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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
501

A phenomenological exploration of the mother-daughter relationships during and after father-daughter incestuous abuse of the daughter

Sen, Chandra January 1990 (has links)
The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of the relationship between mothers and their incestuously abused daughters. The research sample consisted of five adult daughters who in their childhood and/or adolescence, were abused by their biological fathers. The volunteer participants were in therapy at the time of the research interviews. The study employed a phenomenological method in order to allow the daughters to describe their experiences and perceptions of their mothers. By engaging in a dialogue with the daughters, the researcher attempted to explore the dynamics and impact of the mother-daughter relationships on the daughters. Results confirmed that these mother-daughter relationships were damaged. However, the daughters also expressed strong desires to heal their relationships with their mothers. In addition, the daughters identified important connections between their relationships with their mothers and the continued influence of this relationship on their experience of themselves in their current lives. The findings of this study have important research and therapeutic implications. The research findings strongly suggest that the relationship between daughters and their mothers in families where father-daughter incest occurs needs to be examined beyond individual family member's roles which have been the exclusive focus of existing research. Furthermore, the strong connections made by the participants of the present study between their relationships with their mothers and their sense of self, may be an important consideration in therapeutic work with this client population. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate
502

The politics of industrial adjustment in Canada : the case of the footwear industry

Ramesh, M. January 1988 (has links)
The purpose of this study is, first, to describe the Canadian government's policy for the domestic footwear industry during the 1970-1985 period, and second, to account for the forces that shaped it. The analysis is conducted within an "organizational" framework, which is based on the approach developed by Peter Hall. The framework postulates that the relationships within and among state, societal, and international political-economic institutions are the key determinants of economic policy. The study argues that it is the conflicts within and among the state, manufacturing interests (business and labour in the footwear industry, and those in the supplying industries), and trading interests (importers and retailers dealing in footwear), conditioned by international political economy, that shaped the government's policy. It is concluded that the state and manufacturing interests formed internally united organizations and pursued well defined objectives. The state's objective was to assist the industry through high tariffs and financial aid for modernization. In contrast, the manufacturing interests' objective was to secure quotas on imports. While the two sides were internally united, neither were sufficiently strong to impose their objectives on the other. The international political economy favoured the use of tariffs and financial assistance. At the same time, circumstances arose -- resulting from economic recession, appreciation of the Canadian dollar, and the threat of Quebec separatism--that made it difficult for the state to resist the manufacturing interests' demands. In such circumstances, the industry succeeded, if only temporarily, in securing quotas in addition to tariffs and financial assistance. The trading interests were somewhat divided among themselves, which restricted their capacity to participate effectively in the policy process. Their positions were relevant only to the extent they could be selectively used by the state to resist the manufacturing interests' demands. A theme of major theoretical significance that emerges from this study is the importance of international political economy in the making of domestic policies. The second theoretical implication of the study is the need to view the state and societal actors in a policy process not just as players, but also as structures. They form an organized relationship, both within and in relation to each other, which facilitates the pursuit of some objectives and impedes the accomplishment of others. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate
503

Disabling sexualities : an exploratory multiple case study of self-identified gay and bisexual men with developmental disabilities

Thompson, Scott Anthony 11 1900 (has links)
The purpose of this exploratory investigation was to investigate how self-identified gay or bisexual (GB) men with developmental disabilities managed their complex identities. Through various profiling strategies and snowball sampling techniques, seven such GB men volunteered. These key participants resided over a wide geographical area, from the coastal US to the southern part of British Columbia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each person, three of whom identified a caregiver as being a particularly important part of his "coming-out" process. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with these supporting participants, as well as a few other relevant professionals. Key participants' life stories were framed within several theories: namely; Goffman's (1963) stigma, Lave and Wengers' (1991) legitimate peripheral participation, disability theory, queer theory and Smith's (1987) institutional ethnography. Similarly, the supporting professionals' responses were analyzed. The results present rich kaleidoscopic narrative descriptions, and provide many implications for special education practice and queer activism. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate
504

The women-in-development efficiency approach : a case study of programming income generation in a Chinese village

Tyler, Diane 11 1900 (has links)
In the 1970s, international development planners began to recognize women's important roles in their communities. A variety of approaches to include women have since evolved, and their merits are debated. They have been described in the literature as "welfare," "Women-in-Development" (WID), and "Gender and Development" (GAD). The welfare approach focuses on basic needs while strengthening women's homemaker and reproductive roles. The WID approach is based on increasing women's incomes as a means toward empowerment. The Gender and Development (GAD) addresses systemic gender discrimination. There is need for research in development planning. Development programs track results during the project, but seldom look at long term impacts and sustainability. This thesis reports the results of research on a 1991 WID efficiency approach, women's income generation project in Shaanxi Province, China, by examining the impact seven years later. My methodology involved interviews with twenty-one women project participants, eight husbands, village leaders and informal lunch-hour focus group discussions with villagers. The project involved transition from grain to orchards. The orchards dramatically increased women's incomes and improved the quality of village life. The women took full control of orchard management, pushing men out of the orchards saying that they were "incapable" of the monotonous orchard tasks. Most husbands found off-farm jobs, diversifying household incomes. Women gained marketing skills, self-confidence, and financial independence, but remained vulnerable as primary producers to income fluctuations. Most women stayed outside village politics, and traditional gender role socialization was maintained. The project fulfilled women's needs and interests, however, long term results for women are mixed. The Shaanxi field project was one of sixty-six field projects under the Canada- China Women-in-Development Project (1990-1995) implemented in partnership by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the All-China Women's Federation. The project had two components: poverty reduction and institutional strengthening of the Women's Federation. I was the Canadian co-manager of the Canada-China WID Project, and have since completed more than thirty contracts (fifteen projects) plus a two-year contract as co-manager of the Canada-China Women's Law Project (one year of which was full-time in China). My research is intended to assist and improve my future work in the development field, and to inform those interested in women's development program planning and gender equality policy. Good planning was key to the strength of the Canada-China WID Project. Partners shared a common goal. CIDA's efficiency approach supported the Women's Federation policy to bring women into production as a means of achieving equality. Participatory planning and decision-making involved Federation project officers across China. Delegation in management and clear, commonly set guidelines increased partners' involvement and accountability. Power in planning gradually, and tacitly, transferred to the Women's Federation as they assumed ownership and responsibility for results. Strong donor/recipient partnership and participatory planning processes strengthen potential for sustainable results. Suggestions to improve women's development planning include: increasing gender awareness, strengthening women's interest and capacity in political participation, developing risk mitigation strategies to lessen income insecurity, blending WID/GAD projects, and further research on project impacts. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate
505

Culture, workplace stress, and coping : a study of overseas Chinese

Zhang, Dan 05 1900 (has links)
The purpose of this study was to examine Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) stress and coping theory in the context of workplace stress and coping with a focus on the influence of personal and cultural resources on cognitive appraisal, coping strategies, and the well-being of Chinese who are currently employed in professional occupations overseas. The data were collected from a volunteer sample of 228 overseas Chinese professionals (128 men, 100 women, M age = 32.6). Participants completed three sets of questionnaires over a six-week period (2 weeks apart). Specific variables of interest included cultural, social, and personal resources (Chinese collective values, perceived social support and work support, and general self-efficacy), situational appraisals (perceived situational control and self-efficacy), ways of coping (Engagement, Disengagement, and Collective strategies), and changes in short-term outcomes (job satisfaction, somatic symptoms, and depression symptoms). Items that assessed collective ways of coping were developed for this study. Significant differences were found between men and women in this sample. As such, path analysis (LISREL VIII) was used to test the hypothesized relationships in the model separately for men and women. Based on a zero-order correlation matrix, the results for the initial hypothesized path models indicated a moderate fitting model for men and an inadequate fitting model for women. However, modified models revealed a good model fit for both men and women, X 2 (29, N=128)=32.72, p=.29, Q=1.13, RMSR=.05, GFI=.96, and CFI=. 98, and X 2 (29, N=100)=44.10, p=.04, Q=1.52, GFI=.93, RMSR-.07, and CFI=.92, respectively. The pattern of relationships (path coefficients) provide partial supports for the hypothesized model and Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) theoretical assumptions. The results of this study were consistent with those obtained by other researchers who found that coping resources are associated with coping strategies and short-term outcomes (e.g., Long, Kahn, & Schutz, 1992; Terry, Tonge, & Callan, 1995). For the men, personal resources of General Self-efficacy were positively related to control appraisal, Work Support predicted Collective coping, and Social Support was associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms. As expected, Disengagement coping was found to have a significant effect on depressive symptoms for the men. For the women, General Self-efficacy and Social Support were associated with perceived self-efficacy, and predicted an increase in job satisfaction and a decrease in depressive symptoms. Self-efficacy appraisal had negative effects on Disengagement coping. As hypothesized, Engagement coping was negatively associated with changes in somatic symptoms, and Disengagement coping predicted changes in both somatic and depressive symptoms. The results Of factor analysis supported the development of a Collective coping subscale. Implications of these results and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate
506

The dissolution of career in the lives of middle class, middle aged men

Malek, Alard A. 11 1900 (has links)
This grounded theory study investigated the experiences of 18 middle class, middle aged men who lost long term employment because of organizational restructuring. Limited research had previously been conducted in this area and this study extends our understanding about the impact of job loss on people who have lost long term employment. The purpose of the study was to explicate the lived experiences of these men and generate an explanation and model of how they reconstructed their understanding of career following job loss from long term employment. The men's experience of job loss and how they constructed career after the loss of long term employment were explained through a dynamic and interacting four stage process model of the dissolution of career. Stage 1, establishing career, explained how the men came to understand career as a relationship. For these men, career, as a relationship, was based on trust and was comprised of reciprocal terms believed to exist between the "good employee" and the "good employer." Over time, by fulfilling the terms of reciprocity, a psychological contract was established between the men and their employers. This contract contained mutual obligations, such as, employment security in exchange for employee commitment, loyalty, hard work, and sacrifice. Stage 2, the termination of employment, revealed how the experience of job loss signified a violation of the psychological contract. The men believed they had complied with the psychological contract; however, the employer's failure to provide employment security represented a violation of the psychological contract. This violation was a highly emotional experience, tantamount to a betrayal. Although compensation could represent the employer's effort to honour the employer/employee relationship, compensation in the form of severance pay was not adequate. Stage 3, disengaging from career, signified the period of time during which the men attempted to come to terms with the loss of career. The men attempted to secure new employment in a world of work different from the world in which they had begun their careers. Although the men sought employment that promoted the employer/employee relationship of career, seeking work revealed career as they had known it was unlikely in the new world of work. Past experience and educational upgrading had little effect on their ability to secure employment. Employers favoured inexpensive labour, immediate skills, and short term working relationships with employees. Generally, the men found themselves working in unstable jobs for less money. The men who secured stable work, gained job security through union membership or self employment instead of relying on the employer/employee relationship. The men's experiences during this stage underscored the experiences of the second stage. Stage 4, the dearth of career, represented the outcome of the men's experiences of the preceding stages. Although the men maintained previous definitions of career, they stated they had lost career and that career is no longer possible in the context of the new world of work. They were less trusting of employers. They favoured a transactional orientation towards work and stressed self interest in work relationships. Whereas, career provided a major source of purpose and meaning in the past, they constructed new purpose and meaning in life by reprioritizing other relationships in their lives, that is, with self, family, and friends. One wonders, however, whether life seemed less meaningful for the men who participated in this study because they maintained their definitions of career. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate
507

Hopes and desires for language learning : conversations with bilingual families

Thomas, Lynn Alexandra 05 1900 (has links)
Children learn language in the family. They also learn about the ways in which language can be used to communicate needs, share ideas, express cultural identity and negotiate and reinforce group membership. In bilingual and minority language families children also learn about the existence of different languages, of different ways of talking about the same object and expressing the same ideas, and the appropriate time and place to use each language. The place of language in the development of cultural identity and group membership is particularly important for people who speak more than one language and feel attachments to more than one culture. This study explores what it is to be a bilingual parent of young children. Parents who were themselves bilingual were asked about their own experiences with language, and their experiences with raising their children. The dissertation is organized around the themes of language learning in the family, in the community, and within the context of school. This study has resulted in a broad range of findings, among which are: that raising children to be bilingual is a deliberate act requiring considerable, conscious effort on the part of parents, that parents who have a mentor, someone they know who has successfully raised bilingual children, are more likely to persist with their efforts despite difficulties, and that close religious, cultural or familial ties to other speakers of the minority language are positive influences on both parents and children. Another important finding is that parents are greatly encouraged by meeting health and/or educational professionals who are positive and informative about bilingualism in young children. Conversation is the methodology for this study because it allows the participants and the researcher to work together toward a greater understanding of the topic under study. Through conversations with other interested people I was able to invite them into my questions. Sharing stories of language, and reflecting on what these stories mean and how they have affected and continue to affect us, opens the possibilities for a much greater understanding of what it means to speak more than one language in this society, and how that will affect our children. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate
508

Following versus breaking with precedent : organizational conformity and deviation in the British Columbia legal profession

Cliff, Jennifer E. 05 1900 (has links)
This study investigates the effect of founders socialization experiences and contextual interpretations on the deviation of recently-established law firms from the dominant organizational form in the B.C. legal profession. Through this research I address three issues fundamental to the neo-institutional perspective on organizational analysis: 1) whether consensually-understood frameworks exist in highly-institutionalized environments, 2) the extent to which new entrants to such industries reproduce or depart from these prescribed arrangements, and 3) why some conform while others deviate. In the first phase of my investigation, I ascertained the nature of the legal profession s dominant template for organizing by analyzing qualitative data collected from multiple data sources including both observers of and practitioners within this industry. I subsequently validated this template by collecting quantitative data through a survey administered to a panel of lawyers. The results support the existence of a commonly- perceived template for organizing in the B.C. legal profession. In the second phase of my research, I investigated sixty recently-established law firms in B.C. Through a background questionnaire and personal interview conducted with the founder of each firm, I collected data on multiple dimensions of form, the founder s experience, and his or her rationale for designing the firm in a certain way. I also administered a survey to a separate panel of lawyers, to obtain their perceptions of the extent to which alternative arrangements differed from those of the dominant template. This data was used to calculate deviation measures for the recentlyestablished firms. The results revealed that, despite the prevalence with which founders voiced disenchantment with the dominant template, 85% of their firms exhibited very little deviation from the normative form. Thus, it appears that most new entrants to a highlyinstitutionalized setting act primarily as agents of institutional perpetuation rather than entrepreneurship. The 15% that exhibited greater deviation tended to be headed by founders with less experience in the industry s most prominent organizations and by those who most strongly questioned the moral legitimacy of prevailing organizational arrangements. Experience in marginal organizations or other industries, as well as doubts about the dominant template s pragmatic legitimacy, were insufficient triggers of new entrant deviation. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate
509

The importance of participative organizational communication : a South African case study

Van Wezel, Sarah Sophia 21 August 2012 (has links)
M.A. / This dissertation is an explorative study of the importance of participative communication conducted at one South African organization. The influence of the external democratic environment on the internal organizational environment was discussed within the broad parameters of the open systems approach. The new labour legislation in South Africa, the new Labour Relations Act (NLRA), emphasizes democratic principles and values. Participative management is emphasized as a management style that should be encouraged. Access to information and employee participation in organizational operation are indicated as key components in the move towards more participative organizational environments. The renewed importance of an organizational context that supports worker participation processes emphasizes the need to investigate how a participative environment can most effectively be established. Information sharing and participation in decision-making require effective communication structures and an environment that supports and encourages employee involvement. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of effective communication in participative organizational contexts with specific focus on South Africa. The newly emphasized democratic external democratic external environment requires the encouragement of effective participative management. The study advocated that communication structures as mechanisms for participation in organizational decisionmaking should therefore be critically analyzed. In order to ensure effective communication in participative environments, communication effectiveness was formulated in terms of specific research objectives that were explored, namely information efficiency (availability of information), communication channels available for information and the number of channels available for participation. Variables that could possibly influence these theoretical constructs were identified and explored, including job level, union membership, workplace forum membership, workplace forum participation, fear of participation and communication climate. In the literature study consideration was given to recognized theories related to the systems approach, climate and culture and participative management. The organizational internal culture was also discussed and considered, as cultural change should play a major role in the move towards a participative culture. The empirical part of the study was conducted as a case study at Columbus Stainless. Research objectives in terms of the aim of the study were explored indicating the importance of participative communication by measuring specific theoretical constructs as formulated in terms of the theoretical framework. The most prominent findings can be summarized as follows: • In terms of information efficiency variation between junior and senior level employees existed. Availability of information, both current and desired, was indicated as a theoretical construct that should be measured. • Variation existed in the perception of organizational information efficiency (amount of information) between organizational members who are scared of participation and members who are not scared of participation. Employees with less access to information were more scared of participation. • Wider access to communication channels providing information on micro level was related to more positive perceptions of the communication climate. • A correlation existed between fear of participation and the number of channels used for participation on macro level. Respondents who on average participated in fewer channels on macro level were less scared of participation. • Communication channel usage on macro level was almost statistically significantly related to positive perceptions of the communication climate.
510

Influential friends? : impact of social context on young women’s pain expressions

Wang, Tina Chi 05 1900 (has links)
Research examining social influences on pain has largely neglected the impact of friends, while studies on the social context of emotional display have demonstrated differences in expressivity in the presence of friends versus strangers. Given that pain is a universal phenomenon with both affective and sensory components, it appeared important to merge and extend research in both pain and emotions domains by examining the role of friends as determinants of pain experience and expression. An experimental investigation was undertaken to examine the impact of friendship, as a feature of audience effects and social modeling, on pain expression, as well as to examine the impact of menstrual factors that have been hypothesized to contribute to young women's current pain experience. Participants were female undergraduate students from the University of British Columbia. They were randomly assigned to undergo the cold pressor task with either a friend or a stranger, resulting in 52 pairs of friends and 52 pairs of strangers. Half of the participants had been exposed to the friend or stranger undertaking the task in advance of their own exposure to the cold pressor, so as to examine social modeling phenomenon. Measures of pain expression included self-rated pain intensity and unpleasantness, behavioural tolerance time, and facial pain activity. Robust social modeling effects were observed in all measures of pain, with the bulk of the modeling effect being expression modality-specific. A differential social modeling effect of friends vs. strangers was observed only in pain facial activity. Women's dysmenorrhea status and its severity, when evident, were unrelated to current pain expression. The presence of friends significantly facilitated expression of disgust but no significant group differences were observed for other emotions. Results are discussed from social communication model of pain and evolutionary perspectives and highlight individuals' apparent innate propensity to evaluate the costs and benefits associated with social communication. Future research is needed to elucidate factors that influence the transmission and reception of social information. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

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