Women's knowledge and attitudes towards discontinuation of the Long-acting reversible contraceptive (Implanon) in Buffalo City Municipality, South Africa
- Authors: Mrwebi, Khungelwa Patricia
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Contraceptives Birth control Women's health services
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPH
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/11206 , vital:37231
- Description: Unintended pregnancy remains a public health concern worldwide despite the availability of many contraceptives options. The South Africa Government introduced Implanon —a Long-acting Reversible Device— with aim to cost effectively prevent unplanned pregnancy. There are concerns that the implementation of this contraceptive option was without prior piloting to test for level of acceptance and attitude towards this contraception. Also, there is paucity of evidence on knowledge of women and their attitude to implanon as well as duration of use and reasons for discontinuation of implanon in South Africa. The present study address this gap by assessing the women’s knowledge of and attitude to implanon as well as reasons for implanon discontinuation in Buffalo City Municipality in South Africa. This prospective observational study administered a pre-validated questionnaire to 189 women who had removed implanon in the reproductive health clinic in one regional hospital and a primary health centre in Buffalo City Municipality. Descriptive statistics were used to analysis the study data. The average duration for implanon use among the participants was 11.2 months. Most participants had poor knowledge of implanon and implanon knowledge was significantly associated was with age. Most participants opined that implanon use is associated with heavy bleeding (60.7), irregular frequent bleeding (84.3percent), and weight gain (67percent). The main reason for implanon discontinuation was its side effects (71.3 percent). Other reasons for discontinuation of implanon are poor or wrong positioning (3.2percent), want to become pregnant (4.3percent). Some participants discontinued implanon because they were on treatment; 24 participants on ARV drug, one on antipsychotic drugs, and one on TB drugs. Experience of heavy bleeding (39.9percent) was the most stated side of implanon leading to implanon discontinuation. The study concluded that women, even though adopted implanon, lack knowledge of implanon mechanism of action and side effects. Poor knowledge of implanon side effects could explain its early discontinuation among women in South Africa. Provider should prioritise comprehensive counselling of clients on implanon side effects and mechanism of action in order to realise the benefit of implanon in this population.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Mrwebi, Khungelwa Patricia
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Contraceptives Birth control Women's health services
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPH
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/11206 , vital:37231
- Description: Unintended pregnancy remains a public health concern worldwide despite the availability of many contraceptives options. The South Africa Government introduced Implanon —a Long-acting Reversible Device— with aim to cost effectively prevent unplanned pregnancy. There are concerns that the implementation of this contraceptive option was without prior piloting to test for level of acceptance and attitude towards this contraception. Also, there is paucity of evidence on knowledge of women and their attitude to implanon as well as duration of use and reasons for discontinuation of implanon in South Africa. The present study address this gap by assessing the women’s knowledge of and attitude to implanon as well as reasons for implanon discontinuation in Buffalo City Municipality in South Africa. This prospective observational study administered a pre-validated questionnaire to 189 women who had removed implanon in the reproductive health clinic in one regional hospital and a primary health centre in Buffalo City Municipality. Descriptive statistics were used to analysis the study data. The average duration for implanon use among the participants was 11.2 months. Most participants had poor knowledge of implanon and implanon knowledge was significantly associated was with age. Most participants opined that implanon use is associated with heavy bleeding (60.7), irregular frequent bleeding (84.3percent), and weight gain (67percent). The main reason for implanon discontinuation was its side effects (71.3 percent). Other reasons for discontinuation of implanon are poor or wrong positioning (3.2percent), want to become pregnant (4.3percent). Some participants discontinued implanon because they were on treatment; 24 participants on ARV drug, one on antipsychotic drugs, and one on TB drugs. Experience of heavy bleeding (39.9percent) was the most stated side of implanon leading to implanon discontinuation. The study concluded that women, even though adopted implanon, lack knowledge of implanon mechanism of action and side effects. Poor knowledge of implanon side effects could explain its early discontinuation among women in South Africa. Provider should prioritise comprehensive counselling of clients on implanon side effects and mechanism of action in order to realise the benefit of implanon in this population.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Women’s participation in Kwasa vegetable garden project in Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Blauw, Thandiwe
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Women in development , Economic development projects Community gardens -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23591 , vital:30584
- Description: Poverty is one of the major challenges faced by South Africa today, even after twenty three years of being a democratic country. A majority of South Africa’s population still lives below poverty line and the most affected are women and children. The alleviation of poverty is one of the priorities for the government, and the communities where the poor live engage in projects that support poverty alleviation while on the same breath also helps with skills development and financial freedom. In this research study, the researcher has investigated the impact of women participation on urban agriculture project by means of a vegetable garden to alleviate poverty at Kwasa Project in Walmer Township. The research has followed a qualitative approach which included individual interviews using an interview schedule. To supplement the above, secondary relevant scholarly sources were consulted. The objectives of the research were outlined which include the investigation of the challenges facing the Kwasa Project in Walmer Township. In the final analysis, the researcher has provided recommendations with the view of resolving some of the problems discovered during the interviews.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Blauw, Thandiwe
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Women in development , Economic development projects Community gardens -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23591 , vital:30584
- Description: Poverty is one of the major challenges faced by South Africa today, even after twenty three years of being a democratic country. A majority of South Africa’s population still lives below poverty line and the most affected are women and children. The alleviation of poverty is one of the priorities for the government, and the communities where the poor live engage in projects that support poverty alleviation while on the same breath also helps with skills development and financial freedom. In this research study, the researcher has investigated the impact of women participation on urban agriculture project by means of a vegetable garden to alleviate poverty at Kwasa Project in Walmer Township. The research has followed a qualitative approach which included individual interviews using an interview schedule. To supplement the above, secondary relevant scholarly sources were consulted. The objectives of the research were outlined which include the investigation of the challenges facing the Kwasa Project in Walmer Township. In the final analysis, the researcher has provided recommendations with the view of resolving some of the problems discovered during the interviews.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Women’s perceptions of successful financial retirement planning
- Authors: Durrheim, Meghan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Women -- Retirement -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Retirement -- Planning , Retirement income -- Planning , Women -- Finance, Personal , Retired women -- Finance, Personal , Regression analysis
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60339 , vital:27771
- Description: Financial retirement planning is an important component in ensuring that individuals accumulate sufficient wealth for retirement. Previous research suggests that many individuals are unable to accumulate sufficient wealth for retirement with the problem being particularly acute for women as they tend to spend less time planning financially for retirement when compared to men. Consequently, many women are unable to accumulate sufficient wealth for retirement. Despite the growing need to investigate women’s financial retirement planning, much research tends to focus on financial retirement planning for males. Consequently, there is a growing need to investigate women’s perceptions of successful financial retirement planning, particularly in Grahamstown. After conducting an in-depth literature study and using the study done by Doa (2014), six independent variables were identified: values, time horizon, attitudes, working life-cycle, risk tolerance and financial literacy. These independent variables were identified as factors which could potentially influence women’s perceptions of successful financial retirement planning. A set of hypothesis were formulated to test the relationship between these independent variables and the dependent variable (women’s perceptions of successful financial retirement planning). The study comprised of 101 participants. A principle component analysis was performed to determine the key variables, with the relevant independent factors being renamed: cultural values, personal values, affective attitudes, time horizon knowledge, time horizon consideration, risk tolerance, financial literacy. An ordinal logit regression analysis was then conducted on these renamed variables to determine the influence of these key independent variables on the dependent variable. After controlling for a set of demographic variables the results of the ordinal logit regression analysis revealed that only affective attitudes, time horizon knowledge, and personal values had a significant relationship with women’s perceptions of successful financial retirement planning. Cronbach’s alpha revealed that the measuring instrument of the significant extracted factors was reliable, while Pearson product moment was used to determine correlations between extracted key independent variables and the dependent variable. The investigation into women’s perceptions of successful financial retirement planning enabled insightful information to be gathered which adds to the body of knowledge. In addition, recommendations were formulated in an attempt to assist women when making financial retirement decisions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Durrheim, Meghan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Women -- Retirement -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Retirement -- Planning , Retirement income -- Planning , Women -- Finance, Personal , Retired women -- Finance, Personal , Regression analysis
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60339 , vital:27771
- Description: Financial retirement planning is an important component in ensuring that individuals accumulate sufficient wealth for retirement. Previous research suggests that many individuals are unable to accumulate sufficient wealth for retirement with the problem being particularly acute for women as they tend to spend less time planning financially for retirement when compared to men. Consequently, many women are unable to accumulate sufficient wealth for retirement. Despite the growing need to investigate women’s financial retirement planning, much research tends to focus on financial retirement planning for males. Consequently, there is a growing need to investigate women’s perceptions of successful financial retirement planning, particularly in Grahamstown. After conducting an in-depth literature study and using the study done by Doa (2014), six independent variables were identified: values, time horizon, attitudes, working life-cycle, risk tolerance and financial literacy. These independent variables were identified as factors which could potentially influence women’s perceptions of successful financial retirement planning. A set of hypothesis were formulated to test the relationship between these independent variables and the dependent variable (women’s perceptions of successful financial retirement planning). The study comprised of 101 participants. A principle component analysis was performed to determine the key variables, with the relevant independent factors being renamed: cultural values, personal values, affective attitudes, time horizon knowledge, time horizon consideration, risk tolerance, financial literacy. An ordinal logit regression analysis was then conducted on these renamed variables to determine the influence of these key independent variables on the dependent variable. After controlling for a set of demographic variables the results of the ordinal logit regression analysis revealed that only affective attitudes, time horizon knowledge, and personal values had a significant relationship with women’s perceptions of successful financial retirement planning. Cronbach’s alpha revealed that the measuring instrument of the significant extracted factors was reliable, while Pearson product moment was used to determine correlations between extracted key independent variables and the dependent variable. The investigation into women’s perceptions of successful financial retirement planning enabled insightful information to be gathered which adds to the body of knowledge. In addition, recommendations were formulated in an attempt to assist women when making financial retirement decisions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Woody plant encroachment in arid and mesic South African savanna-grasslands: same picture, different story?
- Authors: Skowno, Andrew Luke
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Savanna ecology South Africa Eastern Cape , Remote sensing , Woody plants South Africa Eastern Cape , Grasslands South Africa Eastern Cape , Plant invasions South Africa Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62603 , vital:28212
- Description: Woody plant encroachment in South Africa’s savanna-grasslands has been considered a rangeland management problem since the early 1900s. This phenomenon, which has been observed globally, is particularly important in Africa given the extent of tropical grassy biomes on the continent and their importance for rural livelihoods. In this study, local and regional scale approaches were used to investigate woody cover change in South Africa across the important savanna-grassland rainfall threshold of 650 mm mean annual precipitation (MAP). The aim was to test this threshold using remote sensing and demographic surveys in order to better understand the patterns, mechanisms and drivers of encroachment. Rates of encroachment and population demographics of Vachelia karroo were compared at arid and mesic savanna sites in the Eastern Cape, using time-series analysis of historical aerial photographs in conjunction with field surveys. Changes in the extent of woodland vs. grassland were then quantified at a national scale (1990-2013) by combining optical and synthetic aperture radar remote sensing data. This produced the first map of woodland- grassland shifts for South Africa and provided the basis for a spatially explicit investigation of the key drivers of change. The local studies revealed higher rates of encroachment at mesic sites than at arid sites, with a correlation between drought and rate of encroachment at the arid site. Vachelia karroo seedlings and stunted saplings were more prevalent at mesic sites than at arid sites and the growth form of adult trees differed significantly between sites. The national remote sensing investigation showed that woodland replaced grassland in over 5% of South Africa’s savanna- grasslands between 1990 and 2014, at rates consistent with other global and regional studies. Spatially explicit models showed a pattern of incremental expansion of woodland along a ‘tree front’ and complex relationships between woodland increase and fire, rainfall, terrain ruggedness and temperature. Overall, the local and regional scale findings of this work highlight the importance of the savanna rainfall threshold (~650 mm MAP) and the presence / absence of fire in understanding savanna dynamics and woody cover change in the context of global drivers such as elevated atmospheric CO2.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Skowno, Andrew Luke
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Savanna ecology South Africa Eastern Cape , Remote sensing , Woody plants South Africa Eastern Cape , Grasslands South Africa Eastern Cape , Plant invasions South Africa Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62603 , vital:28212
- Description: Woody plant encroachment in South Africa’s savanna-grasslands has been considered a rangeland management problem since the early 1900s. This phenomenon, which has been observed globally, is particularly important in Africa given the extent of tropical grassy biomes on the continent and their importance for rural livelihoods. In this study, local and regional scale approaches were used to investigate woody cover change in South Africa across the important savanna-grassland rainfall threshold of 650 mm mean annual precipitation (MAP). The aim was to test this threshold using remote sensing and demographic surveys in order to better understand the patterns, mechanisms and drivers of encroachment. Rates of encroachment and population demographics of Vachelia karroo were compared at arid and mesic savanna sites in the Eastern Cape, using time-series analysis of historical aerial photographs in conjunction with field surveys. Changes in the extent of woodland vs. grassland were then quantified at a national scale (1990-2013) by combining optical and synthetic aperture radar remote sensing data. This produced the first map of woodland- grassland shifts for South Africa and provided the basis for a spatially explicit investigation of the key drivers of change. The local studies revealed higher rates of encroachment at mesic sites than at arid sites, with a correlation between drought and rate of encroachment at the arid site. Vachelia karroo seedlings and stunted saplings were more prevalent at mesic sites than at arid sites and the growth form of adult trees differed significantly between sites. The national remote sensing investigation showed that woodland replaced grassland in over 5% of South Africa’s savanna- grasslands between 1990 and 2014, at rates consistent with other global and regional studies. Spatially explicit models showed a pattern of incremental expansion of woodland along a ‘tree front’ and complex relationships between woodland increase and fire, rainfall, terrain ruggedness and temperature. Overall, the local and regional scale findings of this work highlight the importance of the savanna rainfall threshold (~650 mm MAP) and the presence / absence of fire in understanding savanna dynamics and woody cover change in the context of global drivers such as elevated atmospheric CO2.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Worker participation and involvement in a Zimbabwean mining environment
- Authors: Nyamahowa, Takudzwa Frank
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Management -- Employee participation -- Zimbabwe , Industrial relations -- Zimbabwe Industrial sociology -- Zimbabwe Job satisfaction Work environment -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/34432 , vital:33378
- Description: Harmonious work relations can be achieved when worker involvement and participation structures are used effectively to ensure that workers‟ interests and rights are addressed. Literature has established the relationship between employee participation and worker satisfaction with working conditions. However, the extent to which employees are happy at work is also affected by their social and living conditions. It is therefore important to know the worker levels of satisfaction with participation on issues that affect them, and if the channels are being used to create an enabling environment. The objective of the study was to look at the influence employee participation has on worker satisfaction with work-life and workers satisfaction with social and living conditions, and the relationship between worker satisfaction with work-life and satisfaction with social and living conditions. The research questions were structured around this premise. The research was quantitative and used a 5-Likert scale using the three factors of employee participation, social and living conditions, and working life. The major findings revealed that there is strong relationship between worker satisfaction with employee participation and worker satisfaction with working life. Social and living conditions through an Exploratory Factor Analysis divided into exterior and interior social and living conditions. Working life was strongly correlated with interior social and living conditions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Nyamahowa, Takudzwa Frank
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Management -- Employee participation -- Zimbabwe , Industrial relations -- Zimbabwe Industrial sociology -- Zimbabwe Job satisfaction Work environment -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/34432 , vital:33378
- Description: Harmonious work relations can be achieved when worker involvement and participation structures are used effectively to ensure that workers‟ interests and rights are addressed. Literature has established the relationship between employee participation and worker satisfaction with working conditions. However, the extent to which employees are happy at work is also affected by their social and living conditions. It is therefore important to know the worker levels of satisfaction with participation on issues that affect them, and if the channels are being used to create an enabling environment. The objective of the study was to look at the influence employee participation has on worker satisfaction with work-life and workers satisfaction with social and living conditions, and the relationship between worker satisfaction with work-life and satisfaction with social and living conditions. The research questions were structured around this premise. The research was quantitative and used a 5-Likert scale using the three factors of employee participation, social and living conditions, and working life. The major findings revealed that there is strong relationship between worker satisfaction with employee participation and worker satisfaction with working life. Social and living conditions through an Exploratory Factor Analysis divided into exterior and interior social and living conditions. Working life was strongly correlated with interior social and living conditions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Young adults’ perceptions of the psychosocial factors impacting upon self-disclosure online
- Authors: Edwards, Megan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Self-disclosure , Young adults -- psychological aspects Interpersonal relations
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/29882 , vital:30788
- Description: Online communication has become a universal phenomenon, and a significant consequence of computer mediated communication (CMC) is the influence it has on self-disclosure. The aim of the present study was to explore and describe young adults’ perceptions of online self-disclosure, specifically what young adults’ self-disclose online and what psychosocial factors impact upon self-disclosure online. Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory and the Johari Window were utilised as the theoretical framework of the study. The present study utilised a qualitative approach and was exploratory and descriptive in design. The sample size of the present study was 13, and semi-structured interviews were utilised as the method of data collection. The data obtained was analysed using thematic analysis, as outlined by Braun and Clarke. Six main themes were identified, namely Types of Online Experience, Online Self-disclosure, Information Disclosed Online, Differences between Online and Offline Self-disclosure, Privacy and Online Regrets. The findings of the present study will generate a better understanding of young adults’ online self-disclosure and can be utilised for future research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Edwards, Megan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Self-disclosure , Young adults -- psychological aspects Interpersonal relations
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/29882 , vital:30788
- Description: Online communication has become a universal phenomenon, and a significant consequence of computer mediated communication (CMC) is the influence it has on self-disclosure. The aim of the present study was to explore and describe young adults’ perceptions of online self-disclosure, specifically what young adults’ self-disclose online and what psychosocial factors impact upon self-disclosure online. Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory and the Johari Window were utilised as the theoretical framework of the study. The present study utilised a qualitative approach and was exploratory and descriptive in design. The sample size of the present study was 13, and semi-structured interviews were utilised as the method of data collection. The data obtained was analysed using thematic analysis, as outlined by Braun and Clarke. Six main themes were identified, namely Types of Online Experience, Online Self-disclosure, Information Disclosed Online, Differences between Online and Offline Self-disclosure, Privacy and Online Regrets. The findings of the present study will generate a better understanding of young adults’ online self-disclosure and can be utilised for future research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Young men’s talk about menstruation and hegemonic masculinity in the South African context: a discursive analysis
- Authors: Glover, Jonathan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Menstruation -- Social aspects -- -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Hegemony -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Masculinity -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sex role -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Men -- Attitudes , Men -- Psychology , Human body -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Men's studies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60244 , vital:27758
- Description: Current research in the sub-Saharan and other resource poor contexts indicates the largely negative social constructions of menstruation and menstruating women. Young men have been shown to reproduce these negative constructions and reinforce the stigmatized status of menstruation in these contexts. To my knowledge no studies have examined the ways in which young men talk about menstruation and menstruating women in South Africa. In this research, I aimed to explore the ways in which young men (in a resource poor area in the Eastern Cape) talk about menstruation in with their male peers in a focus group context and how this talk serves to enable specific subject positions (both masculine and feminine) that may reproduce, comply with and resist constructions of hegemonic masculinity (as outlined in previous South African research). By drawing on Raewyn Connell’s influential framework of masculinities and augmenting this with Margaret Wetherell and Nigel Edley’s contributions, this research adds to the growing body of research on masculinities in the South African context. I utilized a discursive framework in which to understand the interpretative repertoires drawn on in everyday talk about menstruation and the specific subject positions made available by these. Purposive sampling was used to recruit a total of 37 participants from two former Department of Education and Training schools in the Eastern Cape. Participants were young ‘black’ men with a mean age of 18.3 In analyzing and interpreting the data two overarching patterns emerged. In the first, the participants discursively distanced themselves from menstruation (and femininity in general) in order to avoid possible marginalisation and subordination in relation to local hegemonic masculine ideals. In doing this, the participants drew on a number of interpretative repertoires including: a dualistic repertoire, a bad (versus ideal) femininity repertoire and an abject femininity repertoire, which assisted in creating numerous subject positions. These subject positions allowed the young men to align themselves closer to hegemonic masculine ideals, and create distance by positioning menstruating women as the ‘other’. In the second overarching pattern, menstruation was constructed as a threat to masculine identity; within this construction, the young men discursively negotiated the ideological dilemmas surrounding this ‘highly feminine’ topic in ways that bolstered their positions within the gender hierarchy. Overall, hegemonic masculinities in this context were discursively reproduced and complied with in the participants’ accounts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Glover, Jonathan
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Menstruation -- Social aspects -- -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Hegemony -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Masculinity -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sex role -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Men -- Attitudes , Men -- Psychology , Human body -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Men's studies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60244 , vital:27758
- Description: Current research in the sub-Saharan and other resource poor contexts indicates the largely negative social constructions of menstruation and menstruating women. Young men have been shown to reproduce these negative constructions and reinforce the stigmatized status of menstruation in these contexts. To my knowledge no studies have examined the ways in which young men talk about menstruation and menstruating women in South Africa. In this research, I aimed to explore the ways in which young men (in a resource poor area in the Eastern Cape) talk about menstruation in with their male peers in a focus group context and how this talk serves to enable specific subject positions (both masculine and feminine) that may reproduce, comply with and resist constructions of hegemonic masculinity (as outlined in previous South African research). By drawing on Raewyn Connell’s influential framework of masculinities and augmenting this with Margaret Wetherell and Nigel Edley’s contributions, this research adds to the growing body of research on masculinities in the South African context. I utilized a discursive framework in which to understand the interpretative repertoires drawn on in everyday talk about menstruation and the specific subject positions made available by these. Purposive sampling was used to recruit a total of 37 participants from two former Department of Education and Training schools in the Eastern Cape. Participants were young ‘black’ men with a mean age of 18.3 In analyzing and interpreting the data two overarching patterns emerged. In the first, the participants discursively distanced themselves from menstruation (and femininity in general) in order to avoid possible marginalisation and subordination in relation to local hegemonic masculine ideals. In doing this, the participants drew on a number of interpretative repertoires including: a dualistic repertoire, a bad (versus ideal) femininity repertoire and an abject femininity repertoire, which assisted in creating numerous subject positions. These subject positions allowed the young men to align themselves closer to hegemonic masculine ideals, and create distance by positioning menstruating women as the ‘other’. In the second overarching pattern, menstruation was constructed as a threat to masculine identity; within this construction, the young men discursively negotiated the ideological dilemmas surrounding this ‘highly feminine’ topic in ways that bolstered their positions within the gender hierarchy. Overall, hegemonic masculinities in this context were discursively reproduced and complied with in the participants’ accounts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Zooming in: an ethnographic study of visual journalism for smartphones - journalistic roles and routines at South Africa’s largest graphics unit, Graphics24
- Authors: Gouws, Andries Jacobus
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Journalism -- Technological innovations -- South Africa , Smartphones , Visual communication -- Digital techniques , News Web sites -- South Africa , Online journalism -- South Africa , Information visualization , Graphic arts , Graphics24 , Netwerk24
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63154 , vital:28368
- Description: This study examines the changing roles of graphics journalists in the digital era at Graphics24, the largest information graphics newsroom in South Africa, in the context of their work for Netwerk24, an online news site published in Afrikaans with a strong focus on mobile-first news. The study examines the discursive construction of these new journalistic roles in the digital era where even the core conceptualisation of what journalism is, is being re-examined. It considers external factors affecting the discourse of change, drawing on a hierarchy of influences analytical model, as well as norms specific to the creation of information graphics. Data for this study was gathered by using ethnographic immersion and semi-structured interviews. This study specifically looks at graphics journalists working in a mobile-first environment, and how the pressures of producing information graphics for consumption on smartphones affects their roles. Evidence of two widely differing discourses in the Graphics24 and Netwerk24 newsrooms was found. Visual journalists in this study have created a discourse around being distinct “service providers”, rather than mobile-first journalists, who do not see the need for full integration in the fast-paced mobile news environment of Netwerk24. Word-centric journalists have, by contrast, created a mobile-first discourse. They experience the separateness of the graphics team as a barrier that impedes the creation of good information graphics for mobile phone consumption. Although this is a very localised study in a very particular context, this study contributes to broader thinking in what is a very under-researched field: The changing roles of visual journalists in the digital era and the discursive construction of these roles. The study suggests that even in the digital era where the definition of newsrooms has become much more fluid and less fixed physically, ethnographic methods can still offer a meaningful way to explore journalistic roles.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Gouws, Andries Jacobus
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Journalism -- Technological innovations -- South Africa , Smartphones , Visual communication -- Digital techniques , News Web sites -- South Africa , Online journalism -- South Africa , Information visualization , Graphic arts , Graphics24 , Netwerk24
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63154 , vital:28368
- Description: This study examines the changing roles of graphics journalists in the digital era at Graphics24, the largest information graphics newsroom in South Africa, in the context of their work for Netwerk24, an online news site published in Afrikaans with a strong focus on mobile-first news. The study examines the discursive construction of these new journalistic roles in the digital era where even the core conceptualisation of what journalism is, is being re-examined. It considers external factors affecting the discourse of change, drawing on a hierarchy of influences analytical model, as well as norms specific to the creation of information graphics. Data for this study was gathered by using ethnographic immersion and semi-structured interviews. This study specifically looks at graphics journalists working in a mobile-first environment, and how the pressures of producing information graphics for consumption on smartphones affects their roles. Evidence of two widely differing discourses in the Graphics24 and Netwerk24 newsrooms was found. Visual journalists in this study have created a discourse around being distinct “service providers”, rather than mobile-first journalists, who do not see the need for full integration in the fast-paced mobile news environment of Netwerk24. Word-centric journalists have, by contrast, created a mobile-first discourse. They experience the separateness of the graphics team as a barrier that impedes the creation of good information graphics for mobile phone consumption. Although this is a very localised study in a very particular context, this study contributes to broader thinking in what is a very under-researched field: The changing roles of visual journalists in the digital era and the discursive construction of these roles. The study suggests that even in the digital era where the definition of newsrooms has become much more fluid and less fixed physically, ethnographic methods can still offer a meaningful way to explore journalistic roles.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
“But darkness was here yesterday”: an examination of travel writing and colonial narrative constructions of Africa within its sub-genres across three centuries
- Authors: Halgreen, Wesley John
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Postcolonialism in literature , Modernism (Literature) -- Africa Literature and society -- Africa English literature African literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/22156 , vital:29864
- Description: This study analyses the modern twenty-first century travel writing of Paul Theroux’s Dark Star Safari (2003) to reveal its sustained impetus towards colonial discursive constructions of Africa. In doing so, it will examine the continuation of colonial methods and techniques of literary representation in travel texts by illustrating the early ‘images’ of Africa and Africans as they appear in Henry M. Stanley’s non-fictional travel text Through the Dark Continent (1878) and Joseph Conrad’s fictional travel novella Heart of Darkness (1899). With the purpose of producing a critical literary analysis, this study will employ discourse analysis to interrogate the implications of the continued employment of colonial rhetoric and language by Theroux in his representations and portrayals of Africa and African citizens. It has been found that there is an unproblematised acceptance – even reverie – of colonial sentiment and nostalgia evident in representations of Africa in modern travel literature. Literary representations of this nature continue to portray Africa as the ‘savage’, ‘backward’, ‘violent’ and ‘inferior’ continent that it had signified to travel writers during the colonial epoch. Africans, as they are portrayed in this narrative tradition, are ascribed the same denotations where their subjectivities, individualities, cultures, beliefs, ideologies and personhood are encapsulated under the conceptualisation of ‘darkness’ that signifies ‘African’ as inferior to the West, Europe and North America, and therefore subject to derogation. By demonstrating the violent and damaging nature of these representations, as they remain in twenty-first century travel literature, this dissertation hopes to initiate a dialogue around the genre’s preservation of preconceptions and prejudices that continue to plague Africa and its people. This is possible through literary critique that exposes dated colonial racism and prejudice that appears in the travel literature of the post-independent age in which we now find ourselves.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Halgreen, Wesley John
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Postcolonialism in literature , Modernism (Literature) -- Africa Literature and society -- Africa English literature African literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/22156 , vital:29864
- Description: This study analyses the modern twenty-first century travel writing of Paul Theroux’s Dark Star Safari (2003) to reveal its sustained impetus towards colonial discursive constructions of Africa. In doing so, it will examine the continuation of colonial methods and techniques of literary representation in travel texts by illustrating the early ‘images’ of Africa and Africans as they appear in Henry M. Stanley’s non-fictional travel text Through the Dark Continent (1878) and Joseph Conrad’s fictional travel novella Heart of Darkness (1899). With the purpose of producing a critical literary analysis, this study will employ discourse analysis to interrogate the implications of the continued employment of colonial rhetoric and language by Theroux in his representations and portrayals of Africa and African citizens. It has been found that there is an unproblematised acceptance – even reverie – of colonial sentiment and nostalgia evident in representations of Africa in modern travel literature. Literary representations of this nature continue to portray Africa as the ‘savage’, ‘backward’, ‘violent’ and ‘inferior’ continent that it had signified to travel writers during the colonial epoch. Africans, as they are portrayed in this narrative tradition, are ascribed the same denotations where their subjectivities, individualities, cultures, beliefs, ideologies and personhood are encapsulated under the conceptualisation of ‘darkness’ that signifies ‘African’ as inferior to the West, Europe and North America, and therefore subject to derogation. By demonstrating the violent and damaging nature of these representations, as they remain in twenty-first century travel literature, this dissertation hopes to initiate a dialogue around the genre’s preservation of preconceptions and prejudices that continue to plague Africa and its people. This is possible through literary critique that exposes dated colonial racism and prejudice that appears in the travel literature of the post-independent age in which we now find ourselves.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
“Don’t forget to be awesome”: the role of social learning as a component of belonging in virtual communities: a case study of the Youtube fan community “Nerdfighteria”
- Authors: Steenkamp, Elri Colleen
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Nerdfighteria (Online) , Social learning , Online social networks , Belonging (Social psychology) , Communities of practice , YouTube (Firm)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63753 , vital:28484
- Description: The growth of the Internet has allowed fans who consume various media products, to interact and convene with other who share similar interests in online fan communities. Historically the study of fans has focused on pleasure and enjoyment as the main motivating factors why individual fans join, stay and participate in fan communities. This study, however, suggests that learning as a component of belonging has been underestimated within contemporary fan studies. Close examination of the literature of fan studies and the social practices of online fan communities reveal that these spaces may serve as fertile spaces for learning and the sharing of knowledge. Daily learning occurs within multiple spheres, including personal interests, peer culture, and academic content; all elements which can be found within fan communities. This study used the social learning theory “communities of practice” (CoP) model developed by Wenger (1998) to understand of this element of learning and knowledge sharing that seems to take places within fan communities. This study explores learning as a component of belonging to online fan communities by using the fan community of the YouTube personalities Vlogbrothers, which has named itself Nerdfighteria, as a case study. Through a qualitative research approach, which includes participation observation methods and qualitative interviews, this thesis has analysed the fan community Nerdfighteria, and used two Nerdfighter fan Facebook groups, the global NERDFIGHTEIRIA and local Nerdfighters South Africa, as case studies to evaluate whether the elements of learning taking place within these spaces serves as a motivating factor for belonging and participation. The results of this research support the idea that learning plays a role within the fan community Nerdfighteria and thus that it functions as a CoP. Fans within the global NERDFIGHTERIA Facebook group use this fan space to discuss and debate content related to their media of choice; thereby learning and acquiring knowledge as a CoP. The Nerdfighters South Africa Facebook group, despite the learning potential, fails to function as a CoP because it is no longer functionally allows for shared learning. Online fan communities, this research found, have the potential to serve as functioning communities of practice (CoP) only if they embody the characteristics and practicalities consistent with a learning space. Overall these fan groups may be categorised as communities of interests but sub-sections within these communities fit the criteria of a community of practice due to the kind of learning that is taking place. This research supports an alternative, yet promising, approach to the study of fan online communities which prioritises learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Steenkamp, Elri Colleen
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Nerdfighteria (Online) , Social learning , Online social networks , Belonging (Social psychology) , Communities of practice , YouTube (Firm)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63753 , vital:28484
- Description: The growth of the Internet has allowed fans who consume various media products, to interact and convene with other who share similar interests in online fan communities. Historically the study of fans has focused on pleasure and enjoyment as the main motivating factors why individual fans join, stay and participate in fan communities. This study, however, suggests that learning as a component of belonging has been underestimated within contemporary fan studies. Close examination of the literature of fan studies and the social practices of online fan communities reveal that these spaces may serve as fertile spaces for learning and the sharing of knowledge. Daily learning occurs within multiple spheres, including personal interests, peer culture, and academic content; all elements which can be found within fan communities. This study used the social learning theory “communities of practice” (CoP) model developed by Wenger (1998) to understand of this element of learning and knowledge sharing that seems to take places within fan communities. This study explores learning as a component of belonging to online fan communities by using the fan community of the YouTube personalities Vlogbrothers, which has named itself Nerdfighteria, as a case study. Through a qualitative research approach, which includes participation observation methods and qualitative interviews, this thesis has analysed the fan community Nerdfighteria, and used two Nerdfighter fan Facebook groups, the global NERDFIGHTEIRIA and local Nerdfighters South Africa, as case studies to evaluate whether the elements of learning taking place within these spaces serves as a motivating factor for belonging and participation. The results of this research support the idea that learning plays a role within the fan community Nerdfighteria and thus that it functions as a CoP. Fans within the global NERDFIGHTERIA Facebook group use this fan space to discuss and debate content related to their media of choice; thereby learning and acquiring knowledge as a CoP. The Nerdfighters South Africa Facebook group, despite the learning potential, fails to function as a CoP because it is no longer functionally allows for shared learning. Online fan communities, this research found, have the potential to serve as functioning communities of practice (CoP) only if they embody the characteristics and practicalities consistent with a learning space. Overall these fan groups may be categorised as communities of interests but sub-sections within these communities fit the criteria of a community of practice due to the kind of learning that is taking place. This research supports an alternative, yet promising, approach to the study of fan online communities which prioritises learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
“Forgetting Ntaba kaNdoda”: reciting performative memories at the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument
- Authors: Mama, Luthando Vukile James
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Memorialization , Collective memory in art , Memorials in art , Memorials -- South Africa -- Dimbaza , Imperialism in art , Ntaba kaNdoda Monument (Dimbaza, South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63866 , vital:28499
- Description: “Forgetting Ntaba kaNdoda”: Reciting Performative Memories at the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument serves as a theoretical examination of the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument as a commemorative marker. My mini-thesis unpacks the notions of memory and performative memorialisation at a nationalist memorial in the former Ciskei by examining the concepts of place, memory and memorialisation, which are theoretically integral in my professional practice. This research initiates an investigation into the effects on memory in a situation where the construction of the Monument disrupted an efficacious memorialisation by the communities of Ntaba kaNdoda. In my accompanying MFA exhibition Forgetting Ntaba kaNdoda, I explore notions of place, memory and memorialisation through installations of a variety of photographic processes that are based on what I call ‘de-monumental’ and performative monuments (Widrich2014). The written component of my MFA submission relates directly to my professional art practice, developing and situating it within a relevant context. In my mini-thesis, I consider photographers working with notions of place, memory and memorialisation. Lebohang Kganye and Nassim Rouchiche’s works retrace and recall past memory in the present, while David Goldblatt and Cedric Nunn, who have photographed the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument, point the viewer to the values and histories of the communities most affected by colonialism and apartheid. These photographers’ works operate as mnemonic devices that seek to translate a lived experience at a particular place. I use Widrich’s (2009; 2014) conception of “performative monuments”, Lippard’s (1997) “sense of place” and Nora’s (1989) “lieu[x] de mémoire” and “milieux de mémoire” in approaching my professional art practice and my research into the Ntaba kaNdoda memorial. Using these entwining nodes of theories in formulating what I term ‘demonumentalisation’ in my photography practice at the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument, my photography functions as both performative memorialisation and de-monumentalisation. Remembrance, using photography as a vehicle to represent this notion at Ntaba kaNdoda, transcends the materiality of the Monument. My exhibition, in conjunction with this mini-thesis, therefore reframes and reconfigures theNtaba kaNdoda Monument as a multiplex memory place.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Mama, Luthando Vukile James
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Memorialization , Collective memory in art , Memorials in art , Memorials -- South Africa -- Dimbaza , Imperialism in art , Ntaba kaNdoda Monument (Dimbaza, South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63866 , vital:28499
- Description: “Forgetting Ntaba kaNdoda”: Reciting Performative Memories at the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument serves as a theoretical examination of the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument as a commemorative marker. My mini-thesis unpacks the notions of memory and performative memorialisation at a nationalist memorial in the former Ciskei by examining the concepts of place, memory and memorialisation, which are theoretically integral in my professional practice. This research initiates an investigation into the effects on memory in a situation where the construction of the Monument disrupted an efficacious memorialisation by the communities of Ntaba kaNdoda. In my accompanying MFA exhibition Forgetting Ntaba kaNdoda, I explore notions of place, memory and memorialisation through installations of a variety of photographic processes that are based on what I call ‘de-monumental’ and performative monuments (Widrich2014). The written component of my MFA submission relates directly to my professional art practice, developing and situating it within a relevant context. In my mini-thesis, I consider photographers working with notions of place, memory and memorialisation. Lebohang Kganye and Nassim Rouchiche’s works retrace and recall past memory in the present, while David Goldblatt and Cedric Nunn, who have photographed the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument, point the viewer to the values and histories of the communities most affected by colonialism and apartheid. These photographers’ works operate as mnemonic devices that seek to translate a lived experience at a particular place. I use Widrich’s (2009; 2014) conception of “performative monuments”, Lippard’s (1997) “sense of place” and Nora’s (1989) “lieu[x] de mémoire” and “milieux de mémoire” in approaching my professional art practice and my research into the Ntaba kaNdoda memorial. Using these entwining nodes of theories in formulating what I term ‘demonumentalisation’ in my photography practice at the Ntaba kaNdoda Monument, my photography functions as both performative memorialisation and de-monumentalisation. Remembrance, using photography as a vehicle to represent this notion at Ntaba kaNdoda, transcends the materiality of the Monument. My exhibition, in conjunction with this mini-thesis, therefore reframes and reconfigures theNtaba kaNdoda Monument as a multiplex memory place.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
“We are white”: oral tradition, documented history and molecular biology of Xhosa clans descended from non-African forebears and their expression of this ancestry through the idiom of ancestor religion
- Authors: Hayward, Janet M
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Clans -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Patrilineal kinship -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Xhosa (African people) -- Genealogy , Oral history -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Genetic genealogy , Xhosa (African people) -- Rites and ceremonies , Xhosa (African people) -- Race identity
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62939 , vital:28312
- Description: Xhosa clan membership is symbolised by a clan-name (isiduko) and passed along the male line from father to son. This social indicator has a biological counterpart in Y chromosome DNA that passes through successive generations in the patriline. Both relate specifically to a distant patrilineal forebear or apical ancestor. The present study has involved the collection and documentation of oral-historical information relating to the descent of certain Cape Nguni clans from non-African forebears and (where possible) a review of documented accounts of such origins. The research has also included collection of buccal cells from male research participants and analysis of their Y chromosome DNA. This method indicates whether a man’s patrilineal forebear lived in Africa. Otherwise, it indicates the broad geographical region from which he originated, hence providing an additional, independent source of information relating to ancestry that can confirm or challenge claims made based on oral history. Ethnographic research into the performance of distinctive ancestor rituals by clan members explores the continuing relevance of foreign ancestry in the contemporary context of rural communities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The study heeds calls for the decolonisation of scholarship in various ways: methodologically, through transdisciplinary research; ontologically, by questioning the utility of the nature: culture and related dichotomies; and epistemologically, because instead of relying entirely on the western academic tradition, it takes account of other modes of knowledge production. In rejection of the notion that only one side of history is true, it records multiple voices – those of the powerful but also the ordinary. The study deals with race and racial identification, but confirms the superficiality of these constructed differences by offering evidence of their submergence in the unifying power of kinship and descent.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Hayward, Janet M
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Clans -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Patrilineal kinship -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Xhosa (African people) -- Genealogy , Oral history -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Genetic genealogy , Xhosa (African people) -- Rites and ceremonies , Xhosa (African people) -- Race identity
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62939 , vital:28312
- Description: Xhosa clan membership is symbolised by a clan-name (isiduko) and passed along the male line from father to son. This social indicator has a biological counterpart in Y chromosome DNA that passes through successive generations in the patriline. Both relate specifically to a distant patrilineal forebear or apical ancestor. The present study has involved the collection and documentation of oral-historical information relating to the descent of certain Cape Nguni clans from non-African forebears and (where possible) a review of documented accounts of such origins. The research has also included collection of buccal cells from male research participants and analysis of their Y chromosome DNA. This method indicates whether a man’s patrilineal forebear lived in Africa. Otherwise, it indicates the broad geographical region from which he originated, hence providing an additional, independent source of information relating to ancestry that can confirm or challenge claims made based on oral history. Ethnographic research into the performance of distinctive ancestor rituals by clan members explores the continuing relevance of foreign ancestry in the contemporary context of rural communities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The study heeds calls for the decolonisation of scholarship in various ways: methodologically, through transdisciplinary research; ontologically, by questioning the utility of the nature: culture and related dichotomies; and epistemologically, because instead of relying entirely on the western academic tradition, it takes account of other modes of knowledge production. In rejection of the notion that only one side of history is true, it records multiple voices – those of the powerful but also the ordinary. The study deals with race and racial identification, but confirms the superficiality of these constructed differences by offering evidence of their submergence in the unifying power of kinship and descent.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018