Deborah Norris

Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator   BHEc (MSVU), MSc (Alberta), PhD (Dalhousie)   Email: msvu.ca   Phone: (902) 457-6376   Office: Evaristus 315       Biography   Dr. Deborah Norris, is an Associate Professor of the       Department within the Department of Family Studies and    Gerontology at Mount Saint Vincent University. Dr. Norris    teaches undergraduate and graduate courses focusing on   family relations, family violence, parent-child relations,   research methods, and critical theories. She has also   supervised the thesis research of more than ten graduate   students focusing on issues pertinent to contemporary family   relations, including military families.

• Military families
• Health and social service needs of persons with intellectual/developmental disabilities
• Family relations and social support
• Family violence                               
• Qualitative research        
• Critical theories      

Selected Publications

             Norris, D.& Pickrell-Baker (submitted 2011). The experiences of female partners of

Canadian Forces Veterans Diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In

Proceedings of the 2010 Military and Veteran’s Health Research Forum.

Hennen, B., Norris, D., Poulos, D., Clarke, K., Pyra, K. & Crawley, L. (submitted 2011). Access to and Experiences with Family Doctors by Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities in Nova Scotia. International Journal of Family Medicine.

Norris, D. & Petite, K. (submitted 2010). Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor...mother? Making sense of the competing institutions of motherhood and the military. In S. Belanger and K. Davis (Eds.) Women Leading in Defence: Staking our Claims.

            Norris, D., Fancey, P. Power, E. and Ross, P (forthcoming 2012). The critical-ecological framework: Advancing knowledge, practice, and policy on older adult abuse. Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, Looking Through the Periscope: Understanding the Complexities of Elder Abuse and Neglect in Canada.

             Brannen, C., Petite, K. & Norris, D., Baldwin, C, Corbett, B., & Harding, D. (2007). The

            caregiving, health and work of Canadian Forces (CHAW-CF) research project: Using community-based research methods to influence family and health policy in the Canadian military. Australian Community Psychologist, 19(1).

            Taber, N., Humble, A. & Norris, D. (2006). Cultural convergence and divergence: Conducting a Freirian graduate institute in Jamaica. Convergence, 24(1), pp. 45-60.

            Norris, D.& Dunn, J. (2005). Healthy family/Relationship functioning: The development of a preliminary model. Defence R and D Canada. Centre for Operational Research and Analysis, Department of National Defence Canada.

            Norris, D. (2001). Working them out…working them in: Ideology and the everyday lives of female military partners experiencing the cycle of deployment. Atlantis, 26 (1), pp. 55-64.

Selected Reports

             Norris, D. & Fancey, P. (2008). Family violence: Applying lessons learned to elder abuse.

             Project funded by Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC).

             Norris, D. & Power, E. (2008) Employment 2009: Employment for persons living with an

             intellectual disability. Project funded by the Employment 2009 Steering Committee.

            Brannen, C. Norris, D., Petite, K., Keddy, M. & Grandia, P. (2007). Caregiving, health and work

            of Canadian Forces members: Final report. Submitted to Department of National Defence.

            Norris, D. (2010-11) Mount Saint Vincent University Internal Research Grant

            ($7500) –  Qualitative Determinants of the Health and Social Service Needs of

            Persons with Developmental Disabilities in Three Canadian Regions (Principal

            Investigator).

            Norris, D. (2010-110 Mount Saint Vincent University Internal Research Grant  -

            Assistance to Prepare a Large-Scale Grant ($2500)  Persons with Intellectual

            Disabilities: A Population at Risk in Nova Scotia (Principal Investigator).

            Norris, D., et al. (2007-2011). Persons with Intellectual Disabilities: A Population at Risk in

            Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation. ($144,570) (Principal Investigator).

            Brannen, C. & Norris, D. (2006). Caregiving, Health and Work of Canadian

            Forces Members (Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation ($19,980.00)  (Co-

            Principal Investigator).

            Norris, D.(2007).Identifying the Service Needs of Persons with Intellectual

            Disabilities Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation ($19,343.00) – (Principal Investigator).

             Veterans Diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Military and Veteran’s Health Research Forum, Kingston, Ontario, November 2011.

Norris, D. Persons with intellectual disabilities: A population  at risk in Nova Scotia. Canadian Conference on Developmental Disabilities and Autism. Winnipeg, Manitoba, May, 2011.

Petite, K. & Norris, D. (2010). Tinker, tailor, soldier...mother? Making sense of the competing institutions of motherhood and the military.  Women Leading in Defence: Staking our Claims. Halifax, Nova Scotia, April 9-12, 2010.

Norris, D., MacPherson, K., Flowerdew, G., Hennen, B., Keefe, J., Power, E., and Frenette, P.  What do adults with intellectual disabilities need from health and social services?  18th Annual St. Amant Conference, Intellectual / Developmental Disabilities and Autism, Winnipeg, Manitoba, October 8-9, 2009.

Norris, D., MacPherson, K., Flowerdew, G., Hennen, B., Keefe, J., Power, E., and Frenette, P. Determining the prevalence of persons living with an intellectual disability in Nova Scotia. World Down Syndrome Congress 2009, Dublin, Ireland, August 19-22, 2009.

Norris, D., MacPherson, K., Flowerdew, G., Hennen, B., Keefe, J., Power, E., and Frenette, P. What do adults with intellectual disabilities need from health and social services?  Abstract accepted for presentation at the 18th Annual St. Amant Conference, Intellectual / Developmental Disabilities and Autism, Winnipeg, Manitoba, October 8-9, 2009.

Norris, D., MacPherson, K., Flowerdew, G., Hennen, B., Keefe, J., Power, E., and Frenette, P. Determining the prevalence of persons living with an intellectual disability in Nova Scotia. World Down Syndrome Congress 2009, Dublin, Ireland, August 19-22, 2009.

Frenette P, MacPherson K, Flowerdew G, Norris D, Power E. Exploring a possible relationship between residential setting and health service access by individuals living with intellectual disabilities in Central Nova Scotia.  Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics National Student Conference, Ottawa, Ontario, May 23-24, 2009.

Frenette P, MacPherson K, Flowerdew G, Norris D, Power E. Identifying residential setting specific barriers to accessing health services among individuals living with intellectual disabilities in Central Nova Scotia.  Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine Graduate Student Research Day. Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 12, 2009.

             Brownell, M., Hennon, B., Norris, D., Ouellette-Kuntz, H., & Shooshtari, S. (2008). A review of research in progress from Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia to determine prevalence of developmental disabilities at the population level. Panel presentation at the St. Amant Conference, Developmental Disabilities and Autism, Winnipeg, MB, October 2008.