<p>The extent of a community experiencing social vulnerability depends on the community&rsquo / s ability to access resources that may contribute to coping mechanisms (either within the household or provided externally by a responsible authority) that decrease the impacts and effects of a disaster. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to identify the existence of social and institutional mechanisms that aim to reduce experiences of water inaccessibility and the causes of social vulnerability, and increase coping mechanisms within Kayamandi. Kayamandi is a low income residential community on the north-westerly periphery of the greater Stellenbosch town in the Western Cape. The research attained&nbsp / responses through questionnaires and surveys from residents, community organisations and responsible personnel. These surveys allowed the researcher to produce raw attribute data for each household that assisted in spatially representing vulnerable households and informing the five priority areas of the Hyogo Framework for Action. Contributing to this method of attaining information, secondary geographic data collection was obtained through the Stellenbosch Local Municipality, the National Geospatial Information Directorate and the National Demarcation Board. The findings of this thesis established that household and public water infrastructure contribute to the risk of experiencing social vulnerability that affects economic standings and quality of health within the community. Contributing to this and due to Kayamandi&rsquo / s politically sensitive and historically fractioned community, social cohesion has also been noted as an area of vulnerability. Although these vulnerabilities are experienced, residents are able to implement technical, social and municipal reliant coping mechanisms. However, although efforts from Stellenbosch Local Municipality do respond to most of the key indicators within the Hyogo Framework for Action, the study found no concrete efforts within the Stellenbosch Local Municipality that illustrate integrated mechanisms to reduce the impacts of disasters and compound effects.</p>

The extent of a community experiencing social vulnerability depends on the community’s ability to access resources that may contribute to coping mechanisms (either within the household or provided externally by a responsible authority) that decrease the impacts and effects of a disaster. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to identify the existence of social and institutional mechanisms that aim to reduce experiences of water inaccessibility and the causes of social vulnerability, and increase coping mechanisms within Kayamandi. Kayamandi is a low income residential community on the north-westerly periphery of the greater Stellenbosch town in the Western Cape. The research attained responses through questionnaires and surveys from residents, community organisations and responsible personnel. These surveys allowed the researcher to produce raw attribute data for each household that assisted in spatially representing vulnerable households and informing the five priority areas of the Hyogo Framework for Action. Contributing to this method of attaining information, secondary geographic data collection was obtained through the Stellenbosch Local Municipality, the National Geospatial Information Directorate and the National Demarcation Board. The findings of this thesis established that household and public water infrastructure contribute to the risk of experiencing social vulnerability that affects economic standings and quality of health within the community. Contributing to this and due to Kayamandi’s politically sensitive and historically fractioned community, social cohesion has also been noted as an area of vulnerability. Although these vulnerabilities are experienced, residents are able to implement technical, social and municipal reliant coping mechanisms. However, although efforts from Stellenbosch Local Municipality do respond to most of the key indicators within the Hyogo Framework for Action, the study found no concrete efforts within the Stellenbosch Local Municipality that illustrate integrated mechanisms to reduce the impacts of disasters and compound effects. / Magister Artium - MA

Anecdotal evidence supports the belief among indigent individuals who are assigned defense counsel that they would be better represented by privately retained counsel. This perspective jeopardizes attorney effectiveness by reducing communication and trust between the attorney and client. Research on the effectiveness of counsel is sparse. The purpose of this quantitative study was to bridge this gap in knowledge by comparing the effectiveness of privately retained and publicly appointed counsel between 2008 and 2013, both before and after the imposition of state-wide compensation limitations on publicly appointed defense counsel. The theoretical framework was Stuntz's theory, which stresses that one part of the criminal justice system will be compensated for elsewhere in the system. Research questions focused on the success rates of publicly funded and privately retained counsel in jury trials in a large state district court in New England. Data were collected from court records and analyzed using tests of proportions and a binary logistic regression to determine the success rates of the types of counsel and whether appointed counsels' relative effectiveness changed after the compensation limitations were imposed in 2011. The results indicated that there was no significant difference in acquittal rates between counsel groups or for either counsel group before and after the imposition of the statewide compensation limits. Implications for positive social change include educating defendants on the effectiveness of publicly appointed counsel to enhance the trust within these attorney-client relationships, and improving the quality of discourse in legislative deliberations focused on weighing budget cuts to appointed counsel compensation with the risk to the fair administration of justice.

This chapter describes the implementation of two service-learning courses within the setting of a primary-care clinic for homeless and indigent individuals. The two courses are a campus-wide Introduction to Community Service and a Community Health Nursing Practicum. Although these two courses have different learning outcomes, they both address the primary goals of service-learning, including (1) developing students' understanding about the responsibility of citizenship and preparing students for effective roles in society; (2) improving students' communication skills, problem-solving skills, and project-specific skills; (3) enhancing students' self esteem and sense of social reality; and (4) providing an interdisciplinary perspective (Kendall and Associates 1990). The sections that follow describe the setting that the two service-learning courses share, the university-wide course, and the community health nursing practicum. Common issues faced in both courses that are discussed include reflective learning practices, community/client impact, communicating expectations to the student and the site personnel, collaboration to accomplish both service and learning outcomes, and practical issues associated with service-learning in a clinic for the homeless and indigent.

No description available.

This thesis concerns the violation of the right to a fair trial by the appointment of ineffective public defenders. The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees the right to appointed counsel if a defendant cannot afford it. The first section of the thesis focuses on how the history of the case law which constitutionally mandates effective appointed counsel for all United States citizens who cannot afford otherwise. However, this right is not being fulfilled for millions of American citizens. The judicial system is structured so that many indigent accused criminals are convinced by their overworked and underpaid public defenders to plead guilty. This "meet and plead" style of representation expedites the trial process at the expense of indigent defendants. The second section covers the epidemic of fair trial rights violations in the United States. In order to fix this problem there are solutions that the Supreme Court, trial courts, and the legislature can address. The third and final section concludes the thesis with a discussion of possible remedies for the deficiencies of the American public defender conglomerate.

abstract: This exploratory qualitative study is the first to examine secondary trauma experiences among capital trial defense practitioners, including attorneys, mitigation specialists, paralegals, and investigators, who work as a team in representing indigent clients facing a charge of capital murder which may result in the death penalty. Death penalty jurisprudence has been critically examined in numerous ways, and the negative psychological effects on those who are involved in the process is one of the issues that limited studies have documented. However, no systemic investigation of secondary trauma associated with capital trial defense practice for indigent clients has been conducted to date, and this dissertation aims to address this gap in knowledge. Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews using an interview guide, which allows participants to express their experiences in their own words in depth, while the researcher can stay focused on the research questions of the study. Data were analyzed using a constructivist phenomenological approach, and thematic identifications were conducted under overarching categories that were closely related to research questions including (1) motivation to engage in capital trial defense practice for indigent clients, (2) challenges in defending clients who face the death penalty, (3) emotional reactions to clients receiving death verdicts, (4) effects of the stress on the practitioners, (5) coping strategies, and (6) support system. The findings indicate that a significant number of the participants had secondary traumatic experiences because of their engagement in capital trial defense practice for indigent clients. A death verdict for clients was perceived as a traumatic experience by the participants because of their long-term empathetic engagement with their clients and their family members as well as the dehumanization against their clients in death penalty jurisprudence. The participants often experienced stigmatization in their communities that was associated with their work, while organizational support in recognizing their emotional pain and attendance to psychological needs was unavailable. The findings of this study suggest that the human cost of the death penalty should be re-examined and organizational effects be made to address the negative psychological effects associated with capital trial defense practice for indigent clients. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Social Work 2016

In Burkina Faso, evidence-based knowledge on mental health disorders, their prevalence and the characteristics of people living with these disorders is scarce. Without these data, the government can not properly allocate sufficient human and financial ressources to mental health services. The available information in the country was collected in urban settings, where most mental health services are concentrated. Therefore, information on mental health prevalence outside of urban settings is limited. A single preliminary study demontrated a substancial presence of mental health symptoms in rural settings, especially in an indigent population. The present study therefore aimed to evaluate the prevalence of three types of mental health symptoms (anxiodepressive, somatic, psychotic) in indigents living in a rural setting in Burkina Faso. Furthermore, it aimed to identify the sociodemographic, physical and psychological determinants pertaining to each type of symptoms. The participants of this study (n = 1314) belong to four health districts of the country. Data were gathered about their physical and mental health by local, trained interviwers. / Au Burkina Faso, les informations sanitaires sur l’état de santé mentale des indigents vivant en région rurale est presque inexistante. Ce manque de données probantes a des impacts négatifs sur les services offerts dans ce domaine et ce, particulièrement sur les groupes vulnérables. Objectifs : Parmi une population indigente vivant en région rurale au Burkina Faso, le but de cette recherche est d’évaluer la prévalence de trois types de symptômes de santé mentale, soit les symptômes anxiodépressifs, somatiques et psychotiques. Ensuite, les déterminants individuels, physiques et psychologiques reliés à chaque type de symptômes seront identifiés. Méthode : Au cours d’entrevues guidées par des enquêteurs formés, les indigents (n = 1314) provenant de quatre districts sanitaires ont rempli un questionnaire qui évaluait leur état de santé physique et mentale. Des données sociodémographiques ont également été recueillies lors de ces entrevues. Résultats : Les symptômes se regroupent sous trois types distincts : anxiodépressifs, somatiques et psychotiques. Un total de 1234 (n = 93,9%) participants ont répondu avoir ressenti au moins un symptôme anxiodépressif dans le dernier mois. Les déterminants liés à ce type de symptômes sont les suivants : le district sanitaire, l’âge, l’état de santé, le besoin en nourriture, un événement dramatique survenu dans la dernière année, le fonctionnement global, le sentiment d’exclusion, les symptômes somatiques et les comportements stigmatisés. Au moins un symptôme somatique a été ressenti dans le dernier mois par 1087 (n = 82,7%) répondants. Ce type de symptômes est en lien avec les déterminants suivants : le district sanitaire, la cohabitation, un problème de santé, l’état de santé perçu, le manque de moyens financiers pour obtenir des soins de santé, le fonctionnement global, le sentiment d’exclusion et les comportements stigmatisés. Finalement, 256 (n = 19,5%) indigents ont répondu avoir vécu au moins un symptôme psychotique au cours de leur vie. Les déterminants en lien avec ces symptômes sont ceux-ci : le district sanitaire, le sentiment d’exclusion et les comportements stigmatisés. Conclusion : Les résultats montrent que la prévalence de symptômes de troubles de santé mentale est élevée chez les indigents interrogés et que ceux-ci se sentent exclus de leur communauté. Pour assurer l’équité d’accès aux soins de santé, les indigents atteints de symptômes de santé mentale doivent bénéficier d’un processus spécifique de prise en charge. Cette problématique doit être encadrée par des politiques de santé et des ressources sont nécessaires pour répondre au besoin présent dans cette population.

The Indigency Policy / Programme was introduced by the Tshwane Municipality in 2000 to alleviate poverty by assisting the poor with subsidized limited basic municipal services. The goal of this study was to explore the experiences and views of indigent older persons in Atteridgeville of the Indigency Policy / Programme of the Tshwane Municipality. Limited literature was available on the topic and hence the researcher undertook a qualitative study that was exploratory and descriptive in nature to explore this unknown area. The key recommendations were: There is a need for active involvement and availability of municipal social workers; continuous monitoring, education and evaluation by the municipality for the communities. It was recommended that the Municipality conduct a full scale research on indigents` experience and perceptions/ views of their Indigency Policy / Programme in Tshwane. / Social Work / M. A. (Mental Health)

The Indigency Policy / Programme was introduced by the Tshwane Municipality in 2000 to alleviate poverty by assisting the poor with subsidized limited basic municipal services. The goal of this study was to explore the experiences and views of indigent older persons in Atteridgeville of the Indigency Policy / Programme of the Tshwane Municipality. Limited literature was available on the topic and hence the researcher undertook a qualitative study that was exploratory and descriptive in nature to explore this unknown area. The key recommendations were: There is a need for active involvement and availability of municipal social workers; continuous monitoring, education and evaluation by the municipality for the communities. It was recommended that the Municipality conduct a full scale research on indigents` experience and perceptions/ views of their Indigency Policy / Programme in Tshwane. / Social Work / M. A. (Mental Health)