Dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the Masters Degree of Technology: Public Relations Management, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / Globalization is impacting on education worldwide. As a result, the University of KwaZulu- Natal (UKZN), like other universities worldwide, have identified an opportunity to increase their profit margins by expanding their marketing initiatives internationally in order to recruit foreign students. The purpose of conducting this study was to investigate the sustainability of UKZN’s Student Exchange Programme in an increasingly competitive industry. The rationale behind the research is that communication challenges between UKZN, International Partner Universities and students, are threatening the overall success of the student exchange programme, with partners threatening to reduce their student exchange numbers. This rationale was tested via primary research in the form of a questionnaire distributed to international partner universities, who then randomly selected a target sample from students who had recently returned from a UKZN student exchange. Interviews were also conducted with a smaller sample and secondary research, in the form of a literature review of previous research findings and theoretical perspectives, was conducted. The sample comprised of ninety nine international students from first-world countries, who participated in a student exchange to UKZN. Respondent profiles included both male and female second-year tertiary respondents, from the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA). The major findings of the investigation revealed that the majority of respondents agreed that communication challenges at UKZN posed a credible threat to the future success of the exchange programme. UKZN should, therefore, focus on implementing long and short-term communication’s strategies. The research also found that, by addressing international concerns through the training and development of student exchange officers, will help equip officers to deal with a continually changing international relations’ climate.

The stress system comprises the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) axes. The two operate synergistically to regulate metabolic and biological processes, maintain homeostasis, and manage physiological responses towards various environmental challenges, known as stressors. Numerous studies have observed impaired HPA response among White breast cancer survivors followed by an eventual normalization of the HPA axis, but little is known about SAM functioning, the complementary relationship between physiological and psychological stress, and the influence of culturally related factors. This dissertation aims to address these gaps in the literature via three studies. In Study 1, we examined the diurnal and reactive patterns of salivary alpha-amylase, a SAM biomarker, in a sample of predominantly White women with and without a prior diagnosis of breast cancer. The purpose was to establish an initial understanding of SAM functioning in relation to the participants’ HPA activity as measured by cortisol responses (complementary to a previously published study in the laboratory). Results of Study 1 revealed no abnormal response to stress. Virtually identical alpha-amylase slopes were observed between breast cancer survivors and control participants, except that breast cancer survivors had elevated basal levels of alpha-amylase, thus suggesting a “heightened sympathetic tone”. In Study 2 acute and diurnal cortisol profiles and their accompanying psychological stress responses were examined in a sample of Chinese and White women with and without a prior diagnosis of breast cancer. In the same participants, we also examined chronic stress levels via hair cortisol concentrations which was the subject of Study 3. In both studies 2 and 3, we assessed the potential influences of cultural orientation and ethnocultural group membership on physiological and psychological stress patterns. For the most part, Study 2 supported previous findings from the literature and our laboratory: Breast cancer survivors displayed a blunted cortisol response and their diurnal profile was comparable to that of control participants. But contrary to our hypotheses, ethnocultural membership and cultural orientation did not influence physiological patterns of stress. However, an interaction between ethnocultural group, health status, and time (i.e., from baseline to one hour after stress induction) was observed in the subjective appraisal of an acute stressor. Specifically, White breast cancer survivors reported significantly lower levels of perceived stress than the other three groups. These results suggest that health-related stress may supersede the effects of culturally related stress and indicate the potential presence of posttraumatic growth among our sample of White breast cancer survivors only. Study 3 revealed no differences in hair cortisol concentrations between breast cancer survivors and control participants, nor between Chinese and White breast cancer survivors. However, it was observed that healthy Chinese women exhibited significantly higher levels of hair cortisol concentrations than their Western counterpart. Further analyses revealed that health status and cultural orientation did not significantly predict the observed patterns of physiological or psychological stress. Although non-significant, Study 3 results offered preliminary evidence that higher orientation towards both the dominant and non-dominant cultures is associated with higher levels of chronic physiological and psychological stress. Collectively, our studies may provide support for the long-term recovery of the HPA axis via the examination of acute, diurnal, and chronic patterns of cortisol, but further research will be required. The dissertation also highlights several important key points regarding culturally related factors, health, and stress: (1) The perception of stress is influenced by one’s degree of cultural orientation and (2) effects of health-related stress may supersede those of culturally related stress, but (3) among healthy women, ethnocultural minorities may have more stressful encounters than their Western counterpart, thus having important clinical implications for ethnocultural minorities who are newly diagnosed with a chronic condition. Together, results of the studies highlight the importance of further investigating the enduring and acute implications of psychosocial variables – particularly the influence of cultural orientation – on the experience and perception of stress.

This thesis analyzes how children and youth being resettled from Kenya and Sudan were prepared for their upcoming resettlement to Sweden, through cultural orientation programs (COPs). COPs are held for refugees who have been granted permanent Swedish residence and are undergoing resettlement to Sweden. The Swedish Migration Board, in charge of resettlement, carries out COPs as a means to inform and prepare refugees for the move to Sweden. This thesis is based on ethnographic work carried out during COPs held in Kenya and Sudan in 2011. Through video-based observation of the meetings between the Swedish delegations and children and youth, current thesis examines what notions of resettlement and refugeeness inform the delegations work, and how does the children’s agency come about during these meetings? The thesis includes three articles. Article 1 examines how the delegations make use of images in order to establish certain ideas of Sweden and the ideal citizen specifically tailored for the group being resettled. Article 2 explores children’s agency within the COPs, focusing on how the children and youth manage the meetings and sometimes resisting being positioned in certain ways by the delegations. Article 3 analyzes how notions of gender equality are drawn upon by the delegations during their work, a topic frequently highlighted by the delegations in various implicit and dilemmatic ways. The thesis shows how the delegations’ work is carried out in paradoxical ways. Their quest to bring forth the ideal future as a means to instill hope among the children simultaneously ends up categorizing them as different and as others. The representatives draw  n ideas that the children need to be socialized in order to be incorporated into another “us”. / Avhandlingen undersöker hur barn och ungdomar förbereds inför sin vidarebosättning genom så kallade Sverigeprogram. Avhandlingen är baserad på en etnografisk studie där video observationer genomförts av Sverigeprogram som hölls utav Migrationsverket i Kenya och Sudan för familjer som var på väg att vidarebosättas till Sverige. Som ett led i vidarebosättningsprocessen informeras och förbereds flyktingar inför flytten till Sverige. Syftet är att informera och presentera Sverige, skapa dialog och verka för flyktingarnas aktiva medverkan i sin vidarebosättningsprocess. Sedan några år tillbaka har speciella program genomförts för barn och ungdomar. Avhandlingen visar hur de två delegationerna arbetar med bilder och information med syftet att presentera en positiv bild av Sverige i ett led i att inge barnen hopp. Praktiken av att presentera idealbilden av Sverige hänger samman med socialiseringsprocess av barnen som stundtals positioneras som avvikande från svenskheten. Delegationernas arbete med att presentera bilden av den fria individen går hand i hand med en vilja att inkorporera barnen i en ny gemenskap, ett nytt ”vi”. I artikel ett undersöks hur delegationerna arbeter med bilder som visas upp genom olika praktiker för att förmedla en viss bild av Sverige samt den ideala medborgaren som ansvarstagande och aktiv. Artikel två fokuserar på barns agens och hur de under mötena med delegationerna förhandlar och gör motstånd mot stereotypifiering men också ställer egna frågor om framtiden när utrymme ges. Artikel tre fokuserar på hur delegationerna pratar om jämställdhet med unga tjejer som deltar i programmen med utgångspunkt i att stärka tjejerna och informera de om rättigheter men hur arbetet med att presentera ett liv i frihet går hand i hand med att även presentera hur detta liv bör se ut vilket paradoxalt nog positionerar tjejerna som ojämställda och annorlunda.

Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-103).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Education. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2005. / "A dissertation in urban leadership and policy studies in education and education." Advisor: Stuart A. McAninch. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed June 23, 2006. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 236-262). Online version of the print edition.

This research project examined the effects of participation in a six-month global service-learning program in the intercultural development of a group of students. The students under consideration herein participated in the 2009 program year of the Grace University EDGE Program, which took place in Mali, West Africa. The present research builds on and contributes to three primary areas of research: intercultural development, service-learning, and study abroad. As the literature in these areas revealed the lack of a consistent way to assess global service-learning, I tried a three-part method of assessment. First, the Intercultural Development Inventory formally measured growth in intercultural competence. Second, guided course-writing generated by the students was used to facilitate followup interviews of most participants, especially considering the intersections between IDI results and students' self-perceptions as reported in their papers. Third, the interviews were coded and explored for information related to the process of intercultural development. The participants, overall, demonstrated positive intercultural competence gains while undergoing a complex process involving the impetus for and experience of development, ultimately resulting in changed patterns of thought.

This document discusses and analyzes the theoretical implications as of developmental psychology, relating to variables that are essential for the study of socialization, such as parental ethno-theories and the context of the mother-child interaction, from the specificity of a cultural context. A relevant subject for psychology is approached, focusing on subjects of cultural, trans-cultural, and developmental psychology. Parental beliefs, conflict resolution strategies, and cultural orientation were assessed in two Costa Rican samples, a rural (n=14) and an urban (n=14). 28 mothers and their pre-school children were assessed in three interaction episodes (free play and two scenario conflict situations). Collectivis Scale (Yamaguchi, 1984), Family Allocentrism Scale (Lay & others, 1998) and Socialization Goals Inventory (Harwood, 1992) plus a semi-structured interview were applied. Interdependent cultural orientation among Costa Rican mothers and differences among zone were tested. Despite an interdependent cultural orientation, urban and rural samples showed certain variability concerning interactive compenents, parental beliefs and cultural values related to conflict resolution and conflict resolution styles. Results allow to detail certain cultural specific values concernin parenting, interaction patterns, parental beliefs and social values related to conflict resolution.

Understanding the factors responsible for successful interactions between cultures has been an ongoing investigation among anthropologists, social workers, and organizational psychologists. The need for employees who are able to function effectively across cultures has resulted in a great deal of research examining which factors enable expatriate effectiveness. Despite the necessity of a workforce that is able to function across cultures in today’s global economy, an even greater case can be made for cross-cultural competence (3C) in the U.S. military. The potential for loss of life and international-level consequences is high if our military forces are not adequately prepared. This is why the Department of Defense has identified 3C as a critical determinant of success for military missions. Despite the critical need for military 3C, a review of the literature found no validated instruments developed to assess the readiness of our troops to work closely with foreign nationals and coalition forces in the context of military deployments. As such, the overarching goal of this validation study was to enable the U.S. military to prepare and train its forces in 3C, specifically allowing the military to: (1) better assess troop readiness to engage other cultures; (2) target training to those skills that help achieve missions in the field; (3) design more authentic cross-cultural training exercises; (4) assess the effectiveness of crosscultural training; and (5) guide the development of future cultural training efforts. To that end, a blended approach to scale development was undertaken, whereby critical-incident interviews with subject matter experts informed which of the individual difference predictors from the civilian literatures would likely be applicable to the military domain. Initial administration of the prototype instrument to 792 military members, followed by exploratory factor analysis, revealed six hypothesized factors of 3C. Following scale development, the Cross-Cultural Competence iv Inventory (3CI) was administered to almost 5,000 service members, and the six-factor structure was confirmed as well as cross-validated. Another data collection effort focused on assessing the stability of the six factors over time, via test-retest reliability analysis. A final validation study revealed Cultural Exploration to be a significant predictor of three of the four performance criteria, as rated by supervisors on deployment. Furthermore, this study offered the unique perspective gained by administering two popular civilian instruments along with a military-based tool, providing insight into the nature of military 3C and the ways in which it is similar to, and distinct from, civilian 3C. Additionally, important theoretical contributions may help guide future empirical research and military applications. This study is the initial step in assessing readiness for cultural interaction in the military. The results may serve to guide future efforts in military research in order to support our forces in the field as well as to guide the military establishment in making decisions on training, education, and operations in the context of mission success.

The purpose of this study was to measure the social workers' knowledge, awareness, sensitivity, and ability to serve the population of color.

The purpose of this project was to develop a website to relieve Korean returnees' reverse culture shock and help their re-adaptation process. A website can be an outstanding resource for returnees in terms of accessibility because the target audiences are scattered all over the world.