Recent research has suggested that a social justice education (SJE) increases studentsâ awareness of social issues affecting communities, while simultaneously equipping students with skills they can apply in a real-world context. As an extension to the more traditional civic curriculum or traditional service-learning opportunities, scholars suggest that SJE in classroom and community settings provide students with a more expansive understanding of what it means to be a productive and contributing citizen in society. However, there is limited research about human service organizations as an additional site for providing social justice education to individuals. By using a civic praxis theoretical framework, this study explores how young adultsâ conceptualization of social justice evolves throughout a summer educational program hosted by a human services organization. Through participatory observations and interviews with students, significant components of the curriculum are compared to traditional SJE goals and objectives as students develop emerging definitions of social justice. Findings suggest that the human services context provides students concrete experiences through the organizationâs activities and services that ground studentsâ emerging conceptualization of social justice. Furthermore, a human services orientation to SJE addresses many, but not all, of the key components of traditional social justice curricula.

Over the past twenty years, the number of grandparents raising grandchildren has increased substantially. In many cases, raising grandchildren can be stressful and may aggravate pre-existing health conditions. Grandchildren in these kinship relationships often experience poor health outcomes as well. Typically, both grandparents and grandchildren do not engage in positive health behaviors. Thus, there is a need to develop intergenerational health promotion interventions for grandparents raising grandchildren. This study used the community-based participatory research approach to develop and implement an eight-week intergenerational program for kinship families. The specific goals of this descriptive study were to understand the process and feasibility of developing and implementing the intervention from the perspective of key stakeholders. Content analysis of observational, focus group, and interview data from grandparents, nurses, exercise consultants, and recreation staff provided an in-depth account of the intervention's process (i.e., recruitment, dose delivered, dose received, fidelity, and context) and feasibility (i.e., acceptability, demand, practicality, and integration). Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to determine if the intervention had an effect on participants' health outcomes (i.e., depression, blood pressure, waist circumference, heart rate, weight, balance, and BMI) over time. Although analyses did not result in statistically significant effects on health outcomes, the data trends indicated the possibility of health improvements given a larger sample size. The distinct details gleaned from this study can provide researchers, community organizations, and practitioners with guidance on how to use community partnerships and existing strengths to develop and implement effective community-based intergenerational interventions.

Thesis (DTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007 / Since 1992 the National Research Foundation and the Department of Trade and Industry, with support from industry, have been running a funding initiative under the auspices of Technology for Human Resources in Industry Programme (THRIP). This initiative provides funding to qualifying academics/researchers in South Africa's tertiary institutions and science councils to conduct research and development-oriented (or applied) research. This collaborative funding of applied research is geared to facilitating cross-transference of knowledge, skills and resources across academic institutions, government science, engineering, technology institutions and the industrial sector. It is also expected that research and project outputs will be commercialised to improve the competitiveness of South African industry in the face of globalisation and technological advancement. With public money spent on research projects of national importance, impact and value for money become Vitally important, hence the need for impact assessment. A non-probabilistic sample of 52 research projects in seven standard industrial classification categories or sectors conducted by 44 project leaders (who are academics/researchers) based in seven traditional universities, one former technikon (now university of technology) and three divisions of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, were assessed for impact. A non-experimental design was used, involving synergising the goal-attainment and side-effects evaluation models, and reinforcing them with two elements of causal tracing, temporal precedence and coherence, to facilitate attribution of benefits and impacts. THRIP's strategic objectives served as relevant indicators for impact assessment since projects' objectives co-terminate with them. In the context of the research, a definition of 'performance indicator' as "evidence of what has actually happened" was adopted, lending weight to project leaders' reports of projects' impacts. 'Success', defined in terms of projects' not only accomplishing their objectives, but also yielding value to beneficiaries and stakeholders, is posited as a possibly problematic term given that different stakeholders might have different criteria of judging it. Responses obtained from questionnaires administered to project leaders and industry partners' or sponsors' contact persons, the latter for triangulation, were analysed and categorised into four broad thematic areas: human resource development/intellectual, commercial/economic, social and technological. A number of findings emerged from the main questionnaire. A little more than half (56%) of the projects were completed and 44% were ongoing; majority (85%) were implemented according to plan; three categories of primary beneficiaries were cited by project leaders; projects were meant to address multiple problems/situations; they had multiple objectives; and majority (92%) were successful and made many impacts. Managerial strategies, supplemented by environmental and other factors, contributed to projects' success. Several reasons were offered for failure or inconclusiveness.

In this dissertation I argue for the need to develop a Metis Critical Legal Theory, or “MetCrit”, a theory that is particular to the cultures, issues and concerns of Metis people. Suggestions towards the development of MetCrit are proposed in light of the difficulties of Metis rights claimants in British Columbia following creation of the “historic community connection” test in R v Powley, the leading case on the constitutional protection of Metis rights in Canada. Misconceptions about BC Metis history and about Metis communities generally have resulted in legal decisions that hold there are no historic Metis communities in BC, and thus no communities capable of meeting the Powley test. The BC situation reveals that Powley, as it is currently interpreted, cannot adequately deal with the realities of Metis history or with Metis conceptions of community, and that the community connection test itself is flawed. MetCrit is proposed as a possible lens through which to examine BC Metis rights cases in light of the historiography of the Metis of BC, and through which to critique the Powley court’s attempt to concretize Metis community identities. I suggest that MetCrit could provide spectrums of space for avoiding some of the dualities that are reflected in Canadian legal and historical accounts of Metis people and communities. / Graduate / 2020-04-19

In this thesis, I examine the experiences of breastfeeding mothers who chose to give birth with Certified Professional Midwives at a free-standing birth center, and the factors that influence their known high rates of breastfeeding initiation and duration. Using grounded theory and data collected from participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and an open-ended survey, I describe the functioning of the birth center and the breastfeeding explanatory models of the birth center staff as well as how the birth center's model of care affects client-participant's experiences of breastfeeding in community that rejects medicalized models of birth and breastfeeding. Findings interpreted from a biocultural perspective reveal how women utilize previously constructed breastfeeding convictions to navigate support and difficulties in a way that allows 92% of client-participants to report overall happiness about their breastfeeding experiences. There was, however, a small subset of women who were disappointed in their breastfeeding experience. Recommendations include changes in care practice to further support breastfeeding women in this community. / Graduation date: 2013

abstract: This research examines the experiences and perceptions of immigrant and refugee women social entrepreneurs located within a context of economic instability, as well as the strategies that they develop to cope with such crises and volatility. To conduct this research I used a mixed-method, qualitative approach to data collection, including semi-structured, open-ended interviews and a focus group. I used feminist theory and a grounded theory approach to inform the design of my study; as such I acknowledge the participants as knowledge producers and allow for them to add in questions to the interviews and focus group and to comment on drafts of the written portion of the dissertation. The findings have indicated that these women are surviving the economic crisis by combining different income streams, including social entrepreneurship, traditional jobs and state and non-profit-aid. Moreover, the participants have found that besides monetary value, social entrepreneurship also provides alternative benefits such as personal sovereignty in their work environment, work-life balance and well-being. Also, personal history, and family and community embeddedness contribute to women's decisions to pursue social entrepreneurship. This research contributes to the growing body of research on gender and work and fills the gaps in literature currently existing in social entrepreneurship. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Justice Studies 2015

In this research I investigate the problem of education quality at the faculties of Social Sciences at four Georgian Public Universities. The findings of research are derived through interviewing of professors and document analysis of Georgian legislation concerning higher education and European-level frameworks supporting the enhancement of education quality. I deal with the problem of quality using the mixture of theories. I divided researched topics in three parts: Ideological, Institutional and personal-level. The majority of theoretical claims were disproved in the local context of Georgia. Education quality and knowledge production are multi-faceted problems at Georgian Public Universities, Faculties of Social Sciences and it mainly is related to the scarce state resources allocated to HEIs in general in Georgia.

Die Herausgeber, die zugleich Ausrichter der 16. Europäischen Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Medien in der Wissenschaft „GMW 2011“ sind, freuen sich, den E-Learning-Akteuren aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum und den Nachbarländern im 20. Jahr des Bestehens der GMW als Fortsetzung eines bisher sehr fruchtbaren Dialoges diesen Sammelband, der in der Reihe „Medien in der Wissenschaft“ beim Waxmann Verlag erscheint, vorzulegen. Unter dem Motto „WissensGemeinschaften in Forschung und Lehre“ liegt ein besonderer Schwerpunkt auf der Verzahnung von E-Learning-Angeboten in der Ausbildung an der Universität mit solchen für allgemein- und berufsbildende Schulen. Dabei soll auch der didaktische Aspekt Beachtung finden.

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Among the health disparities affecting the U.S. Hispanic population today are those relating to risky behaviors such as substance abuse, intimate partner violence (IPV) and HIV/AIDS. However, few studies have examined how these conditions may impact this population. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the experiences that Hispanic women in South Florida have with regard to substance abuse, IPV and risks for HIV/AIDS, to describe how these conditions may be related, and to develop a model that can be used to guide research and interventions targeting this population. This dissertation uses data collected in Project DYVA (Drogas y Violencia en las Americas- Drugs and Violence in the Americas), a pilot research study that utilized both qualitative (Phase I) and quantitative (Phase II) research methods to describe the experiences of Hispanic women in South Florida between the ages of 18 and 60 with regard to substance abuse, violence and risky sexual behaviors. Three studies were conducted as part of this dissertation. The first study utilizes data collected during the qualitative phase of Project DYVA. During this phase eight focus groups were conducted and analyzed using qualitative content analysis (N = 81). The second and third studies utilize data collected during the second phase of Project DYVA. In this phase cross-sectional questionnaires collecting information regarding demographics, acculturation, self-esteem, depression, substance abuse, IPV and risks for HIV, were administered to 82 Hispanic women. Univariate and multivariate statistics were used to explore the relationships between substance abuse, IPV and risk for HIV (study 2) and between resource availability, IPV and depression (study 3). The findings from this dissertation suggest that substance abuse, IPV and risk for HIV are closely related intersecting health issues. IPV, the condition that emerged as the most salient of the three, also appears to be closely associated with resource availability (i.e., self-esteem and income) and depression. Additional individual, cultural, relationship and socio-environmental factors that may play a significant role in shaping the experiences that Hispanic women have with regards to these intersecting conditions were also identified and organized into a model.