Esta pesquisa objetiva entender como as práticas de governança corporativa (GC) adotadas por empresas industriais brasileiras relacionam-se com os impactos socioambientais de suas operações. Para atingir o objetivo principal foram formulados os seguintes objetivos específicos: 1) apresentar as características da amostra em termos de setor de atuação, adoção de práticas de GC e níveis de impactos ambientais e sociais; 2) conhecer as associações existentes entre os impactos ambientais, sociais e práticas de GC adotadas pelas empresas brasileiras; 3) verificar se tais associações são influenciadas pelo setor de atuação. A fundamentação teórica aborda as perspectivas teóricas que embasam a relação entre GC e sustentabilidade, os aspectos gerais envolvendo a sustentabilidade e específicos sobre gestão socioambiental, os aspectos gerais sobre o sistema de governança corporativa e aspectos específicos sobre as boas práticas de GC no Brasil, finalizando com as pesquisas nacionais e internacionais que investigaram esse relacionamento. A amostra pesquisada é composta por 46 empresas brasileiras listadas na BM&FBovespa e com dados disponíveis na base de dados ®ASSET4, da Thompson Reuters(TM), de 2010 a 2014. Os níveis de impacto tanto ambiental como social foram determinados em função da posição da empresa em relação às demais componentes da amostra em termos dos seus resultados nas oito variáveis selecionadas, resultando em três categorias: Alto, Médio e Baixo Impacto Social e Ambiental. Analogamente, o nível de adoção às práticas de GC foi determinado em função da posição da empresa em relação às demais em termos de seus resultados em sete variáveis selecionadas. As técnicas empregadas nesta pesquisa, de natureza quantitativa, compreenderam análises descritivas para a apresentação das características da amostra, Teste Qui-quadrado para a identificação das associações existentes entre as práticas de GC e os impactos socioambientais e Análises de Correspondência Múltipla para identificar a influência do setor de atuação sobre tais associações. Os resultados indicam maiores níveis de associação entre a dimensão social e as práticas de GC, comparativamente à dimensão ambiental, embora em ambos os casos tenham sido verificadas associações tanto positivas como negativas. Ademais, a hipótese de que tais associações são influenciadas pelo setor de atuação foi confirmada em ambas as dimensões, indicando, inclusive, que o baixo nível de adoção às práticas de GC ocorre entre em setores de alto impacto tanto ambiental como social. Desta forma, este estudo busca contribuir apresentando evidências de associação entre práticas de GC e impactos socioambientais no contexto brasileiro, possibilitando avançar na busca por conhecimento sobre como o sistema de GC pode contribuir para o alcance de negócios mais sustentáveis e alinhados aos objetivos da sustentabilidade. / This research aims to understand how the corporate governance (CG) practices adopted by Brazilian industrial companies are related to the socio-environmental impacts of their operations. In order to achieve the main objective, the following specific objectives were formulated: 1) to present the characteristics of the sample in terms of activity sector, adoption of CG practices and levels of environmental and social impacts; 2) to know the existing relationships among the environmental, social and CG practices adopted by Brazilian companies; 3) to verify if such combinations are influenced by the sector of performance. Theoretical fundamentals address the theoretical perspectives that support the relationship between CG and sustainability, the general aspects of sustainability and specific aspects of social and environmental management, the general aspects of the corporate governance system and specific aspects of CG practices in Brazil, ending up with national and international surveys that investigated this relationship. The sample surveyed is composed by 46 Brazilian companies listed on the BM&FBovespa, as well as with data available in Thompson Reuters(TM) database ®ASSET4 between 2010 and 2014. The levels of environmental and social impact were determined based on the company\'s position in relation to the other components of the sample in terms of their results within the eight selected variables, resulting in three categories: High, Medium and Low Social and Environmental Impact. Similarly, the level of adoption of CG practices was determined according to the company\'s position in relation to the others in terms of results in seven selected variables. The techniques used at this quantitative nature research have included descriptive analyzes for the presentation of the characteristics of the sample, Qui-square Test for the identification of the relationships among CG practices, social and environmental impacts and Multiple Correspondence Analysis to identify the influence of the activity sector on such associations. The results indicate higher levels of association between the social dimension and CG practices, compared to the environmental dimension, althought in both the cases positives and negatives associations were identified. In addition, the hypothesis that the associations are influenced by the sector of activity was confirmed in both dimensions, indicating that low levels of adoption of CG occurs between sectors with high environmental and social impact. Thus, this study seeks to contribute by presenting evidence of association between practices and socio-environmental impacts at the Brazilian context, allowing to advance in the search of knowledge on how the CG system can contributed to the achievement of a more sustainable development business and aligned with the objectives of sustainability.

Cette thèse étudie numériquement l'impact d'une onde déferlante à l'échelle de la vague. Dans un premier temps, le phénomène de percussion présent sur de faibles durées est décrit dans deux cas de lâcher de barrage. Les résultats montrent que la réduction du pas d'espace induit des changements locaux dans le profil d'interface avant l'impact. Ces changements influencent fortement les pics de pression, rendant ainsi leur estimation impossible. L'influence de lagéométrie locale de l'interface est théoriquement étudiée sur le cas d'un jet triangulaire. En développant deux lois semi-empiriques, nous montrons que pour des interfaces fortement inclinées, les pics de pression sont très sensibles aux variations d'angles incidents. L'impact d'une onde déferlante est traité en initialisant le déferlement par la mise en place d'un couplage faible de modèles BEM/VOF afin d'approcher la forme du jet avec une précision optimale. Les efforts critiques sont calculés pour des obstacles situés à différentes altitudes. L'intensité des pics est en accord avec la théorie pour des angles inférieurs à 70°. Deux types d'impacts sont étudiés en appliquant les résultats du jet triangulaire au cas de jets courbes. / Numerical simulations are performed to describe different cases of breaking wave impacts at the wave scale. The main purpose is to assess short duration pressure peak involved in impulsive loads. The academical case of a triangular wedge hitting a vertical wall allows to investigate the origin of pressure peak and connect their magnitudes to the local interface inclination. Theoretical results enable us to derive two semi-empirical laws which show that pressure peaks are very sensitive to angle variations for strong interface inclination, making thus theire assessment difficult. This result is illustrated on a breaking dam case for which mesh size has shown to have a great influence on the incident jet shape, revealing that pressure peak assessment requires to know accurately interface profile. The case of a breaking wave is treated by setting up a coupling approach (VOF / BEM). This method allows to accurately approximate the interface profile at the beginning of the breaking stage. Pressure peaks are in good agreement with the theoretical results for angles lower than 70°. Two differents types of impacts are then treated by applying results from triangular case to breaking wave jet and the influence of interface curvature on pressure peak evolution is studied.

La simulation de la dynamique des systèmes multicorps avec contact frottant joue un rôle important dans un grand nombre d'applications industrielles.Elle est même devenue une partie importante du développement de nouveaux produits, de la vérification et même de l'optimisation de leur conception pour améliorer les anciens produits.Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse font partie d'une collaboration entre l'équipe BiPoP, équipe de recherche de l'INRIA Grenoble, et Schneider Electric.Le but principal de ces travaux est de comprendre l'influence du jeu dans les articulations, ainsi que l'influence du dimensionnement industriel et les tolérances géométriques sur lecomportement global des liaisons mécaniques. Plus spécifiquement nous avons étudié le mini-disjoncteur C-60 (domaine dans lequel la sécurité humaine doit être garantie), pour répondre à cette demande de robustesse, tout en respectant les tolérances sur les pièces constituant le disjoncteur C-60.Le jeu radial dans les articulations pivot est une source de variabilité dans les conditions initiales du système, mais également dans la dégradation de ses performances.La dégradation du système se présente toujours sous forme de vibrations, de bruit, de forces de réactions très grandes dans les articulations, de mauvaise précision et exactitude de la sortie.Le but est d'étudier l'influence des conditions initiales et le déplacement hors-plan, ainsi que l'effet de polarisation en trois dimensions.Un objectif supplémentaire est de développer un banc d'essai virtuel efficace pour reproduire les mesures obtenues sur un vrai banc d'essai en laboratoire, en utilisant la plateforme logicielle SICONOS qui utilise la méthode NSCD (Non Smooth Contact Dynamic) introduite par J.J. Moreau et M. Jean.Le schéma NSCD a prouvé son efficacité numérique: il est capable de traiter des problèmes de complémentarité, le contact ainsi que les impacts et les lois de frottement multivaluées.Le but est de comprendre quelle est la meilleure description géométrique pour simuler de très petits jeux.L'étude complète est divisée en deux parties. La progression part du cas planaire pour arriver au cas spatial, et la complexité suit le même chemin.Dans le cas planaire, on analyse un mécanisme à quatre barres avec du jeu quand une des articulations est commandée en boucle ouverte, ou par retour d'état linéaire ou non-linéaire(PD, linéarisation par retour d'état, ou commande passive).L'accent est mis sur la quantification de la dégradation des performances quand du jeu est ajouté dans les articulations. On montre alors que les commandes par retour d'état se comportent de façon robuste.Dans le cas spatial, le mécanisme C-60 est analysé précisément pour explorer les possibilités de relaxer les tolérances industrielles sur les pièces sans compromettre ni les performances ni la sécurité. L'influence de l'entrée, du modèle et des incertitudes numériques sur le modèle C-60 est étudiée.L'influence induite par le jeu et le coefficient de frottement dans les articulations sur la performance du produit est étudiée.Pour valider le modèle de simulation, des expériences sont effectuées sur des prototypes d'essai et les résultats sont comparés avec les simulations numériques.Nous avons trouvé une bonne correlation entre les résultats numériques et expérimentaux.L'analyse statistique~(analyse du pire cas, et par des simulations basées sur la méthode de Monte-Carlo) a été réalisée pour trouver la dispersion des conditions fonctionnelles.En plus des variations dimensionnelles, la tolérence aux variations géométriques comme la forme, l'orientation et la position, est analysée.Ce travail de recherche devrait aider les concepteurs à simuler le comportement du système mécanique avec une articulation de révolution imparfaite,depuis l'étape de conception préliminaire jusqu'à la fin de la conception pour avoir une amélioration significative de la planification et du budget. / Dynamic simulation of multibody systems with unilateral contact and friction plays an important role in a wide range of industrial applications. It has become an integral part of new product development, verification/optimization of the design and to enhance the old products.This work is a part of collaboration between the BiPoP research team of INRIA Grenoble and the Schneider Electric company.The main goal of this thesis is to understand the influence of clearances in the revolute joints on the overall behaviour of the linkage mechanisms and specifically on the C-60 miniature circuit breaker where human safety must be guaranteed.In other words, the objective is to address the robustness of the C-60 breaker with respect to the production tolerances, which areexpressed in the form of dimensional and geometrical variations on the parts. These variations are the source of clearance in the joints of the mechanism.The radial clearance in the revolute joints is a source of variability in the initial conditions of the system and also the degradation of the system's performance. The degradation of the system isalways in the form of vibration, noise, very high reaction forces at the joints.The aim is to study the influence of initial conditions and the out-of-plane motion, so the polarization effect in three dimensional case.Another objective is to develop the time efficient virtual test bench to reproduce the measurements of real test bench in the laboratory using the open-source simulation software SICONOS which is based on the NonSmooth Contact Dynamic method (NSCD) introduced by J.J. Moreau and M. Jean.The NSCD scheme is proven to be a quite efficient numerical method, capable of handling complementarity conditions, as well as impacts and set-valued friction laws.The goal is to understand what is the most appropriate geometricdescription which allows to simulate very small clearances.The complete study is divided in two main sections.The progress through these partsgoes from the planar to the spatial case, the complexity follows the same advance.In the planar case, a four-bar mechanism with joint clearance, when one joint is actuated by collocated open-loop or state feedback controllers (PD, statefeedback linearization, passivity-based) is analysed. The focus is put on how much the performancedeteriorates when clearances are added in the joints. It is shown that collocated feedback controllersbehave in a robust way.In the spatial case, the C-60 mechanism is analysed precisely to explore the possibilities to relax the manufacturing tolerances on the parts withoutany compromise on either performance or the human safelyThe influence of the input, model and numerical uncertainties on the C-60 model is studied. The joint-wise influences of the clearance and coefficient of friction on theproduct performance are studied.To validate the simulation model, experiments are carried-out on the prototype samples and the results are compared with the simulations.We found quite good correlation between the virtual and experimental results.A statistical analysis~(worst-case and Monte Carlo simulation) has been carried out to find out the dispersion of the functional conditions.In addition to dimensional variations, the geometrical variations such as form, orientation and position tolerances are also analyzed.This research work shall help the designers to simulate the real time behaviour of the mechanical systems with the imperfect revolutejoint from the pre-design stage till the end of the design, to have good improvement on schedule and budget.

Cette recherche a été motivée par l’intérêt général porté à l’élargissement du débat concernant le rôle du secteur culturel dans le développement, une fois étant reconnu que l’actuel débat économique et monétaire n’est pas adapté à la compréhension des externalités liées à la culture et les arts, et de formuler des politiques en conséquence. Afin d’élargir le débat à d’autres dimensions sociales et intangibles, une revue de la littérature des études d’évaluation d’impact social au sein du secteur culturel a été conduit. Cet examen a prouvé que ces études ont été plus orientées vers la compréhension de l’impact individuel extrinsèque du développement des pratiques culturelles plutôt que vers leur disposition collective. En reconnaissant que les impacts et mécanismes de transformation collective, tendancieusement ignorés, sont les plus adaptés à la conduite du développement social et économique, cette recherche essaye de proposer un nouveau cadre théorique et des approches empiriques pour l’interprétation des mécanismes à travers lesquels la culture construit un impact social à un niveau communautaire. Premièrement, une chaîne théorique des impacts sociaux communautaire d’activités culturelles a été proposée, en alignant un ensemble de capacités sociales, basées en catégories identifiées des impacts à niveau collectif. Deuxièmement, en empruntant des modèles d’analyse du domaine de l’économie, deux études de cas ont été développées afin de fournir de nouvelles perspectives de mesure à l’encontre des défis méthodologiques des études d’impact social et d’identifier de nouveaux mécanismes et moteurs de capacités sociale. Cette étude conclut que les arts et la culture peuvent avoir une fonction stratégique dans le développement communautaire durable qui dépasse les capacités attendues dans la production d’externalités économiques. D’une façon spécifique, en entraînant un processus continu et transversal d’apprentissage social qui conduit à des capacités sociales spécifiques, la culture peut stimuler des systèmes de réseaux nécessaires à la création d’un processus ascendant d’action collective et à l’entretien de dynamiques transfrontières. / This research was motivated by a general concern to enlarge the debate on the cultural sector’s role in development, recognizing that the current economic and monetary debate is inadequate to understanding the externalities attached to culture and the arts and to formulate policies accordingly. In order to broaden the debate into other social and intangible dimensions, a thorough literature review on social impact assessment studies inside the cultural sector was conducted. The review proved that these studies have been more oriented towards understanding the individual extrinsic impacts of engagement in cultural practices rather than its collective capacity. By acknowledging that the tendentiously ignored impacts and mechanisms of collective transformation are those most capable of leading to social and economic development, this research tries to propose a new theoretical framework and empirical approaches to interpret the mechanisms through which culture builds community‐level social impacts. First, a theoretical chain of cultural activities’ community‐level social impacts was proposed, which aligned a set of social capacities based on identified categories of collective level impacts. Second, borrowing analysis models from the field of economics, two case studies were developed to provide new measurement perspectives to meet the methodological challenges of social impact assessment and to identify new mechanisms and drivers of social capacities. This study concludes that culture and the arts can have a strategic function in sustainable community development beyond the expected ability to produce economic externalities. In particular, by inducing a transversal on‐going process of social learning which results in specific social capacities, culture can stimulate a system of networks needed to forge a bottom‐up process of collective action and to sustain cross‐boundary dynamics.

With visitation to natural areas increasing, the appropriate management of these areas is important. There are a number of management tools available which endeavour to minimise environmental impacts of visitors. One such management tool is interpretation. Interpretation is widely used as a management tool because: it is perceived to be the most cost effective method; it is a light-handed approach and allows visitors the freedom of choice; and it enhances visitor experiences and satisfaction. However, the ability of interpretation to bring about a reduction in the impacts of visitors to natural areas, has rarely been quantified. This study was designed to determine the extent to which an interpretive program reduced the environmental impacts of visitors to national parks. Fieldwork was undertaken in Lamington National Park, where 41 guided walks were examined. To measure the actual behaviour or resulting impacts of visitors in a national park, three appropriate environmental indicators were chosen: shortcutting of corners, picking up litter already on the track, and noise levels. Five interpretive programs were created, each with a different combination of environmental interpretation, role modelling and verbal appeals. For the shortcutting results, the interpretive program with the combination of environmental interpretation, role modelling by the guide and verbal appeals from the guide, was always the most effective in reducing shortcutting. Visitors in this interpretive program were always, statistically, less likely to shortcut than visitors on all the other interpretive programs. The programs with only environmental interpretation or no environmental interpretation, were always least effective in reducing shortcutting. The interpretive programs with environment interpretation plus role modelling, or verbal appeals, were always in the middle of these extremes. They were more effective than having neither role modelling or verbal appeals, but less effective than having both. Results for the amount of litter picked up found that the inclusion of verbal appeals in an interpretive program was the only factor that influenced whether visitors picked up litter. In addition, there was no difference in the amount of litter picked up, by the interpretive program with environmental interpretation only, and the program with no environmental interpretation. Results for the noise levels of visitors, found that no interpretive program reduced the amount of shouting and talking loudly of visitors. Although not statistically significant, it did appear that there were lower proportions of shouting and talking loudly, following a verbal appeal and/or role modelling. Additionally, there was no influence of the interpretive program on the proportion of time visitors were talking, or quiet, during their walk. Overall, this research found that interpretation can be an effective management tool in reducing visitor impacts. Interpretation is most effective in reducing impacts when those impacts are specifically addressed through verbal appeals, combined with positive role modelling of appropriate behaviours. However, interpretation did not reduce all the impacts studied and therefore is not the solution to all problems. Implications of this study are that those using interpretation as a means of reducing visitor impacts, must ensure that they have a high standard of interpretation, which specifically addresses the impacts that need to be reduced. It also highlights the importance of the role of the guide, and that those employed should be well trained and competent in their position.

Tourism has become a tool for many developing countries to achieve economic growth and alleviate poverty. However, even though tourism is contributing to positive impacts, it also stresses infrastructure and changing local communities. For many African countries, tourism plays an important role, which is the case with the growing tourist destination Mozambique. This research is examining how tourism is affecting the local community in Tofo, and furthermore how involved they are in the development. The study is based on interviews, participant observations, questionnaire and documents. Findings show that the development is forced upon the community in Tofo, although leading to various economic and socio-cultural impacts, such as improved living standard, change in behaviors and infrastructure development, but the greatest impacts remain employment and income. The development is unplanned and do not involve the community to extent it should and could, leaving the residents powerless and dependent on foreign investors.

Despite the contribution of mining to the South African economy, this industry has impacted negatively on the environment and society for many decades. These negative impacts are evidence of poor corporate actions. Instead of contributing to society, it seems that mining companies, more often than not, neglect their corporate social responsibilities mostly in the pursuit of financial profit. It has been well documented that it is mostly local populations, living close to mining operations, which pay the price of social and environmental damages and degradation, while the industry's benefits are measured in economic and political terms. Such an imbalance between the economic, environmental and social factors will make Sustainable Development impossible to achieve. Welverdiend is a community paying a dear price in terms of social problems caused by mining operations. The aim of this study, therefore, is to assess the impact of these problems on the social well–being of Welverdiend and the surrounding community's residents. In the light of these findings on different social issues, the research aims to confirm the importance of a people–centred approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The following is a brief outline of the course of the study. Chapter One serves as the introduction to the research project. Chapter Two, aligned with Objective One, provides a theoretical overview on Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development. Chapter Three, which is aligned with Objectives Two and Three, reports on the findings obtained through a survey and Chapter Four, aligned with Objective Four, presents the conclusion and recommendations. / Thesis (M. Development and Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Despite the contribution of mining to the South African economy, this industry has impacted negatively on the environment and society for many decades. These negative impacts are evidence of poor corporate actions. Instead of contributing to society, it seems that mining companies, more often than not, neglect their corporate social responsibilities mostly in the pursuit of financial profit. It has been well documented that it is mostly local populations, living close to mining operations, which pay the price of social and environmental damages and degradation, while the industry's benefits are measured in economic and political terms. Such an imbalance between the economic, environmental and social factors will make Sustainable Development impossible to achieve. Welverdiend is a community paying a dear price in terms of social problems caused by mining operations. The aim of this study, therefore, is to assess the impact of these problems on the social well–being of Welverdiend and the surrounding community's residents. In the light of these findings on different social issues, the research aims to confirm the importance of a people–centred approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The following is a brief outline of the course of the study. Chapter One serves as the introduction to the research project. Chapter Two, aligned with Objective One, provides a theoretical overview on Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development. Chapter Three, which is aligned with Objectives Two and Three, reports on the findings obtained through a survey and Chapter Four, aligned with Objective Four, presents the conclusion and recommendations. / Thesis (M. Development and Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Epidemiological studies have revealed high rates of criminal victimization in the general community as well as in treatment seeking populations. As a consequence, many crime victims present with a broad range of psychological and physical health impacts which exceed far beyond the current conceptualization of posttraumatic stress disorder. Accordingly, the current project aimed at an exploration of the complex problems faced in the context of severe interpersonal violence, using a mixed methodological design within a pragmatist paradigm. The first study (n=58) involved a quantitative exploration of the psychological and physical health problems in victims of crime as compared to a normally stressed community sample without a history of traumatization. Psychological impacts were assessed by standardized psychological measures, whereas influences on physical health were captured by an analysis of biochemical markers that reflect stress- related changes in immune functioning. Once impacts on psychological and physical health were established, a second study (n=17) was conducted to gain a better understanding of individual stress conceptualizations. This study involved a qualitative framework analysis of semi-structured interviews with victims of crime. The results from Study I and II informed the development of a phase oriented psychological treatment program for victims of crime, using cognitive-behavioural and hypnotherapeutic treatment components. This was followed by an outcome –and process evaluation of a combined CBT/Hypnotherapy treatment in comparison to a CBT treatment only to explore additive benefits of hypnotherapy. Although a multiplicity of traumatic sequelae was indicated by the results of the preceding studies, the treatment process revealed an even greater complexity of traumatization which was difficult to accommodate in the proposed treatment program. Moreover, twelve out of nineteen participants discontinued treatment, making it difficult to determine the additive benefits of hypnotherapy. A qualitative analysis of the treatment sessions was conducted to elucidate critical treatment variables with a particular emphasis on the differences between treatment completers and non-completers. The results were interpreted with respect to recently suggested theories and associated treatment approaches such as the Theory of Structural Dissociation (Van der Hart, Nijenhuis, & Steele, 2006) which may better accommodate the needs of complex trauma survivors encountered in a real world clinical practice. Furthermore, the challenges associated with interventions and treatment evaluations involving a highly complex clinical sample such as victims of crime are discussed in light of the current debate on evidence-based practice and the dilemma of providing reliable, methodologically sound evidence without compromising internal validity of the treatment. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1347975 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 2008

Epidemiological studies have revealed high rates of criminal victimization in the general community as well as in treatment seeking populations. As a consequence, many crime victims present with a broad range of psychological and physical health impacts which exceed far beyond the current conceptualization of posttraumatic stress disorder. Accordingly, the current project aimed at an exploration of the complex problems faced in the context of severe interpersonal violence, using a mixed methodological design within a pragmatist paradigm. The first study (n=58) involved a quantitative exploration of the psychological and physical health problems in victims of crime as compared to a normally stressed community sample without a history of traumatization. Psychological impacts were assessed by standardized psychological measures, whereas influences on physical health were captured by an analysis of biochemical markers that reflect stress- related changes in immune functioning. Once impacts on psychological and physical health were established, a second study (n=17) was conducted to gain a better understanding of individual stress conceptualizations. This study involved a qualitative framework analysis of semi-structured interviews with victims of crime. The results from Study I and II informed the development of a phase oriented psychological treatment program for victims of crime, using cognitive-behavioural and hypnotherapeutic treatment components. This was followed by an outcome –and process evaluation of a combined CBT/Hypnotherapy treatment in comparison to a CBT treatment only to explore additive benefits of hypnotherapy. Although a multiplicity of traumatic sequelae was indicated by the results of the preceding studies, the treatment process revealed an even greater complexity of traumatization which was difficult to accommodate in the proposed treatment program. Moreover, twelve out of nineteen participants discontinued treatment, making it difficult to determine the additive benefits of hypnotherapy. A qualitative analysis of the treatment sessions was conducted to elucidate critical treatment variables with a particular emphasis on the differences between treatment completers and non-completers. The results were interpreted with respect to recently suggested theories and associated treatment approaches such as the Theory of Structural Dissociation (Van der Hart, Nijenhuis, & Steele, 2006) which may better accommodate the needs of complex trauma survivors encountered in a real world clinical practice. Furthermore, the challenges associated with interventions and treatment evaluations involving a highly complex clinical sample such as victims of crime are discussed in light of the current debate on evidence-based practice and the dilemma of providing reliable, methodologically sound evidence without compromising internal validity of the treatment. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1347975 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 2008