marriage experiences of four Chinese Canadian women who are married to Caucasian husbands in Canada. Employing a phenomenological qualitative approach, in - depth interviews were conducted with these women in the ethnically diverse city of Vancouver, exploring their lived experiences in these relationships. The findings in this study reflect upon this and tries to bring some understanding to this rather complex phenomenon. The first finding is the non - accidental nature in who we choose to bring into our world. This important element was highlighted in the findings as it speaks to the reasons why we seek certain people to be in our life, including our spouses. The women in this study all spoke about early influences and experiences which reflected a sense of being an outsider in their own world at some point. These experiences have in one form or another shaped how these women approached relationships and in particular marriage. The second finding speaks to the effortlessness which these women present when moving between their Chinese and Canadian culture. The skills of negotiating and interpreting were highlighted by one of the women as a role that she has grown up with but now also finds useful in her marriage. This role appears almost invisible to most people because of the way these women incorporate it into their day to day living. The last major finding is the importance of seeking a balance between the two cultures in intermarriage. In doing so, it allowed the women in this study to find a safe place for them to freely express the two sided nature of their culture which up until then remained separated. In some cases it also provided the impetus to revisit their culture of origin to rework another understanding of the role of Chinese culture in their lives. The findings of this study provide a beginning understanding into the work which these four women negotiated in intermarriage to achieve a balance between the Canadian and Chinese cultures in which they live. The findings from this study bridge a gap in the understanding of the phenomenon of interracial relationships in Canada and contribute to a broader cross cultural practice in social work and family therapy.

This study examines the way that Native women incorporate the history of colonization into the way that they think about, and organize against, family violence in Vancouver's urban Aboriginal community. Using Melucci's (1989) model of collective action, this thesis focuses on the social process behind Native women's organized resistance to domestic violence. This thesis studied family violence intervention programs among Vancouver's Aboriginal organizations in order to understand the underlying process of negotiation between collective identity, solidarity, and environment. The study was divided into two levels: the organizational and individual. The thesis studied the narratives, or discourse of both organizations and individuals who delivered family violence intervention projects to the urban Native community. On the organizational level, data consisted of promotional texts that were produced by the organizations (posters, leaflets, brochures). The texts were then subjected to a content analysis, to identify the frequency of rhetorical devices, and then a rhetorical analysis, to see how these concepts were used. On the individual level, data was collected by means of loosely-structured interviews that asked questions about why participants were involved in family violence intervention. Nine interviews were collected from individuals who worked the organizations sampled. A rhetorical analysis of the interviews was also conducted, and compared with organizational discourse. The study found that the anti-violence movement among Vancouver's urban Native women was articulated primarily through the rhetoric of healing through cultural identity and spirituality. Both on the organizational and the individual levels, violence against Aboriginal women was explained as a result of the colonial process. The low status of Native women was linked to the oppression of First Nations people. "Healing" from the destructive cycle of family violence involved recovering "traditional" ethnic and gender identities, which in turn involved raising the status of women in Aboriginal communities. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

This study examined the marriage experiences of four Chinese Canadian women who are married to Caucasian husbands in Canada. Employing a phenomenological qualitative approach, in - depth interviews were conducted with these women in the ethnically diverse city of Vancouver, exploring their lived experiences in these relationships. The findings in this study reflect upon this and tries to bring some understanding to this rather complex phenomenon. The first finding is the non - accidental nature in who we choose to bring into our world. This important element was highlighted in the findings as it speaks to the reasons why we seek certain people to be in our life, including our spouses. The women in this study all spoke about early influences and experiences which reflected a sense of being an outsider in their own world at some point. These experiences have in one form or another shaped how these women approached relationships and in particular marriage. The second finding speaks to the effortlessness which these women present when moving between their Chinese and Canadian culture. The skills of negotiating and interpreting were highlighted by one of the women as a role that she has grown up with but now also finds useful in her marriage. This role appears almost invisible to most people because of the way these women incorporate it into their day to day living. The last major finding is the importance of seeking a balance between the two cultures in intermarriage. In doing so, it allowed the women in this study to find a safe place for them to freely express the two sided nature of their culture which up until then remained separated. In some cases it also provided the impetus to revisit their culture of origin to rework another understanding of the role of Chinese culture in their lives. The findings of this study provide a beginning understanding into the work which these four women negotiated in intermarriage to achieve a balance between the Canadian and Chinese cultures in which they live. The findings from this study bridge a gap in the understanding of the phenomenon of interracial relationships in Canada and contribute to a broader cross cultural practice in social work and family therapy. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate