Trocmé, N., Esposito, T., Laurendeau, C., Thomson, W., & Milne, L. (2009). The Mobilization of Knowledge in Child Protection. Criminologie, 42(1), 33-59.
According to the authors the increasing growth of the Canadian child welfare system, particularly in the number of children receiving services, warrants an examination of the effectiveness of child welfare interventions. Knowledge mobilization, they propose, is a model that allows for evidence-based practice supported by “collaborative problem-solving between researchers and decision makers” (p.3) and is most effective when research is relevant, credible, timely and emerges from partnership between researchers and decision makers.
The Batshaw-McGill Evidence-Based Management (EBM) Project is used to exemplify a current child welfare program using the knowledge mobilization model. The project was initiated to assist child welfare managers with making better use of three forms of research: service and client information systems, clinical expertise, and publications related to practice. Some of the ways the program operates is by involving university students and faculty in gathering research, holding specialized discussion groups with clinicians and researchers, and tracking client and service information and outcomes. The model has allowed managers to be more aware of trends among the children their agencies serve and to become more engaged in research related to child welfare service provision.
Devries, K., Free, C., Morison, L., & Saewyc, E. (2009). Factors Associated with the Sexual Behavior of Canadian Aboriginal Young People and their Implications for Health Promotion. American Journal of Public Health, 99(5), 855-861.
This study uses the 2003 British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey (BCAHS) to examine factors associated with Aboriginal young people’s sexual behaviours. Information from the BCAHS was used from a total of 2476 students, grades 7 through 12, who self-identified as Aboriginal. The authors used the BCAHS information from these students to examine variables related to having ever had sex, having had more than one sexual partner, and condom use.
They argue that using substances more frequently than peers, having experienced sexual abuse, and having lived on a reserve were most strongly and consistently associated with having had sex, having had sex with more than one partner, and not having used a condom when most recently engaging in sexual intercourse. They also found that “feeling connected to family was strongly related to increased likelihood of condom use in both genders” (p.858). They argue that these findings, except for having lived on a reserve, are consistent with other studies but are valuable in that they represent Aboriginal-specific information related to youth in Canada.
Alaggia, R., Regehr, C., & Rishchenski, G. (2009). Intimate partner violence and immigration laws in Canada: How far have we come? International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 32(6), 335-341.
This study examined the structural barriers that hinder immigrant and refugee women’s ability to exit abusive relationships. Research was gathered in Toronto using a purposive sampling strategy through two different methods: key informant interviews and focus groups.
Themes extrapolated from interviews and focus groups include: cultural practices prohibiting disclosure/reporting, reluctance of police intervention, isolation, staying for the children, economic barriers, and fear of immigration repercussions. The authors also demonstrated the ways that each of these themes relates to a woman’s situation as an immigrant. Respondents, for instance, reported that the fear of child welfare involvement particularly as immigrants awaiting permanent residency posed a barrier to reporting abuse.
The authors concluded by stating “women who are newcomers and immigrants in Canada face additional barriers due to immigration policies” (p.340) and that attempts made by Immigration Canada to allow for sponsorship breakdown on humanitarian and compassionate grounds is insufficient in alleviating the precarious situation faced by immigration women experiencing intimate partner abuse.