Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2006. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 200-205). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--Lancaster Bible College, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-66).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Black females achieve high standards of success, yet their lived experiences are frequently absent from educational literature in Canada. Using narratives gathered through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, this thesis documents the navigational strategies adopted by four Black female students to achieve academic success in learning environments that often predicted their failure. The narratives highlight the factors the girls believed contributed to their academic success, how they conceptualized their identity and the role(s) their identity played in their schooling experiences and academic success. Contrary to deficiencies that are often highlighted in studies on the schooling experiences of Black students, using feminist theory, critical race theory and antiracism, coupled with resistance theory shed light on the positive aspects of these Black females’ schooling experiences in Ontario. Such an approach disrupts negative views of Black students as lagging behind in education in Canada. Disseminating the narratives of successful students provides real life examples for other students to imitate in pursuit of academic success amidst educational and societal barriers. On a macro level, these narratives provide education policy makers with different perspectives on how students struggled to achieve academic success within a system that promised to be accessible to all students.

The children in this study were tested in their normal environment and without any effort to change this environment. It was felt that only through such an experiment could any evidence be gained regarding the influence of climatic conditions on the dark adaption of adolescents.

Maltreatment experienced in childhood or adolescence is a known risk factor for later problem alcohol and/or other drug (AOD) use (Bailey & McCloskey, 2005; Shin, Edwards, Heeren, 2009). A growing body of empirical work has found significant associations between adolescent girls’ AOD use and maltreatment experiences. However, questions remain as to how this relation unfolds with African-American and Hispanic adolescent girls. Guided by four relational models that have been proposed in the literature, this study examined the links between maltreatment, trauma symptoms, and alcohol and/or other drug (AOD) problems in a sample of 170 African-American and Hispanic adolescent girls who were participants in a school-based AOD use intervention. Results of this study revealed that maltreatment experiences (physical and emotional abuse) were positively related to trauma symptoms, which were positively related to AOD problem severity, alcohol abuse, alcohol dependency, drug abuse, and drug dependency. Perceived discrimination moderated this relation between sexual abuse and trauma symptoms, such that more perceived discrimination resulted in a stronger effect of sexual abuse on trauma symptoms. Ethnic identity moderated the relation between sexual abuse and AOD problem severity, such that ethnic identity demonstrated protective properties in the relation between sexual abuse and AOD problem severity. My research adds to extant knowledge on the relation between maltreatment and AOD use in adolescent girls and suggests the importance of developing interventions targeting maltreatment and AOD use concurrently.

The intent of this thesis is to create a literary fiction collection centered on diverse adolescent girls. In recent years, women writers have moved away from the domestic sphere of authors whose writing focused solely on the daily lives of women, and have begun penning epic stories and novels whose themes were previously tackled by men alone. Authors show that the craft of expansive and immersive literary fiction transcends gender, allowing women more freedom with the types of stories they choose to write. That's not to say that domestic fiction is unimportant or "less than" other types of literary fiction, however. The difference is in choice - women are free to create works in other genres, forms, and conventions separate from domestic fiction, but can also reclaim and reinvent the genre to show the importance of everyday women. Each story in this collection highlights the complex lives of adolescent girls while exploring universal themes of women from a literary fiction rather than young adult fiction perspective. Issues such as sexuality, virginity, and popularity - which all girls experience at least tangentially - are often relegated to young adult fiction. Their purpose is to build a relationship of trust between characters and readers who are experiencing the same confusing period. Literary fiction allows deeper exploration into these issues, showing how larger psychological and societal problems result in adolescent physical manifestations, such as the sexualization and commodification of women's bodies. This thesis will add to the current literary conversation by highlighting teenage girls, a demographic whose importance is often downplayed by modern society.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--Lancaster Bible College, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-77).

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (p. 142-153). Also available via the World Wide Web.