The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the strategies Texas superintendents use to both prevent and resolve conflicts between the school board-superintendent leadership team and to examine the effects of gender, age, ethnicity, level of education, experience in education, tenure as a superintendent, leadership style, and type and size of school districts on the strategies used by superintendents in Texas to prevent and resolve conflicts with school boards. This study was limited to superintendents in the state of Texas during the 2007-08 school year (approximately 1,050). The survey methodology involved an electronic questionnaire that allowed this researcher to survey the entire population of public school superintendents in Texas. The data was analyzed using the Social Sciences (SPSS, 2007) Statistical Package descriptive statistics. In order to validate the data, three superintendents from the largest districts in Texas were interviewed using a semi-structured approach to questioning using the results of the electronic survey. Based on the demographic data provided by the respondents, the typical superintendent in Texas is a married, White, non-Hispanic male, age 50 – 54 who serves a rural school district with a student enrollment of 1 – 499. He has a base salary of $85,000 to $99,999 and serves under a three-year contract and holds a master’s degree and majored in education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The typical superintendent has five to nine years of both teaching experience and site-based administrative experience and one to four years of central office administrative experience. More than 70% of the responding superintendents who held more than one superintendency reported that they left their last superintendency because of an opportunity to move to a larger district or for a higher salary. The majority of Texas school superintendents described their leadership/management style as collaborative and that human resources management was their greatest area of conflict with their school board. The factor that they report most inhibits their effectiveness was inadequate financing of schools. The strategy that the of majority Texas superintendents used to prevent and resolve conflict was to discuss the policy role of the school board with board members, participate in annual team-building activities and provide leadership training for board members. There was very little correlation between the demographic factors and strategies used by superintendents to prevent and resolve conflict. Follow-up interviews with large city superintendents provided additional information regarding specific strategies superintendents use to prevent and respond to conflict. Recommendations were made for further research regarding the role of the superintendent versus the role of the school board using qualitative research methods to further explicate the relationship between leadership/management style and strategies superintendents use to prevent and resolve conflict with school boards. / text

Efforts to control small arms and light weapons (SALW) in the periods following violent conflict can have positive or negative impacts on peacebuilding efforts. Similarly, peacebuilding activities can both support or endanger efforts to place SALW under greater control. Despite the regular occurrence of SALW control and peacebuilding activities in the same time and space in post violent conflict contexts, there is insignificant analysis of how the two sets of activities interrelate, and how these interelationships can be strengthened to improve the contribution that SALW control efforts make to peacebuilding, and vice-versa. The effects of interrelationships over time (contingency); in the same geographic space (complementarity) and the effects of public perceptions and social construction are particularly important and provide a framework for establishing these interrelationships through analysing a wide universe of cases of SALW control attempted in countries emerging from violent conflict, five mini-cases studies and a major analysis of interrelationships in Kosovo.

Diakonia is a Christian, church-based, development agency operating in the greater Durban area. It was conceived and established by the Roman Catholic Archbishop Denis Hurley. A qualitative, conceptual, and historical case study of Diakonia and its founder is undertaken. The case study seeks to reveal the nature and role of Christian non-violent social action for peace and social justice in South Africa between 1976 and 1982 – the first six years of Diakonia’s existence. Some of the questions that Diakonia raises about the role of religion in social change are explored, namely:  What is religion as belief and ideology?  What, if any, is the role of religion in social change?  Does the existence of an organisation such as Diakonia demonstrate that religion can directly and positively impact on non-violent human agency for social justice? An understanding of Diakonia cannot be divorced from its situation. The agency is therefore located within the historical configuration of the South African nation-state. In addition, it is analysed in relation the institutional Church; to opposition politics, both secular and religious; to civil society in relation to the state and social change and; to the place of non-government organisations in civil society. Non-violence debates on peace and social justice form an important part of this analysis. The study affirms that religion can make a significant contribution to social justice. Whatever advances social participation, non-violence, equality, liberty and, a better life experience for more of the population is an improvement on the existing state of affairs in a society. Religion therefore has a legitimate role to play in social change. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Conscription of white males to the South African Defence Force between 1969 and 1994 was one of the measures used by the South African government to uphold apartheid and white supremacy. While it appeared that the majority of white males and their families supported the National Party propagated ideologies of the country at the time and felt it was their duty to render military service, there were some for whom this duty provided a conflict of conscience. Giving expression to this conflict and finding constructive ways of dealing with it was almost impossible within the highly restrictive, repressive political, legal and social climate of that time. Limited options seemed available to the young men who had objections to serving in the military, namely exile, evasion or deferment: personal choices that drove people into physical and emotional isolation, and which did not engage the state in the resolution of this conflict. Some young men, however, chose to confront the state and object openly. This began a protracted series of negotiations with ruling authorities, debates within state structures, legislative changes and prosecutions that attempted to prevent and quash the presence of objectors. In the face of this oppression, family and friends formed themselves into solidarity groups around individual objectors to support them in handling the consequences of their objection and in making their stance known and heeded by the government. And so began a movement for change, which over the years learned the skills of nonviolent direct action and constructively challenged the state on issues of conscription and the militarisation of society. This initiative, known as the Conscientious Objector Support Group, although small in scale, ranks as one of the anti-apartheid movements that contributed to South Africa’s peaceful transition to democracy. As such it has invaluable lessons to share with movements for change throughout the world that are presently grappling with situations of human rights’ violations. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

De plus en plus, les gens doivent apprendre à intégrer de nouvelles identités dans leur concept de soi, ce qui est souvent la source de conflits identitaires. Afin de réduire ces conflits identitaires, plusieurs chercheurs proposent que d’avoir des identités bien intégrées augmente le bien-être psychologique (Amiot, de la Sablonnière, Terry & Smith, 2007; Benet-Martinez & Haritatos, 2005; de la Sablonnière, Amiot, Sadykova, Cardenas, & Gorborukova, 2010). Jusqu’à ce jour, aucune stratégie favorisant cette intégration identitaire à été suggérée. Parallèlement, diverses études sur l’écriture démontrent qu’écrire aide à organiser et structurer les idées tout en augmentant le bien-être psychologique (Lyubomirsky, Sousa & Dickerhoof, 2006; Pennebaker & Graybeal,2001; Pennebaker & Seagal, 1999; Smyth, 1998). Notre hypothèse est que l'écriture faciliterait le processus d’intégration identitaire des identités conflictuelles dans le soi. Nos études 1 et 2 démontrent qu’écrire sur les conflits identitaires, comparativement à écrire sur un sujet neutre ou ne pas écrire, est associé à une augmentation de bien-être seulement chez les gens qui rapportent un haut niveau d’intégration identitaire. Nos études 3 et 4 confirment qu’en offrant plusieurs sessions d’écriture tout en adaptant les directives de rédaction, les participants augmentent leur niveau d’intégration identitaire et de bien-être indépendamment de leur niveau initial d’intégration identitaire. Des analyses de contenu sur les textes d’écriture des participants ont été étudiées afin d’approfondir notre compréhension. / More and more, people must learn to integrate new identities in their self-concept, which is often the source of identity conflicts. To reduce these identity conflicts, previous research suggests that high levels of identity integration increases psychological wellbeing (Amiot, de la Sablonnière, Terry & Smith, 2007; Benet-Martinez & Haritatos,2005; de la Sablonnière, Amiot, Sadykova, Cardenas, & Gorborukova, 2010). So far, no strategy to promote identity integration was suggested. In parallel, the action of writing about a negative experience demonstrates that writing helps organize and structure ideas while enhancing psychological well-being (Lyubomirsky, Sousa & Dickerhoof, 2006; Pennebaker & Graybeal, 2001; Pennebaker & Seagal, 1999; Smyth, 1998). Thus, we hypothesize that writing will facilitate the integration of conflicting identities into the self. Studies 1 and 2 reveal that writing about identity conflicts, as compared to writing about a neutral topic or no writing, is associated with superior levels of psychological well-being only for participants scoring high on identity integration. Studies 3 and 4 confirm that several writing sessions using clearer writing instructions helped participants to increase both levels of identity integration and psychological well-being regardless of the initial level of identity integration. Analyses of participants’ written content were performed to deepen our understanding. / Je reconnais l’aide financière du Centre d’études ethniques des Universités montréalaises (CEETUM), du Ministère de l’Éducation – Aide Financières au Études (AFE), et ainsi que de l’Université de Montréal (Département de psychologie et Faculté des études supérieures) dans la réalisation de ce mémoire.

La présente étude avait pour but de déterminer si un programme de prévention de la violence par l’entraînement aux habiletés en résolution de conflits et en médiation pouvait avoir une incidence sur la motivation scolaire et le sentiment d’appartenance à l’école. De par ses trois missions fondamentales (instruire, qualifier et socialiser), l’école québécoise est pour l’élève à la fois un milieu de vie et un milieu d’apprentissage. Toutefois, des problèmes de comportement et de motivation à apprendre peuvent freiner la réussite de certains jeunes. Pour remédier à la situation, des programmes visant à améliorer le comportement des élèves et à prévenir la violence à l’école ont été mis sur pied et évalués, indiquant une amélioration de certains comportements. Quelques études ont aussi noté une corrélation entre ces programmes et la motivation à apprendre. Sachant que l’adoption de buts de maîtrise et le sentiment d’appartenance à l’école sont des variables qui agissent positivement sur la motivation à apprendre, il est pertinent de se demander si un tel programme peut avoir une incidence sur ces variables. Des analyses secondaires de données issues du Rapport final d’évaluation des impacts du programme Vers le pacifique pour les quatre années de sa mise en œuvre (Bowen, 2006) ont été effectuées afin de vérifier si le programme Vers le Pacifique avait un impact sur les buts de maîtrise et le sentiment d’appartenance et déterminer quels comportements appris grâce au programme agissaient sur ces deux mêmes variables. De plus, le sexe des participants, ainsi que le niveau d’implantation du programme dans les écoles, ont été considérés dans les analyses. Les résultats aux analyses de variance ont révélé que le programme Vers le pacifique n’avait pas d’incidence sur les buts de maîtrise et le sentiment d’appartenance. Peu importe le groupe et le sexe, les buts de maîtrise et le sentiment d’appartenance ont diminué au deuxième temps de mesure. Toutefois, un des comportements appris grâce à Vers le pacifique, la gestion des émotions, agit positivement sur l’adoption de buts de maîtrise. À la lumière de ces résultats, qui cadrent avec certaines théories présentes dans la littérature, il est recommandé aux praticiens d’intégrer de manière plus explicite un volet motivationnel au programme Vers le pacifique, dans le but de contrer la diminution des buts de maîtrise et du sentiment d’appartenance et ainsi favoriser le développement de la motivation à apprendre et la réussite scolaire. / The object of the present study was to evaluate the impact of a conflict resolution and mediation training program on student’s motivation and sense of belonging to school. By its three fundamental missions (instruct, qualify and socialize), Quebec’school system serves as a living and a learning environement for its students. However, behaviour and/or school motivation problems can have a negative impact on some students’ achievement. Taking in consideration those problematic issues, schools have implemented programs in order to prevent violence and improve student’s behaviour. Different evaluations of these programs indicated an improvement of certain behaviours and a correlation with some aspects of school motivation. Considering that mastery-oriented goals and the sense of belonging to school are factors that contribute to school motivation, it is relevant to ask if such a program may have an impact on these variables. A secondary analysis of data from Rapport final d’évaluation des impacts du programme Vers le pacifique pour les quatre années de sa mise en œuvre (Bowen, 2006) was conducted in order to verify if the program Vers le pacifique had an impact on mastery-oriented goals and the sense of belonging to school, and to determine which specific students’ behaviours developped through this program had an impact on these two factors. Furthermore, sex and level of implementation of the program in the school were taken in consideration for these analysis. Multivariate and univariate analysis results reveal that Vers le pacifique program does not have a significant impact on mastery-oriented goals and sense of belonging. Both variables decreased over time, whatever the sex or level of implementation of the program. Yet, one of the behaviours developped through the program, emotion management, has a positive impact on students’ mastery-oriented goals. These results, consistent with some theories from the literature, lead to recommendations such as implementing a complementary motivationnal component to Vers le pacifique. Thereby, it might be possible to counteract the decrease over time of mastery-oriented goals and sense of belonging to school, while promoting school motivation and success.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Violent behavior is one of the most critical problem facing the world in general and South Africa in particular. The level of violence in our society is of wide concern. Many people are caught in a cycle of violence as victims and/or perpetrators. In the face of such increasing violence, it is crucial for peace educators to focus and teach people nonviolent ways of solving disputes to help contribute to a better awareness of the root causes of conflict from the global to interpersonal level and encourage individual to develop nonviolent behavior. In relation to the issue of reducing violence, I understood that action research provided a suitable methodology for researching the issue of my facilitation of nonviolence and problem solving workshop. It offered that in a way that allowed qualitative data to lead to action in the complexity of the situation. As Seville statement posits, violence is not innate but people are nurtured in violence and gradually become violent. However, one of the goals of peace studies is to nurture a commitment to nonviolent social change. To accomplish this, it was imperative to design a peace education program and apply it in a series of workshop with juvenile offenders. I embraced this education with the objective to build the capacity for nonviolent responses to conflict among a group of juvenile offenders at NICRO-Durban. Training for nonviolence and problem solving promises to develop attitudes and behavior that help people to live in harmony with each other and with self as individual. Through an experiential approach, I sought to train them in the use of creative nonviolent ways of handling situation in which people often resort to violence. Despite the limitation of this self-report method is that it was difficult to prove whether people are answering truthfully and had a realistic awareness of their own behavior. But the evaluation provides evidence that this study was substantially successful in achieving the aims and objectives set out for the research. The immediate out-come of the program was satisfying and the results show that this program is impacting on individual lives. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.

This qualitative research sought to examine the actual impact of HIV/AIDS on the human security of households in Bulawayo. The two research questions in this study where, how does HIV/AIDS affect the seven areas of human security? and has the economic crisis in Zimbabwe increased the impact of HIV/AIDS on households? This study utilized both primary and secondary data in which the later was consulted in constructing the literature review and to address specific aims one and two. These specific aims were: to assess the human security conditions in Zimbabwe and to examine the potential impact of HIV/AIDS on human security. Data was gathered in the form of two focus group discussions held in Bulawayo with faith-based support groups and also in the form of in-depth interviews with households which were not connected to the faith based support groups in Bulawayo. A total of 29 participants took part in this research representing 29 households. 19 of these households were represented in the two focus group discussions while the remainder of, 10 households were represented in the in-depth interviews. Human security is presented as different from traditional security in that the later seeks to protect nations from external threats while the former seeks to protect people from both external and internal threats such as threats of chronic diseases, hunger, unemployment, crimes, social conflicts, political repressions, environmental hazards and HIV/AIDS. These threats can be natural, manmade or both. Human security was assessed in light of the seven areas of threats to human security which are economic, food, health, environment, personal, community, and political security. Four major themes emanated from this research these being: the financial, health, nutritional and societal impacts of HIV/AIDS on the households in Bulawayo, chief of these being the financial impact in form of increased expenditure, reduced income and diverted investments of households. This study came up with recommendations that aim at reducing and ultimately eradicating the impact of HIV/AIDS on households these being economic empowerment, food aid, ARVs provisions, training in survival skills and orphan care. The major challenge was given to individuals, families, society and NGOs especially the FBOs to take the lead in implementing these recommendations as the government is not yet in a position to do so. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.

Darbe atlikta teorinė konfliktų raiškos visuomenėje ir mokyklose analizė. Čia analizuojama konflikto samprata, priežastys ir jų pasireiškimo būdai, konflikto rūšys, valdymas, sprendimo būdai bei mokinių tarpusavio konfliktai. Iškelta hipotezė, kad mokiniai, turintys specialiųjų ugdymosi poreikių (SUP) dažniau patiria konfliktus mokyklose ir negeba jų tinkamai išspręsti negu įprastos raidos mokiniai. Anketinės apklausos metodu buvo atliktas tyrimas, kurio tikslas - išanalizuoti įprastai besimokančių ir turinčių specialiųjų ugdymosi poreikių mokinių požiūrį į tarpusavio konfliktus. Atlikta lyginamoji duomenų analizė. / In this paperwork there was carried out the theoretical analysis of the conflict occurancies in society and schools. It provides the analysis of the conflict concept, causes and manifestation ways, types of the conflicts, management, resolution and inter-pupil conflicts.Hypothesis, that pupils with special educational needs (SEN) are more likely to have conflicts in their schools and are unable to properly resolve them than pupils with common needs, was raised.Questionnaire survey method was conducted with the aim - to analyze the attitude to the interpersonal conflicts of the pupils with common and with special educational needs. A comparative analysis of the data was done.