Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'FAMILY GROUP DECISION MAKING MODELS'

Il soggetto di questo lavoro è l’appropriatezza degli approcci e dei metodi di valutazione per lo studio di un evaluando specifico, ossia i Family Group Decision Making Models utilizzati principalmente nell’ambito del lavoro sociale con le famiglie e i minorenni (Hudson et al., 1996; Marsh & Crow, 1998; Lupton & Nixon, 1999). Al fine di raggiungere questa finalità, la ricerca combina due strumenti realizzati ‘su misura’ per questo studio, la metavalutazione delle ricerche internazionali e la sintesi degli approcci. Lo studio prende infatti spunto dall’invito di Smith (2010, p.5) a ‘considerare i risultati di tutte le ricerche non solo di quelle sperimentali’ e quindi non si limita a prendere in considerazione valutazioni di stampo positivista, ma è ‘inclusiva’ nel senso che accoglie le diverse visioni ontologiche presenti nel panorama valutativo internazionale. L’analisi metavalutativa (Scriven, 1969; Stafflebeam, 2001) si concentra sulla disamina trasversale, approfondita e critica dei disegni di valutazione delle ricerche internazionali utilizzate per studiare i modelli FGDM; mentre la sintesi degli approcci si focalizza su cosa gli approcci, appunto sanno dire in merito all'oggetto di valutazione e alle dimensioni valutative dell’implementazione, del processo e dell’efficacia. La sintesi risponde quindi alla domanda: cosa sono in grado di mettere in luce e cosa lasciano in ombra i diversi approcci alla valutazione (Stame, 2001) rispetto alla comprensione dei modelli FGDM? Il punto di partenza di questo lavoro è, infatti, il fermo rifiuto del paradigma dell’approccio e del metodo ‘migliore in assoluto’ – the Best - per valutare qualsiasi oggetto di ricerca (Bezzi, 2001; Palumbo, 2001; Pawson, 2006). Altrettanto, ulteriore punto di avvio è la propensione a riflettere in termini di coerenza concettuale e operativa tra evaluando, contesto di implementazone – culturale, organizzativo, professionale – e disegno di valutazione, soprattutto nella primaria scelta dell’approccio o degli approcci di valutazione (Stame, 2001; Ciucci, 2008). La ricerca è, quindi, uno studio induttivo che parte dalla situazione particolare dei modelli di presa di decisioni famigliari per effettuare generalizzazioni e suggerire raccomandazioni (Scriven, 2004; 1997) sul tema della loro valutazione ed implementazione – anche di oggetti di valutazione simili -nonchè di fornire strumenti di ricerca utilizzabili anche in altri contesti – metavalutazione e sintesi degli approcci.

This study was done to determine whether the recently employed program of Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) is working in the San Bernardino County Department of Children Services (DCS) in the way it was intended to by reunifying children with their parents and reducing children's time in foster care.

The thesis considers economic models of family decision-making, and their application to intergenerational justice. The predictions of several previous "cooperative" models of family decision-making depend crucially on the outcome of failure of spouses to cooperate. The first part of the thesis develops a model which predicts behaviour of caring spouses who fail to cooperate. The model has three distinctive features. First, caring between spouses is modelled using sympathy preferences. Second, transfers between spouses are made in income. Third, the interdependence between family members is resolved in two ways; first, assuming that family members have Cournot-Nash conjectures, that is, they maximize their own well-being taking the other family member's behaviour as given and, second, assuming that family members have rational conjectures. The model predicts how the division of income between spouses influences the outcome of family decision-making. When each spouse has enough income to pay for his or her personal expenditures, expenditures are determined by the interaction of both spouses' preferences. When one spouse is poor enough that she receives an income transfer from the other spouse, expenditures reflect the preferences of the wealthier spouse. The second part of the thesis uses the model to analyze the tax treatment of the family. When spouses' incomes are comparatively equal, or when one spouse is dependent on the other, small government imposed transfers are irrelevant. However, if one spouse earns just enough to pay for her private consumption, income transfers between spouses have effects on social welfare. The final part of the thesis considers intergenerational altruism in the "original position" described in Rawls' Theory of Justice. Intergenerational altruism is crucial to Rawls' account of justice between generations. It is argued that, given the nature of the choice problem, and concern for descendants strong enough to generate positive bequests, Rawls' intuition that intergenerational altruism guarantees intergenerational justice is correct. However, if each child has two concerned parents, and the conditions for intergenerational justice to hold are satisfied, small redistributions of income are irrelevant. This result leads to a re-examination of the intergenerational justice conditions and the background institutions for distributive justice.

The basic problem of decision making is to choose the best alternative from a set of competing alternatives that are evaluated under conflicting criteria. In general, the process is to evaluate decision elements by quantifying the subjective judgments. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) provides us with a comprehensive framework for solving such problems. As pointed out by Saaty, AHP "enables us to cope with the intuitive, the rational, and the irrational, all at the same time, when we make multicriteria and multiactor decisions". Furthermore, in most organizations decisions are made collectively, regardless of whether the organization is public or private. It is sometimes difficult to achieve consensus among group members, or for all members of a group to meet. The purpose of this dissertation was two-fold: First, we developed a new aggregation method - Minimum Distance Method (MDM) - to support group decision process and to help the decision makers achieve consensus under the framework of AHP. Second, we evaluated the performance of aggregation methods by using accuracy and group disagreement criteria. The evaluations were performed through simulation and empirical tests. MDM • employs the general distance concept, which is very appealing to the compromise nature of a group decision making. • preserves all of the characteristics of the functional equations approach proposed by Aczel and Saaty. • is based on a goal programming model, which is easy to solve by using a commercial software such as LINDO. • provides the weighted membership capability for participants. • allows for sensitivity analysis to investigate the effect of importance levels of decision makers in the group. The conclusions include the following: • Simulation and empirical tests show that the two most important factors in the aggregation of pairwise comparison judgments are the probability distribution of error terms and the aggregation method. • Selection of the appropriate aggregation method can result in significant improvements in decision quality. • The MDM outperforms the other aggregation methods when the pairwise comparison judgments have large variances. • Some of the prioritization methods, such as EV[AA'], EV[A'A], arithmetic and geometric mean of EV[AA'] and EV[A'A], can be dropped from consideration due to their poor performance

The objective of this research is to establish consistency thresholds linked to alpha (α) levels for HDM’s (Hierarchical Decision Model) judgment quantification method. Measuring consistency in order to control it is a crucial and inseparable part of any AHP/HDM experiment. The researchers on the subject recommend establishing thresholds that are statistically based on hypothesis testing, and are linked to the number of decision variables and (α) level. Such thresholds provide the means with which to evaluate the soundness and validity of an AHP/HDM decision. The linkage of thresholds to (α) levels allows the decision makers to set an appropriate inconsistency tolerance compatible with the situation at hand. The measurements of judgments are unreliable in the absence of an inconsistency measure that includes acceptable limits. All of this is essential to the credibility of the entire decision making process and hence is extremely useful for practitioners and researchers alike. This research includes distribution fitting for the inconsistencies. It is a valuable and interesting part of the research results and adds usefulness, practicality and insight. The superb fits obtained give confidence that all the statistical inferences based on the fitted distributions accurately reflect the HDM’s inconsistency measure.

Thesis (M.S.)--Medical College of Ohio, 2005.
"In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nursing." Major advisor: Joanne Ehrmin. Includes abstract. Document formatted into pages: ii, 63 p. Title from title page of PDF document. Bibliography: pages 59-61.

The increasing complexity and high stakes of foreign policy decisions, especially of major powers such as the United States, have generated specialized studies of decision making. One approach, called "multiple advocacy," maps a strategy of role tasks and process norms to guide the decision-makers towards an optimal decision-making process. This process allows the President to make an informed policy choice as a result of having heard a variety of options debated freely and openly among his advisors in his presence. A crucial actor in this process is the National Security Advisor. As process manager or "custodian," he must ensure that the key provisions of the strategy are met while abstaining from personal involvement in the substance of policy advice and execution. This thesis examines the internal coherence and usefulness of the strategy. The first two years of the Carter administration provide a close approximation of the strategy. Four important policy issues during this period form the empirical basis of this test: the "Deep Cuts" proposals in SALT II, the war in the Horn of Africa, Sino-American Normalization, and the fall of the Shah of Iran. While the basic principles of the strategy are found useful and sound, several of its provisions are challenged. First, in spite of its claim, the strategy does not produce multiple options when the advisors have no wide divergence of opinion. Second, contrary to the strategy's prescriptions, the custodian can improve the process in such situations by joining the policy debate. Third, custodial engagement in activities such as diplomacy and public speaking need not be prohibited too strictly. Last, the demise of the strategy can be more narrowly defined as the result of custodial disregard for a free flow of information and open participation among the advisors. Though further studies are needed to widen the empirical base, several tentative suggestions are offered to improve the strategy. The president must insist on a reasonable range of opinions when appointing advisors. While the National Security Advisor may join the policy debate to widen the range of options, his policy advice should not become the rule. At all times the President must insist that all policy debates among his advisors be brought to his attention, and that all policy options receive a fair hearing.
Arts, Faculty of
Political Science, Department of
Graduate

Researchers have paid relatively little attention to the fact that most design activities are actually more like redesign. These activities are characterized by an attempt to leverage experience, knowledge, and the capital that a company has already invested into existing engineering systems. In this dissertation, it is proposed that an approach be developed to aid designers in making decisions in redesign problems when there exist systems to be leveraged and multiple new systems to be created. In addition, strategy is introduced to the problem through the consideration that new systems may not be offered all at once, as is often assumed in product family design research. In this dissertation, the aim of the designer is assumed to be a creation, through redesign, of a series of new systems with desirable and distinct performance levels. In addition, a plan is required to involve as little redesign effort throughout the life of the family of systems as possible The proposed approach is based upon the concepts of Constructal Theory and previous work to create methods for the design of mass customized families of products. The existing methods are abstracted and heavily modified through the infusion of the compromise Decision Support Problems at all stages of the decision-making process. In addition, two indices are developed to represent considerations unique to redesign as opposed to original design. These indices for redesign effort and commonality value are utilized in the overall objective formulation for the approach. Through a thorough validation process and a large number of redesign scenarios, it is shown that the overall approach proposed can lead the designer towards promising redesign plans involving leveraging of existing systems, but that the constructal-inspired approach in and of itself has certain limitations when applied to redesign.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Changes in the global salt market have presented Walvis Bay Salt Refiners with an opportunity to increase its current sales by approximately 40%. Following several pre-feasibility studies, the expansion project plan was created. The construction of new ponds, canals and sluices were to be performed by a subcontractor as selected through a tender process. The scope of the work comprised approximately 70% of the total project cost and it also represented the most critical part of the expansion project. Thomas Saaty’s Analytic Hierarchy Process, was used as a group decision support system for the selection of the most suitable subcontractor. The weighted average mean method was used to aggregate individual scores. A sensitivity analysis was performed following the final outcome to gain a deeper understanding of the problem, obtain a measure of margin between subcontractor scores and to check for the correctness of numbers.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Veranderinge in die wêreld soutmark het vir Walvis Bay Salt Refiners 'n geleentheid gebied om sy verkope met ʼn beraamde 40% te verhoog. Na verskeie voorondersoeke is 'n volledige projekplan opgestel. Die vervaardiging van damwalle, kanale en sluise sou deur 'n kontrakteur gedoen word wat deur ʼn tenderprosedure gekeur sou word. Die omvang van hierdie gedeelte van die uitbreidingsprojek verteenwoordig ongeveer 70% van die totale projekkostes en is terselfdelyk die mees sensitiewe gedeelte van die projek. Thomas Saaty se Analytic Hierarchy Process is gebruik as die groepbesluitnemingsondersteuningstelsel om die mees geskikte kontrakteur te kies. Die geweegde gemiddelde is gebruik om die individuele oordele saam te voeg. Sensitiwiteits analise is uitgevoer nadat die finale uitslag bepaal is om sodoende beter insig in die probleem te ontwikkel, om ʼn beter onderskeiding tussen die kontrakteur puntetellings te kry en om die juistheid van die syfers na te gaan.

The emotional aspect of caregiving is extremely complex and caregivers face tremendous emotional challenges as they react to the reality of their loved one's increasing disability. When it comes to making the placement decision, caregivers have frequently reached a burnout point in making decisions.

O objetivo deste estudo foi responder ao seguinte problema de pesquisa: o que faz os conselhos de empresas familiares serem efetivos em decisões estratégicas? Para tanto, foi adotada a abordagem configuracional, uma vez que existem múltiplas formas de se chegar à efetividade nas decisões estratégicas. Em termos conceituais, as decisões estratégicas foram consideradas efetivas quando alcançaram ou superaram os resultados previamente estabelecidos pelos tomadores de decisão. Em relação às empresas familiares, estas foram definidas a partir da riqueza sócioemocional (SEW) que consiste na importância atribuída pelos tomadores de decisão aos benefícios não econômicos gerados à família a partir da empresa. As dimensões da SEW combinadas com os papéis e processos psicossociais dos conselhos de administração geram diferentes configurações que levam à efetividade nas decisões estratégicas. Para demonstrar esse argumento, foram coletados dados de 59 empresas familiares no Brasil por meio de uma pesquisa do tipo survey. Os respondentes foram conselheiros que participaram de uma decisão estratégica nessas empresas. Os resultados mostram que existem múltiplas formas de se chegar à efetividade nas decisões estratégicas. Dentre os fatores preponderantes, o papel de controle e mediação são condições necessárias, assim como o uso de conhecimento e habilidade dos conselheiros e o conflito congnitivo. Também é possível identificar três diferentes perfis de empresa a partir da SEW. A primeira atribui pouca importância à continuidade da família no negócio em suas decisões; a segunda não atribui importância à proeminência familiar; e a terceira considera todos os atribuitos da SEW em suas decisões. Mesmo com pontos de referência diferentes, essas empresas conseguem ser efetivas em suas decisões estratégicas. Esta pesquisa tem implicações teóricas e práticas, especialmente, por reforçar a tese de que não existe uma única forma de se chegar a um resultado e que a efetividade dos conselhos de administração vai além do desepenho das funções de controle e serviço, estando ligada à capacidade de tomar decisões efetivas.
The objective of this study was to answer the following research question: What do make the board of directors of family firms be effective in strategic decisions? Therefore, the configurational approach was adopted, since there are multiple ways of achieving effectiveness in strategic decisions. Conceptually, strategic decisions were considered effective when reached or exceeded the results previously established by the decision makers. In relation to family firms, they were defined based on sociometional wealth (SEW), which consists of the importance attached by decision-makers to the non-economic benefits generated to the family from the company\'s operations. The dimensions of SEW combined with the roles and psychosocial processes of boards of directors generate different configurations that lead to effectiveness in strategic decisions. To demonstrate this, a survey with 59 family firms was carried out in Brazil. The respondents were board members who participated in a strategic decision-making in these firms. The results show that there are multiple ways to achieve effectiveness in strategic decisions. Among the core factors, the roles of control and mediation are necessary conditions, as well as the use of knowledge and skills and cognitive conflict. It is also possible to identify three different family business profiles from SEW. The first attaches little importance to family continuity in the business in their decisions, the second does not give importance to family prominence, and the third considers all SEW atributes in their decisions. Even with different reference points, these firms can be effective in their strategic decisions. This research has theoretical and practical implications, especially for reinforcing the argument that there is no single way to achieve a result, and the effectiveness of boards of directors goes beyond the control and service functions, being linked to the strategic decision effectiveness

The thesis examines impact of the institutional capital, which captures the ability to produce quality patents, on the number of applied patent applications after the adoption of new governmental system of research and development evaluation. For determination of the institutional capital I use similar approach as Turnovec (2005) in case of publications. The estimation of the institutional capital is based on the evaluation of patents received by publicly financed research institutions. The evaluation of patents is based on the analysis of patent family and patent citation data. The data are analyzed using methods of multi-criteria decision making. Further it is estimated that the institutional capital does not influence the number of applied patent applications.

This thesis explores the alternative dispute resolution method of family group decision making that is used in child welfare in Ontario. Using a qualitative case study, my research sought to answer the question: What are the experiences of caregivers who have participated in family group decision making in the District of Algoma? I examined the legislative framework, policy directive and guiding policies surrounding the use of FGDM in child welfare in the District of Algoma in rural Ontario. I also collected data through interviews with five participants and transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The themes that emerged relate to the process of FGDM empowering families, the outcomes for children, and the ability for families to implement and maintain long-term plans for children. These themes and sub themes are discussed along with the implications for policy and practice and directions for future research.

碩士
中國文化大學
觀光事業研究所
90
In tour marketing, family life cycle (FLC) and decision-making related issues has been tested empirically. Despite the importance of group package tour (GPT) in Asia and FLC in tour marketing, there is a lack of empirical support regarding FLC and deci-sion-making in GPT. The main purpose of this research was to examine the different FLC stages and decision-making in GPT. A total of 408 families were surveyed. The result showed that parents’ influence did not decline by the stage of the FLC and in the problem recognition and final deci-sion decision-making stages others’ influences were significant higher in the children absent FLC stages than in the children present FLC stages. Besides, the selection of GPT destination countries would also differ by the stage of the FLC. This study broad-ens the theoretical domains used in understanding travel decision-making and for prac-titioners these findings also provide useful marketing information for GPT marketing.

碩士
國立成功大學
工業與資訊管理學系
104
The 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic representation models are considered to be a decision approach intended to calculate and aggregate linguistic evaluations without the loss of information. In current research, all linguistic terms are represented by triangular fuzzy numbers. However, if experts choose linguistic terms with different degrees of uncertainty, the triangular fuzzy numbers are not enough to represent the internally subjective evaluations of experts. As a result, this thesis uses the intuitionistic triangular fuzzy numbers to represent the linguistic terms in the intuitionistic linguistic term set. The intuitionistic triangular fuzzy numbers are composed of membership function, non-membership function and hesitancy information, expanding the information the linguistic terms contain. In a decision-making problem with multiple experts, the use of one linguistic term set may cause problems for some experts. To address these problems, this thesis develops the intuitionistic 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic representation models for group decision-making problems. The aim of this thesis is to consider that experts have different levels of uncertainty related to choosing linguistic terms and to allow them to use intuitionistic linguistic term sets with different granularity. The models consist of the following four stages: (1) We allow experts to use different intuitionistic linguistic term sets (ILTS) to obtain the linguistic preference values for each pair of alternatives. All the linguistic preference values are transformed into a specific linguistic term set, called the intuitionistic basic linguistic term set (IBLTS). Each linguistic preference value is expressed by means of an intuitionistic fuzzy set on the IBLTS, . (2) We use an aggregation operator for combining the intuitionistic fuzzy sets on the IBLTS to obtain the collective preference values for each pair of alternatives. (3) In this phase, we transform the intuitionistic fuzzy sets on the IBLTS into linguistic 2-tuple linguistic values over the IBLTS, a numerical value in the IBLTS granularity interval. (4) To facilitate the rank process, this phase uses a choice function to obtain the best alternative. This thesis looks forward to the use of intuitionistic linguistic term sets to express experts’ uncertainty in choosing linguistic terms and to convey more information in the internally subjective evaluations of experts. An example is used to demonstrate each step of our proposal models. Subsequently, the influence of both different order in which expert opinions are aggregated and different degrees of uncertainty among experts on the ranking results is analyzed.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Alberta, 2009.
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Faculty of Nursing. Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on October 31, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

碩士
國立交通大學
交通運輸研究所
96
Although the study of family group decision making behavior has been ongoing for nearly forty years; however, the decision making courses are often ignored. Most of papers have been focusing on quantitatively how influential are the family members to the decision maker and analysis of attribute preferences which lead to insufficient amount of knowledge on the courses of decision. Hence, purpose of this paper is to discuss family group decision making behavior in house purchasing by using grounded theory, hopes to give a comprehensive framework to provide a solid background for potential follow up researches. In this paper, fourteen household owners were interviewed. With the various purchasing experiences, this research surveyed ninety-six open codes which were further categorized into six axial codes; finally a selecting code “decision courses” was established. With the selecting code, which linked and described the relationship between the axial codes, this paper evidently illustrated the model of family group decision making behavior.

Kevin L. Boettcher and Robert R. Tenney.
"October 1985." Caption title.
Bibliography: leaf [6].
Office of Naval Research grant ONR/N00014-77-C-0532 (NR 041-519) ONR/N00014-84-K-0519 (NR 649-003)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
The PeerSpirit Circle is a non-hierarchical, intentional, and relationship-centered practice of collaboration. There is a lack of scientific knowledge about the phenomenon of the PeerSpirit Circle in nursing or its potential impact on nursing practice, education, research, and the evolution of the profession and health care. The health care milieu is often entrenched in ways of being that do not support sustained change. For vitality to prosper and creativity to abound, paradigmatic shifts and new models of practice that emphasize collaboration are being called for. The purpose and aims of this phenomenological research study are to explore and give voice to the experiences of nurses who have participated in the PeerSpirit Circle model of practice with other nurses. The study includes interviews from five registered nurses from Canada and the United States conducted from 2009–2010 and interpreted from a Gadamerian philosophical hermeneutic perspective. The research findings reveal three themes: (1) experiencing the Circle container” where participants begin to understand the value of intentional preparation of the interpersonal space for safe human interaction and stronger collaboration—there are experiences of gathering, protecting, appreciating ritual, and sharing stories; (2) Experiencing space where protected space seems to be the essential element to inspire the presencing of participants with self and other, which in turn engenders genuine dialogue, a sense of sacred space, and freedom to be authentic; and (3) Experiencing our humanity, an unfolding theme, where participants experience reconnection with and understanding of their deeper humanity, stronger congruence with their core values, deeper experiences of caring and courage, personal and professional growth, and a profound appreciation for belonging to a lineage of nurses. The findings inspire a deeper understanding of barriers to congruence between values and action in nursing and nurses’ need to acknowledge, honor, support, and protect each other’s vulnerability. The implications for nursing practice, education, and research show that the PeerSpirit Circle model is a beneficial for use in all settings.

Au Canada, les enfants autochtones sont surreprésentés dans les services de protection de l’enfance ainsi que dans les différents types de placement. En ce sens, le but de ce projet était de mieux comprendre la pratique des intervenants oeuvrant en centre jeunesse relativement aux décisions de compromission, de retrait du milieu familial et de placement (interethnique ou culturellement jumelé) des jeunes Autochtones. Les objectifs spécifiques qui découlaient de cet objectif général étaient au nombre de trois : 1. explorer, à travers le point de vue des intervenants oeuvrant à l’étape de l’évaluation/orientation, le processus de prise de décision en ce qui a trait à la compromission, ou non, de la sécurité ou du développement des jeunes autochtones; 2. explorer, à travers le point de vue des intervenants oeuvrant à l’étape de l’évaluation/orientation et de l’application des mesures (prise en charge), le processus de prise de décision en lien au retrait des jeunes autochtones de leur milieu familial et à leur orientation vers un placement en ressource de type familial (RTF) interethnique ou culturellement jumelé; 3. comprendre quels sont les facteurs qui influencent la prise de décision des intervenants dans les différentes étapes du processus de signalement et de prise en charge par rapport au placement des jeunes autochtones. Pour mener à bien ce projet, l’étudiante-chercheure a réalisé une première vague de cueillette de données, soit sept groupes de discussion composés d’intervenantes oeuvrant au sein d’un centre jeunesse situé en zone périphérique des grands centres et desservant plusieurs communautés autochtones. Puis, à partir des éléments ayant émergé de ce matériau, a procédé à une seconde vague, composée cette fois de seize entretiens individuels menés également auprès d’intervenantes oeuvrant à ce même centre jeunesse. La méthodologie utilisée était la théorisation ancrée, ce qui est cohérent avec le cadre théorique (ou concepts sensibilisateurs) utilisé, qui réfère pour sa part à l’interactionnisme symbolique (Blumer, 1969) de même qu’à la pratique réflexive et la construction des savoirs (Schön, 1994; Racine, 1995). Les résultats obtenus de ces deux phases ont permis de faire ressortir que le processus des intervenantes en ce qui concerne les décisions de compromission, de retrait et de placement des jeunes autochtones est hautement subjectif, dynamique et systémique. Il réfère aux caractéristiques intrinsèques des intervenantes (le Soi et le Savoir), à travers lesquels elles portent en fait un regard sur une multitude de contraintes (l’Autre et le Résultat des processus antérieurs et à venir) et parmi lesquelles on note, entre autres, le contexte de vie particulier des communautés autochtones, les caractéristiques liées aux dossiers des jeunes, les partenaires légaux, etc. Aussi, au fil de leurs interactions avec les contextes, les choses et les différents « autruis » auprès desquels elles oeuvrent ou avec qui elles collaborent (interactionnisme symbolique), de même qu’au gré des savoirs construits (Schön, 1994; Racine, 1995) qu’elles développent à mesure qu’elles gagnent en expérience, les intervenantes en sont venues à développer une façon particulière de prendre leurs décisions, façon qui, en fait, découle de pratiques silencieuses qui, ultimement, leur permettent de maintenir un certain équilibre au sein d’un système de protection peu adapté à la clientèle autochtone. À cet égard, plusieurs recommandations ont été formulées, dont des recommandations pour les centres jeunesse, ceci dans le but de favoriser une pratique qui soit davantage adaptée aux jeunes Autochtones vivant des situations de compromission, de retrait et de placement ainsi qu’à leur famille.
In Canada, Aboriginal children are over-represented in child welfare services as well as in different types of substitute care. In this sense, the goal of this project was the better understand the practice of child protection services workers in relation to decisions of compromise, family withdrawal from the family and placement (inter-ethnic or culturally matched) of Aboriginal youth. The specific objectives which flowed from this general objective were three in number: 1. explore, through the point of view of stakeholders working at the assessment/orientation stage, the decision-making process with regard to the compromise, or not, of the security or development of Aboriginal youth; 2. explore, through the point of view of stakeholders working at the assessment/orientation stage and application of measures stage, the decision-making process related to the withdrawal of Aboriginal youth from their family and their orientation towards an inter-ethnic or culturally matched foster family; 3. understand what are the factors which influence the decision-making of the interveners in the different stages of the process of reporting and application of measures in relation to the placement of Aboriginal youth. To carry out this project, the student-researcher carried out a first wave of data collection (seven focus groups made up of woman workers working in a child protection services located on the outskirts of major centres and providing services to several Aboriginal communities). Then, based on the elements that emerged from this material, a second wave proceeded, this time made up of sixteen one-on-one interviews, also carried out with workers working at the same child protection service. The methodology used is grounded theory, which is consistent with the theoretical framework (or sensitizing concepts) used, which refers to symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969) as well as reflective practice and the construction of knowledge (Schön, 1994; Racine, 1995). The results obtained from these two phases have shown that the workers’ process has to the decisions concerning the situation of endangerment, withdrawal and placement of Aboriginal youth is highly subjective, dynamic and systemic. It refers to the intrinsic characteristics of the workers (the Self and Knowledge), through which they actually examine a multitude of constraints (the Other and the Result of past and future processes) and among which we note, among other things, the particular life context of Aboriginal communities, characteristics related to youth files, legal partners, etc. Also, throughout their interactions with contexts, things and different “others” with whom they work or with whom they collaborate (symbolic interactionism), as well as the knowledge they build (Schön, 1994; Racine, 1995) that they develop as they gain experience, they have come to develop a particular way of making their decisions, a way that, in fact, stems from silent practices that, ultimately, allow them to maintain a certain balance within a protection system that is unsuitable for Aboriginal clients. In this regard, a number of recommendations were made, including recommendations for youth centres, with a view to promoting a practice that is more adapted to Aboriginal youth in endangered situations, withdrawal and placement and to their families.