Graduate Publications (Human and Social Development)
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Item "Gotta light?": Canadian women's cigarette smoking as a social and communicative activity(1997) Shivel, Mary M.; Prince, Michael J.Smoking research has focused on the incidence and public health issues associated with smoking or on the deficiencies of the individual smoker. This thesis examines women smokers' experiences of cigarette smoking in face-to-face interactions, that is the overt actions, verbal and non-verbal, that create the behaviour. Seventeen women smokers and five ex-smokers ages 19 to 53 provided the data through in-depth interviews about their smoking interactions. Smokers' perceptions of non-smokers' views of them was also examined. Feminist thinking informed the analysis of the participants' narratives. The complexity of the communicative interactions inextricably tied to cigarette smoking reveal an appealing, supportive side to smoking that extends beyond what is presently discussed in the literature. For public policy and practice my goal is to link the personal experiences of these women smokers with a prevention and/or cessation program.Item "I don't want to move": Older women deciding where to live(2001) McNulty, Vicki; Reitsma-Street, MargeThis phenomenological study explored the process of deciding where to live for seven women over the age of 75. All the women were Caucasian, in failing health, lived alone and had minimal kin support. They all described themselves as being in the middle-class strata of society. The four themes identified and described are: Practical Realities of Deciding Where to Live, Supports and Connectedness to Others. Ways of Understanding their Situation, and Responses to their Situation. The concepts developed in the findings: caring work; reciprocity in relationships; and the managing of need and being managed by others, are taken up to contextualize the experiences reported by the senior women in failing health as they face making decisions about where they wish to, or can, live. The most significant finding came in the resistance all the women showed to moving. They clearly articulated a need to remain independent, autonomous and in control of their lives. Yet they understood that failing health, minimal kin support, a change in previously experienced reciprocal support and not knowing how long their resources would need to last, was threatening their ability to remain independent. The paper concludes with a discussion on these findings, their implications for policy and practice and recommendations for further research.Item School access: children with disabilities in rural Uganda(CIDA, 1999) Penny, Anne Marie