Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1984.

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Historically, development practice and theory has been focused on increasing the productive capacity of the poor towards the modernization of their society. More than often, this approach resulted in excluding the poor from fully participating in their own development. This research project is a qualitative study in the practice of resistance to the domination of expert knowledge and the economic growth model, a resistance focused on developing an authentic solidarity with the poor. Using narratives as a method of inquiry, an attempt was made at defining the commonality upon which our relationship with the poor can be initiated and from which common action can be undertaken in helping the poor meet their needs. The findings suggest that it is in the shared experience of oppression that an authentic relationship can be developed. Importance is attributed to the quality of the exchange between the worker, the poor and the donor in our attempt to resist ethnocentrism. It calls for a less grandiose vision of development in favor of an approach focused on meeting the needs of specific communities in underdeveloped countries.

<p>In South Africa, Deaf people communicate with one another and the broader community by means of South African Sign Language. The majority of Deaf people who have access to a mobile&nbsp / phone (cell phone) use Short Message Service (SMS) to communicate and share information with hearing people, but seldom use it among themselves. It is assumed that video messaging&nbsp / will be more accessible to Deaf people, since their&nbsp / level of literacy may prevent them from making effective use of information that is disseminated via texting/SMS. The principal objective of the&nbsp / esearch was to explore a cost-effective and efficient mass multimedia messaging system. The intention was to adapt a successful text-based mass notification system, developed by a&nbsp / local nongovernmental organization (NGO), to accommodate efficient and affordable video mass messaging for Deaf people. The questions that underpin this research are: How should video- streaming mass-messaging methods be compared and evaluated to find the most suitable method to deliver an affordable and acceptable service to Deaf people? What transport vehicles&nbsp / &nbsp / &nbsp / should be considered: Multimedia Message Service (MMS), the web, electronic mail, or a cell phone resident push/pullapplication? Which is the most cost effective? And, finally: How does the video quality of the various transport vehicles differ in terms of the clarity of the sign language as perceived by the Deaf? The soft-systems methodology and a mixed-methods methodology&nbsp / were used to address the research questions. The soft-systems methodology was followed to manage the research process and the mixed-methods research methodology was followed to&nbsp / collect data. Data was collected by means of experiments and semi-structured interviews. A prototype for mobile phone usage was developed and evaluated with Deaf members the NGO Deaf&nbsp / Community of Cape Town. The technology and internet&nbsp / usage of the Deaf participants provided background information. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to analyse&nbsp / the quantitative data, and content analysis was used to analyse the documents and interviews. All of the Deaf participants used their mobile phones for SMS and the majority (81.25%) used&nbsp / English to type messages / however, all indicated that they would have preferred to use South Africa sign language on their mobile phones if it were available. And they were quite willing to pay between 75c and 80c per message for using such a video-messaging&nbsp / service.Of the transport vehicles demonstrated, most Deaf people indic indicated that they preferred to use the SMS&nbsp / prototype (with a web link to the video) rather than the MMS prototype with the video attached. They were, however, very concerned about the cost of using the system, as well as the quality of the sign language videos.</p>

Employee assistance was initiated early in the 19th century in the United States of America to assist employees with alcohol abuse in the workplace. During the 1970s, the concept of an employee assistance programme (EAP) was adapted to assist employees not only with alcohol-related problems, but also with personal and other work-related problems resulting in poor work performance. It is evident from the literature that no EAP is the same and that researchers have developed the seven EAP core technologies to promote uniformity within the field of employee assistance. The aim of this study was to establish a framework for a best-practice EAP for the health care sector and the quality management thereof. As background to the study, the researcher conducted an extensive literature review to investigate the current situation on the utilisation of EAPs in various industries worldwide. The literature review was used as a guide during the empirical phase of the study in order to gain more in-depth knowledge with regard to employee assistance in the health care sector. A case study design as a qualitative research approach was applied. Five focus group discussions were held with supervisors from various levels in several health care institutions as a data-gathering method. Several criteria for the bestpractice EAP were identified during the data gathering and a six-round Delphi survey was conducted to achieve consensus with regard to the criteria to be included in the best-practice EAP. Accordingly, a framework for a best-practice EAP and the quality management thereof was developed. The management of health care institutions should realise that their health care workers are their most valuable resource and that there is a need to assist them with personal and work-related problems. The framework was developed specifically for a health care institution with the option to adapt it in order to suit the unique requirements of each individual health care institution. This proposed framework could be used to develop an institution-unique EAP. The establishment of a workplaceunique EAP will show employees that they are regarded as the most valuable resource in the health care institution. The overall goal and objectives, as set out for the research study, were addressed and realised, and meaningful recommendations in the field of employee assistance have been made. The framework for a best-practice EAP is in line with the core technologies of EAPs, the needs of supervisors in health care institutions and the EAPs used internationally. The proposed framework includes the following main aspects, namely the need for an EAP in a health care institution, the strategic approach for the development of such a programme, the structure and processes of an EAP, and the evaluation of an EAP in terms of its effectiveness. The framework will contribute significantly to the management of human resources in the health care industry and provide a supportive work environment for health care workers to ensure healthy and productive employees.

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Community radio is often described as a medium that celebrates the small community life and where local community members plan, produce and present their own programmes. However, many believe that the radio management policies are now increasingly sidelining this aspect of the radio. This is ironic given the fact that the radio stations are supposed to be community platforms where members converge to celebrate their community life and discuss issues of mutual interest. In this case study, I have studied three community radio stations- RS in Nepal, KCR in Sri Lanka and SCR in New Zealand- investigating how the radio management policies are positively or negatively, affecting community access and participation. The study shows that in their effort to stay economically sustainable, the three stations are gradually evolving as a 'hybrid'; something that sits in-between community and commercial radio. Consequently, programmes that are produced by the local community are often replaced by programmes that are produced by full-time paid staff; and they are more entertaining in nature and accommodate more advertisements. The radio stations also actively seek the sale of airtime to well-funded NGOs, giving agency-driven programmes priority over local community programmes. This means the stations have become vehicles that help agency objectives. Hence, although 'hybrid' initiatives have merits financially, while depicting as local community representatives, they are marginalising the voices and interests of the very people that gave the radio stations their community characteristics and identity. Hence, in the interest of earning more revenue to secure market survival, the 'hybrid' initiatives are in fact, settling for a lesser community role. This study also shows that although management policy decisions aimed at greater financial sustainability have impacted on local community access and participation in the way they used to be, by readjusting to the new realities of modern-day communications, the three stations are also providing a second 'hybrid' pathway, a new interactive radio environment enabling stronger community access and participation. As this new platform facilitates unhindered local community access and participation in the radio, it is also viewed as a solution that will help them to utilise more of their on-air time for revenue-generating programmes. The new platform is also seen as the answer to reach the new generation youth and increase their participation, thereby, in fact, further strengthening community participation in the radio.

2001 m. gruodžio 12 d. Tarybos reglamentas dėl Bendrijos dizainų (EB) Nr. 6/2002 įvedė naują teisinį instrumentą – Bendrijos dizainą. Prieš tai esminiai dizaino teisės aspektai buvo suvienodinti 1998 m. spalio 13 d. Europos Parlamento ir Tarybos direktyva dėl teisinės dizaino apsaugos 98/71/EB. Šie teisės aktai numato du Bendrijos dizainui keliamus reikalavimus: naujumą bei individualias savybes. Abu kriterijai nėra vienareikšmiai, jų taikymas inter alia reikalauja atskleisti ir kitas Reglamente nedetalizuotas teisines sąvokas: informuoto vartotojo, dizainerio laisvės, bendro įspūdžio. Neaiškūs kriterijai lemia nevienodą tiek Vidaus rinkos harmonizavimo tarnybos, tiek EB teismų praktiką, kas savo ruožtu sąlygoja skirtingą dizaino apsaugos lygį Europos Sąjungos mastu. Šiai problemai išspręsti reikia nagrinėti tiek Tarnybos, tiek teismų praktiką ir nustatyti, kokių kriterijų aiškinimas skiriasi ar sutampa, bei kaip tokios sampratos atrodo doktrinos kontekste. Magistro darbe nagrinėjami dažniausiai pasitaikantys Bendrijos dizaino pripažinimo negaliojančiu pagrindai. Toks pasirinkimas nulemtas aplinkybės, kad negaliojimo pagrindai apibrėžia Bendrijos dizaino galiojimo ribas, nes Tarnyba atlieka tik formaliųjų reikalavimų (atitikimo dizaino apibrėžimui bei viešajai tvarkai ir geri moralei) ekspertizę. Pateikiami svarbiausi Tarnybos bei Bendrijos dizaino teismų sprendimai, susiję su aukščiau minėtų kriterijų vertinimu bei taikymu, komentuojamos juose išreikštos pozicijos bei... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 of 12 December 2001 on Community designs introduced a new legal instrument – the Community design. Before that, the essential legal aspects of design law were harmonized by Directive 98/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 on the legal protection of designs. Regulation provides protection for design which meets two conditions: novelty and individual character. Both criteria are ambiguous in their application, among other things it is required to disclosure other legal concepts which are not elaborated by Regulation: the informed user, the designer's freedom, the overall impression. Due to vague criterions the differences between the Office of Harmonization for the Internal Market and the Community courts’ case law emerges, which in turn determines the unequal levels of protection of Community design throughout the European Union. This problem requires evaluation of both the Office and the courts’ case law in order to determine what requirements are treated different or the same, and moreover, how such concepts appear in context of the doctrine. Master thesis deal with the most common grounds for invalidity of the Community design. This choice is determined by the circumstance, that grounds for invalidity define the limits of validity of the design because the Office only carries out only the examination of formal requirements (compliance with the definition of design and public order and good morals). The... [to full text]

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University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Education. / Policing is, everywhere, a precondition of a civil life. Food security and then human security mark the emergence of society from the chaos, or at least the uncertainty, of what went before. Since the late Industrial Revolution, policing has increasingly become specialized, bureaucratized, and public, and the trend, despite the rhetoric, has been towards technical rather than service or community policing. Service policing, the ultimate in bespoke, individually tailored policing, has been and is being used but it presents great difficulties for police in a pluralist society. Technical policing on the other hand has captured the imagination of police, and Hollywood. In its knowledge base and in its practice, it is marked by a crime fighting, law enforcement mentality and a fascination with tactics, technique, and technology itself. Technical policing has invariably led police into scandal and corruption as the great excuse, indeed the ideology, of the war against crime sweeps aside all other considerations and serves to increasingly isolate police from the public at the individual, community, and eventually societal level. Technical police managers, more akin to engineers than social workers, become fixated on process and input issues and on using the most efficient means. They lose sight of questions relating to ends and legitimacy, as they manipulate structures and shed, gain, invent, or discover functions. The tendency, aided by politicians doing popularist law and order politics, is for more coercive forms of policing to emerge to fight what is less and less fundamentally and unconditionally beyond the pale. While the public police are the coercive arm of the state, policing itself is a matter of consensus, and even consent, if it is not to be oppressive, cripplingly expensive and eventually inflammatory. Using the logic of representative democracy, consent is best or at least first established at the community level – civil society being an association of civil communities – utilizing a civics of voice (Hirshman 1970). Since the early 1900s, police and higher education have had an on again off again relationship, characterized more by active indifference than critical engagement. Yet higher education can significantly assist police in their great social work. In this research, which is normative and mostly conceptual in orientation and method, I use a heuristic principle of John Stuart Mill’s (1925 [1843]), in an analytic framework of educational philosophy developed by William K. Frankena (1970), to propose, explore and test a scheme for systematically analysing and methodically building a full-fledged philosophy of police management education. With normative, conceptual and experiential premises made out, the scheme proposed is open to being falsified, verified and/or modified at any stage or step. It therefore allows police management education to be better ‘joined up’ with police management practice and professional policing. The result of all this is above all a method of doing philosophy of police management education that allows for the articulation of related ends, means, methods and dispositions relevant to the enterprises of education and policing. As such it may be of some use to other police management educators and to police management practitioners. The proposal, developed as a result of my use of the method, may similarly be useful as it stands and even more useful on elaboration and customisation.