This work is a collectivist engagement between researcher and participants in a knowledge quest for self-hood through engaged bodily awareness and sense. The world of the teen girl is explored from a philosophical, social, and political perspective that emphasizes expression of self through embodied knowing and being. The process is performative where yoga is used as an arts-based method to explore the self through bodily awareness. The body is reclaimed as a way to know oneself. Yoga is the expression of the living, being, and knowing body. The asana practice, the still of meditation, and the flow of the breath are emancipatory discourse where each of us moves, changes, and grows; and ultimately becomes. This becoming is a consciousness raising experience that finds and grows voice. The transformative process engages a physical expression where participants’ and researcher’s individual sense of self is connected with their universal sense of self hereby replacing current patterns of harmful thinking with new consciousness that is reflective of self awareness and realization. Found poetry is used to explore the experience of the participants. The poetic representation brings the reader into the world of the teen girl. Voices that have been secret and silenced are celebrated. The body is the instrument through which power and ownership of the moment and the self are expressed through emotion and experience. The participants and researcher move collectively and intuitively from passive objects to self-knowing subjects; subjects who are thoroughly engaged in the world and aware of their highest potential as liberated selves. The findings of this collectivist and activist research approach indicate that embodied engagements elicit the space where flesh speaks and external and internal become unified as one. Yoga is an artful, embodied expression that is about experiencing the world without being enslaved by the world. This is not a passive engagement but an activist engagement that challenges hegemonic ideas of girls in the world and in the world of a girl. This further embraces the idea of the unity of whole-self and mind-body interconnectedness where we are not passive observers of the body with awareness of self located in the head watching over the body as object. Subject and object as separate dissolve and mindfulness is the present. The end result is one where we become; we become fully engaged in a creative and fluid self-hood enabling self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and self-love. / Graduate / 0727 / 0525 / 0273 / kyte_d@yahoo.ca

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between perceived child rear ing practices and the moral character or pro-social behavior of students in their late teens and early twenties. A questionnaire was administered to forty - eight students to test their moral character which was the dependent variable on the following traits : ambitious , broadminded , capable , cheerful , clean , courageous , forgiving , helpful , honest , imaginative , independent , intellectual , logical, loving , obedient , polite, responsible and self- controlled. The child rearing practices used by the mothers and fathers were also tested as the independent predictor variables according to the following terms : autonomy , coercion, companionship , guilt , inconsistency, love withdrawal, over protection, physical affection, positive reasoning , and support . A similar questionnaire was also sent to the parents of these students as king the mother and father to rate their student ' s moral character and also how they fee l they raised their son or daughter. The results indicate fathers influence their daughter ' s moral character as much as do mothers. However , using the above moral character variables and child rearing practices variables , fathers only slightly influence their sons and mothers have no significant influence over their sons. Parental child rearing techniques influencing the females the most are : low amounts of physical affection and autonomy from both parents, low amounts of support from the mother , and low amounts of guilt from the father . Also, high amounts of companionship and inconsistency from both parents are strong influences on moral character high ratings. Those child rearing techniques promoting high moral character in males are low amounts of over protection and high amounts of love withdrawal from fathers. It also appears the way children perceive their parents rearing them is in most cases not the way parents feel they raised their children. Also , the way children view their own character traits is not the same way the parents view it in most cases .

När tonåringar utvecklar sin syn på sexualitet och samlevnad behöver de vuxenvärldens stöd och vägledning. Denna period av en människas liv präglas av upptäckande och utforskande vilket gör det betydelsefullt att ungdomar tillskansar sig kunskaper och utvecklar förståelse som bidrar till att de fattar hälsosamma beslut. Skolan fyller en viktig funktion i arbetet med att försöka ge alla ungdomar samma möjligheter till en god sexuell hälsa och är således en självklar arena för hälsofrämjande arbete. Syftet med denna studie är att ta del av pedagogers upplevelser av att undervisa inom sex- och samlevnad. Datainsamlingen genomfördes i form av sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med pedagoger inom olika undervisningsämnen på olika högstadieskolor i två kommuner. Resultatet tyder på att det finns en gemensam uppfattning om att sex - och samlevnadsundervisningen i skolan är viktig och dessutom antas ha positiva effekter för elevers sexuella hälsa. Det framgår dock att det förekommer skillnader i pedagogernas upplevelser av att kunna arbeta med sex – och samlevnad på ett strukturerat, medvetet och kreativt sätt. Hemmet och skolan beskrivs som två viktiga arenor. Föräldrar verkar ha en tilltro till pedagogers kompetens och pedagogerna själva tar sitt uppdrag som upplysare och vägvisare på stort allvar. / When teens develop their views on sexuality and relationships they need adult support and guidance. This period of a person's life is marked by discovery and exploration. Therefore it is important for young people to gain knowledge and develop understanding that contributes to making healthy decisions. The school plays an important role in efforts to try to give all young people the same opportunities for good sexual health education and is an obvious environment for health promotion. The purpose of this study is to take part of educators experiences of teaching in sex education. Data collection was conducted in the form of six semi-structured interviews with teachers in various subjects and at different secondary schools. The results suggest that there is a common perception that sex - and coexistence education in schools is important and assumed to have positive effects on students sexual health. However, it appears that there are differences in teachers' perceptions of being able to work with sex education in a structured , conscious and creative way. The home and the school are described as two important arenas . Parents seem to have a belief in teachers' skills and the teachers themselves take their mission as educators and guides very seriously.

This work is a collectivist engagement between researcher and participants in a knowledge quest for self-hood through engaged bodily awareness and sense. The world of the teen girl is explored from a philosophical, social, and political perspective that emphasizes expression of self through embodied knowing and being. The process is performative where yoga is used as an arts-based method to explore the self through bodily awareness. The body is reclaimed as a way to know oneself. Yoga is the expression of the living, being, and knowing body. The asana practice, the still of meditation, and the flow of the breath are emancipatory discourse where each of us moves, changes, and grows; and ultimately becomes. This becoming is a consciousness raising experience that finds and grows voice. The transformative process engages a physical expression where participants’ and researcher’s individual sense of self is connected with their universal sense of self hereby replacing current patterns of harmful thinking with new consciousness that is reflective of self awareness and realization. Found poetry is used to explore the experience of the participants. The poetic representation brings the reader into the world of the teen girl. Voices that have been secret and silenced are celebrated. The body is the instrument through which power and ownership of the moment and the self are expressed through emotion and experience. The participants and researcher move collectively and intuitively from passive objects to self-knowing subjects; subjects who are thoroughly engaged in the world and aware of their highest potential as liberated selves. The findings of this collectivist and activist research approach indicate that embodied engagements elicit the space where flesh speaks and external and internal become unified as one. Yoga is an artful, embodied expression that is about experiencing the world without being enslaved by the world. This is not a passive engagement but an activist engagement that challenges hegemonic ideas of girls in the world and in the world of a girl. This further embraces the idea of the unity of whole-self and mind-body interconnectedness where we are not passive observers of the body with awareness of self located in the head watching over the body as object. Subject and object as separate dissolve and mindfulness is the present. The end result is one where we become; we become fully engaged in a creative and fluid self-hood enabling self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and self-love. / Graduate / 0727 / 0525 / 0273 / kyte_d@yahoo.ca

The purpose of this study was to describe the sexual health knowledge and attitudes of a sample of Saskatchewan post secondary freshmen aged 17-19. Three primary questions guided this research: What do Saskatchewan freshmen know about the general sexual health topics of physiology, contraception, and sexually transmitted infections? What are common attitudes about sexual activity, risk behaviors, and relationships? What were the main sources of sexual health information for these freshmen, and do they express a need for more education and resources? The study design was a qualitative web-based survey. Participants were volunteer freshmen aged 17-19 from the University of Saskatchewan and Saskatoon Institute of Applied Science and Technology, and 515 responded. Sixty-two percent were sexually active. Condoms were seen as helpful (98%) but only 57% saw them as effective for preventing pregnancy. Only 47% saw condoms as effective for preventing HIV/AIDS. Knowledge of reproductive physiology and STI symptoms and consequences were low with an average knowledge score of 26%, while HIV and AIDS knowledge scores averaged 80%. Knowledge of long acting contraceptives was much lower than birth control pills. Human papilloma virus was poorly understood, and many wanted more information about HPV vaccination. Attitudes were mixed about safe sexual activities, with respondents identifying condoms (94%), withdrawal (18%) and anal sex (15%) as safer sex. Condoms were used at last intercourse by 57%. A variety of attitudes were expressed about condom use, sex in relationship, and social pressures. Topics concerning to respondents were sexual violence, HIV/AIDs, STIs, unintended pregnancy, and the influence of alcohol/ drugs on sexual activity. Very few respondents had heard of or accessed sexual health websites designed and promoted to teens. An interest was expressed for more information from doctors and public health nurses, more guest speakers for SBSHE, and easier access to sexual health clinics. The information gathered in this study highlighted many areas for further detailed inquiry, and topics that can be better addressed in physician’s offices and sexual health curriculum. Additionally, the results could guide sexual health educators, policy makers and direct physicians towards collaboration and advocacy projects, and ultimately contribute to long term improvement in sexual health of Saskatchewan teens.

The purpose of this research was to determine if there is a model of ideal femininity communicated through advertising in girls’ and women’s magazines. To assess the representations of women in magazine advertisements, a content analysis of advertisements appearing in three top-selling, demographically-defined women’s magazines (Girls’ Life, Seventeen, and Cosmopolitan) was conducted. Using feminist theory and hegemony theory as critical lenses, advertisements were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Each advertisement was assessed using five criteria: physical characteristics, social context, personality and attitude, and subtext. Using this data to establish the dominant representations of women, it was determined that there is a model of ideal femininity which is developed through establishing common ideals shared by all three magazines and by gradually introducing new ideals which correspond to shifts in real-world interests and experiences of women. It was concluded that a model of ideal femininity is developed through advertising in girls’ and women’s magazines, this model is used as a guide to direct girls and women towards specific ideal preferences, attitudes and behaviours, and this model continues to emphasise traditional cultural values and gender ideals which are not necessarily reflective of the range of roles women assume in today’s society.

The Internet has become an accessible place for teens to seek help, support and information if they are experiencing mental illness. The feeling of being anonymous can be an important reason to why teens are using internet and social media for this purpose. However, it appears through earlier studies that there may be risks involving social media as utilities for these matters. In this study we therefore examine both the risk- and protective factors that impacts on teen’s mental illnesses in relation to their use of social media as a tool for help, support and information, but also how professional social workers can increase their use of social media as a tool in their work with these teens. To be able to do this we conducted a literature review of the current available research in this field. The results presented have been analyzed with the developmental psychopathology perspective and with the theory of digital social capital. The results indicates that there are both negative and positive outcomes with the use of social media as a tool when teens are experiencing mental illness, and that there is a lack of professional social workers in social media even though they are both needed and desired.

Loss to follow-up (LTF) is an important issue that can affect the validity of longitudinal studies. Further, LTF among adolescent study participants may be predicted by variables such as substance use, educational attainment, and demographic information. The purpose of this study was to determine if alcohol or marijuana use, high school completion, or demographic information was correlated with LTF among adolescent participants in the Real Talk Study. The Real Talk study is a randomized control trial that employs a brief motivational interview intervention in a clinical setting to reduce perpetration of teen dating violence (TDV) in Boston. Current participants of the Real Talk study who were eligible for follow up comprised the study sample (N=127). Baseline characteristics on age, gender, race/ethnicity, high school completion, alcohol use, and marijuana use were analyzed using Pearson’s Chi Square, and the level of significance set to p < 0.10. A post-hoc analysis was conducted on frequency of alcohol use using Pearson’s Chi Square. Of the total sample, 13% were LTF (n=17). The results of the analyses indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between those LTF and those retained for gender and drinking 6 or more drinks of alcohol per occasion. Females were more likely to be LTF than males (p<0.10), and those participants who responded “never” or “less than monthly” to the question, “how many times do you drink 6 or more drinks per occasion?” were more likely to be retained, or less likely to be LTF (p<0.10) than those who responded differently. While some of the results were consistent with the literature, it is also possible that the follow-up procedure for Real Talk ensured that there were minimal differences in LTF.

xiv, 115 p. : ill. (some col.) / This dissertation presents the findings of a Type 2 translational research study to develop and test the feasibility and social validity of a social skills intervention for middle/secondary students with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) / High Functioning Autism (HFA). Utilizing a technology adoption model (TAM), this dissertation project sought to develop and test the feasibility of a three-tiered social skills curriculum/training program to promote social competency in teens with AS/HFA across multiple settings: school, home, and community. The TAM was developed in 2004 by Gardner and Amoroso to provide a more rigorous methodology by which to assess the acceptance of the technology by consumers. The development of an intervention that includes parental input in a repeated measurement of social validity and efficiency over time, together with the inclusion of a unique population parameter (parental groups) within a repeated measure, reinforced the appropriateness of the decision to use a Type 2 translational research model. This study consisted of two distinct phases. Phase 1 of the development process was conducted using separate focus participant groups: Group A (students with AS/HFA), Group B (parents/caregivers of students with AS/HFA), and Group C (educators of teens with AS/HFA). Phase 2, a small pilot study utilizing the newly created curriculum, was conducted using complete triads. This triad consisted of a student with AS/HFA, the student's parent/caregiver, and an educator of said student. These groups (ultimately triads) developed and refined a school-facilitated social skills intervention that utilized the goals and objectives of the student and her/his family in conjunction with existing opportunities within the community to design, implement, track, and modify a social skills program that was functional for the unique needs of the student. Findings suggest the Social Skills Triad curriculum may be a viable alternative method for teens with AS/HFA to develop and master social skills across settings over time that are meaningful to students, their families, and the home/school communities in which they function. / Committee in charge: Dr. Jeffrey Sprague, Chair; Dr. Kenneth Merrell, Member; Dr. Debra Eisert, Member; Dr. Gordon Hall, Outside Member

Submitted by Oliveira Santos Dilzaná (dilznana@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-03-29T15:05:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Caio Felipe Campos Cerqueira.pdf: 1859270 bytes, checksum: 2aacd1fdfe186ebcb8c0748121cc85ff (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Portela (anapoli@ufba.br) on 2016-04-06T13:41:41Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Caio Felipe Campos Cerqueira.pdf: 1859270 bytes, checksum: 2aacd1fdfe186ebcb8c0748121cc85ff (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-06T13:41:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Caio Felipe Campos Cerqueira.pdf: 1859270 bytes, checksum: 2aacd1fdfe186ebcb8c0748121cc85ff (MD5) / CNPq / Esta é uma dissertação sobre práticas de jovens adolescentes não-heterossexuais da cidade de Salvador e suas relações familiares e com espaços públicos e privados. O objetivo central foi o de compreender as características da sociabilidade de adolescentes frequentadores/as de festas em boates gays de Salvador – Bahia nos últimos dois anos, com o foco em suas relações no contexto familiar. A partir da realização de uma pesquisa de campo multi-situada, incluindo locais tais como festas e espaços de sociabilidade da noite, espaços domésticos e familiares, dentre outros, constatou-se que as relações familiares na contemporaneidade tem ganhado certa flexibilidade, reestruturadas pelas novas possibilidades de se vivenciar a homossexualidade. Além disso, percebeu-se que essa mesma atmosfera de liberdade – e possibilidades -, reflete a negação de uma identidade gay/lésbica na trajetória de vida dos/as sujeitos/as da pesquisa. Os questionamentos apresentados neste material ganham dimensões ampliadas ao nos permitirem pensar a atualidade da sexualidade no Brasil.This is a dissertation about behavior of young adolescent non-heterosexuals of Salvador city and their relations with familiar, public and private spaces. Based on the main transformations occurred in Brazil, since 70’s decade, related to homosexuality and their relations with generation, family, scholar context and identity. The research central aim was to understand the characteristic of the adolescents’ sociability, goers of parties and gay nightclubs of Salvador – Bahia in the last two years, focusing in their relations in the familiar context and in the school. The young selected for this research were chosen starting by degrees of affinities and dialog with the specific objectives of this research project that gather a multi situated context of the researcher action, such as parties and other spaces of interaction between researcher and interlocutors, valorizing the ethnographic method and the study of case. This research allowed perceiving that the familiar relations have gained nowadays a kind of flexibility, restructured by the new possibilities of experience homosexuality. Besides, it perceives that the same atmosphere of liberty – and possibilities - reflects the denial of the gay/lesbian identity in the life’s trajectory of the subjects in this research. The questions presented in this material give us extended dimensions to allow us to think today’s sexuality in Brazil.