3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Exploring the experience of community health workers operating in contexts where trauma and its exposure are continuous.(2014-08-22) Thomson, Kirsten JeanViolent and traumatic events are a regular occurrence in many South Africans’ lives. The term 'continuous traumatic stress’ was coined by South African anti-apartheid health professionals in the 1980’s to explain the continuous nature of violence and trauma happening within the country. Although the political agenda may have shifted, many South Africans are still living within a context in which violent and traumatic events regularly occur. However, little is known about how health workers respond to continuous trauma within the South African setting. The Community Health Workers - within this study - are part of the South African health model called ‘Primary Health Care Re-engineering’ that is currently being piloted. The research was exploratory in nature and used a mixed methods design. Twenty three Community Health Workers who participated in the study were from two sub-districts within the Ekurhuleni district, Gauteng, Johannesburg. The research included two face to face semi-structured individual interviews. The first included qualitative questions and completion of the quantitative Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire (1998) to explore past trauma experiences. Over a seven month period, the participants were asked to document traumatic event exposure and responses through the adapted Life Events Checklist (1995) and personal journaling. At the end of this period, participants were interviewed again to explore their current traumatic experiences. Qualitative data were analysed through thematic content analysis and quantitative data were used to substantiate information from the interviews and checklists. Results show that Community Health Workers – within this study - have a high prevalence of exposure to traumatic events (directly experiencing, witnessing and hearing about). Prominent events included physical and sexual assault, transport accidents, fires and explosions. Media played a powerful role in exposure to events. Traumatic and unexpected losses were key experiences that need to be considered when working with trauma in the South African context. Acknowledgement of experiences (peer and external) is an essential element in developing support structures. These findings – from the context of Ekurhuleni, South Africa - contribute to exploring and understanding the experience of ‘continuous traumatic stress’ for Community Health Workers.Item Does foreign aid make a difference? a case study of the Boseele Association in Northern Lesotho.(2012-03-12) Johnson, Lineo RoseLesotho is a country plagued by underdevelopment and poverty. This research is a case study of an indigenous community organisation in the northern district of Botha-Bothe in Lesotho. Boseele is a rural development organisation which attracted international donor investment in the aftermath of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. The study aims at investigating the impact of capacity development processes on Boseele and its members. The study identified capacity building landmarks over a period of ten years. A case study approach was used within a qualitative research design. Data was collected through individual and group interviews, observations, story-telling and transect walks. The results were analysed through thematic, chronological, narrative and document analysis. Boseele’s successes with CIDA funding reflect positive foreign aid contributions towards the work of civil society organisations in Lesotho. However, setbacks and lack of continuity by a nursery project funded by MS-Lesotho show that the empowerment process is vulnerable where social and economic problems of individual members and communities are not fully addressed.Item Perspectives of Orthodow, Jewish women regarding the perceived effects of Jewish religious and cultural values on women's choices in abusive relationships.(2012-02-07) Serebro, Kim LindyThis research attempted to gain insight into the perspectives of Orthodox, Jewish women regarding the abuse of women in heterosexual relationships, in their community. Feminist theory and social constructionism were utilised in order to facilitate in greater insight into the roles of women in Judaism and the manner in which Jewish doctrine and ideology influences women who are abused by their husbands. The research focused on specific principles that are intrinsic to Jewish faith and identity. It also explored Jewish persecution and its influence on the formation and perpetuation of many of the Jewish customs and traditions as a means of preserving or upholding Jewish faith. The sample comprised of nine women who fell within an age range of 25-35 years. Jewish women from Orthodox backgrounds were utilised. A qualitative paradigm was applied in order to gain access to information thereby ensuring that the content obtained was of a more personal nature involving the private perceptions of this study’s participants. The following themes were identified from the data and formed the basis upon which the analysis and discussion took place. The themes include: Jewish men treat women according to what men are taught, marriage precipitates acknowledgement of women and the Jewish community is not immune to social ills. The results of the research support the argument that Jewish religious and cultural values appear to influence women’s choices in abusive relationships. Furthermore, the roles that women typically assume in Jewish society seemingly perpetuate existing gender stereotypes in relation to women.Item Citizenship education in South Africa : a critique of post-apartheid citizenship education policy.(2010-03-04T06:09:45Z) Mathebula, Philemon ThokozaniIt is widely agreed that effective citizenship, whether in well-established democracies or in those in transition to democracy, require some educational preparation. In post-apartheid South Africa, education policy and subsequent curriculum development placed participatory democracy and active citizenship at its centre. Although South African education policy documents have a maximalist tone in places, they collectively reflect a minimalist conception of citizenship and of citizenship education. The focus of my critique of citizenship education policy is the tendency manifest in the state policy documents to undermine democratic participation and active citizenry, conceptions first developed and put into practice in the Greek city-state of Athens. The conception of education for citizenship does not guide the practice in terms accessible to the school’s democratic community. State policy’s concept of students’ democratic participation and representation does not reflect a representative model of democracy in South African schools. Furthermore, extant policy does not envisage democratic citizenship education that is enjoyed by a significant proportion of the South African learners. This minimalist conception of citizenship and of citizenship education is not appropriate for the South African context. This thesis, further, mounts a defence of compulsion, arguing that within the theoretical framework of current theories of the Athenian prototype of democracy, deliberative and representative democracy, compulsory schooling and compulsory citizenship education can be justified on the grounds that they promote individual autonomy and build social cohesion ― towards the common good in South Africa. The recently proposed compulsory citizenship education programmes are not compatible with compulsory citizenship education that is designed to promote active, critical and inquiring South African citizens. These value-based education documents promote obedience, if not unquestioning loyalty, to the South African government. Moreover, neither the Bill of Responsibilities nor the School Pledge offer possible strategies for getting from where we are to where we ought to be. In the final analysis, post-apartheid citizenship education policy’s lack of conceptual clarity, coherence and consistency can be attributed in large part to the conflicting forms and conceptions of citizenship in South Africa. The goals of citizenship education in South Africa would be better served by cosmopolitan ideals, that is, preparing South African learners to act in a local, national and global scale.Item Legal aspects of corporate governance in the republic of South Africa: towards a possible model for improved stakeholder relations within the corporation(2007-02-13T13:07:13Z) Spisto, Michael PaoloTraditionally, company law assumes that the directors’ role is to run the company for the benefit of its shareholders alone and to maximise profits for them. It can be argued, however, that this view is too narrow and outdated; that is, company directors should have regard to the rights and interests of a broader range of corporate stakeholders. Hence, the question is whether we should change our perception of the company or corporation from one run by directors dedicated exclusively to serving the interests of shareholders to that of a corporation whose main purpose is to bring benefit not only to its owners and creditors, but also to its employees, the community and the environment. Given that reforms of directors’ duties in light of the above considerations have found their way into legislation across the globe, this thesis examines how and to what extent legal rules and policies should develop in South Africa to place directors under a positive duty to take account of the interests of bodies other than shareholders. Current South African company law does not contain clear rules regarding corporate governance issues and the duties and liabilities of directors. These matters have been left to the common law and Codes of Corporate Practice. Thus, there is no extensive statutory scheme in South Africa, which covers the duties, obligations and accountability of directors. The focus in this thesis is on the rights and interests of employees and the premise that is defended is that it is valuable to corporations to provide employees with an institutionalised voice at board level. It is argued that there is global evidence that where employees participate in the decision-making processes of the company, performance is generally enhanced. This, in turn, directly impacts upon and improves economic productivity, generating a ‘win-win’ situation. The question of the duties of company directors and managers is attracting much attention in South Africa. With rapidly developing and changing labour legislation in South Africa, it is essential to consider the extent to which the country should reassess its traditional principles of company law and corporate governance policies in order to encourage participatory roles for employees in the workplace. It is argued that if South Africa is to improve corporate productivity levels with its re-entry into international markets, management and labour must find improved ways of dealing with one another. The main purpose of this thesis, therefore, is to propose and formulate a workable corporate governance model for South Africa – one that would be advantageous to all stakeholders, especially the employees. This is achieved by comparing and contrasting international models of corporate governance and by applying the best features of each to the unique South African corporate system of values, structures and traditions. It is suggested that the current unitary board structure operating in South Africa has become outdated and does not provide employees with rights enabling them to engage in the decision-making processes of the corporation with their employees at an adequate level. In its place, a two-tier board system of corporate governance is proposed. The economic success of a company will bring about social benefits to many stakeholder constituencies. This will not happen if the company is a financial failure. The issue of obliging directors to act primarily for the benefit of shareholders alone is questioned. Corporate governance reforms were undertaken in many parts of the world in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. This reform process questioned whether the interests of the company should be managed for the shareholders alone or for the other corporate stakeholders as well. There are many views that strongly support the idea that corporate governance should be seen as a system by which corporations are to be governed for the benefits of all stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, creditors, suppliers and the community. In this way, companies should be run as communities in partnerships with all their stakeholders. Thus, this thesis proposes that the success of a company is inextricably intertwined with a consideration of the rights and interests of its employees and other stakeholders.