Recent Submissions

  • Understanding Nepali Youth’s Community Participation in the Post-Disaster Context

    Maharjan, Nabin; Department of Child and Youth Studies
    As Nepal witnessed the significant contribution of youth in the 2015 earthquake crisis, their community participation received nation-wide attention and acknowledgement (GoN, 2015, and Sherriff, 2016); however, a little attention has been paid to understand their participation practices and perspectives. Witnessing youth active participation in the community, this study has attempted to explore their engagement in the post-disaster context of Nepal by using Cornwall’s (2000a) situated practices, and Stammers’ (2009) paradox of institutionalization as conceptual frameworks. This study adopted Participatory Action Research (PAR) method to explore the nature of youth engagement, factors for their community (dis)engagement, and youth’s conceptualization of participation based on their own lived experiences. 36 Nepali youth, who were actively engaged in the community (seven as co-researchers and 29 as research participants), participated in this study. Data were collected using Cooperative Inquiry (CI) workshops, interviews and focus group discussions, field visits, and social media content analysis. Later, data were analyzed using thematic analysis; and five key themes emerged from the collected data. These themes not only illustrated how youth were engaged in complex and hybrid ways, but also revealed the influence of socio-cultural and economic situation, and institutional practices on youth (dis)engagement in the community. The study exhibits the necessity of incorporating youth’s perspectives on participation and changing youth participation practices rather than mere adult-centric narratives of youth participation or institution-driven, tokenistic and unsustainable youth mobilization practices in Nepal.
  • “Getting Everyone on the Same Page” An Integrated Transition Planning Process for Youths with an Intellectual/Developmental Disability with a Social Return on Investment Perspective

    Readhead, Anne; Department of Child and Youth Studies
    Transitioning out of high school is a significant step in a young person’s life. The Tri-Sector TAY Planning process in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada has developed a single integrated transition plan for youths with an intellectual and/or developmental disability (I/DD). This plan unfolds collaboratively, with education and community professionals meeting at the same planning table with the family and the youth beginning at the age of 14 years. Notably, no new government funding was provided to support this process. The case study reported herein explored both the potential benefits of the Tri-Sector Planning process and the ways in which this multi-sector planning procedure might be improved. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fourteen participants, including youths, parents, and professionals. A qualitative thematic data analysis was conducted. Collaboration was identified as an important component of the multi-sector integrated planning process, critical to promoting successful outcomes for youths, including gainful employment and entry into post-secondary education. On the question of possible improvements to the procedure, promoting increased youth engagement and agency during the planning process emerged as an important consideration. In addition, a Social Return on Investment (SROI) quantitative and qualitative data analysis was completed on the case study data to examine the identified impacts of the process. Even with the investment into the Niagara Region Tri-Sector TAY Planning process based only on an estimate of funding from participating organizations, the net SROI ratio was 1.00:4.92, illustrating that for every $1.00 of funding contributed by participating organizations, the after-cost impact benefit was $4.92.
  • Talking during class, packing up books and name calling: Is it really that big a deal? An exploration of classroom incivility

    Spadafora, Natalie; Department of Child and Youth Studies
    The main goal of my dissertation was to explore and expand our understanding of the concept of adolescent classroom incivility. Specifically, I wanted to expand the current research on classroom incivility in children and youth using a range of methods. Methods comprised validating a measure of engagement in uncivil behavior, including open-ended responses to understand the experiences and viewpoints of both adolescent students and their teachers and exploring social network position in relation to engaging in classroom incivility. In Study 1, I validated a scale of uncivil behavior in the classroom. This validation confirmed subscales of intentional and unintentional classroom incivility in adolescents. This study also assessed construct validity via the examination of associations between classroom incivility with self- and peer-reported behavior and mental health correlates. As well, I investigated differential personality profiles of adolescents who reported engaging in intentional vs. unintentional uncivil behavior. Study 2 focused on comparing and contrasting the perceptions and experiences of classroom incivility of middle and high school teachers and students. This study used both quantitative reporting and qualitative methods to investigate how middle and high school teachers were experiencing and understanding classroom incivility compared to students. The results of this study indicated that there were differences in how uncivil behaviors were being perceived by students and teachers, depending on the classroom or individual circumstances. Finally, Study 3 was an exploratory study that investigated the association between social network position and self-reported engagement in classroom incivility. Results indicated a curvilinear association between social network position and classroom incivility, such that students who engaged in the highest or lowest levels of classroom incivility had lower social network position, while students who engaged in moderate levels of classroom incivility had the highest levels of social network position. Taken together, these studies have expanded our knowledge and understanding of adolescent classroom incivility. These results can inform intervention of uncivil behavior in the classroom and have highlighted the importance of limiting uncivil behavior in adolescence in an effort to promote a civil society.
  • An examination of self-compassion among Canadian youth with and without a caregiving role

    Berardini, Yana; Department of Child and Youth Studies
    Self-compassion occurs when people apply the same compassion towards themselves as they would towards others (Neff, 2003a, 2003b). Self-compassion has been shown to relate to positive mental health outcomes, such as reduced depression and lower anxiety (Neff 2003a), as well as increased happiness and optimism (Neff et al., 2007), but has yet to be studied with young carers (YCs), who provide significant care and compassion to family members due to various circumstances (e.g., illness, disability, substance use, language barriers, and age-related needs; Bleakney, 2014; Charles, 2011; Charles et al., 2009), leaving limited time for other activities, friends, or self-care (Sexton, 2017; Stamatopoulos, 2018; Szafran et al., 2016). This dissertation examined 1. Self-compassion in youth ages 12-18 years, by exploring its potential correlates; 2. Self-compassion in the context of caregiving for others via focus groups with 33 YCs; and 3. Self-compassion and Subjective Well-Being (SWB) among YCs (n = 55) in comparison to non-caregiving youth (n = 107). Study 1 found that while sex and age did not relate to self-compassion, positive affect, life satisfaction, honesty and humility, and agreeableness were positively related to self-compassion, and negative affect and emotionality were negatively associated with it. Study 2 revealed that caregiving for others may have reduced YCs’ time for self-compassion, thereby possibly showing lower self-compassion. Finally, Study 3 found that YCs and non-YCs showed similar levels of self-compassion and SWB, which suggested that even though caregiving responsibilities may come in a way of self-compassion, it did not do so significantly. YCs’ SWB was also not any lower than their non-caregiving peers, which could be indicative of some hidden protective mechanism at play, such as resiliency. Implications for interventions and program modifications were discussed.
  • HEXACO Personality Investigation into Parenting: Evolutionary Investment Decisions, Punishment and Real-Time Parenting Behavior

    Franklin-Luther, Prarthana; Department of Child and Youth Studies
    Parenting is an important and variable job, with a wide range in parents’ behavior and decisions. An important part of this variance comes from the parent themselves. Individuals differences in parenting, such as personality traits, may explain a large portion of the variance in parents’ behavior and decisions. Personality traits may also explain how parenting is related to different child characteristics and behavior. Using evolutionary theories of parenting and personality traits, my dissertation investigated the influence of HEXACO personality traits, in combination with children’s characteristics/behavior, across three parenting contexts. Study 1 examined the personality associations with parental investment versus other investment efforts, at the perceptual and behavioral level using infant images as stimuli to motivate parenting appeal and engagement. Study 2 examined personality links with adults’ punishment toward child misbehavior based on children’s age and intentionality. Study 3 observed the associations between personality and real-time parenting behavior. and how these links fit with children’s personality and behavior on a playground. My results showed that higher Emotionality (emotional attachment toward others), as per its theorized role as the strongest HEXACO trait with parenting, was associated with parenting and sensitivity to certain child characteristics across all three studies. Other HEXACO traits were also associated with more positive as well as harsh parenting behavior and responses that were context specific. Overall, my results depict that personality-related predispositions are flexible to child characteristics and delineate important parenting decisions across various contexts.