This study explores how hosting an international exchange youth influences families. Participants in the study took part in a four-week summer exchange by hosting a middle school aged Japanese youth through the Kentucky 4-H/Labo program. Labo is a Japanese club program that encourages youth to learn about American culture through international travel. As society becomes more globalized, the skills and abilities associated with international travel are increasingly important (Anderson, Lawton, Rexeisen & Hubbard, 2006). Hosting international youth through exchange programs is one method of developing these skills and abilities. This qualitative study uses thematic analysis to analyze three primary data sources. These were in-depth, semi-structured interviews (n = 20), program evaluation, and lifeline interview methodology graphs. This study explored the gap left by prior research by being concerned with families who have hosted an exchange youth for a short period of time. Previous research has focused on long-term exchanges, individuals and Americans traveling abroad. From this analysis, seven major themes were identified. These include (a) challenges of communication, (b) anxiety of program participants, (c) belief in a privileged experience, (d) personal growth, (e) familial relationship development, (f) feelings of loss upon departure, and (g) increased appreciation of home and foreign cultures. Two outlying themes of (a) father made a surprising contribution to hosting the exchange youth and (b) idealization of Japan were included for the additional context of understanding they provided. These findings offer insights into the efficacy of these programs as well as how they benefit the family. The findings, implications for program managers and potential areas for future research are discussed.

Thesis (MPhil (Sociology and Social Anthropology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Amidst debates over the transformation of South African (SA) Higher Education (HE), the core institutional function of community engagement is a possible means of bolstering the developmental role of HE in relation to community needs. The potential for community engagement, and more specifically service-learning, to contribute to community development is yet to be fully explored in the SA context. Broad policy mandates such as the Reconstruction and Development Programme (GNU, 1994) and the White Paper on Transformation of Higher Education (DoE, 1997) have created a policy environment supportive of community engagement as an institutional function of HE advancing the state’s developmental agenda. In the course of the national reorganization of the HE system, the Joint Education Trust (JET) / Community-Higher Education- Service Partnerships (CHESP) initiative undertook feasibility studies of community engagement in SA HE and consulted widely around community engagement. The main outcome has been service-learning’s promotion as an endorsed means of knowledge-based community engagement. Concerted efforts to build the institutional capacities for service-learning nationwide have since been conducted and service-learning is now an increasingly prominent means of community engagement in HE. The conceptual origins of service-learning suggest that mutual student and community benefits are achieved in the course of service-learning programmes, with significant research substantiating student learning outcomes. However, there is limited research available on community outcomes and a lack of empirical evidence on how the community is engaged in service-learning. Conceptualizations of service-learning partnerships in SA yield the introduction of a third party, the partner organization as the host of the service-learning modules in addition to the university and the community. The Triad Partnership Model applied at Stellenbosch University (SU) provides an opportunity to explore the experience of the third party, the partner organization, in what is conceptualized as a dyadic relationship between student and community. As a former student, representative of a partner organization and co-facilitator in a servicelearning module, the author explores the experiences of representatives of partner organizations of service-learning in HE. This dissertation presents the experiences of ten site-supervisors from nine partnering organizations of Stellenbosch University as evidence of some of the developmental outcomes of two service-learning modules. The study discusses the various stages in the process of partnership as it pertains to outcomes experienced by the sitesupervisors of the partner organizations. These experiences help clarify the developmental implications of the Triad Partnership Model for the partner organizations of the two service-learning modules studied. The dissertation concludes by making recommendations for future areas of study and makes some considerations for prospective service-learning modules at SU. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die kern institusionele funksie van gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid is te midde van die debate oor die transformasie van Suid-Afrikaanse (SA) Hoër Onderwys (HO), ‘n moontlike wyse om die ontwikkelingsrol van HO in verhouding tot gemeenskapsbehoeftes te bevorder. Die potensiaal van gemeenskapsontwikkeling, en meer spesifiek diensleer se bydrae tot gemeenskaps-ontwikkeling, is nog nie voldoende in die SA konteks ondersoek nie. As breë beleidsmandate het die Heropbou en Ontwikkelingsprogram (GNU, 1994) en die Witskrif oor die Transformasie van Hoër Onderwys (DoE, 1997) ‘n beleidsomgewing geskep wat ondersteunend is vir gemeenskapsinteraksie as ‘n institusionele dryfkrag van HO om die Staat se ontwikkelingsagenda te bevorder. Ten tye van die nasionale herorganisering van die HO stelsel het die Joint Education Trust (JET) / Community-Higher Education- Service Partnerships (CHESP) inisiatief volhoubaarheidstudies van gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid in SA HO gedoen en ook gekonsulteer oor verskeie aspekte rondom gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid in die breë. Die belangrikste uitkoms hiervan was die bevordering van diensleer as ‘n legitieme wyse van kennisgebaseerde gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid. Doelbewuse pogings is onderneem om die institusionele kapasiteit vir diensleer op nasionale vlak uit te bou, wat vandag ‘n toenemende prominente wyse van gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid in HO is. Die konsepsuele oorsprong van diensleer veronderstel dat gemeenskaplike student- en gemeenskapsvoordele deur die verloop van diensleermodules bereik word. Alhoewel daar heelwat navorsing gedoen is wat fokus op leeruitkomste vir studente, is daar weining navorsing beskikbaar oor gemeenskapsuitkomste, sowel as ‘n tekort aan empiriese bewyse van hoe die gemeenskap betrokke is by diensleer. Konsepsualisering van diensleer vennootskappe in SA sluit ‘n derde party in, die vennootskap-organisasie waar die diensleermodule gehuisves word, bykomend dus tot die universiteit en gemeenskap. Die Triad Vennootskap Model wat by die Universiteit van Stellenbosch (US) toegepas word, bied die geleentheid om ondersoek in te stel na die ervaring van ‘n derde party, die vennootskap-organisasie, oor wat gekonseptualiseer word as ‘n diadiese verhouding tussen student en gemeenskap. As ‘n vorige student, verteenwoordiger van ‘n vennootskap-organisasie en mede-fasiliteerder in ‘n diensleermodule, stel die outeur ondersoek in na die ervarings van verteenwoordigers van vennootskaporganisasies van diensleer in HO. Hierdie verhandeling stel die ervarings van tien supervisors van nege vennootskaporganisasies van die Universiteit van Stellenbosch voor, as bewys van sommige van die potensiële uitkomste van twee diensleer modules. Die ondersoeker bespreek die fases van die proses van vennootskap-vorming soos wat dit verband hou met uitkomste wat supervisors ervaar het. Hierdie ervarings help om die ontwikkeling implikasies van die Triad Vennootskap Model vir die deelnemer-organisasies van die twee diensleermodules wat bestudeer is, te verhelder. Die verhandeling word afgesluit deur aanbevelings te maak vir toekomstige studie-areas en oorweging te skenk vir toekomstige diensleermodules by die US.

Subaltern persons continue to be most negatively impacted by the hegemonic practices of institutions. Subaltern populations are the furthest removed from political agency, not only by the insecurities of their lived experiences, but also by academic and agency discourses that recreate the subaltern political citizen-subject in modes representing the “Other” through lenses of elite scholarship and high theory. The subaltern agent is not present in her own political making. The considerations of social justice require both the underpinnings of a global ethics of caring and a commitment to center the subaltern citizen subject’s account of herself as corresponding privileged record. This paper explores the marginalizing outcomes in the historiography of subaltern studies and defends both ethical cosmopolitanism and participatory democracy as modes that better respect diverse worldviews outside of neoliberal constructions. Advocacy on behalf of subaltern groups must include Community-Based Participatory Research and eco-cultural analysis that give priority to positive near stakeholder goals and outcomes for their communities. Subaltern self-representation is the needed checks and balances for 21st century policy making

Study purpose. The study examined race and racial diversity in community gardens located in Southern urban food deserts, as well as the capacity of community gardens to generate social capital and promote social justice. Methods. A mixed-methods approach was used to describe characteristics of gardeners and community gardens located in urban food deserts, and test Social Capital Theory hypotheses. A convenience sample of 60 gardeners from 10 community gardens was obtained. Data was collected using surveys and semi-structured interviews. Analyses. Univariate and bivariate statistics were used to describe gardeners and gardens. Leader rationales for garden characteristics were analyzed using thematic analysis. Cross-level analyses were used to examine individual and organizational characteristics on gardeners’ social capital in multivariate regression models. Results. Gardeners were racially diverse across the sample; however most community gardens were racially segregated. The majority of gardeners also appeared to be middle-class. This study indicated that community gardens could indirectly enhance community food security, largely through the efforts of people of color, and less so directly as few gardeners involved were food insecure. Community gardens also exhibited limited potential to advance social justice, based on the few resources that could potentially be exchanged between gardeners. Implications. This study calls for: greater dialogue around gentrification concerns; the development of culturally appropriate engagement sensitive to historical trauma rooted in slavery; increased focus on entrepreneurial opportunities; and, obtaining the missing voices – those from non-participating low-income residents – to better understand how to create community gardens located in food deserts that benefit multiple communities.

This research is focused on understanding the ways in which the community orientation of the Kazak ethnic community in Istanbul, Turkey have contributed to their economic success which in turn encourages strong community, and the nature of their community-based support networks for providing material and cultural support. It examines the role of social capital and cohesion in maintaining the community with its positive implications for the continued building of wealth or sourcing of funding on a community level. The theoretical concepts relevant to this project are based on the ideas that the shared values of a community are a positive force that allow communities to achieve common goals and is particularly important in the context of an economy that favors cheap labor and a highly mobile workforce, both factors that negatively affect the asset building and place-based rootedness that communities require for their stability. Key community entrepreneurs and leaders were the main sources of information for this research. The findings of this thesis suggest that it is a combination of factors such as the failure of the community to maintain its stable economic position through unfortunate business practices and choices coupled with external market forces that slowed this community economic development and disabled its continued growth.

How we develop cities in the twenty-first century remains a subject of contentious debate worldwide. As neoliberal strategies are implemented in redevelopment projects, public safety nets are reduced and low-income communities of color in declining urban neighborhoods become particularly vulnerable. This multiple case study seeks to understand the experiences of post crisis urban redevelopment for low-income communities of color in 5 major U.S. cities. The data I analyzed include 101 short videos from the interactive documentary platform Land of Opportunity, documenting the process of post-crisis urban redevelopment in New Orleans, New York, Chicago, Detroit, and San Francisco. In doing so, I discovered that residents' experiences vary greatly based on redevelopment strategy that was employed and the level of resident involvement in the redevelopment process.

This study was made in attempt to identify the characteristics of a troop program in which tenth grade girls had been involved and to determine why they did or did not continue in Scouting. A survey instrument was devised and pretested to validate and improve upon the questionnaire. The questionnaires were distributed through the mail to 190 girls who had been registered in the Kentuckiana Council Scouting program in 1981. All girls, despite their present status in Scouting were asked to complete and return the survey. The questions pertained to such areas as years involved in Scouting, frequency of meetings, most and least enjoyable activities, family involvement, reasons for remaining in Scouting and reasons for dropping out of the program. The responses of 131 girls who returned the questionnaire to the researcher were tabulated. The data were accumulated and analyzed. The survey indicated that the Kentuckiana Girl Scout Council had a high Cadette/Senior retention rate for this period of time. A profile of the Scouting program of a girl who had remained in the program was made with recommendations, based on the analysis of the study, to encourage the retention of older girls. It was suggested, according to the findings of the study, that in order for girls to continue into the upper levels of Scouting, they needed to be recruited at a young age, involved in program planning, and feel as though Girl Scouting is fun. Leader retention and uniforms were not found to be significant factors in retention or dropping out of Scouting. Additional research was recommended by simultaneously comparing two or more Councils.

Cette thèse met en question la place du territoire dans les missions universitaires à partir de deux cas d’étude Syracuse University (État de New York, États-Unis) et Paris Nanterre (France). L’analyse propose le concept d’implication universitaire et interroge alors les positionnements et actions volontairement entrepris par des universités ou des universitaires envers et avec des acteurs non académiques pour apporter une contribution à la société dans le cadre de leurs missions et activités universitaires. L’approche comparée met en regard deux universités qui portent une posture d’université engagée comme levier de différenciation et d’attractivité institutionnelle en fonction de leurs modèles nationaux respectifs. L’analyse de la mise en œuvre de cette posture d’implication met en lumière les contrastes de moyens d’action des deux établissements, tout en distinguant des logiques de territorialisation communes : le territoire de l’université est à la fois cadre d’inscription, terrain d’investissement et enjeu de transformation et de délimitation. L’échelon des enseignants-chercheurs est enfin étudié dans ses rapports avec l’institution de rattachement, mettant en lumière à la fois les types d’incitations adressées par les universités à leurs membres pour les intégrer à leurs projets et politiques d’implication territoriale, et les stratégies des enseignants-chercheurs à l’égard de leur établissement. / This thesis deals with the place of the territory in university missions using two case studies: Syracuse University (New York State, United States) and Paris Nanterre (France). Based on the concept of university engagement, the analysis questions the positions and actions voluntarily undertaken by universities or academics to contribute to society issues. The comparative approach looks at two universities that are using their commitment as an argument to be more attractive according to their respective national models. The leaders of the two universities promote a renewed theorization of the university's missions and its territorial functions. The analysis of the implementation of this posture of engagement highlights the different means of action of the two institutions, while distinguishing similar territorial logics: the territory of the university is at the same time a frame of action, a land of investment, and an asset to be changed and defined the way the universities want it to be. The faculty level is also studied in its relations with the institution, highlighting at the same time various types of incentives addressed by the universities to their members to integrate them in their projects, and the faculty strategies towards their institution.

This thesis makes a new contribution to the field of corporate social responsibility in the area of corporate community engagement (CCE) and public relations in the area of organization-public relationships (OPRs). The thesis focuses on the Nigerian oil and gas industry community relationship in the Niger Delta region. This study provides valuable insights into how CCE works for enhancing stakeholder relationship and other desirable outcomes and thereby contributes to the growing body of knowledge on CSR in public relations. For the practice of CCE, this study reinforces the importance of relationship management as a viable and robust strategy that can bring long-term benefits both to organizations and society in general. A qualitative approach was adopted as it is considered appropriate for the research, which focuses on assessing stakeholders’ views regarding the relationship between oil and gas company and their host community in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Also, exploring how the stakeholders juxtapose their understanding of the relationship determinants between the oil and gas company and their host community. Semi-structured interviews served as the primary source of data collection from various stakeholders during fieldwork in Nigeria. Secondary methods served a crucial but minor role and were used primarily for the purpose of the researcher as a tool to double check the interview findings. Thirty-five respondents provided their views and opinions concerning the relationship between the oil and gas companies and communities in the region. The study uncovered the importance of culture, social awareness, social identity, corruption, insecurity, mediation and weak institutional structures as crucial predictors of relationship determinants for the oil and gas companies during engagement with their host communities. Moreover, this study explored the research on relationship success determinants key constructs (i.e. control mutuality, trust, commitment and satisfaction) to a qualitative assessment. Also, the developed framework emphasised the need for using these factors for assessing and building a successful long term relationship. Another key finding was that there is a significant difference between how multinational oil companies (MNOCs) and indigenous oil companies (INOCs) engage with the community. This finding suggests that the INOCs have a better approach in the engagement of host communities.

This project sought to explore the narratives and rhetorical themes that permeate the anti-vaccination movement. Mass media has portrayed vaccine refusal groups as stupid, as conspiracy theorists, and as radically selfish. However, the data I analyzed from vaccine refusal nonprofits and advocacy groups supports that although these themes may appear to be radical, in reality, each is congruent with already present societal frameworks, particularly neoliberal social discourse and a preoccupation with the individualistic and self-determined health care rather than utilitarian or collective action.