This thesis embodies a report on a survey conducted in the Kerrisdale community of the City of Vancouver. The primary purpose of the survey was to determine the extent to which the young people living in "Kerrisdale" identified themselves with the institutions of this community. The present report covers a sample of two hundred adolescent boys (ages 14-18) selected on the basis of membership in church groups, boys' clubs and other community agencies and considered, in view of the way in which they were selected, to be representative of Kerrisdale youth. The sample has been proven to be representative of the community it purports to represent. It, at the same time, is similar to the samples obtained by other studies done elsewhere. The similarity of the Kerrisdale sample with the Maryland sample obtained by H. M. Bell is particularly significant. In the first part of the study, a survey of the literature on adolescents has been made to determine the techniques and procedures which had been used successfully by other workers in this area of research. Material for this study has been obtained from the use of three research techniques. These were: Written questionnaire, Personal interviews, and Observational techniques. The findings of this study and of earlier American studies appear in many essential respects to agree. However, the findings of this study and those of the Canadian Youth Commission tend to disagree. The general conclusion reached is that the Kerrisdale adolescents are emotionally well "integrated" with their homes. They are physically well "integrated" with the main institutions of the community, in the sense that they use them continuously, though there may be emotional maladjustment to these in some cases. Due to lack of measurable indices, it is not possible to generalize accurately about the spiritual "integration" of Kerrisdale adolescents with schools, churches, and the community generally. On the basis of information presented, certain general recommendations have been made which might lead to better spiritual "integration" existing between the adolescents and the various components of their environment. These include improving the teacher-student relationships; adding to the adolescent's desire to go to church; and in getting the members of the family to spend more time together to try to make it a better adjusted and more emotionally integrated unit. Will it be done? Can it be done? This is the challenge which faces not only the Kerrisdale community but other communities as well in the second half of the twentieth century. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

This institutional ethnographic textual analysis explores the impact screeninglintake assessment tool usage has on youth workers. Fourteen screeninglintake tools used by youth workers, transcripts from interviews with youth workers and accreditation manuals and public documents pertaining to the current political climate were collected and examined. The objective of the inquiry was to explore the role these tools play in linking the youth~worker1organizationa1 context and how these often "taken for granted" tools have the power to transport external and internal influences into the youth worker work process and shape their experience. Findings show that tools used have a great deal of power to shape the practice in various ways: they dictate how work processes happen, how clients are perceived, how practice decisions are made and who has the ultimate control over practice.

The early recollection technique has been in use since the late 1800s. In recent years early recollections have been utilized to analyze a number of different populations (e.g., alcoholics, homosexual men). The present study looks at the early recollections (ERs) of a number of male and female street involved youth. It is exploratory in nature as it presents the first ER research on street youth. No prior research was available for comparative purposes. The population consists of 32 subjects, whose average age is 20 years. Subjects were chosen from a downtown Vancouver drop-in centre. A scoring system, part of which was derived from an earlier study, is used to analyze the memories. The results generally indicate that males and females are passive agents in their actions, have memories that possess negative affect, and are externally controlled. In addition, the males have issues with their sexuality, and gender differences are evident with regard to role-activity and sexuality. This study also highlights the fact that more than half of the sample came from broken homes, had completed grade 10, had Catholic upbringings and, once on the street, were heavily involved in drug use. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This dissertation is a case study of one small segment of what is commonly referred to as the "Indian community" in Vancouver, focusing particularly on its second-generation youth members. The study examines members' constructions of "Indian" identity, "Indian community," and "Indian culture." The first generation members of this population segment are primarily upper to middle class Hindu speaking Hindus from north India who migrated to Canada as students and independent class immigrants between 1955 and 1975 and are currently practicing professional and business people. They represent a minority of the Indian population in Vancouver by virtue of class, urban background, and language-regional-cultural affiliation. I argue, however, that this case study is an important addition to literature about South Asians in Canada both because this population segment is absent from existing literature, and because many of these individuals play leading roles in Vancouver's Indian community. Canadian literature which pertains to second generation South Asian youth emphasizes issues of assimilation, inter-generational conflict and inter-cultural identity confusion. This case study diverges from those issues in order to provide a fuller appreciation of relatively neglected aspects of youth lives. It describes how youth act as agents in the construction of their own lives and documents their experiences, visions, and initiatives. In doing so, the dissertation documents processes by which culture is constructed, conceptually and in practice. The research draws on a number of theoretical perspectives including symbolic interactionism (Blumer 1969), structuration theory (Giddens 1976, 1979, 1984), "conscious models" (Ward 1965) and reference group identification (Merton 1964; Shibutani 1955). Data is derived from participant observation, interviews, and group discussions. Youth respondents express that the challenge for them, a different one from that of their parents whose formative years were spent in South Asia or East Africa, is how to integrate Indian culture into their Canadian lives. My study concludes that active phrases used by respondents, such as, "trying to cope," "having the freedom to choose,” and "integrating Indian culture" are more accurate express-ions of the experiences of youth respondents than the passive metaphor commonly applied to South Asian youth of being “caught between two cultures."

Street youth can be viewed as an oppressed population based on the fact that most street youth experience one, if not all of the five faces of oppression. Using an anti-oppressive framework, this thesis examines whether the oppression of street youth is ever inadvertently contributed to, reproduced, or perpetuated by services that youth access voluntarily. In addition, this research also explores what possible reasons or conditions might be promoting or perpetuating the oppression of street youth through helping agencies or by helping professionals. Lastly, youth were asked what anti-oppressive practices they could identify in current services, as well as how they would begin to define anti-oppressive practice with street youth. This exploratory research used an anti-oppressive research design and a focus group methodology with a grassroots street youth run advocacy group in Vancouver.

This dissertation is a case study of one small segment of what is commonly referred to as the "Indian community" in Vancouver, focusing particularly on its second-generation youth members. The study examines members' constructions of "Indian" identity, "Indian community," and "Indian culture." The first generation members of this population segment are primarily upper to middle class Hindu speaking Hindus from north India who migrated to Canada as students and independent class immigrants between 1955 and 1975 and are currently practicing professional and business people. They represent a minority of the Indian population in Vancouver by virtue of class, urban background, and language-regional-cultural affiliation. I argue, however, that this case study is an important addition to literature about South Asians in Canada both because this population segment is absent from existing literature, and because many of these individuals play leading roles in Vancouver's Indian community. Canadian literature which pertains to second generation South Asian youth emphasizes issues of assimilation, inter-generational conflict and inter-cultural identity confusion. This case study diverges from those issues in order to provide a fuller appreciation of relatively neglected aspects of youth lives. It describes how youth act as agents in the construction of their own lives and documents their experiences, visions, and initiatives. In doing so, the dissertation documents processes by which culture is constructed, conceptually and in practice. The research draws on a number of theoretical perspectives including symbolic interactionism (Blumer 1969), structuration theory (Giddens 1976, 1979, 1984), "conscious models" (Ward 1965) and reference group identification (Merton 1964; Shibutani 1955). Data is derived from participant observation, interviews, and group discussions. Youth respondents express that the challenge for them, a different one from that of their parents whose formative years were spent in South Asia or East Africa, is how to integrate Indian culture into their Canadian lives. My study concludes that active phrases used by respondents, such as, "trying to cope," "having the freedom to choose,” and "integrating Indian culture" are more accurate express-ions of the experiences of youth respondents than the passive metaphor commonly applied to South Asian youth of being “caught between two cultures." / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

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