This thesis explores social construction of the life course of post-war Japanese immigrant (shin ijuusha) women in Canada, based on interviews with 48 Japanese women in Toronto, Kingston and Ottawa. First, why women leave Japan is explored. Their emigration occurs in contexts of tourism, Japanese longing for America/the West constructed through Western popular culture, and gender and the life course. Japanese women negotiate their lives, cleverly using multiple meanings attached to the migration experience. Second, their lives in Canada are examined. Advantages Japanese women found in Canada include freedom and different perspectives, whereas they face serious disadvantages such as language/cultural barriers and difficulty finding employment. They cannot really recognize the existence of racism, however, because of their language/cultural barriers and of subtlety of today’s racism. Though dispersed and invisible, shin ijuusha networks have developed in Toronto since the early 1970s, with a major motivation to provide Japanese language education for nisei children. Shin ijuusha mothers tend to regret that their children have acquired only basic Japanese, but some have successfully connected their children to Japan/Japanese culture. Japanese immigrant women often attach emotional meanings to immigration status. Some choose their status with their family in mind. Subjectively, they tend to feel they are “Japanese,” hesitating to claim to be “Canadian.” They have internalized the mainstream gaze and see themselves as “others” in Canada. Meanwhile, many women feel that Canada is their home. They tend to transform Canada to a homeland over their life course, establishing meaningful social relations. Third, shin ijuusha women’s transnationalism is explored. They keep ties with Japan, especially for social connections. Many women provide transnational care provision for their aging parents in Japan, which is a new gender role invented after World War II. Shin ijuusha women’s transnationalism is associated with life-course transitions. Spatial connection between Canada and Japan is still contingent in societal context, however. Finally, how migration to Canada has changed lives of Japanese women is considered. Although the migration did not necessarily empower women, they tend to view it positively, because migration helped them to acquire plural perspectives that have deeply enriched their lives. / Thesis (Ph.D, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2009-04-22 16:48:52.437

This study explored the use of rituals in substance abuse counseling. Data were obtained from a total of 25 mental health workers in the substance abuse field from the northern region of Utah. Four research questions were asked about rituals and their use in substance abuse counseling: (I) Are addictions therapists using rituals? (2) How did therapists determine when to use rituals? (3) What types of rituals do they use? and (4) How do therapists assess ritual effectiveness? Results indicated that about three fourths of the mental health workers questioned were using rituals in their treatment protocol with substance abuse clients. The most common methods used for determining when to implement rituals into treatment were (a) clients were emotionally stuck, (b) client's cognitive ability, and (c) therapist's perception. The findings also suggested that therapists presented means of assessing the effectiveness of the rituals they implemented, but the data also supported past literature findings that showed little empirical means of assessment.

The problem which was investigated in this study was the influence of a child development laboratory experience and the child's discriminatory abilities on the developmental level of children's art productions. Forty-eight children, three and four years of age, of whom 24 had no prior experience, and 24 others had completed approximately six months as participants in a child development laboratory, were included in the study. All children were given a discrimination task to establish their individual levels of discriminatory abilities. Each child painted four pictures, two with easel paint and two with crayons. Each painting was analyzed to determine art content and level of development. The findings indicated that discrimination ability does not appear to be an influential factor on the developmental level of children 's art creations among children of this age. Children demonstrated more advanced art stages when using crayons than when painting with tempra at the easel. Experience in the Child Development Laboratory exerted its strongest influence on the child's production of learned art forms, alphabet letters and numerals. It was concluded that art experiences for three and four year old children tend to be motoric and exploratory responses to the various media in use by them. However, experience is also a factor in the development of children's art, in that the child's use of learned art forms is influenced by an enriched learning environment.

The population of seniors in Canada is increasing, and the numbers of seniors who remain in or return to the workforce rather than retire are also on the rise. However, work experiences of older individuals have been understudied in research. This study explores the meaning of work to a group of individuals over age 65 in Thunder Bay, a city in Northwestern Ontario. The researcher conducted ten interviews following phenomenological methods of inquiry. Using identity theory, life course perspective, and continuity theory, the study also sought to understand the importance of continuity to older individuals’ experiences of work. Findings revealed eight themes that influenced older workers’ experiences: socio-historical trends, the work environment, health, financial circumstances, purpose, choice, life beyond work, and perceptions of age. Ultimately, continuity of behaviours, life stories, and self-understandings are important features of older workers’ experiences and may influence whether this important group will continue to work.

The population of seniors in Canada is increasing, and the numbers of seniors who remain in or return to the workforce rather than retire are also on the rise. However, work experiences of older individuals have been understudied in research. This study explores the meaning of work to a group of individuals over age 65 in Thunder Bay, a city in Northwestern Ontario. The researcher conducted ten interviews following phenomenological methods of inquiry. Using identity theory, life course perspective, and continuity theory, the study also sought to understand the importance of continuity to older individuals’ experiences of work. Findings revealed eight themes that influenced older workers’ experiences: socio-historical trends, the work environment, health, financial circumstances, purpose, choice, life beyond work, and perceptions of age. Ultimately, continuity of behaviours, life stories, and self-understandings are important features of older workers’ experiences and may influence whether this important group will continue to work.

No description available.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most commonly occurring form of dementia that affects African Americans at 2 to 3 times higher rate than other ethnic or racial groups in the United States. As the number of older African Americans with AD grows rapidly so will the need for daily supports; therefore, informal caregivers, such as an adult offspring, often assume the role of filial caregiver. Focusing on the unique patterns of caregiving among African Americans, this generic qualitative study may help explain the adult offspring’s perspective on sibling relationships as they function in the role of primary filial caregiver. Equity theory was the conceptual framework used to explore sibling relationships among African American adult filial caregivers. A purposeful sampling in conjunction with snowballing was used to recruit participants who provided filial caregiving to a home-bound parent with AD. For this generic qualitative study, 10 participants responded to 12 open-ended interview questions related to their sibling relationships and filial caregiving. After collecting and transcribing the data, I used a thematic analysis approach, resulting in the following 5 emergent themes: (a) perception of equity, (b) continuing a close sibling relationship, (c) strategies of communication and collaborative decision-making, (d) varying siblings supports, and (e) attitudes towards caregiving and siblings. The results from this study may enhance culturally sensitive or responsive interventions/strategies and family-centered programs supporting African American adult filial caregivers and their siblings as they navigate the demands of elder care, thereby informing perceptions of fairness related to caregiving responsibilities.

Thesis advisor: Wen Fan / This thesis investigated the impact that cancer has on young adult survivors of childhood malignancies. Existing studies explore varying physical, psychosocial, and psychological, late effects experienced by survivors of childhood cancer. However, there exists a gap in survivorship literature; young adults, and young adult survivors of childhood cancer in particular, are understudied compared to adult and pediatric survivors. Moreover, most studies address objective, clinical, aspects of cancer survivorship. They rarely focus on survivors’ subjective experiences. Yet, previous research suggests that positive cognitive appraisals of adverse life events such as cancer mitigate detrimental psychosocial and psychological symptomologies later in life. This study adopted the life course perspective to investigate the subjective experiences of young adult survivors of childhood cancer. It examined how events such as cancer diagnoses and transitions back to school are interconnected throughout one’s entire life history, rather than analyzing these specific occurrences as isolated events. Participants were invited to fill out two existing quality of life surveys and take part in an interview to explore areas of survivorship previously identified as being specific to young adult survivors. An analysis of interview transcripts and survey data revealed three major events that occur after being diagnosed with a pediatric malignancy. Furthermore, each participant not only recalled positive subjective experiences over the course of these checkpoints, but ultimately found positive meaning from their cancer experience. This thesis suggests that positive subjective experiences soon after a cancer diagnosis are critical in ensuring that patients have favorable conceptions of their journeys and their aftermath. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Sociology.

Prior research demonstrates that military service disconnects men from past social and personal disadvantages and thus potentially alters normal life-course patterns of development. Much of this research, however, has been conducted only with World War II veterans. Relatively few studies have examined the influence of military service in Vietnam and its impact on altering individual trajectories of development. Through latent growth curve models, the authors examine the impact of military service in Vietnam on drug use and arrests across the life-course. Longitudinal data collected by the Marion County Youth study (1964-1979) were used to track a sample of men over a 15-year period. Analyses of these data revealed substantial nonrandom selection effects associated with service in Vietnam. Lower-class youths with already established delinquent patterns were significantly more likely to have served in Vietnam. It also appears, however, that service in Vietnam significantly increased individual drug use and, hence, offending rates.

In the United States, African American fathers are incarcerated at a disproportionate rate and have a poor prognosis of success. Although researchers have considered how crime, paternal abuse, poverty, and social disparities have affected African Americans, they have not adequately studied how formerly incarcerated African American fathers experience parenting. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to bridge this gap in knowledge by exploring the parenting experiences of formerly incarcerated African American fathers on parole. The research question focused on the parenting experiences of African American fathers obligated to mandatory supervision following an incarceration. A criterion-based sample of 9 African American fathers from the Midwestern region of the United States completed 2 in-depth interviews. Interviews were analyzed using phenomenological techniques, resulting in 9 central themes focused on social objectification, survival, change, the agency of fatherhood, and parent-child relations. Despite difficulties and challenges, the quality of the fathers' lives hinged on the quality of their relationship with their children. The findings and recommendations from this study may advance positive social change by stimulating and guiding the efforts of human service practitioners working to develop culturally relevant interventions, and raising the awareness of advocates working to influence legislators toward comprehensive policy reform. The application of this study's findings may provoke community members to strengthen their support for African American fathers returning to the community following incarceration.