This study explores the psychological and social aspects of the experience of being disowned. Disownment can arise at two levels. At the intrapersonal level disownment is characterized by: the repression of emotions, needs, and aspects of one's personality. At the interpersonal level, disownment involves the complete break in social, emotional, economic, familial support and community relations. This paper examines the relationship between the two. Ten Indo-Canadian women who had experienced an aspect of disownment were interviewed. Results revealed that a variety of factors can precipitate this stressful event. How these women cope with the experience was determined by factors which either facilitated or hindered the adjustment process. From the analysis of the data, disownment not only resulted as a consequence of a life transition but it also emerged as a transitional process. The disownment model is presented to provide a framework for understanding this underlying process. The three stage model of disownment describes the: 1) anticipation of shift, 2) adjustment and 3) re-integration. Implications of the model for counseling and research are also discussed. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and life-stories of recent Canadian immigrant women and their resilience in every day life. A qualitative methodology involving repeated in-depth person-centered interviewing (two to three interviews for each participant) focused on a holistic and in-depth understanding of resilience. Five immigrant women volunteered to participate in the study. Snowball sampling and ‘word of mouth’ were used to recruit participants. Narrative analysis (first level) and thematic analysis (second level) were used to explore. In addition to the life stories, three major themes emerged from the data: Life before Canada; A Journey of Compound Stressors; and Resilience in Everyday Life. Loneliness surfaced as a dominant stressor among the participants as a consequence of immigration. The absence of friendships within the context of immigration was a new finding emerging from this study. Findings further our understanding of recent Canadian immigrant women’s life experiences and concomitantly their resilience. Suggestions for future research are addressed in this study. / xiii, 262 leaves ; 29 cm

In training programs designed to help immigrant women adapt to Canada, drop-out rates are frequently high and attendance is often low. Investigating some reasons behind this observation was the motivation for this thesis. A literature review revealed that curricula used in existing programs are often developed from experts' understanding of immigrants' needs; research on immigrant women's curricular needs as perceived by themselves is virtually nonexistent. An objective of this thesis was to address this knowledge gap. This study inquired into what curricular needs immigrant women have, how these needs differ, and what relationship exists between the women's backgrounds and their curricular needs. A questionnaire was developed and validated by an expert panel, and then administered to graduates from an orientational training program. Post-survey interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed using frequency distribution, cluster analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), factor analysis, and linear discriminant analysis. It was found that the program, although well received, did not reflect the curricular needs perceived by the immigrant women themselves. Life skills instruction was unwanted by many students while English and computer lessons were in demand. A desire to regain higherquality jobs partially explained the women's curricular needs.

Understanding the lives of Italian women who migrated to Canada and Australia in the post-war period is the goal of this thesis. Although governments assigned women secondary roles as dependants and 'followers' in the migration process, I argue that Italian women were central, not marginal, to the migration and settlement experiences of Italian immigrants. By placing Italian women front and centre of this study, I contribute to a small but growing body of work that challenges the male-centred perspective of most literature on Italian-Canadian and Italian-Australian migration and ethnicity. / This thesis is structured within a feminist framework and uses interdisciplinary methods to gather and interpret quantitative and qualitative information about the lives of Italian immigrant women in post-war Canada and Australia. Using government and church archives, personal interviews, ethnic newspapers, legal documents, marriage registers and participant observer fieldwork, I explore three major themes. / Firstly, I examine Italian immigrant women's understanding of power relations within their homes and workplaces. Rather than cast women as either passive victims or all-conquering heroines, I present the complexity of the sources of power and weakness in immigrant women's lives. I argue that Italian immigrant women had to cope with exploitation and disadvantage because of their class, gender and ethnic status. However, they responded to these challenges with resistance and resilience, and were able to affect change and wield power within certain constraints. / Secondly, I compare the experiences of migration and settlement for Italian immigrant women in Canada and Australia and show how women's experiences were united by common gender concerns. I found overwhelming similarities between the family lives and work experiences of Italian-Canadian and Italian-Australian immigrant women, and in the government policies and programs that attempted to direct their migration and settlement in the post-war period. / Finally, I examine how Italian immigrant women helped to construct what it means to be 'Italian' in post-war Canada and Australia. I show how gender roles assigned to, and chosen by, Italian-Canadian and Italian-Australian women, served as boundary markers for ethnic difference. Perceived differences in attitudes towards waged work, mothering, family responsibilities and sexuality were used by Italian immigrant women to distinguish themselves as members of an ethnic collective.

Five immigrant single mothers were interviewed to explore the dynamics of the relationship between immigrant single mothers and their children when they reunite in Canada. Difficulties, in attachment, parenting, and the transition into the new culture were identified. Immigration policies about foreign domestic workers and delays in emigration process were factors that prolonged separation between mothers and their children. The mothers agreed that separation from their children contributed to the difficulties, but physical and psychological preparation before reunification lessened the challenge. Loving and listening to children, and involvement in the Christian mono-ethnic community churches were identified as effective coping strategies. Culturally sensitive approaches by social workers with these clients are recommended.

In training programs designed to help immigrant women adapt to Canada, drop-out rates are frequently high and attendance is often low. Investigating some reasons behind this observation was the motivation for this thesis. A literature review revealed that curricula used in existing programs are often developed from experts' understanding of immigrants' needs; research on immigrant women's curricular needs as perceived by themselves is virtually nonexistent. An objective of this thesis was to address this knowledge gap. This study inquired into what curricular needs immigrant women have, how these needs differ, and what relationship exists between the women's backgrounds and their curricular needs. A questionnaire was developed and validated by an expert panel, and then administered to graduates from an orientational training program. Post-survey interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed using frequency distribution, cluster analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), factor analysis, and linear discriminant analysis. It was found that the program, although well received, did not reflect the curricular needs perceived by the immigrant women themselves. Life skills instruction was unwanted by many students while English and computer lessons were in demand. A desire to regain higherquality jobs partially explained the women's curricular needs. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

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Anglophone women, working in a new capacity as federal civil servants, exercised a significant influence on Canadian immigration policy in the interwar years. This dissertation focuses on the women's division of the Canadian Department of Immigration and Colonization, an agency charged with recruiting British women for domestic service from 1919 to 1938. The division was a product of the women's wing of the social reform movement and prevailing theories of gender difference and anglo-superiority. Tracing its nearly twenty years of operations shows how the division, initially regarded as a source of imperial strength and a means of English Canada's cultural survival, came to symbolize the disadvantages of Canada's connection to Great Britain and supposed weaknesses inherent in the female character. This institutional study explores the real and imagined connections among gender, imperialism, and the changing socio-economic landscape of interwar Canada.

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