Browsing by Author "Ismael, Jacqueline S."

Now showing 1 - 17 of 17
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    Becoming Habesha: the journey of second-generation Ethiopian and Eritrean youth in Canada
    (2012) Goitom, Mary; Ismael, Jacqueline S.
    Refugee, Diaspora and Transnationalism scholarships have produced understandings of complex processes that migrant communities undergo to adapt to their new homes and maintain ties to their homeland. A review of the literature revealed a gap in critical analysis of how second-generation immigrants create meaning, make decisions, form communities and build their lives. This study explored the acculturative process of second generation Ethiopian and Eritrean youths and the ways they self-locate and produce spaces that are their own. Taking into account that second-generation Ethiopians and Eritreans identities are formed in 'hybridity', this study-using grounded theory methodology-explored six interrelated queries: (I) how do they define themselves; (2) what does it mean to be Ethiopian/Eritrean; (3) in the context of a multicultural society how has race, nativity, ethnicity, gender, and class informed their identity formation and retention; ( 4) how does the nature of their identity differ and/or is similar to their parents; (5) what is the nature of their knowledge and/or interests in their heritage and parental homeland; and, (6) if in their view there are differences and similarities between Ethiopian and Eritrean definitions of self Analysis of 20 in-depth interviews presented three analytic categories: pathways of acculturation where first generation parents parlay their acculturation process onto their children thus influencing their self-identity trajectories and repertoires in their formative years; influence of multiculturalism on the acculturation of these children and lastly the impact of these two processes led second-generation youths to identify as 'Habesha'. These frameworks reveal how intentionality and secondary socialization intervene on intergenerational cultural continuity to transform the youths to reject ethnocentricity yet yearn for native country affiliation. Findings reinforce the salience of social work education and research on education, cultural competence and social diversity grounded in anti-oppressive practice and informed by strengths-based conceptual framework.
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    Continuum of success: a case study of Colombian refugee women in Canada
    (2011) Munoz, Marleny; Ismael, Jacqueline S.
    Victimization is the dominant representation of women in war and armed conflict zones. This representation is extensive in the literature. In such settings they have, for the most part, been symbolized primarily as passive victims. Little documentation is available on women as agents of change within war zones, or about the learning, knowledge and exercise of agency that women deploy to survive the vicissitudes of violent environments. Where there is such documentation, it tends to be ad hoe, fragmented and/or limited in scope. In this dissertation I explore the mechanisms by which Colombian women war survivors, who were internally displaced in Colombia and are now living in Canada as refugees, exercised agency to learn and build knowledge and transcend the limitations of their situations. In particular, how they made use of this knowledge to restore their lives in a new society. This exploratory study uses qualitative research methodologies that incorporate appreciative inquiry, feminist perspectives and modified grounded theory. A semistructured interview was used to collect personal narratives from the 17 participants. Findings show that fear continued to haunt each of the participants as a consequence of the violence they suffered. Even so, the majority of participants were able to identify successful experiences in the asylum zone, and to a lesser degree in their displacement and in their original places, the armed conflict zones. Further, using situational analysis, five indicators of women's success were developed: possibilities, family and community, resources, good life, and English language. The indicators help to situate the participants within a continuum of success that uses victimization and agency as its poles. They integrate contentious topics that emerged in the data analysis. This continuum helps to visualize these successes in a more fluid pattern that may help in future research in this area and contributes to a new perspective of women exposed to armed conflict and war. In doing this, it also provides more holistic insights to designing policies, services and supports for women survivors of war, internally displaced and refugee women.
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    Ideological barriers to abortion access in Calgary
    (1996) Whitney, Beverley; Ismael, Jacqueline S.
    Family planning and abortion services are provided in Canada under the auspices of three levels of legislative decision makers. This in turn impacts direct service providers and the women who require their services. These policies and the theories that support them are examined for their underlying belief systems. The voices of women who require abortion services are heard in illustrating the impact of policy on individual lives. Using a variety of sources, it is concluded that the patriarchal and liberal democratic ideologies of policy makers at all levels impede access to abortion services as one method of birth limitation. The document concludes with a discussion of the possible impact of restricted abortion services on a broader variety of social services in Canada.
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    Nonprofits and retrenchment in Alberta
    (1996) Sigurdson, Lori D.; Ismael, Jacqueline S.
    This qualitative research study examines how 10 nonprofit agencies in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada have been impacted by the retrenchment climate. Two key variables are examined: financial stability and advocacy indicators. These variables are measured in a five year span (1990-1995) when neo-conservative policies were paramount. A general downward trend was evident regarding financial stability. Advocacy activities continued to be utilized by executive directors of nonprofits despite an increasingly hostile external environment. A slight positive correlation between financial stability and advocacy indicators was found.
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    Nothing to fear but fear: social work in cold war Canada, 1945-1960
    (2006) Lewey, Laurel Lee; Ismael, Jacqueline S.
    Since the beginning of the social work profession in the Settlement House and Charity Organization Society movements debate has persisted around their respective emphasis on social reform versus technical expertise. Porter Lee defined this debate as, "the process of professionalizing [which] caused social work to shift from "cause" to "function", that is, to move from advocating reform to rendering a technical service efficiently'' (in Abramovitz, 1998, p. 519). Some writers contend that social reform had been de-emphasized and mostly displaced by professionalism and practice that have become associated with conventional social work particularly during the McCarthy era (1945-1960) in the United States (Reisch and Andrews, 2001). Little has been written or discussed about the effects of anti-Communism on social work activities in Canada. The purpose of this study is to reveal how the profession and the activities of politically left social workers in their capacity as social workers were affected by the anti-Communism of the early Cold War period, 1945-1960. The research design combined critical theory with a qualitative and historical research methodology. Oral interviews were conducted with six former political social workers. A thematic framework emerged from the oral interviews which helped to identify political social workers in primary and secondary materials. A chronology of political social work is presented within the context of mainstream social work practice. Major findings of this research are that the profession of social work, social work practice and social work theory were affected by anti-Communism and the promotion of liberal capitalism in the immediate post-World War II period in Canada. All the key informants were targets of red-baiting and/or blacklisting, however, they report that they did not experience negative consequences professionally. Other political social workers identified in primary and secondary materials appeared to have experienced more severe consequences. Further research is needed to learn more about the nature of the anti-Communism that was experienced by individual social workers. The key informants all agreed that social work is on another historical edge and they relate their political insight to the antisocial aspects of economic globalization.
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    Social action and social work education in Canada
    (2000) Radian, Elizabeth; Ismael, Jacqueline S.
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    Social change in Kuwait: tradition and affluence
    (1976) Ismael, Jacqueline S.; Mills, Donald L.
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    Systematic barriers to refugee women
    (1995) Fugle, Bonita Louise; Ismael, Jacqueline S.
    The Canadian refugee policy is comprised of the overseas selection and in­land determination processes. In this document, these processes are examined for barriers arising from systemic discrimination and impacting significantly on refugee women. Systemic discrimination, referring to discrimination occurring in the practice of policy implementation, is explored \vithin the context of racism, sexism and dassism \vithin Canadian society. Using a variety of sources, it is conduded that the primary barriers exist \vithin the Convention definition, in access to the refugee processes and in the selection criteria. The document condudes \vith consideration of mechanisms acting to continue existing discrimination and means of effecting change, which is unlikely to occur \vithout long-term societal change.
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    The control of childbirth: past and present
    (1984) McQuade, Letitia, 1939-; Ismael, Jacqueline S.
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    The Feasibility of a single-entry intake unit for Alberta Social Services and Community Health
    (1984) Radian, Elizabeth, 1945-; Ismael, Jacqueline S.
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    The Private sponsorship of the Indochinese refugees
    (1983) Arndt, Joyce Mari-An, 1954-; Ismael, Jacqueline S.
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    Voices of women: the experiences of women survivors with obstetric fistula in Ethiopia
    (2008) Goitom, Mary; Ismael, Jacqueline S.
    Obstructed fistula is the result of complications experienced during childbirth that "'creates a continuous and uncontrollable stream of urine and/or feces coming from the birth canal and a strong and socially embarrassing smell"(Osika, Walker & Sagna, 2004, p. 1 ). Due to the nature of the problem, the medical profession has conducted most of the research in this area. However a significant limitation of their approach has been their inability to provide insight into the experiences and perceptions of the women who are directly impacted by this condition. This is important because medical interventions alone does not 'cure' fistula, for the non-medical determinants of health (e.g., poverty, education, socioeconomic status) need to be examined in order to change policy and advocate holistically for the human rights of these women. As such, the purpose of this phenomenological case study was to understand the non-medical determinants of obstructed fistula, from the perspective of the women survivors in Ethiopia. Additionally, this study also examined the role that indigenous social work practitioners can play in addressing this condition. The sample for this study was drawn from the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia using criterion sampling and maximum variation. Through the use of semi-structured individual interviews using both open-ended and close-ended questions, eight women were interviewed. Data collection, analysis, and coding were conducted simultaneously in order to capture emerging themes accurately. Complex analysis of the participants narratives indicated that participants are aware of the social determinants that leads to obstructed fistula. Other findings included how chronic conditions can erode existing community coping mechanisms leading to women's experiences of social ostracism.