Juvenile sexual offenders and a matched sample of nonoffending youth were compared on the Family Environment Scale (FES), the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES ill), the Adult Adolescent Parent Inventory (AAPI), and a biographical inventory. The purpose was to determine whether or not juvenile sexual offenders and nonoffenders would prove to have different perceptions of family characteristics and whether the biographical inventory could distinguish between the two groups. "The sample consisted of 95 participants (46 offenders, 49 nonoffenders) in the northern Utah area. The offending population were in outpatient treatment for their sexual offending. When the participants were categorized as offender/ nonoffender and 12-15 year olds/ 16-19 year olds, only an age effect was found to be significant on the variables cohesiveness, cohesion, and conflict. Offender group membership did not have any effect. Younger adolescents viewed their family environment as more cohesive and felt more freedom to express anger and dissent. Significant differences were found between offenders with multiple victims and all other groups on two AAPI variables: inappropriate developmental expectations of children and lack of empathic awareness of children. The discriminant function analysis of the biographical inventory items yielded a 90% correct classification rate on participants cooed as either offender or nonoffender. Only eight biographical items were used in this procedure. It is clear that, of the four instruments used in this study, the biographical inventory provided the best descriptive profile of the juvenile sexual offenders. Offenders reported more instability in their home-life and lack of positive emotional relationships with their caretakers. The perception of diminished humanness in relationships went hand in hand with victimizing others. One can conclude that family environment remains an important factor to consider in the development and treatment of sexually abusive behavior.

In this dissertation, I explore, through qualitative means, the perceptions of parents related to discourse (what is said and not said) within formalized and required processes of special education. These processes are federal requirements that parents of children with disabilities or suspected disabilities encounter as their children progress through the school system. The processes purportedly protect the rights of children with disabilities. The goal of the process is to help children with disabilities make academic gains by providing scaffolds that meet their individual needs. During this process, parents of children with disabilities become empowered or disempowered by discourses focused on eligibility for special education services and Individualized Education Plans. These discourses may serve to privilege, empower, disempower, alienate and marginalize, or unite and value. I critically examine instances of this discourse to support and empower parents concerning instances of negatively framed discourse and to assist administrators, professionals, and teachers. My goal is to help these individuals understand how parents perceive the discourse within this framework. I aim to lessen instances of alienation, marginalization, and power inequities that parents repeatedly encounter through education. This study involves 15 survey participants and 14 remaining case-study participants who have or have had children with disabilities go through the special education process from five separate school systems within the Western U.S. I utilize a survey covering perceptions and attitudes about formalized special education processes along with open-ended, semi-structured interviews for case-study analysis. Participants discussed inequities and inequalities such as a perceived lack of power and voice. They referred to lost dignity for themselves and their children with disabilities and high levels of frustration due to poor communication and follow-through. Participants perceived successful interactions from persistent effort, advocacy, and self-education on special education law, procedure, and the disabilities of their children. I provide participant summary perceptions and desires regarding the special education process. I present two models of special education discourse derived from grounded theory and discuss my results regarding models of disability, a school-equity-improvement model, an ethical framework, and I argue for a call to action to begin the groundwork for positive, lasting change.

The purpose of this thesis was to examine children's perceptions toward teachers, as related to the child's social class background, and to investigate the influence of social class upon their perceptions. A projective pictorial test, which consisted of nine pictures concerning teachers and children, was administered individually to forth fourth grade school children in two Ogden, Utah, public schools. The findings of this study were that there are differences between middle and lower-class children in their perceptions toward teachers. Children of middle-class backgrounds showed more positive perceptions toward teachers, and lower-class children were found to have a more negative perception of teachers.

This research examined husband and wife attitudes toward menstruation and how these attitudes related to certain behaviors within marriage. The sample consisted of 48 Married couples, some living in Davis, California and some living in Salt Lake City, Utah . Specifically, four objectives were persued: Assess husbands' and wives' perceptions of how behaviors within marriage vary over the wives' menstrual cycles. Assess husbands' and wives' attitudes toward menstruation. Examine how husband's and wives' attitudes toward menstruation might be associated with perceptions of how behaviors within marriage vary over the wives' menstrual cycles. Examine how wives' perceptions of differences in behavior over the menstrual cycle are associated with their reporting of perceived menstrual symptomology. It was discovered that husbands and wives had varying attitudes toward menstruation and these attitudes were related to their reporting of the occurrence of certain male and female behaviors within marriage. Husbands and wives who had more stereotypic attitudes toward menstruation reported greater behavior change in themselves and their spouses due to menstruation within marriage than those who had less stereotypic attitudes . In addition. the wives' reporting of menstrual symptomotology was related to their reporting of behavior change in marriage due to their menstrual period. Women who reported the greatest menstrual symptomotology also reported the greatest amount of behavior change within marriage due to menstruation.

Parent cognitions, including parent attributions for and perceptions of children's behaviors , are related to negative parent-child interactions and have been hypothesized to negatively affect treatment outcome in parent training studies. Specifically, parents who attribute children's disruptive behaviors to internal, stable, uncontrollable, and global causes and believe that they are not personally responsible for their children's behavior are less likely to engage in positive interactions with their children and successfully manage child behavior. Additionally, parents who expect their children to demonstrate aversive behavior and perceive their children's neutral behaviors as aversive are less likely to engage in positive interactions with their children and successfully manage child behavior. Parent well-being and child behavior have been examined in relation to parent attributions and perceptions, with previous studies generally indicating that decreased parent well being and increased child behavior problems are associated with more negative parent attributions and perceptions. Though parent attributions and perceptions have been investigated in previous studies, there are gaps and inconsistencies within the literature. Specifically, previous studies have not consistently considered both maternal and paternal attributions for and perceptions of child and parent behaviors, and the relationship between parent-rated and researcher-rated child behaviors has not consistently been examined. This study examined parent attributions and parent perceptions related to child and parent behaviors within the parent-child interactions of 25 mothers, 15 fathers, and their children. The results of this study provide support for relationships between parents' attributions and parent-reported child behavior problems and parent well being. Additionally, significant relationships were found between parent perceptions of parent and child behaviors and parent-reported child behavior problems and parent well being. Furthermore, this study identified differences in parent attributions and parent-child interactions between mothers and fathers, with mothers viewing themselves as more responsible for compliant and noncompliant child behaviors and mothers sharing both more positive and negative interactions with children than fathers . Conclusions and clinical implications of these findings are provided.

Magister Commercii - MCom / The South African democratic government is mandated by the constitution to provide quality healthcare services to the citizens of the country. Therefore, healthcare in South Africa is considered as a basic human right. The existing healthcare system exhibits extreme inequality, which translates into inequity in health outcomes across different demographic factors. Even though quality healthcare is a basic human right, problems related to the quality of healthcare remain, which poses a major challenge for the South African government. This dissertation investigates patient perceptions of the quality of public healthcare in South Africa, using General Household Survey data (2009-2016), with the objective of determining the level and trends of patient satisfaction and complaints reported when accessing public healthcare services in South Africa and identifying the correlates of these perception. This study found that patient satisfaction with public healthcare services in South Africa has increased over time while complaints have decreased over time. This study refrains from drawing conclusion on these findings at face value, since they may be other factors that explain the observed trends. The most common complaint was long waiting time at public healthcare facilities. On average, White individuals, male household heads, individuals residing in rural areas and individuals from smaller household were more likely to report to being satisfied with healthcare services received at public healthcare facilities in South Africa. Therefore, patient satisfaction survey approach should be used in conjunction with other healthcare quality measures such as direct observation, vignettes and standardised or mystery patient.

Magister Educationis - MEd / The purpose of this paper was to examine the use of the multiple representation approach as a teaching strategy to improve learners understanding of vectors in Grade 10 Physical Sciences. The study also wanted to consider the MR approach through the lens of the learners. A sample consisting of 45 Grade 10 learners from a total of 160 Grade 10 Physical Sciences learners participated in the study. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analysed. Learners were first given a pre-test to establish their initial understanding of vectors. This pre-test was followed by an intervention in the form of a lesson. The lesson was conducted in order to expose learners to learning through Multiple Representations. A post-test was then administered to determine the impact of the intervention. To gather and quantify the learners’ perceptions on the use of Multiple Representations in teaching and learning of vectors in Grade 10 Physical Sciences learners were given questionnaires to complete. The last step was interviewing of learners to triangulate the results from the three instruments. The study found that learners were struggling with understanding of vectors in their traditional chalk-and-talk lessons and their perceptions towards vectors were negative. The study also found that Multiple Representations can improve understanding and develop positive perception of learners towards the teaching and learning of vectors. This improvement occurs only if Multiple Representations is used correctly. The study further found out that when Multiple Representations is used improperly it limits deeper understanding by learners. A number of recommendations were made out of the findings of the study. Some of them were that multiple representations should be used when teaching vectors and that subject advisers and teachers should be developed on the proper use of multiple representations. The Physical Sciences textbooks must be designed to accommodate Multiple Representations.

The aim of this study was to fulfil two purposes: to gain deeper insights into what young children think about their teachers, and to examine the effectiveness of different methodologies which are designed to elicit information from school beginners. By employing a variety of qualitative techniques, the study focussed on the development of research methodologies specifically appropriate to this age group. Although the results of the study suggest that the children perceive teachers as performing the more obvious didactic and authoritarian roles, they also indicate an awareness of the managerial aspects of teaching. The data also suggested that the children placed greater emphasis on the teachers role as an entertainer than as a nurturer. An examination of the results in relation to the methodologies used, indicates the possibilities of further developing the drawing and interview technique for use by classroom teachers. The research highlights some interesting implications for teachers. A better understanding of childrens views about classroom practices may influence teachers decisions about how they wish to fulfil their roles and functions.

In New Zealand the development and promotion of sporting events is becoming increasingly popular, due in part to the role of sport in building the nation's identity, the economic benefits, and a growing awareness of the importance of health and fitness within the community. Given this increased popularity it is important that the impacts of these events upon the local 'host' communities be understood. Social impacts have been given more and more attention in recent years by event researchers, due to the recognition that the long term sustainability of such events can only be achieved with the approval and participation of residents. This research addresses these issues in the context of Taupo, New Zealand using the case of Ironman New Zealand.This thesis adopts a mixed method approach using interviews (n=7), participant observation, and a web-survey (n=111). The findings confirm that it is vital to investigate and understand impacts of events on host communities. The findings are also consistent with theories identified in the literature in terms of the nature of social impacts on host communities. The overall results indicate that residents are aware of both the positive and negative impacts of Ironman New Zealand. Respondents highlight positive impacts such as economic benefits, exposure of Taupo, community togetherness, and the encouragement of sports, yet they also recognize negative impacts such as inconvenience from traffic congestion, and road closures. Accordingly, the community was grouped into three distinct clusters with positive, negative and ambivalent perceptions, and were labelled 'Lovers', 'Pessimists' and 'Realists'. The findings further suggest that the use of web-surveying for community research is still in its infancy and needs further development enabling it to be used as an effective tool. Finally it is proposed that small to medium scale sporting event hosted in regional communities may contribute to a sense of community and to the creation of social capital. Further research is needed to confirm this proposition.

This thesis is a study of gender and organisation in Sri Lanka, a society of diverse cultural identities. The research question addresses factors related to women and men's orientations to work and the extent to which institutional factors, located in the broader societal context of Sri Lankan organisations, add explanatory power in analysis of the degree of job satisfaction and work perceptions. The thesis also investigates the relationship between organisational level attributes and the understanding of managers' work perceptions, as well as seeking variation at the institutional level. The main research instrument was a questionnaire, and quantitative data was generated from field surveys of 382 Sri Lankan male and female managers. The data is stratified randomly, forming a sample of top, middle and junior level managers. These managers belong to diverse Sri Lankan organisations in terms of size, ownership, and line of business. The findings illustrate that organisational level attributes have greater explanatory power in interpreting the work perceptions of male and female managers in Sri Lanka than do the institutional factors. However, qualitative interviews that were conducted reveal the salience of institutional factors to explain aspects of work perceptions. Organisational policies and recommendations that can be derived from this finding are elaborated in the conclusions. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)