Youth minister self-efficacy may be affected by the education received regarding positive youth development and adolescent development in general. A survey intended to explore the correlation between youth minister self-efficacy and education was administered to 43 Southern Baptist youth ministers in Mississippi. The survey used Lykert-type scales, multiple-choice questions, and open-ended questions to assess self-efficacy and positive youth development and adolescent development knowledge. Analysis of variance and correlations were used to analyze the data. Findings indicate that youth minister self-efficacy is related to adolescent development knowledge, but not significantly related to positive youth development knowledge. These findings provide insight into the effect of education on youth minister self-efficacy and lay a groundwork for further research regarding ministerial education and its effects.

Thesis aims on analyzing public appearances of former Czech prime minister Petr Nečas with special focus on pragmatics and reasoning. Whole analysis is performed with regard to political context. The goal of the thesis is creating complete characteristics, which can be used as a basis in future researches in pragmatics, political marketing or political PR. Using qualitative approach the thesis analyzes recordings from political debates, parliament meetings and press conferences from the era, when Petr Nečas was prime minister. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

This masters disertation is focused on an important Czech politician Alois Rašín and his reflection in the period daily newspapers. The researched period is from October 1922 to February 1923. Three important events related to Rašín happened in that period - his second appointment as the minister of finances and his assassination. In the first chapter I write about Rašín as a person and politician. In the second chapter I focus on the political situation during the First republic and Rašín's uneasy relations to others. The third chapter is the research I do using the period daily newspapers. I epitomize my findings in the summary.

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Following the completion of four minor research projects as part of a doctoral program at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, the writer developed an interest in the church-based values and beliefs held by students in Ministry Training Colleges (MTCs). The four minor projects revealed that a strongly embedded culture seemed to exist within the Assemblies Of God (AOG) in Australia. The aim of this study was to investigate the transmission of church-based values to students in an AOG, Ministry Training College (MTC) context. It undertakes this task by asking five Research Questions: What values are transmitted in AOG church contexts? ; From what principal sources do the values come? ; Why are the values transmitted in AOG church contexts? ; How, and by what means, are these values transmitted? ; and How and why would students choose to acquire these values? After briefly describing the religious context in Australia, defining the meaning of values, and examining various models of transfer, the dissertation includes a review of the literature relevant to values processes. The review is organized according to the Research Questions. From this, a theoretical explanation is produced that anticipates how values processes may impact on MTC students in an AOG context. A suitable method was selected, namely interactive interviews, from which to obtain data relevant to the Research Questions. Six student subjects from a MTC in Australia, as a selected group of AOG participants, were subsequently interviewed and the data were organized, presented and analyzed. The data analysis and interpretation confirmed the theoretical position taken as far as their overall applicability to values transfer was concerned, namely: the values transmitted are primarily charismatic values, with some lesser emphasis on character values; the sources from which the values come are primarily Christian-influenced; the values are transmitted in AOG contexts because AOG churches, departments and ministries aim to be change agents in the community, to promote church continuance, and to a lesser extent, to motivate their members; the values are transmitted through various AOG communicative methods and through utilizing suitable venues for facilitating transmission. Low-Road conditions (i.e., transferring values across highly similar situations) are utilized; and MTC students choose to acquire values because of their personal interests and passions, including their desire to be accepted within the AOG church. However, the data also indicate that the unique, personal characteristics of MTC students strongly impact on the way they engage with values processes. In short, the students are highly compliant and committed to the church. However, each student respondent has his/her own set of reasons and characteristics for cooperating with church-based values. The dissertation concludes by identifying a number of issues raised by the data, that need further investigation, and by discussing some of the implications arising from the data. Its key finding is that AOG students tend to eagerly acquire church-based values, even though they have different reasons for doing so, and that they present themselves to the AOG church as highly compliant. In this sense, students may be seen as &quotmade in the image of the church&quot.

This study examines sources of clergy stress and ministers' coping strategies. The aim was to investigate Calvinist worldviews and their effects on Presbyterian ministers' choice of coping and stress levels. Specific hypotheses and questions were derived from process-stress theory and applications in the psychology of religion, as well as from secularisation theory. The author designed and conducted three separate, related studies. The first used 54 theological students comprising the pre-ministry stage. The second, focal study was of 65 parish ministers of the Presbyterian Church in NSW. These groups were chosen for an intensive study of the influence of Calvinist beliefs on stress and coping over two stages of ministry. The third surveyed 363 adult church attenders of Presbyterian congregations in NSW for specific analyses of stress-coping processes. Data were obtained through scales, questionnaires and interviews with parish ministers. Presbyterian students scored high on religious commitment but low in their endorsement of Calvinist beliefs. Presbyterian congregations also scored high on religious commitment and moderately high on their endorsement of Presbyterian beliefs. Major findings related to attributions and religious coping. Congregational members attributed life crises and hassles to God's allowing the situation, together with other human causes. Ministers had high religious commitment and agreement with Calvinist beliefs. One third scored at clinical levels of anxiety and burnout. Stress levels were strongly related to using an external locus of coping and less strongly to deficiencies in training and equipment for ministry. These stress levels were not directly related to role conflict or specific situational measures. Overall, findings pointed to inadequacies in process-stress theory for examining occupational stress. Ministry stress was best explained as a consequence of attempts to live out a Calvinist ideal in the absence of institutional and social legitimation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This dissertation examines key characteristics and factors shaping the leadership style of Swedish Prime Ministers (PMs). Based on the research of the American presidency, an interactionist framework is developed which draws upon institutional theory and political psychological theory. The analysis is advanced by exploring multiple sources and is based on four cases of leadership styles:  two single party Social Democratic PMs, Ingvar Carlsson and Göran Persson, as well as two center/right coalition PMs, Thorbjörn Fälldin and Carl Bildt. Leadership style is studied through a focused comparison of the PMs’ performance of four functions. Thus, the four PMs are studied as staffers and organizers of the cabinet and the Government Offices, decision makers, communicators and crisis managers. The results indicate that the office of the PM is elastic, accommodating a wide-ranging variation of leadership styles. The Social Democratic PMs display the most uniform leadership styles, but, rather surprisingly, they also have the most dissimilar leadership styles among the four cases. The center/right PMs’ approaches differ to a great extent from one another, displaying mixed forms of leadership styles. The analysis explains how the PMs’ leadership styles are shaped based on the interaction between their distinct personal characteristics and surrounding institutions. Thus, the dissertation concludes that leadership theories developed in a presidential setting are largely applicable in a parliamentary setting and that political behavior is not dictated by institutions such as formal structures or norms. The results encourage a reassessment of how personality, as an explanatory factor, is applied in mainstream political science. Furthermore, the analysis highlights the need for reconsidering the presidentialisation thesis and the notion of dominant leadership as there are alternative pathways to prime ministerial influence which are disregarded in the debate.

<p>This study focuses on the impact on service provision arising from uncertainties in the UC Act. There are serious problems with the delivery of basic services in urban areas: including frequent interruptions in water supply, persistent power cuts, uncollected refuse, poor health services and dilapidated infrastructure. The purpose of this study is to highlight specific weaknesses in the UC Act and examine how these contribute to poor service delivery. The specific weaknesses to be examined are the unfettered powers of the minister, lack of legal certainty on powers and functions of UCs, limited revenue generating powers and lack of autonomy in recruiting senior council administration. First, UCs exercise delegated powers from central government. The minister has powers to give directions on matters of policy, suspend, reverse, or rescind council resolutions. There is no legal authority to check and balance the unfettered powers of the minister. Poor service delivery may be attributed in part to the unfettered powers of the minister. Secondly, UCs do not have devolved fiscal powers. As agents of central government, UCs can only levy those taxes and borrow money as authorised by the minister. The limited capacities of UCs to generate own revenue impacts negatively on the capacity of UCs to respond to the needs of the communities they serve.</p>

<p>This study focuses on the impact on service provision arising from uncertainties in the UC Act. There are serious problems with the delivery of basic services in urban areas: including frequent interruptions in water supply, persistent power cuts, uncollected refuse, poor health services and dilapidated infrastructure. The purpose of this study is to highlight specific weaknesses in the UC Act and examine how these contribute to poor service delivery. The specific weaknesses to be examined are the unfettered powers of the minister, lack of legal certainty on powers and functions of UCs, limited revenue generating powers and lack of autonomy in recruiting senior council administration. First, UCs exercise delegated powers from central government. The minister has powers to give directions on matters of policy, suspend, reverse, or rescind council resolutions. There is no legal authority to check and balance the unfettered powers of the minister. Poor service delivery may be attributed in part to the unfettered powers of the minister. Secondly, UCs do not have devolved fiscal powers. As agents of central government, UCs can only levy those taxes and borrow money as authorised by the minister. The limited capacities of UCs to generate own revenue impacts negatively on the capacity of UCs to respond to the needs of the communities they serve.</p>

Magister Legum - LLM