Pregnant women’s construction of social support from their intimate partners during pregnancy
- Authors: Bottoman, Phathiswa Esona
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Pregnant women -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Relations with men Pregnancy -- Psychological aspects Pregnant women -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62560 , vital:28207
- Description: There is a growing body of research aimed at understanding social support during pregnancy in South Africa. Pregnancy is constantly referred to as one of the challenging and stressful periods affecting women’s physical and psychological well-being. Various research studies on social support argue that social support is paramount at this stage. Research on social support indicates that having adequate and quality social support impacts on how pregnant women experience pregnancy. My interest in social support comes in the wake of absent fathers in South Africa and with the emerging trend of “new” fathers. Although there is a volume of research on social support, it tends to be realist. Using a social constructionist framework, I explore other ways of talking about social support in an attempt to expand the discourse around social support. I explore how pregnant women talk about social support during pregnancy from their intimate partners in the small rural municipality of Elundini, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Intimate partner support was limited to heterosexual partners regardless of their marital status. The sampling procedure followed a non-probability sampling method. Participants of the study were between 24 and 32 years old. Their gestational age ranged between five and eight months. Fourteen in-depth interviews using photo-elicitation were conducted with seven participants and were analysed using a social constructionist informed thematic analysis. The major theme that emerged from the analysis was partner involvement and absence during pregnancy. The analysis of results suggests that expectant father presence translates to social support. Participants constructed his presence as reassurance in the context of possible abandonment. Absence was constructed in different ways: participants constructed absence as unjust and unfair, absence and marriage, temporary absence in the form of cultural phenomenon of ukwaliswa/ukubukubazana, absence as normal but burdening to the pregnant women’s social network. Participants reported that social support from the expectant father affected pregnancy wantedness.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Evaluating impact assessment of LED projects in Makana Municipality
- Authors: Bottoman, Phathiswa Esona
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Economic development projects -- Evaluation , Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Community development -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9062 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1008190 , Economic development projects -- Evaluation , Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Community development -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Description: Amongst other socio-economic challenges that South Africa has, unemployment still remains high; in July 2010 unemployment was at 25.3 percentage and in July 2011 it was at 25.7 percentage ; in a space of a year it grew by 0.4 percentage (Trading Economics, 2012). Even though South Africa has made some significant progress with its democracy; there is still significant socioeconomic problems. Poverty, lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups are amongst and lack of proper education are amongst some of these pressing challenges in South Africa. More than a quarter of South Africa's population currently receives social grants (Index mundi, 2011). The Eastern Cape Province is still faced with significant socio-economic challenges such as high unemployment rate. 74 percentage unemployed are the economically active group as they are under the age of 35 (ECDC, 2011:22). “More than a quarter (26.4 percentage) of households in the Eastern Cape relies on government grants as their main source of income. Nationally, the youth unemployment rate is estimated to be close to 35 percentage, with more than three million young people out of work. Youth unemployment in the Eastern Cape averages 41.4 percentage. This is more than twice the adult unemployment rate (18.4 percent). A total of 695,175 young people have been without work every year in the Eastern” (ECDC, 2010-2011: 23). Besides, this province has a third largest number of people who are living with HIV/AIDS in the country. These statistics have a major significance on the province’s economic prospects and progress (ECDC, 2010-2011:22). The RSA Constitution 1996, the White Paper on Local Government 1998 has mandated local governments to facilitate LED. South Africa adopted LED as a way of fighting poverty and stimulating economic growth and development for local residents. LED is promoting skills development, SMMEs and tourism to encourage economic development. However the success of LED has received mixed views in that; some successes of LED were recorded in urban or metropolitan municipalities. Few successes have been recorded of LED projects in rural municipalities. Some of the constraints of LED consist of capacity problems within the municipalities, understanding the role of LED in the municipality and lack of funding. In Makana Municipality, about 23 percentage of households live below poverty line of (R800.00 – R9600 a year). Most of the population earns between R801.00-R1600.00 per month with 24.7 percentage. A mere 0.6 percentage earn R204801.00 or more compared to 12.7 percentage with no income. Inadequate infrastructure poses as a threat to attracting and retaining investment in this municipality. In light of the above paragraphs, this thesis evaluated the impact assessment of the LED projects within Makana Municipality. The premise of this thesis is that realization and significant support of LED projects would impact positively on unemployment and poverty rate that this municipality is facing and subsequently; the burden of unemployment and poverty will be reduced in the region, province and country.
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- Date Issued: 2012