Showing items 161 - 180 of 2828

Your selections:

A psychobiographical study of Joseph Stalin

  • Authors: Matsolo, Vuyiswa
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Stalin, Joseph -- 1878-1953 , Developmental psychology Self-actualization (Psychology) Psychology -- Biographical methods
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/41570 , vital:36530
  • Description: Joseph Stalin was the dictator of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953. Stalin ruled by terror and millions of people died during his term as leader. Stalin was known as an evil man, however, he was also hailed as a hero who was able to transform Russia into a major super power. Stalin died in 1953 at the age of 74, after suffering a massive stroke. The aim of the current study was to explore and describe the personality development of Stalin, by applying Alfred Adler’s theory of Individual Psychology and Theodore Millon’s Biopsychosocial Model of Personality to the context of his life experiences. The research design is a psychobiography, which is a single case study, and non-probability purposive sampling was used to select Stalin. The data consisted of primary and secondary data sources that described Stalin’s life experiences, and Yin’s (1994) guidelines for data collection were followed for data collection, which include using multiple sources of evidence, creating a case study database, and keeping and maintaining a reliable chain of evidence. The data was analysed in accordance to Miles and Huberman’s (1994a) model of data analysis. The findings of the study indicated that Stalin’s striving for significance was largely influenced by the social environment and cultural context in which he lived. These factors influenced his need for perfection and superiority, which became prevalent in his behaviour within his childhood years and throughout his quest for power in the Soviet Union. Stalin presented with Adler’s active-destructive lifestyle, which aligns with Millon’s antisocial personality pattern which focuses more on meeting the needs of the self at the expense of others.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

A psychobiographical study of Theodore Robert Bundy: an object relations approach

  • Authors: Landsberg, Melissa
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Developmental psychology , Object relations (Psychoanalysis) Psychology -- Biographical methods Psychology -- United States -- Biographical methods Serial murderers -- United States -- Biography Criminals -- United States -- Biography
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40456 , vital:36167
  • Description: The following research study aimed to explore and describe the life and personality development of Theodore Robert Bundy (1946-1989), a serial murderer who confessed to committing more than 30 homicides across different states of America between 1974 and 1978. By examining his distinctive set of cognitions and behaviours through a psychobiographical lens, Bundy’s use of primitive defense mechanisms and level of personality pathology could moreover be identified. In doing so, insights into the psychological motivations behind his aberrant actions could be acquired. This was attained through the application of Kernberg’s (1966) Object Relations Theory to Bundy’s lived experiences. Bundy was chosen as the research subject, based on his infamous reputation and interest value through employing a purposive sampling technique, and subsequently took the form of a qualitative, single case study. Data was collected through the triangulation of multiple primary and secondary sources available in the public domain. This data collection was furthermore processed and analysed through the use of Alexander’s (1988) textual indicators of psychological saliency, and the employment of Miles and Huberman’s (1994) three-step approach to qualitative data analysis (that is, data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification). The research findings confirmed Bundy’s pathological use of primitive defense mechanisms linked to Kernberg’s description of lower-level pathologies. It additionally emphasised the significance and utility of psychobiographical studies, and highlighted the value of Kernberg’s theory in understanding personality development. Recommendations were then made for future research endeavors to guide individuals that are interested in conducting similar studies that fall within the same genre of study.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

A Psychobiography of Martin Luther King, jr.

  • Authors: Perils, Carlyn Meredith
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: King, Martin Luther, -- Jr., -- 1929-1968 , Psychology -- Biographical methods Politicians -- Psychology
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/43160 , vital:36753
  • Description: This psychobiography focuses on the leadership style of Martin Luther King, Jr., a leader in the United States civil rights movement. King fought against racism, imperialism, poverty and political disenfranchisement, preached a philosophy of non-violence, and aimed to bring about reconciliation among classes, races, and nations. Transformational leaders stimulate and inspire followers to both achieve remarkable outcomes and, in the process, develop their own leadership capacity. This study makes use of a qualitative research method and is a longitudinal psychobiographical case study. The study aimed to explore, describe, and interpret the leadership style demonstrated by King according to the four leadership dimensions in transformational leadership theory. This psychobiographical study is exploratory-descriptive in nature. King was chosen as a research subject via purposive non- random sampling based on the interest value and significance of his life. Data on King’s leadership style was collected from both primary and secondary sources. Data was analysed according to Alexander’s (1988) method and Miles and Huberman’s (1994) approach. To ensure a trustworthy study, the four criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability and conformability were considered. The research did not cause any “distress or harm” to the subject. The subject is long deceased, and a large amount of psychobiographical research was based on “archival” information which was publicly available. Thus reporting such information posed minimal risk of criminal or civil liability being brought against the subject. King was found to demonstrate leadership style associated with idealized influence and inspirational motivation to a much higher extent than individualized consideration or intellectual stimulation. This finding contributes to a more specific understanding of the style of leadership King displayed. The insights gained from this study can be used to guide improvements in leadership practice, in terms of the development of leaders in industry.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

A social capital analysis of citizen participation and service delivery in metropolitan government in Zimbabwe: the case of Glenview, Harare since 2013

  • Authors: Sachikonye, Tafadzwa I
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Social capital (Sociology) -- Zimbabwe -- Harare , Municipal services -- Zimbabwe -- Harare , Local government -- Zimbabwe -- Harare , Public administration -- Zimbabwe -- Harare , Citizen particpation -- Zimbabwe -- Harare , Local government --Citizen participation -- Zimbabwe -- Harare , Harare (Zimbabwe). City Council
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96236 , vital:31253
  • Description: Significant challenges exist in contemporary Zimbabwe with regard to urban government, including with specific reference to citizenship participation and service delivery capacities. One of the crucial factors considered in the existing literature when examining urban government is the extent to which the central government intrudes in the affairs of urban government. This is particularly important given that, in recent years, many urban governments have been controlled by the main opposition party in the country. In this context, the thesis offers a critical examination of urban government in contemporary Zimbabwe by focusing on urban government in Harare (the capital) and, even more specifically, on the high-density, low-income area of Glenview. Harare is one of two metropolitan urban areas in Zimbabwe, along with Bulawayo, and is governed by the Harare City Council. While the central state’s relationship with urban governments (including Harare) in Zimbabwe is important, and is examined in this thesis, the primary concern is how this and other factors affect citizenship participation and service delivery in Harare. In pursuing this, the thesis draws upon social capital theory (including questions around trust and networks) to facilitate a critical analysis of urban government, citizenship participation and service delivery in Harare and Glenview specifically. The fieldwork for this thesis involved a qualitative research methodology, including informal interviews with relevant local stakeholders in Harare and associated documents. The thesis concludes that localised political, social and other contextual factors in Harare undercut the prospects for meaningful citizenship participation (with forms of social exclusion existing) and that this has negative implications for effective and efficient service delivery mechanisms.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

A sociological investigation on alcohol abuse among the Xhosa youth: the case of Sibangweni village in the Eastern Cape

  • Authors: Mancayi, Sibulele
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Alcoholism -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Alcoholics -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Youth -- Alcohol use , Youth -- Substance use
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40878 , vital:36250
  • Description: The issue of alcohol abuse appears to be an area of concern across the world and South African communities seem not to be exempt to this issue. Unlike in the past, where alcohol abuse was an issue that affected elderly people in mostly urban settings, the seems to be a growing trend of this phenomenon in rural communities. Furthermore, the youth are the most affected social group by the habit of alcohol abuse. There are numerous causes of alcohol abuse and cultural influence can be identified as one of them. However, what needs to be ascertained is whether culture promotes or discourages drinking patterns that could ultimately cause alcohol abuse. With focus on the rural community of Sibangweni on the outskirts of Umtata in the Eastern Cape; qualitative research interviews were conducted with fifteen participants to investigate the nature of the relationship of the Xhosa culture and alcohol abuse among the youth in the community. Through a thematic analysis of the data that was collected through structured interviews it became clear that the is room for improvement in terms of maintaining consistency in the tenets of cultural practices. It became apparent that when practiced according to the traditional cultural framework, the Xhosa culture does not necessarily lead to alcohol abuse, even though consuming alcohol is a part of the culture. What also became clear is that culture could actually be an intervention mechanism to behavioural related issue in society.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

A sociological study to explore the knowledge of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis at Rhodes University

A study of assimilation and alienation in West African fiction and psychic dislocation in South African fiction

  • Authors: Poisat, Ross
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: South African fiction (English) , South African fiction -- History and criticism Assimilation (Sociology) Alienation (Social psychology)
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/43270 , vital:36776
  • Description: This dissertation will provide a study of Assimilation and Alienation in West African fiction of Ferdinand Oyono’s Houseboy (1956) and Ayi Kwei Armah’s Why Are We So Blest? (1972) and Psychic dislocation in South African fiction of Wulf Sachs’s Black Hamlet (1936/1996). The dissertation plans to examine the specific effects of assimilation, alienation and psychic dislocation by examining them as central lines of argument in the respective texts. In Houseboy, the Catholic mission is depicted as being subordinate to the French Policy of Assimilation in colonial Cameroon. This dissertation examines how Oyono represents the manner in which the French catechists indoctrinated, dehumanized and made ‘other’ the colonized Cameroonian people. The relationship between colonial violence and trauma in Oyono’s text is also explored in relation to how the trauma of the colonized is expressed by them being the subject of and witnessing colonial violence at the hands of French Imperial agents. Oyono’s text was selected because it presents a counter-hegemonic portrayal of the French Policy of Assimilation and the Catholic mission’s complicity in this process. Why Are We So Blest? is analysed in terms of Armah’s depiction of the Modin’s relationship to a Western model of education, which is illustrative of his academic, racial and cultural alienation. The protagonist in Armah’s text can be seen as complicit in the history of colonial oppression due to his intellectual dependency on Western knowledge. Furthermore, this dissertation explores how the Modin is alienated by his relationships with his white academic superiors, who ‘other’, deny him agency, and infantilize him. Furthermore, the Algerian revolution functions as an expression of culture and the African intellectual, by being denied entry to it, is also alienated from the African masses. Armah’s text was selected because of its complex depiction of alienation. The literary analysis of Black Hamlet in this dissertation seeks to address the neglect of the fictional and imaginative aspects of the text in preceding studies. The representation of the psychic dislocation of John as a Shona nganga’s relationship to his ancestors is approached from a cultural and racial perspective in further examining his psychic dislocation in relation to the narrator. Furthermore, this dissertation investigates how Black Hamlet can be seen to suggest that psychic dislocation is tied to the hierarchal nature of colonial relations between John and the white narrator, and to John’s unreal experience of racialized South African and Zulu cultural place.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

A study of the role of heritage in brand affinity of south African millennials for iconic South African beer brands

  • Authors: Kingwill, Kelly
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Advertising -- Alcoholic beverages , Advertising -- Brewing industry , Consumers' preferences -- South Africa , Brand name products -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40610 , vital:36198
  • Description: Hollis (2007) states that iconic brands address acute contradictions in society by tapping into a collective desire and that they develop a status that transcends functional benefits. According to Holt (2004) iconic brands hold strong appeal because of their reputation, as told by their brand story, their identity-value or resonance with the consumer and their culture or intense relationship that takes the consumer from merely consuming the brand to sharing the branded lifestyle with like-minded consumers. The reason iconic brands have managed to create seamless integration in consumers’ lives is because they have managed to build a foundation of brand resonance (Carruthers, 2012). Iconic brands in the 21st century have achieved brand saliency, which represents the depth and breadth of brand awareness that goes beyond basic recognition and recall. They have developed not only brand loyalty, but brand affinity in the minds of consumers. Recent years have demonstrated a shift in consumer behaviour. Brand loyalty is on the decrease (Scheuer, 2015), as there are increasing considerations for consumers to make in their purchase decision process. Not only are there more factors to consider, but the number of brands competing has grown exponentially. According to Raynor (2007), iconic brands are forced to remain flexible in this turbulent, consumer empowered environment. The myth of adaptability has seen brands fail as they have been unable to match the pace of these environmental changes. This has bought about the need for iconic brands to become more flexible, allowing them to anticipate future scenarios, formulate optimal strategies and operate effectively by knowing when and where to meet their consumer’s functional and emotional needs (Raynor, 2007).
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

A systematic review of operationalizations of culture in post traumatic stress

  • Authors: Ramasodi, Precious , Cronje, Johan
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Post-traumatic stress disorder
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/43037 , vital:36729
  • Description: Research which looks at the influence of culture on posttraumatic experience has explored the culture construct through many differing lenses. This is because of the complex nature of culture. Since investigators may delineate culture in any number of ways there are a host of ways in which culture can be operationalised. The presence of differing operationalisations of culture in the literature is not necessarily a hindrance to the furtherance of knowledge. However, researchers may find it beneficial to employ similar operational terms in order for studies to be compared and amalgamated. The present study reviewed literature studies published between 1980 and 2018 that explored Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD) in different cultural cohorts. Thirty qualitative and quantitative research reports were assessed and six different operational terms were found. These were namely: geographic location, nationality, race, language, religion and ethnicity. Many articles in the pooled articles employed more than one operational to delineate the target population. The key themes which emerged from the pooled articles were the impact of differences between researcher and study participants, the differences in symptom expression and the stigma of the posttraumatic disorder.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

A systematic review on South African literature on hegemonic masculinity

  • Authors: Pieterse, Carl
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Masculinity , Men -- Psychology Hegemony
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/43225 , vital:36761
  • Description: The application and use of hegemonic masculinity as a theory and concept in South African literature is confusing and ambiguous. This confusion often results in hegemonic masculinity being equated to the concepts of dominant masculinity or traditional masculinity. Recently, research has suggested that studies on hegemonic masculinity contaminated the concept, whereas only a few have added new and acceptable knowledge. The concept of hegemonic masculinity has an almost hegemonic foundation in global literature, often resulting in the misuse of the concept. The aim of the study was to identify, analyse, and report on the themes and trends in South African literature that represents the understudied populations that create and maintain hegemonic masculinity. A systematic review process was utilised to identify and summarise the data, while thematic analysis was used to identify, analyse, and report on the patterns in the data. The results revealed five major themes that contribute toward the complex and paradoxical ways in which hegemonic masculinity was created and maintained by both individuals and society. In conclusion, the study discovered the complex nexus of paradoxes that exist in South African society and ultimately how they are used to create and maintain heteronormative standards of living by means of alignment with hegemonic masculinity. The study recommends that future research should focus on intersectionality as a lens through which hegemonic masculinity is studied.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Absent parent/s: Psychological implications on children

  • Authors: Magqamfana, Simnikiwe Happy
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Single parent families -- South Africa , Father and child -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa , Father figures -- Psychological aspects , -- Children, Black -- South Africa -- Psychology , College students, Black -- South Africa -- Psychology , Child development -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96886 , vital:31343
  • Description: The present study intends to explore the psychological implications on the university students who grew up in households where their biological fathers are absent. Most studies associate the absence of the biological fathers with psychological challenges which, among others, include negative emotions such as anger, challenges with maintaining romantic relationships and tend to perform poorly at school. Such research on absence of fathers tends to privilege the biological father discourse in its analysis and often mentions in passing the role played by ‘other’ family members as ‘fathers’. Since during data collection participants kept on referring to the role of other family members or father figures, the study then expanded its scope of inquiry to include this phenomenon. Semi-structured face to face interviews were used to collect data from five university students and thematic analysis was used for data analysis. Psychoanalytic theory was used to specifically to understand or conceptualize the psychological implications on participants caused by the absence of the biological father. Black Social organization theory and Structural Functionalism theory were used to conceptualize the role of other family members/families or father figures in participants’ experiences and the influence of the society they grew up in. This study found that the participants accepted the role of the biological father as central in their lives and its absence resulted in psychological and economical difficulties. To cope with such difficulties, the support from other family members or other father figures was found to be significant in participants lives. Also, this study found that father absence motivates the participants to succeed to better their lives and majority of the participants regarded their grandmothers as father figures.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Acculturation and Coming of age in female African writing; a Freudian psychoanalysis of Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions and Chimamada Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus

  • Authors: Abiodun , Adedoyin Catherine
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: African literature (English)
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16274 , vital:40704
  • Description: This study explores Acculturation and Coming of age not only as a social process but also a psychological one. The constructs are examined in line with Freudian psychoanalytic theory. The study focuses on migrant inclination of two female African writers, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Chimamanda Adichie in Nervous Conditions and Purple Hibiscus respectively. Through the study, it is discovered that acculturation involves both cultural and psychological change or adaptation and failure in either can result in trauma or produce socially imbalanced individuals. In other to have a healthy coming of age, family and the home status play a very significant role in the totality of an individual and also serves as a microcosm of social and political milieu. Also, the study in the course of the study, we discover there is no ‘authentic African culture’, culture is non-static and so, the study also discusses culture as being transnational and translational. The writers’ consciousness of space and place in their writing through reminiscent times of childhood play significant roles. Childhood figures are constructed in a matrix of concrete memories, spaces, places and times that play a significant role in the production of meanings of their migrant identities. The study identifies ways in which female socialisation further enhances her marginalisation in the society and how the family in the African setting as an ideological state apparatus contributes in ensuring the marginalised position of women. The authors being studied interrogate methods of raising children among African families in contemporary society
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Acorn girl

  • Authors: Kukard, Gina
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: South African fiction (English)
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96969 , vital:31382
  • Description: My thesis encapsulates a coming-of-age novella told through short vignettes of flash fiction and prose poetry. It makes use of the distillation and fragmentation of these forms to explore themes such as the nature of violation, and works between genres to engage the tension between inner and outer realities, and the blurred lines between passivity and resistance. Moving fluidly between memoir and fiction and set in modern day South Africa, it draws inspiration from both my own experiences and the writing of others, especially Raul Zurita’s resistance poetry in Dreams for Kurosawa, Claudia Rankine’s subtle absurdity in Don’t Let Me Be Lonely, bizarro elements as seen in Athena Villaverde’s The Clockwork Girl and the use of physicality to explore the emotional world, as seen in Shelley Jackson’s The Melancholy of Anatomy: Stories.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

An analysis of poetic syntax with special reference to Stockenström’s The Wisdom of Water (2007)

  • Authors: Murdoch, Alan
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Poetics , Poetry -- History and criticism Afrikaans poetry -- 21st century
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/41581 , vital:36538
  • Description: Poetry, by its very nature, is different to prose. Through ostranenie, the poet tries to foreground his or her message (meaning). Ostranenie is defined as follows: ‘A neologism, it implies two kinds of action: making strange, and pushing aside. Consistent with this double meaning, the concept refers to the techniques writers use to transform ordinary language into poetic language’ (www.oxfordreference.com). Gräbe (1997: 25) states: ‘The recognition of a difference between ordinary or normal language on the one hand, and “unusual” or “different” language use on the other hand is dependent upon the distinction […] between “automatisation” and “foregrounding.”’ This study will look at poetry, specifically that of Wilma Stockenström in The Wisdom of Water (2007), through the lens of syntax.The aim of this study is to determine the unique contribution of syntactic strategies for analysing and interpreting poetry and how they aid the poet in foregrounding his or her intended meaning. The strategies investigated are those detailed by Ina Gräbe in Syntax in Poetry (1997), namely the violation of grammatical rules in poetic language (specifically displacement, deletion and selectional deviation), the exploitation of forms of repetition in syntactic pattern formation (specifically coupling, parallelism and elaboration) and finally syntactic units and typographic demarcations (specifically the relationship between sentence and line and, the relationship between sentence and stanza). Through qualitative analysis, this study performs a syntactical structure analysis of Stockenström’s poetry in The Wisdom of Water (2007) and shows how the use and effect of Gräbe’s syntactic strategies can foreground a poet’s intended meaning. It will further show the way in which such a linguistic analysis can provide insight into the poet’s meaning, that might not otherwise have been apparent to a reader.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

An anthropological investigation of the perception of blood donation amongst university students: the case of students at the Nelson Mandela University

  • Authors: Boukes, Zinzan Sebastian
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Blood donors -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Blood -- Collection and preservation -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth College students -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/30887 , vital:31195
  • Description: The importance of voluntary non-remunerated blood donation is emphasised by the WHO, who envision a world with a sustainable blood supply where at least one percent of the population of every country voluntarily give blood. To ensure an adequate supply, the South African National Blood Service collects around three-thousand units of blood per day – forty percent of this from high school pupils and university students, following WHO recommendations regarding this segment as a target donor population. Despite the contribution by this segment of the population, no published knowledge exists of the perception of blood donation amongst university students in the country. This is an issue as the WHO (2010) recommends that countries understand what their populations know, think, and do regarding blood donation. In response to this issue this study investigated the perception of blood donation amongst students at a South African university (the Nelson Mandela University) to develop an understanding of what students know, think and do regarding blood donation. The study was conducted between 2017 and 2018 at a campus (‘South Campus’) of the Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth. The study followed a qualitative approach, applying a thematic analysis. Data was collected through semi-structured person-to-person interviews among a sample of students (n=20) from different departments and disciplines.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

An assessment of the expanded public works programme in Eldorado Park

  • Authors: Lewis, Elaine Elizabeth
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Public works -- South Africa -- Gauteng , Job creation -- South Africa -- Gauteng South Africa Department of Public Works Community development -- South Africa -- Gauteng Gauteng (South Africa)--Economic conditions
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40566 , vital:36183
  • Description: South Africa is faced with the realities of a high unemployment and poverty rate. This remains a challenge in the country because it continues to impact the lives of many living in previously disadvantaged communities that have limited access to quality education, lack of skills and limited to no access to income opportunities. The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) is a government steered programme that is targeted at unemployed individuals. The government has adopted this programme in an effort to address the challenge of unemployment in marginalized communities. The EPWP is a nationwide initiative with the objective of reducing unemployment by ensuring that the unskilled gain skills so that they are able to access the labour market and consequently earn an income. The five year report on the programme states that the EPWP was set to create 1 million temporary jobs for unemployed South Africans of which 40% are females, 30% youth and 2% people with disabilities. The programme mitigates some of the social exclusions within society and contributes to the alleviation of poverty through the creation of short term to medium term employment for the unskilled and unemployed (EPWP five-year report 2004/5 – 2008/9). The report identified four sectors that are critical and have the potential to create employment within the context of the EPWP. These sectors are the: Infrastructure sector; which focuses on increasing labour intensity for government funded infrastructure projects, Environment sector; which relates to public environmental improvement programmes, Social sector; which relates to public social programmes such as community based care programmes and non-state sector; which provides and creates work opportunities through collaboration with non-state organisations, as well as strengthening community participation through small enterprise leadership and incubation programmes (SA Department of public works, 2004/ 2008). The EPWP has empowered the beneficiaries/ EPWPs to gain skills, work experience and receive a monthly income in the form of a stipend. One of the main goals of the EPWP is to help these individuals to become self-sustained and to reduce the level of dependence on government social grants. The researcher noticed that there are some challenges such as the limited inclusion of disabled individuals in the community that remains a challenge. The aim of this research was to assess the contributions that were made by the EPWP towards alleviating the challenges of unemployment, lack of skills and substance abuse. These challenges continue to affect the previously disadvantaged community of Eldorado Park to date. Samples were collected at three NGOs and the municipal offices from the beneficiaries. The data was collected through the distribution of a questionnaire. The study was an attempt to evaluate the performance of EPWP, the impact on the lives of the beneficiaries and identify areas of improvement.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

An evaluation of the leadership development strategic plan of the Eastern Cape Department of Basic Education

  • Authors: Saffa, Fundiswa Mabelwana
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Development leadership -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Leadership -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Strategic planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40668 , vital:36211
  • Description: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Leadership Development Strategic Plan and its implications on leadership development. This is on the backdrop of a revised five-year plan for 2015/16-2019/20, which was developed and tabled in Parliament in March 2015. The revised strategic plan identified vital outcomes, goals and objectives against which the Basic Education Department’s medium-term results will be measured as well as evaluated by Parliament. The goals of the strategic plan are based on the National Development Plan (NDP) and they are comprised of efficient and effective management and governance, improved teacher supply, utilisation and development, effective development, implemention, monitoring and evaluation of the curriculum, effective systems for information management, planning, co-ordination, district support and assessment, enhanced social cohesion in schools as well as the wellbeing of learners. It was noted in this research that various definitions of leadership exist and they were presented before an operational definition suitable for this study was selected. The aims of leadership development were elaborated while assessing the needs thereof. Thereafter, theories supporting leadership development were identified and explained. The study used a qualitative methodology to investigate and evaluate the Leadership Development Strategic Plan through document analysis, thereby gathering the views and perspectives of various stakeholders. This allowed the researcher to obtain in-depth information on the Leadership Development Strategic Plan in the Eastern Cape Province Department of Basic Education (DoE). In order to fulfil the objectives of the study, a survey was conducted using a questionnaire among the employees of the Department of Basic Education in the Eastern Cape. The research revealed that employees from DoE encounter a number of challenges regarding the accessibility and availibality of services, consultations and facilities. The research discovered that there is a frequent change of management. There are also problems of communication within the hierarchy as well as with the match and placement of employees within the department, according to their qualifications. It was also evident that there is no strong leadership, no service delivery and a high employee turnover. The research also revealed that there is a lack of proper evaluation and monitoring, a resistance to change and a disregard of policies as well as a lack of leadership skills and an instability of the environment due to political interference. Yet it was evident in this research that there was an aspect of consultation during the development of the strategic plan and that the monitoring and implementation of the strategic plan is present, as planned by the department. The research also discovered that the level of leadership is high and of good quality, yet the challenges in the implementation of the plan are due to political appointing. The research therefore recommended that further research needed to be conducted to understand issues regarding this subject in greater detail. It also recommended the introduction of a curriculum that produces good education. More so, it recommended that there must be proper training regarding the monitoring and evaluation of the Leadership Development Strategic Plan. The study further recommended that the leadership must have access to leadership programs where they can receive the best practice as leaders.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

An exploration of social media as a key site for the expression of post-racial politics

  • Authors: Bell, Joshua
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- , South Africa -- In mass media
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/94049 , vital:30995
  • Description: This research sets out to examine colourblind racism in contemporary South Africa, specifically, as expressed on social media networks. In South Africa, a nation lauded for its transition from Apartheid to liberal democracy, racism still continues to exist. In the new democracy, racism continues in old, familiar forms but it has been suggested that racism also assumes new and emergent forms such as ‘colourblind’ racism. This is evident in recent controversies involving local public figures and their expressions of ‘soft’, ‘colourblind’ racism on Facebook. It is the new platforms and modes of racism unique to democratic South Africa which this thesis attempts to explore. Specifically, this study is framed by ‘post-racialism’, a concept developed by scholars globally to capture the suggestion that in liberal democratic societies across the world, racism continues with racial inequality now underpinned by an ideology of colourblindness as opposed to overt policies of segregation. Colourblindness denies the relevance of race as a collective issue, proposing instead that other social factors such as class are more pertinent in considerations of social inequality. The purpose of colourblind narratives may be identified as the reduction of racism to mere individual action, denying systemic white privilege and historical responsibility for reparation as well as preventing racially subjugated groups from critically interrogating racial power and privilege (Goldberg, 2015: 28-30). Post-racial theorists agree that the projection of colourblind politics which claims to no longer ‘see race’ has instead served to secure the normalisation of white privilege and black subjugation (Bonilla-Silva et al, 2004: 559-560). The purported existence of colourblind /post-racial racism and its impact requires exploration in the context of South Africa today. In expanding on the definition of racism, we are able to see that racism is an adaptive system of power that is able to reproduce and reconceptualise itself to changes within society. As modalities of racism have evolved, so have the platforms for its propagation. This research offers social media as a site of exploration for post-racial narratives. The case studies of Penny Sparrow, Helen Zille and Mabel Jansen are presented in this study as exemplars of post-racial liberalism, denial and exclusion. This research calls for the expansion of racial understanding so as to contest racial power structures as a continuing systemic issue in contemporary South Africa.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

An exploration of the adolescent maltreatment experience and its perceived impact on young adult survivors in the Eastern Cape Pondoland areas

  • Authors: Jinoyi, Nomava Siyasamkela
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Adolescent psychiatry , Child abuse -- Treatment , Abused children -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Child psychiatry
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42262 , vital:36640
  • Description: Recognition of adolescent maltreatment as a specialised problem area within the context of child maltreatment did not occur until the late 1970s. Since its occurrence, studies have been consistent in finding that adolescent maltreatment has not received much attention in the research literature. This ignited the researcher’s interest to explore the survivor’s experience of the adolescent maltreatment phenomenon and to understand its perceived impact on the survivor’s functioning in adulthood. The researcher conducted a qualitative study, following a social constructivism paradigm. Data collection and analysis followed a narrative design, with Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Human Development as the theoretical framework that guided the study. Five women participated in the study. In order to participate, the participants had to be between the ages of 23 and 35 with a history of the adolescent maltreatment, experienced between the ages of 12 and 19 years. This study found that adolescent maltreatment was experienced as an emotive experience. It entailed sense-making of the experience through finding answers to a question ‘why did it happen to me?’ It found that the experience involves a transition from the maltreating situation and fosters adjustment to a new life after the experience. It also emerged that the experience leaves enduring negative effects on its survivors. Despite the negative effects, the survivors perceived their experience as a non-defining factor for their future directions. This study concluded, therefore, that adolescent maltreatment is a complex phenomenon that requires continued research for its in-depth understanding through qualitative studies.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

An explorative study into Faith healing as an African belief system and its influence on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa

  • Authors: Tsotsi, Liso
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Traditional medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Spiritual healing -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Ethnopsychology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Mental illness -- Treatment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Mental illness -- Alternative treatment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67753 , vital:29137
  • Description: The present study specifically focussed on Faith healing as an indigenous healing system and its influence on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The study aimed to provide a descriptive overview of Faith healers’ perspectives on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses in the Eastern Cape, as well as to compare conclusions reached with other categories of indigenous healers. The inter-category comparisons on a broader level allowed for a further comparative discourse with the mainstream western medical psychiatric view of mental illness. Therefore, the scope of this study does not include in-depth analyses of findings, but rather the generation of themes for comparative discussions. While there exists vast literature on the diagnostic and treatment perspectives of the other two categories of indigenous healing systems (traditional healers and herbalists), a limited number of studies have been focussed on Faith healing as an indigenous mode of healing. The present study attempted to address this gap in the literature in an effort to promote future collaborative work across all viewpoints, in the management of mental illnesses. This study, grounded in qualitative research, utilized thematic analysis as its theoretical framework. Non probability judgmental sampling was used to secure self-identifying Faith healers, where conclusions from them were drawn from data collected, using in depth semi-structured interviews and observation. The main findings of the study indicated that Faith healers’ perspectives on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses are based mainly on indigenous cultural theories. Furthermore, that collaboration with other viewpoints is hampered by animosity, feelings of distrust and the fear of appearing inferior.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Contact