In this thesis I compare Pierre Leroux, a French utopian socialist (1797 – 1871), with Feodor Dostoevsky, the well-known Orthodox Russian novelist (1821 – 1881). I argue that both authors reacted against what they considered to be the dissolution of the social order, brought about by the increasing nineteenth-century bourgeois individualism. On the other hand, they reacted as well against the opposite phenomenon, the idea of a universal socialist state, which was, in fact, according to them, the outcome of bourgeois individualism. My purpose is to bring close and to compare Leroux’s republican socialism with Dostoevsky’s Christian socialism, and to explore to what extent the two authors give similar answers to a common problem. In order to better explain their thought, I divide my thesis into three chapters. The first analyzes and compares Leroux’s and Dostoevsky’s critiques of individualism. If Leroux reaches the conclusion that the ultimate expression of individualism is Malthusianism, Dostoevsky argues that individualism ends in nihilism. The second chapter analyzes the type of socialism against which Leroux and Dostoevsky reacted, as well as the critiques of the two authors. I argue here that Saint-Simonian socialism – the main object of Leroux’s critique – and the socialism of the Grand Inquisitor – a Dostoevskyan character – are the expression of a certain utopian thought which considers the requirement for freedom incompatible with the requirement for unity. In the last chapter, I analyze the ideas of community of Leroux and of Dostoevsky, which are centered on philia, in the case of the former, and on agape, in the case of the latter. Philia and respectively agape are the expression of organic social relations, through which the two requirements, of freedom and unity, are made compatible, and which create unity in multiplicity. Their ideas of community appear as active utopias, grounded on the life of relation in a spontaneous, organic community.

Wine & Beer tells the story of childhood friends Brian and Vic who, after spending some time apart, deal with the tensions of sexual orientation after they attempt to renew their friendship. At the beginning it seems that Vic's sexuality will not be a problem, but after the two friends hang out in a local bar, Brian realizes his hometown is not as tolerant as he is. The couple is faced with family and social concerns, which goes from the argumentative to the violent. As the main characters try to mingle with the conservative town, they soon find themselves looked upon by a small town resistant to change. This 35-minute film explores homophobia and violence in small town USA.

Em Glosa (1986), romance do escritor argentino Juan José Saer (1937-2005), a relação privilegiada entre os personagens é a amizade. A (re)construção do vínculo acontece de forma singular ao longo do livro. Esse vínculo influencia nas perspectivas de um grupo de amigos que tentam reconstituir os acontecimentos de uma celebração - um churrasco em que se comemora um aniversário - desde o relato dos protagonistas que não estiveram presentes até as versões dos participantes do evento. Entretanto, as percepções e lembranças da festa não são suficientes para formar uma história próxima do que aconteceu. Pelo contrário, as glosas dos participantes da mesma festa não se complementam e se confirmam, mas se sobrepõem e se contradizem. Sendo assim, a rede de amigos que se encontra para conversar e discutir é o tecido básico sobre o qual as histórias se constroem. A partir disso, analisamos as possibilidades e limites do relato de lembranças compartilhadas e, ao mesmo tempo, múltiplas, como contribuição para o estabelecimento e manutenção de relações de amizade na narrativa, mesmo quando os amigos se dispersam principalmente por causa da última ditadura militar argentina. / In Glosa (1986), a novel by Argentine writer Juan José Saer (1937-2005), the privileged relationship between the characters is the friendship. The (re) construction of this bond happens in an unique way throughout the piece. This affection influences on the perspective of a group of friends who try to reconstitute the moments of a celebration - a barbecue in which a birthday is celebrated - according to the version of the main characters who were not present until the memories of the participants of the event. However, the perceptions of the party are not enough to build a reliable story of what really happened. On the other hand, the points of view about the same party do not complement each other, nor they are fact-checked, but they overlap and contradict each other. So the network of friends who meet to talk and discuss is the basic background in which stories are built. That said, we analyze the possibilities and limits of the narration of these shared and, at the same time, multiple memories as a contribution to the creation and maintenance of the characters friendship in the novel, even when friends are spread out mainly because of the last Argentine military dictatorship.

Quantitative studies dominate early adolescence research, a field which also lacks an understanding of communication behaviors between early adolescents. This study uses the qualitative methods of participant observation and informal interviews to observe conversations between girls in a junior high lunch room. Friendship characteristics and group socialization are discussed as they emerged from the field data. First, friendship hierarchies (best friend, close friend, and friend) may be adult-imposed structures. Hierarchies are not prominent in the minds of friends as they relate to each other in daily conversation. Second, friendship groups serve to socialize early adolescent girls.

Satisfying interpersonal relationships are an important and beneficial part of life. However, despite that fact that most people desire close interpersonal relationships, some people are less successful at forming and maintaining these relationships than others. One plausible explanation for such individual differences is that people differ in their levels of interpersonal competence – their ability to consistently enact behaviors that are effective, socially appropriate, and satisfying to others. The present research sought to examine different approaches to understanding and assessing interpersonal competence. A comparison of these approaches led to the creation of an Integrated Interpersonal Competence Model (IICM) that sought to maximize the strengths of each individual approach. This new model was tested in two studies (total N = 348) with the goal of understanding why people receive higher (or lower) interpersonal competence (IC) scores and how competence is related to successful interpersonal functioning. Both Studies 1 and 2 examined how the individual components of the IICM contributed to one’s overall IC score. Both studies found that the ability to accurately process social information was related to one’s likelihood of receiving a high IC score. In addition, how an individual evaluated response options seemed to play the largest role in determining whether or not the person would enact the response. Finally, IC appeared to be composed of a blend of interpersonal warmth and dominance. Study 1 also examined the relationship between IC and daily life outcomes. Results showed that higher competence individuals tended to experience a greater frequency of positive events, higher levels of prosocial feelings and satisfaction, and enacted fewer hostile and submissive behaviors on a daily basis. Study 2 investigated how IC was perceived by others. Individuals who were higher in IC were perceived to have fewer antisocial feelings, and be less selfish by peers and parents, and had higher quality relationships with their parents. Interestingly, processing abilities were unrelated to daily and informant-reported outcomes, but personality-like tendencies toward enacting friendly and hostile behaviors were consequential. Overall, the integrated model produced insights into interpersonal competence and can provide a useful guide for future investigations of interpersonal competence.

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The objective of this dissertation was to conduct an evaluation of a knowledge mobilization process in a community-based organization that supports adults with intellectual disabilities. The aim of the project was to understand how stakeholders share knowledge, use knowledge, and collaborate to make decisions regarding practices to support friendships for adults with intellectual disabilities. We produced two literature reviews; one systematically documented the views of adults with intellectual disabilities with regard to their relationships, and the other examined existing literature on strategies to support friendships. We also conducted two primary research studies in which we documented and evaluated knowledge mobilization activities in community-based organizations. We used a mixed-methods approach and collected data from a variety of stakeholder groups associated with a community-based organization, including staff members and the organization’s director, adults with intellectual disabilities, and family caregivers. Additionally, we collected data from staff working in a variety of community-based organizations that support adults with intellectual disabilities. During our primary research studies, we produced a variety of knowledge mobilization outputs regarding friendship support, including an evidence brief, a conference presentation, online presentations in French and English, and an informational website in French and English. The results of the studies included in this dissertation, our recommendations regarding community-based knowledge mobilization, and the knowledge mobilization outputs we developed can be used to improve knowledge mobilization practices in community-based services. Studying knowledge mobilization to support individuals with intellectual disabilities highlights some of the complexities that should be considered within community-based services, such as working with a variety of stakeholder groups, and including stakeholders that are potentially vulnerable to social exclusion.

School readiness literature indicates that skills which lend themselves to readiness and success in primary school are not amongst the skills generally taught in center based care facilities. Furthermore, children enrolled in non- maternal care settings are at greater risk for developing problem behavior. To address this issue, the Preschool Life Skills (PLS) program was created as a preventative intervention to teach functional communication and social skills to typically developing children. Children diagnosed with developmental disabilities are not immune to these concerns and are also at risk for developing problem behaviors in non-maternal settings, due to insufficient instruction and contingency management. The current study aimed to evaluate and identify the dose of instruction necessary for the PLS curriculum to be a successful and efficient teaching tool for children with developmental disabilities. Twelve preschool life skills were taught to 9 participants across 4 instruction units. Instruction was provided by means of a three-tiered instructional approach, which incorporated class-wide instruction, followed by small group and individual instruction as necessary. Skills were sequentially introduced and unit probes were conducted following mastery of all 3 skills within a unit. Results indicated that the adaptations made to the original preschool life skills curriculum led to skill acquisition with all nine participants.

Baby Blue is a comic book about friendship and romantic love that is told by two characters. I want to explore more on understanding a complicated feeling between romantic love and friendship love. Since relationships are very complicated and difficult to understand, I think it’s a good way to go through a journey with the main character and see how she’s dealing with her own feelings. In this report, I explained more about my process and everything you need to know about Baby Blue.

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