Jewish South Africans: a sociological view of the Johannesburg community
- Authors: Dubb, Allie A
- Date: 1977
- Subjects: Jews -- South Africa -- Johannesburg Johannesburg (South Africa) -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/1697 , vital:20217 , ISBN 0868102253
- Description: The South African Jewish community is embedded in the wider one of white, mainly English-speaking South Africa in a way in which Eastern European Jews were not, and the individual may decide for himself the nature and extent of his Jewish involvement. In South Africa, then, 'being Jewish' varies within wide limits: it may be little more than an accident of birth minimally affecting a person's behaviour; it may -be expressed primarily in support of Jewish institutions and philanthropies; or it may have much the same connotations as it had in Eastern Europe. What being Jewish means in the South African context and, more specifically, in Johannesburg, is the problem to which the present study is addressed. Its aim is to distinguish the various elements of Jewishness, and to discover the manner in which they find expression among those who regard themselves as Jews. It is a study of identification: that is, of the behaviour, sentiments, beliefs, values and attitudes which derive from, and express identity with, the Jewish group, its culture, religion and peoplehood. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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A study of Jewish identification and commitment in Johannesburg
- Authors: Dubb, Allie A
- Date: 1973
- Subjects: Jews -- South Africa -- Johannesburg Johannesburg (South Africa) -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3362 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011564
- Description: The present study is an investigation of the nature and extent of Jewish identification and commitment in the Johannesburg Jewish Community. Jewish identification is defined as the attitudes and behaviour through which Jews express their identity with each other and with the Jewish group. It is conceived as comprising several dimensions - structural, cultural, religious, etc . - each of which may be assessed in terms of attitudes and/or behaviour. The aim of the study is, in the first place to describe the various dimensions of Jewish identification and to discover relations between them, and between them and other variables. Fieldwork consisted in the administration of a schedule, lasting about an hour, by trained interviewers to a quota sample of Johannesburg Jews. The schedule comprised questions relating to behaviour, attitudes and personal particulars. These data were augmented by several intensive interviews and by interviewers' observations. The final sample consisted of 286 men and women, in almost equal proportions, who had answered affirmatively the initial question, "Are you Jewish?" Five hypotheses were postulated, mainly on the basis of the findings of several previous studies in the United States. Briefly, it was postulated: firstly, that Jews would tend to identify through their attitudes to a greater extent than through actual behaviour; secondly that the area in which identification on the behavioural level was most likely to be manifested, was in patterns of social relations; thirdly, that observance of religious rituals was primarily a manifestation of identification rather than religious commitment ; fourthly; that there was some conflict between the desire to maintain the group and the feeling that barriers between ethnic groups should be minimal; and, finally , that the boundaries of the .Jewish community could be defined most adequately in terms of the relevance to community membership to the allocation of roles rather than in cultural terms. The first hypothesis had to be partially rejected; the remaining four were confirmed by the data. The study comprises eleven Chapters: in the first four, the problem is defined, hypotheses stated and research and sampling methods discussed; in Chapter Five, the demographic background is described, and in Chapters Six to Ten the findings relating to the various dimensions are presented and the hypotheses tested. In the final Chapter, the hypotheses and various specific findings are discussed in relation to their wider theoretical implications, as well as to their possibilities for further research and practical applications.
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The role of the church in an urban African society
- Authors: Dubb, Allie A
- Date: 1961
- Subjects: Bhengu, Nicholas B H, 1909- , Pentecostal churches -- South Africa -- East London
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3361 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011563 , Bhengu, Nicholas B H, 1909- , Pentecostal churches -- South Africa -- East London
- Description: This study is based on research carried out in East London, South Africa during the period September 1957 to August 1959 as an Assistant Research Officer of the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Rhodes University. The study is presented in three parts and its theme, broadly speaking, is the role of the church in an urban African society. In Part I, some aspects of the African Church in East London are discussed in general terms and an attempt was made to relate our own material with the findings of other researchers. Emerging from this discussion we have concluded that the Church could potentially play an important part in combating the social disorganization characteristic of urban locations in South Africa, but that on the whole this potential has not been fully exploited.
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