Thesis advisor: Kelly Rossetto / Because divorce has become a prominent fixture in society within the last several decades, a significant amount of research has been conducted on divorce and its subsequent effects on the family system. Many of these studies have shown the negative effects of divorce on members of the family, particularly children. Previous literature on coping with divorce has outlined the strategies families use to manage these negative effects. Rather than focusing solely on the negative side of divorce, this study sought to provide a more complete picture of the effects of divorce, including the possibility of positive outcomes. Nine in-depth interviews were conducted with adult children of divorce to examine their feelings about divorce, the factors that contribute to these feelings, and their coping strategies. Changes in family structure, lack of divorce information, role reversal, parents’ sadness, continued conflict, parental disclosure, remarriage, and financial difficulties contributed to participants’ negative feelings of confusion, neglect, anger, sadness, and feeling caught. Having a voice, parental involvement, parents’ happiness, decreased conflict, and remarriage contributed to their positive feelings of empowerment, relief, and closeness with family members. In addition to these factors, coping strategies denial, patience, mediation, role acceptance, open communication, social support, and learning from the divorce also increased participants’ positive feelings and decreased their negative feelings. Overall, participants’ described parental divorce as a continuous and difficult, yet worthwhile process for themselves and their families. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Communication Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication.

Thesis advisor: Ana M. Martinez-Aleman / This qualitative study employed a Critical Race Theory (CRT) lens to gather a deeper understanding the racialized experiences of students of color (SOC) at a PWI, and how these experiences impact the way in which they understand, conceptualize, and/or actualize student leadership on campus. This study presents the lived experiences of twenty-five SOC. Participants shared their experiences and perceptions through individual semi-structured interviews, with an opportunity to also participate in a focus group. Findings revealed that the ways in which participants view how race is socially constructed on campus and their encounters with normalized racism (such as their experiences with microaggressions, the lack of diversity, the negative racial climate, and the racial segregation on campus) seemed to profoundly impact participants lived experiences and perceptions. Participants in this study exhibited a strong pull towards SOC groups (both for participation and leadership expression), citing a desire to seek involvement with individuals of similar/racial and ethnic background, a responsibility to give back to their racial/ethnic group, and seeking a group that affirmed their sense of identity as some of the top reasons they joined SOC groups. However, participants’ perceptions of predominately White groups on campus, encounters with normalized racism, and the way they view student groups are valued (or undervalued) on campus seems to suggest that the campus racial climate may play a powerful role in students’ decision making around co-curricular involvement and leadership expression. The findings strongly intimate that the college campus remains a microcosm of larger society in that it continues to perpetuate normalized racism as a product of inherent (and biased structures), influencing students’ leadership perceptions and expression. This study recommends that institutions assess the racial landscape on campus in terms of perceived and actualized student leadership, be willing to engage in experimentation on different practices that will foster a greater sense of inclusivity within student leadership, and take active steps towards creating permanent inclusive change. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

In light of the increasing prevalence of obesity in the UK, health professionals working within general practice are urged to initiate discussion about weight with overweight and obese patients. Despite such appeals, evidence suggests that only a minority of health professionals routinely talk to patients about weight loss. To understand more about the barriers to raising the topic of weight in general practice, three empirical studies guided by qualitative research design were carried out. The first two studies draw on psychological theory to identify barriers to raising the topic of weight. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 GPs and 17 primary care nurses. The third study conducted with 20 GPs is underpinned by discourse analysis and uses trigger film interviews to capture and critically analyse the discursive production of, and macro-discourses shaping, barriers. In study 1 and 2, three main themes summarise barriers identified from GP and primary care nurse perspectives: limited understanding about obesity care, concern about negative consequences and limited time to raise a sensitive topic. In study 3, four discursive frameworks were identified as underpinning constructions about the barriers to broaching discussion about obesity: medical-reductionist, medical-holistic, moral and ethical. Findings extend understanding about the ways in which obesity is constructed as both a medical and non-medical issue. The findings have implications for health professional education, policy and research including the need to expose and challenge dominant understandings of obesity as a behavioural problem, to address barriers operating at the socio-cultural as well as the individual-level, and to enhance understanding about the socially embedded and pernicious effects of obesity stigma in the consultation and beyond.

It has been well established that self-harm is a key healthcare issue facing young people (Health and Social Information Centre, 2015). Consequently, many self-harmers preferentially seek support from friends (Evans, Hawton, & Rodham, 2005). Despite their unique position, friends’ experiences have been marginalised. Historically, friends have only been considered when they feature in the lives of the person who self-harms, when they are identified as “gate-keepers” to self-harming young people (Klingman & Hochdorf, 1993, p. 123), or when they themselves go on to self-harm (e.g. Hawton, Rodham, Evans, & Weatherall, 2002). Bearing in mind the friends’ unique, yet highly vulnerable status, there is a notable lack of research exploring how friends come to understand their experiences, and the subsequent impact this has on their friendships with the self-harmer. Through this qualitatively approached thesis I aimed to explore how the impact of self-harm on friendship is understood. Data was collected through a series of interviews and focus groups with friends of self-harmers, and those who supported them. Using a qualitative methodology, I conducted three studies. In Study One, I explored how counsellors made sense of the impact of self-harm on friendship. Studies Two and Three focussed on how friends, whilst maintaining a friendship with a self-harmer, came to understand themselves, their friendship with the self-harmer, and their relationships with others. The results indicated that friends struggled to integrate self-harm into their friendships and their understanding of themselves, took on excessive responsibility for the self-harmer, and felt constrained by secret-keeping. Additionally, as the friends in Study Three felt that information available to them was either absent, or lacking, I developed a prototype support tool tailored specifically to the needs of the friends.

Magister Artium - MA / Not all disabilities are the same and the way that society may respond to people with disabilities depends on their “disability” and how their body deviates from the appearance norms of society. People with disabilities constitute a significant portion of the South African population. A body of research and physical evidence shows that people with disabilities may face certain obstacles or limitations in fulfilling a normal life. Obstacles include perceptions of disabilities, negative stigma and attitudes, barriers to an environment which is accessible for people with disabilities, and constructions of ableism. In a way, these obstacles influence the way people with disabilities construct their identity. Beyond this, the voices of people with disabilities are not always heard and their personal experiences are not always given political recognition. This research aimed to explore how a group of students living with a physical or visual disability constructed their identities in their environment or society. A feminist qualitative method was conducted. The study focused on the experiences and perceptions of nineteen to twenty-seven year old female and male students with disabilities. Out of the six participants, two were coloured, three were black and one participant is classified as coloured, but identifies as biracial. A semi-structured interview was used for data collection and a Qualitative Thematic Analysis was used to analyse the data. Social constructionism and intersectionality were useful theoretical approaches adopted in exploring the lived experiences of students with disabilities. The results of this study revealed that students with disabilities find living with a disability as not being a barrier to living a fulfilling life. Students with disabilities construct their identities in a way that frees them from ideologies which shape the experience of disability in a negative way. However, the study revealed that negative barriers to identity construction still exist. These barriers come in the form of negative perceptions and stigma of disability, ableism and the medical model. The study further revealed that when the lived experiences of students with disabilities are understood through the lens of gender, race and class, these social divisions overlap and are cumulative on the effects of student’s experiences. The one major barrier in identity construction that the study revealed is the negative social perceptions of disability. The way in which students feel that they belong in their society is representative of how they respond to negative social constructions of disability.

Paper one is a systematic literature review of qualitative studies examining psychosis in women using a metasynthesis approach. The review involved three stages: a systematic search of qualitative studies reporting the experiences of women with psychosis, critical appraisal of these studies, and the metasynthesis. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria, yielding data from 220 women in total. The synthesis of the studies demonstrated three overarching themes: (a) women's beliefs about their illness, (b) perceived consequences of illness, and (c) strategies to cope with illness. Important barriers to strategy use were identified and recommendations made for addressing them. In the second paper grounded theory methodology was used to explore recovery in women who had experienced psychosis following childbirth. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants and data were analysed using grounded theory methodology. A theory of four superordinate themes was developed from the data, including: (a) the process of recovery; (b) evolving an understanding; (c) strategies for recovery; and (d) sociocultual context. It was concluded that women experienced a complex process of recovery which was ongoing. The role of other people, including professionals in the recovery process was central. Recommendations were made for professionals to assess women's position in terms of their recovery in order to offer timely, appropriate interventions. The final paper is a critical reflection of the work reported in the previous two papers. I reflected upon how my previous experiences influenced my decision to undertake this research and other aspects of the research process. I explored the rationale for my choice of research methodology and discussed the debates which exist around the use of these methods. Finally, my personal reflections upon the entire research process are included.

Orientador: Antonio de Pádua Pithon Cyrino / Banca: Águeda Beatriz Pires Rizatto / Banca: Lilia Blima Schraiber / Resumo: A Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu-Unesp há 40 anos desenvolve práticas de ensino de graduação médica na comunidade, no âmbito da atenção primária à saúde. Essa experiência se fez sob distintas influências, dentre as quais se podem destacar os movimentos de reforma médica da Medicina Integral e da Medicina Comunitária, nas décadas de 1960 e 1970. Já nos anos 1990 o ensino foi influenciado pelo Programa UNI e, na última década, exerceram papéis relevantes as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para os cursos de medicina e o papel indutor do Ministério da Saúde, por meio dos programas de incentivo às mudanças curriculares: Promed e Pró-Saúde. Nesse contexto, em 2003, a Faculdade Medicina de Botucatu implanta experiência de ensino na comunidade para alunos do 1º ao 3º ano de graduação - o Programa de Interação Universidade, Serviço e Comunidade (IUSC), que é orientado pelos princípios da integralidade e humanização e por inovações pedagógicas. Este estudo tem por objetivo compreender os significados e percepções de alunos que cursaram o IUSC e caracterizar sua proposta pedagógica à luz dos movimentos mais recentes de reforma na educação médica. Para tanto, realizou-se estudo de natureza qualitativa com a primeira turma de alunos que cursaram o IUSC, quando já estavam no 6º ano médico, por meio de três grupos focais, e pesquisa documental a respeito do projeto e operacionalização do IUSC. Os conteúdos obtidos nos grupos focais foram transcritos e submetidos a análise temática. O estudo documental do IUSC mostrou sua criação sob influência de políticas públicas de indução de reorientação da educação médica no país, as quais viabilizaram, em parte, a sustentação financeira e política do programa. Sua operacionalização fez-se adotando-se como modelo pedagógico a problematização. Os resultados obtidos mostram que, para ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: For 40 years the Medical School of Botucatu-Unesp has been developing teaching practices of medical graduation in the community concerning the primary health care. This experience has been influenced by different factors such as the movements of medical renovation of Comprehensive Medicine and Community Medicine, in the 60s and 70s. UNI Program influenced this practice in the 90s; in the last decade two programs played an important role in the medical courses: the National Curriculum Directions and the inducing role of the Health Ministry, through programs which motivated curricula changes like Promed and Pro-Saúde. In such context, in 2003, the Medical School of Botucatu implemented the experience of community teaching for students of the first and third years of graduation - the Program Interaction University, Service and Community (IUSC), guided by the principals of comprehensiveness and humanization and by pedagogical innovations. This study aimed to understand meanings and perceptions of students who studied the IUSC and to characterize its pedagogical proposal regarding recent movements of medical education renovation. This is a qualitative study with the first group of students who have done the IUSC, when they were in the sixth year, through three focus groups and documental research regarding the IUSC project and operation. The narrative obtained in the focus groups were transcribed and submitted to thematic analysis of content. The documental study of UISC showed its development under influences of public policies of induction of medical education reorientation in the country what provided the partial financial and political support of the program. Its operation adopted the problematization as the pedagogical model. The results show that, for the students, the familiar visit was the most significant practical activity experienced during the course; however, there ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

This is an ethnographic case study of the inclusion of a fifteen-year-old male with severe disabilities in general education classes in a four-year high school in a medium-sized Midwestern city. The study took place during the student's freshman and sophomore years. The investigator interviewed 17 of the participants in the student's inclusion; administrators, special education staff, general education teachers, and parents--accumulating over 450 pages of transcribed interviews in the process. She spent five days in field observation of the student's general education classes and other school activities--all recorded in substantial on-site notes--and had access to relevant documents concerning the student in the school's files. The NVivo 8 computer software was used to code the data. A Story of High School Inclusion: An Ethnographic Case Study examines these questions: How did parents and professionals (e.g., school administrators, special education staff, general education teachers, state-level special education consultants) involved in the process of the inclusion of a student with severe disabilities in general education high school classes define inclusion? How did they characterize their attitudes toward it? What role did each of them play in preparing for the student's inclusion? How did each of them describe their part in the process of the student's inclusion? Do the accounts of those individuals involved in the inclusion of the student with severe disabilities align or do they suggest tensions? What was the impact of these alignments or tensions on the inclusion process? All the participants interviewed in the study agreed with and supported the idea of inclusion; however, except for the parents, those expressions of agreement and support were typically followed with a "but" that led on to a variety of reservations and qualifications. Preparation for the student's inclusion in high school was thorough, consisting in a series of comprehensive meetings involving all parties with a role in the student's inclusion--even to the point of seeking the input of those who had worked with the student in junior high school. During the day-to-day implementation of these plans, the student's general education teachers were pleased with his comprehension of, and participation in, the academic material. However, the paraeducator was often observed to be filling an instructional role that properly belonged to the qualified teacher. Moreover, her presence had a compromising effect on the student's social interactions. A two-way matrix was created to discover areas of agreement and disagreement among the parties to the student's inclusion. These rich data reveal that there was broad agreement among all the school participants, academic and administrative, but that strong tensions arose between the student's parents and the school personnel. These results suggest that families and schools may concur at a philosophical level regarding inclusion, but disagree at the implementation level, resulting in tensions and conflicts that might be prevented or ameliorated by more open and direct communication.

A significant number of Liberian ex-militants are unemployed and underemployed despite the job skills, formal education, and entrepreneurial training they received as participants in the Formal Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) program that was established to reintegrate combatants into civilian society at the end of the two civil wars in Liberia in 2003. The purpose of this study was to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the vocational training offered by the DDR program. Informed by the theories of Human Capital, Peace Building, and Bronfrenbrenner, the research questions for this study assessed the benefits of the educational component of DDR. A phenomenological study design was employed with a purposeful sample of ex-militant participants that included 12 ex-militants and a focus group of 6-ex-militants drawn from the 12 who completed vocational training at the Monrovia Vocational Training Center in Monrovia (MVTC). All data were inductively coded and analyzed using a constant comparative method. Data analysis uncovered five textural themes: motivation for disarmament, hope to rebuild lives through vocational training, dissatisfaction with reintegration, perception of reintegration, and perception of future combat participation. Findings support human capital, peace building, and ecological systems theories in that ex-militants perceived the benefit of education in their transition to peacetime endeavor, but consider themselves only partially reintegrated since all consider themselves unemployed with no means to survive economically. This study is significant because it provides recommendations to policymakers on how such a program can improve the vocational training offered and provide follow-up life-skills counseling.

Some small business owners are unaware of the possible long-term benefits of engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR). A business undertaking CSR can benefit from long-term financial benefits. Hotel businesses can benefit from developing long-term relationship with visitors and higher occupancy rates. The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to examine the potential influence of family-owned hotel owners' attitudes towards CSR and star ratings on hotel occupancy rates. The study's population comprised owners of family-owned hotels within Yanqing Zhen, Yanqing County, in Beijing, China. Bowen's formulation of CSR constituted the theoretical framework. Independent variables were hotels owners' attitudes towards CSR and the star ratings of their properties; the dependent variable was hotel occupancy rate. Data were collected using a web-based, Likert-scale survey, which was administered to 583 hotel owners and then analyzed using multiple linear regression modeling. Owners' attitudes towards CSR and their hotels' star ratings were positively related. Each independent variable also significantly predicted occupancy rates p = .000 for owner attitudes and p = .016 for star ratings. The coefficient for interaction influence between star rating and owners' attitudes was not statistically significant (p =.641). With better understanding of the potential benefits from addressing CSR, small hotel owners could increase hotel occupancy rates and improve their image and reputation as well as their employees' engagement, resulting in potential positive social change. Local governments can also develop more informative CSR-related guidelines and policies that benefit local Chinese communities.