Dan village in rural South Africa managed to eradicate organised crime by resiliently mobilising the community to patrol the area and collectively take a stance against violence. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study is to critically engage the empirical data consisting of interviews and secondary sources to explore the theories of webbing and community policing. Both these theories struggle empirically to identify and cooperate with stakeholders who have the capacity to mobilise the population. To address this problem, the study engages the questions: How did community stakeholders cooperate to address crime? The findings argue that community stakeholders cooperated through a network of formal and informal relations which were centred around community meetings that generated the initiative to mobilise for neighbourhood patrols. Combining the two theories proved to yield analytical benefits when studying the case by overcoming their individual shortcomings.

Maternal mortality in Nigeria is one of the highest in the world. The rate is higher in the rural communities than in the urban. Given the complexity of causes of maternal mortality, it appears that the community is an important resource that is frequently overlooked. The contribution of which could be explored through collaboration with professional healthcare providers, to bring about reduction in maternal mortality. This study, proposed to empower members of the community to take action to prevent maternal mortality. Action research design was utilised, comprising cycles of fact-finding, planning/action, and evaluation with the aim of working towards a change in the status quo. In collaboration with the action research group, data were generated through 29 interviews, 8 focus group discussions and observation of 7 persons. Women of childbearing age were interviewed to gain understanding of their knowledge, attitude and practice towards maternal mortality. Focus group discussions were carried out with a cross section of the community. Observations were undertaken of skilled and traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in their places of practice. Altogether, there were 86 general participants and 12 action research group members in the study. Thematic data analysis and critical reflection were undertaken with emphasis on data which promote learning and change. The study revealed childbirth fallacies as evidenced in the causes of maternal deaths being attributed to superstitious beliefs. Other findings included religious beliefs/practices, birth practices, negative attitudes, lack of money, lack of transportation and health facilities issues as contributory factors. These findings were critically reflected upon by the action research group and actions based on the findings, aimed at empowering the people to take action to prevent maternal deaths were undertaken. The actions included community education, TBA training and development of a common forum between skilled birth attendants and TBAs. Participatory evaluation was undertaken from the perspectives of the participants to identify what made sense to them from the actions. Findings included some degree of empowerment and emancipation of the people evidenced in the acquisition of new knowledge which led to the repudiation of certain superstitious beliefs. Other findings include resumed utilisation of the service of skilled birth attendants at the local health facility by the women. The findings of this study have demonstrated implications for practice, policy and research to prevent maternal mortality in Bakassi LGA, Nigeria. Conclusion drawn is that, the community is an important resource which if mobilised through the process of action research, would be empowered to take action to prevent maternal mortality. The process will also foster the collaboration between skilled birth attendants and traditional birth attendants to improve maternal health care in the rural community.

Much discourse on the issue of development communication has focused on participation and its role in improving the lives of developing communities. This line of thought emanates from the theories of Paulo Freire and Martin Buber. Freirean dialogue, which emphasises dialogue and conscientisation emanated from Martin Buber's l-Thou and l-lt relationships and are relevant in this study because these concepts are pivotal in the endeavour to develop grassroots communities. For purposes of this study participatory communication is associated with dialogue, self-reliance, empowerment, the communities' socio-cultural context and strategic communication. In an effort to improve service delivery in the public sector, the South African government resolved to provide communities across South Africa with both information and services through the establishment of Thusong Service Centres. The Thusong concept refers to 'a place to get help or assistance' in Sesotho, and has been the focus of government in carrying out its mandate in respect of development communication in South Africa. This study adopted a qualitative research approach to gather data, to determine how the communication of Thusong Service Centres in Tshwane compare with the normative principles of participatory development communication. This study used purposive sampling and focused on the six Thusong Service Centres in Tshwane. The empirical study comprised document analyses of government policies, semi-structured interviews with senior Government Communication and Information Services (GCIS) personnel and personal observations at the six Thusong Service Centres. An analysis of the communication of Thusong Service Centres with Tshwane communities show that there is inadequate alignment with the theoretical underpinnings of participatory development communication. Against the backdrop of Chin Saik Yoon's four ways of observing participation in development projects, namely, participation in implementation, evaluation, benefit and decision-making, the study indicates that Tshwane communities do not partake in participation in evaluation and participation in decision-making. Furthermore, using Freirean dialogue as a benchmark, it was concluded that Thusong Service Centres do not fully meet the required principles of dialogue. Although the abovementioned results indicate that development communication practised by GCIS at Thusong Service Centres is in the main linear in nature, the study makes practical recommendations on how the normative principles of participatory development communication may be implemented at these centres in order to fast track the development process. / Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Much discourse on the issue of development communication has focused on participation and its role in improving the lives of developing communities. This line of thought emanates from the theories of Paulo Freire and Martin Buber. Freirean dialogue, which emphasises dialogue and conscientisation emanated from Martin Buber's l-Thou and l-lt relationships and are relevant in this study because these concepts are pivotal in the endeavour to develop grassroots communities. For purposes of this study participatory communication is associated with dialogue, self-reliance, empowerment, the communities' socio-cultural context and strategic communication. In an effort to improve service delivery in the public sector, the South African government resolved to provide communities across South Africa with both information and services through the establishment of Thusong Service Centres. The Thusong concept refers to 'a place to get help or assistance' in Sesotho, and has been the focus of government in carrying out its mandate in respect of development communication in South Africa. This study adopted a qualitative research approach to gather data, to determine how the communication of Thusong Service Centres in Tshwane compare with the normative principles of participatory development communication. This study used purposive sampling and focused on the six Thusong Service Centres in Tshwane. The empirical study comprised document analyses of government policies, semi-structured interviews with senior Government Communication and Information Services (GCIS) personnel and personal observations at the six Thusong Service Centres. An analysis of the communication of Thusong Service Centres with Tshwane communities show that there is inadequate alignment with the theoretical underpinnings of participatory development communication. Against the backdrop of Chin Saik Yoon's four ways of observing participation in development projects, namely, participation in implementation, evaluation, benefit and decision-making, the study indicates that Tshwane communities do not partake in participation in evaluation and participation in decision-making. Furthermore, using Freirean dialogue as a benchmark, it was concluded that Thusong Service Centres do not fully meet the required principles of dialogue. Although the abovementioned results indicate that development communication practised by GCIS at Thusong Service Centres is in the main linear in nature, the study makes practical recommendations on how the normative principles of participatory development communication may be implemented at these centres in order to fast track the development process. / Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

The research questioned the efficacy of standard biomedical information sharing and communication processes in ensuring rapid and reliable behavioural changes in the control of epidemics, especially in high-context cultures. Information processing arousals and behaviour change motivations are subject to the level of interactions in the extrinsic and intrinsic elements of an information. Following, epidemic control can only be successful if relevant elements of a system’s values, norms, beliefs and practices for information processing are superimposed on scientific communication to create shared meanings. An empirical research approach in grounded theory underscore the data collection of this research with the data analogy utilising the MAXQDA Analytics Pro software. Ebola behavioural changes were identified to be enabled by the functional properties of community mobilisation as a structure and process for meaning making and behavioural motivation. A contextual health communication model dubbed the ecological collegial communication model has been modelled for epidemiological control as the output of the research. Specific to the methodology, a systematic qualitative and data analysis process in grounded theory was adopted for conducting the research and the dissertation writing. Commencing the process was the identification and analysis of the problem from the perspectives of the challenges to the Ebola communication management. This was comprehensively identified from the fundamentals of the process of communication to the communication itself and was assessed from the motivational factors underlying the behaviours within which the rationality of the behaviours could be understood for their inflexibility to change or their insensitivity to the Ebola messages. The mediations of the behavioural motivators in the cognitive processes to information processing were considered for their intrinsic and extrinsic values to arouse information processing and persuade change. To explore the interface between communication and culture in cognitive processes of information processing and decision making, literatures on behavioural theories, including anthropological theories from which the processes and determinants of behavioural enactment are predicted were reviewed in chapters two to four. Intention (also used interchangeably in this dissertation as motivation) was unanimously construed as proximal in determining behaviours in the literatures. However, intention was also construed to have linkages with other factors in the determination of behaviours.:Dedication ii Declaration iii Acknowledgements iv Table of contents v List of figures vi List of photos vii List of matrices vii List of tables vii List of appendices viii Abbreviations ix 1 Communication and culture of the 2014/2015 West Africa Ebola outbreak 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Conceptualisation of the research problem – the key factors of the Ebola outbreak 4 1.2.1 Structural violence 7 1.2.2 Communication deficiency 10 1.2.3 Cultural models (values and practices 20 1.2.3a Death and funerals 21 1.2.3b Caregiving 26 1.2.3c Reliance on traditional healers 31 1.3 Research objectives 37 1.4 Definitions 38 1.5 Questions formulation and research questions 42 1.6 Justification 52 1.7 Conclusion 58 2 Theoretical frameworks consistent with the 2014/2015 Ebola outbreak health communication approaches – A discourse 59 2.1 Introduction 59 2.2 Psychological/behaviour science models 60 2.2.1 Health belief model 61 2.2.2 Protection motivation theory 64 2.2.3 Theory of planned behavior /reasoned action 71 2.2.4 Social cognitive theory / social learning theory 76 2.3 Summary 79 3 Information processing/communication theories 81 3.1Introduction 81 3.2 Elaboration likelihood model 81 3.3 Activation model 86 3.4 Narrative theory and entertainment education 88 3.5 Summary 95 4 Ecological theories / framework 97 4.1 Introduction 97 4.2 The PEN-3 Model 98 4.2.1 Health education (cultural identity)100 4.2.2 Cultural appropriateness of health behavior (cultural empowerment) 101 4.3 Bioecological theory 103 4.4 Developmental process of Bronfenbrenner’s model in the framework of the 2014/2015 Ebola outbreak 108 4.5 Theoretical framework of this dissertation 119 5 Research process and methodologies 125 5.1 Introduction 125 5.2 Justification of the research methodology 128 5.3 Overview of Monteserrado County 134 5.4 Techniques/procedures 137 5.4.1 Archival materials/documents 138 5.4.2 Ethnographic/observations 139 5.4.3 Key informants/in-depth interviews 142 5.4.4 Focus group discussions 143 5.5 Data analysis 146 5.5.1 Codes 147 5.5.2 Qualitative analysis employed in the research 152 5.6 Role of the researcher 153 5.6.1 Origins of the project 153 5.6.2 The discourse - philosophical worldview 156 5.6.3 Concluding thoughts 157 6 Data analysis: cultural practices, health and communication in the Liberian context 160 6.1 Introduction 160 6.2 Ethnicity and religion 162 6.3 Social organization 171 6.4 Aspects of death and burial practices 179 6.5 Concept of health and health care 186 6.6 Communication and information sharing approach in Liberia 193 6.6.1Traditional communication and the town crier in Liberia 195 6.6.2 Contribution of Crusaders for Peace 201 6.6.3 Development of overarching Ebola communication messages 206 6.7 Conclusion 210 7 Data analysis: Socio-cultural patterns in Ebola perceptions, content of messages and behavioural outcomes 212 7.1 Introduction 212 7.2 Parent codes – summative description and discussions 214 7.3 Understanding the socio-cultural patterns in Ebola knowledge and behaviours: Perceptions of Ebola transmissions 226 7.4 Content and nature of Ebola messages in perceptions and behaviours 237 7.5 Conclusion 276 8 Data analysis: Understanding the motivators of Ebola behaviours – an analytical interrelationships model perspective 278 8.1 Introduction 278 8.2 Patterns of Ebola behaviours 279 8.3 Conclusion 317 9 Decoding: the interface between culture and communication in the Ebola communication management 319 9.1 Introduction 319 9.2 Contextual elements of effective communication – the interface 321 9.3 Cognitive heuristics to “…protect yourself…” 336 9.4 Processes of moderations of “protect yourself” in cognitions 339 9.5 Conclusion 343 10 Theoretical and conceptual inferences from empirical data and framework for a culturally appropriate communication 344 10.1 Introduction 344 10.2 Research questions 344 10.3 Epidemic control: The cultural model framework to persuasive communication for epidemic management 359 10.3.1 The composite conceptual analytical elements of the model 364 10.3.1a Model definition and assumptions 365 10.3.1b The ECCM – the interactive elements of a system 367 10.3.1c Pattern of communication in the ECCM 371 10.3.2 Summary 374 10.4 Processes of how to apply the ECCM 375 10.5 Limitations of the model 382 10.6 Conclusion 383 11 Conclusions and recommendations 385 11.1 Introduction 385 11.2 Key conclusions 385 11.3 Implications 387 11.3.1 Policy framework implications 387 11.3.2 Theoretical implications 390 11.4 Further research 393 11.4.1 Approach to communication 393 11.4.2 Cultural dynamics 396 11.4.3 Health perceptions 398 11.4.4 Ebola orphans and victims 398 11. 5 Research limitations 399 References 401