https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/24067 2026-04-11T14:24:47Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/24514 Title: Daddy daddy : a critical auto ethnography of the first adoption by a same sex couple in Malta Abstract: This study is a manifestation of my experience, a gay male, married to another gay male, and about parenting an adopted child with a disability. It’s a story about the first child adopted by a same sex couple in Malta. At first the goal was meaning making the experiences and relations encountered during the process of adopting my son. However, the nature of enquiry took me beyond reflections of past, present and future, evidencing how extensively autoethnography can deepen research practices. Collectively, the project aimed at understanding the processes and social anxieties relating to same sex parenting, and same sex families. As this work demonstrates, although LGBT individuals have gained the right to marry and adopt, there are multiple masked social anomalies that have not been accounted for. They are located in the ideological dominance of conventional family structures and services. What is at stake now are the effects of such inequalities on our children. As a contribution to encourage local research on the subject, this study illuminates’ endeavours and misconceptions of power, homophobia and education which is much needed, in local research. Description: M.GENDER STUD. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/24512 Title: Leisure among older widowed Maltese women Abstract: The main objective of this dissertation was to give voice, where leisure was concerned, to women aged sixty and older who, at the time of the research, had been widowed for two years or more. The aim of this study was to look into the type of leisure activities they engage in and the effect leisure has on their life. This research also focused on the factors which might prevent widows from getting access to leisure activities and social networks, as well as underlining the facilitating factors. This study also investigated the challenges they face with regards to society's expectations and the stereotypes they have to deal with or renegotiate as widowed, older women. A qualitative approach was used in this study. The data was collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The interviews were carried out with 10 Maltese widows, who were 60 years old and residing in different areas of Malta, as well as deriving from different social backgrounds. Qualitative research was found to the most effective because it is issue-oriented and gave a better understanding of the participants’ lives. The results of this research show the benefits widowed, older women obtain from leisure. It was proven that keeping active and participating in leisure kept older people more engaged in society. Leisure in old age was found to reduce loneliness and helped the participants lead a more fulfilled life. Not all the participants had access to leisure activities and/or friends. It was found that the participants’ past employment history, their access to private transport, money and/or the individual’s personality had an effect on the type of leisure activities opted for, and the participants’ social wellbeing also impacted the results. Description: M.GENDER STUD. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/24511 Title: Domestic violence screening in emergency departments and primary healthcare centres : the healthcare professionals’ perspective Abstract: This dissertation explores the perspectives of health care professionals on domestic violence and on screening for domestic violence, in the Maltese healthcare system. Despite the known health consequences of domestic violence, intimate partner violence screening rate within the emergency and primary care settings is quite low in several countries (e.g. Australia, California and Canada) (Dowd, Kennedy, Knapp, & Stallbaumer-Rouyer 2002;Easteal & Easteal, 1992; Rodriguez, Bauer, McLoughlin, Grumbach, 1999; Thurston, Tutty, Eisener, Lalonde, Belenky, & Osborne, 2007). Klap, Tang, Wells, Starks, & Rodriguez (2007) research in America established that forty-six percent (46%) of screening was held in a primary health care setting while eleven percent (11%) was held in the emergency department of the study setting and the rest forty-three percent (43%) in other settings. Hence, this dissertation study was carried out in the emergency department and the primary healthcare centres of the state institutions and a private hospital. A mixed methodological approach (Reinharz, 1992) was used, with six (6) participants for the qualitative semi structured interviews used for a deeper understanding of the results formulated from the questionnaire Domestic Violence Health Care Provider Survey, which was conducted in the quantitative phase with sixty-one (61) participants. This allows the feminist standpoint researcher to fully understand the concept that other methods of research might neglect or ignore. Although the rate of intimate partner violence screening was not studied directly, the study was consistent with the low rate of screening for violence by intimate partner found elsewhere. The qualitative phase of the study concluded that no screening is conducted in the Maltese healthcare settings, but actions are only taken if the client discloses intimate partner violence. Furthermore, healthcare professionals discussed the barriers encountered in screening for intimate partner violence. Harding (2004) explains that a feminist study is built upon the inquiry of who knows and how their knowledge is utilized. The unheard voices were placed in the centre of the research process to attain real concrete stories for deeper understanding of the society we are living in. Feminist standpoint is considered to be an explanatory and theoretical framework to have a better understanding of the analysis. The sixty-one survey questionnaires were analysed using the statistical analysis program SPSS. The six (6) semi-structured interviews were analysed using the analytic approach of the thematic analysis. This approach resulted in several themes emerging on barriers encountered by healthcare professionals working within a patriarchal health system. Whilst acknowledging the limitations, the research identified that the Maltese healthcare system has gaps, such as lack of intimate partner violence education and training for professionals to enable them to care effectively for the client experiencing intimate partner violence. Finally, health care professionals may overcome intimate partner violence barriers by working as a team and recognize the significance of screening for intimate partner violence, which will decrease the underreporting of domestic violence cases in Malta. Description: M.GENDER STUD. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/24510 Title: Satisfaction and well-being in the life trajectories of male-to-female transsexual people Abstract: This study seeks to understand the elements in the everyday life of male-to-female transsexual persons that contribute to their satisfaction and well-being. The Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sexual Characteristics Act enacted in the Laws of Malta enabled better well-being in the life satisfaction of transsexual people living freely, in their self-determined gender, without feeling concerned that they are not protected by law. Among other things, the law satisfied the basic need of having a name which is congruent with their physical appearance thus eliminating the embarrassment of carrying a male name. In this dissertation, four main areas are examined which are considered influential to general well-being: their overall life in general, education, health and law. The data was obtained through three interviews with two post-operated and one pre-operated transsexuals which were held during August 2016. The participants were recruited through snowballing. The focus of this research aims to address satisfaction and well-being of transsexual male-to-female persons through the abovementioned themes. The findings were analysed through a feminist perspective, using a qualitative method, and show that the informants agree that Malta is now progressive as regards legal protection for them but lacks specialized people in all professional services who can truly understand the needs of Maltese transsexual persons. They all confirmed that the professionals in the education system lack proper training. Even worse, the post-operated transsexuals were totally dissatisfied with the lack of professional service in the local health care system for their before and aftercare. They also expressed their concern that living a transsexual life is a heavy financial burden on them which not everybody can afford. They strongly assert that medical services need to be accessible and covered by the free national health system. The participants emphasized that sex confirmation surgery provided by the national health system is their right because it improves their well-being and improves their quality of life. The participants express that they want to live a low-profile life like the rest of the people in society in the true gender they feel comfortable. This study aims at contributing an initial platform towards further research about the life satisfaction in various areas of Maltese transsexual person’s well-being of their life. Description: M.GENDER STUD. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z