In North America, over the years, varying historical, social and political discourses have been dominant in constructing the problem of teenage pregnancy and parenthood. In contemporary Canada, teen (single) parenting is framed as a social problem that needs to be solved. To understand the nature of the problem, it is important to examine the shifting social and political imperatives that shape and define teen motherhood. This study was situated within the context of school-linked integrated services that provide a host of interventions to support these young women and their children. Using an instrumental, collective case study design, this study examined three sites (Centres) that utilized a holistic, collaborative approach providing services that ranged from a schooling program, parenting courses, daycare, social assistance services, counseling as well as other varied programs. The study used a conceptual context derived from the academic and professional literature in the following three relevant areas: Foucault's poststructuralist theory of discourse and power, interventions within neo-liberal social welfare reforms, and interagency collaboration. The guiding research questions were as follows: Firstly, to understand how the teen/young mothers are perceived by frontline staff and how the teen/young mothers perceive themselves in the midst of prevailing discourses; secondly, to explore how staff at the Centres intervene to assist the teen/young mothers with the competing demands of schooling, mothering and work/life preparation; and thirdly, to examine how collaboration takes place among frontline staff to enhance the success and well-being of the teen/young mothers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine teen/young mothers and fifteen frontline staff at three multi-service centers. Data were also collected through participant observations and Centre documents such as evaluation reports, annual reports, brochures and newsletters. The findings of this study revealed that the young women were mostly constructed within dominant discourses of 'risk', 'resilience', 'stigma', 'infantilization' and 'welfare dependency'. The front line staff demonstrated immense tact and sensitivity in intervening in the lives of the young women; and the interventions helped to ameliorate the negative impact of inadequate economic, social, and economic resources. A closer look at the collaborative approach highlighted several factors that hindered as well as facilitated collaboration. The young mothers in this study emerged as resilient and hopeful as their voices conveyed their struggle to balance motherhood and schooling.

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between gender role attitudes and marital satisfaction. Heterosexual and homosexual couples were investigated. To measure gender role attitudes the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) was employed. Marital satisfaction was measured by the Inventory of Marital Satisfaction (IMS). Twenty three couples participated in the study. Both partners in each couple completed the BSRI and the IMS. Findings indicate that androgynous individuals report lower degree of marital problems than sex-typed individuals. The results also indicate that couples in which both partners are classified as androgynous report the least amount of marital difficulties. Couples comprised of a masculine and an androgynous partner report the highest degree of marital problems. Finally, couples who are made up of masculine and feminine partners report a degree of problems that falls between the other two groups.

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Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is an empirically endorsed approach for children facing specific clinical concerns and life circumstances alike. The majority of research to date has accrued data about clients from secondary sources, such as adult report and observation. The purpose of this study was to explore children's perceptions of participating in CCPT by implementing a developmentally accessible interview medium, allowing children to share their experiences directly. Ten children between the ages of 4 and 7 who had completed at least eight sessions of CCPT were invited to create a drawing and respond to an interview protocol with their counselor. Data sources included the picture produced, a transcript of the interview between the child and counselor, and observation notes of the interview process. Using a phenomenological approach, three themes were identified to describe children's awareness and experience of the intervention: expressions of relationship, experiences in the playroom, and reluctance to engage in counselor-directed activity. The first two themes reflect children's report of the intervention and the third represents reactions to the research activity. Findings from this study support conclusions that children are aware of relationship between themselves and their counselor and recognize the uniquely unstructured features of play therapy and the playroom, which are defining components of CCPT.

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