Becoming a [COVID] student?: assessing the impact of COVID-19 on first-year students’ experiences of higher education in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Nebbe, Kelsey Ann
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Rite of passage , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence , College freshmen South Africa Eastern Cape , Liminality , Communitas
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466295 , vital:76715
- Description: In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted South African higher education which forced the shift to emergency distance learning to save the academic years of 2020-2022. The repercussions of this are still emerging, but current literature focuses on understanding the impact of first-year students is focused on the impact of academics caused by the emergency shift to online, the “double transition” as Nyar (2021) termed the adjustment to university and then again to the online emergency academics. There is also a niche for holistic research to be done regarding the student experience - pandemic times and elsewise. My thesis focuses on the journey of studenthood of three cohorts at a residential university in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, through the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2022. This research utilises ethnographic iterative mixed methods (questionnaire, interviews, focus groups and participant observation) and the theoretical lens of Rites of Passage to understand my research participant’s experiences. My findings are that due to the circumstances of an incomplete student experience of just online academics provided an continuous liminal period for first-year students of 2020-2021, with little to no opportunity for them to develop a connection to the university community. The opportunity for them to holistically become students arises at the end of the pandemic in 2022, with the restrictions lifting and the return to on-campus and in-person academic activities allowing them to have a first-year experienced that COVID-19 prohibited. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Anthropology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Authors: Nebbe, Kelsey Ann
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Rite of passage , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence , College freshmen South Africa Eastern Cape , Liminality , Communitas
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466295 , vital:76715
- Description: In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted South African higher education which forced the shift to emergency distance learning to save the academic years of 2020-2022. The repercussions of this are still emerging, but current literature focuses on understanding the impact of first-year students is focused on the impact of academics caused by the emergency shift to online, the “double transition” as Nyar (2021) termed the adjustment to university and then again to the online emergency academics. There is also a niche for holistic research to be done regarding the student experience - pandemic times and elsewise. My thesis focuses on the journey of studenthood of three cohorts at a residential university in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, through the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2022. This research utilises ethnographic iterative mixed methods (questionnaire, interviews, focus groups and participant observation) and the theoretical lens of Rites of Passage to understand my research participant’s experiences. My findings are that due to the circumstances of an incomplete student experience of just online academics provided an continuous liminal period for first-year students of 2020-2021, with little to no opportunity for them to develop a connection to the university community. The opportunity for them to holistically become students arises at the end of the pandemic in 2022, with the restrictions lifting and the return to on-campus and in-person academic activities allowing them to have a first-year experienced that COVID-19 prohibited. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Anthropology, 2024
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Double jeopardy: reflections of accessing and navigating public spaces during COVID-19 by blind and visually impaired (BVI) people in Gqeberha
- Authors: Sysaar, Nicay Courtlynn
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: People with visual disabilities South Africa , Blind South Africa , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence , Barrier-free design , Epidemics Social aspects , Blind Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466306 , vital:76716
- Description: Disability only exists in reference to ability, denoting that people are only disabled if considered and treated as disabled. The inherent social conditions and features of society significantly shape disability. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was significant in the lives of blind and visually impaired individuals (BVI) since these individuals “access the world” through tactile contact, a behaviour strongly opposed during the pandemic. Therefore, this study explored how BVI individuals struggled to access and navigate public spaces in Gqeberha and how their risk of contracting COVID-19 increased when accessing these spaces. The study was qualitative ethnographic research. It was conducted in Gqeberha and embedded within a non-governmental organisation (NGO). A heterogeneous purposive sampling method was used to recruit ten BVI individuals and four trainers. Data was generated through semi-structured interviews and participant observation and analysed thematically. The study's key findings demonstrate that the COVID-19 countermeasures implicated the lives of BVI individuals, as some felt the need to avoid public spaces not by choice but by obligation to protect themselves from the possible risk of infection. The research findings reveal the barriers encountered through social encounters, physical navigation of the built environment, and information access, thus making the social, digital, and physical spheres inaccessible. COVID-19 exacerbated these barriers while simultaneously revealing the perpetual debilitating barriers in the lives of BVI people before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and presently. The recommendations explored the implementation of awareness-based programmes, integration and inclusion in physical spheres, and inclusionary disaster communication during disasters. Ultimately, as a society, we have a lot to do to achieve accessibility and, fundamentally, social integration. It is recommended that when developing health safety policies in times of crisis, it is crucial to consider populations with unique challenges rather than having a blasé approach. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Anthropology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Authors: Sysaar, Nicay Courtlynn
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: People with visual disabilities South Africa , Blind South Africa , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence , Barrier-free design , Epidemics Social aspects , Blind Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466306 , vital:76716
- Description: Disability only exists in reference to ability, denoting that people are only disabled if considered and treated as disabled. The inherent social conditions and features of society significantly shape disability. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was significant in the lives of blind and visually impaired individuals (BVI) since these individuals “access the world” through tactile contact, a behaviour strongly opposed during the pandemic. Therefore, this study explored how BVI individuals struggled to access and navigate public spaces in Gqeberha and how their risk of contracting COVID-19 increased when accessing these spaces. The study was qualitative ethnographic research. It was conducted in Gqeberha and embedded within a non-governmental organisation (NGO). A heterogeneous purposive sampling method was used to recruit ten BVI individuals and four trainers. Data was generated through semi-structured interviews and participant observation and analysed thematically. The study's key findings demonstrate that the COVID-19 countermeasures implicated the lives of BVI individuals, as some felt the need to avoid public spaces not by choice but by obligation to protect themselves from the possible risk of infection. The research findings reveal the barriers encountered through social encounters, physical navigation of the built environment, and information access, thus making the social, digital, and physical spheres inaccessible. COVID-19 exacerbated these barriers while simultaneously revealing the perpetual debilitating barriers in the lives of BVI people before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and presently. The recommendations explored the implementation of awareness-based programmes, integration and inclusion in physical spheres, and inclusionary disaster communication during disasters. Ultimately, as a society, we have a lot to do to achieve accessibility and, fundamentally, social integration. It is recommended that when developing health safety policies in times of crisis, it is crucial to consider populations with unique challenges rather than having a blasé approach. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Anthropology, 2024
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Evaluation of traditional and residual momentum strategies during the Covid period on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
- Authors: Yengwa, Mphathi Lubabalo
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Efficient market theory , Residual momentum , Economic crisis , Johannesburg Stock Exchange , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/462834 , vital:76339
- Description: Traditional momentum is a concept which was first discovered by Jegadeesh and Titman (1993), defined as a tendency of stocks to experience a continuation in their relative performance. A stock that performed relatively well will continue to perform relatively well, and vice versa. It has been observed by other researchers that during market crises, traditional momentum tends to produce large negative returns for investors, defined as a momentum crash. To mitigate momentum crashes, many researchers have developed new momentum strategies which have better performance than traditional momentum during market crises; such strategies include residual momentum. While both residual and traditional momentum have been studied in international markets and locally, the performance of both the residual and traditional momentum strategies have not been examined in the most recent Covid-fuelled financial crisis on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The study compares the performance of hypothetical long-only winner traditional and residual momentum portfolios (from 2018–2022) using various risk metrics, which include the tracking error, Sharpe ratio, Jensen’s alpha and information ratio. To compare the statistical significance of the difference in mean returns of residual and traditional momentum strategies to the benchmark (FTSE/Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Top 40) the study uses Welch’s t-test. The study uses an Auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) regression to examine the effect that various market conditions (bull market, bear market and extreme volatility) have on the returns of residual and traditional momentum strategies. Given the limited period examined in this study, the Monte Carlo simulation was used to extrapolate potential outcomes of how the momentum strategies might perform under different market conditions (as mentioned) in 1 000 iterations of each condition. The simple return analysis undertaken in this research revealed that traditional momentum outperformed residual momentum both before and throughout the COVID period. In the risk-adjusted performance measures, traditional momentum outperformed at all four risk indicators during the 2020 COVID year. The statistical significance tests, which compared the strategies' mean returns to the benchmark, demonstrated no statistically significant difference in returns over the COVID year. Furthermore, when evaluating the strategies over a five-year period (2018-2022), the difference in mean returns was shown to be statistically insignificant. However, statistical significance in returns was shown in some individual years. The ARDL regression findings show that bull, bear, and volatility factors explain relatively little of the returns for both momentum strategies, which is consistent with previous research. The Monte Carlo simulation, using the bear variable, forecasted that traditional momentum would result in negative returns during market declines, but residual momentum would provide positive returns and surpass traditional momentum with a probability of 26%. When using the bull variable, the simulation discovered that both traditional and residual momentum strategies resulted in positive returns. However, the residual momentum strategy outperformed in terms of returns and had an 84% likelihood of outperforming the traditional momentum strategy across 1,000 iterations. Nevertheless, when the simulation included the volatility variable, it projected negative returns for residual momentum and positive returns for traditional momentum. Additionally, it estimated a 14% probability of residual momentum surpassing traditional momentum under volatile market circumstances. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Commerce, Economics and Economic History, 2024
- Full Text:
- Authors: Yengwa, Mphathi Lubabalo
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Efficient market theory , Residual momentum , Economic crisis , Johannesburg Stock Exchange , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/462834 , vital:76339
- Description: Traditional momentum is a concept which was first discovered by Jegadeesh and Titman (1993), defined as a tendency of stocks to experience a continuation in their relative performance. A stock that performed relatively well will continue to perform relatively well, and vice versa. It has been observed by other researchers that during market crises, traditional momentum tends to produce large negative returns for investors, defined as a momentum crash. To mitigate momentum crashes, many researchers have developed new momentum strategies which have better performance than traditional momentum during market crises; such strategies include residual momentum. While both residual and traditional momentum have been studied in international markets and locally, the performance of both the residual and traditional momentum strategies have not been examined in the most recent Covid-fuelled financial crisis on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The study compares the performance of hypothetical long-only winner traditional and residual momentum portfolios (from 2018–2022) using various risk metrics, which include the tracking error, Sharpe ratio, Jensen’s alpha and information ratio. To compare the statistical significance of the difference in mean returns of residual and traditional momentum strategies to the benchmark (FTSE/Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Top 40) the study uses Welch’s t-test. The study uses an Auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) regression to examine the effect that various market conditions (bull market, bear market and extreme volatility) have on the returns of residual and traditional momentum strategies. Given the limited period examined in this study, the Monte Carlo simulation was used to extrapolate potential outcomes of how the momentum strategies might perform under different market conditions (as mentioned) in 1 000 iterations of each condition. The simple return analysis undertaken in this research revealed that traditional momentum outperformed residual momentum both before and throughout the COVID period. In the risk-adjusted performance measures, traditional momentum outperformed at all four risk indicators during the 2020 COVID year. The statistical significance tests, which compared the strategies' mean returns to the benchmark, demonstrated no statistically significant difference in returns over the COVID year. Furthermore, when evaluating the strategies over a five-year period (2018-2022), the difference in mean returns was shown to be statistically insignificant. However, statistical significance in returns was shown in some individual years. The ARDL regression findings show that bull, bear, and volatility factors explain relatively little of the returns for both momentum strategies, which is consistent with previous research. The Monte Carlo simulation, using the bear variable, forecasted that traditional momentum would result in negative returns during market declines, but residual momentum would provide positive returns and surpass traditional momentum with a probability of 26%. When using the bull variable, the simulation discovered that both traditional and residual momentum strategies resulted in positive returns. However, the residual momentum strategy outperformed in terms of returns and had an 84% likelihood of outperforming the traditional momentum strategy across 1,000 iterations. Nevertheless, when the simulation included the volatility variable, it projected negative returns for residual momentum and positive returns for traditional momentum. Additionally, it estimated a 14% probability of residual momentum surpassing traditional momentum under volatile market circumstances. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Commerce, Economics and Economic History, 2024
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Medical pluralism amongst Makhanda traditional health practitioners: Exploring dispositions to COVID-19 vaccinations
- Authors: Mothapo, Lebogang
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Traditional healer Attitudes , Integrative medicine , COVID-19 vaccines , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence , Traditional healer South Africa Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466284 , vital:76714
- Description: ‘Healers and healing’, ‘wellbeing and prevalence’, ‘medical systems and progression’. Every healing concept is tied to people’s perspectives, thoughts, beliefs, and backgrounds. Worldviews and world perspectives influence these throughout time and space. The progressive postulation between medical systems and the comprehensive relations between them is a narrative worth exploring through the distinct perspectives of Traditional Health Practitioners in Makhanda. This qualitative study sought to explore the dispositions of Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) towards COVID-19 vaccinations to understand the practice and acceptance of medical pluralism through a traditional lens. Through purposive and snowball sampling, 10 participants were recruited and semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted as a tool for data collection. Thematic data analysis was conducted to analyse the data, and multiple codes that led to themes emerged. THPs exhibit multiple concepts tied to COVID-19 vaccination, representing the dynamic understanding of participating in biomedical approaches. THPs, in their decision to uptake the COVID-19 vaccination, are motivated by the severity of the disease and other compelling reasons, such as the obligations and regulations put in place to encourage vaccination uptake in achieving mass/herd immunity. THPs who, in their decision of not uptaking the COVID-19 vaccination, display mistrust, disregard for the COVID-19 vaccination in particular and the entrusted commitment to traditional medicine. In all the expressed dispositions, reliance on the understanding of COVID-19 and the dependence on lived experiences played an integral role in how THPs responded to COVID-19 vaccinations. Due to this understanding, the practice of medical pluralism amongst Makhanda THPs is understood through context-based concepts to explore the in-depth multifaceted positioning of medical pluralism. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Anthropology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mothapo, Lebogang
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Traditional healer Attitudes , Integrative medicine , COVID-19 vaccines , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence , Traditional healer South Africa Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466284 , vital:76714
- Description: ‘Healers and healing’, ‘wellbeing and prevalence’, ‘medical systems and progression’. Every healing concept is tied to people’s perspectives, thoughts, beliefs, and backgrounds. Worldviews and world perspectives influence these throughout time and space. The progressive postulation between medical systems and the comprehensive relations between them is a narrative worth exploring through the distinct perspectives of Traditional Health Practitioners in Makhanda. This qualitative study sought to explore the dispositions of Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) towards COVID-19 vaccinations to understand the practice and acceptance of medical pluralism through a traditional lens. Through purposive and snowball sampling, 10 participants were recruited and semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted as a tool for data collection. Thematic data analysis was conducted to analyse the data, and multiple codes that led to themes emerged. THPs exhibit multiple concepts tied to COVID-19 vaccination, representing the dynamic understanding of participating in biomedical approaches. THPs, in their decision to uptake the COVID-19 vaccination, are motivated by the severity of the disease and other compelling reasons, such as the obligations and regulations put in place to encourage vaccination uptake in achieving mass/herd immunity. THPs who, in their decision of not uptaking the COVID-19 vaccination, display mistrust, disregard for the COVID-19 vaccination in particular and the entrusted commitment to traditional medicine. In all the expressed dispositions, reliance on the understanding of COVID-19 and the dependence on lived experiences played an integral role in how THPs responded to COVID-19 vaccinations. Due to this understanding, the practice of medical pluralism amongst Makhanda THPs is understood through context-based concepts to explore the in-depth multifaceted positioning of medical pluralism. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Anthropology, 2024
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Trainee psychologists’ experiences of providing psychosocial support to educators during COVID-19 in South Africa
- Authors: Simonse, Allison
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Service learning , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence , Teachers Mental health , Online therapy , Narrative interviewing , Community psychology , Counseling psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465831 , vital:76657
- Description: The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the school going population in South Africa and Educators in the country were faced with several mental health challenges as a result. These mental health concerns coupled with the reality of living within the confines of a pandemic resulted in the need for psychosocial support. This resulted in formulation of workshops based on the needs of Educators, to be delivered via online means by Rhodes University postgraduate students in 2020 studying towards their Masters in Counselling Psychology. This study makes use of a case study approach to explore and examine the experiences of three of these students, so as to ascertain the implications of working online with groups amidst pandemic conditions. It explores how professional practice and the deployment of Community Psychologies have taken place during this period. Experiences encompassing the personal and professional development that occurred as part of engaging with Community-Based Service Learning during COVID–19 have been collected through the Single Question Inducing Narrative methodology, so as to enable the postgraduate student voice in the context of pandemic conditions to be added to the available literature, in an effort to position the application of Community Psychology critically within the South African context. It is hoped that the data generated from this study might assist in future programme planning and intervention, so as to encourage training standards to remain responsive to the times, whilst seeking insight into how value-laden praxis can be achieved through work at the intersections between theory and practice. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Authors: Simonse, Allison
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Service learning , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence , Teachers Mental health , Online therapy , Narrative interviewing , Community psychology , Counseling psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465831 , vital:76657
- Description: The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the school going population in South Africa and Educators in the country were faced with several mental health challenges as a result. These mental health concerns coupled with the reality of living within the confines of a pandemic resulted in the need for psychosocial support. This resulted in formulation of workshops based on the needs of Educators, to be delivered via online means by Rhodes University postgraduate students in 2020 studying towards their Masters in Counselling Psychology. This study makes use of a case study approach to explore and examine the experiences of three of these students, so as to ascertain the implications of working online with groups amidst pandemic conditions. It explores how professional practice and the deployment of Community Psychologies have taken place during this period. Experiences encompassing the personal and professional development that occurred as part of engaging with Community-Based Service Learning during COVID–19 have been collected through the Single Question Inducing Narrative methodology, so as to enable the postgraduate student voice in the context of pandemic conditions to be added to the available literature, in an effort to position the application of Community Psychology critically within the South African context. It is hoped that the data generated from this study might assist in future programme planning and intervention, so as to encourage training standards to remain responsive to the times, whilst seeking insight into how value-laden praxis can be achieved through work at the intersections between theory and practice. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2024
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“But we are shying all of us away, from that thing”: the Coronavirus Pandemic and the crisis of teenage pregnancies in Kenya
- Authors: Kipury, Siraiyion Soinda
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Teenage pregnancy Kenya , Postcolonialism Kenya , Kenya History 1963- , Oral history Kenya , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465989 , vital:76674
- Description: This thesis historicises the post-colonial discourse on teenage pregnancy in Kenya. The coronavirus pandemic lockdowns in 2020 led to an increase in sexual violence perpetrated largely against teenage girls, resulting in pregnancy. This crisis revealed that the current discourse has created silence around sex and rape. It therefore does not consider the circumstances surrounding the pregnancies of teenage girls and for that reason perpetuates stereotypes of them being poor, irresponsible, dropouts. It finds that these ideas materialise in the form of adolescent sexual and reproductive health legislation which has real effects on pregnant teenage girls. Through a lack of law and policy enforcement, the discourse legitimises itself in a cyclic fashion. It argues that understanding the way the discourse has perpetuated itself from the past into the present is key to transforming this legislation and therefore their experiences. It uses an Oral History methodology to centre the perspectives of women who had teenage pregnancies in the past, and uses their stories to develop an understanding of how the discourse functions. It identifies news media and legislation as two major sites of discourse, carrying out an analysis of the language and content exhibited to observe the way cultural stereotypes around teenage pregnancy are preserved and re-created. It draws parallels between past and present sexual and reproductive health laws (1963-2020) to demonstrate the longevity of gendered and misogynistic ideologies surrounding women’s sexuality. It finds that language, blame/shame, and exclusion are the means through which the discourse has impressed itself upon Kenyan society throughout the post-colonial period. This thesis concludes that becoming aware of these means renders the discourse abnormal and unnatural, therefore creating the possibility of opening it up to change. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2024
- Full Text:
- Authors: Kipury, Siraiyion Soinda
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Teenage pregnancy Kenya , Postcolonialism Kenya , Kenya History 1963- , Oral history Kenya , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465989 , vital:76674
- Description: This thesis historicises the post-colonial discourse on teenage pregnancy in Kenya. The coronavirus pandemic lockdowns in 2020 led to an increase in sexual violence perpetrated largely against teenage girls, resulting in pregnancy. This crisis revealed that the current discourse has created silence around sex and rape. It therefore does not consider the circumstances surrounding the pregnancies of teenage girls and for that reason perpetuates stereotypes of them being poor, irresponsible, dropouts. It finds that these ideas materialise in the form of adolescent sexual and reproductive health legislation which has real effects on pregnant teenage girls. Through a lack of law and policy enforcement, the discourse legitimises itself in a cyclic fashion. It argues that understanding the way the discourse has perpetuated itself from the past into the present is key to transforming this legislation and therefore their experiences. It uses an Oral History methodology to centre the perspectives of women who had teenage pregnancies in the past, and uses their stories to develop an understanding of how the discourse functions. It identifies news media and legislation as two major sites of discourse, carrying out an analysis of the language and content exhibited to observe the way cultural stereotypes around teenage pregnancy are preserved and re-created. It draws parallels between past and present sexual and reproductive health laws (1963-2020) to demonstrate the longevity of gendered and misogynistic ideologies surrounding women’s sexuality. It finds that language, blame/shame, and exclusion are the means through which the discourse has impressed itself upon Kenyan society throughout the post-colonial period. This thesis concludes that becoming aware of these means renders the discourse abnormal and unnatural, therefore creating the possibility of opening it up to change. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2024
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Educators’ experiences of psychosocial support workshops during COVID-19 in Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Mabaso, Rendani Mirriam
- Date: 2024-04-04
- Subjects: Educators Mental health South Africa Eastern Cape , Psychosocial support system , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence , Community psychology , Service learning
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435457 , vital:73159
- Description: There is growing awareness of the value and central role of immediate and long-term mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions, especially during times of crisis such as Covid-19. The World Health Organization has identified the education sector as a crucial intervention site for public mental health promotion. In collaboration with members of the Makhanda education community, the Rhodes University Community Engagement office identified psychosocial support for educators and educational practitioners as a key societal and educational challenge. Focusing specifically on the experiences of educators, this study sought to solicit their experiences of MHPSS workshops in a rural city of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Focus groups with educators and educational practitioners in non-government organisations, care centres and other educational settings who participated in the psychosocial support workshops were conducted. Data was analysed using community psychology’s social action framework. Four broad themes emerged from the data: the responsibilisation of educators during and post-Covid-19, educators’ resilience and support for each other, educators’ mental health promotion through psychosocial support workshops, and top-down intervention strategies that fall short in addressing educators’ and learners’ needs. This study demonstrates the value of university-community partnerships in education settings which are key sites for public mental health promotion. In this study, I advocate psychosocial support as a standard practice available for educational practitioners and show how professional training programmes in higher education can be responsive to societal challenges via collaborative approaches. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2024
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mabaso, Rendani Mirriam
- Date: 2024-04-04
- Subjects: Educators Mental health South Africa Eastern Cape , Psychosocial support system , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence , Community psychology , Service learning
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435457 , vital:73159
- Description: There is growing awareness of the value and central role of immediate and long-term mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions, especially during times of crisis such as Covid-19. The World Health Organization has identified the education sector as a crucial intervention site for public mental health promotion. In collaboration with members of the Makhanda education community, the Rhodes University Community Engagement office identified psychosocial support for educators and educational practitioners as a key societal and educational challenge. Focusing specifically on the experiences of educators, this study sought to solicit their experiences of MHPSS workshops in a rural city of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Focus groups with educators and educational practitioners in non-government organisations, care centres and other educational settings who participated in the psychosocial support workshops were conducted. Data was analysed using community psychology’s social action framework. Four broad themes emerged from the data: the responsibilisation of educators during and post-Covid-19, educators’ resilience and support for each other, educators’ mental health promotion through psychosocial support workshops, and top-down intervention strategies that fall short in addressing educators’ and learners’ needs. This study demonstrates the value of university-community partnerships in education settings which are key sites for public mental health promotion. In this study, I advocate psychosocial support as a standard practice available for educational practitioners and show how professional training programmes in higher education can be responsive to societal challenges via collaborative approaches. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2024
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An interpretive phenomenological analysis of the funerary ritual crises caused by COVID-19 restrictions, and the pursuit of spirituality as a coping strategy amongst amaZulu living in the Midlands area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- Authors: Sibisi, Ntokozo Penelope
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence , Funeral rites and ceremonies South Africa KwaZulu-Natal Midlands , Spirituality , Zulu (African people)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431498 , vital:72780
- Description: In 2020, South Africa faced a significant challenge as it grappled with approximately 500,000 COVID-19 infections, which accounted for over half of all reported cases across Africa. Living through a global pandemic such as COVID-19 had a dramatic and transformative impact on the arena of death for many South Africans, not only because of the number of deaths that have occurred globally due to COVID-19, but also how the bereaved living honour the dead. This study delves into a previously underreported facet of the pandemic's impact, focusing on the experiences of bereaved AmaZulu people who encountered profound disruptions in funerary rituals due to COVID-19 restrictions. The research aims to shed light on how spirituality may mitigate the challenges posed by these ritual constraints, drawing parallels with other ethnographies which have highlighted the importance of spirituality among the AmaZulu people of the Midlands in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This study employed a mixed method approach in generating quantitative and qualitative data. Data from 101 participants who responded to an online questionnaire were analysed using STATA. Additionally, ethnographic data with 9 participants, purposively sampled from the larger sample, was analysed using an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach, which ensured that their lived experiences of bereavement took centre stage. The findings of this study illuminate the regret experienced by participants who adapted to [government] bureaucratically-imposed funerals and medical care, revealing potential implications for future pandemic responses. This research underscores the significance of customary funerary rituals, urging compassionate public health responses that acknowledge their role amid mass deaths. It also highlights the interplay between spirituality, religion, and rituals, showcasing how these elements form an intricate web in the AmaZulu community. This study contributes to the broader understanding of death and COVID-19 in South Africa, where racial disparities in COVID-19 deaths have come to the forefront. It addresses the enduring trauma within Black communities and explores how the absence of funerary rituals can strain the psychological, emotional, and spiritual fabric of the bereaved. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Athropology, 2023
- Full Text:
- Authors: Sibisi, Ntokozo Penelope
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 Influence , Funeral rites and ceremonies South Africa KwaZulu-Natal Midlands , Spirituality , Zulu (African people)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431498 , vital:72780
- Description: In 2020, South Africa faced a significant challenge as it grappled with approximately 500,000 COVID-19 infections, which accounted for over half of all reported cases across Africa. Living through a global pandemic such as COVID-19 had a dramatic and transformative impact on the arena of death for many South Africans, not only because of the number of deaths that have occurred globally due to COVID-19, but also how the bereaved living honour the dead. This study delves into a previously underreported facet of the pandemic's impact, focusing on the experiences of bereaved AmaZulu people who encountered profound disruptions in funerary rituals due to COVID-19 restrictions. The research aims to shed light on how spirituality may mitigate the challenges posed by these ritual constraints, drawing parallels with other ethnographies which have highlighted the importance of spirituality among the AmaZulu people of the Midlands in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This study employed a mixed method approach in generating quantitative and qualitative data. Data from 101 participants who responded to an online questionnaire were analysed using STATA. Additionally, ethnographic data with 9 participants, purposively sampled from the larger sample, was analysed using an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach, which ensured that their lived experiences of bereavement took centre stage. The findings of this study illuminate the regret experienced by participants who adapted to [government] bureaucratically-imposed funerals and medical care, revealing potential implications for future pandemic responses. This research underscores the significance of customary funerary rituals, urging compassionate public health responses that acknowledge their role amid mass deaths. It also highlights the interplay between spirituality, religion, and rituals, showcasing how these elements form an intricate web in the AmaZulu community. This study contributes to the broader understanding of death and COVID-19 in South Africa, where racial disparities in COVID-19 deaths have come to the forefront. It addresses the enduring trauma within Black communities and explores how the absence of funerary rituals can strain the psychological, emotional, and spiritual fabric of the bereaved. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Athropology, 2023
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