This thesis documents the development of the Chinese government??s response to HIV/AIDS in the context of the global AIDS regime in order to assess when, how and to what extent international AIDS norms have had an impact upon China??s governance of AIDS. Employing an applied constructivist framework, the thesis argues that the impact of global norms at the domestic level has been contingent on a) the socializing actions of norm entrepreneurs, b) the domestic political context and c) crisis. In the case of China and the impact of global AIDS norms, the central argument is that key elements of China??s domestic political context minimized the socializing affects of the global AIDS regime until the SARS crisis in 2003 led to a reappraisal of AIDS in the context of political legitimacy, at which time global AIDS norms began to have increasing salience in China. This thesis begins by identifying the evolution of a global AIDS regime before moving on to an exploration of China??s domestic political context. The thesis then documents and analyses China??s governance of AIDS from 1985 to 2007 through the use of five indicators ?? political commitment, legislation and policy, representation of AIDS in the media, the participation of civil society, and international engagement. The findings demonstrate that there has been a significant change between China??s pre-SARS and post-SARS AIDS governance with China acting increasingly in accordance with global norms following the SARS crisis of 2003. The thesis proposes that the SARS crisis was catalytic in that it exposed the vulnerability of the Chinese government??s claims to legitimacy, and in so doing, enabled the domestic political context to shift, allowing health, and by extension AIDS, to be reframed as a political issue. Importantly however, when the Chinese government scaled up its response to the epidemic it was able to be guided by the normative framework prescribed by the global AIDS regime.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rowan University, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D Phil (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / Despite more than a century of development, there can be little doubt that many psychologists today still adhere to a worldview that characterised the earliest developments in the discipline. A worldview which holds that there is an external reality, that objectivity is attainable, and that, given enough time and effort, we shall be able to discover the 'truth'. These psychologists have chosen to ignore the occurrence of what may well be regarded as a paradigm shift, in the sense that Kuhnian philosophers of science use this phrase. They tend to believe that if anything exists, it must exist in some measurable quantity. In sharp contradistinction, adherents of the constructivist orientation, who have admittedly been influenced by developments in what is often referred to as the 'new physics', adopt a stance in which they emphasise the essentially subjective nature of what we know- or, at least, believe we know. Constuctivism, in spite of not representing a unitary body of theory, accepts that all so-called knowledge - especially knowledge about other human beings - is dramatically influenced by our assumptions, prejudices, perceptions and constructions about the people, events, and stories that we all tell to ourselves, and to others, about the events that represent our lives. Given the body of constructivist thinking, a question that arises is whether, and to what extent, it is possible to apply this highly abstract worldview to the interpretation of the events that occur in, for example, a single psychotherapy session. In this dissertation an attempt has been made to analyze the events of a single (and singular!) therapy session. The analysis has been conducted at several levels of abstraction. The events are viewed from the perspective of a transcript of the session, from the angle of the therapist's interpretation of what occurred during the session and what he attempted to achieve, from a viewpoint adopted by the author of the dissertation (who also happens to be the therapist in question), and from the position of yet a fourth 'participant' who is referred to as the rapporteur. The latter dwells on the conceptual implications of other discussions in the dissertation. The recursive nature of the interactions between the four 'viewers' of, or 'commentators' on, the process, and the complexities which derive from adopting a constructivist stance in which the alleged certainties of a positivist position are eschewed, are illustrated in the conceptual analysis and description offered. Ultimately, it would appear, a constructivist stance has numerous benefits, although they may not readily be admitted to by those with a low tolerance of ambiguity.

M.A. (Psychology) / Essentially constructionism suggests that there are various realities, each revealing an aspect of a constructed "truth" which may change across time, culture, context and therapist and is therefore relative. It follows that causal connections are arbitrary punctuations which are merely the subjective opinion of the observer and not the objective reality. Although knowledge is relative, by means of mutual perceptions, consensual insights are arrived at which are awarded truth status at a certain point and in a certain culture. The use of two such modern consensual realities in psychology, the Thematic Apperception Test and therapist descriptions, implemented in this thesis, lead us to an issue in the constructionism debate which has yet to be resolved, namely: what is the status of pragmatism in constructionism? In this thesis the issue is discussed and the view taken that pragmatism, with certain reservations, does belong to constructionism. As the debate regarding constructionism only recently gained momentum in therapeutic psychology, it is still of a theoretical nature and hardly any literature is available addressing the practical aspects of constructionist therapy. However, certain guidelines for a constructionist-type therapy could be identified from the literature. Constructionist therapy assumes a co-operative, respecting therapeutic stance. The members of the client system are regarded as experts on their own problem, and the therapist refrains from the prescribing solutions, relying on the client himself to find new opinions and realities, in his life. The therapeutic process is not aimed at disclosing or representing reality by means of language, but at presenting new realities for consideration which tie in with a particular clients' unique way of giving meaning to his own life. In this way the client is placed in a new observing situation with impact to himself and his own problem, enabling him to reach other realities regarding his problem...

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In the 1980s and 1990s, publications like A Nation at Risk and Prisoners of Time were highly critical of the American public school system. In response, school administrators reviewed their master schedules to evaluate how time was scheduled and the majority of them chose block scheduling to secure longer, uninterrupted periods of instructional time. Upon implementing block scheduling, schools noted a need for a change in pedagogy. Constructivist teaching, shown to be effective with multiple ages, has become a preferred pedagogy for elementary and middle school teachers during a block period. The review of literature includes a description of the forces behind block scheduling and provides a background of constructivist theory and teaching practices based on the writings of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Combining constructivist teaching with block scheduling creates an environment conducive to young adolescent learning; however, properly preparing teachers through professional development is key to effective implementation. The purpose of this action research study was to facilitate the professional growth of new teachers by providing job embedded professional development opportunities that were grounded in constructivist practices and demonstrated to be effective with young adolescent learners while teaching in a block period. / Ed. D.

Text in Afrikaans / The development of the person of the therapist is increasingly being highlighted in systemic therapeutic training. This emphasis on the person of the therapist can be traced back to the rise of constructivism. Constructivism represents the viewpoint that reality is created rather than discovered. As a result the therapist's contribution to the therapeutic process is considered cardinal. The personal style of the therapist is once more placed under the limelight. Exactly how this variable must be handled to ensure optimal efficiency is still unclear. Suggestions in this regard are mostly related to some therapeutic model. The objective of this study, on the contrary, is to determine the value of a more general approach. A procedure developed by the University of South Africa, accentuating the person of the therapist, has been evaluated. / Opleiding in sistemiese terapie word al hoe meer gekenmerk deur die ontwikkeling van die persoon van die terapeut. Die beklemtoning van die persoon van die terapeut kan veral na die opkoms van die onstruktivisme teruggevoer word. Hierdie denkrigting verteenwoordig die standpunt dat die werklikheid eerder geskep as ontdek word. Gevolglik word die terapeut se bydrae tot die terapeutiese proses as van deurslaggewend beskou. Die persoonlike styl van die terapeut word dus opnuut onder die soeklig geplaas. Hoedat hierdie veranderlike egter hanteer moet word om optimale effektiwiteit te verseker, is egter nie duidelik nie. Meeste voorstelle hou direk verband met een of ander terapeutiese model. Met hierdie studie is daar egter gepoog om die waarde van 'n meer algemene benadering te peil. 'n Prosedure wat met verloop van tyd aan die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika ontwikkel is, is gevolglik verder - en wei vanuit die gesigshoek van die terapeut - ondersoek. / M.A. (Voorligtingsielkunde)

published_or_final_version / Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy