The trouble with culture : Plato's critique of poetry
- Authors: Ansell, James D'Olier
- Date: 2007 , 2013-07-25
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2733 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004460
- Description: In this thesis I argue that Plato's critique of poetry, taken in its proper context, is a serious and relevant critique of popular culture. In the first chapter I argue that the poetic reforms proposed in Books 2 and 3 and Book 10 of Republic stand at the front of a total reform of Greek culture. I argue for the consistency of Plato's whole argument and then I claim that if we get Plato's targets right, not fine art or literature, and focus on appropriate modern analogues then we can see why his critique is still important. If we share his claim that we are influenced by popular culture in important and often insidious ways and agree that culture can promote corrupt values, then we have accepted the core of Plato's challenge. If we find his solution distasteful, then the task is to come up with a democratic alternative. In the remaining two chapters I focus specifically on the challenge to the poets, putting the other reforms to the side. In the second chapter I consider a possible reply to the challenge focusing on the worth of the poetry that was expelled. I first look elsewhere in the Platonic oeuvre at the account of beauty in Symposium and Phaedrus but I argue that neither of them gives anything like aesthetic value that could be usefully applied to poetry. Next I look to some modern accounts of aesthetic value. I argue that while they might go some of the distance against Plato's challenge, they face a difficult task because it is not sufficient positing the value, an account is needed of their positive benefit. In the third chapter I turn to a more direct response to the challenge. Arguably Aristotle offers such a response in the Poetics, in terms of the notion of katharsis. I consider two interpretative candidates for katharsis. The first takes the benefit of poetry to be psychological - katharsis is a purgation of otherwise pathological emotions. I argue that this fails because it misunderstands precisely what Plato's concerns about poetry are, and, furthermore, this account could even be compatible with Plato's worries. The second interpretation takes the benefit of poetry to be ethical- katharsis is a type of ethical clarification which is beneficial in training our emotional responses. I claim that the clarification, and education, is worryingly conventionalist, and doesn't take seriously that Plato's target was popular culture and not great, educative literature. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Ansell, James D'Olier
- Date: 2007 , 2013-07-25
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2733 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004460
- Description: In this thesis I argue that Plato's critique of poetry, taken in its proper context, is a serious and relevant critique of popular culture. In the first chapter I argue that the poetic reforms proposed in Books 2 and 3 and Book 10 of Republic stand at the front of a total reform of Greek culture. I argue for the consistency of Plato's whole argument and then I claim that if we get Plato's targets right, not fine art or literature, and focus on appropriate modern analogues then we can see why his critique is still important. If we share his claim that we are influenced by popular culture in important and often insidious ways and agree that culture can promote corrupt values, then we have accepted the core of Plato's challenge. If we find his solution distasteful, then the task is to come up with a democratic alternative. In the remaining two chapters I focus specifically on the challenge to the poets, putting the other reforms to the side. In the second chapter I consider a possible reply to the challenge focusing on the worth of the poetry that was expelled. I first look elsewhere in the Platonic oeuvre at the account of beauty in Symposium and Phaedrus but I argue that neither of them gives anything like aesthetic value that could be usefully applied to poetry. Next I look to some modern accounts of aesthetic value. I argue that while they might go some of the distance against Plato's challenge, they face a difficult task because it is not sufficient positing the value, an account is needed of their positive benefit. In the third chapter I turn to a more direct response to the challenge. Arguably Aristotle offers such a response in the Poetics, in terms of the notion of katharsis. I consider two interpretative candidates for katharsis. The first takes the benefit of poetry to be psychological - katharsis is a purgation of otherwise pathological emotions. I argue that this fails because it misunderstands precisely what Plato's concerns about poetry are, and, furthermore, this account could even be compatible with Plato's worries. The second interpretation takes the benefit of poetry to be ethical- katharsis is a type of ethical clarification which is beneficial in training our emotional responses. I claim that the clarification, and education, is worryingly conventionalist, and doesn't take seriously that Plato's target was popular culture and not great, educative literature. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Purchasing determinants of food insercurity conditions amongst shoppers in Klipplaat
- Ballantine, Nicole Marguerite
- Authors: Ballantine, Nicole Marguerite
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Food -- Safety measures , Food supply -- South Africa -- Klipplaat , Households -- South Africa -- Klipplaat , Quality of life -- South Africa -- Klipplaat
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9404 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/835 , Food -- Safety measures , Food supply -- South Africa -- Klipplaat , Households -- South Africa -- Klipplaat , Quality of life -- South Africa -- Klipplaat
- Description: This study sought to investigate the purchasing determinants of food insecurity conditions in Klipplaat, in the Eastern Cape. The study comprised a pilot study and main study (n=459) making use of an adapted version of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. It was found that food insecurity conditions in Klipplaat were high, with most households experiencing food insecurity conditions between three and ten times per month. Income level was found to have a significant effect on food insecurity conditions in Klipplaat. The availability of efficient transport and refrigeration was also found to significantly influence the experience of food insecurity conditions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Ballantine, Nicole Marguerite
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Food -- Safety measures , Food supply -- South Africa -- Klipplaat , Households -- South Africa -- Klipplaat , Quality of life -- South Africa -- Klipplaat
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9404 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/835 , Food -- Safety measures , Food supply -- South Africa -- Klipplaat , Households -- South Africa -- Klipplaat , Quality of life -- South Africa -- Klipplaat
- Description: This study sought to investigate the purchasing determinants of food insecurity conditions in Klipplaat, in the Eastern Cape. The study comprised a pilot study and main study (n=459) making use of an adapted version of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. It was found that food insecurity conditions in Klipplaat were high, with most households experiencing food insecurity conditions between three and ten times per month. Income level was found to have a significant effect on food insecurity conditions in Klipplaat. The availability of efficient transport and refrigeration was also found to significantly influence the experience of food insecurity conditions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
An investigation into the popularity of Zimbabwe's first health communication soap opera, Studio 263 : a qualitative reception study of Bulawayo students aged between 15 and 20 years
- Authors: Bhebhe-Mpofu, Adilaid
- Date: 2007 , 2014-08-18
- Subjects: Studio 263 (Television program) , Television soap operas -- Zimbabwe , Television viewers -- Zimbabwe , Mass media and children -- Zimbabwe , Television and children -- Zimbabwe , AIDS (Disease) -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3531 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013310
- Description: Within the context of debates concerning the reception and interpretation of media texts by television audiences, this qualitative reception study explores how a sample of Bulawayo students negotiate meanings from Zimbabwe's first health communication soap opera, Studio 263. The study thus examines the reasons behind the popularity of this programme with this target audience. The findings of the study reveal that meaning making is a complex process that is dependent on a variety of factors which include, among others, the socio-cultural context of media consumption, gender, economic disposition and age. It particularly maintains that gender and lived realities influence the interpretation and negotiation of meanings in this particular study. , Adobe Acrobat Pro 11.0.0 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Bhebhe-Mpofu, Adilaid
- Date: 2007 , 2014-08-18
- Subjects: Studio 263 (Television program) , Television soap operas -- Zimbabwe , Television viewers -- Zimbabwe , Mass media and children -- Zimbabwe , Television and children -- Zimbabwe , AIDS (Disease) -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3531 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013310
- Description: Within the context of debates concerning the reception and interpretation of media texts by television audiences, this qualitative reception study explores how a sample of Bulawayo students negotiate meanings from Zimbabwe's first health communication soap opera, Studio 263. The study thus examines the reasons behind the popularity of this programme with this target audience. The findings of the study reveal that meaning making is a complex process that is dependent on a variety of factors which include, among others, the socio-cultural context of media consumption, gender, economic disposition and age. It particularly maintains that gender and lived realities influence the interpretation and negotiation of meanings in this particular study. , Adobe Acrobat Pro 11.0.0 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Cultural values and leadership styles of middle level managers in a private sector hospitals in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Boguslavsky, Marianna
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Hospitals, Proprietary -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Leadership -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Middle managers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Corporate culture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10080 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/478 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011927 , Hospitals, Proprietary -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Leadership -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Middle managers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Corporate culture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: In recent years, South Africa has seen increasing cultural diversification with regard to the appointment of managers in private healthcare facilities. However, research conducted in this area remains extremely limited. The aim of the present study was to explore and describe cultural values and leadership styles of middle managers at a private sector hospital in the Eastern Cape. Hofstede’s (1980, a ) model of cultural values served as a theoretical framework to conceptualise this study. The study was qualitative in nature and made use of in-depth research interviews conducted with a diverse sample of middle managers. The researcher made use of homogeneous and convenience sampling and utilised five participants. The qualitative data was analysed using Tesch’s (1990, in De Vos, 2002) method of analysis. Results revealed that despite the differences in personal culture, most of the managers are similar in their leadership styles and are also affected by the organizational culture. The results of the study contribute to a better understanding of the influence of cultural values and leadership styles in South Africa and will thereby benefit health institutions in their dealings with their modern day multi-cultural management staff.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Boguslavsky, Marianna
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Hospitals, Proprietary -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Leadership -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Middle managers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Corporate culture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10080 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/478 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011927 , Hospitals, Proprietary -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Leadership -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Middle managers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Corporate culture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: In recent years, South Africa has seen increasing cultural diversification with regard to the appointment of managers in private healthcare facilities. However, research conducted in this area remains extremely limited. The aim of the present study was to explore and describe cultural values and leadership styles of middle managers at a private sector hospital in the Eastern Cape. Hofstede’s (1980, a ) model of cultural values served as a theoretical framework to conceptualise this study. The study was qualitative in nature and made use of in-depth research interviews conducted with a diverse sample of middle managers. The researcher made use of homogeneous and convenience sampling and utilised five participants. The qualitative data was analysed using Tesch’s (1990, in De Vos, 2002) method of analysis. Results revealed that despite the differences in personal culture, most of the managers are similar in their leadership styles and are also affected by the organizational culture. The results of the study contribute to a better understanding of the influence of cultural values and leadership styles in South Africa and will thereby benefit health institutions in their dealings with their modern day multi-cultural management staff.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
An investigation into e-learning acceptance in selected South African companies
- Chinyamurindi, Willie Tafadzwa
- Authors: Chinyamurindi, Willie Tafadzwa
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Computer-assisted instruction , Electronic learning , Employees -- Training of -- Computer-assisted instruction , Internet in education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9405 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/487 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011908 , Computer-assisted instruction , Electronic learning , Employees -- Training of -- Computer-assisted instruction , Internet in education
- Description: The study investigated the acceptance of electronic (e-learning) based instruction in selected South African companies based upon the dominants of e-learning acceptance that included computer self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and behavioral intention to use. A quantitative research methodology was conducted on a sample of male and female trainees in selected South African companies using e-learning as a mode of instruction (N=191) using the “E-learning Acceptance Measure” by Ong and Lai (2006). Analysis of variance was used to determine whether the biographical characteristic of gender could account for any differences towards the determinants of e-learning acceptance. Multiple stepwise regression was used to determine differences between dominants of e-learning acceptance and gender. The results of the study showed that there were no statistically significant differences in mean between men’s rating of computer self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and behavioral intention than that of women. In terms of influences, the results show the existence of influence between certain dominants of e-learning acceptance however no gender differences were found in influence. Recommendations were made based upon these results on how South African companies can help trainees accept and use e-learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Chinyamurindi, Willie Tafadzwa
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Computer-assisted instruction , Electronic learning , Employees -- Training of -- Computer-assisted instruction , Internet in education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9405 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/487 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011908 , Computer-assisted instruction , Electronic learning , Employees -- Training of -- Computer-assisted instruction , Internet in education
- Description: The study investigated the acceptance of electronic (e-learning) based instruction in selected South African companies based upon the dominants of e-learning acceptance that included computer self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and behavioral intention to use. A quantitative research methodology was conducted on a sample of male and female trainees in selected South African companies using e-learning as a mode of instruction (N=191) using the “E-learning Acceptance Measure” by Ong and Lai (2006). Analysis of variance was used to determine whether the biographical characteristic of gender could account for any differences towards the determinants of e-learning acceptance. Multiple stepwise regression was used to determine differences between dominants of e-learning acceptance and gender. The results of the study showed that there were no statistically significant differences in mean between men’s rating of computer self-efficacy, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and behavioral intention than that of women. In terms of influences, the results show the existence of influence between certain dominants of e-learning acceptance however no gender differences were found in influence. Recommendations were made based upon these results on how South African companies can help trainees accept and use e-learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Women living with HIV/AIDS: a phenomenological intergenerational interpretation of their experiences
- Chisaka, Janet Kaemba Chishimba
- Authors: Chisaka, Janet Kaemba Chishimba
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) in women -- South Africa -- Case studies HIV positive women -- South Africa -- Case studies Poor women -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3307 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003095
- Description: This study deals with the impact of HIV/AIDS on women living in chronic poverty. The question arises: Do we focus on their HIV/AIDS stories only or do we include their other lived experiences? This phenomenological study, on two sets of three generations of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and living in poverty, is an attempt at understanding the way the women experience their lifeworlds, not only their HIV/AIDS stories. One set includes a grandmother, her daughter who is living with full-blown AIDS, and her granddaughter, while the other includes a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter infected with HIV. The initial focus of the study was on the women’s HIV/AIDS narratives. However as the study progressed, especially during the interviews, it became apparent that the women’s generational poverty or chronic poverty was of greater concern to them than the HIV/AIDS that they were experiencing. Of the six participants, only one woman centred her life story on HIV/AIDS. This finding echoes other studies on HIV/AIDS among poor women: that chronic poverty is more threatening to the women than the risk or reality of AIDS. As a phenomenological researcher my aim was to focus on the participants’ own interpretations of the studied phenomenon. However, this was inadequate in accounting for the role that social structures play in shaping and informing the women’s subjective consciousness and experience. For this reason, I used feminist ideas to understand and interpret the women’s patriarchal experiences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Women living with HIV/AIDS: a phenomenological intergenerational interpretation of their experiences
- Authors: Chisaka, Janet Kaemba Chishimba
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) in women -- South Africa -- Case studies HIV positive women -- South Africa -- Case studies Poor women -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3307 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003095
- Description: This study deals with the impact of HIV/AIDS on women living in chronic poverty. The question arises: Do we focus on their HIV/AIDS stories only or do we include their other lived experiences? This phenomenological study, on two sets of three generations of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and living in poverty, is an attempt at understanding the way the women experience their lifeworlds, not only their HIV/AIDS stories. One set includes a grandmother, her daughter who is living with full-blown AIDS, and her granddaughter, while the other includes a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter infected with HIV. The initial focus of the study was on the women’s HIV/AIDS narratives. However as the study progressed, especially during the interviews, it became apparent that the women’s generational poverty or chronic poverty was of greater concern to them than the HIV/AIDS that they were experiencing. Of the six participants, only one woman centred her life story on HIV/AIDS. This finding echoes other studies on HIV/AIDS among poor women: that chronic poverty is more threatening to the women than the risk or reality of AIDS. As a phenomenological researcher my aim was to focus on the participants’ own interpretations of the studied phenomenon. However, this was inadequate in accounting for the role that social structures play in shaping and informing the women’s subjective consciousness and experience. For this reason, I used feminist ideas to understand and interpret the women’s patriarchal experiences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Service provider's perceptions of the quality and accessiblity of health services under social health insurance in Dar-Es-Salaam
- Authors: Chomi, Eunice Nahyuha
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Health insurance -- Tanzania , Medical personnel -- Insurance requirements -- Tanzania
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10079 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/489 , Health insurance -- Tanzania , Medical personnel -- Insurance requirements -- Tanzania
- Description: Social health insurance is a form of health care financing that has gained increased attention in African countries in the past decade. Tanzania introduced social health insurance by the establishment of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) in 1999 with, inter alia, the objective of improvement of the quality and availability of health services. The goal of this study was to determine the perceptions of services providers on the quality and accessibility of health services following the introduction of social health insurance. A qualitative approach was used to gain an insider's perspective from the service providers of how the services have changed following the introduction of the scheme. Individual interviews, observation and field notes were used to gather information on the quality and accessibility of health services under the policy of social health insurance. Data were analysed using Tesch's method of data analysis. The health workers generally perceived the fund as being beneficial to its members as it reduced the financial barriers to receiving health care. However, the objectives of the NHIF as a health financing mechanism were not adequately understood by the health workers. Although they perceived the quality of health services as having improved compared to previous years, they did not associate this improvement with the NHIF. The health workers also perceived accessibility of health services as having improved for insured patients but not for non-insured patients.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Chomi, Eunice Nahyuha
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Health insurance -- Tanzania , Medical personnel -- Insurance requirements -- Tanzania
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10079 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/489 , Health insurance -- Tanzania , Medical personnel -- Insurance requirements -- Tanzania
- Description: Social health insurance is a form of health care financing that has gained increased attention in African countries in the past decade. Tanzania introduced social health insurance by the establishment of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) in 1999 with, inter alia, the objective of improvement of the quality and availability of health services. The goal of this study was to determine the perceptions of services providers on the quality and accessibility of health services following the introduction of social health insurance. A qualitative approach was used to gain an insider's perspective from the service providers of how the services have changed following the introduction of the scheme. Individual interviews, observation and field notes were used to gather information on the quality and accessibility of health services under the policy of social health insurance. Data were analysed using Tesch's method of data analysis. The health workers generally perceived the fund as being beneficial to its members as it reduced the financial barriers to receiving health care. However, the objectives of the NHIF as a health financing mechanism were not adequately understood by the health workers. Although they perceived the quality of health services as having improved compared to previous years, they did not associate this improvement with the NHIF. The health workers also perceived accessibility of health services as having improved for insured patients but not for non-insured patients.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Resilience in families living with a Type I diabetic child
- Authors: Coetzee, Mariska
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Diabetes in children -- South Africa , Diabetes -- Prevention , Stress (Psychology) , Adjustment (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9922 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/665 , Diabetes in children -- South Africa , Diabetes -- Prevention , Stress (Psychology) , Adjustment (Psychology)
- Description: Type I diabetes has the ability to promote change in the family. In truth, although the child with diabetes is the diagnosed patient, the whole family has diabetes. While the challenges that families have to face are many, families seem to have the ability to “bounce back” (i.e., they have resilience). Research on the construct of resilience, and more specifically, family resilience has surged in recent times. However, South African research on family resilience is limited. This study aimed to explore and describe the factors that facilitate adjustment and adaptation in families that include a child living with Type I diabetes. The Resiliency Model of Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation, developed by McCubbin and McCubbin (2001) served as a framework to conceptualise the families’ adjustment and adaptation process. Non-probability purposive and snowball sampling techniques were employed. Sixteen families participated in this study, providing a total of 31 participants. Participants consisted of the caregivers of a family living with a child between the ages of four and 12 with Type I diabetes. The study was triangular in nature, with an exploratory, descriptive approach. A biographical questionnaire with an open-ended question was used in conjunction with seven other questionnaires to gather data. These questionnaires were: The Family Hardiness Index (FHI), the Family Time and Routine Index (FTRI), the Social Support Index (SSI), the Family Problem-Solving Communication (FPSC) Index, the Family Crises-Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales (F-COPES), the Relative and Friend Support Index, and the Family Attachment and Changeability Index 8 (FACI8). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the biographical information. Quantitative data were analysed by means of correlation and regression analysis, and a content analysis was conducted to analyse the qualitative data. The results of the quantitative analysis indicated three significant positive correlations with the FACI8. These variables were family hardiness (measured by the FHI), family problem-solving communication (measured by the FPSC), and family time and routines (measured by the FTRI). The results of the qualitative analysis revealed that social support, the caregivers’ acceptance of the condition, and spirituality and religion were the most important strength factors that contributed to the families’ adjustment and adaptation. Although the study had a small sample and many limitations, the study could be used as a stepping-stone for future research on resilience in families living with chronic medical conditions and will contribute to family resilience research in the South African context.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Coetzee, Mariska
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Diabetes in children -- South Africa , Diabetes -- Prevention , Stress (Psychology) , Adjustment (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9922 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/665 , Diabetes in children -- South Africa , Diabetes -- Prevention , Stress (Psychology) , Adjustment (Psychology)
- Description: Type I diabetes has the ability to promote change in the family. In truth, although the child with diabetes is the diagnosed patient, the whole family has diabetes. While the challenges that families have to face are many, families seem to have the ability to “bounce back” (i.e., they have resilience). Research on the construct of resilience, and more specifically, family resilience has surged in recent times. However, South African research on family resilience is limited. This study aimed to explore and describe the factors that facilitate adjustment and adaptation in families that include a child living with Type I diabetes. The Resiliency Model of Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation, developed by McCubbin and McCubbin (2001) served as a framework to conceptualise the families’ adjustment and adaptation process. Non-probability purposive and snowball sampling techniques were employed. Sixteen families participated in this study, providing a total of 31 participants. Participants consisted of the caregivers of a family living with a child between the ages of four and 12 with Type I diabetes. The study was triangular in nature, with an exploratory, descriptive approach. A biographical questionnaire with an open-ended question was used in conjunction with seven other questionnaires to gather data. These questionnaires were: The Family Hardiness Index (FHI), the Family Time and Routine Index (FTRI), the Social Support Index (SSI), the Family Problem-Solving Communication (FPSC) Index, the Family Crises-Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales (F-COPES), the Relative and Friend Support Index, and the Family Attachment and Changeability Index 8 (FACI8). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the biographical information. Quantitative data were analysed by means of correlation and regression analysis, and a content analysis was conducted to analyse the qualitative data. The results of the quantitative analysis indicated three significant positive correlations with the FACI8. These variables were family hardiness (measured by the FHI), family problem-solving communication (measured by the FPSC), and family time and routines (measured by the FTRI). The results of the qualitative analysis revealed that social support, the caregivers’ acceptance of the condition, and spirituality and religion were the most important strength factors that contributed to the families’ adjustment and adaptation. Although the study had a small sample and many limitations, the study could be used as a stepping-stone for future research on resilience in families living with chronic medical conditions and will contribute to family resilience research in the South African context.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
An action learning based reflection on participative drama as a tool for transformation of identity in the spirals programme
- Authors: Edlmann, Tessa Margaret
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Spirals Trust (South Africa) , Drama in education -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Participatory theater -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Active learning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2159 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008202
- Description: This thesis is a reflection on both the conceptual frameworks and the personal narratives that have shaped the development of the Spirals Programme. The Programme is a participatory drama and creative arts based initiative established in 2000 in Grahamstown, South Africa, to explore issues of identity in the emerging democratic context of South African society - and support both personal and contextual processes of transformation. Working within a poststructuralist and social constructionist paradigm, Spirals works with groups and communities to facilitate and enable experiential links between the drama based and performative nature of identity construction - and the possibilities for transformation and healing provided by participative drama methodologies. The structure of the thesis follows the principles of the Freirian based Action Learning praxis within which Spirals works. It begins with an account of the contextual dynamics and events that gave rise to the development of the Programme, followed by a reflection on the conceptual frameworks regarding both identity construction and participative drama methodologies that informed Spirals' development. These paradigms are then analysed in relation to the articulated experiences of three workshop participants using critical discourse analysis. The thesis concludes with an assessment of the issues emerging from this analysis - the aspects of the Programme that need to be strengthened and sustained, those that need to be changed and possible new strategies that could be developed. , Also known as: Edlmann, Theresa
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Edlmann, Tessa Margaret
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Spirals Trust (South Africa) , Drama in education -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Participatory theater -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Active learning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2159 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008202
- Description: This thesis is a reflection on both the conceptual frameworks and the personal narratives that have shaped the development of the Spirals Programme. The Programme is a participatory drama and creative arts based initiative established in 2000 in Grahamstown, South Africa, to explore issues of identity in the emerging democratic context of South African society - and support both personal and contextual processes of transformation. Working within a poststructuralist and social constructionist paradigm, Spirals works with groups and communities to facilitate and enable experiential links between the drama based and performative nature of identity construction - and the possibilities for transformation and healing provided by participative drama methodologies. The structure of the thesis follows the principles of the Freirian based Action Learning praxis within which Spirals works. It begins with an account of the contextual dynamics and events that gave rise to the development of the Programme, followed by a reflection on the conceptual frameworks regarding both identity construction and participative drama methodologies that informed Spirals' development. These paradigms are then analysed in relation to the articulated experiences of three workshop participants using critical discourse analysis. The thesis concludes with an assessment of the issues emerging from this analysis - the aspects of the Programme that need to be strengthened and sustained, those that need to be changed and possible new strategies that could be developed. , Also known as: Edlmann, Theresa
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The resurgence of tuberculosis in South Africa: an investigation into socio-economic aspects of the disease in a context of structural violence in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Erstad, Ida
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Tuberculosis -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Tuberculosis -- Patients -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Tuberculosis -- Treatment -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Community health services -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Medical anthropology -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Tuberculosis -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Tuberculosis -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2090 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002653
- Description: This thesis is an investigation into the socio-economic constraints that influence the decisions of tuberculosis sufferers in the health seeking process and therapeutic management of tuberculosis in Grahamstown, the Eastern Cape. It is shown that structural violence influences experiences and perceptions of tuberculosis at all levels. Management of tuberculosis in the formal health sector is explored at local levels and related to national and global strategies of health care. The role of health workers, and particularly voluntary health workers, is explored and it is shown that they work within a context of growing burden of sickness and co-infections and a lack of government commitment to deal with increasing TB and HIV incidences. Kleinman’s notion of explanatory models is explored and it is evident that although knowledge of the aetiology of tuberculosis is well-known to patients and general members of the communities, they are nevertheless victims of increased stigmatisation and marginalisation as a result of illness. The importance of social support in curing tuberculosis is explored using Janzen’s concept of therapy managing groups. Social capital is a fundamental component in adhering to biomedical therapy, but is commonly weak among the structurally poor. The availability of temporary social grants for people living with TB influences health seeking behaviour. In a context of structural poverty the sick are faced with what Nattrass terms “perverse incentives”, having to choose between the right to health and the right to social security, both guaranteed in the South African Constitution, for him/herself and dependants. Although adherence to biomedical therapy is essential in curing tuberculosis, it is shown throughout this thesis that ignoring wider structural causes of disease limits the patient’s ability to get well. The ethnography shows that the right to health is a social and economic right which is not the reality for most South Africans.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Erstad, Ida
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Tuberculosis -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Tuberculosis -- Patients -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Tuberculosis -- Treatment -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Community health services -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Medical anthropology -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Tuberculosis -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Tuberculosis -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2090 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002653
- Description: This thesis is an investigation into the socio-economic constraints that influence the decisions of tuberculosis sufferers in the health seeking process and therapeutic management of tuberculosis in Grahamstown, the Eastern Cape. It is shown that structural violence influences experiences and perceptions of tuberculosis at all levels. Management of tuberculosis in the formal health sector is explored at local levels and related to national and global strategies of health care. The role of health workers, and particularly voluntary health workers, is explored and it is shown that they work within a context of growing burden of sickness and co-infections and a lack of government commitment to deal with increasing TB and HIV incidences. Kleinman’s notion of explanatory models is explored and it is evident that although knowledge of the aetiology of tuberculosis is well-known to patients and general members of the communities, they are nevertheless victims of increased stigmatisation and marginalisation as a result of illness. The importance of social support in curing tuberculosis is explored using Janzen’s concept of therapy managing groups. Social capital is a fundamental component in adhering to biomedical therapy, but is commonly weak among the structurally poor. The availability of temporary social grants for people living with TB influences health seeking behaviour. In a context of structural poverty the sick are faced with what Nattrass terms “perverse incentives”, having to choose between the right to health and the right to social security, both guaranteed in the South African Constitution, for him/herself and dependants. Although adherence to biomedical therapy is essential in curing tuberculosis, it is shown throughout this thesis that ignoring wider structural causes of disease limits the patient’s ability to get well. The ethnography shows that the right to health is a social and economic right which is not the reality for most South Africans.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The psychofortology of male and female patients undergoing infertility treatment
- Authors: Ferreira, Hendrina Jacoba
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Adjustment (Psychology) , Stress (Psychology) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9918 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/674 , Adjustment (Psychology) , Stress (Psychology) -- South Africa
- Description: Infertility is a complex condition associated with the inability to conceive a child, frequently manifesting itself as a result of various biological factors. A literature review indicated that being on Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART) treatment significantly increases the stress in an individual. While some research has been done on coping processes, and stress and depression levels in individuals on infertility treatment, very little literature is available regarding the coping resources and subjective well-being of individuals on infertility treatment. This psychofortigenic study aimed to explore and describe the coping resources, sense of coherence, satisfaction with life and life happiness of individuals undergoing infertility treatment. Furthermore, this study aimed to compare the coping resources, sense of coherence, satisfaction with life and happiness of males and females undergoing infertility treatment at a privately managed unit. It is imperative to view the results of this study from a gender-based perception as a previous study by Ferreira (2005) indicated significant differences in how males and females perceived infertility treatment. The sample in this study consisted of 62 voluntary participants from a privately managed health care unit in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. Participants were given a package of questionnaires to complete under the supervision of the researcher and research coordinator of the participating health care unit. The assessment consisted of a biographical questionnaire and four standardised paper and pencil measures. The participants’ coping resources were explored using Hammer and Marting’s (1988) Coping Resource Inventory (CRI), while Antonovsky’s (1987) Orientation to Life Scale was used to measure their sense of coherence (SOC-29). Overall satisfaction with life was assessed using Diener, Emmons, Larson and Griffin’s (1985) Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), while Kamman and Flett’s (1993) Affectometer-2 (AFM-2) was utilized to measure the respondents’ subjective happiness. A quantitative, exploratory descriptive research design was employed in this study and the participants were chosen by means of a non-probability purposive sampling procedure. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and independent t-testing. Further investigations were made through Chi square tests which enabled the researcher to draw inferences about differences based on cross tabulations. The reliability coefficient was obtained by calculating Cronbach’s coefficient alpha, which measured the internal consistency of the four standardized measures utilised in the present study. The results of the study revealed that participants generally experienced average levels of coping and subjective well-being as measured by the four assessment tools utilised during this study. On comparing the results of the male group and the female group of the particular sample it was found that although both groups obtained relatively average mean scores in general, the men scored slightly higher on the Coping Resources Inventory, Sense of Coherence and Affectometer-2, while the females scored slightly higher than the males on the Satisfaction with Life Scale.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Ferreira, Hendrina Jacoba
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Adjustment (Psychology) , Stress (Psychology) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9918 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/674 , Adjustment (Psychology) , Stress (Psychology) -- South Africa
- Description: Infertility is a complex condition associated with the inability to conceive a child, frequently manifesting itself as a result of various biological factors. A literature review indicated that being on Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART) treatment significantly increases the stress in an individual. While some research has been done on coping processes, and stress and depression levels in individuals on infertility treatment, very little literature is available regarding the coping resources and subjective well-being of individuals on infertility treatment. This psychofortigenic study aimed to explore and describe the coping resources, sense of coherence, satisfaction with life and life happiness of individuals undergoing infertility treatment. Furthermore, this study aimed to compare the coping resources, sense of coherence, satisfaction with life and happiness of males and females undergoing infertility treatment at a privately managed unit. It is imperative to view the results of this study from a gender-based perception as a previous study by Ferreira (2005) indicated significant differences in how males and females perceived infertility treatment. The sample in this study consisted of 62 voluntary participants from a privately managed health care unit in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. Participants were given a package of questionnaires to complete under the supervision of the researcher and research coordinator of the participating health care unit. The assessment consisted of a biographical questionnaire and four standardised paper and pencil measures. The participants’ coping resources were explored using Hammer and Marting’s (1988) Coping Resource Inventory (CRI), while Antonovsky’s (1987) Orientation to Life Scale was used to measure their sense of coherence (SOC-29). Overall satisfaction with life was assessed using Diener, Emmons, Larson and Griffin’s (1985) Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), while Kamman and Flett’s (1993) Affectometer-2 (AFM-2) was utilized to measure the respondents’ subjective happiness. A quantitative, exploratory descriptive research design was employed in this study and the participants were chosen by means of a non-probability purposive sampling procedure. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and independent t-testing. Further investigations were made through Chi square tests which enabled the researcher to draw inferences about differences based on cross tabulations. The reliability coefficient was obtained by calculating Cronbach’s coefficient alpha, which measured the internal consistency of the four standardized measures utilised in the present study. The results of the study revealed that participants generally experienced average levels of coping and subjective well-being as measured by the four assessment tools utilised during this study. On comparing the results of the male group and the female group of the particular sample it was found that although both groups obtained relatively average mean scores in general, the men scored slightly higher on the Coping Resources Inventory, Sense of Coherence and Affectometer-2, while the females scored slightly higher than the males on the Satisfaction with Life Scale.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The experience of AIDS orphans living in a township
- Authors: Frood, Sharron
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Orphans -- South Africa , Children of AIDS patients -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10078 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/505 , Orphans -- South Africa , Children of AIDS patients -- South Africa
- Description: One of the challenges facing health care professionals today is the phenomenon of rendering care to children who have been orphaned in the AIDS pandemic. The number of AIDS orphans in South Africa has risen out of all proportion and is causing existing health and social structures to become stretched in providing care to this vulnerable population of children. The objectives of this study are to explore and to describe the lived experience of children living in a township who have become AIDS orphans and to develop broad guidelines for Primary Health Care Nurses (PHCN’s), related professionals and partners involved in the care of AIDS orphans living in a township. The theoretical grounding of this study is found in Kotze’s Theory on Nursing Accompaniment (Kotzé, 1998:3). The proposed research design was based upon a qualitative study using an explorative, descriptive, contextual and phenomenological strategy of inquiry. Data was collected by means of in-depth interviews from a purposively selected sample and then analysed using the steps of qualitative data analysis proposed by Tesch (in Creswell, 1994). Guba’s model was used to assess the trustworthiness of the qualitative data. Based upon the findings, guidelines were developed to assist PHCN’s related professionals and partners involved in the care of AIDS orphans living in a township. Through this study the goal of the researcher was to give a voice to AIDS orphans living in a township and to represent accurately their lived experience.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Frood, Sharron
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Orphans -- South Africa , Children of AIDS patients -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10078 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/505 , Orphans -- South Africa , Children of AIDS patients -- South Africa
- Description: One of the challenges facing health care professionals today is the phenomenon of rendering care to children who have been orphaned in the AIDS pandemic. The number of AIDS orphans in South Africa has risen out of all proportion and is causing existing health and social structures to become stretched in providing care to this vulnerable population of children. The objectives of this study are to explore and to describe the lived experience of children living in a township who have become AIDS orphans and to develop broad guidelines for Primary Health Care Nurses (PHCN’s), related professionals and partners involved in the care of AIDS orphans living in a township. The theoretical grounding of this study is found in Kotze’s Theory on Nursing Accompaniment (Kotzé, 1998:3). The proposed research design was based upon a qualitative study using an explorative, descriptive, contextual and phenomenological strategy of inquiry. Data was collected by means of in-depth interviews from a purposively selected sample and then analysed using the steps of qualitative data analysis proposed by Tesch (in Creswell, 1994). Guba’s model was used to assess the trustworthiness of the qualitative data. Based upon the findings, guidelines were developed to assist PHCN’s related professionals and partners involved in the care of AIDS orphans living in a township. Through this study the goal of the researcher was to give a voice to AIDS orphans living in a township and to represent accurately their lived experience.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Perceptions of selected beneficiaries regarding government grants for sustainable development projects
- Authors: Gwam, Zukiswa Sylvia
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Sustainable development -- South Africa , Government aid -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9989 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/517 , Sustainable development -- South Africa , Government aid -- South Africa
- Description: The overall aim of the study was to explore and describe the perceptions of beneficiaries of government grants for the sustainability of development projects. A qualitative method was used following an explorative and descriptive design, as the researcher seeks to understand paradigm shifts from a welfare perspective to a developmental perspective. The qualitative approach is most suitable when the aim of the researcher is to understand a phenomenon from the point of view of participants (Creswell, 1998:17) and to elicit thought processes and feelings (Straus and Corbin, 1998:11). The methods of data collection included in-depth semi-structured interviews, field notes as well as the use of focus groups. The semi-structured interviews allowed the researcher to ask specific questions in an open-ended manner when necessary. Data analysis was done according to Tesch’s eight steps for analyzing qualitative research data (Creswell, 1994: 154-155). Guba’s model was used to assess the trustworthiness of research findings for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research (Krefting, 1990: 214-222). It is envisaged that this study will provide insights into the perceptions of beneficiaries of government social development grants. Findings indicate that a great deal of skills development for sustainability of development projects is needed, and will be used for further research in the area of social development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Gwam, Zukiswa Sylvia
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Sustainable development -- South Africa , Government aid -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9989 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/517 , Sustainable development -- South Africa , Government aid -- South Africa
- Description: The overall aim of the study was to explore and describe the perceptions of beneficiaries of government grants for the sustainability of development projects. A qualitative method was used following an explorative and descriptive design, as the researcher seeks to understand paradigm shifts from a welfare perspective to a developmental perspective. The qualitative approach is most suitable when the aim of the researcher is to understand a phenomenon from the point of view of participants (Creswell, 1998:17) and to elicit thought processes and feelings (Straus and Corbin, 1998:11). The methods of data collection included in-depth semi-structured interviews, field notes as well as the use of focus groups. The semi-structured interviews allowed the researcher to ask specific questions in an open-ended manner when necessary. Data analysis was done according to Tesch’s eight steps for analyzing qualitative research data (Creswell, 1994: 154-155). Guba’s model was used to assess the trustworthiness of research findings for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research (Krefting, 1990: 214-222). It is envisaged that this study will provide insights into the perceptions of beneficiaries of government social development grants. Findings indicate that a great deal of skills development for sustainability of development projects is needed, and will be used for further research in the area of social development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Resilience in families where a member is living with schizophrenia
- Authors: Haddad, Jason
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Schizophrenia , Schizophrenia -- South Africa -- Family relationships , Resilience (Personality trait)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9928 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/654 , Schizophrenia , Schizophrenia -- South Africa -- Family relationships , Resilience (Personality trait)
- Description: Schizophrenia cuts across all racial, gender, and socioeconomic lines. Schizophrenia affects 1 percent of the population in Ireland: 35000 people (Schultz & Andreason, 1999); and affects 1.4 - 4.6 percent per 1000 people in the USA: 2.8 million - 9.8 million people (Jabelensky, 2004). In South Africa the figure is approximately 1 percent of the population or 500 000 people (Nicholas, Malcolm, Krosigk & Pillay, 2003). The median age of onset is 21.4 years for men and 26.8 years for women (Daubenton & van Rensburg, 2001), with only 10-20 percent recovering fully after the first psychotic episode (Saddock & Saddock, 2003). The schizophrenic patient is often unable to continue life as before diagnosis, and may progressively need more care as the years pass. Deinstitutionalization over the course of a number of decades has resulted in responsibility for care of mentally-ill individuals shifting to the individual’s family. The struggles faced by such a family can be overwhelming as they struggle with this responsibilty due to lack of training, lack of knowledge and insufficient professional support (Winefield & Harvey, 1994). The stress on the caregivers is often magnified as their support structures around them may ‘shut down’ out of fear of the schizophrenic illness (Williams & Mfoafo-M’Carthy, 2006). The characteristic symptoms used to define schizophrenia include various forms of delusions, hallucinations, thought disorders and abnormalities in emotional expression, social interaction, attention, volition and drives. The functional decline of the schizophrenic individual leads not only to social difficulties, but also economic difficulties that may cripple a family (Fadden, Bebbington & Kuipers, 1987). When first diagnosed, some families may be so overwhelmed by the ‘label’ given to their family member, that they see little hope or way to move forward. One explanation is offered by an American psychiatrist whose own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia, “We experience this terrible feeling of loss and grief for the son we knew. There is also this terrible loss of expectations. We feel cheated out of watching him mature…it is a mourning without end because, of course, Gary is not dead at all. He is very much still with us, seeming eternally twelve years old, needing constant care and attention” (Willick, 1994, p.14). Providing such care is associated with high levels of distress. Accordingly, much attention has been given to understanding the pressures faced by family members, with the hope of understanding how coping resources may be strengthened to sustain these care-giving relationships (Harvey, Burns, Fahy, Manley & Tattan, 2001). However, despite gains in understanding the needs of a schizophrenic family member once out of the hospital environment, care-giving relationships can still break down. The individual with the illness is often left more vulnerable to relapse, recurrent hospitalizations, homelessness and other negative outcomes (Jewel & Stein, 2002). The stress of not only interacting with the afflicted family member, but also with the grief associated with the illness, places an incredible strain on the day-to-day functioning of that family (Pollio, North, Reid, Miletic & McClendon, 2006). From the brief review provided, it is evident that research has been conducted regarding the stressors, strains and difficulties of caregivers of schizophrenic family members. However, the strengths of these families are under-investigated, and the current study will attempt to start filling this void.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Haddad, Jason
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Schizophrenia , Schizophrenia -- South Africa -- Family relationships , Resilience (Personality trait)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9928 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/654 , Schizophrenia , Schizophrenia -- South Africa -- Family relationships , Resilience (Personality trait)
- Description: Schizophrenia cuts across all racial, gender, and socioeconomic lines. Schizophrenia affects 1 percent of the population in Ireland: 35000 people (Schultz & Andreason, 1999); and affects 1.4 - 4.6 percent per 1000 people in the USA: 2.8 million - 9.8 million people (Jabelensky, 2004). In South Africa the figure is approximately 1 percent of the population or 500 000 people (Nicholas, Malcolm, Krosigk & Pillay, 2003). The median age of onset is 21.4 years for men and 26.8 years for women (Daubenton & van Rensburg, 2001), with only 10-20 percent recovering fully after the first psychotic episode (Saddock & Saddock, 2003). The schizophrenic patient is often unable to continue life as before diagnosis, and may progressively need more care as the years pass. Deinstitutionalization over the course of a number of decades has resulted in responsibility for care of mentally-ill individuals shifting to the individual’s family. The struggles faced by such a family can be overwhelming as they struggle with this responsibilty due to lack of training, lack of knowledge and insufficient professional support (Winefield & Harvey, 1994). The stress on the caregivers is often magnified as their support structures around them may ‘shut down’ out of fear of the schizophrenic illness (Williams & Mfoafo-M’Carthy, 2006). The characteristic symptoms used to define schizophrenia include various forms of delusions, hallucinations, thought disorders and abnormalities in emotional expression, social interaction, attention, volition and drives. The functional decline of the schizophrenic individual leads not only to social difficulties, but also economic difficulties that may cripple a family (Fadden, Bebbington & Kuipers, 1987). When first diagnosed, some families may be so overwhelmed by the ‘label’ given to their family member, that they see little hope or way to move forward. One explanation is offered by an American psychiatrist whose own son was diagnosed with schizophrenia, “We experience this terrible feeling of loss and grief for the son we knew. There is also this terrible loss of expectations. We feel cheated out of watching him mature…it is a mourning without end because, of course, Gary is not dead at all. He is very much still with us, seeming eternally twelve years old, needing constant care and attention” (Willick, 1994, p.14). Providing such care is associated with high levels of distress. Accordingly, much attention has been given to understanding the pressures faced by family members, with the hope of understanding how coping resources may be strengthened to sustain these care-giving relationships (Harvey, Burns, Fahy, Manley & Tattan, 2001). However, despite gains in understanding the needs of a schizophrenic family member once out of the hospital environment, care-giving relationships can still break down. The individual with the illness is often left more vulnerable to relapse, recurrent hospitalizations, homelessness and other negative outcomes (Jewel & Stein, 2002). The stress of not only interacting with the afflicted family member, but also with the grief associated with the illness, places an incredible strain on the day-to-day functioning of that family (Pollio, North, Reid, Miletic & McClendon, 2006). From the brief review provided, it is evident that research has been conducted regarding the stressors, strains and difficulties of caregivers of schizophrenic family members. However, the strengths of these families are under-investigated, and the current study will attempt to start filling this void.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Making sense of the lived and told experience of the 'ill' body : a phenomenological exploration into the storied and embodied nature of somatic or medically unexplained symtoms
- Authors: Haggard, Claire Louise
- Date: 2013-07-25
- Subjects: Psychological manifestations of general disease Somatization disorder Physician and patient -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3185 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008364
- Description: Despite a wealth of literature on the aetiology of somatic distress or somatization, somatic theory has failed to expand beyond a dualistic epistemology of causation. Within the primary health context where medically unexplained symptoms are characteristically articulated as literal, symbolic gestures of internal psychological processes, individuals' subjective accounts of somatic distress are reduced to objective phenomena and thus articulated on the grounds of absence. Within this context, the body as a lived, meaningful, perceiving subjectivity is silenced in favour of the corpse, thus rendering the somatizing individual's lived and subjective experience, expression and knowledge of somatic distress inaccessible. Instead, the somatizing individual is positioned within a domain of perturbed silence - a domain in which the professional's turning away or retreat from engaging somatization on the grounds of unique, subjective and corporeal experience, positions the patient/client as a passive, silent recipient whose somatic expressions as lived are overlooked. This study attempts to initiate a theoretical focus of departure from existing articulations of somatic distress through the development of a theoretical and epistemological framework that addresses some of the tensions inherent to contemporary somatic theory. In so doing, it employs embodiment philosophy and narrative methodology as a basis for a preliminary and critical investigation into a relatively neglected area of somatization research. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Authors: Haggard, Claire Louise
- Date: 2013-07-25
- Subjects: Psychological manifestations of general disease Somatization disorder Physician and patient -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3185 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008364
- Description: Despite a wealth of literature on the aetiology of somatic distress or somatization, somatic theory has failed to expand beyond a dualistic epistemology of causation. Within the primary health context where medically unexplained symptoms are characteristically articulated as literal, symbolic gestures of internal psychological processes, individuals' subjective accounts of somatic distress are reduced to objective phenomena and thus articulated on the grounds of absence. Within this context, the body as a lived, meaningful, perceiving subjectivity is silenced in favour of the corpse, thus rendering the somatizing individual's lived and subjective experience, expression and knowledge of somatic distress inaccessible. Instead, the somatizing individual is positioned within a domain of perturbed silence - a domain in which the professional's turning away or retreat from engaging somatization on the grounds of unique, subjective and corporeal experience, positions the patient/client as a passive, silent recipient whose somatic expressions as lived are overlooked. This study attempts to initiate a theoretical focus of departure from existing articulations of somatic distress through the development of a theoretical and epistemological framework that addresses some of the tensions inherent to contemporary somatic theory. In so doing, it employs embodiment philosophy and narrative methodology as a basis for a preliminary and critical investigation into a relatively neglected area of somatization research. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
Physical characteristics as performance indicators in surfing
- Hayselden, Kirsten Jacqui-Anne
- Authors: Hayselden, Kirsten Jacqui-Anne
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Surfing -- South Africa , Athletic ability , Physical fitness -- Testing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10097 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/662 , Surfing -- South Africa , Athletic ability , Physical fitness -- Testing
- Description: The aim of this study was to identify indictors of performance in surfing. Therefore the objectives of the study were to determine the following: {u100085} Anthropometric measures such as: height, weight, body proportions; {u100085} Flexibility measures such as: back extension, hip flexion, ankle plantarflexion and dorsiflexion; {u100085} Core stability; {u100085} Dynamic balance; {u100085} Explosive leg power; {u100085} Which of the physical characteristics measured discriminate between elite and non-elite surfers. To achieve the aim and objectives of this study, the literature pertaining to excellence in surfing, and the theory surrounding talent identification and the many factors that can contribute to success in sport, were reviewed. Potential criteria important for performance in surfing were identified and appropriate tests to assess these criteria were selected. An ex post facto quasi experimental design was used to assess which of the identified criteria best discriminated between elite and non-elite surfboard riders. The test battery included a personal information questionnaire and the assessment of: anthropometric variables, flexibility, core stability, dynamic balance and explosive leg power. These abovementioned physical characteristics were identified from the literature as the factors most important to success in surfing. Fifty five (55) surfers were assessed of which 28 were elite surfers and 27 were non-elite surfers. The results obtained from the evaluation of the samples were compared in terms of their descriptive statistics and the differences tested for statistical and practical significance. The variables of height, age started surfing, core stability, dynamic balance, number of days surfed per week and number of hours surfed per day were found to most discriminate between the elite and non-elite participants. Finally, a stepwise discriminant analysis was used to determine classification functions that could be used for future prediction purposes. The variables included in the discriminant analyses included height, age started surfing, number of years surfing, core stability and dynamic balance. To verify the prediction model a jack-knife procedure was performed. The results from the jack-knife procedure indicated that 85.5 perecent of the entire sample was correctly classified while 92.9 percent of the elite sample and 77.8 percent of the non-elite sample were correctly classified. Thus, the discriminant functions obtained can be used for predictive purposes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Hayselden, Kirsten Jacqui-Anne
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Surfing -- South Africa , Athletic ability , Physical fitness -- Testing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10097 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/662 , Surfing -- South Africa , Athletic ability , Physical fitness -- Testing
- Description: The aim of this study was to identify indictors of performance in surfing. Therefore the objectives of the study were to determine the following: {u100085} Anthropometric measures such as: height, weight, body proportions; {u100085} Flexibility measures such as: back extension, hip flexion, ankle plantarflexion and dorsiflexion; {u100085} Core stability; {u100085} Dynamic balance; {u100085} Explosive leg power; {u100085} Which of the physical characteristics measured discriminate between elite and non-elite surfers. To achieve the aim and objectives of this study, the literature pertaining to excellence in surfing, and the theory surrounding talent identification and the many factors that can contribute to success in sport, were reviewed. Potential criteria important for performance in surfing were identified and appropriate tests to assess these criteria were selected. An ex post facto quasi experimental design was used to assess which of the identified criteria best discriminated between elite and non-elite surfboard riders. The test battery included a personal information questionnaire and the assessment of: anthropometric variables, flexibility, core stability, dynamic balance and explosive leg power. These abovementioned physical characteristics were identified from the literature as the factors most important to success in surfing. Fifty five (55) surfers were assessed of which 28 were elite surfers and 27 were non-elite surfers. The results obtained from the evaluation of the samples were compared in terms of their descriptive statistics and the differences tested for statistical and practical significance. The variables of height, age started surfing, core stability, dynamic balance, number of days surfed per week and number of hours surfed per day were found to most discriminate between the elite and non-elite participants. Finally, a stepwise discriminant analysis was used to determine classification functions that could be used for future prediction purposes. The variables included in the discriminant analyses included height, age started surfing, number of years surfing, core stability and dynamic balance. To verify the prediction model a jack-knife procedure was performed. The results from the jack-knife procedure indicated that 85.5 perecent of the entire sample was correctly classified while 92.9 percent of the elite sample and 77.8 percent of the non-elite sample were correctly classified. Thus, the discriminant functions obtained can be used for predictive purposes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The politics of planning in Eastern Cape local government: a case study of Ngqushwa and Buffalo City, 1998-2004
- Authors: Hollands, Glenn Delroy
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Buffalo City (South Africa) Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Political planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- History -- 20th century Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- History -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2875 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008199
- Description: This thesis examines the political implications of the integrated development planning process embarked upon by South African municipalities in the period 1998-2004. Through the use of case study methodology that focuses on the Eastern Cape municipalities of Buffalo City and Ngqushwa, the conventions of municipal planning are examined. This inquiry into municipal planning draws upon official government documents and reports and publications from the nongovernment sector. The thesis is particularly focused on the claims made in policy documents and related secondary sources and compares these to more critical reports and publication as well as the author's personal experience of the integrated development planning process. Of key interest is the possibility that planning serves political interests and the material needs of an emerging municipal elite and that this is seldom acknowledged in official planning documentation or government sanctioned publications on the topic. The primary findings of the thesis are as follows: • That the 'reason' of expert policy formulations that accompanied integrated development planning has weakened political economy as a prism of understanding and separated itself from the institutional reality of municipal government • That the dominant critique of planning and other post-apartheid municipal policy is concerned with the triumph of neoliberalism but this critique, while valid, does not fully explain successive policy failures especially in the setting of Eastern Cape local government • That function of policy and its relationship to both the state and civil society is usually understood only in the most obvious sense and not as an instrument for wielding political power • That planning still derives much of its influence from its claim to technical rationality and that this underpinned the 'authority' of the integrated development planning project in South Africa and reinforced its power to make communities governable.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Hollands, Glenn Delroy
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Buffalo City (South Africa) Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies Political planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- History -- 20th century Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- History -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2875 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008199
- Description: This thesis examines the political implications of the integrated development planning process embarked upon by South African municipalities in the period 1998-2004. Through the use of case study methodology that focuses on the Eastern Cape municipalities of Buffalo City and Ngqushwa, the conventions of municipal planning are examined. This inquiry into municipal planning draws upon official government documents and reports and publications from the nongovernment sector. The thesis is particularly focused on the claims made in policy documents and related secondary sources and compares these to more critical reports and publication as well as the author's personal experience of the integrated development planning process. Of key interest is the possibility that planning serves political interests and the material needs of an emerging municipal elite and that this is seldom acknowledged in official planning documentation or government sanctioned publications on the topic. The primary findings of the thesis are as follows: • That the 'reason' of expert policy formulations that accompanied integrated development planning has weakened political economy as a prism of understanding and separated itself from the institutional reality of municipal government • That the dominant critique of planning and other post-apartheid municipal policy is concerned with the triumph of neoliberalism but this critique, while valid, does not fully explain successive policy failures especially in the setting of Eastern Cape local government • That function of policy and its relationship to both the state and civil society is usually understood only in the most obvious sense and not as an instrument for wielding political power • That planning still derives much of its influence from its claim to technical rationality and that this underpinned the 'authority' of the integrated development planning project in South Africa and reinforced its power to make communities governable.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The hybridization of African identities in African film
- Authors: Inocencio, Jessica Lynn
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Motion pictures -- Africa , Motion pictures -- Africa -- History , Africa -- In motion pictures
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8401 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/828 , Motion pictures -- Africa , Motion pictures -- Africa -- History , Africa -- In motion pictures
- Description: This paper traces the construction of African identities in A Reasonable Man (South Africa 1999), Chikin Biznis: The Whole Story (South Africa 1998), Fools (South Africa/France 1997), Hyènes (1992), Le cri du coeur (Burkina Faso/France 1994), Pièces d'Identités (France/Congo/Belgium 1998), Une couleur café (France 1997), and Xala (Senegal 1975) based on an analysis of race, ethnicity, tradition, modernization, Westernization, and cultural hybridity theories; as a way of contextualizing African history in general, this paper also explores the significance of colonialism, postcolonialism, and forms of neo-colonialism. I argue that nineteenth century perceptions of “race” that arose during the Enlightenment era are mistaken. Instead, African identities presented in film should be re-conceived based on concepts of ethnicity and culture and not simplistic racial constructions—for example “white,” “black,” or “mulatto” to name a few—since such interpretations inevitably surrender to problematic analysis. However, I also contend that neither a typical conception of fixed identities nor cultures can be applied to the understanding of contemporary African identities expressed in African film. The conception of African identities can and ought to be reconsidered as a fluid, social construction based on changing historical phenomena. As an alternative, I suggest that tradition, modernization, and Westernization processes contribute to the overall fluidity of contemporary African identities, which can be elucidated by cultural hybridity theories. Therefore, I ultimately propose that the hybridization of African identities is specifically linked to forms of modernization and Westernization—the practice of Western medicine, beliefs in monogamy, and entrepreneurial aspirations—that have also been filtered through traditional African value systems such as polygamy, traditional healing, patriarchy, communitarianism, and traditional religions within various African communities depicted in African film. Thus, a fixed “African” category that we strive to define—against either Western or African points of reference—is actually neither a fully Westernized nor entirely African distinction but a hybridized identity of traditional, modernized, and Westernized elements.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Inocencio, Jessica Lynn
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Motion pictures -- Africa , Motion pictures -- Africa -- History , Africa -- In motion pictures
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8401 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/828 , Motion pictures -- Africa , Motion pictures -- Africa -- History , Africa -- In motion pictures
- Description: This paper traces the construction of African identities in A Reasonable Man (South Africa 1999), Chikin Biznis: The Whole Story (South Africa 1998), Fools (South Africa/France 1997), Hyènes (1992), Le cri du coeur (Burkina Faso/France 1994), Pièces d'Identités (France/Congo/Belgium 1998), Une couleur café (France 1997), and Xala (Senegal 1975) based on an analysis of race, ethnicity, tradition, modernization, Westernization, and cultural hybridity theories; as a way of contextualizing African history in general, this paper also explores the significance of colonialism, postcolonialism, and forms of neo-colonialism. I argue that nineteenth century perceptions of “race” that arose during the Enlightenment era are mistaken. Instead, African identities presented in film should be re-conceived based on concepts of ethnicity and culture and not simplistic racial constructions—for example “white,” “black,” or “mulatto” to name a few—since such interpretations inevitably surrender to problematic analysis. However, I also contend that neither a typical conception of fixed identities nor cultures can be applied to the understanding of contemporary African identities expressed in African film. The conception of African identities can and ought to be reconsidered as a fluid, social construction based on changing historical phenomena. As an alternative, I suggest that tradition, modernization, and Westernization processes contribute to the overall fluidity of contemporary African identities, which can be elucidated by cultural hybridity theories. Therefore, I ultimately propose that the hybridization of African identities is specifically linked to forms of modernization and Westernization—the practice of Western medicine, beliefs in monogamy, and entrepreneurial aspirations—that have also been filtered through traditional African value systems such as polygamy, traditional healing, patriarchy, communitarianism, and traditional religions within various African communities depicted in African film. Thus, a fixed “African” category that we strive to define—against either Western or African points of reference—is actually neither a fully Westernized nor entirely African distinction but a hybridized identity of traditional, modernized, and Westernized elements.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
An analysis of the representation of female athletes in selected South African print media from February 2006 to June 2006
- Authors: Jooste, Carlien
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Women athletes -- South Africa , Athletes in mass media -- South Africa , Mass media and sports -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8374 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/528 , Women athletes -- South Africa , Athletes in mass media -- South Africa , Mass media and sports -- South Africa
- Description: This thesis attempts to analyse the representation of professional female sport persons in selected South African media. The field of study is located within the ambit of gender and media studies with specific attention to the power of the latter to not only reflect, but actually shape realities and attitudes. Carolyn Byerly and Karen Ross (2004) comment that “the media have the potential not only to reinforce the status quo in power arrangements in society, but also to contribute to new, more egalitarian ones” (2004:24). The core question, then, is to determine whether traditional gender roles are confirmed, or positively shaped, by the way in which the selected media reported on professional women athletes in various sporting codes. As this is a neglected topic in South Africa, the study relied heavily on the research done by various American and European academics. Academics such as Pamela Creedon (1994) and Susan Birrell and Cheryl Cole (1994), found that female athletes are marginalised and stereotyped by the media. Their research also denotes that female athletes are objectified and judged on their looks and dress code instead of their sporting abilities. Female athletes are continuously stereotyped according to societal induced feminine traits. These representations alienate women who do not possess feminine qualities as “the other”, namely falling outside the desirability as determined by sponsorship and an assumed male viewing / reading public. The media further focus more on beautiful, glamorous athletes than female athletes that are less feminine, but with no less achievement and ability. Extensive examples are provided in the treatise of how the selected South African print media misrepresented women in the six month period that was studied. The conclusion is unambiguous: The South African media unfortunately follow the international trend of objectifying women according to male stereotypes. The media that were studied therefore missed an opportunity to shape gender attitudes as they collude with the powerful forces of sponsorship and viewer-ship to reinforce the status quo.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Jooste, Carlien
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Women athletes -- South Africa , Athletes in mass media -- South Africa , Mass media and sports -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8374 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/528 , Women athletes -- South Africa , Athletes in mass media -- South Africa , Mass media and sports -- South Africa
- Description: This thesis attempts to analyse the representation of professional female sport persons in selected South African media. The field of study is located within the ambit of gender and media studies with specific attention to the power of the latter to not only reflect, but actually shape realities and attitudes. Carolyn Byerly and Karen Ross (2004) comment that “the media have the potential not only to reinforce the status quo in power arrangements in society, but also to contribute to new, more egalitarian ones” (2004:24). The core question, then, is to determine whether traditional gender roles are confirmed, or positively shaped, by the way in which the selected media reported on professional women athletes in various sporting codes. As this is a neglected topic in South Africa, the study relied heavily on the research done by various American and European academics. Academics such as Pamela Creedon (1994) and Susan Birrell and Cheryl Cole (1994), found that female athletes are marginalised and stereotyped by the media. Their research also denotes that female athletes are objectified and judged on their looks and dress code instead of their sporting abilities. Female athletes are continuously stereotyped according to societal induced feminine traits. These representations alienate women who do not possess feminine qualities as “the other”, namely falling outside the desirability as determined by sponsorship and an assumed male viewing / reading public. The media further focus more on beautiful, glamorous athletes than female athletes that are less feminine, but with no less achievement and ability. Extensive examples are provided in the treatise of how the selected South African print media misrepresented women in the six month period that was studied. The conclusion is unambiguous: The South African media unfortunately follow the international trend of objectifying women according to male stereotypes. The media that were studied therefore missed an opportunity to shape gender attitudes as they collude with the powerful forces of sponsorship and viewer-ship to reinforce the status quo.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
An evaluation of the implementation of budgetary control measures by the provincial treasury with specific reference to the province of the Eastern Cape Department of Education
- Authors: Kalashe, Mzukisi Harrington
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: South Africa. Dept. of Education -- Appropriations and expenditures , Expenditures, Public , Fiscal policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8249 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/530 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011681 , South Africa. Dept. of Education -- Appropriations and expenditures , Expenditures, Public , Fiscal policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Budget control is a process of financial monitoring to ensure effective allocation, collection and efficient utilizing of public funds. It is a process that is aimed at ensuring the accomplishment of public policy objectives. Budget control is regulated by financial legislation as well as regulations and procedures which guide public financial administrators. Continuous monitoring is needed once appropriation is allowed by parliament or provincial legislatures to ensure effective service rendering as well as tax and user charges collection. This study investigates the reported ineffective budget control measures implemented by the provincial treasury in the Province of the Eastern Cape particularly in the Eastern Cape Department of Education (George, 2004). Ineffective budget control may be associated with the implementation of unstable fiscal policy by the provincial treasury that led to deficit spending in the Department of Education during the 2004/5 financial year. The purpose of this study is to show that the implementation of stable fiscal policy instruments by the provincial treasury would lead to effective budget control in provincial departments such as the Eastern Cape Department of Education. Governments in many instances encounter various challenges in controlling their expenditures on an annual basis as well as in the medium term. This is due to the notion that once the government exceeds the current year’s budget, it consumes the forthcoming budget. Borrowing is by nature an implicit consumption of future unplanned revenue. This makes the Medium Term Revenue Framework in the province immaterial as the provincial own revenue is insignificant. The relative uncontrollability of government expenditure stems from the notion that the provision of, for instance, primary education and social welfare is intertwined with legal entitlement within prescribed parameters. Allocative efficiency embodies recognition of legal entitlement that is reflected in the distribution imperatives if the provincial treasury is to be effective in the budget control function. The National Norms and Standards for School Funding of 2006 state explicitly that public spending in public schools is targeted at increasing the literacy levels of the poor. Intergovernmental fiscal relations play a pivotal role in modelling the fiscal policy of the province. This stems from the fact that expected national collected revenue is distributed as an equitable share to national, provincial and local spheres of government. The criteria for revenue sharing are based on economic disparities and demographics in each sphere of government. It is imperative to note in intergovernmental relations that there are functional areas of concurrent national and provincial competencies. The budget control function of the provincial treasury is implemented within the framework of various administrative processes which are aimed at ensuring effective transactional activities. The disbursement of funds and various other financial processes are subject to the delegation of powers as prescribed in the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act 1 of 1999), as amended by Act 29 of 1999. The provincial governments’ fiscal policies are modelled to be consistent with the macro-economic objectives of the national government. It is for the purpose of macro-economic stability that only national government is eligible to borrow to finance a budget deficit. Provinces are legally prohibited from overspending their budgets. If the fiscal policies of the provinces materially and unreasonably prejudice the national economic policies, the relevant provincial treasury is responsible for taking appropriate steps to place the financial administration on a sound footing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Kalashe, Mzukisi Harrington
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: South Africa. Dept. of Education -- Appropriations and expenditures , Expenditures, Public , Fiscal policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8249 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/530 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011681 , South Africa. Dept. of Education -- Appropriations and expenditures , Expenditures, Public , Fiscal policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Budget control is a process of financial monitoring to ensure effective allocation, collection and efficient utilizing of public funds. It is a process that is aimed at ensuring the accomplishment of public policy objectives. Budget control is regulated by financial legislation as well as regulations and procedures which guide public financial administrators. Continuous monitoring is needed once appropriation is allowed by parliament or provincial legislatures to ensure effective service rendering as well as tax and user charges collection. This study investigates the reported ineffective budget control measures implemented by the provincial treasury in the Province of the Eastern Cape particularly in the Eastern Cape Department of Education (George, 2004). Ineffective budget control may be associated with the implementation of unstable fiscal policy by the provincial treasury that led to deficit spending in the Department of Education during the 2004/5 financial year. The purpose of this study is to show that the implementation of stable fiscal policy instruments by the provincial treasury would lead to effective budget control in provincial departments such as the Eastern Cape Department of Education. Governments in many instances encounter various challenges in controlling their expenditures on an annual basis as well as in the medium term. This is due to the notion that once the government exceeds the current year’s budget, it consumes the forthcoming budget. Borrowing is by nature an implicit consumption of future unplanned revenue. This makes the Medium Term Revenue Framework in the province immaterial as the provincial own revenue is insignificant. The relative uncontrollability of government expenditure stems from the notion that the provision of, for instance, primary education and social welfare is intertwined with legal entitlement within prescribed parameters. Allocative efficiency embodies recognition of legal entitlement that is reflected in the distribution imperatives if the provincial treasury is to be effective in the budget control function. The National Norms and Standards for School Funding of 2006 state explicitly that public spending in public schools is targeted at increasing the literacy levels of the poor. Intergovernmental fiscal relations play a pivotal role in modelling the fiscal policy of the province. This stems from the fact that expected national collected revenue is distributed as an equitable share to national, provincial and local spheres of government. The criteria for revenue sharing are based on economic disparities and demographics in each sphere of government. It is imperative to note in intergovernmental relations that there are functional areas of concurrent national and provincial competencies. The budget control function of the provincial treasury is implemented within the framework of various administrative processes which are aimed at ensuring effective transactional activities. The disbursement of funds and various other financial processes are subject to the delegation of powers as prescribed in the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act 1 of 1999), as amended by Act 29 of 1999. The provincial governments’ fiscal policies are modelled to be consistent with the macro-economic objectives of the national government. It is for the purpose of macro-economic stability that only national government is eligible to borrow to finance a budget deficit. Provinces are legally prohibited from overspending their budgets. If the fiscal policies of the provinces materially and unreasonably prejudice the national economic policies, the relevant provincial treasury is responsible for taking appropriate steps to place the financial administration on a sound footing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007