Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Social Work))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

As a result of the restructuring of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in 1996 and various other factors, Police Social Work Services decided to broaden the scope of its services by developing and introducing proactive personnel capacity-building programmes. By 1999, 15 such programmes had been developed. The need subsequently arose for a comprehensive impact assessment and cost-benefit analysis of these programmes and the Evaluation of Personnel Capacity-Building Programmes (EPCaP) study was launched in 2001. The evaluation of the Anger Management, Assertiveness and Conflict Management Programmes, as well as a cost-benefit analysis of the Life Skills programmes as a whole, formed part of this research. Objectives: This study had two primary aims. The first was to determine the effect of the Assertiveness, Conflict Management and Anger Management programmes on the knowledge, attitude and behaviour of SAPS personnel. The second was to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of the Life Skills programmes as a whole. Method: In the case of the effect measurement, a comparison group pre-test and post-test design and triangulation were used. Eighteen measurement scales and a presenter's evaluation questionnaire were developed and completed by 627 experimental group respondents, 150 comparison group members and 32 presenters. In the cost-benefit analysis, a comprehensive, computerised ROI analysis programme that was developed by Meyer et al. (2003) was primarily used. It measured the interventions' return on investment (ROI), net present value (NPV), payback period, internal rate of return (IRR) and learning cost per attendee. Results: By means of the triangulation of measurements it was ascertained that the three personnel capacity-building programmes had a practical significant effect on the respondents' knowledge, attitude and behaviour. They could, therefore, be considered as effective tools in the hands of Police Social Work Services which not only empowered SAPS personnel to lead more productive professional lives, but also enhanced their personal well-being. The cost-benefit analysis indicated that the Life Skills Programmes represented a worthwhile investment of the organisation's time, money and effort. In its first year of implementation alone, it produced a return on investment (ROI) coefficient of more than 1700%. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Social Work))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

[Truncated abstract] Conservative, incremental and modest approaches to redressing gendered workplace cultures have had limited success in challenging the demographic profile of densely masculinist workplaces. In this thesis I draw on a study of women in police work to argue that combating highly institutionalised, entrenched masculinist practices calls for more than modesty. Indeed the study shows that ambitious, even contentious, recommendations for new procedures can play an important role when the goal is tangible change in cultures where there is an excess of men. In conclusion I posit the need for some bold risk-taking, alongside incremental tactics, if the aim is to change the habits and practices of masculinist organisations . . . This dissertation maps that interventionist process across a four-year period. In assessing the role played by the feminist methodology I analyse what people can learn to see and say about organisational practices, how they participate in or seek to undermine various forms of teamwork, as well as how individual team members display their new understandings and behaviours. I conclude that the techniques for supporting women in authoritarian, densely masculinist workplaces should include some bold and highly visible ‘critical acts’, based on commitment from the top coupled to strongly motivated and highly informed teamwork.

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Die rol van die maatskaplike werker verbonde aan die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens Hoofkantoor en sy afdelings is die onderwerp van hierdie studie. Hierdie rol is aan die hand van die take wat deur middel van die studie geTdentifiseer is, bepaal. Personeelmaatskaplikewerk het die teoretiese agtergrond vir hierdie studie gevorm. Maatskaplike werk in die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens is fundamenteel in terme van sy ontstaan en ontwikkeling, missie en doelstellings beskryf.Die empiriese opname het volgens die nominale groepstegniek en 'n gestruktureerde onderhoudskedule plaasgevind. Maatskaplike werkers, kapelane, sielkundiges en bestuurders/bevelvoerders verbonde aan die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens Hoofkantoor en sy afdelings was as respondente gebruik. Die navorser het die kennis wat deur hierdie studie opgedoen is, gebruik om spesifieke aanbevelings te maak ten opsigte van Maatskaplikewerkdienste in die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens, Hoofkantoor-afdelings. / The role of the social worker attached to the South African Police Service, Head Office and its divisions is the subject of this study. This role has been prescribed by tasks which were dictated by the study. Industrial social work formed the theoretical background for this study. Social work in the South African Police Service is described in foundation in terms of its origin and development, mission and objectives. The empirical survey was carried out according to the nominal group technique and a structured interview schedule. Social workers, chaplains, psychologists and managers/ officers commanding on the staff of the South African Police Service, Head Office and its divisions, were used as respondents. The researcher has used the information gained by this study to make specific recommendations regarding Social Work Services, Head Office Divisions, in the South African Police. / Social Work / M.A.(Social Work)

Organizations in South Africa have been going through a great deal of change in recent years. However, little is known about the effects on employees. This study aimed to ascertain the psychological impact of change on the employees of a large public service organization, the South African Police Service. The findings were contrary to what was expected with the only significant difference between the samples being for anxiety in black managers. Circumstances outside the work situation were the strongest predictors for stress, anxiety and depression. However, factors in the work situation played a more significant role in predicting the variance in stress and anxiety in the second sample. The within group differences were the opposite of what was expected with black managers having higher stress and depression levels than their white counterparts in both samples and higher anxiety levels than both their white and coloured counterparts in the second sample. / Psychology / M.A. (Research Psychology)

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015. / The main aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the PMS applied by the SAPS, using the case of Nyanga Metropole. The primary objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of employee performance management systems at the SAPS, in the Western Cape Province. The secondary objective of this study is to understand and investigate challenges experienced by SAPS while the PMS is implemented. To determine the existing practice and awareness of performance appraisal. To measure cooperation and coordination among members and other partners which will therefore assist in connecting jurisdictional tensions and prevent conflicts amongst members of SAPS and the community. To recommend workable approaches for improving the PMS, and suggest the performance management programmes that should be implemented and monitored for support of the SAPS. The rationale for selecting Nyanga was because it is a less developed location and also has a high poverty rate and lots of crime, which lead to affecting police member’s performance. The study employed mixed methods where data was triangulated between qualitative and quantitative sources. Mixed methods research provides strengths that offset the weaknesses of both quantitative and qualitative research. Mixed methods research provides more evidence for studying a research problem than either quantitative or qualitative research alone (Creswell, 2009: 12-13).

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / This study examined concerns relating to the provision of quality service by the community service centres of police stations and identified how this provision is linked to quality management practices. The researcher adopted a mixed method approach, utilising both qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore the service provided to the clients of three police stations in Mfuleni, Kuilsriver and Kleinvlei.

In South Africa the extraordinary high levels of violence and crime, escalating execution and killings of police officers, large number of murders, hijacking, robberies and shootings have created an unusually dangerous and stressful working environment for the members of the South African Police Services (SAPS). An overview of the literature on the nature of work in the SAPS indicates that these working conditions might have a detrimental effect on the coping resources and sense of coherence of police officers. This study aimed to explore and describe the coping resources and sense of coherence of male police officers in the SAPS. It employed a quantitative exploratory descriptive research design, making use of non-probability convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 70 male police officers who have been in the service of the SAPS for at least two years. All police officers that were included in the sample were also shift workers defined by the SAPS as police officers who work unsociable hours and who are likely to be exposed to violence, risks, danger, and traumatic situations. A further inclusion criterion was that the police officers must not be subjected to possible relocation or transfer as stipulated in Resolution 7/2002. The Coping Resources Inventory (CRI) was employed to identify the coping resources used by the participants and the Sense of Coherence Questionnaire (SOC- 29) was utilised as a measure of the participants’ sense of coherence. A biographical questionnaire collated important demographic and background information. The data was analysed by computing descriptive statistics. To examine the relationship between the sense of coherence and coping resources of the participants, a multiple correlation xv between the total score of the SOC-29 and the subscales of the CRI was conducted. Following this, a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was utilised to intercorrelate the total score of the SOC-29 and the individual subscales of the CRI. The results of the present study indicated the followings: The SOC-29 revealed relatively low scores for the current sample. Results on the CRI revealed low average scores for both the total and all five scales. The correlational analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between the two measures for the current sample.

Public institutions have the responsibility to deliver various services to the public in the most effective and efficient manner. In South Africa, many public sector reforms were instituted after 1994. The main reasons for these reforms were to improve the access of the historically disadvantaged to public services, to increase efficiencies, to reduce costs and to reduce public debt. Despite improvements to the policy framework that underpins service delivery by the public sector, however, there are still many challenges in the delivery of public services. An improved public policy to deliver service alone is not enough if not supported by effective systems and processes for actual delivery, as well as effective leadership that leads and ensures the delivery of such services. Improving the organisational effectiveness of public institutions is therefore important in South Africa. The present study explores the role that leadership plays in the pursuit of organisational effectiveness in a selected public institution, namely the South African Police Service (SAPS). The primary objective of this study is to improve the organisational effectiveness of SAPS in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipal area by investigating the influence of leadership style (transactional and transformational) and personality (Machiavellian, narcissistic, collectivistic, masculine and feminine) on organisational effectiveness of SAPS (as measured by overall organisational performance and the individual job performance intentions of police officers). The research design is positivistic, as the relationships among the above-mentioned variables are statistically tested. The sample consisted of 90 police officers of senior rank drawn from five police stations in the Nelson Mandela Bay. The empirical results were reported and interpreted. These results revealed that constructive narcissistic and collectivistic leadership personality traits, as well as transformational leadership style exert a positive influence on the organisational performance of the Nelson Mandela Bay police precincts. The empirical results also showed that collectivistic leadership personality traits influence the performance intent of these police officials positively. These results are discussed in terms of the implications they hold for the managers of police precincts. The limitations of the study are reported which provide areas for future research.