[From Introductory discussion]. The modern approach to any sociological problem is characterised by the attempt to analyse the contributory factors in such a way that their inter-active association is clearly discernible. The simple concept of "single cause and effect" is now recognised to be a traversity of social fact. Social Pathology, therefore, may be said to attempt to isolate the multiple factors involved in a given situation, and to endeavour to determine thelr mode of inter-action in order that remedial techniques may be applied effectively. Slum conditions are obviously pathologic, by which it is understood that the environment imposes strains upon the individual to which there is ineffective adjustment. The rehabilitation of such a population would involve the converse process, restoring individuals to a condition where they are able to cope in every respect with the demands of life at their respective class levels. It is very rare indeed that only a single factor is involved in a social pathological condition and for this reason it is quite possible that one- sided efforts at rehabilitation - such as the attempt to re-house ALL slum dwellers in sub-economic houses - have a tendency to increase the pathology in another direction. Rehabilitation must therefore be based on multi-factorial analysis in which allowance is, as far as possible, made for the inter-connection of each of the individual deviations from the normal. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the effect of good housing conditions on the 2335 Coloured slum families re-housed in sub-economic houses at Schauder Township, Port Elizabeth, from the time that these houses were first available for occupancy.

Hostels have become synonymous with the migrant labour system in South Africa. They were first introduced on the mines to house workers cheaply. The significant feature of these hostels was that they were for "single" males - they did not cater for the housing needs of workers families. Their design made them useful, to the employers, in controlling their workers. As the manufacturing and construction sectors grew, hostels similar to those one the mines were replicated in most urban centres in South Africa. They were useful in reducing the cost of reproducing labour by externalising these costs to the reserves, later the bantustans. At the same time they performed a valuable political role by ridding the "white" urban areas of the "swart gevaar". This role was reinforced during the period of Apartheid, and hostels are therefore seen as "artefacts of the era of apartheid". More recently they became notorious as "urban fortresses" from which acts of violence were perpetrated, particularly on the Reef. As the country moves towards a post-apartheid non-racial democracy the injustices and inhumanities of the hostel system will have to be redressed. The miserable and wretched conditions will have to be transformed and hostels will have to be integrated into "normal" community life. The recent violence succeeded, at great cost, in instilling a sense of urgency for the transformation of hostels, so as to reduce the potential for further conflict and violence. All the major actors committed themselves to a national development initiative to transform hostels. Hostels however, are a complex phenomenon, serving varying functions and performing many roles. There is therefore a need for a more thorough understanding of the various features of hostels to inform any intervention if it is going to be meaningful or lasting. This dissertation examines the complexities of the hostel question with a view to informing development interventions in hostels. In this thesis the focus is on physical/spatial planning interventions. / Theses (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1993.