This thesis deals with the subject of life goals. It presents selected life goal theories and possible life goal classifications. Attention is also paid to developmental characteristics of life goals in the context of Theories of life-span development. Another related subject is meaningfulness of life - which is closely related to life goals. It outlines philosophical roots of this concept and some psychological theories. The last subject of the theoretical part is psychological construct of well-being, which is presented by selected theories. Empirical part of this thesis is trying to verify the hypothesis that there is a significant difference between the content of important goals of younger and older adults. It also examines the connexion between intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations and Life satisfaction. In order to attain this aim, we used two methods trough two different questionnaires - Satisfaction with Life Scale and Aspiration Index (AI). Samples were made by assessing answers of 962 Czech adult respondents, and the survey packet was distributed to participants online. We found significant differences between younger and older adults in the importance attributed to different goals which concerned: Affiliation, Sense of community, Physical health, Financial Success, Image, Popularity,...

Thesis (MPhil (Sociology and Social Anthropology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Rising crime rates among the youth in South Africa is a major problem. In the Western Cape this concern is particularly urgent and is compounded by issues relating to gangsterism and drugs. This study analyses why youth offenders, based at Lindelani become involved in crime and how they subsequently see their future. The first part of the study reviews theories of crime and deviance, such as the classical school of criminology, psychological, biological and sociological explanations of crime. The usefulness of the criminological developmentalist approach toward identifying risk factors statistically correlated to the perpetration of crime is discussed. Common factors associated with crime in the South African context are identified including family, peers, gang, drug, school, media and neighbourhood related factors as well as the absence of spirituality. Thereafter the literature associated with the development of aspirations, life goals and the concept of possible selves is explained. The relationship between possible selves, aspirations and life goals are discussed and details regarding how possible selves influence delinquency are presented. Following the theoretical analysis, the problem of crime in South Africa with reference to the youths interviewed is outlined. The strategies pursued by government to combat crime are discussed and the effective potential of these approaches are evaluated. An overview of government’s policy toward youth in South Africa is given followed by specific reference to the issues surrounding youth and crime in the Western Cape, with explicit reference to the Cape Flats and gangs. This provides the background to the Lindelani case study. An overview of the operations and challenges facing Lindelani Place of Safety and the profile of offences typically committed by youth are given. Hereafter the findings are presented. The findings are divided into two sections; the first explores the life world of youth at Lindelani by discussing why youth in the Western Cape perpetrate crime and identifies factors that are associated with their involvement. The findings report on the influence of family and household structure, peers, neighbourhood environment, gangs, drugs, school, media, perceived aptitude of youth offenders, role models and spirituality. Section two presents the findings regarding the possible selves, life goals and aspirations of the youth. The general aspirations, possible selves, family aspirations, friendship, neighbourhood, spiritual, educational and occupational aspirations are explored. The study thereby presents the voices of these young offenders.

This work deals with positive thinking and its impact on quality of the life. The theoretical part describes positive thinking, what affects it, and if is the possibility to change the thinking. It further describes concept of quality of the life and with it the most associated term the Health. In following chapters, I deal with concepts of optimism, pessimism, and the conclusion of theoretical work form chapters about failure, success and goals.The practical part contains data obtained from the questionnaire, which is aimed on finding the quality of life. To determine the quality of life was used assessment method named SEIQoL (KŘIVOHLAVÝ, 2001). Another part of the research includes interviews with selected individuals and finding a way of thinking by using the scale of prevailing way of thinking (Slezáčková, 2012). In selected individuals are results of SEIQoL methods compared with the results of the scale prevailing way of thinking.

The overarching question of this dissertation is in what ways complementary currencies (CC) systems can contribute to environmental sustainability from an institutional and ecological economics perspective. More particularly, the research focuses on household energy consumption, as it is an important target for policy makers in the EU. The first three chapters focus on the emerging trend of using CC systems as top-down instruments for environmental sustainability. Our findings relate to developing a taxonomy of these systems, designing new top-down CC systems adapted to the context of energy savings in the household sector, exploring the influence of these new systems on the quality of motivation in the light of Self-Determination Theory and investigating the acceptability and effectiveness of these systems. In the fourth and last chapter of this dissertation, we approach our research question from a bottom-up angle and, using an inductive methodology, we explore how community currencies could act as an organising instrument capable of helping cohousing communities achieve their energy-efficiency potential. Finally, we conclude by highlighting our contributions regarding the structure and important features of these systems, how they can be used in an ecological economics paradigm, and how they can set rules for collective action in an institutional perspective. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

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Subjective Defining of Life Goals of Pupils with Behavioural Disturbances Author: Jan Chaloupka Faculty of Education, Charles University in Prague - Department of Special Education Supervisor: Mgr. Jana Mottlová Based on studying literature on general pedagogy, special pedagogy and psychology as well as on the author's personal experience with working with pupils with behavioural disturbances, the author proposes a hypothesis, according to which the long-term goal seeking efforts of the majority of pupils concerning socialization and education are absent, distorted and ineffective. The objective of this paper is to confirm or refute the validity of the hypothesis as well as to theoretically formulate impulses for practice. The research was performed on a sample of 120 respondents and a contrastive control group of 30 grammar school students. It was effectuated by means of a questionnaire and complemented by interviews, which are not included in full form for space reasons. The research has shown that in a heterogeneous group of respondents, a majority of two thirds is either incapable of life goals definition or the definition is rather inadequate and unrealistic. The author, however, has identified the reasons for this neither in the faulty family or educational background nor in decreased...