The English novelist, Doris Lessing elucidates the rigidity of a society, which is based upon patriarchy, in her novels, The Fifth Child and Ben in the World. This essay illustrates the causes and the effects of a patriarchal system in the light of feminist ideology supported by Freud’s theories about the acquisition of gender roles. The analysis in this essay of patriarchy and masculinity shows that the novels’ societies as a whole, as well as their criminal subcultures are upheld by people who hold prejudice against others, who do not fit in society’s normal structures, believe in authoritarian social systems and prefer rational solutions to decisions for reasons of conscience. Lessing depicts the complexity of the social relations between characters of different social classes and their relations to society’s institutions. Her unprejudiced penetration into the minds of society’s marginalized people and into the minds of those who represent the oppressive established society illuminates different sides of patriarchy. Lessing gives us to understand that it is extremely difficult, from a moral point of view, to distinguish the established society from its criminal subcultures or society’s oppressors from its victims. Society’s accepted gender roles in the patriarchal system are often ironically described in these novels, certainly with the aim of making us question normative manners, habits and attitudes.

Women have been abused from the beginning of time and it would appear that a patriarchal system has facilitated this abuse. Churches, in general, and Seventh-Day Adventists, in particular, have been silent on the issue of Abuse. It is my thesis that a predominantly confessional Seventh-Day Adventist's view and use of Scripture are foundational to this silence on human rights issues. Adventist eschatology is predominantly apocalyptic in nature, focussing on end-time events, thus, the present is viewed secondary. Human rights issues are marginalised with the focus on evangelism. Thus, relationships are secondary and abused women have not been accommodated within the Seventh-Day Adventist framework of worship and caring. / M.Th. (Practical Theology)

Cette recherche qualitative et exploratoire porte sur la construction identitaire de l’homme marié violent au Liban. Elle s’appuie notamment sur les discours de l’homme violent et de la femme violentée (récits de vie, interrogatoires juridiques, questionnaires) et aussi sur le discours de personnes-ressources non violentes. La construction identitaire de l’homme violent au Liban est liée au système patriarcal fortement ancré dans la culture, les institutions et la vie des Libanais. L’homme évolue en fonction de 3 prototypes :- masculin : dominant, pourvoyeur, protecteur, agressif- féminin : soumise, femme au foyer, disponible, douce- du couple : verrouillage des autres prototypes dans une complémentarité sexisteLa violence masculine traduit la place de l’homme dans le couple (violences symboliques et violences spontanées), elle traduit aussi sa volonté de conserver l’ordre patriarcal dans la famille car toute évolution des prototypes notamment celui de la femme est sentie par l’homme comme une menace contre sa masculinité (violences interactionnelles). La violence est accentuée car le Liban évolue sous l’empire de stress, ce qui met les rôles patriarcaux en question en permanence. La trajectoire identitaire de l’homme violent libanais montre qu’il a un père autoritaire et sévère, parfois faible. Sa mère pourrait être envahissante, absente ou ambivalente. Du point de vue couple l’homme violent cherche le couple fusionnel car il traduit parfaitement la complémentarité patriarcale sexiste. L’ordre social patriarcal libanais est en perpétuelle reproduction engendrant des hommes sexistes prêts à devenir violents. La femme est encerclée par la violence même, sa honte d’être femme battue et/ou femme divorcée, mais aussi à cause du tiers d’idéologie sexiste : parents, amis, société, institutions concernées. La lutte contre la violence conjugale au Liban doit être totale : contre la violence, les inégalités de genre et la culture patriarcale. / This qualitative and exploratory research is about the construction of the identity of the violent married man in Lebanon. It is based on different sources, the violent man, the battered woman discourse (biography, court records, and questionnaires) and the discourse of non-violent resource-person. The construction of the identity of the violent man in Lebanon is related to the patriarchal system which is strongly anchored in the culture, institution and life of the Lebanese. In this environment man evolves into three prototypes:- The masculine: dominant, protector, provider, aggressive.- The feminine: submissive, housewife, available, soft.- The couple: the clamping of the two other prototypes in one complementary sexist relationship.The masculine violence can reflect the man’s place in the couple (symbolic violence, spontaneous violence), and can also show the willingness to conserve the patriarchal order in the family because every evolution of prototypes especially the women’s role is felt by man as a threat against his masculinity (interaction violence). Violence is accentuated because Lebanon is a society under stress, which permanently distorts the masculine image. The identity trajectory of the Lebanese violent man shows that he has an authoritarian and severe father figure, or a feeble one. His mother can be overbearing, absent or ambivalent. Concerning the couple, the violent man searches for the fusional couple because it reflects perfectly the sexist patriarchal complementarity. The Lebanese social patriarchal order is in perpetual reproduction generating sexist man ready to become violent. The woman is surrounded by violence, and shame feeling of being a battered woman and/or divorced woman, and because of the others that are sexist: parents, friends, society institutions and concerned responsible. The struggle against violence can only be total: it must be against violence, gender inequality and against patriarchal society.

Women have been abused from the beginning of time and it would appear that a patriarchal system has facilitated this abuse. Churches, in general, and Seventh-Day Adventists, in particular, have been silent on the issue of Abuse. It is my thesis that a predominantly confessional Seventh-Day Adventist's view and use of Scripture are foundational to this silence on human rights issues. Adventist eschatology is predominantly apocalyptic in nature, focussing on end-time events, thus, the present is viewed secondary. Human rights issues are marginalised with the focus on evangelism. Thus, relationships are secondary and abused women have not been accommodated within the Seventh-Day Adventist framework of worship and caring. / M.Th. (Practical Theology)

The Dominican Sisters of St Catharine of Siena arrived in South Africa in 1877. White women joined the congregation. In 1928 the first black woman entered the congregation but because of the policies affecting the different race groups in South Africa, the full integration of black and coloured women was not achieved until 1983. Chapter 1 introduces the topic of the integration of the black and coloured sisters. Chapter 2 traces the origin of the congregation and looks at its development. A brief overview of the story of the black sisters is given in Chapter 3. In the next chapter archival sources are used to understand what happened. Interviews that were conducted with some of the sisters involved in the story are given in Chapter 5. In Chapter 6 there is a look at the current situation and some of the implications for the future as the process of integration continues. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Systematic Theology)

The Dominican Sisters of St Catharine of Siena arrived in South Africa in 1877. White women joined the congregation. In 1928 the first black woman entered the congregation but because of the policies affecting the different race groups in South Africa, the full integration of black and coloured women was not achieved until 1983. Chapter 1 introduces the topic of the integration of the black and coloured sisters. Chapter 2 traces the origin of the congregation and looks at its development. A brief overview of the story of the black sisters is given in Chapter 3. In the next chapter archival sources are used to understand what happened. Interviews that were conducted with some of the sisters involved in the story are given in Chapter 5. In Chapter 6 there is a look at the current situation and some of the implications for the future as the process of integration continues. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Systematic Theology)