Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Clinical Psychology) at the University of Zululand, 2003. / The problems associated with the relationship between humans and their environment are especially marked within the remains of a political system enforced on millions in South Africa. One of the complications of the Apartheid regime was the practice of migrant labour. Migrant labour in itself led to other complications such as disrupted family life, the disintegration of existing social structures and crowding in low-cost housing compounds, commonly known as hostels. It is obvious that the removal of Apartheid from the Statute Books has not resolved the practical problems stemming from its practice. South African hostels are generally characterised by high levels of both social and spatial density. Research (for example Oliver-Evans, 1992; Payze & Keith, 1993; Ramphele, 1993) indicates that several people often share the same bed in one hostel, while a minimum of four beds are usually found in a room of about 3m x 3m. This is usually accompanied by an insufficient infrastructure resulting in for example 16 families sharing one toilet. Other factors also seem to exacerbate the subjective experience of crowding, such as the lack of privacy which frequently accompanies inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of services such as garbage removal, sewerage maintenance, and water and electricity supply. The above research illustrates several discrepancies between the needs of hostel residents and the realities of their physical environment. Within this context the current study qualitatively investigates the subjective experience of household crowding at Kwesine Hostel on the Reef.

Typescripe (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Home relocation has far-reaching effects on both urban structure and individuals’ quality of life. While a large volume of studies have examined the determinants of home relocation, only limited attention has been paid to the outcomes of home relocation. Even less scholarly effort has been devoted to the impacts of home relocation on the movers in terms of change in their domain and life satisfaction. This study aims to explore this issue by focusing on the two following research questions: (1) has home relocation led to improvement in residential, travel and life satisfaction? (2) what contributes to the change in residential, travel and life satisfaction after move? Using a two-wave survey of residents who moved their homes in Beijing, this dissertation investigates the patterns of change in the movers’ residential, travel and life satisfaction and explores the determinants of change in satisfaction based on a series of multilevel SEM models. The specific variables applied to explain change in satisfaction after move are derived from the existing literature on residential, travel and life satisfaction. The results show a positive and significant increase in the average level of residential, travel and life satisfaction after move, suggesting that home relocation has significant and positive effects on the mover’s quality of life. The change in satisfaction after move is mainly determined by change in residential environment, change in travel conditions, motivations to move and some personal and household socioeconomics. Specifically, residential satisfaction change is mainly explained by housing tenure shift and change in the perceived neighborhood environment including physical design, safety, social composition, etc.. Travel satisfaction change is mainly predicted by change in daily travel patterns and perceived neighborhood environment. The objective indicators of change in neighborhood accessibility and walkability only exert marginal effects on travel satisfaction change. Life satisfaction change is mainly determined by change in perceived neighborhood environment and daily activity patterns, which influence life satisfaction change both directly and indirectly through changes in residential and travel satisfaction. This dissertation not only enriches the literature of residential mobility and the wellbeing studies, but also has important implications for policy-makers to enhance residents’ quality of life. To fully interpret how home relocation influences the movers, more sophisticated surveys covering more life domains and longer time series are still needed in future studies. KEYWORDS: Residential satisfaction, Travel satisfaction, Life satisfaction, Subjective wellbeing, Home relocation, Beijing

This study is an inquiry into some of the effects of the housing environment on the behavior of children. The city can be seen as a structure which facilitates communication and interaction because of the large number of intersecting individual pathways which the city represents. Young children, however, have little experience of this city: for the most part, their microcosm extends only a few blocks from home. Cities are a function of density and large numbers of people, and these two characteristics are also descriptive of multi-family structures. In the child's microcosm, multi-family dwellings could be considered as the type of communication-facilitating structure which is analogous to the city. The housing environment was examined along its physical dimension (housing environment as a piece of territory), socio-spatial dimension (social characteristics which are descriptive of the territory), and social dimensions (characteristics which are not tied to a specific spatial location). Children's behaviors were examined in terms of strategies for adapting to sensory load produced by the housing environment. Three procedures were used to obtain data: observation of the children, at home and at a day-care center; interviews of both the child and a parent; and a test constructed by J.A. Desor to measure tolerance for social density. The subjects were 32 4- and 5-year-old children enrolled in the day-care center at Portland State University. Protocols of behavior episodes collected in field observation were coded by two coders, and inter-coder reliability was computed. The coefficient for a completely naive coder was 0.76; for a coder familiar with the concept of 'behavior episodes,' the coefficient was 0.86. Convergent validity of the behavioral measures was evaluated using a multitrait-multimethod matrix. ~nile the measures show high face validity, convergent validity was not established for similar measures drawn from the home and school environments. The exception to this was the measures of play-group size, which showed a consistent pattern of convergence. The matrix of correlations of measures which were descriptive of the housing environment showed a fairly clear clustering of the measures along the expected dimensions. A t Test showed that there were significant differences between single-family and multi-family homes. In analyzing the hypotheses, it was found that children living in buildings with more peers show a greater acceptance of social density than children living in buildings with fewer peers. This strategy expressed itself in behavior also, for children living in buildings with more peers also played with more people. The relationship was cross situational, suggesting that this strategy is a 'functional unity,' or a consistent pattern of the child's personality. It was also found that the number of people in the neighborhood was related to the extent to which the child rejected offers for interaction. However, since there were no significant differences in number of people in the neighborhood between single-family and multi-family dwellings, this relationship does not distinguish between apartment and single-family dwellers. It was also found that, if length of time in the present housing unit is controlled, there is a negative relationship between the number of people in the housing environment and the duration of play activity. No differences were found in the amount of solitary play or the number of settings used.

This study supported the hypothesis that short-term shelter programs can help reduce depression in homeless parents.

The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of housing services on the bio-psycho-social functioning of homeless persons with HIV/AIDS. Ideally, taking a homeless person with HIV/AIDS and returning them to a healthy state would be a goal of any social service intervention.

The purpose of this project was to find out whether or not there were specific factors that made homeless people depressed. Finding depression factors will help to establish strategies and programs that would prevent homeless people from being depressed. The current study tested the hypothesis that basic needs and education are needed to help in factoring depression.