An exploration of adolescent risk-taking behaviour : a case study analysis
- Authors: Dietrich, Valerie
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Teenagers -- South Africa -- Conduct of life , Risk-taking (psychology) in adolescence
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10989 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/312 , Teenagers -- South Africa -- Conduct of life , Risk-taking (psychology) in adolescence
- Description: Do adolescents of colour really engage in risk-taking behaviours as often generalised by the public? Are they in fact the alcohol, drugs, sex, and violence generation? This study attempts to investigate the conditions influencing the choices adolescents make prior to their engaging in risk-taking behaviours. In the social sciences, concerns over adolescents’ recklessly irresponsible behaviours have deep roots. In 1904 G. Stanley Hall depicted adolescence as misbehaving because of the storms and stresses of the transition from childhood to adulthood. Subsequently, social scientists produced substantial evidence that the storminess of adolescence is largely an over generalisation, which has not been empirically substantiated. In corroboration of this interpretation, this study also indicates that not all adolescents engage in risk-taking behaviour, and those risky individuals do not necessarily engage in all spheres of risk-taking. The majority of the target group only experimented with certain risk behaviours by engaging in them on one occasion only. The specific high school was selected because the researcher knew the learners, as she was an educator there at the time. She was thus reasonably aware of the frequency, the nature and the severity of the risk-taking behaviours of the target group. In general, the most important findings of the study signified a moderate level of participation in risk-taking activities. However, in certain spheres such as cigarette smoking, alcohol usage and sexual intercourse, an extreme participation level was reported. Certain factors such as gender, age, socio-economic conditions, parental (one or both) absence, and the respondents’ attitude towards the specific behaviour, were discovered to have played an influential role in the target group taking risks. Based on the reasons advanced for engaging in risk-taking behaviour, the researcher concluded that the following theories were applicable in explaining the behaviour of the respondents. These theories are the social learning theory, symbolic interactionist theory, social identity, the theory of reasoned action, and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The researcher trusts that this study will assist the reader to understand the complex contributing circumstances that the target group has to contend with in making decisions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Dietrich, Valerie
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Teenagers -- South Africa -- Conduct of life , Risk-taking (psychology) in adolescence
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10989 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/312 , Teenagers -- South Africa -- Conduct of life , Risk-taking (psychology) in adolescence
- Description: Do adolescents of colour really engage in risk-taking behaviours as often generalised by the public? Are they in fact the alcohol, drugs, sex, and violence generation? This study attempts to investigate the conditions influencing the choices adolescents make prior to their engaging in risk-taking behaviours. In the social sciences, concerns over adolescents’ recklessly irresponsible behaviours have deep roots. In 1904 G. Stanley Hall depicted adolescence as misbehaving because of the storms and stresses of the transition from childhood to adulthood. Subsequently, social scientists produced substantial evidence that the storminess of adolescence is largely an over generalisation, which has not been empirically substantiated. In corroboration of this interpretation, this study also indicates that not all adolescents engage in risk-taking behaviour, and those risky individuals do not necessarily engage in all spheres of risk-taking. The majority of the target group only experimented with certain risk behaviours by engaging in them on one occasion only. The specific high school was selected because the researcher knew the learners, as she was an educator there at the time. She was thus reasonably aware of the frequency, the nature and the severity of the risk-taking behaviours of the target group. In general, the most important findings of the study signified a moderate level of participation in risk-taking activities. However, in certain spheres such as cigarette smoking, alcohol usage and sexual intercourse, an extreme participation level was reported. Certain factors such as gender, age, socio-economic conditions, parental (one or both) absence, and the respondents’ attitude towards the specific behaviour, were discovered to have played an influential role in the target group taking risks. Based on the reasons advanced for engaging in risk-taking behaviour, the researcher concluded that the following theories were applicable in explaining the behaviour of the respondents. These theories are the social learning theory, symbolic interactionist theory, social identity, the theory of reasoned action, and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The researcher trusts that this study will assist the reader to understand the complex contributing circumstances that the target group has to contend with in making decisions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
An investigation into the attitudes of teachers in Port Elizabeth to the inplementation of computer assisted learning
- Authors: Harvey, Paul David
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Computer-assisted instruction -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Teachers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10996 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/384 , Computer-assisted instruction -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Teachers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Attitudes
- Description: In general, insufficient research has been done to validate the usefulness and relevance of computers in educational settings (Hitchcock, 2000; Robinson et al., 2003; Baillie et al., 2000; Housego et al., 2000; Valdez et al., 2004). Schools therefore tend to adopt educational technologies before determining whether and how the technology will be used to its full capacity, or what the human and educational impact would be on learners and teachers (Hobson et al., 1998; McCabe et al., 2003; Hugo, 2002). In South Africa the eEducation policy, scripted by the Department of Education (DOE), has been created as an implementation and integration plan for educational technologies in South African schools, where all South African learners at schools are to be functionally computer literate by the year 2013 (DOE, 2003c). However, a limited amount of research has been performed investigating the educational relevance or optimal method for Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) implementation in South African schools. The purpose of the undertaken research study is to create an understanding of teachers’ attitudes toward CAL implementation and integration, as well as to provide insight into the optimal CAL implementation and integration methods in South African schools. The research problem under study therefore is: What are teachers’ attitudes toward the implementation and integration of CAL systems in South African schools? The research study is performed within the quantitative research paradigm and can be described as both exploratory and descriptive in orientation. In the context of this research the population under study is Grade 10 Mathematics teachers that teach in the city of Port Elizabeth. Out of a total of 153 teachers who form part of the study population, 78 successfully completed survey instruments, returning a high yield of 51% of the total study population. The analysis of the total teacher sample group provides the most statistically robust analysis breakdown of the study, and therefore can be reported with a high level of confidence. However, as the study is exploratory in nature, the analysis of various subject breakdowns have been included and iii reported in the study to provide anecdotal insight across diverse variable groups. Subject breakdowns include gender, demographic groups, and age groups, levels of qualifications and level of computer use experience. The findings indicate that teachers in general feel very positive about the use of computers in schools, specifically for teaching purposes, and believe the use of computers in education is inevitable but provides value in the educational context. Though teachers demonstrate high levels of access to computers and fairly capable computer abilities, they demonstrate low levels of awareness of available computer facilities, as well as low levels of computer use. The findings therefore indicate a need for greater integration of CAL systems into the curricula and greater training opportunities. However, teachers show that they have a preference for traditional teaching methods to CAL instructional methods, demonstrating a specific preference for traditional chalk and whiteboard media. The findings suggest that teachers do not value computers for their instructional purposes, but rather for their practical educational related activities. The findings also suggest that the use of computers to teach is not a priority of education related computer use. Teachers indicate that a variety of both traditional and modern media is best suited to various educational activities. With regard to CAL instruction, teachers demonstrate a preference for a teaching scenario where teachers use computers to prepare and teach lessons, but learners only perform exercises on computers under teacher supervision. Teachers demonstrate greater aversion to teaching situations where learners learn independently off computers. Teachers therefore indicate that Drill and Practice and Testing software are the most suitable for general CAL implementation and use, in support of previous studies in South Africa. Finally, from a developmental perspective in the context of South Africa, teachers overwhelmingly indicate that the widespread implementation of CAL systems should not occur before all schools have their basic needs of water, sanitation, electricity and human resources fulfilled.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Harvey, Paul David
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Computer-assisted instruction -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Teachers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10996 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/384 , Computer-assisted instruction -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Teachers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Attitudes
- Description: In general, insufficient research has been done to validate the usefulness and relevance of computers in educational settings (Hitchcock, 2000; Robinson et al., 2003; Baillie et al., 2000; Housego et al., 2000; Valdez et al., 2004). Schools therefore tend to adopt educational technologies before determining whether and how the technology will be used to its full capacity, or what the human and educational impact would be on learners and teachers (Hobson et al., 1998; McCabe et al., 2003; Hugo, 2002). In South Africa the eEducation policy, scripted by the Department of Education (DOE), has been created as an implementation and integration plan for educational technologies in South African schools, where all South African learners at schools are to be functionally computer literate by the year 2013 (DOE, 2003c). However, a limited amount of research has been performed investigating the educational relevance or optimal method for Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) implementation in South African schools. The purpose of the undertaken research study is to create an understanding of teachers’ attitudes toward CAL implementation and integration, as well as to provide insight into the optimal CAL implementation and integration methods in South African schools. The research problem under study therefore is: What are teachers’ attitudes toward the implementation and integration of CAL systems in South African schools? The research study is performed within the quantitative research paradigm and can be described as both exploratory and descriptive in orientation. In the context of this research the population under study is Grade 10 Mathematics teachers that teach in the city of Port Elizabeth. Out of a total of 153 teachers who form part of the study population, 78 successfully completed survey instruments, returning a high yield of 51% of the total study population. The analysis of the total teacher sample group provides the most statistically robust analysis breakdown of the study, and therefore can be reported with a high level of confidence. However, as the study is exploratory in nature, the analysis of various subject breakdowns have been included and iii reported in the study to provide anecdotal insight across diverse variable groups. Subject breakdowns include gender, demographic groups, and age groups, levels of qualifications and level of computer use experience. The findings indicate that teachers in general feel very positive about the use of computers in schools, specifically for teaching purposes, and believe the use of computers in education is inevitable but provides value in the educational context. Though teachers demonstrate high levels of access to computers and fairly capable computer abilities, they demonstrate low levels of awareness of available computer facilities, as well as low levels of computer use. The findings therefore indicate a need for greater integration of CAL systems into the curricula and greater training opportunities. However, teachers show that they have a preference for traditional teaching methods to CAL instructional methods, demonstrating a specific preference for traditional chalk and whiteboard media. The findings suggest that teachers do not value computers for their instructional purposes, but rather for their practical educational related activities. The findings also suggest that the use of computers to teach is not a priority of education related computer use. Teachers indicate that a variety of both traditional and modern media is best suited to various educational activities. With regard to CAL instruction, teachers demonstrate a preference for a teaching scenario where teachers use computers to prepare and teach lessons, but learners only perform exercises on computers under teacher supervision. Teachers demonstrate greater aversion to teaching situations where learners learn independently off computers. Teachers therefore indicate that Drill and Practice and Testing software are the most suitable for general CAL implementation and use, in support of previous studies in South Africa. Finally, from a developmental perspective in the context of South Africa, teachers overwhelmingly indicate that the widespread implementation of CAL systems should not occur before all schools have their basic needs of water, sanitation, electricity and human resources fulfilled.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
An investigation into the coverage of diverse forms of tourism in South African travel magazines
- Authors: Kotzé, Louis Jacobus Daniël
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Tourism -- South Africa , South Africa -- Description and travel Periodicals -- Research
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10992 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/339 , Tourism -- South Africa , South Africa -- Description and travel Periodicals -- Research
- Description: There have been several changes in tourism in South Africa since 1994. During apartheid, black people were not allowed to become involved in important aspects of tourism, particularly at management level. However, this situation is changing and all cultures are gradually becoming engaged in th e tourism industry. The economic progress of the black community has resulted in the materialization of cultural villages, tourism projects to give rural people jobs, and an increase in township tourist attractions, heritage tours, etc. These initiatives have led to the establishment of certain types of tourism such as cultural tourism, urban tourism and community-based tourism. It could be said without hesitation, at the prescientific level, that the diversity in cultures, for one, is a major attraction of this country. Another change has been the increase in tourism from countries which have been excluded from South Africa in the past. Examples of these are African countries such as Kenya and Nigeria, as well as countries on other continents, including India, Bangladesh and the East-European bloc. Up to 2003/4, South Africa experienced the longest uninterrupted period of economic growth in its history. This resulted in people being able to afford a higher standard of living and therefore having more money to spend on travelling. as the economic growth stimulated the growth of tourism, both local and foreign, in the country. Seen from the perspective of the tourism industry, it is important to keep the public informed and up to date about what a country has to offer in order to maintain the increase in tourism. The media assist in this process. The travelling public is informed by word of mouth, but also through newspapers, magazines, television and radio. Information about the different attractions, whether cultures, wildlife or sport, et cetera, would not always be easy to find, were it not for the media. As tourism grows, more tourist attractions will develop, with a bigger need for tourists to be informed as an immediate result. The role of the media in this information giving is th erefore constantly on the increase.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Kotzé, Louis Jacobus Daniël
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Tourism -- South Africa , South Africa -- Description and travel Periodicals -- Research
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10992 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/339 , Tourism -- South Africa , South Africa -- Description and travel Periodicals -- Research
- Description: There have been several changes in tourism in South Africa since 1994. During apartheid, black people were not allowed to become involved in important aspects of tourism, particularly at management level. However, this situation is changing and all cultures are gradually becoming engaged in th e tourism industry. The economic progress of the black community has resulted in the materialization of cultural villages, tourism projects to give rural people jobs, and an increase in township tourist attractions, heritage tours, etc. These initiatives have led to the establishment of certain types of tourism such as cultural tourism, urban tourism and community-based tourism. It could be said without hesitation, at the prescientific level, that the diversity in cultures, for one, is a major attraction of this country. Another change has been the increase in tourism from countries which have been excluded from South Africa in the past. Examples of these are African countries such as Kenya and Nigeria, as well as countries on other continents, including India, Bangladesh and the East-European bloc. Up to 2003/4, South Africa experienced the longest uninterrupted period of economic growth in its history. This resulted in people being able to afford a higher standard of living and therefore having more money to spend on travelling. as the economic growth stimulated the growth of tourism, both local and foreign, in the country. Seen from the perspective of the tourism industry, it is important to keep the public informed and up to date about what a country has to offer in order to maintain the increase in tourism. The media assist in this process. The travelling public is informed by word of mouth, but also through newspapers, magazines, television and radio. Information about the different attractions, whether cultures, wildlife or sport, et cetera, would not always be easy to find, were it not for the media. As tourism grows, more tourist attractions will develop, with a bigger need for tourists to be informed as an immediate result. The role of the media in this information giving is th erefore constantly on the increase.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
An investigation into the induction of oxidative stress and apoptosis by microcystin-LR in the CaCo2 cell line and intestinal tract of Balb/c mice
- Authors: Botha, Nicolette
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Microcystis aeruginosa -- Toxicology , Apoptosis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:11066 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/349 , Microcystis aeruginosa -- Toxicology , Apoptosis
- Description: This study reports the findings on the effect of Microcystin-LR (MCLR) on the gastrointestinal tract cells of mice and on two different cell lines, Caco2 and MCF-7. The cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa produces the potent toxin, MCLR. This toxin has been implicated in a number of cases of ill-health. It was decided to investigate whether microcystin-LR induced apoptosis in the gastrointestinal tract of mice and also which possible mechanisms were involved in the induction in vitro. Balb/c mice were given a 75% LD50 intraperitoneal dose of pure microcystin -LR and sacrificed at 8, 16, 24 and 32 hours post-exposure. The small intestinal sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosin and examined for apoptotic cells. There was a time-dependent increase in the number of apoptotic cells with most in the duodenum and the jejunum. No change in glycogen content was evident at 24 hours post exposure when PAS-stained sections were examined. To determine that microcystin was the agent responsible for the changes, fluoroscein isothiocyanate (FITC) immunostaining for the toxin was done on the sections. Apoptosis in vitro was investigated in Caco2, a cell line that behaves like normal enterocytes when the cells are differentiated at confluency, and MCF-7, a breast cancer cell line deficient in pro-caspase-3, cells by 3-[dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays and by staining with DAPI and Rhodamine 123. MCLR exposure induced apoptosis, as seen in decreased cell viability and increased leakage of LDH, as well as mitochondrial damage shown by Rhodamine staining. The MCF-7 cells, deficient in pro-caspase-3, and Caco2 cells did not show cleavage of poly(ADP)ribose polymerase (PARP) after exposure to 50μM MCLR after 72 hours exposure. Both micro- and milli-calpain activity was however significantly increased in both cell lines exposed to the toxin. There was a significant increase in H2O2, one of the key reactive oxygen species, production during the first 30 minutes that the cells were exposed to 50 mM MCLR.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Botha, Nicolette
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Microcystis aeruginosa -- Toxicology , Apoptosis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:11066 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/349 , Microcystis aeruginosa -- Toxicology , Apoptosis
- Description: This study reports the findings on the effect of Microcystin-LR (MCLR) on the gastrointestinal tract cells of mice and on two different cell lines, Caco2 and MCF-7. The cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa produces the potent toxin, MCLR. This toxin has been implicated in a number of cases of ill-health. It was decided to investigate whether microcystin-LR induced apoptosis in the gastrointestinal tract of mice and also which possible mechanisms were involved in the induction in vitro. Balb/c mice were given a 75% LD50 intraperitoneal dose of pure microcystin -LR and sacrificed at 8, 16, 24 and 32 hours post-exposure. The small intestinal sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosin and examined for apoptotic cells. There was a time-dependent increase in the number of apoptotic cells with most in the duodenum and the jejunum. No change in glycogen content was evident at 24 hours post exposure when PAS-stained sections were examined. To determine that microcystin was the agent responsible for the changes, fluoroscein isothiocyanate (FITC) immunostaining for the toxin was done on the sections. Apoptosis in vitro was investigated in Caco2, a cell line that behaves like normal enterocytes when the cells are differentiated at confluency, and MCF-7, a breast cancer cell line deficient in pro-caspase-3, cells by 3-[dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays and by staining with DAPI and Rhodamine 123. MCLR exposure induced apoptosis, as seen in decreased cell viability and increased leakage of LDH, as well as mitochondrial damage shown by Rhodamine staining. The MCF-7 cells, deficient in pro-caspase-3, and Caco2 cells did not show cleavage of poly(ADP)ribose polymerase (PARP) after exposure to 50μM MCLR after 72 hours exposure. Both micro- and milli-calpain activity was however significantly increased in both cell lines exposed to the toxin. There was a significant increase in H2O2, one of the key reactive oxygen species, production during the first 30 minutes that the cells were exposed to 50 mM MCLR.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Aplousobranch ascidians (Tunicata: Ascidiacea) from Southern Africa
- Authors: Parker-Nance, Shirley
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Sea squirts -- South Africa -- Classification , Aplousobranchia -- South Africa -- Classification
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:11078 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/311 , Sea squirts -- South Africa -- Classification , Aplousobranchia -- South Africa -- Classification
- Description: The ascidian (subphylum Tunicata: class Ascidiacea) fauna along the southern African coast constitutes an important component of the sessile benthic reef fauna. Little is known of the species composition, biodiversity and distribution of ascidians on southern African intertidal and subtidal reefs. Past research on the ascidian fauna of South Africa was sporadic and limited, with only about one hundred and seventy species recorded during the last one hundred and twenty years. This is the first taxonomic study undertaken by a South African resident scientist. The study focused on six genera in four families (Euherdmaniidae, Polyclinidae, Pseudodistomidae and Didemnidae) belonging to the class Ascidiacea and suborder Aplousobranchia. Five species new to science, two Polyclinum, two Pseudodistoma and one Polysyncraton species are described. New additional information on the distribution of five species previously known to science, including one recorded for the first time along the South African coast, is presented. A literature review and comparison of the taxonomic important characteristics is made of all species known globally for the six genera. These six genera comprise twelve Euherdmania, fifteen Aplidiopsis, forty Polyclinum thirty-one Pseudodistoma, six Atriolum and sixty-eight Polysyncraton species.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Parker-Nance, Shirley
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Sea squirts -- South Africa -- Classification , Aplousobranchia -- South Africa -- Classification
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:11078 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/311 , Sea squirts -- South Africa -- Classification , Aplousobranchia -- South Africa -- Classification
- Description: The ascidian (subphylum Tunicata: class Ascidiacea) fauna along the southern African coast constitutes an important component of the sessile benthic reef fauna. Little is known of the species composition, biodiversity and distribution of ascidians on southern African intertidal and subtidal reefs. Past research on the ascidian fauna of South Africa was sporadic and limited, with only about one hundred and seventy species recorded during the last one hundred and twenty years. This is the first taxonomic study undertaken by a South African resident scientist. The study focused on six genera in four families (Euherdmaniidae, Polyclinidae, Pseudodistomidae and Didemnidae) belonging to the class Ascidiacea and suborder Aplousobranchia. Five species new to science, two Polyclinum, two Pseudodistoma and one Polysyncraton species are described. New additional information on the distribution of five species previously known to science, including one recorded for the first time along the South African coast, is presented. A literature review and comparison of the taxonomic important characteristics is made of all species known globally for the six genera. These six genera comprise twelve Euherdmania, fifteen Aplidiopsis, forty Polyclinum thirty-one Pseudodistoma, six Atriolum and sixty-eight Polysyncraton species.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Apollo, Dionysus, dialectical reason and critical cinema
- Authors: Konik, Adrian
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Motion pictures and language , Philosophy in motion pictures , Dionysus (Greek deity) in literature , Apollo (Greek deity) in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10990 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/295 , Motion pictures and language , Philosophy in motion pictures , Dionysus (Greek deity) in literature , Apollo (Greek deity) in literature
- Description: The contemporary era is dominated by an Apollonian visual language, i.e. the visual language of mainstream cinema and the mass media, and this study concerns the role that critical cinema, as Dionysian subverter, plays under such conditions. I argue that critical cinema should not be viewed as something completely ‘new’ but rather as a new, or at least the latest, manifestation of an older subversive ‘Dionysian’ voice that has made its presence felt since the dawn of the hegemony of an Apollonian disposition in Homeric epic. (I maintain that the history of western culture can be understood in terms of the persistent tension between Apollonian and Dionysian dispositions, and I use the distinction Derrida makes in Différance, between restricted and general economies, to distinguish between them, respectively.) I begin by considering the Dionysian echoes within Homer’s Iliad and then consider the way in which they became a ‘roar’ in the tragedies of Aeschylus. After Aeschylus a predominantly Apollonian voice asserted itself once again (to various degrees) through the work of Sophocles and Euripides. This was in keeping with the trend towards a more (Apollonian) restricted economy that is reflected in the writings of Homer’s literary successors, and which reached a crucial stage in Plato’s valorisation of ‘dialectics’, or what I term ‘dialecticis m’, which saw the birth of ‘dialectical language’. Through Plato dialecticism, or dialectical language, became instantiated as the ‘language’ of western philosophy and this predisposed western culture to develop along predominantly Apollonian lines. This continued from Plato, through the Middle Ages, until in the 17th century this Apollonian trend became manifest in the concept of the stable, integral, autonomous and self -transparent Cartesian ego, which is inextricably linked to dialectical language that promises certainty of ‘truth’ and maintains the possibility of representing the world in its entirety (as a system). In the contemporary ‘age of a world picture’, the hegemonic (Apollonian) visual language of mainstream cinema and the mass media propagates and perpetuates the belief in the possibility of representing the world in its entirety through the image, and insofar as it caters to audiences’ needs for stability and certainty (of ‘truth’) through providing such ‘complete’ representations, shapes their subjectivity along the lines of the Cartesian ego. According to Baudrillard, in contemporary society and culture the hyperreal realm of visual language has become far more significant for individuals than their immediate, empirical experiences, and that, as a result, they are far less predisposed to discussion and reflection and far more prone to passive ‘watching’. Also, Adorno maintains that it is impossible to have a form of critical cinema because of the way in which features inherent to cinema predispose it towards being an ideological apparatus. However, if both Baudrillard and Adorno are correct then the future appears increasingly bleak as it involves nothing other than the continuation and propagation of the hegemony of the visual language of mainstream cinema and the mass media, with no possibility for critical resistance. I argue instead that critical cinema is possible because the move towards a more restricted economy, motivated by an Apollonian disposition, did not develop from Homer to the contemporary era without meeting Dionysian resistance. I trace the presence of a subversive Dionysian voice through Homer’s Iliad, through Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, and through Plato’s Dialogues, where it echoes in the sentiments of some of Plato’s interlocutors, such as Callicles. In addition, I maintain that a ‘Dionysian’ voice resonates through both Nietzsche’s and Heidegger’s respective criticisms of ‘dialectical language’ and the ‘validity’ of the Cartesian ego. I argue that critical cinema, particularly Aronofsky’s postmodern critical cinema, parallels their similar epistemological and ontological perspectives in the way in which it engages with the (Apollonian) visual language of mainstream cinema and the mass media, and thereby, potentially, facilitates a more porous and protean subjectivity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Konik, Adrian
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Motion pictures and language , Philosophy in motion pictures , Dionysus (Greek deity) in literature , Apollo (Greek deity) in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10990 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/295 , Motion pictures and language , Philosophy in motion pictures , Dionysus (Greek deity) in literature , Apollo (Greek deity) in literature
- Description: The contemporary era is dominated by an Apollonian visual language, i.e. the visual language of mainstream cinema and the mass media, and this study concerns the role that critical cinema, as Dionysian subverter, plays under such conditions. I argue that critical cinema should not be viewed as something completely ‘new’ but rather as a new, or at least the latest, manifestation of an older subversive ‘Dionysian’ voice that has made its presence felt since the dawn of the hegemony of an Apollonian disposition in Homeric epic. (I maintain that the history of western culture can be understood in terms of the persistent tension between Apollonian and Dionysian dispositions, and I use the distinction Derrida makes in Différance, between restricted and general economies, to distinguish between them, respectively.) I begin by considering the Dionysian echoes within Homer’s Iliad and then consider the way in which they became a ‘roar’ in the tragedies of Aeschylus. After Aeschylus a predominantly Apollonian voice asserted itself once again (to various degrees) through the work of Sophocles and Euripides. This was in keeping with the trend towards a more (Apollonian) restricted economy that is reflected in the writings of Homer’s literary successors, and which reached a crucial stage in Plato’s valorisation of ‘dialectics’, or what I term ‘dialecticis m’, which saw the birth of ‘dialectical language’. Through Plato dialecticism, or dialectical language, became instantiated as the ‘language’ of western philosophy and this predisposed western culture to develop along predominantly Apollonian lines. This continued from Plato, through the Middle Ages, until in the 17th century this Apollonian trend became manifest in the concept of the stable, integral, autonomous and self -transparent Cartesian ego, which is inextricably linked to dialectical language that promises certainty of ‘truth’ and maintains the possibility of representing the world in its entirety (as a system). In the contemporary ‘age of a world picture’, the hegemonic (Apollonian) visual language of mainstream cinema and the mass media propagates and perpetuates the belief in the possibility of representing the world in its entirety through the image, and insofar as it caters to audiences’ needs for stability and certainty (of ‘truth’) through providing such ‘complete’ representations, shapes their subjectivity along the lines of the Cartesian ego. According to Baudrillard, in contemporary society and culture the hyperreal realm of visual language has become far more significant for individuals than their immediate, empirical experiences, and that, as a result, they are far less predisposed to discussion and reflection and far more prone to passive ‘watching’. Also, Adorno maintains that it is impossible to have a form of critical cinema because of the way in which features inherent to cinema predispose it towards being an ideological apparatus. However, if both Baudrillard and Adorno are correct then the future appears increasingly bleak as it involves nothing other than the continuation and propagation of the hegemony of the visual language of mainstream cinema and the mass media, with no possibility for critical resistance. I argue instead that critical cinema is possible because the move towards a more restricted economy, motivated by an Apollonian disposition, did not develop from Homer to the contemporary era without meeting Dionysian resistance. I trace the presence of a subversive Dionysian voice through Homer’s Iliad, through Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, and through Plato’s Dialogues, where it echoes in the sentiments of some of Plato’s interlocutors, such as Callicles. In addition, I maintain that a ‘Dionysian’ voice resonates through both Nietzsche’s and Heidegger’s respective criticisms of ‘dialectical language’ and the ‘validity’ of the Cartesian ego. I argue that critical cinema, particularly Aronofsky’s postmodern critical cinema, parallels their similar epistemological and ontological perspectives in the way in which it engages with the (Apollonian) visual language of mainstream cinema and the mass media, and thereby, potentially, facilitates a more porous and protean subjectivity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Aspects of the ecology and biology of Gilchristella aestuarius (G & T) (Pisces: Clupeidae) in the Swartkops estuary, Port Elizabeth
- Talbot, Marie Marcel Jean-Francois
- Authors: Talbot, Marie Marcel Jean-Francois
- Date: 1982-12
- Subjects: Fishes -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Swartkops River Estuary , Swartkops River Estuary (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , Manuscripct
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/52352 , vital:43613
- Description: The Department of Zoology at the University of Port Elizabeth has an ongoing programme on the Swartkops estuary with the eventual aim of drawing up the energy pathways of the system. Marais (1976) has investigated the nutritional ecology of the grunter Pommadasys cormersoni while Melville-Smith (1978) and Melville-Smith and Baird (1981) reported on the ecology of larval fish. Winter (1979) studied the ecological parameters of fish populations, but this work was not a detailed account of each population. Wooldridge (1979) studied components of the 3 zooplankton community in some detail. It became evident that there was a significant lack of understanding of the ecological relationships between plankton and piscivorous fish, which was crucial to the elucidation of the interactions and trophodynamics of the Swartkops estuarine system. Since G. aestuarius is an important link in the energy pathway from the plankton to the nekton, and in terms of numbers dominates the seine net catches made in the estuary (Winter, 1979), this study was motivated. The aim was to investigate the important biological parameters of the estuarine round herring population namely the population structure, distribution and abundance, individual growth rate from field data, the food and feeding habits, reproduction and respiration, all of which are essential for the understanding of the dynamics of a species. These parameters were later converted into energy terms and the construction of an energy budget was attempted. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, 1982
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1982-12
- Authors: Talbot, Marie Marcel Jean-Francois
- Date: 1982-12
- Subjects: Fishes -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Swartkops River Estuary , Swartkops River Estuary (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , Manuscripct
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/52352 , vital:43613
- Description: The Department of Zoology at the University of Port Elizabeth has an ongoing programme on the Swartkops estuary with the eventual aim of drawing up the energy pathways of the system. Marais (1976) has investigated the nutritional ecology of the grunter Pommadasys cormersoni while Melville-Smith (1978) and Melville-Smith and Baird (1981) reported on the ecology of larval fish. Winter (1979) studied the ecological parameters of fish populations, but this work was not a detailed account of each population. Wooldridge (1979) studied components of the 3 zooplankton community in some detail. It became evident that there was a significant lack of understanding of the ecological relationships between plankton and piscivorous fish, which was crucial to the elucidation of the interactions and trophodynamics of the Swartkops estuarine system. Since G. aestuarius is an important link in the energy pathway from the plankton to the nekton, and in terms of numbers dominates the seine net catches made in the estuary (Winter, 1979), this study was motivated. The aim was to investigate the important biological parameters of the estuarine round herring population namely the population structure, distribution and abundance, individual growth rate from field data, the food and feeding habits, reproduction and respiration, all of which are essential for the understanding of the dynamics of a species. These parameters were later converted into energy terms and the construction of an energy budget was attempted. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, 1982
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1982-12
Burial practices, African women, and Islam in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa
- Authors: Sesanti, Simphiwe Olicius
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Islamic funeral rites and ceremonies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Muslim women -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Mourning custom -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10998 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/346 , Islamic funeral rites and ceremonies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Muslim women -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Mourning custom -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Early in 2003, African Muslims in Uitenhage’s township, Kwa-Nobuhle, learnt that Muslim women, led by Sheikh Nceba Salamntu, in South Africa’s Port Elizabeth New Brighton township, were allowed, contrary to previous practice, to follow a funeral procession right up to the graveyard. The resultant discomfort on the one hand, and excitement on the other caused by this event among Muslims in the township, forms the basis of this research. It gives focus to Muslim women, the ones most affected by their customary restriction from the gravesites. The researchi exposes the basis for women’s exclusion from funeral processions in the Muslim community. It was established that many of these Muslim women who challenged the practice were converts from Christianity to Islam. One of the bases for their action was that they were passive recipients of Islam. Furthermore, it was found that the exclusion of women from the funeral procession has no basis in Islamic writings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Sesanti, Simphiwe Olicius
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Islamic funeral rites and ceremonies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Muslim women -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Mourning custom -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10998 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/346 , Islamic funeral rites and ceremonies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Muslim women -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Mourning custom -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Early in 2003, African Muslims in Uitenhage’s township, Kwa-Nobuhle, learnt that Muslim women, led by Sheikh Nceba Salamntu, in South Africa’s Port Elizabeth New Brighton township, were allowed, contrary to previous practice, to follow a funeral procession right up to the graveyard. The resultant discomfort on the one hand, and excitement on the other caused by this event among Muslims in the township, forms the basis of this research. It gives focus to Muslim women, the ones most affected by their customary restriction from the gravesites. The researchi exposes the basis for women’s exclusion from funeral processions in the Muslim community. It was established that many of these Muslim women who challenged the practice were converts from Christianity to Islam. One of the bases for their action was that they were passive recipients of Islam. Furthermore, it was found that the exclusion of women from the funeral procession has no basis in Islamic writings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
Constructive dismissal in labour law
- Van Loggerenberg, Johannes Jurgens
- Authors: Van Loggerenberg, Johannes Jurgens
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Employees -- Dismissal of -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Unfair labor practices -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:11054 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/301 , Employees -- Dismissal of -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Unfair labor practices -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Description: The history of constructive dismissals in South Africa imitated from the English law in 1986, when an employee successfully challenged the employer on this particular concept after an incident relating a forced resignation. From the literature it is clear that constructive dismissal, as we know it today, originated from our English counterparts. Being a relatively new concept, the South African labour laws caught on at a rapid pace. The leading case on which the South African authors leaned towards was the English case of Woods v WM Car Services (Peterborough). In South Africa constructive dismissals were given statutory force in unfair dismissal law and is defined as the coerced or forced termination of a contract of employment resultant in from the conduct of the employer. There are many forms in which constructive dismissals would postulate that could justify an employee to lay claim to constructive dismissal. Examples thereof are the amendment of the contract of employment, rude language and sexual harassment. It is eminent that certain elements should be present before an employee would have reasonable prospects of succeeding with such a claim. Constructive dismissal comes into the equation when an employer behaves in such a manner that eventually and ultimately leads to the employee, being the receiving party, in the employment relationship, to terminate the employment contract. This termination must be the direct result of the conduct of the employer that irreparably frustrated the relationship and made it impossible for the employee to remain in the service of the employer in question. It appears that the courts have taken a firm stance on coerced or forced resignation, in its various forms tantamount to breach of contact, that any sufficiently unreasonable conduct by an employer may justify that the employee to terminate services and lay claim to the fact that he had been constructively dismissed. It needs to be mentioned that the fact that the mere fact that the employer acted in an unreasonable manner would not suffice and it is up to the employee to prove how the conduct of the employer justified the employee to leave and claim that the employer’s conduct resulted in a material or fundamental beach of the employment contract. In dealing with the contingency of the concept of constructive dismissals it has been expressly provided for in numerous systems of labour law. As is seen herein, a constructive dismissal consists in the termination of the employment contract by reason of the employee’s rather than the employer’s own immediate act. The act of the employee is precipitated by earlier conduct on the part of the employer, which conduct may or may not be justified. Various authors and academics endeavoured to defined constructive dismissal and all had the same or at least some of the elements present, to justify constructive dismissal. The most glaring element being the termination of employment as a result of the any conduct that is tantamount to a breach going to the root of the relationship by the employer, that frustrated the relationship between the employer and the employee and rendered it irreparable. The employee resigns or repudiates the employment contract as a result of the employer normally not leaving the employee any other option but to resign. This can also be termed as coerced or forced resignations and are commonly better known as “constructive dismissal”. The employee is deemed to have been dismissed, even though it is the employee who terminated the employment contract. The most important element to mention is the employee terminated the employment contract, ie resigned yet this is regarded as a dismissal, it is however for the employee to first lay a claim at the proper authority and the employee must prove his / her allegation before it can be a constructive dismissal. As will become clear, that the onus of proof is on the employee to show that the termination of employment resulted from the conduct of the employer. Equally true as in all cases of constructive dismissal, including cases of sexual harassment, being a ground for constructive dismissal, the employee must prove that to remain in service would have been unbearable and intolerable. Sexual harassment is one of the most difficult forms of constructive dismissals, in many cases there are no witnesses and the employee either “suffers in silence or opt to place her dignity at stake to prove her case. It seems as though the test is to determine if the employer’s conduct evinced a deliberate and oppressive intention to have the employment terminated and left the employee with only one option that of resignation to protect her interests. Employees have a right to seek statutory relief and needs to be protected. If a coerced or forced resignation had taken place irrespective whether the employee resigned or not. It is against this back drop that constructive dismissals was given legality and are now recognized as one of the four forms of dismissals in terms of the Act.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Van Loggerenberg, Johannes Jurgens
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Employees -- Dismissal of -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Unfair labor practices -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:11054 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/301 , Employees -- Dismissal of -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Unfair labor practices -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Description: The history of constructive dismissals in South Africa imitated from the English law in 1986, when an employee successfully challenged the employer on this particular concept after an incident relating a forced resignation. From the literature it is clear that constructive dismissal, as we know it today, originated from our English counterparts. Being a relatively new concept, the South African labour laws caught on at a rapid pace. The leading case on which the South African authors leaned towards was the English case of Woods v WM Car Services (Peterborough). In South Africa constructive dismissals were given statutory force in unfair dismissal law and is defined as the coerced or forced termination of a contract of employment resultant in from the conduct of the employer. There are many forms in which constructive dismissals would postulate that could justify an employee to lay claim to constructive dismissal. Examples thereof are the amendment of the contract of employment, rude language and sexual harassment. It is eminent that certain elements should be present before an employee would have reasonable prospects of succeeding with such a claim. Constructive dismissal comes into the equation when an employer behaves in such a manner that eventually and ultimately leads to the employee, being the receiving party, in the employment relationship, to terminate the employment contract. This termination must be the direct result of the conduct of the employer that irreparably frustrated the relationship and made it impossible for the employee to remain in the service of the employer in question. It appears that the courts have taken a firm stance on coerced or forced resignation, in its various forms tantamount to breach of contact, that any sufficiently unreasonable conduct by an employer may justify that the employee to terminate services and lay claim to the fact that he had been constructively dismissed. It needs to be mentioned that the fact that the mere fact that the employer acted in an unreasonable manner would not suffice and it is up to the employee to prove how the conduct of the employer justified the employee to leave and claim that the employer’s conduct resulted in a material or fundamental beach of the employment contract. In dealing with the contingency of the concept of constructive dismissals it has been expressly provided for in numerous systems of labour law. As is seen herein, a constructive dismissal consists in the termination of the employment contract by reason of the employee’s rather than the employer’s own immediate act. The act of the employee is precipitated by earlier conduct on the part of the employer, which conduct may or may not be justified. Various authors and academics endeavoured to defined constructive dismissal and all had the same or at least some of the elements present, to justify constructive dismissal. The most glaring element being the termination of employment as a result of the any conduct that is tantamount to a breach going to the root of the relationship by the employer, that frustrated the relationship between the employer and the employee and rendered it irreparable. The employee resigns or repudiates the employment contract as a result of the employer normally not leaving the employee any other option but to resign. This can also be termed as coerced or forced resignations and are commonly better known as “constructive dismissal”. The employee is deemed to have been dismissed, even though it is the employee who terminated the employment contract. The most important element to mention is the employee terminated the employment contract, ie resigned yet this is regarded as a dismissal, it is however for the employee to first lay a claim at the proper authority and the employee must prove his / her allegation before it can be a constructive dismissal. As will become clear, that the onus of proof is on the employee to show that the termination of employment resulted from the conduct of the employer. Equally true as in all cases of constructive dismissal, including cases of sexual harassment, being a ground for constructive dismissal, the employee must prove that to remain in service would have been unbearable and intolerable. Sexual harassment is one of the most difficult forms of constructive dismissals, in many cases there are no witnesses and the employee either “suffers in silence or opt to place her dignity at stake to prove her case. It seems as though the test is to determine if the employer’s conduct evinced a deliberate and oppressive intention to have the employment terminated and left the employee with only one option that of resignation to protect her interests. Employees have a right to seek statutory relief and needs to be protected. If a coerced or forced resignation had taken place irrespective whether the employee resigned or not. It is against this back drop that constructive dismissals was given legality and are now recognized as one of the four forms of dismissals in terms of the Act.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Coping and satisfaction with life of retired elderly females in a residence for the aged
- Authors: Yerushalmi, Orit
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Older women -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Attitudes , Old age homes -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:11027 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/383 , Older women -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Attitudes , Old age homes -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Description: Demographically the aged are the fastest growing group both world-wide and in South Africa but despite this, psychologists have neglected psycho-geriatric research and its importance. In the past, old age has been studied by psychologists as a deviation from the norm of youth. The primary focus has been on the rate of cognitive decline, the process of social withdrawal and the etiology of dementia. Although these issues are of significant importance, the positive aspects of aging should also be considered; thereby challenging the stereotype that old age means disengagement, decline and degeneration. This study aimed to explore and describe the coping and life satisfaction of the retired elderly females in a residence for the aged. A quantitative exploratory descriptive research design was employed, making use of non-probability convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 40 retired females who have been living in a residence for the aged for at least 12 months. Further inclusion criterions were that the participants should have a relatively "sound/stable" neuropsychological status (i.e., they should not be suffering from any clinically diagnosed disorders, for example, dementia and/or Alzheimer's disease). The Coping Resources Inventory (CRI) was utilized to identify the coping resources used by the participants; the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (SOC-29) was utilised as a measure of the participants' sense of coherence; the Life Satisfaction in the Elderly Scale (LSES) was employed to measure the global life satisfaction of the participants, namely on the cognitive level. A biographical questionnaire collated important demographic and background information. The data was analysed through computing descriptive statistics. Following this a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was utilised to inter-correlate the total score of the SOC-29 and the total score of the LSES with the individual subscales of the CRI. The results of the present study indicated the following: the SOC-29 revealed a relatively high mean score for the current sample. Results of the CRI revealed relatively high mean scores for the total scale as well as the five different subscales. The highest scores were obtained for the Spiritual/Philosophical and Physical Resources Subscales, while the lowest score was obtained for the Cognitive Resource Subscale. Results from the LSES indicated relatively high mean scores for both the total and all eight subscales. The highest scores were obtained for the Mood and xii Social contacts Subscales, while the lowest scores were obtained for the Health and Finance Subscales. Significant positive correlation was evident between the total scores of the CRI, the SOC-29 and the LSES. With regard to the individual subscales of the CRI, the results indicated significant moderate relationships between the SOC- 29 total raw score, the LSES total raw score and the Cognitive, Social and Physical Subscales scores of the CRI. However, the SOC-29 and LSES total raw scores did not correlate with the Emotional and Spiritual/Philosophical subscales of the CRI.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Yerushalmi, Orit
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Older women -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Attitudes , Old age homes -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:11027 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/383 , Older women -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Attitudes , Old age homes -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Description: Demographically the aged are the fastest growing group both world-wide and in South Africa but despite this, psychologists have neglected psycho-geriatric research and its importance. In the past, old age has been studied by psychologists as a deviation from the norm of youth. The primary focus has been on the rate of cognitive decline, the process of social withdrawal and the etiology of dementia. Although these issues are of significant importance, the positive aspects of aging should also be considered; thereby challenging the stereotype that old age means disengagement, decline and degeneration. This study aimed to explore and describe the coping and life satisfaction of the retired elderly females in a residence for the aged. A quantitative exploratory descriptive research design was employed, making use of non-probability convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 40 retired females who have been living in a residence for the aged for at least 12 months. Further inclusion criterions were that the participants should have a relatively "sound/stable" neuropsychological status (i.e., they should not be suffering from any clinically diagnosed disorders, for example, dementia and/or Alzheimer's disease). The Coping Resources Inventory (CRI) was utilized to identify the coping resources used by the participants; the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (SOC-29) was utilised as a measure of the participants' sense of coherence; the Life Satisfaction in the Elderly Scale (LSES) was employed to measure the global life satisfaction of the participants, namely on the cognitive level. A biographical questionnaire collated important demographic and background information. The data was analysed through computing descriptive statistics. Following this a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was utilised to inter-correlate the total score of the SOC-29 and the total score of the LSES with the individual subscales of the CRI. The results of the present study indicated the following: the SOC-29 revealed a relatively high mean score for the current sample. Results of the CRI revealed relatively high mean scores for the total scale as well as the five different subscales. The highest scores were obtained for the Spiritual/Philosophical and Physical Resources Subscales, while the lowest score was obtained for the Cognitive Resource Subscale. Results from the LSES indicated relatively high mean scores for both the total and all eight subscales. The highest scores were obtained for the Mood and xii Social contacts Subscales, while the lowest scores were obtained for the Health and Finance Subscales. Significant positive correlation was evident between the total scores of the CRI, the SOC-29 and the LSES. With regard to the individual subscales of the CRI, the results indicated significant moderate relationships between the SOC- 29 total raw score, the LSES total raw score and the Cognitive, Social and Physical Subscales scores of the CRI. However, the SOC-29 and LSES total raw scores did not correlate with the Emotional and Spiritual/Philosophical subscales of the CRI.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
Coping resources and sense of coherence of male police officers in the South African Police Services
- Authors: Kayal, Mohammed
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Police -- Job stress -- South Africa , South African Police Service , Coping Responses Inventory -- South Africa , Adjustment (Psychology) -- South Africa -- Testing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:11018 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/345 , Police -- Job stress -- South Africa , South African Police Service , Coping Responses Inventory -- South Africa , Adjustment (Psychology) -- South Africa -- Testing
- Description: In South Africa the extraordinary high levels of violence and crime, escalating execution and killings of police officers, large number of murders, hijacking, robberies and shootings have created an unusually dangerous and stressful working environment for the members of the South African Police Services (SAPS). An overview of the literature on the nature of work in the SAPS indicates that these working conditions might have a detrimental effect on the coping resources and sense of coherence of police officers. This study aimed to explore and describe the coping resources and sense of coherence of male police officers in the SAPS. It employed a quantitative exploratory descriptive research design, making use of non-probability convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 70 male police officers who have been in the service of the SAPS for at least two years. All police officers that were included in the sample were also shift workers defined by the SAPS as police officers who work unsociable hours and who are likely to be exposed to violence, risks, danger, and traumatic situations. A further inclusion criterion was that the police officers must not be subjected to possible relocation or transfer as stipulated in Resolution 7/2002. The Coping Resources Inventory (CRI) was employed to identify the coping resources used by the participants and the Sense of Coherence Questionnaire (SOC- 29) was utilised as a measure of the participants’ sense of coherence. A biographical questionnaire collated important demographic and background information. The data was analysed by computing descriptive statistics. To examine the relationship between the sense of coherence and coping resources of the participants, a multiple correlation xv between the total score of the SOC-29 and the subscales of the CRI was conducted. Following this, a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was utilised to intercorrelate the total score of the SOC-29 and the individual subscales of the CRI. The results of the present study indicated the followings: The SOC-29 revealed relatively low scores for the current sample. Results on the CRI revealed low average scores for both the total and all five scales. The correlational analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between the two measures for the current sample.
- Full Text:
Coping resources and sense of coherence of male police officers in the South African Police Services
- Authors: Kayal, Mohammed
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Police -- Job stress -- South Africa , South African Police Service , Coping Responses Inventory -- South Africa , Adjustment (Psychology) -- South Africa -- Testing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:11018 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/345 , Police -- Job stress -- South Africa , South African Police Service , Coping Responses Inventory -- South Africa , Adjustment (Psychology) -- South Africa -- Testing
- Description: In South Africa the extraordinary high levels of violence and crime, escalating execution and killings of police officers, large number of murders, hijacking, robberies and shootings have created an unusually dangerous and stressful working environment for the members of the South African Police Services (SAPS). An overview of the literature on the nature of work in the SAPS indicates that these working conditions might have a detrimental effect on the coping resources and sense of coherence of police officers. This study aimed to explore and describe the coping resources and sense of coherence of male police officers in the SAPS. It employed a quantitative exploratory descriptive research design, making use of non-probability convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 70 male police officers who have been in the service of the SAPS for at least two years. All police officers that were included in the sample were also shift workers defined by the SAPS as police officers who work unsociable hours and who are likely to be exposed to violence, risks, danger, and traumatic situations. A further inclusion criterion was that the police officers must not be subjected to possible relocation or transfer as stipulated in Resolution 7/2002. The Coping Resources Inventory (CRI) was employed to identify the coping resources used by the participants and the Sense of Coherence Questionnaire (SOC- 29) was utilised as a measure of the participants’ sense of coherence. A biographical questionnaire collated important demographic and background information. The data was analysed by computing descriptive statistics. To examine the relationship between the sense of coherence and coping resources of the participants, a multiple correlation xv between the total score of the SOC-29 and the subscales of the CRI was conducted. Following this, a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was utilised to intercorrelate the total score of the SOC-29 and the individual subscales of the CRI. The results of the present study indicated the followings: The SOC-29 revealed relatively low scores for the current sample. Results on the CRI revealed low average scores for both the total and all five scales. The correlational analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between the two measures for the current sample.
- Full Text:
Coping with change: an investigation into language policy and practice in three Port Elizabeth primary schools
- Authors: Foli, Cordelia Nokuthula
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Language policy -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Education, Primary -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Multicultural education -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10995 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/327 , Language policy -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Education, Primary -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Multicultural education -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Description: This is a qualitative case study of three Primary, schools in Port Elizabeth District.They are an ex -White, ex-Coloured and ex-Indian schools. These schools have become desegregated and are multicultural and multilingual. The medium of instruction in the schools is English. The study aims to show: Adaptations that teachers are making to make the curriculum accessible to children from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds; coping strategies that learners have needed to adapt when learning in a language that is not their mother tongue; attitudes of parents, teachers and pupils to the use of English and to the level at which the other home languages are offered as subjects. Another aim of the study is to document strategies and adaptations that teachers and learners have had to make in teaching and learning in multicultural and multilingual environments. Data was gathered through questionnaires, classroom observation, discussions with teachers, interviews with principals, parents and learners. The study concludes that two of the schools that were investigated have attempted to change school language policy. They have done this by introducing isiXhosa as one of the subjects in the curriculum. Contrary to the language policy which encourages maintenance of primary language, these learning contexts encourage the development of English to the detriment of isiXhosa. The issue that still needs to be addressed is the level at which isiXhosa primary language speakers are offered the language at school. This study further concludes that isiXhosa and Afrikaans speaking parents and learners in the English environments, value their primary languages for communicative purposes only in informal situations. English is valued as a language of access and for use as a language of learning and teaching. Finally, it is teachers in the Foundation Phase who seem to have needed to make a lot of adaptations and adjustments to accommodate non- native speakers of English in the classrooms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Foli, Cordelia Nokuthula
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Language policy -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Education, Primary -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Multicultural education -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10995 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/327 , Language policy -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Education, Primary -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Multicultural education -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Description: This is a qualitative case study of three Primary, schools in Port Elizabeth District.They are an ex -White, ex-Coloured and ex-Indian schools. These schools have become desegregated and are multicultural and multilingual. The medium of instruction in the schools is English. The study aims to show: Adaptations that teachers are making to make the curriculum accessible to children from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds; coping strategies that learners have needed to adapt when learning in a language that is not their mother tongue; attitudes of parents, teachers and pupils to the use of English and to the level at which the other home languages are offered as subjects. Another aim of the study is to document strategies and adaptations that teachers and learners have had to make in teaching and learning in multicultural and multilingual environments. Data was gathered through questionnaires, classroom observation, discussions with teachers, interviews with principals, parents and learners. The study concludes that two of the schools that were investigated have attempted to change school language policy. They have done this by introducing isiXhosa as one of the subjects in the curriculum. Contrary to the language policy which encourages maintenance of primary language, these learning contexts encourage the development of English to the detriment of isiXhosa. The issue that still needs to be addressed is the level at which isiXhosa primary language speakers are offered the language at school. This study further concludes that isiXhosa and Afrikaans speaking parents and learners in the English environments, value their primary languages for communicative purposes only in informal situations. English is valued as a language of access and for use as a language of learning and teaching. Finally, it is teachers in the Foundation Phase who seem to have needed to make a lot of adaptations and adjustments to accommodate non- native speakers of English in the classrooms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
Correlates and outcomes of emotional intelligence in organisations
- Authors: Bosman, Leon Abraham
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Leadership , Emotional intelligence , Organizational behavior
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DCom
- Identifier: vital:11006 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/337 , Leadership , Emotional intelligence , Organizational behavior
- Description: Emotional Intelligence and Leadership are two very important constructs to organizations. Likewise concepts like OCB, conflict handling and intention to quit of employees are equally important constructs to organizations. The primary aim of the present study was to determine how well Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and intention to quit as well as the conflict handling style of subordinates could be predicted by means of leadership style, and the emotional intelligence of leaders. A secondary aim was to determine whether a causal model could be built to represent the relationships among the variables included in the study. Relationships among these constructs were investigated in a South African sample of employees (N=470) working for various organisations. The construct validity and internal consistency of the measuring instruments were investigated. The finally accepted factor structure of not one of the measuring instruments matched the original structure as found by the authors/developers of the measuring instruments. It was therefore decided that in all cases the factor pattern as determined on the responses of the present sample would be used in further analyses of the data. Emotional intelligence of leaders as seen by subordinates and the self - perceived conflict handling styles of subordinates seem to be related in the case of Integrating and Obliging conflict handling styles and both the emotional intelligence sub-scales, i.e. Motivation and Vigilance. The Multiple Regression analysis indicated that the emotional intelligence sub-scales scores played a minor role in the prediction of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour. Models of the relationships among the variables were built by studying the results of v previous as well as the present study. The model, in which emotional intelligence is depicted as a causal variable influencing - through leadership behaviour – organizational citizenship behaviour and the integrating style of handling interpersonal conflict represented a good fit with the data. These results seem to provide some structure for thinking about the relationships among the variables and can possibly serve as frames of reference in future studies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Bosman, Leon Abraham
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Leadership , Emotional intelligence , Organizational behavior
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DCom
- Identifier: vital:11006 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/337 , Leadership , Emotional intelligence , Organizational behavior
- Description: Emotional Intelligence and Leadership are two very important constructs to organizations. Likewise concepts like OCB, conflict handling and intention to quit of employees are equally important constructs to organizations. The primary aim of the present study was to determine how well Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and intention to quit as well as the conflict handling style of subordinates could be predicted by means of leadership style, and the emotional intelligence of leaders. A secondary aim was to determine whether a causal model could be built to represent the relationships among the variables included in the study. Relationships among these constructs were investigated in a South African sample of employees (N=470) working for various organisations. The construct validity and internal consistency of the measuring instruments were investigated. The finally accepted factor structure of not one of the measuring instruments matched the original structure as found by the authors/developers of the measuring instruments. It was therefore decided that in all cases the factor pattern as determined on the responses of the present sample would be used in further analyses of the data. Emotional intelligence of leaders as seen by subordinates and the self - perceived conflict handling styles of subordinates seem to be related in the case of Integrating and Obliging conflict handling styles and both the emotional intelligence sub-scales, i.e. Motivation and Vigilance. The Multiple Regression analysis indicated that the emotional intelligence sub-scales scores played a minor role in the prediction of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour. Models of the relationships among the variables were built by studying the results of v previous as well as the present study. The model, in which emotional intelligence is depicted as a causal variable influencing - through leadership behaviour – organizational citizenship behaviour and the integrating style of handling interpersonal conflict represented a good fit with the data. These results seem to provide some structure for thinking about the relationships among the variables and can possibly serve as frames of reference in future studies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Designing an evaluation instrument for South African intermediate phase school textbooks
- Authors: Vosloo, Barend Jacobus
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Textbooks -- South Africa -- Evaluation , Curriculum change -- South Africa -- Evaluation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: vital:11014 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/324 , Textbooks -- South Africa -- Evaluation , Curriculum change -- South Africa -- Evaluation
- Description: No coherent theory about the practice of South African intermediate phase school textbook evaluation has been forthcoming since the advent of a new South African school curriculum in 1998. This deficiency has had an adverse effect on the quality of intermediate phase school textbooks, as well as on the capacity to assess their value. This research project, therefore, had two aims. The first was to articulate a theory about the practice of textbook evaluation. The second was to develop a procedure for evaluating South African intermediate phase school textbooks in terms of the theory. The research method was underpinned by the interpretive research paradigm in terms of which relevant data were analysed and interpreted. The data emanated from a literature review, an analysis of the national Department of Education’s Revised National Curriculum Statement and its draft policy for the evaluation of learning support material, and two surveys. The first survey comprised a sample of intermediate phase teachers and the second a sample of intermediate phase textbook authors. Sufficient evidence was found to conclude that the capabilities of the authoring team, the authors’ rationale and their observance of the process of learning and instruction, the accessibility of the textbook, the availability of teacher support, meeting the requirements of the Revised National Curriculum Statement, and certain key notions about textbook evaluation play a role in articulating a theory about textbook evaluation in order to guide the process of determining the effectiveness of South African intermediate phase school textbooks. Based on the above-mentioned theory, this study proposes a procedure to assist teachers and textbook evaluators to assess the worth of South African intermediate phase school textbooks in a brief, systematic, thorough, rigorous, and practical manner.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Vosloo, Barend Jacobus
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Textbooks -- South Africa -- Evaluation , Curriculum change -- South Africa -- Evaluation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: vital:11014 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/324 , Textbooks -- South Africa -- Evaluation , Curriculum change -- South Africa -- Evaluation
- Description: No coherent theory about the practice of South African intermediate phase school textbook evaluation has been forthcoming since the advent of a new South African school curriculum in 1998. This deficiency has had an adverse effect on the quality of intermediate phase school textbooks, as well as on the capacity to assess their value. This research project, therefore, had two aims. The first was to articulate a theory about the practice of textbook evaluation. The second was to develop a procedure for evaluating South African intermediate phase school textbooks in terms of the theory. The research method was underpinned by the interpretive research paradigm in terms of which relevant data were analysed and interpreted. The data emanated from a literature review, an analysis of the national Department of Education’s Revised National Curriculum Statement and its draft policy for the evaluation of learning support material, and two surveys. The first survey comprised a sample of intermediate phase teachers and the second a sample of intermediate phase textbook authors. Sufficient evidence was found to conclude that the capabilities of the authoring team, the authors’ rationale and their observance of the process of learning and instruction, the accessibility of the textbook, the availability of teacher support, meeting the requirements of the Revised National Curriculum Statement, and certain key notions about textbook evaluation play a role in articulating a theory about textbook evaluation in order to guide the process of determining the effectiveness of South African intermediate phase school textbooks. Based on the above-mentioned theory, this study proposes a procedure to assist teachers and textbook evaluators to assess the worth of South African intermediate phase school textbooks in a brief, systematic, thorough, rigorous, and practical manner.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
Die bestuursrol van die skoolhoof in die implementering van 'n nuwe kurrikulum
- Authors: Mey, Hermanus Pieter
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: School principals -- South Africa , Educational leadership -- South Africa , Curriculum change -- South Africa
- Language: Afrikaans
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: vital:11010 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/367 , School principals -- South Africa , Educational leadership -- South Africa , Curriculum change -- South Africa
- Description: The implementation of a new curriculum has become a very relevant issue in South Africa with the implementation of Curriculum 2005 (C 2005) since 1998. The school principal plays a very important role at school level in the implementation of change in general and a new curriculum in particular. The aim of this study was to have a closer look at this role. It is a qualitative study executed in six schools in the Port Elizabeth area. It investigates the problems school principals experienced with the implementation of C 2005 with the objective of identifying guidelines for the role of the principal in the implementation of a new curriculum The most important findings include the importance of equipping the principal to provide guidance with the implementation of a new curriculum. This equipping refers to the principal’s knowledge of the new curriculum, the ability to employ various leadership styles, as well as the maintenance of a certain balance between supporting and putting pressure on the staff. Other findings refer to the importance of well-trained and prepared facilitators of workshops, as well as the role the Department of Education needs to play in the training and preparation of these facilitators. The ongoing support of schools in the implementation process also needs to be emphasized. The principal should play a key role with respect to this last role of the Department. The study also emphasizes the principal’s responsibility to bind the educators together in building a shared vision, so that their focus will remain on the curriculum implementation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Mey, Hermanus Pieter
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: School principals -- South Africa , Educational leadership -- South Africa , Curriculum change -- South Africa
- Language: Afrikaans
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
- Identifier: vital:11010 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/367 , School principals -- South Africa , Educational leadership -- South Africa , Curriculum change -- South Africa
- Description: The implementation of a new curriculum has become a very relevant issue in South Africa with the implementation of Curriculum 2005 (C 2005) since 1998. The school principal plays a very important role at school level in the implementation of change in general and a new curriculum in particular. The aim of this study was to have a closer look at this role. It is a qualitative study executed in six schools in the Port Elizabeth area. It investigates the problems school principals experienced with the implementation of C 2005 with the objective of identifying guidelines for the role of the principal in the implementation of a new curriculum The most important findings include the importance of equipping the principal to provide guidance with the implementation of a new curriculum. This equipping refers to the principal’s knowledge of the new curriculum, the ability to employ various leadership styles, as well as the maintenance of a certain balance between supporting and putting pressure on the staff. Other findings refer to the importance of well-trained and prepared facilitators of workshops, as well as the role the Department of Education needs to play in the training and preparation of these facilitators. The ongoing support of schools in the implementation process also needs to be emphasized. The principal should play a key role with respect to this last role of the Department. The study also emphasizes the principal’s responsibility to bind the educators together in building a shared vision, so that their focus will remain on the curriculum implementation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
Dismissal for medical incapacity
- Authors: Boy, Anthony Albert
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Employees -- Dismissal of -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Capacity and disability -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:11047 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/316 , Employees -- Dismissal of -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Capacity and disability -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Description: Labour law in South Africa has evolved over the past century at an ever increasing pace. The establishment of a democratic government in 1995 has been the trigger for a large number of labour law statutes being promulgated, particularly with reference to the laws governing the employment relationship and dismissal. From very humble and employer biased dispute resolution application under the common law of contract, labour law in this country has evolved through the various acts culminating in a labour law system which is highly regulated and codified. Dismissal for medical incapacity in this treatise is reviewed with regard to the applicable statutes and the various codes of good practice as the law has evolved and developed from the period covered by the common law through that covered by the 1995 LRA up to and including the current period. Particular attention is paid to both substantive and procedural requirements as well as the remedies applicable under the different legal regimes and the pertinent tribunals and courts. Regard is also given to the duration and causes of incapacity and the effect this may have on the applicable remedy applied by these tribunals. It will become apparant that the medically incapacitated employee occupied a relatively weak and vulnerable position under the common law as opposed to the current position under the 1995 LRA. The influence of the remedies applied by the tribunals under the 1956 LRA are clearly evident in the current regulations and codes under the 1995 LRA which contain specific statutory provisions for employees not to be unfairly dismissed. Distinctions are drawn between permissible and impermissible dismissals, with medical incapacity falling under the former. v Furthermore, a distinction is drawn statutorily between permanent and temporary illhealth/ injury incapacity with detailed guidelines for substantive and procedural fairness requirements to be met by employers. The powers of the specialist tribunals (CCMA, Bargaining Councils and Labour Courts) are regulated by statutory provisions and deal with appropriate remedies (reinstatement and/or compensation) a wardable in appropriate circumstances. Certain specific areas nonetheless still remain problematic for these tribunals and hence questions that require clear direction from the drafters of our law are: 1. How to distinguish misconduct in alcohol and drug abuse cases? 2. What degree of intermittent absenteeism is required before dismissal would be warranted? In certain other areas the tribunals have been fairly consistent and prescriptive in their approach and remedies awarded. Included here would be permanent incapacity, HIV cases and misconduct. It will emerge, however, that under the 1995 LRA the position of employees and the protections afforded them have been greatly increased.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Boy, Anthony Albert
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Employees -- Dismissal of -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Capacity and disability -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:11047 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/316 , Employees -- Dismissal of -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Capacity and disability -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa
- Description: Labour law in South Africa has evolved over the past century at an ever increasing pace. The establishment of a democratic government in 1995 has been the trigger for a large number of labour law statutes being promulgated, particularly with reference to the laws governing the employment relationship and dismissal. From very humble and employer biased dispute resolution application under the common law of contract, labour law in this country has evolved through the various acts culminating in a labour law system which is highly regulated and codified. Dismissal for medical incapacity in this treatise is reviewed with regard to the applicable statutes and the various codes of good practice as the law has evolved and developed from the period covered by the common law through that covered by the 1995 LRA up to and including the current period. Particular attention is paid to both substantive and procedural requirements as well as the remedies applicable under the different legal regimes and the pertinent tribunals and courts. Regard is also given to the duration and causes of incapacity and the effect this may have on the applicable remedy applied by these tribunals. It will become apparant that the medically incapacitated employee occupied a relatively weak and vulnerable position under the common law as opposed to the current position under the 1995 LRA. The influence of the remedies applied by the tribunals under the 1956 LRA are clearly evident in the current regulations and codes under the 1995 LRA which contain specific statutory provisions for employees not to be unfairly dismissed. Distinctions are drawn between permissible and impermissible dismissals, with medical incapacity falling under the former. v Furthermore, a distinction is drawn statutorily between permanent and temporary illhealth/ injury incapacity with detailed guidelines for substantive and procedural fairness requirements to be met by employers. The powers of the specialist tribunals (CCMA, Bargaining Councils and Labour Courts) are regulated by statutory provisions and deal with appropriate remedies (reinstatement and/or compensation) a wardable in appropriate circumstances. Certain specific areas nonetheless still remain problematic for these tribunals and hence questions that require clear direction from the drafters of our law are: 1. How to distinguish misconduct in alcohol and drug abuse cases? 2. What degree of intermittent absenteeism is required before dismissal would be warranted? In certain other areas the tribunals have been fairly consistent and prescriptive in their approach and remedies awarded. Included here would be permanent incapacity, HIV cases and misconduct. It will emerge, however, that under the 1995 LRA the position of employees and the protections afforded them have been greatly increased.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
Emotions, social transformation and education
- Authors: Delport, Aletta Catherine
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Educational sociology -- South Africa , Education -- Philosophy , Emotions (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: vital:11009 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/318 , Educational sociology -- South Africa , Education -- Philosophy , Emotions (Philosophy)
- Description: This thesis addresses the topic of the education of the emotions in the context of a rapidly transforming South African society. It attempts to reconfigure the conceptual landscape in terms of which we think about rationality, social transformation and education, and contests the intellectual and instrumental prejudice in the currently dominant ways of thinking about education. It reclaims a sense of what it would be to think of education in terms of cultivating humanity, as a key to the profound transformation of the South African society. It argues that the emotions should be relocated in our conception of transformation and education, because without it, education will fail to assist South African society to transform into a society where most people are able to live improved quality lives. The thesis comprises three distinct parts. The first part consists of an account of a particular cognitive theory of the emotions, as developed by Martha Nussbaum in her book, Upheavals of thought. The Intelligence of Emotions (2001). This theory is then applied in Part 2 to examine the complexities of social transformation in South Africa at the more profound, personal level. This investigation is presented as a narrative and comprises the perspectives of the author, who is a white Afrikaner female, who grew up in South Africa in the heyday of Apartheid. In the final part, the concept of ‘education for transformation’ is discussed. It is argued that, in order for education to enhance the social transformation of South Africa, social transformation should be conceived according to a fundamental aspect of Rousseau’s political philosophy, namely that the ideal society comprises two reciprocally related spheres, the political and the personal sphere. Part 3 argues that ‘education for transformation’ should be conceived according to a conception of transformation, which acknowledges this double-layered texture. It further argues that ‘education for transformation’ should primarily be concerned with transformation at the personal level, since, according to Rousseau’s philosophy, this dimension is fundamental to ensuring the stability and legitimacy of the political order. However, built on the main insights of Part 2, this thesis also argues that personal transformation is only possible within a framework of rationality, which acknowledges the emotions as constitutive elements of rationality itself. Essentially, this thesis is about the conception of human being, which should be esteemed as the most fundamental and crucial element of successful social transformation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Delport, Aletta Catherine
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Educational sociology -- South Africa , Education -- Philosophy , Emotions (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: vital:11009 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/318 , Educational sociology -- South Africa , Education -- Philosophy , Emotions (Philosophy)
- Description: This thesis addresses the topic of the education of the emotions in the context of a rapidly transforming South African society. It attempts to reconfigure the conceptual landscape in terms of which we think about rationality, social transformation and education, and contests the intellectual and instrumental prejudice in the currently dominant ways of thinking about education. It reclaims a sense of what it would be to think of education in terms of cultivating humanity, as a key to the profound transformation of the South African society. It argues that the emotions should be relocated in our conception of transformation and education, because without it, education will fail to assist South African society to transform into a society where most people are able to live improved quality lives. The thesis comprises three distinct parts. The first part consists of an account of a particular cognitive theory of the emotions, as developed by Martha Nussbaum in her book, Upheavals of thought. The Intelligence of Emotions (2001). This theory is then applied in Part 2 to examine the complexities of social transformation in South Africa at the more profound, personal level. This investigation is presented as a narrative and comprises the perspectives of the author, who is a white Afrikaner female, who grew up in South Africa in the heyday of Apartheid. In the final part, the concept of ‘education for transformation’ is discussed. It is argued that, in order for education to enhance the social transformation of South Africa, social transformation should be conceived according to a fundamental aspect of Rousseau’s political philosophy, namely that the ideal society comprises two reciprocally related spheres, the political and the personal sphere. Part 3 argues that ‘education for transformation’ should be conceived according to a conception of transformation, which acknowledges this double-layered texture. It further argues that ‘education for transformation’ should primarily be concerned with transformation at the personal level, since, according to Rousseau’s philosophy, this dimension is fundamental to ensuring the stability and legitimacy of the political order. However, built on the main insights of Part 2, this thesis also argues that personal transformation is only possible within a framework of rationality, which acknowledges the emotions as constitutive elements of rationality itself. Essentially, this thesis is about the conception of human being, which should be esteemed as the most fundamental and crucial element of successful social transformation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
Family needs following adult traumatic brain injury
- Authors: Van der Merwe, Jó-Marié
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Brain damage -- Patients -- Family relationships -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Brain damage -- Patients -- Rehabilitation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:11033 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/335 , Brain damage -- Patients -- Family relationships -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Brain damage -- Patients -- Rehabilitation
- Description: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) represents a significant and growing type of disability in South Africa. Coping with the impact of traumatic brain injury is one of the most difficult tasks that can confront a family, and family members experience a wide range of needs as the injured person progresses through rehabilitation. In South Africa, research on family needs following traumatic brain injury has thus far been neglected and rehabilitation resources are sadly lacking. For this reason it is necessary to accumulate knowledge about these families’ needs so as to assist with the planning of future rehabilitation programmes. The study aimed to explore and describe the needs of a sample of families with adult traumatic brain injury individuals in the Eastern Cape utilizing the Family Needs Questionnaire (FNQ). The research approach followed could be described as descriptive and exploratory in nature and was conducted within a quantitative framework. A biographical questionnaire and the FNQ were administered to a heterogeneous sample of 32 family members, including significant others and primary caregivers, of 16 adult traumatically brain-injured individuals, who sustained the TBI one to three years previously, and who underwent rehabilitation treatment at a private rehabilitation hospital in Port Elizabeth. A non-probability, purposive, and convenient sampling method was used. Descriptive statistics were computed to determine the importance and the perceived fulfillment of the needs. The results of the present study indicated that all 40 needs were endorsed by at least half the sample as being important to very important. Furthermore, 52.50% of the needs were endorsed by more than two-thirds of the sample as being important to very important. The needs were rank-ordered according to their importance ratings and the 10 mostly rated as important or very important were identified. These 10 needs were endorsed by between 84.38% and 93.75% of the family members as being important to very important. Six of the important or very important needs related to health information, two to professional support, one to community support, and one to emotional support. The relation between various participant, traumatically brain-injured individual and brain injury characteristics and the 10 important or very important needs, as well as the 10 needs more frequently rated as met were investigated and found to either have a limited or varied relationship. The 10 needs most often rated as met were endorsed by between 43.75% and 56.25% of the family members. Six of the met needs related to health information, two to community support, one to instrumental support, and one to treatment decisions. The highest unmet need was endorsed by 46.88% of the participants and related to the need to discuss their feelings with someone who has gone through the same experience. Based on the findings of the present study, further research on family needs following traumatic brain injury is suggested. It is also recommended that the Family Needs Questionnaire be used to evaluate existing rehabilitation programmes so as to make suggestions as to how to improve them. The results of this study suggested that family members would benefit from receiving educational information material, as well as referrals to professionals for advice and support.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Van der Merwe, Jó-Marié
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Brain damage -- Patients -- Family relationships -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Brain damage -- Patients -- Rehabilitation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:11033 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/335 , Brain damage -- Patients -- Family relationships -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Brain damage -- Patients -- Rehabilitation
- Description: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) represents a significant and growing type of disability in South Africa. Coping with the impact of traumatic brain injury is one of the most difficult tasks that can confront a family, and family members experience a wide range of needs as the injured person progresses through rehabilitation. In South Africa, research on family needs following traumatic brain injury has thus far been neglected and rehabilitation resources are sadly lacking. For this reason it is necessary to accumulate knowledge about these families’ needs so as to assist with the planning of future rehabilitation programmes. The study aimed to explore and describe the needs of a sample of families with adult traumatic brain injury individuals in the Eastern Cape utilizing the Family Needs Questionnaire (FNQ). The research approach followed could be described as descriptive and exploratory in nature and was conducted within a quantitative framework. A biographical questionnaire and the FNQ were administered to a heterogeneous sample of 32 family members, including significant others and primary caregivers, of 16 adult traumatically brain-injured individuals, who sustained the TBI one to three years previously, and who underwent rehabilitation treatment at a private rehabilitation hospital in Port Elizabeth. A non-probability, purposive, and convenient sampling method was used. Descriptive statistics were computed to determine the importance and the perceived fulfillment of the needs. The results of the present study indicated that all 40 needs were endorsed by at least half the sample as being important to very important. Furthermore, 52.50% of the needs were endorsed by more than two-thirds of the sample as being important to very important. The needs were rank-ordered according to their importance ratings and the 10 mostly rated as important or very important were identified. These 10 needs were endorsed by between 84.38% and 93.75% of the family members as being important to very important. Six of the important or very important needs related to health information, two to professional support, one to community support, and one to emotional support. The relation between various participant, traumatically brain-injured individual and brain injury characteristics and the 10 important or very important needs, as well as the 10 needs more frequently rated as met were investigated and found to either have a limited or varied relationship. The 10 needs most often rated as met were endorsed by between 43.75% and 56.25% of the family members. Six of the met needs related to health information, two to community support, one to instrumental support, and one to treatment decisions. The highest unmet need was endorsed by 46.88% of the participants and related to the need to discuss their feelings with someone who has gone through the same experience. Based on the findings of the present study, further research on family needs following traumatic brain injury is suggested. It is also recommended that the Family Needs Questionnaire be used to evaluate existing rehabilitation programmes so as to make suggestions as to how to improve them. The results of this study suggested that family members would benefit from receiving educational information material, as well as referrals to professionals for advice and support.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
Feminisation a period of labour market changes in South Africa
- Authors: Lee, Deborah Ellen
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Women -- Employment -- South Africa , Discrimination in employment -- South Africa , Wages -- Women -- South Africa , Labor supply -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:11008 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/363 , Women -- Employment -- South Africa , Discrimination in employment -- South Africa , Wages -- Women -- South Africa , Labor supply -- South Africa
- Description: The post-1994 role of women in the South African economy is changing with respect to issues such as education and employment opportunities. In the past, men tended to hold the primary or ‘good’ jobs, which have the greatest stability and promotional potential, whilst women tended to hold the secondary or ‘poor’ jobs, which have lower stability and lower wages (Kelly, 1991). Women’s labour force participation has risen significantly over the years since 1994, but more in depth research is needed in order to determine where and how changes could be implemented to ensure that any past gender inequalities fall away with minimal impact on the economy as a whole. As such, certain dynamics within the labour market need to be considered. Firstly, pre-market types of discrimination, including issues such as gender discrimination during the acquisition of human capital through educational attainment should be considered. In most countries, women enter the labour market with severe disadvantage in that they have been subject to discrimination in schooling opportunities (Standing, Sender & Weeks, 1996). Secondly, the feminisation of the labour force is dealt with, as well as what factors affect the female labour force participation decision (i.e. the decision of whether to participate in the labour market or not). iv Thirdly, employment discrimination is investigated, including the concept of ‘occupational crowding’. An analysis of trends in the occupational structure of economically active women in South Africa shows the typical shift out of agriculture into industrial related jobs (Verhoef, 1996). Lastly, wage discrimination is analysed, in order to determine if women get lower rates of pay for ‘equal work’. The objectives of this study are aimed at determining whether there have been any positive changes with respect to women in any of these focal areas mentioned above. There are studies that have established gender differentials when it comes to formal education, and these place women at the disadvantaged end (Bankole & Eboiyehi, 2000). If one considers the educational measures, namely, the levels of literacy, years of education, and overall educational attainment, employed by this country to determine whether there are in fact observed differences between the education of boys and girls, the following was found: Males rate higher with respect to two of these measures, namely literacy and educational attainment, and are thus able to exhibit lower levels of poverty than females in South Africa. Men exhibit slightly higher literacy rates than women of the same age (Statistics South Africa, 2002), and men also rate higher than women when it comes to university education. With regards to primary and secondary school attainment v since 1994, the gender gap does appear to have disappeared. The ‘neoclassical model of labour-leisure choice’, as applied in this study, shows that as the wage rate increases, women have an incentive to reduce the time they allocate to the household sector and are more likely to enter the labour market. In South Africa, however, the increase in the female participation rate has merely translated into a rise in unemployment and has not been associated with an increase in the demand for female labour. This implies that South African women are being ‘pushed’ into the labour market due to economic need, rather than being ‘pulled’ into the labour market in order to earn a higher wage. Women are gradually becoming better represented at all levels across a wide range of occupations. Women, however, continue to face greater prospects of unemployment and to earn less than their male counterparts even when they do find employment. These lower female wages are partly as a result of ‘occupational crowding’, whereby women are over-represented in certain occupations resulting in excess labour supply which drives down the wage rate. It has been determined that the problem of occupational crowding is a real and immediate one and has been found to depress wages within certain female specific occupations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Lee, Deborah Ellen
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Women -- Employment -- South Africa , Discrimination in employment -- South Africa , Wages -- Women -- South Africa , Labor supply -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:11008 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/363 , Women -- Employment -- South Africa , Discrimination in employment -- South Africa , Wages -- Women -- South Africa , Labor supply -- South Africa
- Description: The post-1994 role of women in the South African economy is changing with respect to issues such as education and employment opportunities. In the past, men tended to hold the primary or ‘good’ jobs, which have the greatest stability and promotional potential, whilst women tended to hold the secondary or ‘poor’ jobs, which have lower stability and lower wages (Kelly, 1991). Women’s labour force participation has risen significantly over the years since 1994, but more in depth research is needed in order to determine where and how changes could be implemented to ensure that any past gender inequalities fall away with minimal impact on the economy as a whole. As such, certain dynamics within the labour market need to be considered. Firstly, pre-market types of discrimination, including issues such as gender discrimination during the acquisition of human capital through educational attainment should be considered. In most countries, women enter the labour market with severe disadvantage in that they have been subject to discrimination in schooling opportunities (Standing, Sender & Weeks, 1996). Secondly, the feminisation of the labour force is dealt with, as well as what factors affect the female labour force participation decision (i.e. the decision of whether to participate in the labour market or not). iv Thirdly, employment discrimination is investigated, including the concept of ‘occupational crowding’. An analysis of trends in the occupational structure of economically active women in South Africa shows the typical shift out of agriculture into industrial related jobs (Verhoef, 1996). Lastly, wage discrimination is analysed, in order to determine if women get lower rates of pay for ‘equal work’. The objectives of this study are aimed at determining whether there have been any positive changes with respect to women in any of these focal areas mentioned above. There are studies that have established gender differentials when it comes to formal education, and these place women at the disadvantaged end (Bankole & Eboiyehi, 2000). If one considers the educational measures, namely, the levels of literacy, years of education, and overall educational attainment, employed by this country to determine whether there are in fact observed differences between the education of boys and girls, the following was found: Males rate higher with respect to two of these measures, namely literacy and educational attainment, and are thus able to exhibit lower levels of poverty than females in South Africa. Men exhibit slightly higher literacy rates than women of the same age (Statistics South Africa, 2002), and men also rate higher than women when it comes to university education. With regards to primary and secondary school attainment v since 1994, the gender gap does appear to have disappeared. The ‘neoclassical model of labour-leisure choice’, as applied in this study, shows that as the wage rate increases, women have an incentive to reduce the time they allocate to the household sector and are more likely to enter the labour market. In South Africa, however, the increase in the female participation rate has merely translated into a rise in unemployment and has not been associated with an increase in the demand for female labour. This implies that South African women are being ‘pushed’ into the labour market due to economic need, rather than being ‘pulled’ into the labour market in order to earn a higher wage. Women are gradually becoming better represented at all levels across a wide range of occupations. Women, however, continue to face greater prospects of unemployment and to earn less than their male counterparts even when they do find employment. These lower female wages are partly as a result of ‘occupational crowding’, whereby women are over-represented in certain occupations resulting in excess labour supply which drives down the wage rate. It has been determined that the problem of occupational crowding is a real and immediate one and has been found to depress wages within certain female specific occupations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Food choices of tactile defensive children
- Authors: Smith, Anna Magdalena
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Children -- Nutrition -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:11034 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020371
- Description: This research explores a different view of the picky or fussy eater. Although occupational therapists and speech therapists are aware that children with sensory defensiveness and specific tactile defensiveness have different eating habits, this has not been described before.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Smith, Anna Magdalena
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Children -- Nutrition -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:11034 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020371
- Description: This research explores a different view of the picky or fussy eater. Although occupational therapists and speech therapists are aware that children with sensory defensiveness and specific tactile defensiveness have different eating habits, this has not been described before.
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- Date Issued: 2003