Females diagnosed with a substance use disorder (SUD) may experience more stigmatization and need more social support than males. Traditional therapeutic services provide interventions and treatment that is uniform for males and females. The available research on female substance users does not address meaningful connections and relationships with others, and its effect on overall wellness. The objective of this study was to address the importance of social support, stigmatization, and wellness. A sample of 232 females diagnosed with SUD, at least 18 years of age, responded to three instruments and a demographic form. The results of this study indicate that income and age are predictors of overall wellness and explained 12% of the variance in wellness, when using a multiple regression analysis, (adjusted R^2 = .119, p = .000). Relationship status and relationship length demonstrated significance as predictors of social support, explaining 5.6% of the variance in social support, using a multiple regression analysis, (adjusted R^2 = .056, p = .001). Number of children, age, and relationship length demonstrated significance as predictors of stigmatization, accounting for 9.4% of the variance in stigmatization, (adjusted R^2 = .094, p = .000). Social support accounted for 4.1% of the variance in stigmatization using a multiple regression analysis, (adjusted R^2 = .041, p = .001). Social support explained 39% of the variance in wellness, (adjusted R^2 = .394, p = .000). Using a hierarchical regression analysis to control for stigmatization, social support explained 44% of the variance in wellness, (adjusted R^2 = .438, p = .000). Finally, social support mediates the relationship between stigmatization and wellness, when using path analysis. This study provided support for specific treatment for females in substance abuse treatment; particularly concerning social support, stigmatization, and wellness. These females with SUD reported that social support increased wellness, correlating with decreased stigmatization. Conversely, females who experienced increased stigmatization and decreased social support also experienced decreased wellness. Social support mediated the impact of stigmatization and wellness. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Background: The perpetration of intimate partner violence by women remains a controversial issue with historical focus on males as perpetrators and females as victims. The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004) in the United Kingdom emphasised the importance of arresting domestic violence perpetrators regardless of gender and this has resulted in significant arrests of female perpetrators of IPV. This has been paralleled by a growing interest in understanding these offenders. Central to this, is gaining an understanding of the aetiology of this population of offenders and their motivations for perpetrating IPV. Investigating this empirically may inform understanding of females’ pathways into perpetrating IPV and may also inform treatment pathways and risk management of these offenders. Design/Methodology: Aims are addressed separately in two journal articles. In journal article 1, systematic searches of bibliographic databases, in addition to hand searches of various articles was conducted to identify any association between personality psychopathology and the perpetration of IPV in females. Journal article 2 describes an empirical investigation of motivation in 8 female IPV perpetrators through semi-structured interviews. The data was transcribed and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: The results of the systematic review revealed an association with personality psychopathology and female perpetration of IPV, in particular cluster B traits. In relation to motivations the results revealed the value of considering offence supportive cognitions which underpin females’ motives for IPV, in addition to the context of women’s lives and the dynamic of the relationship. Conclusions: The relevance of personality psychopathology identified in journal article 1 is discussed in relation to assessment and intervention, in addition to limitations of the synthesis and clinical and empirical utility. The offence supportive cognitions identified in journal article 2 are discussed in relation to other offending behaviour groups, in addition to their clinical implications in the development of assessment and management of this population and of the development of effective interventions.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T14:20:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gilzi Franco e Lima Carvalho.pdf: 806413 bytes, checksum: e48a69262451198e373075b247e6b88d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-06-14 / The present study brings a reflection, from the Psychoanalyst theory, about the perversion, more specifically about female perversion, its obstructions and questioning. The study brings a description of the perversion term, used before with a reductionist vision and later the description made by Freud (1905/2004) like a psychosexual development process. Even though some authors did not agree with the female perversion idea, this study presents an analysis of a clinical case, an adult female subjectivity, with perversion characteristic traces, that were registered in her talk and her relation with the other one. The goal of this work is to analyze the presence of the perverse structural traces in a young woman and to discuss how the perverse dynamic establishes itself on female subjectivity. To reflect about this question the work has a theory part, in which is portrayed the female psychosexual development, bringing a reflection in the respect of the perverse dynamic, as well as construction of perverse traces in woman. The clinical case study was presented from the reconstruction of the clinical sessions and the Discussion conducted, articulating the theory with the dynamic presented by the person. / O presente estudo traz uma reflexão, a partir da teoria Psicanalítica, sobre a perversão, mais especificamente sobre a perversão feminina, seus entraves e questionamentos. O estudo traz uma descrição do termo perversão, usado anteriormente de forma reducionista e posterior descrição realizada por Freud (1905/2004) como um processo do desenvolvimento psicossexual. Apesar de alguns autores não comungarem com a idéia de perversão no feminino, este estudo apresenta uma análise de um caso clínico, uma subjetividade feminina adulta, com traços característicos da perversão, inscritos em sua fala e em sua relação com o outro. Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a presença de traços estruturais perversos em uma jovem mulher e discutir como a dinâmica perversa se estabelece na subjetividade feminina. Para refletir sobre essa questão o trabalho possui uma parte teórica, na qual é retratado o desenvolvimento psicossexual feminino, trazendo uma reflexão a respeito da dinâmica perversa, bem como a construção de traços perversos na mulher. O Estudo de caso clínico foi apresentado a partir da reconstrução das sessões clínicas e realizada a Discussão, articulando a teoria com a dinâmica apresentada pelo sujeito.

This investigation was designed to determine if attitudinal differences toward involvement of females in athletic competitions existed between males when age, education, and sport backgrounds were considered. Subjects were 186 male employees of Air Products and Chemicals, Incorporated and the City of De Soto, Texas, and students at North Texas State University. A fifty-one item attitude inventory developed by the investigator was the instrument utilized in the study. Data were analyzed by a three-way analysis of variance. Conclusions of the study were that males of various ages, educational levels, and sport backgrounds do not differ in their attitudes and possess favorable opinions toward female sport participation, Males with nonactive sport backgrounds were more favorable than males with active-semiactive backgrounds when spectators at female sport events.

In this project I explore the creation of female community in the novels of four contemporary feminist writers: Nicole Brossard, Michelle Cliff, Maryse Condé, and Gisèle Pineau. I contend that in their diverse representations of female community, these women writers provide collaborative feminist models of resistance, creative transformation, and renewal. Building on Judith Butler's articulation of agency as variation on repetition, I argue that these writers transform the space of the novel in order to tell these stories of community, revitalizing this form as a potential site of collaborative performance of identity. They offer an alternative vision that is not only feminist and collective, but also transnational, translinguistic, historical, and epistemological - challenging and reconfiguring the way in which we understand our world. I develop the project thematically in terms of coming-of-age through and into female community (what the communities in these novels look like and the relationship between individuals and communities, seen through the process of individual maturity). I then consider the formal construction of female community through the collective narrative voice (both within the novels and outside them, in the form of each writer's collective body of engaged feminist dialogue in interviews and theory). Finally, I explore female community through alternative genealogies and quests for origin (demonstrating the implications of these novels' vision for transforming a more traditional worldview, with transnational communities and the transmission of historical knowledge across generations of women).

This research enquiry explores the life-history narratives of three Pakistani female expatriate tertiary-level English language teachers at Gulf Coeducational University (GCU). The study was conducted in order to investigate the participants’ journeys as learners and how they perceive themselves as teachers. The historical, educational, and linguistic background of Pakistan is provided along with an overview of GCU, where all the participants presently teach. Harré’s conception of personhood (1983) is related to the identity formation of the participants. Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital in society (1986, 2001), applied to the hierarchical status of languages in Pakistan (Rahman, 2004a; Mansoor, 2004), serves as a theoretical framework. A discussion of what Pakistani identity may entail, with emphasis on the significance of language on cultural identity, is given. Narrative research methodology is utilised (Clandinin and Connelly, 1996, 2000), to conduct three in-depth semi-structured interviews with the participants. Emerging themes are explored and research findings discussed with reference to relevant literature. The significance of their cultural capital, experiences of teacher-centred approaches in Pakistan and abroad, and the gender-based constraints the participants experienced during their educational trajectories are analysed. The implications of the study: for professional development, teacher training programmes and for the internationalisation of education can be explored in further research.

Este estudo buscou compreender a experiência e os significados da amamentação para mães que amamentam seus filhos durante o cumprimento de pena. A pesquisa foi realizada em seis penitenciárias femininas do estado de São Paulo, de Fevereiro de 2014 à Maio de 2016. Objetivos: Caracterizar a prática de aleitamento materno realizada por mulheres reclusas em estabelecimentos prisionais femininos; Compreender o significado consciente da experiência de amamentar atribuído por mulheres privadas de liberdade e Compreender como os significados atribuídos pelas mulheres presas se manifestam nas ações em relação ao seu processo de amamentar. Metodologia: Essa pesquisa adotou o Interacionismo Simbólico e o modelo \"Pesando Riscos e Benefícios\" como referenciais teóricos e a Teoria Fundamentada nos Dados como referencial metodológico. Primeiramente, para o alcance do primeiro objetivo, foram entrevistadas 85 mulheres, sendo que dessas, 30 participaram da fase de obtenção de dados qualitativos. Resultados: As mulheres tinham entre 18 e 38 anos, a maioria era solteira (48,2%) e 82,3% com mais de um filho. As 82 (100%) crianças que conviviam com suas mães nas penitenciárias tinham entre 0 e 11 meses; 41( 50%) estavam entre 0 e 3 meses e entre essas, 65,9% estavam em aleitamento materno exclusivo; 28 (34,1%) crianças tinham entre três e seis meses de idade, sendo que 10 (35,7%) eram amamentadas exclusivamente. O uso de chupeta foi observado em 39 (47,5%) crianças. Dos dados qualitativos foram identificados três temas: BUSCANDO A REMISSÃO PELA MATERNIDADE, VIVENDO MAIS UMA CONDENAÇÃO e RECONHECENDO QUE HOUVE PERDAS, MAS QUE VALEU A PENA, os quais revelaram que, no conjunto das interações dessa mulher, no contexto prisional, a amamentação desempenha um papel relevante no desenvolvimento do vínculo entre mãe e filho e na promoção do bem estar materno. A nutriz encontra, nessa prática, uma fonte de proteção emocional. Nessa perspectiva, a sua vida deixa de ter a condição penal como foco da existência, projetando na criança o centro de suas atenções e nessa interação, a fonte de uma experiência plena e prazerosa, que possibilita mudanças de visão de mundo. Compreendeu-se que, para a mãe presa, a visão de que o cárcere é um lugar seguro, onde ela pode conviver e cuidar do filho perde-se por completo com a certeza da separação de seu filho. Nesse processo, a mãe vivencia a experiência de construção de vínculo com o seu filho, tendo como horizonte, uma futura ruptura, a certeza da separação que virá com o cumprimento do limite de permanência da criança no presídio. Os resultados desta investigação, fornecem subsídios aos profissionais do sistema penitenciário, para a necessária revisão ou construção de medidas e ambientes com fundamentos, sociais, jurídicos, que promovam não só a oportunidade de guarda do filho da presa, mas a continuidade de vínculos sociais familiares e segurança do exercício da maternidade, intra e extra muros prisional, incrementando as ações de acolhimento sensível, que permita às mulheres presas encontrarem caminhos para também reconstruir as relações com seus meios sociais. / This study aimed to understand the experience and meaning of breastfeeding for mothers who breastfed their children, while serving a custodial sentence. The study was conducted in six female penitentiaries in the state of São Paulo, between February 2014 and May 2016. Objectives: To describe the breastfeeding practices of female prisoners; To understand the meaning that breastfeeding had for women deprived of their freedom and to understand how it influenced their behavior. Methodology: This study adopted Symbolic Interactionism and the model \"Risks and Benefits\" as the theoretical underpinnings of the study and Grounded Theory as the methodological framework. To achieve the first objective, we collected quantitative data from 85 women, and of these, 30 participated in the second phase of the study to achieve the other objectives. Results: The women were between 18 and 38 years of age, most were single (48.2%) and 82.3% had more than one child. The 82 (100%) infants living with their mothers in prison were between 1 day and 11 months; 41 (50%) were between one day and 3 months and of these, 65.9% were breastfeeding exclusively; 28 (34.1%) infants were between three and six months, and 10 (35.7%) were exclusively breastfed. Pacifiers were used by 39 (47.5%) of the infants. Three themes were identified in the qualitative data: SEEKING REFUGE THROUGH MOTHERHOOD, SERVING TWO CONCURRENT SENTENCES and COMPROMISED BUT SATISFYING MOTHERING. For woman in the prison context, breastfeeding played a very important role in the development of the bond between mothers and infants and promoted the welfare of the woman. Breastfeeding was a source of emotional protection. From this perspective, the mothers´ lives ceased to have a criminal status as its focus, because the infant became the center of their attention. For them, this interaction became a fulfilling and enjoyable experience that enabled them to change their whole outlook on life to one of positivity. The ultimate separation from their infants made women change their view of prison as not a safe place to live and care for the infant. Their experience of bonding with the infant enabled women to realize that they had a positive future. The results of this study have the potential to be used to inform and ultimately change public policy in relation to how these women are dealt within the penitentiary system. It can increase the sensitivity of health care professions working within the penitentiary system to become much more sensitive to the needs of mothers and their infants thus enabling women to re-evaluate their lives, increase hope for a better future and change direction. The findings strongly support the idea of treating women with dignity and respect in the knowledge that this gives them hope and is the basis for changing their lives for the better.

Background: Historically, female sports have been something strange and different from men's sports, and it has mainly been physical team sports that were considered most inappropriate for women to participate in because of its masculinized effects. Ice hockey is such a team sport that is described as tough and hard with much close contact, and it is still very male dominated today. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate which notions and norms linked to gender that surround female ice hockey players within the masculine coded sport of ice hockey, and also how they handle and are affected by these. Method: This has been studied through qualitative method and through six semi-structured interviews with female ice hockey players who play or have played at a high level in Sweden. Result: In my result I can distinguish two beliefs linked to gender that surround female ice hockey players, those are that everyone is lesbian and masculine. The notion of the female ice hockey player as a lesbian and masculine can be described as a stereotyping. This stereotyping further strengthens the image of female ice hockey players as aberrant in relation to the normative men's hockey, but also in relation to normative femininity. When it comes to body and ideals, all informants agree that the normative and ideal female body is a slim but trained body, but also that it differs from the strong and muscular ice hockey body.

Simulation of the electromagnetic response of the human body relies heavily upon efficient computational CAD models or phantoms. The Visible Human Project (VHP)-Female v. 3.1 - a new platform-independent full-body electromagnetic computational model is revealed. This is a part of a significant international initiative to develop powerful computational models representing the human body. This model’s unique feature is full compatibility both with MATLAB and specialized FEM computational software packages such as ANSYS HFSS/Maxwell 3D and CST MWS. Various mesh processing algorithms such as automatic intersection resolver, Boolean operation on meshes, etc. used for the development of the Visible Human Project (VHP)-Female are presented. The VHP - Female CAD Model is applied to two specific low frequency applications: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). TMS and tDCS are increasingly used as diagnostic and therapeutic tools for numerous neuropsychiatric disorders. The development of a CAD model based on an existing voxel model of a Japanese pregnant woman is also presented. TMS for treatment of depression is an appealing alternative to drugs which are teratogenic for pregnant women. This CAD model was used to study fetal wellbeing during induced peak currents by TMS in two possible scenarios: (i) pregnant woman as a patient; and (ii) pregnant woman as an operator. An insight into future work and potential areas of research such as a deformable phantom, implants, and RF applications will be presented.

Breast fibroadenomas account for approximately 25% of all lesions in asymptomatic women, resulting in large health care costs every year. There are 3 different variations of the disease: simple, juvenile giant and multiple. Patients may have different management and treatment options available to them depending on which variation they have. Of particular interest are female adolescents, who are at most risk for developing these lesions. With this age group not only is it important to pursue options that are minimally invasive and effective, but there are psychosocial implications to consider regarding the cosmetic changes that may occur with the disease, as well as generalized anxiety over having a breast lump. These issues are important to consider for physicians when recommending a treatment or management option. After a systematic review of all options available, it appears the best management method is the conservative treatment as it minimizes invasive intervention and operates on the principle that 10-40% of lesions regress on their own; however, there may be times that adolescents are uncomfortable with this treatment due to anxiety and other uneasiness about having a lesion remain in their breasts, despite the low chance of malignancy associated with breast fibroadenomas. Minimally invasive procedures are being developed in order to minimize possible iatrogenic injury to the developing breasts as well as maintain efficiency and good cosmesis post-procedure. Cryoablation is a minimally invasive technique utilizing extreme cold temperatures for lesion excision that is not currently widely used, however it has great potential to replace traditional open surgical excision.