In this thesis, I address the role of museums in contemporary Scotland, with specific reference to Glasgow Museums, the city of Glasgow’s municipal museums service. The empirical research focused on both the policy landscape within which Scottish museums are emplaced, and the activities and practices of museum staff. The research involved interviews with museum professionals, and participant observation within the museums service. The research findings emphasise the complexity of the role that museums play in contemporary society. In the thesis, I attempt to articulate the policy concept of social inclusion insofar as is it articulated within Glasgow Museums. I argue that in recent years Glasgow Museums has attempted to re-orientate its service around social inclusion, and yet the diffuse nature of the concept, coupled with the complexity of the institutional and organisational configurations within which it is implemented, means that many different – and extremely diverse – activities come to be considered part of the social inclusion agenda. The complex set of power relations through which social inclusion is articulated often results in conflict between different museum venues, departments and cohorts of staff. Through an examination of the theory underpinning the concept of social inclusion, and the practices privileged as part of Glasgow Museums’ commitment to social inclusion, I argue that it could usefully be understood as a therapeutic technology. I also suggest that community engagement has become an increasingly important part of socially inclusive practice within Glasgow Museums, yet I contend that community engagement represents a new and largely uncharted territory for many museum professionals. Through an exploration of the planning and execution of a community engagement project – entitled Curious – I argue that community engagement could usefully be thought of as a form of care. As a result, I contend that community engagement requires distinctive skills, and that these skills are often explicitly gendered.

This research examines settlement services and their ability to provide assistance with social inclusion for newcomer youth in the Peel Region, Ontario. Focus groups are used to examine the experiences and perceptions of settlement services and their ability to enhance social inclusion among 44 newcomer youth. The findings indicate that newcomer youth have positive perceptions of settlement services. Furthermore, there are five arenas in which settlement services are assisting with social inclusion for newcomer youth. These include relational inclusion, labour market inclusion, spatial inclusion, educational inclusion, and socio-political inclusion. Additional research is required to examine the social inclusion impacts that settlement services have on newcomer youth over the life-course. Moreover, reconsidering government initiatives and policies involving funds for settlement services and community organizations is necessary.

Social isolation is a concern for the health of older adults in Canada. Community-engaged arts (CEA) programs are thought to support social inclusion but how such programs contribute to building community connections for older adults at risk of social isolation is poorly understood. This study, therefore, is aimed to explore the experience of community for this population in the context of a CEA program as well as the role the program plays in that experience. A qualitative study using ethnographic methods was conducted to answer two research questions: (1) What does community mean to seniors in the Arts, Health and Seniors program? (2) What is the role of the Arts, Health and Seniors program in the participants’ experience of community? Data were collected over a six week period using participant observation, semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The sample was a group of 20 urban-dwelling seniors at risk for social isolation who participated in a CEA program once a week. Regular group art sessions were observed by the researcher and extensive field notes were recorded. Interviews were conducted with five senior participants and four other key informants (including two artists, a senior worker, and an administrators), and documents related to the community were reviewed. Data were analyzed throughout the data collection process and interpretations were noted. Through immersion in the data and a movement between the data and interpretations, themes were developed. Connections between themes were explored and taken back to the data. Findings were presented as a detailed description of the participants’ experience of community. Community for the participants focused around the Seniors Centre where the program was held. The participants expressed that the meaningful relationships at the centre made it ‘another home’ and was a place they could find resources to adapt to challenges. The CEA program provided a unique experience of community through working together as a group and making new social connections. For health professionals working with older people at risk for social isolation, this research will add to the understanding of how community is experienced by older adults and how community is supported by CEA programs.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the discussion of social inclusion and sport programs for marginalized people by giving voice to program participants and volunteers, while critically examining the tensions inherent in such programs. Presented as a case study of the Victoria Dreams—using realist and creative ethnographic representations—this research study offers important insights on the social dynamics of street soccer and strives to contribute to the larger body of research on sport, and social inclusion. An original fictional representation, and four interviews illuminate the culture and experiences of Victoria Dreams street soccer players and volunteers. Social Capital theory is used as a guiding framework to explore both bridging and bonding links. The results address central issues including: the importance of friendship and integration; eating together; motivation, self-confidence and the role of competition. The discussion offers further exploration of key points including: access and inclusion; the role of tournaments; social capital theory; communication and leadership; and fictional representation as a research genre. A number of future research directions are offered, in the hope of adding to the street soccer experience and adding to the research base on sport and social inclusion. Notably, it is suggested a community-based participatory action research project could help improve the delivery of street soccer and ensure more participants and volunteers are engaged. / Graduate / 0575 / 0534 / julmac16@hotmail.com

This research examines settlement services and their ability to provide assistance with social inclusion for newcomer youth in the Peel Region, Ontario. Focus groups are used to examine the experiences and perceptions of settlement services and their ability to enhance social inclusion among 44 newcomer youth. The findings indicate that newcomer youth have positive perceptions of settlement services. Furthermore, there are five arenas in which settlement services are assisting with social inclusion for newcomer youth. These include relational inclusion, labour market inclusion, spatial inclusion, educational inclusion, and socio-political inclusion. Additional research is required to examine the social inclusion impacts that settlement services have on newcomer youth over the life-course. Moreover, reconsidering government initiatives and policies involving funds for settlement services and community organizations is necessary.

Social isolation is a concern for the health of older adults in Canada. Community-engaged arts (CEA) programs are thought to support social inclusion but how such programs contribute to building community connections for older adults at risk of social isolation is poorly understood. This study, therefore, is aimed to explore the experience of community for this population in the context of a CEA program as well as the role the program plays in that experience. A qualitative study using ethnographic methods was conducted to answer two research questions: (1) What does community mean to seniors in the Arts, Health and Seniors program? (2) What is the role of the Arts, Health and Seniors program in the participants’ experience of community? Data were collected over a six week period using participant observation, semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The sample was a group of 20 urban-dwelling seniors at risk for social isolation who participated in a CEA program once a week. Regular group art sessions were observed by the researcher and extensive field notes were recorded. Interviews were conducted with five senior participants and four other key informants (including two artists, a senior worker, and an administrators), and documents related to the community were reviewed. Data were analyzed throughout the data collection process and interpretations were noted. Through immersion in the data and a movement between the data and interpretations, themes were developed. Connections between themes were explored and taken back to the data. Findings were presented as a detailed description of the participants’ experience of community. Community for the participants focused around the Seniors Centre where the program was held. The participants expressed that the meaningful relationships at the centre made it ‘another home’ and was a place they could find resources to adapt to challenges. The CEA program provided a unique experience of community through working together as a group and making new social connections. For health professionals working with older people at risk for social isolation, this research will add to the understanding of how community is experienced by older adults and how community is supported by CEA programs.

Social isolation is a concern for the health of older adults in Canada. Community-engaged arts (CEA) programs are thought to support social inclusion but how such programs contribute to building community connections for older adults at risk of social isolation is poorly understood. This study, therefore, is aimed to explore the experience of community for this population in the context of a CEA program as well as the role the program plays in that experience. A qualitative study using ethnographic methods was conducted to answer two research questions: (1) What does community mean to seniors in the Arts, Health and Seniors program? (2) What is the role of the Arts, Health and Seniors program in the participants’ experience of community? Data were collected over a six week period using participant observation, semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The sample was a group of 20 urban-dwelling seniors at risk for social isolation who participated in a CEA program once a week. Regular group art sessions were observed by the researcher and extensive field notes were recorded. Interviews were conducted with five senior participants and four other key informants (including two artists, a senior worker, and an administrators), and documents related to the community were reviewed. Data were analyzed throughout the data collection process and interpretations were noted. Through immersion in the data and a movement between the data and interpretations, themes were developed. Connections between themes were explored and taken back to the data. Findings were presented as a detailed description of the participants’ experience of community. Community for the participants focused around the Seniors Centre where the program was held. The participants expressed that the meaningful relationships at the centre made it ‘another home’ and was a place they could find resources to adapt to challenges. The CEA program provided a unique experience of community through working together as a group and making new social connections. For health professionals working with older people at risk for social isolation, this research will add to the understanding of how community is experienced by older adults and how community is supported by CEA programs. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate

This paper discusses the exploratory process of making a short digital film with two women with early-onset dementia in a day care setting. The film was produced as part of a larger participatory video (PV) pilot project within the day centre. My main subject here is the adaptations to the standard PV process which I made in order for the two women, Pam and Carol*, to be able to take active part. These adjustments took account of their individual abilities related to cognition, physical mobility and social confidence. I discuss the development of an asynchronous approach, which involved my going out into the local community to capture images of Leeds City Market using a mini-camcorder (Flipcam) and the subsequent addition, at the day centre, of voice-over commentary by the two women in response to the visual images they saw on screen. Extracts from their film narrative presented here suggest that participation in the film-making process helped to reconstruct their sense of cultural identity and social engagement. The resulting short film is now being disseminated to Dementia Studies degree students by way of their social networking site.

No description available.

Sports interventions programmes for children have gained popularity in recent years as a response to a number of welfare issues, including rising levels of obesity, declining fitness, academic attainment and delinquent behaviour. Faith in sport to address these different issues indicates that it is seen as an expedient ‘cure all’ solution. However, despite calls for evidence, few studies have addressed the impact of a programme on children’s health, fitness and well-being. This study investigates the impact of a sport intervention programme called “Move It” on (n = 785) participants (11-14 years of age) attending 3 secondary schools in inner city London between 2004 and 2007. Various measures were undertaken to monitor health, fitness, and self-evaluated self-esteem, academic attainment and behaviour. In addition, Case Study was used to understand more about a programme’s implementation at a particular school and to uncover any features that were not apparent in the earlier analysis. Results indicated that, over three years, there was no conclusive evidence of positive outcomes to health, fitness, and self-evaluated self-esteem, academic attainment and behaviour. Moreover the level of engagement of a school was not found to have an impact on quantitative outcomes. However, Case Study evidence indicated that a programme can be managed toward outcomes specifically targeted by the school, such as creating personal development avenues, opportunities for pupils, and improving social cohesion. Findings are discussed with respect to theoretical and policy developments and recommendations for future research are offered.