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
Satellite television use among Zimbabwean professionals : an investigation into audience consumption of SABC Africa's '60 Minutes live in Africa'
- Authors: Mugoni, Petronella Chipo
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Direct broadcast satellite television -- Zimbabwe Television viewers -- Zimbabwe Television viewers -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies Television broadcasting of news -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3512 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007707
- Description: Within the context of debates surrounding the consumption of global media by local audiences in Third World countries, this study explores the reasons behind satellite television subscription, and consumption of international news among a sample of young professional men and women in contemporary Zimbabwe. The study seeks to uncover how the research participants respond to news broadcast on SABC Africa's '60 minutes live in Africa', a programme which they can only access via satellite television in their country. Working within the frame of audience studies which insists on understanding media consumption and reception in context, this study examines how the respondents, situated within the specific Zimbabwe context, characterised as it is by serious social, economic and political challenges, respond to both regional news and news about their country on '60 minutes live in Africa'. Within the frame of qualitative research the study employs a two-stage sampling procedure and data collection strategy to uncover the factors that underpin international media consumption and reception by professional men and women situated in a country undergoing rapid change. The findings of the study point to the various social and individual factors that underlie media consumption choices as well as to the different socially patterned reasons why local audiences are either attracted to, or reject global media. The study found that SABC Africa's '60 minutes live in Africa' is more popular and better received than Western-broadcast programmes on channels such as BBC, CNN, and Sky News among Zimbabwean professionals. I also uncovered some evidence that cultural proximity and relevance are of supreme importance in determining which media audiences chose to consume and what level of engagement they bring to their reception of global media. These and other findings directly confront media models that privilege beliefs in cultural imperialism and the dominance of Western media and their effects on Third World audiences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Segregated housing and contested identities: the case of the King William's Town coloured community, 1895 - 1946
- Authors: Victor, Stephanie Emilia
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Colored people (South Africa) -- Race identity Colored people (South Africa) -- Political activity South Africa -- Race relations Colored people (South Africa) -- Housing Housing -- South Africa -- King William's Town Colored people (South Africa) -- Relocation Colored people (South Africa) -- South Africa -- King William's Town
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2568 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002421
- Description: This thesis is a case study of the dynamics of coloured housing in King William's Town between 1895 and 1946. The impact of spatial segregation on pre-apartheid coloured settlements in the Eastern Cape has largely been ignored up to the present. This needs to be rectified as the lack of in-depth enquiry can lead to misinterpretations that may influence contemporary politics and identity formation. Through research based on primary sources, it has become apparent that segregation in King William's Town was safeguarded and rationalized through the discourses of sanitation and civilization, and the practices of relocation and removal. The existing slum cond itions were used as a convenient excuse to implement municipal control. Segregation compounded the problem of poverty, inequitable access to housing and the provision of basic services. As a result, local coloured housing was increasingly characterised by a shortage of decent accommodation and basic services, decreasing home ownership and increasing municipal tenancy. In addition, through the implementation of the 1923 Natives (Urban Areas) Act and the 1934 Slums Act, high sanitation standards were set, but the Council itself provided inferior services. Ironically, conditions in the relocated municipal settlements were also not on par with the provisions stipulated in the Slums Act that were used to effect removal in the first place. The implementation of racially exclusive housing was, therefore, not driven by a single role player. It was pioneered by the local authorities, legalised by national government and supported by the coloured elite, when needed, in an attempt to access decent housing. This occurred mainly through the political manoeuvring of the coloured elite, and specifically the African Political (later People's) Organisation (APO), the Afrikaanse Nasionale Bond (AN B) and the locally constituted Coloured Welfare Association (CWA) in King William 's Town. These organisations attempted to procure access to housing within the narrow boundaries of a prescribed identity. Segregated housing therefore fostered and sustained coloured identity. It consolidated feelings of separateness and division and provided impetus for the construction of race and even racial tension. Coloured identity attempted to serve as a rallying point to overcome differences in religion, family and social networks and place of residence in order to procure access to housing. It was not, however, able to overcome the occasional division between settlements, caused by well-developed placeidentities, which still inform the contemporary housing milieu. The coloured elite initially did not question the legitimacy of coloured identity. Only in 1939, under threats of increased residential segregation, combined with the resulting opposition in coloured protest politics, was the legitimacy of coloured identity publicly contested . By 1943, with the creation of the Coloured Advisory Council (CAC), local coloured unity proved to be insufficient. A division within the ranks of the local coloured elite was evident. As a result, the expression of coloured identity still remains contested in contemporary King William's Town.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Selecting stories to tell: the gatekeeping of international news at SAfm
- Authors: Ticha, Abel Akara
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: South African Broadcasting Corporation SAfm (South Africa) Radio broadcasting -- South Africa Foreign news -- South Africa Radio journalism -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3499 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004520
- Description: The premise of this thesis is that the selection of international news to be aired on the bulletins of SAfm by SABC Radio News staff is influenced by more complex factors than could be seen solely from the prism of an empirical journalistic paradigm. Drawing from data obtained through participant observation and interviewing, it is noted that there has been a revolution from a propagandist approach during apartheid to a professional approach following the demise of apartheid, in the selection of international news for bulletins on SAfm. Using Lewin's theory of forces in decision making and locating it within four out of five levels of a framework of gatekeeping analysis provided by Shoemaker (1991) and Shoemaker et al (200 I), it is concluded that the delimiting well-tested routines of newsmaking act as powerful companions of individuals' selection decisions of international news broadcast on SAfm's bulletins. However, these routines are adapted to meet the organisational demands of the SABC, which as a Public Service Broadcaster (PBS) has embraced the discourse of South African nationalism/panAfricanism, as a major philosophy underpinning the Corporation's coverage of the world. Therefore, some individual, routine and organisational factors influencing the se lection of international news broadcast on SAfm's bulletins, are predetermined and co-determined by the social system (the ideological/discursive structure), which is promoted by certain social institutions. Instances of spokespersons of such institutions as governments, international governmental and non-governmental organisations, etc., officiating the news abound; the gatekeepers use them to meet routine professional standards of journalism. This potentially works to sustain the hegemonic discourses of the powerful in international affairs (in tenns of core/peripheral nations relations, and elite classlruled majority relations) though there is a conscious oppositional effort to modify or dwarf stories that explicitly promote imperialism and to hold rulers accountable to the public. It is posited that the time is ripe for newsworkers responsible for the production of bulletins for SAfm to take the risk that may be necessary to inject a few changes in routine practices that could limit the engineering of consent to the powerful elites in the international arena.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Semiotics as a medium of analysis in selected poetic works of S.E.K. Mqhayi
- Authors: Mzinzi, Thanduxolo Samuel
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Mqhayi, S. E. K. -- Criticism and interpretation , Poetry -- Analysis , Poetics , Semiotics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8470 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/576 , Mqhayi, S. E. K. -- Criticism and interpretation , Poetry -- Analysis , Poetics , Semiotics
- Description: In reference to Moleleki (1988:122), African poetry as a result of contrast rather than individual, is the representation of a community. This representation contains a scale of values based on the community, and it gives symbolic expression to the community: manifesting a community of tradition from the past through the present to the future. Going by the above notion, the poet assumes the responsibility of being the spokes-person of the community in which he/she finds and identifies himself/herself. He/she feels the pain felt by his/her people, and shares the joy shared by them. His/her representation therefore is both genuine and representatively expressive in nature. In the chosen poems of S. E. K. Mqhayi the above mentioned aspects of poetic writing are well expressed. This representation being a symbolic expression on behalf of the community holds a magnificent semiotic significance. Such semiotic significance, which boarders around the several highs and lows of the community’s lifestyle. The community poet in this context blends the past and the present in his verses attempting to both preserve and express the sorrows, the joys, the pains as well as the fears of his community and its people. These are captured in chapters three and four of this study. The community poet under the worst form of systematized inhuman, racist subjection called apartheid employed careful and skilful means of reciting as well as penning his verses. In the last four chapters one discovers a skilful means of masking in order to avoid being penalised. S.E.K Mqhayi’s element of symbolic expression is by far the most significant aspect of his poems. A man who lived in the days of abject institutionalised racism and being one of those discriminated against, had no choice but to be loyal to his oppressors and at the same time, expressing himself in the most creatively careful manner. His works are rich with encodings and embellishments. These encodings and embellishments require some careful skills to decode and unveil. This research work will centre mainly on the unravelling of all that was either encoded or embellished within each selected work.
- 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
Social workers' experiences of HIV and AIDS intervention in Botswana
- Authors: Kesamang, Lefhoko
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) -- Botswana , AIDS (Disease) -- Botswana -- Epidemiology , AIDS (Disease) -- Botswana -- Prevention
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9987 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/532 , AIDS (Disease) -- Botswana , AIDS (Disease) -- Botswana -- Epidemiology , AIDS (Disease) -- Botswana -- Prevention
- Description: This study endeavoured to explore and describe the experiences of social workers in their intervention with HIV and AIDS clients within the Department of Clinical Services of the Ministry of Health in Botswana. The researcher undertook a qualitative research study, using an exploratory, descriptive and contextual design to explore these experiences as perceived by the social workers. The method of data collection included semi-structured face-to-face interviews, as this was deemed most appropriate to the nature of the study. Data analysis was undertaken according to the outline of Tesch (1990), as stated in Creswell (1994:155). The findings were reported as themes, sub-themes and categories emanating from the data-analysis process. In ensuring the trustworthiness of the findings, the researcher adhered to Guba’s (1981) model (in Krefting, 1991:251). The research findings were subjected to a literature control, and culminated in the compiling of the research report. The research findings centred around the following five themes: · experiences of intervention with HIV and AIDS clients; · challenges in HIV and AIDS intervention; · measures to alleviate challenges of HIV and AIDS intervention; · intervention strategies utilised by social workers; and · suggestions and advice to new social workers. The recommendations resulting from this research project proposed inter alia that social workers need to be trained in specific and specialised areas related to HIV and AIDS intervention in the health setting, and that the support structures and a holistic multidisciplinary service delivery approach need to be put in place to assist social workers to be able to meet the needs of the clients as well as their own needs. Key Words: participants, clients/patient, qualitative, HIV and AIDS, experiences, intervention, strategies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Social workers' experiences on the transformation of social welfare from a remedial approach to a developmental approach
- Authors: Mashigo, Boipuso Stephina
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Social service -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9990 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/559 , Social service -- South Africa
- Description: When the new democratic government came into power, much legislation, policies and strategies were transformed, included was the welfare system that was imbalanced, unjust, discriminatory and inappropriate. It was replaced by a developmental approach that is more just, equitable and appropriate system contained in the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997). Social workers were expected to reform their method of intervention. Consequently, this study will focus on the experiences of social workers as changes were brought into the approaches used in service delivery. The goal of the study is to explore and describe social workers’ experiences on the transformation of social welfare from a traditional remedial approach to a developmental approach. The study was conducted using the qualitative research approach. The research study made use of an explorative, descriptive and contextual design. The researcher used purposive and theoretical non-probability sampling methods to draw the sample. Data was collected through semi- structured interviews. The data was analyzed using Tesch’s eight steps in Creswell (1994:155) and was verified against four criteria that Guba in (Krefting, 1991) developed for testing the trustworthiness of a qualitative study. Based on the findings and conclusion of the study, recommendations were made to the management of the department of social development on how to address the challenges facing social workers on the implementation of the developmental approach. The results will be disseminated by means of a written research report.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Subtle racism amongst undergraduate learners after a decade of democracy
- Authors: Van der Westhuizen, Amanda
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Racism in higher education -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay , Intergroup relations , Social interaction
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9954 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018820
- Description: The concept of “race” has been the organising feature of South African society for more than three centuries. More recent social changes in the United States of America, Europe, Australia, and South Africa have lead to more subtle expressions of racism. The present study aimed to explore and describe subtle racism amongst undergraduate psychology learners at a tertiary institution in Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality in 2004. The Subtle Racism Scale was used to measure anti-Black sentiment among a sample of 286 undergraduate psychology learners, obtained through non–probability, convenience sampling. Multiple regression analysis revealed the independent variables of race, age, and the race-age interaction were significantly associated with subtle racism of the participants. Research results demonstrated that participants’ level of estimated subtle racism varied according to the age and race of the participants, supporting the notion that racism in South Africa did not influence different age and race groups in a uniform manner.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The artistic path to virtue
- Authors: Sher, Gavin
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Aristotle -- Nicomachean ethics , Virtue , Ethics , Fiction , Narration (Rhetoric)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2732 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004370 , Aristotle -- Nicomachean ethics , Virtue , Ethics , Fiction , Narration (Rhetoric)
- Description: Most people share a strong intuition that there is much to be learned from great literature and other forms of narrative art. This intuition is, however, philosophically contentious. Plato was the first to argue against the possibility of learning anything from narrative art, but he founded a tradition that persists to the present day. I will engage in this debate in order to examine the role narratives might be able to play in acquiring virtue on Aristotle's ethical account, as it is presented in Nicomachean Ethics. I will claim that narratives have so long seemed a problematic source of learning because philosophers have traditionally approached the issue in the wrong way. They have typically tried to show how we might acquire propositional knowledge through our engagement with art, but this approach has failed because of insoluble problems involved in satisfying the justification criterion. Fictions may be rescued from their problematic status by realising that what we truly get from them is, instead, a type of knowledge-how. I will argue that Aristotelian virtue is itself a kind of knowledge-how and so the type of learning that takes place in engaging with narratives has a role to play in its acquisition and exercise. Virtue depends on types of reasoning that are themselves kinds of knowledge-how and which are employed and improved in engaging with narrative art. These types of reasoning will be described as conceptual, emotional and imaginative understanding. I will show how each is important in relation to virtue and how each is a kind of knowledge-how that may be improved through exposure to narrative art.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The coping resources and subjective well-being of dual-career Hindu mothers
- Authors: Prag, Hanita T
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Women -- India , Women -- Employment -- India , Hindu women -- Social life and customs
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9932 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/593 , Women -- India , Women -- Employment -- India , Hindu women -- Social life and customs
- Description: With the increasing number of women entering the labour force internationally, the role of women is changing. Consequently, researchers are pressed to investigate how females of all cultures balance their work and family responsibilities. Amongst Hindu couples, this issue can either be a source of tension or positive support. An overview of literature indicates that the psychological aspects of dual-career Hindu women have received little attention in South Africa. The current study aimed to explore and describe coping resources and the subjective well-being of full-time employed Hindu mothers. The study took the form of a non-experimental exploratory-descriptive design. Participants were selected through nonprobability convenience sampling. The sample of the study consisted of sixty full-time employed Hindu mothers between the ages of 25 and 45 years of age who had at least one dependent primary school child aged between 7 to 12 years. Various questionnaires were used to collect data for this study. These included a Biographical Questionnaire, The Coping Resources Inventory (CRI), The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and The Affectometer 2 (AFM2). Data was analysed by means of descriptive statistics. Cronbach’s coefficient alphas were utilised to calculate the reliability of the scores of each questionnaire. A multivariate technique was used to determine the amount of clusters formed. A non-hierarchical partitioning technique known as K-means cluster analysis was utilised in this study. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilised in order to compare the mean scores of the various clusters. A post-hoc analysis using the Scheffé test was computed to test for significant differences. Cohen’s d statistics was subsequently used to determine the practical significance of the differences found between the cluster means on each of the measures. The cluster analysis indicated three clusters that differed significantly from one another on all three measures. The results of the CRI indicated that the participants used cognitive and spiritual resources to assist them to cope with the transition from traditional to modern contemporary roles. It was also found that the participants with low coping resources had inferior subjective well-being compared to those who had average and high CRI scores. The findings indicated that the participants were generally satisfied with their lives and experienced high levels of positive affect and low levels of negative affect. However, as a group there was a trend for the participants to have experienced slightly lower levels of global happiness or slightly negative affect. The results of this study broadens the knowledge base of positive psychology with respect to the diverse cultures and gender roles within South Africa. Overall, this study highlighted the value and the need for South African research on the coping resources and subjective well-being of dual-career Hindu mothers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The European Union trade, development and cooperation agreement (TDCA) with South Africa : promoting development or self interest?
- Authors: Mavura, Mike Tigere
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: European Union Economic development -- South Africa European Union countries -- Foreign economic relations -- South Africa South Africa -- Foreign economic relations -- European Union countries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2859 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007572
- Description: This research analyses development cooperation between the European Union (EU) and South Africa with the objective of determining which between the two entities, ultimately benefits more out of this arrangement The research goes beyond the altruistic reasons offered by the EU as the rationale for development cooperation to investigate whether South Africa's development is actually being promoted by this cooperation. Further, the research investigates whether there is also EU self-interest that informs this development cooperation. This research is conceptualised within the development aid debate framework. The research argues that this development cooperation is important to South Africa even though its impact is in real terms has not been extensive due to a number of factors. It further contends that there are EU political, security and economic interests amongst others that are being promoted by this development cooperation. The research concludes by asserting that this development cooperation promotes the mutual interests of the EU and South Africa. This conclusion challenges the paradigms of the debate on development aid which is premised in black and white terms of development aid promoting either donor or recipient interests.
- 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
The experiences of volunteers involved in home-based care for people living with HIV/AIDS
- Authors: Sobuce, Ndabazovuyo Wellington
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: AIDS patients -- Home care -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki , AIDS (Disease) -- Patients -- Home care -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki , HIV-positive persons -- Home care -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki , Home-based family services -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9988 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/608 , AIDS patients -- Home care -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki , AIDS (Disease) -- Patients -- Home care -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki , HIV-positive persons -- Home care -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki , Home-based family services -- South Africa -- Lusikisiki
- Description: HIV/AIDS is a pandemic infecting and affecting millions of people worldwide. South Africa is also severely affected by this disease. Because hospitals cannot cope with patients admitted daily especially with the influx caused by HIV/AIDS patients, the government has introduced home-based care of people living with HIV/AIDS. Amongst those who practice home-based care are the volunteers. This study is aimed at exploring and describing the experiences of volunteers involved in home-based care of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Lusikisiki Magisterial district in the former Transkei area of the Province of the Eastern Cape. The researcher used a qualitative methodology with the aim of finding out what it is like to be a volunteer involved in home-based care in a rural area. The data was collected by means of semi-structured one-to-one interviews or guided interviews. A total sample of thirteen research participants was acquired through purposive as well as snowball sampling. The interviews were guided by a number of broad question themes. Data was analyzed using Tesch’s framework of data analysis as described in Creswell (1994). The researcher used Guba’s model as outlined in Krefting (1991) to ensure trustworthiness of the research findings. A literature control was undertaken to find out what other researchers and authors say about the issues raised by the study. There were five themes that came out of the data analysis process and these themes are: o The experiences of volunteers with home-based care. o Factors facilitating the work of volunteers. o Problems encountered by volunteers. o Possible solutions to problems encountered. o Views of volunteers regarding home-based care. These broad themes were further reduced into sub-themes and categories. Based on the discussion of themes, sub-themes, and categories, some research findings were presented. The discussion of the themes, sub-themes and categories was supported by verbatim quotations from the participants. On the basis of research findings, conclusions and recommendations were made.
- 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
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
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
The psychofortology of post-graduate learners in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- Authors: Smith, Greg
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University -- Graduate students , Graduate students -- Psychology , Adjustment (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9931 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/606 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011705 , Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University -- Graduate students , Graduate students -- Psychology , Adjustment (Psychology)
- Description: The years spent studying towards a degree represent many challenges to the learner1. These pressures increase once that learner moves into the post-graduate level of professional study. Faced with the pressure of having to perform suitably in order to remain on the programme, the learner finds himself or herself under conditions which may present as stress or illness, depending upon the availability of coping resources and strategies. This study adopted a psychofortigenic2 approach and explored and described the coping (i.e., coping resources and sense of coherence) and subjective well-being (i.e., satisfaction with life, happiness and general psychiatric health) of post-graduate learners in the following six departments of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU): Psychology; Human Movement Science and Sport Management; Environmental Health and Social Development Professions (incorporating MA Health and Welfare Management); Pharmacy; Nursing Science; Biomedical Technology and Radiography. An exploratory descriptive research design was used and the participants were selected by means of non-probability, convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 60 male and female masters and doctoral post-graduate learners in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Biographical data was gathered by means of the administration of a questionnaire. Hammer and Marting’s (1988) Coping Resources Inventory was used to measure the students’ available coping resources. Furthermore, Antonovsky’s (1987) Orientation to Life Scale was used to measure the construct of Sense of Coherence. The Satisfaction with Life Scale by Diener, Emmons, Larson and Griffin (1985) was used to assess the respondents’ overall satisfaction with life. Kamman and Flett’s (1983) Affectometer-2 was used to measure participants’ subjective global happiness. The General Health Questionnaire of Goldberg and Williams (1988) was used to measure the psychiatric morbidity or general psychiatric health of the participants. The data was analyzed using both descriptive statistics and cluster analysis. A Hotellings T² was computed with subsequent t-tests to draw inferences about differences in the means of established groups across the five measures. The results indicated that the participants were generally coping and experiencing subjective well-being. The results indicated two clusters to significantly differ from one another across the five measures. The first cluster could be characterized as high in psychofortology and presented with better coping and subjective well-being. The second cluster could be characterized as low in psychofortology and presented with poorer coping and subjective well-being.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The representation of South African women politicians in the Sunday Times during the 2004 presidential and general elections
- Authors: Katembo, Tina Kabunda
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Sunday Times (Johannesburg, South Africa) Women politicians -- South Africa Women in mass media Mass media -- Political aspects -- South Africa Elections -- South Africa South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3445 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002899
- Description: This study analysed the representation of South African women politicians in the Sunday Times’ election news during the 2004 Presidential and general elections, by drawing on perspectives from cultural studies, the constructionist approach to representation and the sociology of news production. Using content analysis and critical discourse analysis, the study found that very few women politicians were used as news actors/sources in the Sunday Times, and that when women politicians were figured, the paper tended to present them in ways that serve to sustain women’s subordinate status in society. Using content analysis, the study analysed 106 news items published between January 1, 2004 and April 30, 2004, and found that of all the 588 identifiable news actors/sources counted, 135 were women and 453 were men. Of these, only 7.67% (or 26) were women politicians and 92.33% (or 313) were men politicians. On average however, the amount of words allocated to a woman politician was more than that allocated to a man politician. The discourse analysis also revealed how the Sunday Times managed to reproduce textually the hegemonic power relations between women and men, by constructing different subject positions for women politicians and men politicians, which generally tended to be negative and positive respectively. In the representation of women politicians, the study revealed patterns that tended to ascribe them negative personality traits, accentuate their passivity and dependency on men, and construct them as incompetent political leaders. This study’s conclusions pose a challenge to the role of the national newspaper in the transformation of gender relations and the promotion of equal access to political and decision-making positions, and to the news media. News discourse, as a social practice, both determines and is determined by the social structure in which it is produced. By systematically reproducing subordinate subject positions for women in the news, the Sunday Times helps to further women’s subordinate status in society. Particularly, as part of the broader social cultural context that is embedded in patriarchal and gender ideologies, the Sunday Times does not merely reflect but actively and effectively constructs the reality it claims to be representing.
- 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