MacEwan Open Journals (MacEwan University)
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Does This Look Like STALKING to You? Factors Associated with Identification of Stalking Behaviours
No full textPerceptions of stalking are highly variable, dependent upon personal definitions and experiences. For example, recent surveys have found that young persons view social media stalking as acceptable and not distressing. Similarly, popular media often depicts stalking variably as misguided romance to psychotic deviance. In Canada, legal definitions of stalking (criminal harassment) are predicated on the victim feeling fear for their personal safety. Given that stalking is a victim-defined crime, understanding the circumstances under which stalking is identified and reported is critical for awareness, support, and prevention efforts. The present study aims to evaluate stalking identification in relation to lived experience, beliefs/myth endorsement, and characteristics of the stalking incidents themselves (such as form, intensity, and escalation). Participants (N = 500+) will be provided vignettes that vary in accordance with our variables of interest. They will be asked to assess the scenarios and identify specific points at which they would identify the behaviours as stalking, fear-inducing, and when they would seek police intervention. We anticipate that participants who have not been stalked will fail to recognize harassing behaviours and may only view stalking as such when it involves frequent, intense, and physical episodes. That said, those with lived experience related to stalking may vary more, with the possibility of lowered recognition of stalking cues (as depictions may differ from personal experience) or greater sensitivity to stalking cues and earlier identification. Empirical studies on how stalking is perceived remain limited, despite widespread implications for victims, support, and criminal justice.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kristine Peace 
Falling Through the Cracks: The Gaps in our Healthcare System Integration of Applied Behavioural Analysis in Pediatric Primary Care
No full textWhen parents come into an emergency room asking for help in managing their children\u27s behavioural problems, there is no referral system in place for hospital staff to help families find or obtain effective behavioural intervention services. Parents are instead told to seek out respite provider resources or are given a referral to a psychiatrist to get or manage medication, which are "band-aid solutions". The healthcare system is inefficient at ensuring we are getting to the root of the challenging problems and addressing the needs of children. Families are burning out and children with behavioural concerns are falling through the cracks. Our study discusses a potential plan to create a new referral system for an out-patient behavioural assessment protocol that can be used in the hospitals for families dealing with their children\u27s challenging behaviours. The documents developed could be then given to the hospital decision-makers regarding an alternative option in dealing with emergency room referrals involving families seeking help with their children\u27s behavioural problems.
Faculty Mentor: Miranda Macauley 
Discrimination and Picking up Political Cues
No full textSometimes people’s personalities and beliefs cause them to give off cues that indicate to others what their beliefs or personalities are (Motyl, 2016). Ideological ambient cues dictate desired social groups, work and school environment (Motyl, 2016). (Research finds that encountering ambient cues which indicate differences in ideology in school and work environments can lead to feelings of exclusion. For instance, women exposed to highly masculinized computer science labs feel felt excluded from the environment and expressed less willingness to join computer science programs (Cheryan et al., 2009; Oyserman et al., 2006). In this project, we hope to extend the findings from the previous literature to analyze how ambient cues affect individuals who have faced higher levels of discrimination. Specifically, we propose that those who have experienced discrimination more in the past are going to be more aware of what cues indicate someone’s political or ideological stance because they have learned through experience to pay attention to this. We will present participants with ambient cues which indicate that individuals within that environment hold different views than the self. We will then measure how likely people were to notice those cues within that environment and then measure their emotional response to those cues. We hypothesize that those who have experienced discrimination will be more likely to notice that the cues existed, and to show a stronger emotional reaction when they do notice them. These findings could indicate the importance of creating an environment that leads to greater levels of inclusion.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Craig Blatz 
Falling Through the Cracks: Case Management of Clients Accessing Services in A Settlement Agency, Edmonton, Alberta
No full textImmigrants and refugees need access to a wide range of services upon arrival to Canada and during settlement. This paper presents a study utilizing case study methodology to explore a settlement agency’s care coordination process for clients who are accessing services for complex issues in Alberta. The aim of the study is to develop a case management framework to meet the needs of the agency’s clients. Data was collected from three focus group with 20 frontline staff and three in-depth individual interviews with team supervisors. Barriers hindering the coordination of client care within and outside the agency, as well as strategies and interventions for addressing these barriers will be discussed. Findings from this study will inform the agency’s policies and practices to strengthen care coordination for immigrants and refugees
Keywords: case management, care coordination, settlement agency, immigrants, refugees
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Hellen Gateri 
Towards Indigenous Food Sovereignty
No full textFood insecurity refers to an individual’s lack of access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food which would enable them to lead a healthy life. Today, urban Indigenous communities in Canada face wide-scale food insecurity due to historical injustices of the past. Colonialism has displaced Indigenous peoples from their lands, destroying their culture and assimilating them through extreme measures. The forced eradication of the buffalo, the Indian Act, the Residential School System, and a series of highly restrictive food programs represent some of the most destructive influences on increasing food insecurity among Indigenous communities. As such, there is an ongoing need to support efforts in revitalizing Indigenous ways of life, which includes addressing the issues surrounding Indigenous food systems. Indigenous Food Sovereignty (IFS) involves activities that consider the sociocultural meanings, acquisition, and processing techniques of Indigenous food, which recognizes the sacred, participatory relationship between Indigenous peoples and their foods. For instance, IFS efforts include but are not limited to supporting hunting, fishing, trapping, foraging, gardening, and preservation projects. IFS provides opportunities for restoring cultural practices and can help develop a sense of healing, connection, and empowerment. Reciprocity (i.e., a broader appreciation of the connection between food and land) through IFS efforts allows for past and future generations to become part of the connection to food. As such, food systems in Indigenous communities go beyond the need for sustenance and instead entail a variety of efforts to reintroduce reasonable and adaptive efforts of rebuilding Indigenous food systems and ways of life.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alissa Overend 
The Lorax Effect: A Statistical Analysis of Environmental Concern in Canada
No full textAs the globe continues to experience the effects of climate change, researchers must continue to investigate factors that contribute to individuals\u27 attitudes concerning climate change. This study utilizes survey data from 1,539 Canadians gathered in 2019. The data was analyzed using ordinary least square linear regression to analyze how political ideology, gender, and level of education correlate with individuals’ level of environmental concern. Approximately 83.2% of Canadians rated themselves as having a moderate level of environmental concern or higher in the collected survey data, suggesting that most Canadians express some amount of environmental concern. Canadians with a conservative political ideology have a lower level of environmental concern than their liberal counterparts. Within the Canadian context, there is no statistically significant relationship between level of education and concern for the environment. Females are more concerned, on average, about the environment, compared to males. Canadians’ gender identity seems to influence their level of environmental concern. However, more representation of non-binary individuals is needed in future data-gathering to analyze non-binary individuals\u27 level of environmental concern. The paper further discusses these variables\u27 effects on the level of environmental concern
Naming Dispositions: Ideas That Matter
No full textIn the span of a day in child care, many moments happen. Some moments go past without a thought, others linger. In this presentation, Kaitlin makes visible a moment between two children that reshapes how she thinks about relationships among children and with families. Educators notice and name when they observe children and look at those moments to reveal a deeper meaning. Naming children’s dispositions to learn helps educators see children as citizens in their communities. Putting these concepts to work is challenging in the busyness of a day and moments of disequilibrium, but through reflections, educators find meanings that nurture and strengthen their relationships with families
Moralism in a Mad World: Samuel Johnson’s “Business of the Biographer”
No full textOne of the most prolific authors of the eighteenth century, Samuel Johnson, strives toward intentional moralistic authorship, especially in The Rambler and The Idler periodicals, where he considers such topical studies as biography and conceptions of reality. While exploring Johnson’s publications on moralism, a contradiction between his public statements and personal actions was uncovered. This contradiction begged investigation into the validity and authority of Johnson’s moralism while asking the age-old question of why writers write
Heating Up the Market: A case study on KAISO Hot Pepper Sauce
No full textThe study was conducted for a locally based company that wished to expand their consumer base and market reach. The relationship between consumer attitudes and brand perception was examined to identify potential marketing approaches. Results were gathered through a questionnaire (n= 136), in order to model consumer profiles and analyze their affect on product perception. The resulting multivariate regression model indicated that the difference in receptiveness to Kaiso’s branding between the Black/African demographic and the Caucasian demographic was significant. The average Black/African participant perceived the product more negatively than the average Caucasian participant. The same observation applied to South Asian demographics. Consumers’ self-reported likelihood to purchase was positively correlated with an increase in consumption rate across all participant profiles. Notably, aspects that provide opportunities to improve in the peer sauce industry are associated with traditional spicy cuisine, which is a trait correlated with the desire for perceived authenticity over other product attributes
Subsistence Practices and Food Insecurity in the Arctic Circle - A Focus on the Inuit and Sami Community
No full textDuring this course, I was deeply touched by how food was so spiritual for arctic communities and how their lives are shaped around their subsistence practices. I often found myself comparing my lifestyle to the one Sami and Inuit. I noticed vast differences in our lifestyles. I quickly realized their conditions meant they needed to follow their ancestors’ way of life and not be affected by globalization or modernization. However, things have changed over the years, and Arctic communities are slowly losing their cultural roots due to socio-political intervention. Hence, the topic of subsistence in the arctic circle began to pique my interest. Moreover, when Inuits and Sami have few similar experiences and lifestyles; hence, I compared both communities and highlighted their struggles. I am most passionate about discussing the issue of food security in the Inuit community because it deprives them of their rights, and more solutions must be discussed to help Arctic communities. Moreover, Sami and Inuit are communities dispersed in different land areas, yet they have been practicing the same way for centuries. Canada and Scandinavia both have been actively involved in trying to reverse the effects of colonization and help establish a better support system for indigenous communities. Both communities can be self-sufficient if there is no socio-political interference caused by colonization which has altered the structure of various practices critical to the stability and survival of their community.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jenanne Ferguson