This thesis analyses the law of child maintenance in South Africa with particular reference to the effects of marriage, death and divorce on such an obligation. In the introductory section, the types of South African family are demographically and statistically sketched, from a socio-legal perspective with some reliance on interdisciplinary research to assess the prevalence of the AID/HIV epidemic in South Africa, and the effects of poverty and ageing on the incidence of marriage and death. In the second part of the thesis, the parental child maintenance obligation is analysed in the common law context. The effects of serial marriage and arificial conception are also analysed with regard to their effect on the concept of biological parent. The nature and definition of parenthood is examined and the diverse and fluid nature of parenthood in South African society is stressed, particularly in relation to children's welfare. One of the aims of the thesis is to indicate how parenthood refers to a fluid set of social practices which are both biologically and culturally situated and thus have a complex effect on the maintenance obligation. The procedural problems of enforcement are also analysed in the light of recent amendments to the law in terms of the Maintenance Act 99 of 1998 (not yet in force) and some further proposals for reform in this area are proposed. The third part of the thesis examines the state obligation to maintain children, especially in the light of the state's commitments to children in terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act (l08 of 1996) and its international commitments in terms of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which was ratified by the South African government on 16 June 1995. In the fourth part of the thesis, there is some comparative analysis, firstly, of the procedural law reforms proposed in Namibia as a result of detailed research done there. Secondly, alternative methods of assessing and enforcing child maintenance obligations in Australia and England are examined and briefly assessed in relation to their possible implementation and efficacy in a South African context. Finally, the thesis concludes with an overall synopsis of the position in this country and some proposals for reform in the light of the international and constitutional commitments of the state.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Despite the importance of studying marriage patterns for a better understanding of colonial life, the subject has received little attention from a purely economic perspective. In his seminal work, European Marriage Patterns in Perspective (1965), J. Hajnal introduces the notion of a European Marriage Pattern (EMP) emerging in the late Middle Ages which became characteristic of Western European society in the early modern period. Hajnal points out several distinct aspects to distinguish Western European marriages from all other societies of the time. While existing literature in this field has typically focussed on the demographic features of marriage patterns, such as the average age of marriage, the share of the population that had never married, and the effects of the EMP on fertility and resulting population growth, little attention has been paid to the underlying mechanisms and causes of the EMP. Using genealogical records to track the ancestry of colonial settlers in South Africa, this study will investigate the evolution of marriage in the Cape Colony. The focus is primarily on the persistence of the EMP and attempt to determine whether it continued to characterise the marriages of European descendents outside of Europe, or whether a distinct marriage pattern emerged in the Cape Colony in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. It will explore the effect that such patterns may have historically had on family size, standards of living and life chances for European settlers at the Cape, with an aim to shed new light on the underlying causes of the EMP, by critically evaluating De Moor and van Zanden’s (2010) three hypotheses of the origins of this distinct marriage pattern. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ten spyte van die bydrae wat ’n studie van huwelikspatrone tot ’n beter begrip van die ekonomiese ontwikkeling en sosiale konteks tydens die koloniale era kan maak, ontvang hierdie onderwerp min aandag vanuit 'n suiwer ekonomiese perspektief. In John Hajnal se bekende publikasie, European Marriage Patterns in Perspective (1965), stel hy die konsep van 'n Europese Huweliks Patroon (EHP) voor. Hierdie patroon het waarskynlik in die laat-Middeleeue verskyn en die Wes-Europese samelewing in die vroeë-moderne tydperk gekenmerk. Hajnal beskryf sekere unieke aspekte wat Wes-Europese huwelike van alle ander samelewings van hierdie tydperk onderskei. Bestaande literatuur oor hierdie onderwerp fokus tipies op die demografiese kenmerke van huwelikspatrone, soos die gemiddelde ouderdom waarop individue trou, die gedeelte van die bevolking wat nooit trou nie en die gevolge wat die EHP op fertiliteit en bevolkingsgroei het. Min aandag is dus aan die onderliggende oorsake van die EHP gegee. Deur gebruik te maak van die Suid-Afrikaanse Geslagregisters is dit moontlik om die herkoms van koloniale setlaars in Suid-Afrika na te spoor. Hierdie studie fokus dus op die ontwikkeling van ’n huwelikspatroon in die Kaapkolonie. Die vraag is of die EHP die huwelike van Europese afstammelinge buite Europa steeds gekenmerk het en of daar ’n ander huwelikspatroon in die agtiende en vroeë-negentiende eeu in die Kaapkolonie na vore gekom het. Die vraag word beantwoord deur ’n kritiese analise van De Moor en van Zanden (2010) se drie hipoteses oor die oorsprong van hierdie eiesoortige huwelikspatroon.

Marriages with differences in religion are a source of misunderstanding, friction, and disharmony, and as a result, such marriages are exposed to a breakdown. Religion is not merely a set of beliefs, but a way of living and thinking. When this differs, it causes misunderstanding in the family and may cause marriage failure as adjustments to each other becomes compocated. D vorce is much more common in mixed marriages whether of different culture, religious or socio-economic background than when the backgrounds are similar. Religious similarity is linked to marital durability. The researcher wanted to indicate through this work that the increase of. marriages between people of different religious faiths does not really matter to people any longer. It is proved in this research that the outcome of such marriages is in most cases disastrous. Mixed marriages are the object of attention in every society because of their life meaning. Marriage is more than a relationship between individuals. It involves many more people, It is suggested in this study that African traditional methods like mahundwane (camping or a miniature village), betrothal and the giving of thakha (bride wealth} in marriage should be used to prevent both mixed marriages and marital problems which usually leads to marriage breakdown. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D. Litt et Phil. (Religious Studies)

Marriages with differences in religion are a source of misunderstanding, friction, and disharmony, and as a result, such marriages are exposed to a breakdown. Religion is not merely a set of beliefs, but a way of living and thinking. When this differs, it causes misunderstanding in the family and may cause marriage failure as adjustments to each other becomes compocated. D vorce is much more common in mixed marriages whether of different culture, religious or socio-economic background than when the backgrounds are similar. Religious similarity is linked to marital durability. The researcher wanted to indicate through this work that the increase of. marriages between people of different religious faiths does not really matter to people any longer. It is proved in this research that the outcome of such marriages is in most cases disastrous. Mixed marriages are the object of attention in every society because of their life meaning. Marriage is more than a relationship between individuals. It involves many more people, It is suggested in this study that African traditional methods like mahundwane (camping or a miniature village), betrothal and the giving of thakha (bride wealth} in marriage should be used to prevent both mixed marriages and marital problems which usually leads to marriage breakdown. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D. Litt et Phil. (Religious Studies)

This dissertation is a study about the faith action called "care" and covers the area of premarital pastoral work and marital pastoral work (marriage enrichment). Much has been written about the issue that marriage pastoral care and counselling is more than just dealing with troubled marriages or marital problems. The fact can't be ignored that pastoral care and counselling when it comes to married life have an important role to play in the sense of prevention and equipping. Premarital pastoral work in the form of marriage preparation and marital pastoral work in die form of marriage enrichment, focus on the prevention and equipping approach. The focus of this dissertation is prevention and equipping. In an effort to achieve this, this study looks at how pastors are doing premarital pastoral work with prospective marital couples, and marriage enrichment with married couples. This is done according to a twofold process. The first step focuses on the content of the programmes that the pastors present to prospective marital couples when they do premarital pastoral work. The second step in the study focuses on the needs of prospective marital couples. In this regard the focus is on the themes for marriage preparation that prospective marriage couples would like to see the pastor address when doing premarital pastoral work with them. Further this research deals with the preferences of prospective couples as to the timing, duration and presentation process with regard to marriage preparation sessions. In this study empirical research was undertaken to determine how pastors of the Apostolic Faith Mission in the Western Cape are doing premarital pastoral work and marriage enrichment, and how this is related to the needs of prospective marriage couples. The research problem was to determine whether pastors are addressing the needs of prospective couples when they are doing premarital pastoral work. The purpose of this study is to provide some guidelines which pastors can utilize when they are doing premarital pastoral work and marriage enrichment. / Practical Theology / D. Th. (Practical Theology)

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Marriage is regarded as one of the most important and universal cultural symbols of belonging, and incorporates a range of privileges that can be acquired in no other way. It is where relationships of desire, politics and economics are fused into personal and public rituals of socially sanctioned connection and inclusion. Yet it draws new boundaries of social inclusion and exclusion or stigmatisation. In this thesis I use narrative inquiry to investigate how seventeen Capetonian queer couples in committed relationships perceive and experience same-sex marriage, and ask whether the Civil Union Act has given them a greater sense of belonging. Sexuality is deeply politicised through gendered disciplinary regimes that impinge on people’s emotional and intimate lives. Sexual politics in South Africa today emerge from a complex history of the sycretisation of widely varying cultural and political discourses, beliefs and practices wrought through colonialism and post-colonial recuperation. The formal protection of lgbti-q identities in the post-apartheid South African Constitution is the outcome of strategic struggles for lgbti-q recognition as human rights. However, formal rights do not necessarily lead to social inclusion as they may not reflect extant cultural values, hence I use the thicker concept of ‘belonging’ as developed by Yuval-Davis to analyse everyday inclusion—a concept which enables me to understand ‘privatised’ and affective dimensions of citizenship shaped by contexts of care and interpersonal intimacy. Worldwide, marriage has long been a central institution in how societies regulate their social and physical reproduction; but marriage also confers privileges which can be accessed in no other way. As in the West, marriage equality was a key aim for lgbti-q struggles in South Africa. But feminists have critiqued marriage as an institution of gendered hierarchy and a site of profound oppression for women. It is at the centre of the private|public dichotomy, and symbolic of women’s differentiated citizenship through, inter alia, the ideology of ‘women as property’. Hence same-sex marriage is deeply politicised in how it upholds or challenges heteropatriarchy. By looking at how a diverse range of same-sex couples in committed relationships perceive and experience same-sex marriage in South Africa, I unravel the ambiguities and contradictions of marriage as a project of belonging for lesbians and gays. Marriage as a sexual politics of belonging is about how lesbian and gay citizens experience equality and dignity in their everyday lives—recognition of them as citizen-subjects, protection of their intimate relationships as well as their struggles for belonging. I engage with the complex outcomes of colonial conquest and post-colonial recuperation on African sexual identities, before turning to an understanding of queer citizenship. I show how belonging is a much thicker concept than citizenship because it accesses our affective relationships. I proceed to use Nira Yuval-Davis’s framework for analysing belonging. She divides belonging into two streams: facets of belonging relating to identities, social locations and political and ethical values; and a politics of belonging. Struggles for belonging are waged around boundaries of inclusions and exclusions, and only become visible when belonging is contested. Projects for belonging are complex and multi-layered negotiations around the boundaries of belonging. Using narrative inquiry, I present the stories of seventeen couples and six key informants to fashion a narrative about same-sex marriage as a project of belonging. I asked them about coming out, and how they met their partners. They also told me about their relationships with children and significant others. We talked about their perceptions and experiences of same-sex marriage, and their views of the Constitution and Civil Union Act. I also asked about their sense of safety as queers and what they thought needed to be done to help queers belong (more). The participants’ most significant sense of belonging derived from having their rights protected in the Constitution. Their sense of entitlement to be who they are, was the outcome of powerful struggles for recognition. The various couples had been in committed relationships for between 8 and 52 years. Some had made use of the immigration status of same-sex partners to be together, which meant they were instantly thrown into ‘marriage’-like situations. Some didn’t want to get married, but 10 couples were married. Except for two couples, all the couples who got married did it primarily for the tangible benefits associated with marriage: through marriage they established formal kinship relationships linked to property and commitment to care. They were generally not interested in the cultural trappings of ‘weddings’, and had modest and quiet ceremonies. All the married couples affirmed that the Act had given them a greater sense of belonging. While all the participants valued formal recognition through the Constitution, the lack of substantive equality needed to be addressed to ensure future belonging for lgbti-q. I concluded that same-sex marriages are powerful social institutions, capable of either upholding heteropatriarchies through homonormative performances, but also capable of subversions. A foundational challenge comes through disrupting the ‘women as property’ exchange embedded in most marital traditions. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die huwelik word beskou as een van die belangrikste en algemeenste kulturele simbole van samesyn, en behels ’n reeks voordele wat op geen ander manier toeganklik is nie. Die huwelik is die kern waar begeerte, politiek en ekonomie verenig in persoonlike en openbare instellings van gemeenskaplike aanvaarding en verbinding. Terselfdertyd teken dit ook nuwe grense van sosiale insluiting, uitsluiting of stigmatisering. In hierdie tesis ondersoek ek wat sewentien Kaapse queer paartjies in vaste verhoudings dink van gay huwelike en hoe hulle dit ondervind, en ek vra of die Civil Union Act hulle meer samesyn (belonging) laat voel. Seksualiteit is uiters polities omdat dissiplinêre sisteme mense se emosionele en intieme lewes reguleer. Seksuele politiek in die huidige Suid-Afrika spruit uit ’n gekompliseerde geskiedenis van ’n samevloeiing van verkillende kulturele en politiese diskoerse, gelowe en praktyke van kolonialisme en post-kolonialistiese herstel. Die formele beskerming van lgbti-q identiteite in die post-apartheid Grondwet van Suid-Afrika, is die uitkomste van strategiese stryde vir lgbti-q herkenning as menseregte. Nogtans het formele regte nie noodwendig gelei tot sosiale insluiting omdat hulle nie die bestaande kulturele waardes weerspieël nie, daarom gebruik ek die konsep van ‘samesyn’ soos ontwikkel deur Yuval-Davis om alledaagse insluiting te ontleed—’n konsep wat my in staat stel om die ‘private’ en emosionele dimensies van burgerskap, die kontekste van sorg en interpersoonlike intimiteit, te verstaan. Wêreldswyd is die huwelik ’n kerninstelling in die regulering van sosiale en fisiese voortplanting in gemeenskappe. Maar die huwelik verleen ook voorregte wat op geen ander manier verkrygbaar is nie. Soos in die Weste, is huweliks-gelykheid ’n sleutelpunt in stryde vir lgbti-q erkenning in Suid-Afrika. Maar feministe het kritiek gelewer teen die huwelik omdat hulle glo dis ’n terrein vir die instelling van geslagshiërargie en diepgaande onderdrukking van vroue. Dit is die spilpunt waarom die verdeling tussen privaat | openbaar draai, en is simbolies van vroue se gedifferensieerde burgerskap deur, onder andere, die ideologie van ‘vroue as besittings’. Dus is gay huwelike polities ingewortel in hoe hulle heteropatriargie onderskraag of aanvat. Deur te kyk hoe etlike Suid-Afrikaanse paartjies van dieselfde geslag hulle toegewyde verhoudings beskou en ondervind, ontrafel ek die raaisels en dubbelsinnighede van gay huwelike as ’n projek van samesyn vir lesbiërs en gays. Die huwelik as seksuele politiek van samesyn is hoe lesbiese en gay burgers in die alledaagse lewe hulle gelykheid en menswaardigheid beleef—dat hulle as burgers erken word, en dat hulle intieme verhoudings sowel as hulle stryde vir samesyn gekoester word. Ek ontrafel die kompleksiteit van Afrikane se seksualiteite deur die gevolge van koloniale verowering en post-koloniale herwinning aan te pak, voor ek na queer burgerskap kyk. Ek bewys dat samesyn ’n meer betekenisvolle begrip is as burgerskap omdat dit ook ons emosionele verhoudings kan aanspreek. Ek gebruik Nira Yuval-Davis se raamwerk vir die ontleding van samesyn. Sy deel dit in twee strome: fasette van samesyn verbonde aan identiteite, sosiale stand en politieke en etiese waardes; en die politiek van samesyn. Stryde oor samesyn word rondom grense van insluiting en uitsluiting gevoer, en word slegs sigbaar wanneer samesyn bevraagteken word. Projekte vir samesyn is ingewikkeld met veelvoudige onderhandelings rondom grense van in— of uitsluiting. Ek gebruik verhaalontleding om die stories van sewentien paartjies en ses sleutelinformante te omskep in ’n vertelling omtrent gay huwelike as ’n projek van samesyn. Ek het hulle gevra oor hoe hulle “uit die kas geklim” het, en hoe hulle hulle minnaars ontmoet het. Hulle het my ook vertel van hulle verhoudings met hulle kinders en belangrike mense in hulle lewens. Ons het gepraat oor hulle sienswyses oor, en ondervindings van, gay huwelike, en hulle sienings oor die Grondwet en Civil Union Act. Ek het ook uitgevra omtrent hoe veilig hulle voel as queers, en wat hulle dink gedoen moet word sodat queers (meer) samesyn kan ondervind. Die deelnemers se grootse gevoel van samesyn was as gevolg van hulle regte wat gekoester word deur die Grondwet. Hulle gevoel van geregtigheid om te wees wie hulle is, het gespruit uit ’n kragtige stryd vir erkenning. Die verskillende paartjies was tussen 8 en 52 jaar lank in vaste verhoudings. Party het gebruik gemaak van die immigrasie wetgewing vir gay minnaars om saam te bly, wat beteken het dat hulle hulle summier in ‘huwelik’-soortige verhoudings bevind het. Party wou nie trou nie, maar 10 paartjies het getrou. Behalwe twee paartjies, het al die paartjies gesê hulle het hoofsaaklik getrou om die tasbare voordele van huwelike te geniet: deur huwelike kon hulle formele verwantskappe skep met besittings en verpligtings tot sorg. Hulle was oor die algemeen nie geïnteresseerd in die kulturele vertoon van troues nie, en het beskeie en stil seremonies gehou. Al die getroude paartjies het gesê dat die Civil Union Act hulle ’n groter gevoel van samesyn gebring het. Alhoewel al die deelnemers die amptelike erkenning van die Grondwet waardeer het, het hulle gesê dat die gebrekkigheid aan substantiewe gelykheid aangespreek moet word om toekomstige samesyn vir gays te verseker. Ek het tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat gay huwelike kragtige gemeenskaplike instellings is wat heteropatriargieë kan onderskraag deur homonormatiewe gedrag, maar dat hulle ook ondermynend kan wees. ’n Fundamentele uitdaging is die moontlike ontwrigting van ‘vroue as besittings’ onderhandelings wat in meeste huwelikstradisies vasgelê is.

This dissertation is a study about the faith action called "care" and covers the area of premarital pastoral work and marital pastoral work (marriage enrichment). Much has been written about the issue that marriage pastoral care and counselling is more than just dealing with troubled marriages or marital problems. The fact can't be ignored that pastoral care and counselling when it comes to married life have an important role to play in the sense of prevention and equipping. Premarital pastoral work in the form of marriage preparation and marital pastoral work in die form of marriage enrichment, focus on the prevention and equipping approach. The focus of this dissertation is prevention and equipping. In an effort to achieve this, this study looks at how pastors are doing premarital pastoral work with prospective marital couples, and marriage enrichment with married couples. This is done according to a twofold process. The first step focuses on the content of the programmes that the pastors present to prospective marital couples when they do premarital pastoral work. The second step in the study focuses on the needs of prospective marital couples. In this regard the focus is on the themes for marriage preparation that prospective marriage couples would like to see the pastor address when doing premarital pastoral work with them. Further this research deals with the preferences of prospective couples as to the timing, duration and presentation process with regard to marriage preparation sessions. In this study empirical research was undertaken to determine how pastors of the Apostolic Faith Mission in the Western Cape are doing premarital pastoral work and marriage enrichment, and how this is related to the needs of prospective marriage couples. The research problem was to determine whether pastors are addressing the needs of prospective couples when they are doing premarital pastoral work. The purpose of this study is to provide some guidelines which pastors can utilize when they are doing premarital pastoral work and marriage enrichment. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Practical Theology)

Orientador: Evelina Dagnino / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T07:08:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Santos_GustavoGomesdaCosta_D.pdf: 1007047 bytes, checksum: b854b4d183a7e219363b228e2bd0e6d5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: A presente pesquisa analisa as lutas e conflitos em torno do reconhecimento legal das uniões entre pessoas do mesmo sexo no Brasil e na África do Sul. O estudo faz uso da perspectiva histórica para entender como ambos os países têm respondido às demandas por direitos sexuais no âmbito da política institucional. O "sucesso" sul-africano em criar uma ampla legislação favorável aos casais do mesmo sexo é contrastado com o relativo "fracasso" brasileiro em aprovar leis para este segmento da população. Variáveis do sistema político-jurídico, juntamente com a confluência (ou não) de projetos políticos comprometidos com a construção democrática presentes no âmbito da sociedade civil e do Estado explicam os resultados tão díspares nos dois países. A pesquisa inclui também a análise dos direitos garantidos aos casais do mesmo sexo em leis e decisões judiciais. Especial ênfase será dada na nomenclatura atribuída a estas uniões de maneira a compreender: a) se as leis e decisões judiciais garantem todos os direitos conjugais (herança, declaração conjunta de bens, adoção conjunta de crianças, garantia de visto de permanência de parceiro estrangeiro entre outros) aos casais do mesmo sexo e b) em que medida leis e decisões judiciais promoveram ou não a equiparação "simbólica" entre casais do mesmo sexo e casais do sexo opostos / Abstract: This research analyses the struggles and conflicts around the legal recognition of same-sex unions in Brazil and South Africa. The study takes the historical perspective to understand how both countries have met the demands for sexual rights in the political arena. The South African "success" in passing favorable legislation for same-sex couples is contrasted with the Brazilian "failure" in approving laws which extend marital rights for lesbian and gay couples. These divergent results are explained by differences in the configuration of political and legal systems and the presence (or not) of political actors (in civil society and the State) committed with a democratic political project. This study also includes an analysis of the rights granted to same-sex couples by laws and judicial decisions. Based on the differences in naming, the study examines: a) if laws and judicial decisions in both countries had extended all conjugal rights (inheritance, taxes deductions, joint adoption, immigration rights) to same-sex couples and b) to what extend had these laws and judicial decisions symbolically equalized same-sex and opposite sex couples / Doutorado / Ciencia Politica / Doutor em Ciência Política

Thesis in Afrikaans with summaries in Afrikaans and English. / Sosiale diskoerse kan moontlik 'n bepalende invloed op 'n individu se manier van lewe he. Hierdie studie bring enersyds, deur van die narratiewe gespreksbenadering gebruik te maak, 'n aantal diskoerse na vore wat op vyf wit Afrikaanssprekende mans in die Ned Geref Gemeente Vereeniging-Oos se manier van lewe 'n invloed gehad het of nog het. Die diskoerse wat deur die studie navore gebring word is: (a) 'n man is as broodwinner die primere versorger in die gesin; (b) 'n man is doelgerig en op sukses gefokus; (c) 'n man is dominant en aggressief; (d) 'n man fokus nie op emosies en verhoudings nie en (e) 'n man verander nie maklik nie. Andersyds toon die studie ook dat mans ten spyte van die sosiale diskoerse wat moontlik 'n invloed op hul lewens kon he, self alternatiewe wyses van manwees kon ontwikkel en dus nie noodwendig dlenooreenkomstig die sosiale diskoerse hoef te leef nie. / Social discourses may have a decisive influence on an individual's way of life. By means of a narrative conversational approach, this study introduces a number of discourses that had or still have an influence on five white Afrikaans-speaking men in the Dutch Reformed Congregation Vereeniging-East. The discourses are: (a) a man is as breadwinner the primary provider for the family; (b) a man is goal~oriented and focused on success; (c) a man is dominant and aggressive; (d) a man does not value emotions and relationships and (e) a man does not change easily. On the other hand the study indicates that men are able to develop alternative ways of being men in spite of social discourses influencing them. / Practical Theology / M.Th. (Pastoral Therapy)

Thesis in Afrikaans with summaries in Afrikaans and English. / Sosiale diskoerse kan moontlik 'n bepalende invloed op 'n individu se manier van lewe he. Hierdie studie bring enersyds, deur van die narratiewe gespreksbenadering gebruik te maak, 'n aantal diskoerse na vore wat op vyf wit Afrikaanssprekende mans in die Ned Geref Gemeente Vereeniging-Oos se manier van lewe 'n invloed gehad het of nog het. Die diskoerse wat deur die studie navore gebring word is: (a) 'n man is as broodwinner die primere versorger in die gesin; (b) 'n man is doelgerig en op sukses gefokus; (c) 'n man is dominant en aggressief; (d) 'n man fokus nie op emosies en verhoudings nie en (e) 'n man verander nie maklik nie. Andersyds toon die studie ook dat mans ten spyte van die sosiale diskoerse wat moontlik 'n invloed op hul lewens kon he, self alternatiewe wyses van manwees kon ontwikkel en dus nie noodwendig dlenooreenkomstig die sosiale diskoerse hoef te leef nie. / Social discourses may have a decisive influence on an individual's way of life. By means of a narrative conversational approach, this study introduces a number of discourses that had or still have an influence on five white Afrikaans-speaking men in the Dutch Reformed Congregation Vereeniging-East. The discourses are: (a) a man is as breadwinner the primary provider for the family; (b) a man is goal~oriented and focused on success; (c) a man is dominant and aggressive; (d) a man does not value emotions and relationships and (e) a man does not change easily. On the other hand the study indicates that men are able to develop alternative ways of being men in spite of social discourses influencing them. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Pastoral Therapy)