SCHOOLCOUNSEL LORSI PERCEPTIONS CONCERNING THE IMPAC'l' OF UNEXPEC'l'EDLONG-'l'ERMWIDESPREADUNEMPLOYMENT ON SENIOR HIG H SCHOOL S'l'UDEN'l'S INNEWFOUNDLAND FISHINGCOMMUNI'l'I ES
by
Gregory Reid
A thesis submittedto the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Education
Department of Education Memorial University of Newfoundland
tte.rcb 199 5
ABSTRACT
The purpos e of this explor a t ory re s ea r c h was to inve stigate the impact of unexpected wid espr ead local unemploymenton seniorhigh students incommu n i ti es with one ma i n industry-fishing, from theperspe ct i vesof the i rschool counsellors. The samplecon si stedof 19counsello r sfr omhigh schoolsalongthe eastcoa s t of Newfoun dla ndwhoserved in 119 communities having highnumbers offi s hery wo r ke r s who were une mp l o ye d due to theclo s ur e of theNo rthern Cod fisher y.
Based on a review of the literature conc erni ng the effects of une mpl oyment on children , an inst r ume nt was developed and sent to counsellors whomet thecr i t e r i a fo r the study. Through the us e of cl ose d- form (Likert sca le) and open-formit ems,counsellors were asked to as sesshow stu de nts were beingaffectedin five general areas:school behaviours , career aspirations,fa mi l yrel a t i o ns h i p s,financ ialre s ources , and mental and physicalhealth. Maleand female st ude nts were rated separatelyon the Likert scale items. In each sect i o n a first open-ended question asked if there were any other changes that had taken place not previo usl y addressed. second questioneukedcounsellorsto listprogramsthatmi g ht be imp lt'!mentt'!d in th ei r respective schoolsand communities that might address any student change.
Thetentop rankedindicators of perceived student change involved items that addressed stude ntsI future job expecta tions, requests for training information,valuingof
i i education, admission rates, visits to counsellor, all owa n c e money, and indications of stress and depression.
Each sectionwas also ranked in terms of the percentages of counsellorswhore po r t e d student changes on items. Macro analyses indicatedthat change s were r epcz-t.ed , frommos t to least,in the following areas: Career Aspirations;Mentaland PhysicalHealth; Financial Reso u r c e s: Family Relationships:
and School Behaviours . Some counsellorsreported changes in open-form responses inareas not identified in closed-from items. Certain recommendat ions for pr og ra ms to address changes ide n t i f i e d were also given-. T- t est s revealed relatively few perceived gender d! fferences. It is recommended that future research: he conducted and models developed to determine more pr(Jcisely the actualsituation in orderthat usefulprogr~TlI.slllaghtbeimp l e me nt e d in schools and communitnes a,Cfel::t;ed.
iii ACRNOWLEDGEHE NTS
Firstandforemost, I wish to thank Godforgi v ingmethe opportun i ty and ability to comp l e te th i s research. I also thank the followingpersons:
my wife,Mary, for her supp o r t and help in the edu cation process .
my parents, Roy and Margaret Re i d , for theirbe l ie f in
my eupe r-vLs oz,Or.Gary Jeffe r y , forhi s dedica t i o n tothe task.
othermemb ers ofmyresearchcommi t t e e - Dr. Leroy Klas and Dr.WilfredMa r t i n .
Mr.Gerry WhiteandDr.GeoffreySullcockfor their input.
thoseeducatorsinvolved in theevaluationof the instrument .
thesc hool boards, and especiallytheco uns ell o r s, who participated.
ce r t a i n friends and family me mbe r s who offered their support.
otherind iv i dua l s whowe re helpfU l in the re sea rch process.
iv L:IB'1' OF TABLES
1. Percentages of Adult workingAge Population In Receipt of NCARP
Benefitsin HighSchool Catchmen t Ar e a s . .41
2. CounsellorBackground Information. . . 46
3. Student/ School/ communityInformat i on 49
4. Sect ionA: Perceived Change s in
School Behaviours . . . • . . . 51
5. SectionB: PerceivedChanges in
CareerAspirations . . . ••• • . . •. . .54
6. sect ionc: PerceivedCh an g e s in
Family Relationships . •• • . •. . . .56
7. section0:PerceivedChange in
Fina ncialResources . . . •. . .58
8. section E: PerceivedChanges in
Mental and physica l Health • • . • • • . • • . • . 60
9. Major Closed-Form Ind i c ato r sof StudentCha ng e • • • • • • • •
10. MeanAggregateScoresper Section
64
65
'r1\BLE OF CONTENTS
Abstra ct . . . . AcknoWle dgeme nts List of Tables .
I: INTRODOC'rION • • • • • • Purpo s e of the Study • . sig n if ica nceand Ration al e Resea rc hQuest io ns . Defini tionof Terms Limitat i o ns . . . .
I II LITERATURE REVIEW Sc h oolBehaviou rs Car e e r Aspirat ions Family Relatio n ships
....
Financia l Resources MentalandPhysica l He a l t h Ge nd e r Difference s Summary • .lIXI HE'I'HODOLOGY . Target Gr o up • The Instrument
Hi tv
11
13 13 17 20 2J 25 27 2'
31 31
"
Part 1 of theQu e stionnaire • • • A. Requeste d Inf orma tion On Your
Backgrou nd
vi 33
33 B. student/ Schooll Co mmunity
In fonnati o n.
Par t 2 ofthe Questionnaire closed -Form Questions . Open -Fo rmQuest io ns. • Selectio nof Couns ell orsand Communi ti es
Moratorium Bound a ri e s • . • . • EthicsReview • . . . • . .
J4 J4 35 J7 38 38 38 Sc ho ol Board s andCounse llo rs • 39
Perce nt a ge sofUnem ploy e d FisheryWorker sFrom
Sch o ol Catchmen t Areas 40
Ana ly ses • • 42
Part 1 42
Par t 2 42
Closed- FormQuestions. 42
Open-Fo rmQues t io ns. . 43
IV: PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS • • • • • 44 Part 1: Backgroundand Communi ty Information 44
Sec t i on A: Requeste d Information On Your
Background • • • • 45
Sec t ion B: Stud e nt/ School/ Commun i ty
Info rma tion . • . 48
vii Part 2: Perceived Chang es InSt ud e nt s . 50 Cl o s e d- Fo rmQuest ionnaireCompone nt SO Section A:Sc hoolBehav i ours. 50 sectionB: Career Aspirat i on s 53 Secti onC: Fa mil yRelati on sh ips 55 Sec tio n 0: Financi alRe s ources . 57 SectionE: Ment al andPhys ica l Health 59 Se ct i o n F: Gender Differences . . . . 62 Majo r Ind i catorsofSt uden t Change Fro m
Closed-Fo rmQue st i o nnai re Resul t s . 63 Ma cro Ana lys i s Overview of Closed-Form
Questi onn a ire aeeuace . 64 Ope n-Form Quest ion na i r e Component 66 Open -Fo rm Question1• •. . 66
A.SchoolBe hav iours . 66
B.CareerAspi r ations. 67 C.Fa mily Relat i o nships 69 D. Fi na nc i al Resou rces. 70 E.Mentaland phys ica l Heal th. 71
F. GenderDifferences. 71
Open -FormQu estion 2 . . . 72
A. Schoo l Be havi ours. 72
B. Career Asp i rat i ons 72 C.Family Re lationships. 73 D.Financi al Reso urce s. . 74 E.Menta l andPhysi c al Health. 74
vii i DISCUSSION,CONC LUSI ONSANDRECOMMENDAT IONS 75
Career Aspirations. . . 75
Mental andPhysical Health. 78
Financ ialResources 82
Family Relationships B3
seneca Be ha v i ours 85
Conclusion. . . 90
Recommendations 92
REFERENCES • •• • • • • • • • • • • AP PE NDI X
A. Fisheriessta tisticalAreas B. Th e Ins t r ume nt • . . •. C. CounsellorConsentFo rm D. LetterTo Counsellors . E. Let terToSupe r i nt e nde nts F. Open-FormResponseThemes
96
10 8 10.
116 117 119 120
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
Level sofunempl oymen t havebee non the increasefor the past sever a l ye a rs in Canada. SInce the late 19 8 0 5, the unempl oyme nt ra t e has generally conti nue d to vaci l lateabove the10 \ mark. The rateha sbeenmuchhigh e r , thou gh , in parts of the country , specifically inthe pr o v i nc e of Ne wf o undl and and Labrador. The imposit i on of the morator i um on the Northern Cod fish e r y in this prov ince has resulted in unemployment level s of unprecedented mag nitude , eve n for a province Whic h has be en associate d with high rates of unemployment.
studies suggestthatsi nce the mid19605therehasbe en an alleged declineingr o un d f ish stocks,attributed ma inl yto ove r fi s hi nq ,of which the No rthern Cod hasbeentra d it i onal l y byfarthemost important (S i nclai r , 19 8 8 ,cashi n ,1993). By the early19905,the stock along theprovince1seas t coast had reachedune qu a ll e d andalarminglylow le velswherebythetotal catch had shrunken from 400,000 pounds in 1988 to 100,000 pounds in 1992 (Cashin, 1993, p , 20 ) . As a res ult, fisherpersons and plantworkers inma ny partsofthe prov ince beganto experienceever increasing difficulty inobt a i n ing the minilllal number at' insurable weeks needed in order to qualify for unemploymQnt insuranc e benef its . Such benefits have provideda signiticantportion at the annual inc omeof many fishery workers for severaldecades ). Ye t, despite the foreshadowingof tougher economic times,mostoutportfami! ies
chose to remain in the irhome communi ties.
Inresponse to a believedcrisisin the fishery, during the springof199 2, an 'arm ada ' of fisherpersonssailed from St.John'sharbour in auni t e d offshore prot estagainst what they believed to be one of the main causes of th e stock depletion- fore i gnove rf is h ing. The sit ua tion had worsened to the point that the Depa r tmen t of Fisheries and Oceans info rme d the pub I Lc that an announcemen t woul d be made to addressthe fishery situation onJuly J. The shock did not appear to be softened, howe v e r , when, at the Radisson Pl a za Hotel inSt.John's,federal "Fisher ies"minister John Crosbie madethe unthi nkableand unforewar nedannou ncementthatthere was to begin immediately a mora to ri umon the Northern Cod fishery in selected areasalongtheeastcoa s t ofNe wf ound land andth esoutheast coast of Labrador. Almost immediatelythe initial impactwas evident. Fishermen....ho hadbe e n awai ting the announcement, andWho, with the res t of the publi c,....ere de ni e d admittancetothe announcementchamber, attempted to confront the minister, some to the point of thr e a t e ni ng violenceandeve nvanda lizing the premises (Furlong , J.and Rogers , D., 1994) . One majorcance rnthateme rg e d immediate ly centeredaroundwha t the futu rewould hol d , both for fishery workers , as "'ell as for Newfo u ndlande r s and Labradorians in gene ra l .
The imposition of the codmorato ri umis an examp leof whatsomemight callan economic disaster. This even t has
directly impacted on the livesof tens ofthousandsof fishery workers in the prov ince. Initial ly the mor atorium was announced fora dur a t i o n ofapprox i matelytwo years,but sinc e that time grou ndfish bioma ss studies have indicated that stocks would not be ready for har ve st by the orig inally proposed re-startup dateof March 1, 1994 ("Mo refish less politi c s," 1993,Ju ly 3). In add i t i on, on September 1, 1993 , a moratori umwas placed onother areas, withthere s u l t th a t the inshore cod fisherywa s totally shut down ("Deathknell so und s , " 1993, Sept e mber1).
In response to this cr is is, the Canadian government implementeda financial pac ka g e forse ve r a l categor iesof cod fisheryworkers designatedas fisherpersons, plant workers, andtrre wl ermen, Thoughit appearedtha t theimmed i a t e basic financial needs of most fishery wo r kers had been met, there was al so uncerta inty in the minds of many ("survey finds workerspowerless,"1994 ).
It is a fact tha t , in contrast tothe often permanent la yoff s seen in other ind u s t rie s, those employed in the Northern Cod fishery, for the most part, were subject to seasonal layoffs , subsi d izedby unemployment benefits during the off-season. It is alsotr ue thatthe Newfoundlandfishery has exper reneeddownfalls over the ye a rs. What make s the
; Financia l aid was first introduced as the Nort her n Cod Adjustme n t and Re c o ve r y Program (NCARP) in July, 199 2, and was changed,withsome slight modificationstoThe Atlantic Groundfis h St ra tegy (TAGS) inApril, 1994.
pres entsit uati o n differe nt is tha t there isno definitepoint in ti me cit e d bygovernment whe n the r e will be are openingof the groundfishery. Furthermor e, there is much unc ertainty concerni ng th e future ofthoseaffe cte d bythe 1Il0r at or i\Ull.
More rece ntgove r nment proposals ha dsugge s t e dthatmorato rium unemploym e nt bene titscou l d be di s con t i nu e d an d be repl a c e d by afixed income pa ckage ....hichco uldamou nt tosignifica ntly lower inco me lev els forfisherpe rs on s and plan t workersthan those or i gina llypz-cvLde d on the 'Pa c kage '. These events , along with the resultant re a djustments tha t fisherfolkhave ha dto make intheir li v e s, ar ecausefo r co ncernfor tho s e directlyaff e c t ed as well as for thepeo pl e of the pr ovi n c e asa ....hol e.
Purpose of the stu4y
Muchofthe media atten t ion andre s e arch conce rningthe shut-down of thefishe ryha sfocu s ed onthe adul t population.
Obv io usly , a change or uphe a va l intheli f e stylesof adults ha s direc t re percus si ons on theirchildren. Of parti cul ar interest tothi s ....r1te r ....as theimpact that thiswides pre a d une mp loymentmayhavebe enha v ing onthesc hool-a ge popUlation of th e pro vince of Newf o und land and Labrado r. Mo r e speci fic a lly, thepu rposeof th is rese archwa s toexplore the effects of wide s p read unemploymen t on seni or high students from communi tieswi thone maj o r ind ustry. This was done by loo king at high scho o l counsellors' perspe ctiv e s concerning
if, and to what degree, the recent upheaval in the Newfoundlandfishery has been affecting senior high school st udents. specifically the studylooked at possible changes in st udents · (a) school behavio urs1 (b) career aspirations:
(c) family relationships: (d) financialresources; (e ) menta l andphysical he a l t h. It alsosought to discover if there were perceived gender differences in any of these areas.
Furthe rmo r e, (g) suggestionsweresought regar ding programs whichmigh t be developed. to addressidentified changes.
Cueto the unique sit uatio nandthe shortage of related information on the experiences of students in general, and especia lly on senior high age stUdents, this study was explora tory. Counsellors ' views were sought throughthe use of a quest ionnaire dee Lqried by the author. Respondents serving school catchment areas (see definition, p, 11.) associat e d with moderate to hi gh proportions of persons involved in the cod fishery wereasked fo r their opinions co nc e rning any changes in studentsthat have occurredsince theimpositionof the moratorium. This E;tudy,then, focused on school counsellors 'perceptionsconcerningthe effectsof unex pected long-term , widespread, local unemp loyme nt , on hi gh sc h oo l student sfrom fishingcommunitiesalong the eastcoast of Ne wf ou nd l a nd.
significance lind Rationale
The li t era ture sugg e sts that the expe ri e nce of une mploymentis met wit ha wide ran ge of responses , many of whic hnegatively impa ct up on the re sp e ct i ve indi v idu a l s and groups involved (KOma r ovskyandCollege, 1971, Margol i s and Farran , 198 4, Whyte , 1992 ). Fromthe sta nd po i nts of cod fishery wor ke rs , thereappea rs to be muchat stake . Though unemployment rate s have been high for the pas t severa l decades , fo r the Urst ti me inthe hi s t ory of Newfoundlandand Labrador , fishe r pe r s o ns were notpe rmit t e d topros e c ute the centuries-oldprimar y indu s try.
Currently , mos t research on the effectsof unemployme nt has focused 0.' the experiences of adu l t s. Madge (1983) comme nte dtha t,
The r eis littledefinit i ve eviden c e onth eeff e cts of unemploymentonch i ld r e n. The fe wst u d i esthat have lookedat outcomes foryoung sters are mo stly cr o s s sectional and without ade qua t e control or comparison gr oups. (p.:311)
FaganandLitt l e (19 8 4)als o sugge stedthat tlalthoughmuc hha s been written on une mp l oyment,it ha s tended to focus eithe r on the [unemployed] individual or ata mac r o- econo mi c lev e l within our society" (p, 61). Even as late as 1989, Mc Loyd stated: "While research on the ef f e cts of une mpl oy me nt on adultshas grown in the last decade, we kno wless abo ut how changing economic trendsaf f e ct thede v e l o pment of childre n
and adolescents" (p. 300).
since the late 1980s agrowi ngbody of re s e arch has begun to focus attention on the impac t of unemplo yment on non- adults . There isst i ll muchthat isno t known,howe ve r ,about the impact of unemploymentonadolescents,esp eciallyon those of senior highsc hool age wh oare ma k ingthetrans it ion fr o m secondary school to post-secondary educa t ion, theworkplace , or even unempl oyment . Litt le is known abo u t the eff ect s of unemployment on students fr o m area s as s oc ia ted with a singl e principal type of employment . vi rtua l l y nothing is known about the eff e c t s of emplo yment loss on you ng pe ople from fishing and relatedind us t ries.
Fur the r research on theeffects of unemploy me nt on late adolescents is needed in order to cont r i but e to limited educational knowl e dge on the SUbj e c t. Incr e a s ed knowledge is necessary in or de r to address the needs of young pe op l e involved, especially as it pertains to the educ a ti onal context. An understandingof the impactofmass unemployment on school children 1s needed if edu cators are to meet the needs ofst udents.
The investigation of the effects of unempl oyment on adolescentsinth e province of Newfoundlandis bothti me l y and necessary. At theti me of th i s research, one and one half schoolyearshad passed sinc ethe impositi onof the mo r ato ri um on the Northern Codfishery. There had been little research conducted concerninghow the mo r a t o riu m on the NorthernCod
fishe r y ha s impactedthe lives of thoseaffected(King, 1993 ; Cana d ian Menta l Health As s oc i a t i on, 1994). The implicatio ns may be far - reachingand are worthy of immediateresearch.
It is also impo r t ant to study thisphenomenonbecauseof itsmag ni tude. Gover nmentsour ceshave identifieda totalof 27 , 0 00 workers direc t ly af f e cted by the east coast mora tori um(Departmen t of Fisheriesand Oceans, 19 9 3 ) . Mass unemp loyment has affected thousands of families, and indi rec tly , the society as a who le. In this province, tradi t i o na l lifestyles may be foreveral tered. A dramatic change in lifestyle for, in some cases, virtually whole communi t iesofper s ons,mayhave significan tcul tura l, eccdo- economi c al and ed uca tio nal consequences on high school stude nts inthe present andfuture.
This stUdy inves tigated the impact of widespread unemp loyment on young pe opl e fromfishing communit i es in ge nera l, not so lely tho s e from families where one or both pare nts hadbeen laid off because of the moratorium. In a st udyofthe effectsof plantclosings on young people in a predomi nantly mini ng community, Pautle r and Lewko (1987) rationali zed thatexposu re to re lati'Jely high une mployment sh ou l d be defi ne d on a "ma cro teveav. Rather than sp ec ifica l lyfoc us ingon the child re nof the unemployed,they includedintheir researchyounq peop le fro m fami l ieswhowere eitherdirectlyofind i rectly expo s ed to unempl oyme nt. They sug gested that "by vi r tue of living in the communi ty . all
sUbjects we r e exposedto ane g a t i ve economic Clima te th at may alsohaveaf fectedthem" (p. 24).
Research Questions
1. What cha ngesin senior hi g h studentsare pe rceived by counsellors in each of the major ar ea s: (a ) schoo l beh aviour s ; (b) career aspirations; (c) fa milyre l a t i on ships; (d) financialresou rces; (e) mental and physical health?
2. Wh a t do couns e llo r s perceive to be the major ind icato rs concer ning th e effects of widespread une mpl oyment result i ng fromthe cod moratoriumon senior hi gh st udents?
3. Arethere gende rdifferencesreportedinany of the items or are a s underinv e st i g a tion ?
4. What types of re a li sti c progra mscan be deve loped toadd ressany id e nt if i e dcha ng e s ?
Definition of Terms
Nort hern CodMora t orium - this even t, imposed by the Canadian federa l go ve rnme nt in Ju ly, 199 2 , man d a ted a cessat ion of all commerc ia l insho re fishing of th e most impo r t a nt groundf ish stock along the east coast of the
10 provi nceof NewfoundlandandLabrador. Subsequent to this, and not pert i ne nt to the presen t research, ot hermoratoria were fu rther extendedto southernand western porti onsof the New fo u nd l a nd coast in1993.
Wid e s pr e a d Un employmen t - operationallydefined as an unemployme nt rate equal to or exceeding 20% of the ~ wo r ki n gagepopulation(popUlation betweenages 20 and 65) who exper ienced unempl oyme nt as a re sult of the Northe r n Cod mo rato rium. The s e fisher y wor kers included all inshore flsherp e r s on s, fish p l an t workers, and trawlermen who were re c eiv ing NCARPbene fi ts inDece mber of 1992, as ou tlinedby the Depa r tme n t of Fisheriesand Oceans (199 3 ). In fishing communit ies the ac tual rate of unemployment was oftenmuch highe r tha n 20% due to unemployment in various other emp loyment sectors (Le., logging).
High School Catchment Area . - comprised of all communi tiesserved bytheres pect i ve high sc hool.
~- Fo r the purpose of this studythe effects of une mployme ntwi ll include certa i nschool be ha viour s , career aspi r a t ions , family (and socia l) relatio nshi ps, financial re s ou r c e s , and mental and physical he a lth indicators, as categorizedinSUbsequent se c t i o n s of this thesis.
Sen i o rHighStude nts - secon daryschoo lst ud en tsenraled in coursesat level ( s) I, 2, or 3 (approximatelyequiva lent to grad e s ao , 11, and 12 , re s pe ct i ve l y), as outl i nedin the Program of Studies (19 92) forsenio rHi ghstudentspublishe d
11 by theDepartmen tof Education, Government of Newfound landand Labrador.
School Counsellors - educators wi t htraining as school counsel lors who have been assigned the title of school counsel lorby the ir re spe c t i ve school boards.
Perceptions - the pers p e c t i v e s un derconsiderationare those ofthehi g h scho o l counsel lors the ms e l v e s .
QDe MainIndu s t rv Communi tie s -most ofthe communities under inv e sti g a tio ns weresettledbecauseof the cod fishery, andtho ug h there may be other industries in some of these communities, fishing has been historically the one of predomi na nce.
Lim.itat ions
1. Th isstU d y was carried out during a distinct period of time, aboutone and oneha lf yea rsafter the beginni ngof the cod mo ratorium, and may not reflect the participa nts ' predicament atanotherpoint in time.
2. Cou ns e l lors ' perce ptions ma y not ac c ur a t e l y reflect the tru e ex pe r ienc eof those students involved.
3. This stud y foc us e s on senior hi g h school students and canno t be gen e ra li z e d to other age grou ps or other communit ies.
4. Due to the unique situationof the rural Newfoun d lan d economy the re su lts may not be generalized to othe r populationsoutside thepr ovi nc e.
12 5. The actual reported effects were seen to vary between re s pect i v e counsellors,theirstudents, and from community to communi ty.
6. This study did not fully address differences in students fr om fishing fa mi lie s as compared to those whose parent(s) were not affiliated with the Northern Cod fishery.
CRAP1'IlR 11: LI'1'BRA1'URZ REVIEW
This literaturereview will asses sresearchfind i ngs that soug ht to identify various effects of unemployment on high school students. This reviewfinds suchre s ea r ch tobescant y and inconclusive since most studies has been co nd uc t e d on younger children. Due to the limited research conductedwith high school age young people, this review will provide an overview of l iterature which addresses the effects of unemployment on younger children as well. Findings concerning the impact of unemployment on younger children he l p ide nt i f y possible effects on their older counterparts. Ind i c a t or s from these findings were combined with the limited indicators identified from research on senior high aged students in the formulation of the research questionnaire. Based on the review, the following general areas were identified: (a) sc hool behevfcurst (b) ca r e e r aspirations: (c) family relationships: (d) financial resources: (el mental and physical health: and efl gender differences.
School Behaviour.
Works donein the early 1930s by Busemann and others(a s cited in Madge, 1983) atldressed the high rates of unemployment during the Great Depression. These showed that children's performance at school dropped off considerably when their fathers became unemployed, and that this tendency was most striking for girls, and for pupils whose perfonance was
14 initiallyeecve average.
Madge, Berry. and Chiapell i (l9 85 ) re ported that the achievement levelsof childrenwh osepa rents los e their jo bs tIIaydeterior ate.asindic at ed byan incr ease1nthe number of poo r and faili ng qrlldes , aswel l as du e to anincrease in absent e e ism. Th ey als o sug g e s t ed that ch il d r e n froll unempl oyed fami lies brough t wit h the m to the clas s r oom a variety of pr o b lems. For exa mple,boys and gi rlsexh i bited increased daydreaming', psychol og i c al un rest , asocia l behaviour, and academic loss. The aut h o rs state that children 's
anxiety produces an increase in (a l act ing out behaviour towardteachers , staff. and peers; (b) volun t arywithdnwa l and iso lation frompeers;and (e) probl ells in clas sroo m attentio n and day dr e aming . (p. 304)
Dub ois, FeIne r , Brand , Ada n, andEvans (1992) looked at theimp a c t of 1ife stress and soc ia l su pportonadaptati on in jun ior and senio r hi gll school stude n ts. They found that st r ess e s, suc h asparental unemp loymen t , made1Iosi g nifi ca nt cOnt ri hu t i on to the prediction of sub seque n t sc h oo l performanceandthatstress in stude ntswa srelatednegatively to students' gradepoint averages.
In a review of the impact of paternal jo b and income 10s5 on the child, McLo yd (1 989 ) also st a ted that the child's academi c per f o rma nc e eaysuffer. Thiscoinc ide s wi th ast udy
15 byVanHook (1990) whe refin ancialha rds hipwasas s ociated with lower aca de mic performanc e for junior hi gh stu d ent s, especiallybo yswh oexpe rienc e d red uc edemotionalsupport from their fallil ies. Incont ra st , research doneby Cla rk e-Lempers, Lemp e rs, and lle t u s i l (1990), fcuni tha t st u d e nt s' grade swere not signif i cantly impa ctedby fa a ilyunellpl o Ylllent.
Flana gan and Eccl es (1993). ina two year longitud i nal study,examined the etfee tsof cha ngeinparental wor k status onearlyadoles cents ' sc hool adjustm ent be t ere and afterthe transitionto junior high schoo L Based on patternsofchange or stability in pare ntal wor k status duringthe two year s of the study, fourgr o ups werecompared (ec on o micallydeprived , decli n i ng, re c ov ery , and stable famil ies). wi t hpare nt s' edu c a t i oncon tro l l ed , tea chers re ported that ado l escents in dep rive d and decliningfamilies wereless compet e n ttha n the ir pee rs in sta ble or rec overy families. In addition, adol escentswhose parents expe rienceda de c l i ne inworkstatus we r e the1I0 s t disruptivein ju n i orhigh schoo l . Whilemo st stud ent s haddifficultyadjus t i ngto juniorhi g hsch o o l,the transitionwaspa r t i CUl a r ly difficultfor tho sestudents whos e parents we r e simUl ta n e ously dealing wi th cha n ge3 in work status.
Whytets (19 9 2 ) longitudinalstud yco mpa r e d 16 year old Bel fas tmale swhose parents ha dbot h beenemployed whenthey wer e age11 and ag e 16 wit hboyswhose parents hadboth be en unemployed wnen th e y wereat thesame age s. At both age s,
"
thosewi t hemployed parents, accordingto T-Testscores,were significantly more positiveintheir attitudestowards school and significantlybetterschool attenders.
Fla n a gan and Eccles (1993 ) operationally defined the constr uct of social competence based on the adolescents ' concept of social tasks. Competence was described inte rm s of youngpe op l e s ' participation in relevant social ta sks in a particulardevelopmentalsetting, in thisca s e , the school.
Ad ol e s c en tsin economically declin ingfamilies werere po rte dl y viewedas being signifi cantly mo r e disruptiveinthe seventh grade compared to peers in economically stable home environments.
Accordingto teachers,adolescentsin deprived and es p e ci a lly in declining families exhibited significantly lo we r social competence tha n their peers in stableor recoveryfamilies. Moreover, a decline in parental work status tha t occurred duringthesame periodthat theadolescentmade the transition to jun i o r hi q h school was associated with an increase in school adjustm ent pr ob l e ms betweenthesixt hand seventhgr ade s. (p. 253) Ina ebudy conductedin NeWfoundland,King(19 93 ) looked at the effects of parental unemployment resul ting from th e Nort he r n Cod moratorium, as it related to demands placed on guidance counsellors of Levels 1and 2 high school students from fishi ngfamil ies. Threegeneralareas wereinvestiqated
17 - social relationships , famil y relationships and academic performance. Inad d i t i o n, changesin typesof studen t vis its to the offi c e of th e counse l l orwerestudied. Of the thre e general areas, King rep ort ed that "the prob l em area of greatest increasewas academic (12S .005 )" (p. 46). It was also found that there was a si g nif i c a nt (Po<.00 1 )inc r ease in the numbers of occasional vis i t s to thecounse l lor aswe ll as in visits by st u de n ts withbothparentshav ingexper-Ien ced recent unemploymentcomparedto thosewithonl yone unemployed parent (2 <.00 1).
Ca r e e r Aspirations
Whyte's(1992) researchinvestigateddifferencesbetween 16 year oldboys withboth parents employe d as compa r ed wi th those wit h both parents unempl oye d. More of those wi th employed parents were "li kely tothink of emplo yment asan outcome of school thanofthose wi t h une mployedparents" (p.
200 )•
Flanagan (1990) compared the aspirations of early adolescents whose parents were. ei the r, promoted , demo ted, temporarilylaid-off, permanentlylaid-off, orstabl e in the work place. She found that adolescent s in"tempo rar ilylaid- off" families experienced afo r e c los u r e ofide nt i t y and amo r e limited view of futureoptions . Their parentswere found to be the lowe s t on encouraging co ll eg e and confidence in preparing for the future. Adolescentsfrompermanently La l d-
18 off families maintained high fu t u r e aspirations but low achievementbehaviour. to the extentthat they did not int e nd to take coursesin schoo l that would preparethem for col lege, such as mathematics . According to in f o rma t i on from their teachers, this group was also the most poo r l y adjusted socially.
Paut le r and Lewko (1987) investigated the effects of unempl oymen t on chi ldren 'sand adolescents' viewsof the work world in northeastern ontarioduring the height of the 1983 nationwiderecession . The researchers reported thatnegative economic co n d i ti o n s had a pervasive"effect on attitude s towa r d s the world of work and that SUbjectshad a "relatively jaundicedview of the work world" (p.28). Young peoplewere teste d using the "At t i t ud e s Towards theWorldof Workrncex .«
Low sc o reswere found onsubscales, termed "worket h ic", whi ch rneasured la z ine s s, diligence, and attitudes toward unemployment. Adol escentswere also found to have little confidence in their abil i tyto get a job in the futureand to be successful . Most of them plannedto le ave the community to look forwork.
InBerryandChiapelli's(1985) s'tiudy,childrenappeared to experience increases in feel ings of hopelessness and con fus ionconcer ningfutu recareer goals . Th iswas attributed to inc reasesinlo w self-esteemand se lf -conceptsbroughton byune mpl oyment.
Themaj oritl' of ado lescents in VanHook's (1990) study
These included the 19 of the Iowa farm crisis "thought that education was a ticket to se c ur i t y " (p. 81). Very low school dropout rates were found inth e communities involved . She foundthat the crisis had accelerated the redirection of career goals away from agricUlture and increased the value attributed to education.
Females,in particular,endeavoured to shield themselvesfrom the economic uncertainty experienced by their mothers by getting a post-secondary education as well as vocational experience in areas other than farming. This contrasts with the work of McLoyd (1989 )which suggested that "If children's work aspirations diminish, education may come to be seen as irrelevant to the future •. . " (p.29 9 }.
From his research on young people from the Great Depression Elder(198 4) reported that in terms of academic and career eent eveaene, teenagers from economically deprived famil ies tended to perform better than their non-deprived peers.
In a needs assessment carried out in two different fishing communities in Newfoundland shortly after the implementation of the cod moratorium, the Canadian Mental Health Association (1994) reported that youth were experiencing notable changes in the areas of career, educational, and job aspirations.
following:
- Loss of part-time seasonal work opportunities.
- Limited spaces in post-secondary schools and
20 universities.
- More value placed on gettingan education.
- Concerns over the availability of work after completion of a post-secondaryprogram.
- Worries over if there is a future in their home to wns (p. 153).
ramily Relationships
Elder and Caspi (1988) investigated the influence of macroeconomic change on fifth-grade ch ildre n and th e i r families during the Great Depression. Interactional models wered6velopedto assess the process by which familiesad a p t to stressful ti mes. They fou nd that interfamil i al st r ess inevitably occurs in response to economic stress. The se changes,they argue, "t a ke place in a reciproca l socia l sy stem that inv olv e s mutual accommodation and adjustment between fa mil y membecs v (p. 42). Based on changesfo u nd in the ....ork father'sstability , the qualit y and nature of th e mo t h e r 's intra familial inte raction, and the behaviour of the child, they concluded that changes in any relationship or in one family member's behaviour inevitably influence other rela t i o ns hip s and other familymembers.
Jones (199 1) purpo r tedthatadolescents ar e predisposed by developmental factorsto be more criticalofth e i r parents , and that theirallegedtendency to struggle....ith identity and separa tion issues is exacerbated by parental job loss. In
21 their re s e a rch,they assert th atad o l e sce nts mayha v ereacte d negativelyagainst the fa t he r fo r job los s Whic h, in turn, createdconflictswith the parents.
Van Hook (1 99 0 ) studied changes in family work responsibili ties and relationships in re spons e to the agriculturalcris is in the st a te of Iowa . The majorityof adolescents in the stUdy indicatedthat their responsi bilitie s had increased since the economic cris i s due tochanges in parental work pat t e r ns. Females were signi f ica ntly more l ike lyto experie ncethis increase than were males. Family tensions were also reportedto ha ve inc r ea sed Inrespo ns e to the economic uncertainties and cha nge s in family rol e s. Females were reportedasmore likely to re po r t anincr e a s e in family conflictthan were males.
Skinner, Eld e r, and Conger (1992) linked economic hardship to the aggressive behav iour of early adolescents to wa r d parents. Data was collectedusing the adole scent's self-repo rt and the mother's and fa t her's repo rt on the child 'sbehaviour sinceth e onsetat:parental unemploy ment.
Low income,financialloss and unstableworkcreated perceived economic pressures which adversely affected the marital re l a t i o nsh i p through the fa ther's negativity. These inte r a c t i o ns increasedthe likelihood oiir ri tc. ble parenting, Wh i ch, in turn , ma de adolescentagg res s i o n towards parents morelikely .
Komarovs ky's(1940) study on the effects ofunemployment
on families suggested that ec onomic adve r s ity seemed to re inforc ethe relationshipsthat already existed. Families that got on well before the Depress ionbecame even closer.
Conv erse ly, thos e with earlier difficulties became more dista nt .
Conger, Co nge r, Elder, Lorenz,Simons, &Whitbeck (1992; 1993 ) linke dfamily economicst resswithadjustmentin early ad ole s c en t s. Theyrep orte dtha t ec onomi c conditions,such as per capitaInconc andunstablework,were rela ted to parentsI emotiona l status and be ha vi our s thro ugh perceptions of inc r e a s ed eco nom.l.c pr e s sur e s . Thesepressu r e s were associated
\,lith depressionaud demoralizat ionfor both parents, which we re linked to mar i tal conflict and disruptions in skilful pa r e nti ng. Disruptedparentingmediated the ceree.tcnsbetween the form e r steps inthe process and adolescent adjustment.
This line of re asnn i ng follows from Patterson and hi s colleagu es (Pa tte r s o n , De Ba r yshe , &Ramsey, 198 9), who have suggested that stressful family circum stances have their gre ate s t impact on childre n and adolescents through the disru ptionofpare nta l behaviour.
A study by silberes in, Walper, and Albrecht (1990) researched the relationship be t we e n family income loss and problem behaviou r in adolescentsbetweenthe ages of 10 and 16. Inc o me loss wa s re po r t e d to be predictive ot: lowe r cv e retrfami lyinte gration. For adolescents,incomeloss was di r ectly relate d to lo we r e d fe e ling s of self-worth and
23 increases in transgression pr o ne ness against common adult rules andnorms,as well as the use of illicitsubstances such as inhalants. Income loss put restrictio ns on expenditures for all family me mbe rs. Adolescents from economical ly deprived householdsexhibited concernsaboutanunfavourable app e a r a n c e due to less ex pe n s i v e and le s s fashionable clothing .
FinancialResources
Madge, (19 8 3) suggestedthat childrenof the unemployed may suffer materially. She suggestedthat
Childreninlargefa milie s withan une mp l o y ed head areparticularly likely to be livingin overcrowded conditions and to bepoorly clot h e d. Many needs, such as for bedding, household equipment and a va r i e d diet, may not bemet ,andluxu r i e s certainly cannot be afforded. (p. 312)
Berry and Chlapelli (1985) ide nt if i e d several economic changes which may re s ul t from unemployment which affect childrenas well as pa re nt s These changesinclude:
- a decreasein general family resources - a decrease inadequacyof family diet
-a decrease in family preventive me dica l and dentalcare - a decreasein family re c r e a t i o n and leisureti me - a decrease in ability to purchaseor secure for
childrenitems that arepa r t of and contemporary with
24 their peer culture (e.g.• clothes,games, and special events). (p. 301)
In cases where families had experienced financia l hardship, Jones (1991) posed that adolescent children ma y experience more unstablerelationships ....ith their parents,and in particular their fathers . Jones offers many reasons for this. Heee a e eu r
Less mo ne y is av a ila b l e for the items of con tempor a r y peercultu r e, and forsocial izat i on. Adole scents sens i t ive to the se deprivations than are younger chi l d r e n. Whateve r the ag e of the child less mone y is availabl e to provide rewards to children for goodbehaviour,and to demonstrate affection through gift giving or takinga child onan out i ng. [p, 109)
Whyte's(1992 ) research,which investigateddifferences betwee n 16 year old boys with both parents employed as compared with those with both parents unemployed, showed differences between the two groups. Those wi t h employed parents "go t mo r e pocket money, more of themhad part-time jobs, and they earnedmore on average for part-time jobs" (p, 204). In the caseof young peoplewithunemployed parents that have accessto money, Van Hook (1990)reportedthat they have been shown to cut backon spend i ng and even togive their savingsto the familyduringti me s of economicuncertainty .
2S Mental andphysicalHealth
Severalstudies suggest that adolescentswhose parents were unemployed were especiallylikely tobecome depressed and afraid of the future (Elder,1974; Fagin, 1981). Such stigma can affe c t children's soc ial relationships with theirpeers
(l~ad9'e , 1983).
McLoyd (1989) su mmari z e d research on children 's psy ch ol ogical respons e s to parental unemployment in the following ma nn e r :
Children whose families have ex pe r i e nc e d jOb income loss hav e mental he a l t h problems (Werner and Smi th, 198 2) and aremore depressed, lo ne l y (Lempers et a1., 1989), and emotionally sensitive (Elder et a1., 19 85) . They are less sociable and more dist r u s t f u l (Buss & Redburn, 1983) and are more likely (adolescent girls) to feel excluded by peers (El d e r, 1974). Parental un e mp l o yme nt also has been linked to low self- est e e m in children, especial ly boys (Coopersmith.
1967; Isralowitz & s tne e r, 1986 ) and reduced competence in coping with stress. (p. 298)
cfa ek-r.empers, tenpera, and simons (198 9 ) examinedthe effect of present stressful economic tuneson ninth to twel fth graders in a farm community using the "Ec o nomi c Hard ship Questionnaire "andth btlparentingQuestionnaire". They found that a family'5 economic decline was both directly and
as indi rec tly as sociated with depression and loneliness in adolescent males and females. Furthermore, famil y eco nomic declinewas ind irectlylinke d to delinquencyand drug usefo r both sexe s. In a sUbsequent st udybasedon thesamesample, Lempers andcr e rxe-r.eape rs (1990) found similurresults for bo t hde linquenc y- d r ug useand depression-lonelinessfor both maleandfema lest ude nts .
Adolescents'emotionalreactionsto the Iowafarm crisis wereexami nedby Va n Hook(1990 l. Young peopleinv e s t i g a ted gen e ra l ly indicate d that it was a stressfu l time for them ove r al l and re ported experienc ing fe el ing s of pressure, helple s sne s s anda varietyof worries. Olderch il d r e n were found to be more li kely to worrythan younge rconcerning the effectsof unemploymenton their parents (Q'" •03 ). Results on the"Gen e r al Hea l thQuestionnaire ," ne ve v e c , demonstrated co n sidera bl e lo ng-te rm resiliency by these young people.
Adolescents , fo r the most pa rt . repor ted onlyoccasional ly experienc ingsymptoms pe r t a i ni ng to general physical health, anx iety. apathy or la c k of inve stmen t in activities. and de press ion. There wereno significantdifferences based on eit he r gender or the severity of the family's financial problems.
Margoli s and Fa rra n (19Bl: 1984) examined ill nesses in a groupofchildrenwhose par en tshad experienced une mpl o yme nt due to a plan t closure and compared thos e ch ildr e nwith a groupwhose pare nt s werecon ti nuouslyemployed . The jobswere
27 bluecol la r and required a lo w level of ski l l. During the ni ne months following the plant closing, the children of te rmina t ed wor kers were one and one half totwo times more li kelytoexp e rienceillne s s ingene ra l andil l nessof longe r durat ion. The aut ho rsalso indica ted tha t childre nof job los ers are atinc reasedriskof illnessLnc Ludinq respiratory in f e c t ions, gastroin t esti na l infec tions, immunol og ica l dise a s e s (such as ast hmaand ecze ma) . andtrauma. Thiswas at tributed to a declineinthe quality of food, th e disruption of so c ia lsupp ort,anda dec reasein the us e of medicalcare.
In Bus s and Redburn 's (1983) study, the somatic complaint s of the chi ldren of une mplo ye d stee lworkers and mana g e r s paral l ele d tho se of the ir fa the r s . conve rsely, Kelly, Sh e l don, an d Fo x (1 9 8 5 ) fou nd no directlin k betwee n pare n tal job los s and the ch ild 's physical he al t h sta t us.
Acco r ding to Madg e (19 83), thehe a l th of childrenwas often af f e cte dby unemployment inthe 1930s, but it is le s s clear that an out-of-work fathe r ha s simi lar consequences the s e days.
Gender Differences
To ge ther with th o s e identified in some of the above categ o ries, genderdiffe r e nces based onadditiona l re s e arc h will benotedin thi s sec tion .
Ina st Udy of th e effe cts of unemp loym ent on sevent h- grade .boys (congeret al., 19 9 2 ) and girls (Conge r et al.,
28 1993) . mate rnal de p ressio n was directly re l at e d to th e pro b l ema tic development of early adolescent qlrl.s bu t boys. More o ver, compared witheeereseene bOys, adolescent gir lsappeared to be more sensitive and empathetic to the emotiona l sta tes of those aro und them, i!IInd also aremo r e like ly to prov ide emot ionalsuppo r t insuchsitua tio ns. The stU die sfoun d no differ en tia l effectsof eco nomiccon s t ra i n ts onearl y ad ol escen t boys' or gir ls' ant isocial be h a v i o ur.
Rut t e r (19 9 0 ) propos ed thatduringstr e s s f u lti mes , su c h as parental unemployment , the greater di s rupti ve and oppositi onalbehaviou r of boys compa r e d wi t h girl splac e sthem at gr e a t e r riskforBufferi n gfro mthene gat i ve consequences of impaired child-re a r ing pr ac tices. Greate r demands placed on parents by sons than by daugh te rs resulted in parent s be c omi ng acr-ehostile, moreha rs h ,andmo r e withdr awntoward Gir ls were found to be mo r e sensitive to parents' uccds, enabling themto avoid. IDor eoften. theeli c ita t i on of the ir ri t a ble parent al behavioursassociatedwi thdepre s sio n . Elder (1974) found fa the r s slightly reject ing toward girlsbut not toward boys during the 19309. The se adolescent girl s exp erienc ed con s idera b l e distress be c a use of the fathers' harshne s s. Adolesc e nt girlswere morG li ke lyto be askedthelln boys to ta keondomest i c tasksdue to changes in thehousehold broughtaboutbythecha nge deco nomi csi tuat ion.
stU d i e s have de t &rmined that girlsare likel y toreducetheir job aspirations whentheir fathersare une mployed.
29 Elder , Va n Nguy en, and Caspi (1985) suggested that ec on omic hards hip in creased di str e s s in bo t h bo y s and girls dur i n g theGreatDep re s sio n. They also fo und an inc rease in boys' resistanc e to paren t a l au thority but note d little beh aviour ch ange in girl s despi te th e ir hi g h levels or distres s. Girls app e are d to be more sUbjectto rejectionby depriv ed fathers.
In the st u dy by Lempe rs and Cl arke-Le mp e rs (1 9 90 ) inc r e a s e d stre s s wa s associated wi t h lowerpa t ernal support for female,but no t ma l e adolescents. Lowerpater nalsuppo r t for fe mal e s wa s assoc iat e d wit h hi gh e r fe mal e distress. Female ado lescents repo r t e d mor e depre s s ion tha n male ado l esc e nt s. A hi g he r inci de nc e of delinquenc yand drug use wasfound moreamon gma les than femal esandamongolderversus young e radolescents. Economicst resswas fou nd toaccoun tfor an incre a s einbothmale andfemaledepression- lonelinessand in malede linquency-dru gus e. Economicstressal s o accounted for a de c re a se inpate r nal supportfor females.
Summary
Asurvey of the literature reveals that thereis a wide range of both direc t an indirect conseq uencesreSUl ti ngfrom the effect s of unemploy ment and econom icdecline on young people. Tho ug h there appear to besomepo s it i ve conseque nces ass ociated with unemploymentand economicdecl i ne for young people, the maj ority of re s e a r c h suggest s tha t such
30 experiences more typ ica llY aff e c t thoseinvolved in adve rse ways. Itmust al s o be noted that responses may vary fr o m community to community ;be influenced by the gender ofthe child; and vary fromindiv idualtoindiv idual. One thing that is ohvious is that there is muc h....e do not kno wabout the impa c toteconomi cdecline andune mpl oyme nt on the sen ior high aged population. Most of the res earch up tothepr esent has beenco nd uc ted on groups other than those of mi dd le to late adolesce nt age. Very littl e re se archhas beencarriedoutin rel a t i velysma lloutpor t communi tiestraditio n allydependent on one ma i n primary resource industry forthei r livelihoo d. The impact of lossof tradition llo l emplo yment onyou ng peop l e in largely outport, fishing communitie s is virtually uns t udie d.
CHAPTERrrre KETHODOLOGY TargetGr o up
The sa mplefromwhomdata were gatheredwas mad e upof cou nseliors selected ba s e d on cri t e riaoutl i ne d below. The targe t or focus of the st udywas theyo ung people inthe communitiesthemselves. Belo w,both thetarge t groupand the samp l eare di s cu s s ed separate ly.
The target gr oup inc l u d e d senior high sch ool students from communi tiesalong the eastcoast portionof Newfo u ndla nd whe r e rel a t i vely hi gh numbers of fi s he r y workershavebe e n unemploye d sinc etheimp os i t ion ofthe Northe rnCodmo r a torium in July of 199 2. The prob lem was investigated bystudying cou n se llor s' ret ros pective obs e rvati ons of the behaviour pat ter ns of thesestudent s.
Sch oo l coun sellors wer echose nas responden tsbecause it was thou gh t thatthei r tra i ni ng andexpe r ience would helpthem ma k e accurate observati o ns of cha nges in studentsI lives. Qu estionnai r e s were se n t tocouns el lors who served st ude nts fr om the s e fishing communi t ies . Each highscho o lcou nse llor meet ing th e cr i t e ri a listed be lowfrom every sc ho o l board wit h in thebou nd ari e s of the codmorator iumare a was contac ted and as ked.to parti cipate. To qua lifyeachha d toha ve:
- beenass i qn e d. the posit i on of"Sc ho o l Cou nsello r";
b. - re c e ived grad u ate leve l train ing as a scho ol counsellor :
- been employedinat leastone highscho o l :
32 d.- been employed on the east coast of Newf.oundland
during 1991-92, the year preceding tho moratorium, and 1992-93. the fi rst yearof the moratorium:
- t-een employed in anarea where at ll!ast20% ofthe populationbetween ages 20 to 65 was designated as either fisherperson, plant worker or trawlerman during 19 92 .
The Ins t rum e n t
A questio nnairewasdevelopedbased on theli t e r a t u r e on the effects of unemployment on non-adults. An item list of indicatorsco nc ern i ng the affectsof une mp loyme nt on young people was formulated basedon this review. Five general categories, deemedre p r e s e nt a t i v e of a wide rangeof student behaviour in the literature, were then established. The original list was shortened by exclud ing items that were redunda nt and deemed not re l a ted tose nio r high students. This list was subsequently prese ntedto several professors, educators and counsellors who were asked to assess the appr opriateness of items identified. Unde r the appropriate categories, theit e ms werethen placed in draft questionnaire form fot' both male and femalest ude nts and again presentedto the group of educators, counsellorsandprofessors for re- eval uation and to determine the ease of COHI: '",t i on . The instrument was th e n further revised into its final format based upon suqqestions re ceive d.
3l Pa r t 1 of the questionnaire sought two kinds of bac kground information. The first portio n, entitled, "A.
RequestedInf o rmat i o n On Your Background",was co nc e r ned with personal details on the respondents themselves. A second part, labelled liB. Student/ Scho o l/ Communi tyInf o r ma ti o n ,II
sought de mogr a ph icinforma tionon the students and cornmunitiss studied. The purposes ofthi o.in fo rma t i on was as follows:
to establishtheleve l of~rofessionaltrainingand experienceofth e respondents;
to depict the work related re s p ons i b i li t i e s in terms of the numbers of various individuals, schoolsandcommunitiesservedby the informant~:
to ascerta inthe specific names of the communities servedso that the percentagesof adultsformerly employed di rect ly in the cod fishery in school catchment areas coul dbe determined1and to help focus counsellorsI thinking concerning their involvemen t with students, educators and paren t s from various schoolsand communities.
Part 1of theQu e s t i o nn a ire Regu...stedInf o rma t i onOn vour Background
Und e rthesectionre qu e s t ing informationoncounsellors ' backgrounds,informantswere askedto respond to the following i tems:
34
1. Wereyoucounsell ing in this school(s) in 1991-92&19 9 2- 931
2. How lon g haveyoubeen with thisschool board?
3. Pe r c e nta g e of time spent in guidancerelatedactivities:
4. NUmbe r of years experienceas a counsellor:
5. Numberofgraduatecounsellingor relatedcoursesyou have completed:
6. Have you completedgraduate trainingincounselling?
7. Gende r : 8. Age:
studen t! SchoolI communityInformation
In thissubs ec t i o ncounsellorswereasked thefo l lowi ng:
1. Narne of schoo l(s):
2. Number ofteachers in you rschool(s ): 3. NUmber of Levels1-3 stu da ntsin your school(sl:
4. Esti matedpercenta ge of Levels 1-3 stude nts from fishery famil ies(Le••familiesWhode rivedth e i r principa linc o me from fishing , fish processing or a di rect lyrelated industry):
5. Na mes ofcommu n i tiesserv edbyyour scho ol(s):
Par t 2 oftheQue s tio nna ire
Part 2 of th e que st i onnaire was compr ised of five categori e swhi c hwere found tobe representa t iveof re s ea rch st u d i es found in th e literatur e. Th e sewere: (a) Schoo l
35 Behaviours;(b ) Career Aspirations:(0) FamilyRelationships;
(d) FinancialResources;and (e) Mentaland Physical He a l t h. Wit hi n each of the five categories two differe nt types of quest.ions were asked . The first type consisted of severa l closed-formquestionspresentedin a Likert scale format. Th e secondtype involved two distinct open-form que s ti ons.
Closed -FormQuestions
Counsellorswereasked to rate eachind icato r for both malesand femaleson a 5 point Likert scale with the fol lowing range: 1 - Marked Dec reas e (MO); 2 - Slight Decrease (SO);
J - No Change (NC); 4 - Slight Incre a s e (8 1 ); 5 - Ma r k e d Inc r e a s e (MI).
Due tothe sho rt age of informationconcerningthe impact of unemploymen t onsenior high school aged adolescents,and be c a u s e of the unique Newfoundlandcontext, some closed-form items used were not based on informa tio n found in th e li t e r a t ur e but on info rmati o n deemed imp o rta nt by the researcher (e.g., C-6;C:-8). Counsellorswe r e askedto rate each item for bothmale and femalest udents. The specific closed-form items for each of thesect i ons are given below:
The first section, "Sch ool Behaviours , " explo res the following ten items: students ' grades; attendance rate s;
dropo ut ra t e s ; number seeki ng entry or admission to hig h school; frequency of visits to counsellor, classroom disruptive ness; wi ll i ngn e s s to comple te school work and
36 as s ignments ; cooperatio n with and re s p e c t for teachers; coopera tion wit hpeers; and student involvement insc h o olor c.ommuni ty clubs/organiz a tions/extracurriculargroups (i.e., church,cadets , eee.j ,
The secondsectio n , "Care e r Aspirations,ufocuseson the follo win g:fourmarkers :at.udentie' valuing of education (Le .•
plans to stay in school/pursue post-secondary training); expectancy to get ajobthey perceiveto be equal to or better than paren ts'occupation(s)rexpectanc y to get a jOb witllin one ye ar of fin i sh i ng school: and requests to obtain train ing· re t r aini ng information.
The thirdsection,IIFamil y Relationships,(Iin clude s eight items: studentsI indications ofatypical home stress1nu mbe r of disclosuresof parenta lneglect(i. e., lack of supervision, inadequate meals, etc.); number of disclosures of parental abuse (Le, , verbal abu s e , physical abuse, etc.); students' criti cism ofparen ts;pare nt al restrictio nsILe.,expecting child to stayhome more; helpout morewithcho r e s , expenses, etc.); nUmbe rof studen t marr iages/co-habitation (Le.,more couplesmarrying,livingtoge t h e r , etc. )Ifrequency of student sexua l activity; andnumber of studentparents.
The fourth area is label led "Financial Resources .II I t containsthe fol lowing sixindicators: money available for re crea t i on (Le ., spor ts,dan ces , etc.jr money atstudentsI
disp o sal for fa s h ion clo t hing;money availablefor lunchesand basic clothing: money onhand for school supplies;available
37 allo...ance money; and amountof time spent workingpart-time.
The final section in thi s part of the questi onnaire,
"Mental and PhysicalHealth," loo k s at te n ite ms: st u d e n t s ' sel f -concepts and feelings of self-worth; students' self- reliance/ autonomy/ independence: degree to which students appear to be depressed;frequency of fighting/ ag g r ess i v e acts towa r d s peers ; frequencyof fighti ng /aggressive actstowards teachers; fr e que nc y of fighting/ aggress i ve acts towards parents1students'levelsofsubs t a nce abuse(L e., tob acco, legal drugs, illegal drugs, alcohol , etc.); degree toWhich students appear to be exp eriencing personal stres s and/ or coping difficulty : frequency of self-injurYI suicide ; and frequency of illnes s / health probl ems / accidenta l inju r y.
Open-FormQue st ions
At the end of each of the five sections, in order to provide a forum for qualitative xeepcneee from the respondents, cou ns e l l o rs were asked for two open-ended responses. The fi r s t was "Describe anyot he r categories of ch a n g eor impact that youhavenotedanddeemimporta nt. " The reason for this inquiry was toascertain if counsellors had noticed behaviournotid ent i fiedinthe prevail ingliterature, perhapsdue to theuniquenessof the situation in Newfound- land . The shortage of research onse n i o r high school aged studen ts also made i t appropriate to include this request.
The second open-ended requ e s t asked respondents to "Ple a s e
38 otfer two or more suggestionsforspec if i cpr ograllSthatwou l d be I.eal l sti c andpos s i bl e in your scbo o l or commun i tywhic h mi g h t be developed to help address an y cha n g e s identif i ed above.'"
Mo ra tor i u m Boundarig s
It was decided that the stud y would includ e all couns el l orsservingschoolcatchmentar e a s having 20t or more ofthepo pUlat ionbet weenages 20and 65consi st ing of fishery wo r kers who were out of workbecause of the cod moratori um.
The spe c ificboundariesweredeto n l ne d throughinformation from the Departmentof Fisheries and Oce an s (OFO). It wa s foundtha t the moratoriumencompas sedthre e divisio ns . nam.ely, divisions JKand3Lalong the east coa st of Ne wf oundl a nd,and division 2J in so uthe a s t e rn Labr ad or, (se e Appendi x A, Fisheries statisticalAreas/ Se c t ions, 1994 ).
Ethics Reyiew
To ensure thatproper proc e du res wereunderta kenduring th e researc h , a copy of thethesi sproposal . questionnai re (s8e App endi xB).cou nsellorconse n t form(seeAppendixC) and sa mp l e lette r tocou nsello rs(see Appe ndix D) weresen t to the Ethics COlMli t te e in the Faculty of Ed uc a tio n at Me mor ial Un ive rsit y, as requ i r ed in the Gudu ate Ha nd book (1993). Permissio n was grantedby the committeeto proceedwith the
39 study.
Counsellors selected were se n t a letterwhlch explained the purpose of the researc h and whichaskedthemtosi g n the consentformif theyag r e e dto vol un ta rily pa rt icipate in the eeudy , In keeping with ethical guidelines,it wasempha size d that ,i fat any pointin time they wishedtodiscontinuetheir involvement in the research , they co u ld do so at their discretion. Eac hcou nse l l o r was also in f orm edthat hisorhe r identitywould bekept co nfiden t i a l andthatthe inf orm at i on gatheredwouldbeuse d for re s earch pur poses only.
SchoolBoards andCounsell o rs
School boards foundwi thi nthe geographical parameters of the mo r a t o ri um were determined throug h the use of the Newfoundlandand Labrad o r De pa r t me n t of Ed uca t i o nDirec t or y (1993). A totalof 19 out of 27sch oolboardswere foundto have sch o o ls within the geographical area cov ere d by the stUdy , two inLabradorand17in Newf oundl and . Each sc hoo l board wassent a letter of explanat ioncon ce r ningthe research (see Appendix E) and a copyof the questi onna ire , in orderto gain their permis siontocontact co unse l lor sin the ir empl o y. They were also asked for a list of their high school counsellors in order to fa cilitatereaChingthem. Fiveof the school boards were notinc l ud e d in the study due the absence of high school counsellorsin respectiveschool s,or because of the staal! percentages of fi shery worke r s in respective
40 school catchment areas, or both. As a resul t , counsel l ors fr om a total of14sc ho o lboa r d s werefina l l y in c luded inthe study. Due to reasons mentioned ab ove, school boar ds in Labrador,aswell asone denomi n a t i o na l boardin Ne wf ound l a nd, werenotre pre s e nt e dinthe research. Inth efina l ins tance, couns el lo r s fromseveral Integratedand RomanCatholic sc ho ol boards as wel l as fromthe Pentec ostal Boa rd of Educat ion participated in thestudy.
Whena schoo l boardagreed to pa rticipa te, the list of high sc hool coun sell o r s was ch e c ke d to de term in e , Wher e po s sible , if theywe reloc a t e d in a school thatwas lik e ly in a catchmentare awhere 20% or more of thede fin ed worki ngage popUlat i o n ha d worke ddirectl y inthe Northe rnCod fi s he r y. In so me cases , cou nsellors wer e called by te l e p hone t.o find the name sof commu ni t iescontained insc hool catchment areas in order to det enuine if they qualifiedforthe study.
The total poss ib le numbe r of eligib le can didates was found tobe 21, of~:h ich19 participa t ed , for a 91%:rateof re turn on the questionna ire s.
percentages of Unemp loyed Fi she r y Workers FrOID School catchrna0t. Areas
Critical tothe st ud ywasdete rm i n i ngthe percentagesof persons from the adult popUlationof wo rk in gage (20to65 years) in highschool catchment areaswhowere unemplo yedas a resul tof themo r ato r ium. Thi sin f o rmatio n was dete rmi ned
41 Table 1
Percentages of Adult WorkingAge PopulationIn Rece ipt of NCbEr Benefits ; n High SchoolCatchme ~
P.~c::...t& g'.1l.c::.,iv11l9llCARP1l....f1t.
(Ran'Je) IMidp0l. ..t) ADI
AD2 DOl COl
F03 Fa<
GOJ Ha<
M02 H03 H06 H07 L06 L07 N02 so
10
10
25-3~~
2"1-3H 1"7-21'
19-2'h
53-63' 5H'
23-33' 28 '~
36-46\
'"
29-39~ 34_
21-31'
19 -29~ 24 , 21-31- 18- 28'.
22- 32' 21'~
22-3 2~. 27'
23-33- , 28·
19-29,
".
19 119"
•rour eOlllll1unJ.tJ.e s eere IIsedontwocccaaacne bee. us e they we r eserved by two dif fer e nthi gh seneere• Therefo r e,the tot a l numbe r of C::OMlUnitle" invc kve d was 119 (t he ac::tual sumof the numbelsincol umn twois 123) .
from Department of Fisheries and Oceans (19 93 ) and Statistics Canada (1992) statistics .
Percentages of direct fiShery workers we r e de z-Lve d by dividing the numbers of fisherpersons, pl antworkers and
42 travlermen in eachcOllU!lunit.y and catchment areainto the actual adul t workinq age popUlati onbe t ween theag esof 20to 64.
Pa rticipa ting counse llors were foundtoserveinschoo l catch mentareas with percentages of unellpl oyedadul t fishe ry wor kersbet ween22' and Sal .l
Alla l ys es
For the questions inPar t1desc ript i vean a l ys e s were carri edout . In somacasesdatawas analyzed1n terms of the frequency andperc ent age ot res pons es. In other instance s
andrang eswere used.
CI Qsed-Form QUest ion s
Th efrequenc y andpercentages
or
counsellorsIrespons e s fortheLikertscaleditems verede r i v e d inord e r toascert ain theproportionofco uns ell orswho re p orted5011.8type of cha nge or no chang e at all. This wasdone byCOmbi ningthe tot alITab l e 1 liststhebreakdown, by cou nsellor, ofcommuni ties andth e res pe ctive pop Ulationnumbers involved, whichwereus e d to det e ni ne theap p roxima te percentages rece i vingNCARPbene f i t s. The actual. rate of une mplo Yl1lent in each catc hment area ma y be si g n if i c an t lylarge rthan the percent age of unemploye d workersfrom the direct fishery. Do wnturns in other typ e s of fi S her y suchas salmo n, ca.plin , crab and lobster also affectedthe unemp loymen t rate and standa rdsof living invarious Ne wfoundland commun it ie s during the per iod of this study . Unemployment ratesfrom other jobs,suc h as loggi ngmay inc reaseth e actual unempl oyment ra te in respective are as.
43 scores re p o r ted forboth mal esand fe mal e s on each item.T- testswerealso ca r riedout ,usingthesta tistica lPac k a ge for Soc i al Sc i e nces (SPSS ) comp u t er software , to det e rm in e if therewereany perc ei v e d gende rditferences.
Ope n - Form Que stions.
Thefina l typ eofanalysis, car ried out on each of the two open-form questions, was qualitat i ve in nat ur e . Counsello r s' respo nses were categor ized byth,~meund e r each of thefivegene ra l are asas identif iedin Part 1. Responses were also SUbcategori zed thematic all y in accorda nce wit h subt h emes ide nt i f ied by the resea rche r. In some cases, responses we r e refl e ct i ve of more thanone subcategorizatio n . Respons es were scored 1n acc or da n ce w1 th the nu mber 0f response s under ea chofthe maj or categori e saswel l as th e numberof counsel l ors whome nt i on ed a part i cula r di s tinct sUbca teg ory . Th e act ualnumberof counsellors whore s ponded rat he r thanthe numbe r ofre spons e sby eachinforTll/lntwas used in quantifying subthemes becaus e ofthe tendency forsome resp on dent s tomention the same subtheme in more than one ins ta nce.
CHAPT ER IV : PRES ENTATI ON OF RESE ARCH'RESULT S The purpose of this study ....as to detennine any pos sible effects that the imposit ion of un e xpe c t e d long-t e r m .... idespread unemployment ....as having on senior hig h schoo l students in communities v ith onemaj o r primary industry. Thi s was accomplished by assessing, through the use of a questionnaire, high school couns ellor s' perceptions at the impact of the moratorium on the Northern Cod fishery students in the prov inceof Ne....foundlandand Labra d or.
Th i s chapter is divided into two pa r t s. In Pa r t 1, demogra phicinformationabout the counsellors themsel ves , ....ell as the students and communities they serv e, is introduced. In Part 2,the findingsfor both the closed-form Liker t scaleitems as ....ell as responses toth e t ....o open-form questions for each of the majorsections (Sc ho o l Beha v i o urs, Career Aspirations,Family Relationships,Financ ialResources , Mental and Physica l Heal th and Gender Differences) are pr e s ent e d,
Part 11Ba ckground andCOllllllunit~lInfo rmation Th.is part of the questionnaire was comprised of t ....o subsections. Section A ....as labelled "Re qu e s t e d Information On'tour Background,U WhileSection B ....as entitled "Stud e nt/ School/ CommunL:yIn f o rmati o n."
SectionA: Requested InformationOn YourBackground This sectioninclud ed eight items. The s e it ems,with the meansand ranges, orpercentages, of sUmmarized responsesare pres e nt pdbe l ow (seeTable 2):
1. Were you counsel ling in th i s school(s) in 1991/92; 92/931onlycounsello rswho couldanswer yes to this question we r e included in the study. Nineteen of 19 counsellors answeredin theaf f i rma t i v e.
2. How lo ng have youbeen withthis schoo l board? The mean length of t ime counsellors' had been with thei r respectiveschool boards was 10.3years,with a range of 2 to 27 years. A total of 19 counsellors respon d e d to thi s question .
3. Percentage of time spent in guidanc e related acti v i ti e s : All 19 counsellors respondedto thisquestion.
The maar. percentage of time counsellors spent in guidance rel ate d activ itieswas 86 percent. The percentage ra nge was be t ween40% and100 %.
4.Numbe r of yearsexperie nce as a counse l lor :Themean numbe r ofyearsexp eri encewas 6.4 , witha range of 2to 2...
ye ars. Eigh t eenof the 19 informan ts re p o rted their age.
5. Number of graduatecounselling or related coursesyou havecompl eted: Al l counsellorsresponde d an this item. The mean tor thi s questionwas10.4 courses, thera ng e being 5 to 15 courses .
