This dissertation examines the meanings that young adults give to their mobile phones in the township of Hooggenoeg in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. The research was predominantly conducted through individual interviews with nine young adults as well as two small gender-based focus groups. Participant observation as well as a close reading of the popular mobile website Outoilet also contributed to the study. Drawing on Silverstone, Hirsch and Morley’s (1992) work into the meanings attributed to the mobile phone through the domestication processes of appropriation, objectification, incorporation and conversion, the study argues for the heterogeneous roles defined for mobile phones as they are integrated into different cultural contexts. The term ‘raw phones’ in the thesis title refers to a particular cultural understanding of respectability in mainly working-class ‘coloured’¹ communities in South Africa, as described by Salo (2007) and Ross (2010), in which race, class and gender converge in the construction of the respectable person’s opposite – a lascivious, almost certainly female, dependent, black and primitive ‘raw’ Other. The study argues that in Hooggenoeg, the mobile phone becomes part of semantic processes that define both respectability and ‘rawness’ , thus helping to reproduce social relations in this community along lines of race, class and gender. A major focus of the study is the instant messaging application MXit, and how it assists in the social production of space, by helping to constitute both private and dispersed network spaces of virtual communication, in a setting where social life is otherwise very public, and social networks outside of cyberspace are densely contiguous and localised. In contrast, gossip mobile website Outoilet seems to intensify this contiguous experience of space. My findings contest generalised claims, predominantly from the developed world, which assert that the mobile phone promotes mobility and an individualised society, and show that in particular contexts it may in fact promote immobility and create a collective sociability.

The mobile phone forms part of a teenager’s life world and reality today and can be regarded as a tool with which they not only communicate, but also use them to gain access to the Internet, social media and social networking sites. The primary aim of this study was to determine if the mobile phone, with all its functionalities, has an impact on the development of the adolescent’s identity formation, social development and communication skills as well as the sense of the self. Another objective of this study was to determine what the opinions and perceptions are of older generations with regard to mobile practices of the youth. A concurrent triangulation mixed method design was utilised for the purpose of the study. The quantitative and qualitative studies were conducted simultaneously and the data and results from each method were integrated and interpreted as a whole. The quantitative data gathering method was short self-structured questionnaires that were completed by learners (190), teachers (35) and parents (21) to provide a general overview of mobile usage among adolescents. A single-group pre-test post-test experimental design and individual interviews were conducted with eight volunteers. Lastly, 12 learners took part in a focus group interview as a confirmation technique for all the information that was gathered. The findings of the empirical investigation revealed that the mobile phone is used nowadays as a social tool, a planning tool and a convenience tool. The constant connectedness the mobile phone provides, strengthens the adolescents’ self-esteem and self-confidence and contributes strongly to their self-worth. The mobile phone is used as a self-expressive personalised tool and forms part of the sense of the adolescent self. It was also found that adolescents build their relationships with others on a two-dimensional platform that involves online and offline communication and activities. A definite gap exists between older generations’ perceptions and adolescents in connection with the ways that adolescents use their mobile phones nowadays. Parents and teachers have to accept the fact that technology forms part of today’s youth and they should change their mind-sets with regard to this complicated and complex phenomenon. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Text in English / This research is aimed at analysing the nature, extent and cause of smuggling at selected Correctional Centres in Gauteng with the aim to provide appropriate strategies to combat smuggling. Smuggling is seen as a chain of command that reflects predisposition of an organised crime. Smuggling in correctional centres is an ongoing concern. Unauthorised items that are smuggled into the correctional centres have an adverse effect into the lives of people and death is an ultimate price. The Department of Correctional Services is also experiencing a severe shortage of officials due to The Seven Days Establishment and the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD) policies of Centre- Based and Non-Centre- Based staff. The study shows an increase of smuggling of items such as dangerous weapons, dagga, cellular phones and sim card over a three-year period at the three Correctional Centres. Various recommendations are made to combat smuggling in correctional centres including going back to the basics of proper searching of visitors, offenders, cells and staff when entering the facilities. / Corrections Management / M.Tech. (Correctional Services Management)