Crime is rife in South Africa. Explanations abound for the high crime statistics, including the weakening of the family unit, the political history of South Africa, urbanisation and the fast growing urban neighbourhood, a weak criminal justice system and the abundant availability of firearms. In the quest to prevent crime, the private security industry has become a key performer in helping to deter and prevent crime and criminal activities. Yet there are no set criteria for selecting security officers against the backdrop of the high crime rates and a growing private security sector. Therefore the purpose was to develop a competency model for the selection of security officers for the safekeeping and protection of persons and property in the Thaba Tshwane area. I chose to do qualitative research using an interpretive approach in an attempt to understand the views of the participants concerning the work context and requirements of security officers. A grounded theory approach to the strategy of inquiry was employed as it was best suited to keeping the information that was gathered grounded in the participants’ own opinions. The focus of this research was on designing a competency model for security officers for selection purposes. Data were gathered through disciplinary records and open-ended structured interviews where the repertory grid and the behavioural event interview were applied.Eight subject matter experts, who included security officers, managers and a client working in the security industry, were used. The result of the study was a competency model of nine competencies and their definitions, which were grounded in the data and critical in functioning as an efficient security officer. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Crime is rife in South Africa. Explanations abound for the high crime statistics, including the weakening of the family unit, the political history of South Africa, urbanisation and the fast growing urban neighbourhood, a weak criminal justice system and the abundant availability of firearms. In the quest to prevent crime, the private security industry has become a key performer in helping to deter and prevent crime and criminal activities. Yet there are no set criteria for selecting security officers against the backdrop of the high crime rates and a growing private security sector. Therefore the purpose was to develop a competency model for the selection of security officers for the safekeeping and protection of persons and property in the Thaba Tshwane area. I chose to do qualitative research using an interpretive approach in an attempt to understand the views of the participants concerning the work context and requirements of security officers. A grounded theory approach to the strategy of inquiry was employed as it was best suited to keeping the information that was gathered grounded in the participants’ own opinions. The focus of this research was on designing a competency model for security officers for selection purposes. Data were gathered through disciplinary records and open-ended structured interviews where the repertory grid and the behavioural event interview were applied.Eight subject matter experts, who included security officers, managers and a client working in the security industry, were used. The result of the study was a competency model of nine competencies and their definitions, which were grounded in the data and critical in functioning as an efficient security officer. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Afin de favoriser l’utilisation des connaissances issues de la recherche en éducation, le Centre de transfert pour la réussite éducative du Québec et l’Équipe RENARD de recherche en transfert de connaissances ont souhaité habiliter certains acteurs du milieu de l’éducation à jouer le rôle d’agents facilitateurs dans leur milieu. Pour ce faire, ils ont développé et implanté, dans le cadre d’un projet-pilote le Référentiel d’agir compétent à l’intégration de connaissances favorables à la réussite éducative des jeunes du Québec. La présente thèse répond à trois objectifs : 1) présenter et analyser la démarche d’élaboration de cet outil; 2) présenter et analyser la théorie de programme du projet-pilote de mise en oeuvre de l’outil et finalement 3) présenter les résultats de l’évaluation des processus et des mécanismes de changement de ce projet-pilote. Pour ce faire, une méthodologie qualitative est utilisée, s’inspirant de l’approche intégrative d’évaluation des processus et des effets fondée sur la théorie de programme (Chen, 2015). Le premier article de la thèse permet de présenter la démarche d’élaboration de l’outil et de constater que celle-ci est conforme à la plupart des bonnes pratiques en la matière. Le deuxième article de la thèse présente les composantes du modèle d’action et celles de modèle de changement du projet-pilote. Cet article permet, en analysant les composantes de ces modèles en regard des écrits scientifiques pertinents, d’établir que la théorie de programme du projet-pilote est plausible, c’est-à-dire qu’il est possible de croire que la mise en oeuvre de ce projet peut mener aux déclenchements des mécanismes de changement et à l’obtention des effets prévus. Finalement, le troisième article démontre que le projet a eu une influence sur les perceptions des participants quant à leurs rôles dans le processus menant à l’utilisation des connaissances issues de la recherche et que ceux-ci ont réussi, dans une certaine mesure, à mettre en pratique dans leur milieu les ressources acquises dans le cadre du projet. Ce dernier article présente aussi une analyse des composantes du projet qui ont favorisé ou entravé l’obtention de ces résultats. / To foster research knowledge utilization, the Centre de transfert pour la réussite éducative du Québec and the Équipe RENARD de recherche sur le transfert des connaissances wished to empower school practitionners to play the role of intermediate agents. To do so, they developped and implemented a competency model : the Référentiel d’agir compétent à l’intégration de connaissances favorables à la réussite éducative des jeunes du Québec. This thesis has three objectives : 1) present and analyze the program theory of this competency model’s elaboration process; 2) present and analyze the program theory of the implementation of this competency model and 3) present the results of the evaluation of the process and mecanism of the project. In order to achieve these objectives, a qualitative methodology has been used, based on the Integrative process/outcome evaluation approach described by Chen (2015). The first article of the thesis present the competency model’s elaboration process and analyze this process comparing it with the best practices in the field. The second article present the components of the action model and those of the change model. In comparing the action and change model’s components with the litterature, the second article demonstrate that the program theory of the project is plausible. The third and last article of the thesis shows that the project has had an influence on the way the participants perceive there role in fostering knowledge utilization. This article also reveals that the participants have been able, to some extent, to utilize in their practice the ressources they acquired in the project. Finally, this article also present an analyze of the components that have helped or hindered the achievements of the project.