D.Phil. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. (Social Work) / As a result of the ruling Government's policy, a diverse group of individuals and organisations identified certain critical needs of black people - through their own initiative. In doing so they utilised basic community development principles which forms part of a new approach regarding need satisfaction in the new South Africa. The focus of this particular study is on one such a non-Governmental organisation, which developed from grass roots level to satisfy the needs of black children and their parents with regard to teaching and education. In the light of the growing demand for an educational service and the school's need to effectively address this problem, a need-sassessment was required in order to identify the needs of the children in the context of the school, from the perspective of key-persons and parents. Given the institution's development from grass roots level through community development principles, the institutions requirement of a needs-assessment as well as the fact that implementation of community development will ensure that community needs be addressed, this study will therefore be done in the framework of community development.

D.Litt. et Phil. / An escalation in the mortality rate in Western society directly attributable to destructive lifestyles, has generated intensive research into the causal link between health and lifestyle. Early research highlighted a positive correlation between participation in physical activity and enhanced physical health. The complexity of causal interactions between physical activity and general well-being has given rise to a more focused examination of various elements of health and the activities which support it. The scope of research has extended to include physical activity and its effect on mental health, as well as physical activity and its ability to create a positive state of mind. Results have been sufficiently impressive that medical practitioners and psychologists now commonly use programs of physical activity in the treatment of stress, depression and anxiety. A positive correlation between physical activity and improved state of mind has been primarily attributed to enhanced physical fitness and better biological functioning of the body as a result of physical activity. Researchers refer to the role that physical activity plays in stimulating the secretion of norepinephrine in the central nervous system. Higher levels of norepinephrine in the body appear to lead to an improved state of mind.

M.Cur. (Professional Nursing) / Grievance procedures form an important instrument by means of which nursing staff can make their grievances known to management, thereby effecting a solution to the problem. Therefore, the way in which grievances are handled form an integral part of the staff duties of a nursing service manager. The effective handling of grievances directly influences the satisfaction of nursing staff, as well as the quality of nursing, and thus productivity. Effective handling of grievances depends on the nursing service manager's knowledge of and abiU ty to utilise grievance procedures. This implies that the nursing service manager should be willing and able to investigate all grievances that she becomes aware of, in a consistent manner. She can only fulfil this responsibility if there is an existing grievance procedure in the hospital, and if this procedure is known to all nursing staff. Utilisation of this procedure only is possible when all staff have access to it. This is ensured by training, which will equip them with knowledge and skills in the execution of grieval1ce procedures. The purpose of this study is to determine whether grievances are being handled effectively by nursing service managers in selected hospitals. A descriptive, exploratory study was done within this context by means of a historical analysis of available literature, including newspaper reports, as well as by case study analyses and interviews with nursing service managers in the selected hospitals. A self-training programme regarding the management of grievances will be developed. Analysis of the data indicates that nursing service managers in the selected hospitals do not handle grievance procedures effectively During interviews the nursing service managers indicated that grievance procedures do indeed exist at the hospitals in the Pretoria Witwatersrand area. However, a degree of uncertainty exist. about the difference between grievance procedures and disciplinary procedures.

M.Cur. / The purpose of this study was to do a needs assessment of mothers with their first baby in the postpartum period in respect of community support. Since there are as yet little or no support systems in South Africa, it is important to firstly determine the needs of the mother before these community support systems can be mobilised by the midwife and can function efficiently. Semi-structured questionnaires that were compiled from literature were given on one occasion to mothers with their first baby in the postpartum period at community clinics to complete. These results were then collated to identify the needs of the mothers to thereby mobilise the necessary community support systems, in order to sufficiently support mothers in the postpartum period and thus create a healthier community. Recommendations were made on the application in practice, education, and further research that can be carried out in this field.

M.A. / This study comments on the debate surrounding the impact of measurement on the effectiveness and accountability of the social work profession. The basic objective of this study is to determine whether the utilization of the " single subject design " and " standardized measurement scales " have an impact on the effectiveness of social work service delivery. For this research study the experimental design, and specifically the comparison Pretest-Posttest design, is utilized. The experimental group was exposed to the " single subject design " and " standardized measurement scales " as intervention techniques. The control group was not exposed to measurement as an intervention technique. The results of this study indicates a statistically significant difference in growth towards target, between the experimental group and the control group. Clients in the experimental group achieved a higher level of positive growth compared with clients in the control group. Service delivery within the experimental group was therefore more effective than service delivery in the corresponding control group. This study concludes that the utilization of measurement has a positive influence on the effectiveness of social work service delivery. According to the study, social workers that apply measurement as part of their intervention techniques are more effective than social workers who do not apply measurement. It is therefore recommended that measurement should be part of all social work service rendering in order to enhance effectiveness.

D.Phil. / South African water resource management policies as well as the country's water law have been under review over the past three to four years. The Water Law Principles, which were established as part of this review process, indicate a commitment to sustainable development of water resources and the protection of an ecological "Reserve". Such policy goals highlight the limitations of conventional water quality management strategies which rely on stressor monitoring and associated regulation of pollution. The concept of an assimilative capacity is central to the conventional water quality management approach. Weaknesses inherent in basing water management on the concept of assimilative capacity are discussed. Response monitoring is proposed as a way of addressing some of the weaknesses. In fact, the inadequate use of biological indicators and techniques in monitoring and evaluating the quality of resources has been identified as a major factor responsible for the continuing decline in the health of natural resource systems. With advances in environmental monitoring over the last decade, it has become clear that biological techniques and protocols need to become part of monitoring in order to allow effective assessment and protection of aquatic resources. One way of incorporating response measures into resource assessment is through the use of toxicological assays. As an example, a toxicological assessment of the environmental risk associated with an organic pesticide (fenthion) is presented. Acute and chronic assays were conducted with a spectrum of test organisms. These toxicological response results provided an ability to predict the ecosystem response that can be expected from certain concentrations of fenthion in the environment. Theoretically, it would be possible to design a risk assessment experiment for every new anthropogenic substance. However, in terms of cost and time, it would not be practically feasible to execute such experiments. To overcome this problem, a method has been developed to derive water quality criteria for toxic substances using existing toxicological data. This provides water resource managers with a readily available set of values to guide them in decision-making. It is demonstrated how available acute and chronic toxicity data can be synthesised into acute and chronic water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life. As these criteria are intended to extend protection to ecosystems country-wide, they are very conservative by design. Although a set of numeric water quality criteria provides an important tool to water quality managers, the limitations associated with the use of these criteria must be recognised. x Limitations relate either to the design of toxicity experiments or to the use of a chemical-specific approach alone in water resource management. In order to overcome these limitations, three broad supporting technologies are proposed, namely whole effluent toxicity (WET) testing, sitespecific adjustment of water quality criteria, and in-stream biological assessments. Whole effluent testing aims at evaluating the toxic effects of an effluent on organisms. In doing so, acute and chronic toxicity testing (and thus biological responses) becomes part of effluent regulation. An effluent control programme that incorporates toxicity-based standards and compliance criteria is proposed. One of several approaches that can be used for deriving site-specific water quality criteria is the calculation of a water-effect ratio. It is demonstrated that the water-effect ratio method could result in significant adjustments to the national water quality criteria. Although more development and local testing would be required, such site-specific criteria could be in the interest of both ecosystem protection and economic development. In-stream biological assessments introduces a type of response monitoring which provides insight into the overall integrity of aquatic ecosystems. A comprehensive biomonitoring programme is designed. To adhere to the objectives of this programme, specifications have been developed for the selection of sampling sites, the selection of biological and habitat indicators, and the management of the resulting data. This programme is referred to as the River Health Programme (RHP). The ultimate aim of any monitoring programme is to provide useful data. Such data must contribute to effective decision-making. To ensure that the RHP becomes truly operational as a management information system, a step-wise procedure is proposed for linking the collected data with management actions. It is demonstrated how following of this systematic and iterative procedure would facilitate ongoing learning and improvement of the individual steps (e.g. data collection and assessment, goal setting, selection and implementation of management actions) as well as the overall procedure. As a final step, the dynamics that influence the transition of any new technology from scientific development to operational application are explored. The RHP is used as a case study and theoretical models from the field of the management of technology are used to provide valuable insights. Four key components of the RHP design are analysed, namely the (a) guiding team, (b) concepts, tools and methods, (c) infra-structural innovations and (d) communication. These key components evolved over three broad life stages of the programme, which are called the design, growth and anchoring stages.

M.A. (Psychology) / Numerous amounts ofliterature has confirmed the positive correlation that exists between exercise and psychological well-being. With the increased interest in the associated psychological factors ofpain, the present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of chronic pain on rheumatoid arthritic and osteoarthritic patients, with the overall aim of reducing, and alleviating these factors. The psychological factors studied were depression, effects ofthe impact ofarthritis, for example, on the independent, physical and psychosocial aspects oftheir lives, as well as coping. It was hypothesized that by engaging in an aquatic exercise program there would be a reduction/alleviation ofpain, which in tum would demonstrate a reduction in the psychological components ofpain. Evidence was found to support the hypothesis, due to the fact that, after exposure to the aquatic therapy program, subjects demonstrated a reduction in pain followed by a reduction in depression, slight improvement in coping with their arthritis, and the impact of arthritis was partially alleviated. The need for a larger sample group, as well a longer period of investigation will be needed for future research.

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / The overall aim of this study is to establish whether theories on mate selection apply more to first than to subsequent marriages. In the case of subsequent marriages synthesis of the hypotheses is made more difficult by the lack of available research results on the role of internal factors involved in mate selection. It is reasonable to assume differences between first and subsequent marriages in terms of factors that play a significant role in mate selection. Several theories on mate selection have evolved since the formulation of psycho-analytical theory. Initially attempts were made to find a single factor or principle to explain mate selection and it would seem that in most theories complementarity plays a role in some way or another. Hegel (in Murstein, 1976) was one of the earliest champions of theories emphasizing the :. attraction of opposites. According to him the interaction between two opposites results in a new and more viable entity...

M.Cur. / Following the democratic elections that took place in 1994, South Africa is undergoing transformation. This transformation was initiated by the external and internal driving forces, of which, the political forces are the most significant. This political transformation led to the promulgation of the Constitution of the country, which impacted on the transformation of the health system, to ensure accessibility and equity. The promulgation of the Constitution was followed by many legislative and policy changes, such as a new Higher Education Act. The South African transition from apartheid to democracy, necessitated that all the existing policies, institutions and practices should be transformed and revised, according to the demands of the new era. With the new political dispensation of the country, many regional, national and local policies have changed. These changes have had an inevitable impact on higher education, which in turn impacts on nursing education. The change in the higher education system required the restructuring and rationalisation of nursing colleges in all the provinces. The need for the transformation of nursing colleges is unavoidable because of the development of the new legislation to readdress the imbalances of the past. Following the new political dispensation, it was however necessary to transform these nursing colleges through rationalisation/integration. The focus of this study is on the transformation of nursing colleges in Gauteng, which poses many challenges to the directors in terms of the management of transformation. The transformation process impacts directly on the directors of nursing colleges. This study is based on the transformation management of selected nursing colleges in Gauteng. The study is conducted in two phases. Phase one explores and describes the experiences and perceptions of directors regarding the transformation of nursing colleges in Gauteng. Phase two describes the formulation of transformation management standards which consists of two phases of standards formulation, namely, the development phase and the quantifying phase.