<p>Child welfare is stressful and child protection workers have the enormous responsibility to protect societies most vulnerable. Stress, trauma and burnout are serious issues affecting front-line child welfare workers and are not adequately being addressed. The enormously high tum over rate of child protection workers is seriously impacting the client worker relationship, case decisions, and time management. As a result of these high turnover rates work experience has often been in short supply (Howe <em>et al</em>., 1999; Regehr <em>et al</em>., 2000; Regehr, Hemsworth, Leslie, Howe & Chau, 2004; and Littlechild 2005).</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to find out more about the experiences and perceptions of front-line child protection workers as they deal with work related stressors from a social justice perspective. More specifically this study explored whether or not there was a difference in the way that new front-line child protection workers versus experienced front-line child protection workers experience and cope with stress, trauma and burnout.</p> <p>It was clear that participants felt frustrated about the issues of stress, trauma and burnout and many participants expressed anger about some of the situations they have endured.</p> <p>New workers were clear that they require more support and positive feedback. It was important for this group to have a sense of working collaboratively in the decision making process, rather than their work being micromanaged. The new worker group also wanted to know that their health, their personal lives, their families and their children are important to their employer and that the job cannot always come first.</p> <p>The experienced workers were clear that they wanted yearly evaluations and more of a connection to upper management; specifically they wanted more communication from upper management. This group also wanted to be known, and to feel like appreciated and valuable members within the agency.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>Recent reviews of the Safe Schools Act, Ontario's school disciplinary policy have raised concerns regarding the disproportionate impact on racialized students and students with disabilities. Critics claim that zero tolerance and the simultaneous provision of mitigating factors leaving room for the abuse of discretionary authority, calls into question the role of discipline in the education system. Reactions to the reports were highly publicized, suggesing that a certain level of resistance existed among members of school communities in the Greater Toronto Area. This exploratory study set out to examine whether this resistance could be substantiated and if so, how it is structured. Using a qualitative, semi-structured interviewing format, this study explored the opinions of parents, educators and community advocates regarding the impact on racialized students facing suspension and expulsion in particular. Participants were asked to reflect on the introduction and application of the policy and it's effectiveness in addressing safety, in the context of the neo-liberalization of the education system and corresponding devolution of an institutional commitment to equity. This author reflects on the punitive approach to behaviour management and discipline driven by an ideology of safety in the neo-liberalized system, using an integrative anti-racist approach that validates the restorative justice model. Shifting notions of citizenship help to legitimate the militarization of the school system manifesting in increased surveillance and criminalization of racialized students and parents. This study concludes by highlighting participants' reflections on the lack of accountability in a letigious school environment, where the denial of public education has serious implications for students who face systemic barriers to economic survival. Finally, the paper concludes with suggestions for moving away from punitive approaches to behaviour management to the institution of a restorative justice principles in building a culture of reparations.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>Research on child welfare practice, where children have witnessed violence against their mothers has identified paradoxical outcomes: victimized mothers who require the most help are often blamed, pathologized, and labeled as 'bad'. These women are ultimately responsible for the physical, emotional, mental, and environmental welfare of their children, whereas the male perpetrators remain practically unnoticed. Despite the fact that violence can occur within any relationship where there are imbalances of power, this. research study only focused on heterosexual couples in which violence has occurred against women.<br /> The objective of this qualitative study was to investigate how child protection workers define violence against women and perceive/define intervention plans. I also explored differences in definitions and perceptions between experienced and non-experienced child protection workers, as it was assumed that child protection workers are not 'experts' in women abuse. It was also assumed that child protection workers lacked specific interpersonal violence training, which often contributed to the re-victimization of women. Nine child protection workers, who work for a Children's Aid Society within the Hamilton area, were interviewed about violence against women and child neglect issues. The participants varied in levels of education, experience in child protection and experience in social work. An analysis of the findings led to the emergence of five themes: (1) the belief that it is the mothers job to protect her children; (2) mothers can simply leave; (3) mothers needs are a separate issue from children's needs; (4) deficits in staff training; and(5) moral and ethical dilemmas in working with mothers who were victims of interpersonal violence. Recommendations for anti-oppressive social work practice within the context of child welfare are made, and implications-for future research are discussed.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>Legislated through the Corrections Services Canada's Corrections and Conditional Release Act (2002), individuals who receive a federal sentence are eligible to complete their sentence at the community level under the auspices of conditional release. The goal is to assist in the rehabilitation of the offender, facilitate his or her reintegration into the community and protect society by managing re-offence risk. Yet the instrument used to determine risk and reintegration needs and outcomes is an actuarial scale based on a homogeneous white Eurocentric male population which does not take into consideration differences based on race, ethnicity, gender or social disadvantage (Webster and Doob, 2004). <br /><br />Research into the particular conditions experienced by Federally Sentenced Women (FSW) in Canada is a relatively new phenomenon, with the bulk emerging in the last 15 years. Research on the policy impact on service providers, namely parole officers and halfway house workers, appears to be minimal. Yet it is these workers who interpret and implement the policy. This paper contributes to this discourse through critical examination of Corrections Services Canada's (CSC) policy The Standard Operating Procedures for Community Based Supervision (SOP). The stated intent of this policy is managing risk and assisting in the reintegration into the community of all individuals under conditional release. This paper examines the impact of globalization and neo-liberal politics has on crime, fear of crime and risk. It explores how the SOP, as well as other CSC policies, is embedded in racial, cultural and gendered biases. Interviews with parole officers and halfway house workers who provide service to federally sentenced women offer insight onto their understanding of risk and reintegration for FSW as well as their perceptions of how the policy helps or hinders their role in risk management and reintegration for FSW. This paper concludes with a discussion of how these findings can impact Social Work practice and policy.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>This study seeks to understand how a client's voice is transmitted through an advocate who is representing them in front of a Social Benefits Tribunal (SBT). Three clients and three advocates were separately interviewed in a southwestern Ontario city for an average of fifty minutes. While not specifically trained to work in an adversarial system, the literature reflects that social workers can be well suited to work in settings such as the SBT. This study reports that clients felt that their advocate accurately represented their voice within the hearings and that their voice was stronger than it would have been without the advocate. The participants also shared that there are many ways the SBT, ODSP frontline staff and administrative procedures both hear and silence their voice. This study suggests that the application process for ODSP should be made more simplified and user friendly. It concludes that the weighting of the client application forms and treatment of medical evidence should be clarified. While advocates typically perform their jobs with a high level of excellence, it is felt there is some room to enhance accountability and the client's knowledge of complaint procedures. Advocates should continue to do what they do well; recognizing the injustices clients experience, and working to correct them. They also should seek multi-disciplinary cooperation to target the rules and regulations that they fmd unjust. Further research should continue to highlight the injustices of the ODSP system and seek to better understand how intersecting oppressions influence the client's voice. Finally, advocates have harnessed the power of the SBT to achieve a small level of justice for their clients and should continue to use these techniques as a "manageable and effective technique in the practice of social work" (Kutchens et aI, 1987, 132).</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>Reaching the second Millennium Development Goal may not be achievable by the 2015 deadline for either Botswana or Malawi, but both countries have made great strides towards this goal. An analysis, using Gil's framework (1973), of their respective educational policies reveals the successes and challenges faced by each country in this area. The analysis indicates that HIV/AIDS does impact the country's ability to achieve universal primary education; however, it is not the only issue of concern. The policy analysis also shows the incredible complexity of the issues that are encountered in education such as concerns about suitable and accessible infrastructure, the provision of quality education that is relevant to national goals and regional realities, teacher training and attrition rates, financial concerns and donor expectations. This project concludes by investigating some emerging issues of the provision of primary education, such as policy development, statistical reliability, and the role of international donors as well as drawing the connection between this policy analysis and the profession of social work.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>This thesis is a secondary data analysis that examines what child protection service (CPS) providers can learn from the experiences of the service users in regards to service delivery. Using Grounded Theory research method, this study analyses the experiences of 44 parents who have used or were currently using CPS in Ontario. The findings suggest that respect is that vital yet missing element in the delivery of CPS. The study concludes by calling for a reconceptualization of service users from the deep-seated pathologizing framework to a strength-based framework.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>Program evaluation is inherently political, and the evaluation of a state-sponsored injection site for drug users especially so. Stakeholder analysis is one element of a comprehensive evaluation, one that usually takes place after the program has been in operation for some time. In the case of the City of Vancouver's decision to establish such a site, it was clear that there was already stakeholder opinion prior to the opening of the site. This study examines pre- and post-trial stakeholder opinion by reviewing media and other accounts of the pre-trial public debate, and by interviewing six major stakeholders eight months into the trial. Special attention was given to the issue of how to include the voice of a marginalized population in a stakeholder analysis, and four principles were proposed as a means to guide the stakeholder analysis piece of the initial evaluation of this highly controversial initiative.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>Throughout the public, private, and non-profit sectors, there is increasing experimentation with the use of partnerships, alliances, and networks to design and deliver social programs (Brinkerhoff, 2002). In addition government and private funding initiatives are promoting coalitions, collaborations and other inter-organizational approaches to address complex community, social services and health issues (Mizrahi, 2001). Community partnerships can be developed out of natural collaboration and shared values where there is a general interest in improving services for the community, individuals, families, youth and children. More recently however, community partnership literature has focused attention towards the pressures to partner that are resulting from economic and political restructuring policies. Along with this the social service sector has revealed that the demand to partner from the government can cause un-welcomed structural and organizational pressures while impacting upon the agency's ability to meet their core mission (George, Moffat, McGrath and Lee, 2003). The development of partnerships as community-based alternatives in social programming has raised both hopeful possibilities for and illusions of social change, but this does not come without its struggles. This qualitative case study explores the context of these partnerships, the barriers to community-based partnerships and the impact of government restructuring initiatives on community-based partnerships through a look at one community. Utilizing interviews of five key informants, this case study reveals several struggles to develop relationships between the organizations and ministries set out to meet the needs of children and families in their community. The stories of these struggles to partner have revealed three emergent themes. Firstly, Government Restructuring-The Rules Keep Changing: which looks at the impact of government changes to resources and jurisdiction during Alberta's regionalization process. The second theme, Bureaucratic Imperatives, involves looking at the impact of forced formalization upon these partnerships. Finally the theme of Goal Displacement: which, looks at the struggles to manage the demands to partner and their agency core missions. This exploratory study will conclude that, despite the informant optimism in forced partnerships, outside influences and resources have dominated and overwhelmed their local initiatives and informal partnerships creating barriers to partnership work, which, has seemingly, resulted in a dependency upon government endorsed partnership initiatives.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

<p>There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that the prevailing public discourse around improving the health of Canadians has failed to provide any meaningful results. Despite universal access to a publicly funded system of health care delivery, the research clearly demonstrates that persons with low incomes can expect to be less healthy, suffer more and die earlier than their wealthier neighbours, simply because they are poor. In particular, women marginalized by poverty are at much higher risk for inequitable health care treatment as well as the gamut of health related concerns. As poverty becomes increasingly feminized and medicalized as a result of shifting socio-political priorities, the consequences for women may be particularly dire.</p> <p>This paper focuses on the health and health care needs of low-income women living in an urban setting. Based on the findings of a qualitative study, it explores the relationship between health, poverty and gender and discusses how those most impacted view their own health and the health care they receive. The results indicate that the traditional biomedical discourse that individualizes health matters does not adequately reflect the complex and multidimensional health needs of low-income women that are often rooted in their social locations. As a result, current health care responses offer only limited solutions to women's health problems. Further, based on participants' narrative accounts, women who experience poverty also experience significant marginalization when accessing mainstream health services. Using an institutional ethnographic analysis to frame the findings, this paper concludes that the health care oflow-income women is largely structurally determined as a product of dominant ruling relations that reinforce and perpetuate the feminization and medicalization of women's poverty. Poor health is a product of societal injustices and, therefore, requires responses beyond the individual including policy, practice and research initiatives.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)