Browsing by Author "Bereska, Tami"

Now showing 1 - 16 of 16
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    Adolescent sexuality and the changing romance novel market
    (1994) Bereska, Tami
    After initial success, the adolescent series romance genre rapidly declined in the literary market during the 1980s. This research explores that decline through a comparative content analysis with other romance genres. Results suggest a key factor to be the relative lack of sexuality in the content of the adolescent series romances. Given the changing socio-sexual environment of adolescent girls in the 1980s, the adolescent series romances became increasingly remote from girls' own life experiences. Implications warranting further analysis include the salience and acceptability of sexuality in their daily lives, as well as their resistance to its denial.
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    Alcohol use among marginalized youth
    (2018) Johnson, Kaitlin; Bereska, Tami
    Within the Western world, alcohol permeates many aspects of youth culture. Even though there is legislation prescribing a minimum age for purchasing alcohol, alcohol use among youth is, to a large degree, normalized both within youth culture and in society more broadly. For youth, alcohol use is intimately intertwined with the cultural meanings of alcohol, personal and social identity, and broader structures and processes of power. Consequently, the precise nature of the relationship between alcohol and youth culture varies, to some extent, across social groups. This project examines alcohol use among marginalized youth in particular, within the larger context of the normalization of alcohol in youth culture.
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    Challenges and support for LGBTQ+ at-risk youth
    (2019) Reynolds, Dorothy L.; Gulayets, Michael; Bereska, Tami
    The number of people who identify as LGBTQ+ has been increasing, especially amongst young people. The LGBTQ+ community faces many challenges. This paper examines responses to at-risk youth who identify as LGBTQ+ in Edmonton, Canada and L’viv, Ukraine from a family structure level, social support structure level, and governmental programs or policies. It also explores how different reactions - such as feminism or patriarchy – have specific implications for these youth. Finally, it looks at how support, activism, advocacy and acceptance, or fear and anger, can create a change within society.
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    Delays in traffic and motorist yielding to pedestrians
    (1992) Harrell, W. Andrew; Bereska, Tami
    A field experiment was carried out in which a pedestrian attempted to cross a busy residential street. Associations of the amount of time a motorist was delayed at a four-way stop and the volume of traffic with the decision whether to stop were assessed. For 190 motorists both delay and volume were significantly related to stopping. The longer the delay at the four-way stop and the greater the volume of traffic, the less likely the pedestrian was to elicit a stop. Regression analysis showed that delay was a better predictor of motorists' stopping. These findings are consistent with Piliavin's costs/benefits theory of helping behavior.
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    Educational responses to socioeconomic inequality
    (2019) Bures, Laura; Gulayets, Michael; Bereska, Tami
    Socioeconomic inequality continues to be a major concern both internationally and within Canada. Educational outcomes for children are one of the key areas affected by this reality. Schools are considered institutions responsible for promoting the social mobility of children. However, due to increasing social, political, and economic disparities among families, schools have redesigned themselves to ensure this idea persists. This paper examines how parental inconsistencies, lack of supportive home environments, and financial burdens associated with low socioeconomic status families have a negative influence on children’s educational outcomes. It investigates why schools have become concerned with implementing programs to help alleviate the effects of socioeconomic inequalities on children and their families. A discussion of the various strategies schools have put in place to integrate struggling children, families, and communities is included. Issues arise in regard to how these programs will be funded, who is responsible for these children within schools, and recommendations going forward. School boards need to be allocated more funding and support from macro level institutions such as the government and health boards if they hope to find a solution.
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    Gap acceptance by pedestrians
    (1992) Harrell, W. Andrew; Bereska, Tami
    The riskiness of street crossing behavior of 75 individuals and groups of pedestrians was observed. Gap acceptance, or the elapsed time before a pedestrian initiated a crossing at a marked crosswalk and the time until a vehicle passed through the crosswalk, was the measure of risk. Pedestrian groups containing at least one infant tended to choose longer gaps, i.e., they were less risky in their crossing. Gap acceptance was also more conservative as the mean age of the pedestrian group increased. Gap was not affected by the sex ratio of the group or the volume of traffic passing through the intersection.
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    How does hegemonic society perpetuate LGBTQ+ discrimination through the institutions and ideologies of law, education, and religion?
    (2019) Leibel, Isha; Gulayets, Michael; Bereska, Tami
    Research has shown that the institutions and ideologies behind hegemonic society’s laws, educational system, and religions, have been integral to the discrimination of LGBTQ+ youth. To better understand the specific aspects of each institution, and how they directly affect LGBTQ+ youth, this paper critically examines these institutions using both the traditional heteronormative lens, as well as the more recent LGBTQ+ friendly lens. Issues such as the role of homophobic political leaders, and the laws they pass, are considered. As the majority of youth spend their formative years in an educational setting, the role of teachers, peers, and parents are all considered when discussions of ‘coming out’ or sexual education is brought to light. Furthermore, in an attempt to understand the coexistence of LGBTQ+ youth and religious education, comparisons between different school settings are taken into consideration. Following the review, different avenues are suggested to further study this topic in order to create a more inclusive, safe, and accepting society for all sexualities and gender identities.
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    How youth are defined: criminal justice system vs social services institutions
    (2019) Brosseau, Alaina; Gulayets, Michael; Bereska, Tami
    This project examines alternative measures to charging at-risk youth and the importance of transitional programs due to the ineffectiveness of punitive approaches. Punitive approaches are known for worsening issues with delinquent youth, such as recidivism. Youth are optimal to examine when tackling socioeconomic issues such as these because they are young enough that intervention can be done to set them on the right path. This intervention can prevent harms that would otherwise define them for the rest of their lives. There are shortcomings in the way society handles delinquent youth, and many are trapped in their criminal label. Because of this, they often continue to offend and ‘rebel’ against the system. Alternative measures to charging youth and transitional programs could make the difference in the way delinquent youth choose to move forward as adult members of society, potentially preventing criminal career formation.
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    Is trauma a social phenomenon that leads to gang involvement?
    (2019) Leksen, Morgan; Gulayets, Michael; Bereska, Tami
    This paper examines the effects of trauma on youth gang involvement. It focuses on the repercussions that trauma can have on youth, which may result in them looking for like-minded adolescents who are in gangs. The need for support can stem from the reoccurring trauma that the individuals face at an early age and the gang can appear as a safe haven from their lives. This paper argues that the experiences of direct and indirect trauma can put these adolescents on a different life path compared to their peers. Youth need to be actively supported in their families and in the education system in order to succeed. The way society reacts and responds to adolescents who are experiencing trauma will set the tone on how they develop in the future. These youth should be seen as a societal responsibility, and when they are left behind or fall through the cracks of certain social institutions, it should be seen as a failure by the social system and not the individual being seen as a failure. Because of these failures, trauma is a social phenomenon that can lead to youth gang involvement.
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    Religion and youth delinquency
    (2019) Erickson, Christine; Gulayets, Michael; Bereska, Tami
    This project looks at the impact that religion has on youth delinquency. The project examines religion through social control theory and explores religion as an agent of social control for its members, in particular youth. The project analyses the relationship between religious affiliation and youth delinquency and considers how belonging to a religious community decreases the likelihood of youth participating in delinquent behaviors. The analysis suggests that being part of a strong community and having a positive value system reduces the likelihood of youth becoming delinquent. Additionally, this implies that there are ways to reduce the likelihood of delinquency occurring and that involvement in a religious community is a valuable method for keeping youth from becoming delinquent.
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    Review of All the right stuff (directed by C. Littlefield), Lost borders (directed and produced by K. Shelton), and It takes a child: Craig Kielburger’s study: A journey into child labour
    (2000) Bereska, Tami
    These three videos represent something that is relatively rare in the social sciences; they are all high quality, well-produced videos that look at the lives of youth in contemporary society. Rather than falling into the all-too-frequent trap of treating adolescents as part of some circus freak show that we are privy to watch, these videos show the lives of ordinary youth living in extraordinary times. Taken together, these three videos illustrate the important fact that while we tend to group all adolescents together under the generic umbrella of ‘youth culture’ or ‘youth subculture’, not all youth are the same. Each video focuses on a particular segment of youth culture and/or a particular set of experiences within youth culture.
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    Review of Gender and politics in contemporary Canada
    (1997) Bereska, Tami
    The book Gender and Politics in Contemporary Canada edited by François-Pierre Gingras is reviewed.
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    The changing boys' world in the 20th century: reality and “fiction”
    (2003) Bereska, Tami
    In university and college classrooms today gender is a hot topic and the issue that raises the most discussion is that of how much gender roles have changed or remained the same. This issue has been studied among both adults and adolescents over the last several decades in a variety of ways including analyses of popular cultural representations. However, more research has been done on representations of femininity than on masculinity in adolescent popular cultural products, and the area of young adult literature has been relatively ignored by social scientists. This paper presents the results of a study exploring the structure of masculinity in young adult novels for boys from the 1940s through the 1990s. Over this 50-year period, the components that make up the structure of masculinity remain static, indicating that at least a portion of the discourse on masculinity has remained unchanged for more than 50 years. This has implications not only for the lives of boys and men today, but also for the maintenance of patriarchy itself. In trying to create equity in society, we appear to have focused all of our attention on the girls' world, but left the boys' world virtually untouched.
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    The effects of social factors on police interactions with youth
    (2019) Hankewich, Ryan; Gulayets, Michael; Bereska, Tami
    It has been recognized, socially and legally, that youth require different treatment and methodologies by the criminal justice system compared to adults. As the first point of contact within the criminal justice system, police officers’ perceptions of youth can have profound effects upon the youth they encounter. This paper critically reviews how these perceptions are formed and influenced by multiple levels of social factors. This analysis examines societal factors at the macro, meso, and micro levels, and how they influence police perceptions of youth, resulting police actions, and what level of police discretion they employ.
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    Today’s offender, tomorrow’s victim: analyzing the connections between offenders and victims
    (2019) Kurjata, Andie; Gulayets, Michael; Bereska, Tami
    This paper examines the link between victims and offenders and how these roles are often interchangeable when it comes to a youth’s involvement in crime. Usually, this connection is disregarded because of the focus on the immediate situation and not the youth’s experiences with both roles. Because of this strong association between offenders and victims, the focus of this paper is about what stops a victim from becoming an offender and vice versa. The aspects focused on are individual and social factors, as well as the interactions and overlap between these factors. Generally, it was found that the criminal justice system and social service supports tend to only focus on individual factors while ignoring the social environmental aspects. This paper demonstrates the importance of not only acknowledging a youth's role as both an offender and victim, but also the importance of addressing all aspects around how and why they got involved in criminal activity. By understanding the significance of these factors, this information can be used and integrated into the criminal justice system to help youth reduce their involvement in crime or to provide supports that address the cycle of victimization and offending.
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    Youth homelessness: a review of social programs
    (2019) Wilton, Lori; Gulayets, Michael; Bereska, Tami
    Youth homelessness is a complex problem in Canada. While social programs do exist to help homeless youth, there appears to be some confusion as to which program is best suited for helping homeless youth be successful in their lives. This paper examines how social programs help youth leave the streets. The paper analyzes three levels of social programs starting with informal programs, middle-mode programs and formal programs in an attempt to determine the best way to reintegrate homeless youth back into mainstream society. A close examination of social programs suggests that more funding is needed to provide more spaces for youth participation as well as emotional supports to provide stability in their lives. Currently, there are gaps between the social programs. Each program has its own individual rules for operation and does not adequately support transitioning youth. Youth homelessness occurs due to the breakdown of the micro, meso and macro level institutions leaving youth to attempt to take control of their own lives by living homeless.