Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

It is becoming more apparent to people in and out of the profession of social work that the volunteer has a unique and definite place in the social welfare picture. Volunteers were the first to perform social work; and they were among the first to receive professional training. It is believed that the volunteer can perform many functions in social agencies today and that these jobs are best suited to the volunteer and best done by him or her; it should not be the case of the volunteer doing jobs 'left over' from the professional job. The survey method was employed extensively rather than intensively, i.e. the purpose was to get preliminary information about the use of volunteers and general policy on the subject of volunteers, rather than a study of particular programmes. Approximately 80 agencies were canvassed and replies from 51 were received and reviewed. Professional and other literature was reveiewed to gain some standards as to what should be included in a good volunteer programme. A questionnaire was drawn up with these criteria in mind, and the results of the questionnaire was considered in the light of them. The survey revealed that there is considerable contemporary interest in the subject of volunteers. However, understanding of the particular contributions which volunteers in the social welfare picture can make seems to require interpretation. There seems lacking, too, any unified understanding of some of the elements in a good volunteer programme. For example, (a) the term 'program volunteer' does not appear to refer to a specific type of service; (b) "training" means many things, and a more exact and classified definition is needed. It is hoped that by pointing up some of the lacks in current practices regarding volunteers, further definitive and constructive study can be aided for the future. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The purpose of this thesis is two-fold: first, a biographical sketch of J. S. Woodsworth's life and career has been made in an attempt to see his work, its underlying philosophy, goals and methods in relation to modem social work. And secondly, an attempt has been made to place some evaluation on the contribution made by J. S. Woodsworth to Canadian social work. The material used has been drawn from published biographies of J. S. Woodsworth, sane of his personal writings, magazine and newspaper articles, Reports of the Official Debates of the House of Commons, letters from relatives and contemporaries acquainted with his work. Modern social work principles, concepts and goals have teen drawn together from current professional social work publications. The Introduction describes the purpose, method and focus of the study. It also outlines the current social work principles and concepts against which J. S. Woodsworth1 s work is to be examined. Chapter I gives a biographical sketch of Mr. Woodsworth's life, pointing up the influences and motivations leading to a career of social reform and statesmanship. It describes the social and economic conditions of Canada as the background against which this career developed. Chapter II discusses J. S. Woodsworth's activities as a social worker, first under the auspices of the Methodist Church and later in organized social work under -the Canadian Welfare League and the Bureau of Social Research. His rejection of wartime National Service Registration resulted in dismissal. The attitude of his contemporaries and subsequent reaction of the social work profession is discussed in relation to this. Chapter III deals with Woodsworth's Parliamentary years, his goals, methods and legislative achievements. This is discussed under three main topics - Civil Rights reform, Amendment of Canada's Constitution, and Social Reform legislation. Mr. Wocdsworth was the first consistent advocate of the social insurances which are now accepted as routine and of some which are still considered in advance of our time. His tangible achievements were less important than the influence which he exerted both inside Parliament and out, toward progressive social change. The method of study, research and public education was followed. The goal of bringing about conditions which would make possible a full and creative life for all, was unchanging. Chapter IV attempts to draw together the principles underlying J. S. Woodsworth's activities, to show that these were in line with modern social welfare principles, and discusses his basic contribution to social work in Canada. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Volunteers have been working in leisure-time settings for a long time. In fact individuals were giving direct leadership long before the evolution of professional training for social group work. Since the coming-of-age of professional training, it has been recognized that the desire to help others is not enough. Personal qualifications, motivation, and knowledge influence the ability of any individual to make a valid contribution to the welfare of others. It is with these considerations that the professional social group worker must concern himself when working directly with volunteers. The practice of the group worker must be such that he can interest sufficient numbers of individuals in direct leadership to offer a satisfying program to the membership. He must be able to distinguish desirable and undesirable qualifications at the time of application. He must be able, also, to provide the volunteer with the basic minimum of knowledge required to work effectively. To obtain information regarding the volunteer recruitment and training practices, questionnaires were sent to ten leisure-time agencies employing social group workers. The specific information thus obtained was complemented by information received in personal interviews with representatives of the ten agencies. To facilitate comparison and evaluation, agency programs were divided into (a) recruitment and (b) training, although these two parts of the total program are closely inter-related. The study throws light on both strengths and weaknesses in recruitment and training programs. Some indication is given as to what may be done to improve both parts of the total program and, consequently, provide better service to the community at large. It is an important finding that the professional workers in this field are particularly concerned with recruiting and training program volunteers, and are interested in raising community standards. The question of standard formulation is opened up, but demands further research. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The thesis examines one aspect of urban structure -- namely the quality of retail site. The specific research hypothesis is that different marketing strategies can cause differences in site quality. The gasoline service station industry of Vancouver, British Columbia was chosen as a case study for purposes of testing the hypothesis. From the marketing literature it was shown that there exists two distinct strategies for marketing gasoline: non-price competition as practiced by the major oil companies and price competition as practiced by the small independents. A quality rating schedule, using both variables internal to the site itself (micro variables) and variables based on the surrounding socio-economic environment (macro variables), was devised as a surrogate measure of site quality. Gallonage performance of a station was used as a direct measure of site quality. For a sample of major company stations the correlations between site rating scores and gallonage were very high. The quality rating schedule also possessed high predictive ability for gallonage. It was demonstrated that stations of high quality (in terms of the site rating score) pump the most gasoline. In contrast, correlations between the site rating scores and gallonage for the population of price-cutters was very low. Since the average independent station pumps twice as much gasoline as the average major station, it was apparent that the site rating instrument was not a good surrogate measure of quality for the price-cutter stations. It is concluded that explanation for this discrepancy in gallonage and site scores is attributable to the differences in marketing strategy. Quality requirements for successful company service stations are different from the quality requirements of successful price-cutter stations. This fact is important to both industrial and urban planners. For example, in Vancouver the City Council embarked on an explicit plan of reducing the number of service stations. However, its actions were made without a full understanding of the different corporate strategies and have prevented what was an already declining population of stations. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

Although abortion remains legal and available to women, access to services is limited by restrictive policies such as parental consent and notification laws, mandatory delay requirements, insurance regulations/bans, and postviability testing requirements. Further, while some states have private, not-for-profit abortion fund organizations (i.e., members of the National Network of Abortion Funds), others do not. Research is lacking and shortcomings exist, that combines and controls for state restrictions on outcomes such as the rate of abortion. This study sought to examine the relationships between state policy restrictions and states' abortion rates. Data for this research was gathered from state statutes, the U.S. Census, NARAL Pro-Choice America, the Alan Guttmacher Institute, and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The study employed quantitative analyses with all 50 states over a six-year period 1988 – 2000. A hierarchical linear analysis (HLM) tested seven hypotheses. In both the final conditional model and both alternate models (with outliers removed and 1 control variable) the independent variable parental consent was statistically significant. In other words, this state restriction (parental consent) did lower the abortion rate in our model. Some of the other variable coefficients did indicate a decrease in the abortion rate, but were not statistically significant. All models were able to explain at least 30% of the variance but the alternate model (1 control variable) was more successful in explaining the variance of the growth model (a 29% increase over the original model). On a daily basis, states continue to add restrictive legislation to their books despite opposition from citizens and research that some of the restrictions are ineffective. The effect is that as the legislation is enacted, increasingly young women, low-income women and women of color are adversely affected and have their basic right to choose abortion taken away. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Social Work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2005. / April 12, 2005. / abortion, reproductive rights, social justice, parental involvement / Includes bibliographical references. / Linda Vinton, Professor Directing Dissertation; Lance deHaven-Smith, Outside Committee Member; Thomas Smith, Committee Member; Dina Wilke, Committee Member.

This study examines the predictive validity of the ASAM PPC-2R utilized within the state of Florida for the placement of substance abuse clients receiving treatment. Archival data collected by the Florida Department of Children and Families Substance Abuse Program Office from state fiscal years 1999 to 2001 of 458 clients were used in this study. The study sample of 458 was drastically reduced to 49 clients due to data collection inconsistencies of the state. Two Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) approvals were required to conduct this study. In addition to the educational institution, the second approval was needed because of the data source--the state government. The second IRB approval from the Florida State Department of Health contributed to collapsing the original sample size and restricting the use of demographic information, such as ethnicity, drug used, gender, age or race. The study proposed three hypotheses relating to treatment completion, readmission rates and time between treatment completion and readmission. The treatment completion rates were compared for clients placed in treatment in consistent with the ASAM recommended level of care, against those clients placed in treatment not consistent with the ASAM recommended level of care. Chi-square and the Yates' Correction for Continuity were calculated for the first two hypotheses. The null hypothesis was rejected for the first hypothesis at the 0.05 level with the original Chi-square calculation and at the higher 0.10 with Yates' Correction for Continuity. The results of the two Chi-square calculations for the second hypothesis rejected the null hypothesis at the 0.05 level. The readmission rates were also compared for clients placed in treatment in consistent with the ASAM recommended level of care, against those clients placed in treatment not consistent with the ASAM recommended level of care. Twelve percent of the clients were readmitted to treatment, but all had been initially assigned to treatment that was not consistent with the ASAM recommended level of care. Without a comparison group, the length of time between treatment completion and readmission was not examined. In review of the overall assignment of care, Outpatient treatment was the most frequently assigned level of care. Of the 49 clients in this study, 80% (39) were assigned to Outpatient treatment. Of this total, 36% were assigned to Outpatient consistent with the ASAM recommendations. The remaining 64% were assigned to Outpatient treatment, inconsistent with the ASAM recommendation. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Social Work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2008. / November 12, 2007. / Substance Abuse, ASAM / Includes bibliographical references. / Bruce Thyer, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robert Lee, Outside Committee Member; Charles Figley, Committee Member.

This research study sought to understand parents? use of intuition in their parenting and how its use affects their sense of competence as a parent. Systems Theory and Phenomenology provided the foundation for this study. Metaphors were created for each participant to enhance the understanding of intuition. In-depth interviews were used to gather the data. Results indicated that parents use their intuition to help them make decisions in their parenting. The most common time for the parents to use their intuition involved the safety and well-being of their child(ren). Overall, the parents of this study agreed that intuition does help them in their parenting. Intuition as a process is discussed. As one acquires more experience and history, and becomes more adept at picking up subtle clues, one is able to build upon that foundation, which may lead to a spontaneous knowing. Intuition is also discussed as an internal safety system of the parent. Subsystems from this study included past experiences and/or history, subtle clues found in the environment, and emotional and mental thoughts. Subsystems from the literature included the physical level of intuition, and spiritual beliefs and thoughts. Suggestions for further research are made, including the idea for a study to create a concrete operationalized definition of intuition. A cross-cultural study might yield more information on how other cultures utilize their intuition. Suggestions for practice include the teaching of intuition at all levels of education. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2004. / January 29, 2004. / Intuition, Parent Competence, Parenting / Includes bibliographical references. / Marsha Rehm, Professor Directing Dissertation; Charles Figley, Outside Committee Member; Barbara Allison, Committee Member.

Framed in social exchange theory, the purpose of this study was to investigate differences in relationship factors between virgins and non-virgins who are currently in romantic relationships. Data from 134 participants, 67 virgins matched with 67 non-virgins, were analyzed to determine differences in couple conflict level and management, communication, and relationship satisfaction. Results from a series of analyses of variance indicated that virgins and non-virgins differed only on 3 of 13 relationship constructs: psychological aggression, argumentativeness, and constructive communication. Specifically, non-virgins reported higher levels of psychological aggression and more arguments than did virgins, whereas virgins reported using more constructive communication than did non-virgins. In general, correlations between indicators of conflict and communication with relationship satisfaction were in the expected direction, with higher levels of communication and lower levels of conflict being associated with higher levels of relationship satisfaction. Testing the differences between correlations among conflict, communication, and satisfaction revealed four differences—a stronger correlation between physical assault and both relationship fulfillment and happiness, negativity and relationship contentment, and constructive communication and relationship contentment for the virgins compared with non-virgins. Limitations and implications are discussed, focusing on the need for continued research that explores the effect of virginity status on relationship factors. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2010. / April 5, 2010. / Relationship Factors, Romantic Relationships, Sexual Abstinence, Virginity / Includes bibliographical references. / Kay Pasley, Professor Directing Thesis; Ming Cui, Committee Member; Karen Randolph, Committee Member.

Despite passage of the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act, children prenatally exposed to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) continue to languish in the child welfare system, partly because of misinformation and uncertainty regarding their outcomes. From a cumulative risk perspective, ATOD exposure is but one of many factors that together influence outcomes. This study is a secondary analysis of cross-sectional survey data collected from adoptive parents receiving subsidies for one or more adopted children. The sample includes 636 children ages 6 through 17. Temporal ordering of risk factors/predictor variables is used in the analyses with adoption designated as the intervention between pre-adoption moderation and post-adoption mediation. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used because of its ability to handle complex analyses, which has positive implications for the richness of knowledge generated. Risk factors are examined individually and additively to determine degrees of moderation or mediation of the relationship between pre-adoption functioning (PAF) and post-adoption adjustment (PAA)—more risk factors are expected to result in greater effects. Hypotheses 1 states that few statistically-significant differences exist between prenatally-ATOD-exposed and non-exposed children. Hypotheses 2 and 3, respectively, indicate that the relationship between pre-adoption functioning (PAF) and post-adoption adjustment (PAA) is moderated by pre-adoption risk factors and mediated by post-adoption risk factors. The latent variable used to measure PAF is found to be a statistically significant predictor of PAA, producing good model fit. Few statistically-significant differences between prenatally-exposed and non-exposed children are found. ATOD exposure is found to be significantly associated with PAF, but not with PAA—an important finding supporting the notion that positive outcomes are possible despite early trauma. The experience of sexual abuse and number of placements, the two environmental factors, provided stronger individual moderation models than the two prenatal factors, ATOD risk exposure and sex. Due to the low occurrence of the environmental risk factors in this population, the moderation analysis identified a buffering effect. Adoptive parent's perceived stress provided the strongest individual mediation model. Two potential mediators, child age at survey and adoptive family risk index, did not function well as mediators in this analysis. The total cumulative moderation model had the best model fit supporting the concept of cumulative risk. The cumulative mediation model was penalized for the addition of factors that did not add to the model, resulting in poorer model fit. These findings provide critical information needed to address the multidimensional challenges associated with adoption of prenatally ATOD-exposed children. This study views prenatal ATOD exposure directly and as one of many factors influencing behavioral outcomes. Analysis found a lack of influence of prenatal ATOD exposure by itself on behavioral outcome, which is consistent with current research on prenatal exposure. This finding also is consistent with adoption research that finds time in a stable home environment improves child outcomes. Less apprehension regarding potential outcomes for prenatally ATOD-exposed children may facilitate increased adoption rates. Additionally, increasing the depth of understanding of cumulative risk effects may contribute to development of more effective policies and timely, age- and sex-specific interventions for ATOD-exposed children and their adoptive families. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Social Work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2007. / September 19, 2007. / Structural Equation Modeling, Child Welfare, Risk Factors, Prenatal ATOD Exposure, Adoption / Includes bibliographical references. / Scott D. Ryan, Professor Directing Dissertation; Akihito Kamata, Outside Committee Member; Darcy Siebert, Committee Member.