Women in transition : a study of Vancouver Transition House as agent of change

This thesis examines the origins and function of Vancouver Transition House as an agent of role change and of social change. It is based on observations made during a three-year period as a member of the Transition House staff collective, on formal and informal interviews with the founders, staff, and residents of the house, and on Stephenson's, Garden's, and Freeman's studies of the new feminist movement. The work commences with a discussion of the growth of the women's movement in Vancouver to a stage where the need for social action was understood to be necessary. The effort of the society formed to found the house is then delineated. It is noted that involvement with that group created changes in self-concept and inter-personal relationships similar to those described by Stephenson as occurring in the founders of the original Vancouver women's groups (Stephenson, 1975). The operation of the house and the role of the staff are detailed. There follows an analysis of the transition process undergone by residents, focussing on the importance of a milieu controlled and inhabited exclusively by women in facilitating this process. It is noted that changes in self-concept and in interpersonal relationships, again similar to those experienced by women involved in feminist groups, do occur, but that these may not be sustained after the period of residency without changes in the social context. Recommendations for change in the legal and social systems necessary to sustain individual chang accorded to by a group of transition house workers from refuges throughout North America, are examined. The author concludes that such recommendations demand extended social change, and notes the necessity of recognition of the value of work done by women, and of equality of responsibility in the domestic and public spheres. Until these conditions prevail, women's powereto control institutions and bring about fundamental social change will be limited.Arts, Faculty ofSociology, Department ofGraduat