Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The relationship between stress and coping strategies in bereavement was examined in 70 recently widowed rural black women (mean age 36.53 years). Correlations were sought between coping strategies (as measured by the Coping Strategy Indicator) and anxiety (as measured by the S-scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), depression (as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory), social support (as measured by the Social Support Scale) and biographical variables. Of the participants, 88.57% were at least mildly depressed, while 78.57% experienced anxiety of above average intensity. Depression scores were significantly higher for those who were unemployed than for those who had paid work. Those with an education of Standard 6 or below made significantly more use of social support-seeking strategies than those with high school and tertiary education. Those whose husbands had died suddenly made more use of problem-solving strategies, while those whose husbands had died of chronic illness made more use of social support-seeking coping strategies. Significant positive correlations were found between an avoidant coping strategy and both depression and anxiety. A significant positive correlation was found between a social support-seeking coping strategy and perceived social support. Significant negative correlations were found between both problem-solving and social support-seeking coping strategies and anxiety as well as depression scores. An avoidant coping strategy emerged as a significant positive predictor of both anxiety and depression, while problem-solving and social support-seeking coping strategies emerged as significant negative predictors of depression. A problem-solving coping strategy alone emerged as a significant negative predictor of anxiety. These findings point to the need for interventions aimed at more effective use of problemsolving and social support-seeking coping strategies, rather than avoidance, if the widowed are to effectively deal with their conjugal loss. Another implication of these findings is the importance of helping those who are undergoing bereavement to continuously re-define their social support structures for continued sustenance of social and emotional support. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die verband tussen stres en hanteringstrategieë is in 'n groep van 70 landelike swart vrouens (gemiddelde ouderdom 36.53 jaar) wat hul eggenote onlangs aan die dood afgestaan het, ondersoek. Korrelasies tussen hanteringstrategieë (gemeet deur die Coping Strategy Indicator) en angs (gemeet deur die S-skaal van die State- Trait Anxiety Inventory), depressie (gemeet deur die Beck Depression Inventory), sosiale ondersteuning (gemeet deur die Social Support Scale) en biografiese veranderlikes is ondersoek. Van die deelnemers was 88.57% minstens tot 'n ligte mate depressief, terwyl 78.57% bogemiddelde angsvlakke ervaar het. Depressietellings van werklose vroue was hoër as van diegene met 'n gesalarieerde werk. Diegene met Standerd 6 opleiding of laer het beduidend meer gebruik gemaak van sosiale ondersteuning-soekende strategieë as diegene met hoërskool en tersiêre opleiding. Diegene wie se eggenote skielik afgesterf het, het meer gebruik gemaak van probleemoplossende hanteringstrategieë terwyl diegene wie se eggenote afgesterf het as gevolg van 'n chroniese siekte, meer gebruik gemaak het van sosiale ondersteuning-soekende hanteringstrategieë. Beduidende positiewe korrelasies is aangetref tussen 'n vermydende hanteringstrategie en beide depressie en angs. 'n Beduidende positiewe korrelasie is aangetref tussen 'n sosiale ondersteuning-soekende hanteringstrategie en waargenome sosiale ondersteuning. Beduidende negatiewe korrelasies is aangetref tussen beide probleem-oplossende en sosiale ondersteuning-soekende hanteringstrategieë en angs sowel as depressie. 'n Vermydende hanteringstrategie was 'n beduidende positiewe voorspeller van beide angs en depressie, terwyl probleem-oplossende en sosiale ondersteuning-soekende hanteringstrategieë beduidende negatiewe voorspellers was van depressie. 'n Probleemoplossende hanteringstrategie was 'n beduidende negatiewe voorspellers van angs. Hierdie bevinding dui op die noodsaaklikheid van intervensies wat gemik is op die meer effektiewe gebruik van probleemoplossende en sosiale ondersteuning-soekende hanteringstrategieë, eerder as vermyding, vir die weduwee om die afsterwe van haar eggenoot effektief te kan hanteer. Nog 'n implikasie van die bevindinge is die belangrikheid daarvan om diegene wat rou te help om voortdurend hul sosiale ondersteuningstrukture te herdefinieer vir voortdurende onderhouding van sosiale en emosionele ondersteuning.

M.A. / African family structures have not been systematically studied in South Africa. This is a pilot study of household structures in the Qumbu village at the Mhlontlo district in the Eastern Cape. I researched household arrangements in the area, whether migration of husbands to the cities has disrupted the traditional family unit, what the survival strategies are of these women, and whether survival strategies influence household structure. Fifteen households were surveyed. Questions asked included marital status, household size, ways of earning a living, alternative survival strategies to wage employment and government social grants, contributions to the household, government role to such families, any knowledge about self help groups and decision making skills, power relations, perception of future developments in their communities, fulfillment of essential needs and service rendering, etc. The study revealed that since traditional family units were disrupted by migration, and wives were left at home to take care for the children, the traditional “extended” African household, dependent on various survival strategies. The main categories are: Five women survived through receiving social grants from the Department of Social Development. Four were domestic workers, three were supported by their lovers whom are from extra marital affair, two from doing piece jobs in the community and 01 from community projects. The majority have no wage employment and make a living on the land where they dwell, but because of migration, rural food production has declined. However, the community survives also by supporting each other, for example, kin and community networks and neighborliness account for much of the survival strategies. Many men migrate to the cities, and as a result wives have different feelings towards male migrancy such as anger, regret, self blame, confusion and powerlessness. Dominantly in black societies grandmothers play a vital role in maintaining households and raising the children of migrants

Esta dissertação analisa o processo de construção do Programa de Organização Produtiva de Mulheres Rurais (POPMR), instituído em 2008, apresentando como pano de fundo a construção da agenda de políticas públicas para as mulheres rurais durante o Governo Lula. A pesquisa partiu das seguintes indagações: Como o POPMR foi construído? Por quais atores e a partir de quais olhares e ideias? A partir do uso da abordagem ideacional de políticas públicas, o estudo coloca no centro da análise as interações sociais, a produção de ideias, as crenças e as representações de mundo em torno das mulheres rurais que deram origem ao programa. O modelo de análise francês de fóruns e arenas (FOUILLEUX, 2011) é aqui mobilizado para dar inteligibilidade aos diferentes fóruns (grupos) que participaram da elaboração do programa, colocando luz às suas ideias e interpretações sobre as mulheres rurais. Ao percorrer o caminho das ideias, da sua produção à sua institucionalização, esse modelo permite compreender como elas foram produzidas e selecionadas até a sua institucionalização em instrumentos de políticas públicas. Resultante de pesquisa documental e entrevistas em profundidade o estudo identificou quatro fóruns de produção de ideias na base da formulação do POPMR: eleitoral, científico, de mulheres rurais e agroecológico. Esses fóruns produziram diferentes representações e ideias sobre as mulheres rurais, que uma vez discutidas e negociadas, orientaram a elaboração do programa analisado. A análise desse processo mostra que a criação do POPMR partiu do reconhecimento da importância econômica, social e ambiental das mulheres rurais para o desenvolvimento rural. Seus instrumentos buscam promover a igualdade de gênero a partir da inclusão econômica e produtiva das mulheres rurais, articulando elementos da economia solidária, da agroecologia e da segurança alimentar e nutricional, apresentando um referencial de política pública orientado pelo enfoque feminista / This dissertation analyzes the process of construction of the Program of Productive Organization of Rural Women (POPMR), instituted in 2008, presenting as a background the construction of the public policy agenda for rural women during the Lula\'s government. The research started with the following questions: How was POPMR built? By which actors and from which views and ideas? From the use of the ideational approach of public policies, the study places at the center of the analysis the social interactions, the production of ideas, beliefs and representations of the world around rural women that gave rise to the program. The French analysis model of forums and arenas (FOUILLEUX, 2011) is mobilized here to give intelligibility to the different forums (groups) that participated in the elaboration of the program, shedding light on their ideas and interpretations on rural women. By traversing the path of ideas, from their production to their institutionalization, this model allows them to understand how they are produced and selected until their institutionalization in instruments of public policies. Resulting from documentary research and in-depth interviews the study identified four forums of ideas production on the basis of POPMR\'s formulation: electoral, scientific, rural women and agroecological. These forums produced different representations and ideas about rural women, who once discussed and negotiated, guided the formulation of the program analyzed. The analysis of this process shows that the creation of POPMR started from the recognition of the economic, social and environmental importance of rural women for rural development. Its instruments seek to promote gender equality through the economic and productive inclusion of rural women, articulating elements of solidarity economy, agroecology and food and nutritional security, presenting a reference of public policy guided by the feminist approach

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-04T20:05:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 31 / Nenhuma / Esta dissertação de mestrado buscou identificar e compreender quais as pedagogias produzidas no Clube de Mães Mulher Gaúcha, da zona rural de Santo Ângelo, que contribuem para manter a participação em grupos orientados por entidades como a Emater/Ascar. O clube de mães tem sua sede no CTG Comandaí, no distrito de Comandaí, interior de Santo Ângelo, RS. Pretendeu-se, também, identificar o lugar do clube de mães na agricultura familiar regional; observar quais pedagogias têm sido produzidas e ainda analisar os efeitos da orientação da Emater/Ascar nesse clube de mães. A pesquisa é de cunho qualitativo e foi realizada a partir de observações participantes. A iniciação do estudo e aplicação dos grupos de discussão com gravações de aúdio e transcrições detalhadas, anotações em diário de campo e análise das transcrições dos grupos de discussão e também da documentação desse grupo de mulheres. Utilizamos três tópicos guias de discussão: o uso do dinheiro sempre em função da família; o pensar sobre si mesmas e sobre / The present work aimed to identify and comprehend which pedagogies are produced at the mother’s club Mulher Gaúcha, in the countryside of Santo Angelo, which contributes to maintain the participation in groups oriented by entities like Emater/Ascar. The mother’s club has HQ is the CTG Comandaí, in Comandaí District, city of Santo Angelo. It was also intended to identify the place of the mother’s club in familiar agriculture; to observe which pedagogies have been produced as well as analyze the effects of Emater/Ascar’s orientation in this mother’s club. It was a qualitative research and it was achieved by the participants observation, the initiation of the study and appliance of the discussion groups with audio records and detailed transcripts notes in field diary and group transcripts analysis of discussion and also of the mother’s club documents. Three guide topics were used: money use in relation to family; the thoughts about the women and the group, as well as their work division in the families. The ref

O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar como mudanças nos discursos sobre desenvolvimento que operam na Nicarágua afetam organizações de mulheres rurais no país. A partir de uma abordagem etnográfica, são analisadas as trajetórias e estratégias de duas organizações de mulheres que executam projetos com financiamento de agências de cooperação internacional e que mantêm relação com políticas sociais, buscando perceber como estas relações se vinculam com suas escolhas políticas. Tomo como referência a divisão em três períodos históricos do país, cada um vinculado a um macro-discruso específico sobre desenvolvimento: a Revolução Popular Sandinista na década de 1980, e a guerra que a acompanhou; os dezesseis anos do período neoliberal (1990 – 2006), que vieram acompanhados por um enorme volume de recursos de Ajuda Internacional para o Desenvolvimento (AID); e, a partir de 2007, a volta da Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) à presidência do país, marcada por sua aliança econômica com a Venezuela, e pela redução significativa de recursos de AID. O argumento é que estes macro-discursos, apesar de diferentes, se baseiam em lógicas de colonialidade/modernidade que colocam a “mulher rural” como um “outro” atrasado, que deve ser corrigido por algum tipo de desenvolvimento. No entanto, seguindo o desafio do feminismo pós-colonial, a proposta deste trabalho é desconstruir uma visão monolítica sobre “mulheres do terceiro mundo”, evidenciando as particularidades dos processos locais, apesar de compartilharem de elementos nas dinâmicas de estabelecimento de relações de poder em todos os espaços da vida. O trabalho de campo indica que elas constroem diferentes possibilidades a partir da construção de espaços exclusivos de mulheres, que se dá também em relação com discursos sobre desenvolvimento e gênero nacionais e internacionais. / This paper aims to analyze how changes in development discourses operating in Nicaragua affect rural women's organizations in the country. From an ethnographic approach, the trajectories and strategies of two women's organizations running projects with funding from donor agencies and affected by social policies are analyzed, seeking to understand how these relations are linked with their political choices. I take as reference the division into three historical periods of the country, each tied to a specific macro-discrouses on development: the Sandinista Popular Revolution in the 1980s, and the war that followed; sixteen years of the neoliberal period (1990 - 2006), which were accompanied by a huge volume ofresources from Agencies for International Development (AID); and, from 2007, the return of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) to the presidency of the country, marked by its economic alliance with Venezuela, and the significant reduction of AID resources. The argument is that these macro-discourses, although different, are based on the logic of coloniality / modernity that put the "rural woman" as an "other" that needs to be corrected by pre-established development models. However, following the challenge of post-colonial feminism, the purpose of this paper is to deconstruct a monolithic view of "women of the third world", highlighting the particularities of local processes, even if they share dynamics of power relations in every areas of life. The field work indicates that these women build different possibilities from the creation of exclusive womens spaces, which also happens in relation to national and international development and gender discourses.

<div>This study analyzes eleven collections created, saved, and preserved by rural Iowa women, during the middle of the twentieth-century to interpret change in the experience of rural American women, and consider their role in the preservation of historical evidence. Analysis of privately-held and institutional collections of calendars, journals, scrapbooks, notebooks, and club meeting records provides details of farm life, rural communities in transition, and the way collection creators conceptualized and enacted the identity of rural womanhood. In making decisions about which events to write down in a journal or clip-and-save from the local newspaper, these women “performed archivalness” in preserving their experience for family and community members and scholars. </div><div>The women who created the collections considered in this study experienced a rural landscape altered by the continuation and aftermath of agricultural specialization, mechanization, and capital consolidation. These changes altered rural community systems, economies, and institutions reshaping the experience of rural womanhood, as women upheld and adjusted the norms and values that defined the rural way of life. This study takes a three-part approach to considering the eleven collections as case studies. Chapter two analyzes five of the collections as unconventional forms of autobiographical writing, finding that nowhere else were women truer to themselves and their experiences than in their daily writing. In journals or on calendars, these women wrote their life stories by recording the daily details of work, motherhood, and marriage, and occasionally providing subtle commentary on local and national events. Changes in women’s work, education, responsibilities in marriage and motherhood, and involvement in public life and civic affairs happened in gradual and rapid ways during the middle of the twentieth-century. The third chapter in this study analyzes the collections of three women who used their writing to document, prescribe, and promote notions of rural womanhood during this time of change. Chapter four provides a meditation on the relationship between evidence and history by examining the ways in which three women performed archivalness in creating their collections. Consideration of the means by which the collections have been saved, provides insight into the importance of everyday individuals in the preservation of historical evidence. </div><div><br></div>

Thesis (M.A.(Media studies ))--University of Limpopo, 2007 / There is gross uneven access and utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) between developed and underdeveloped communities in South Africa. As a result the majority of the underdeveloped communities which are mainly found in rural areas fail to participate in the global ICT arena. Rural communities’ especially rural women are subjected to deprivation, poverty and isolation. Government sought to reverse the situation through the provision of Telecentres and Multi-purpose Community Centres (MPCCs). To understand the plight of the rural women, different theories ranging from capitalism to socialism were reviewed in an attempt to trace the mode of South African production which caused the problem and some understanding of the solution possible. The theory of oppression by Paul Freire (1970) serves as the main point of focus on how rural women fail to utilize Telecentres and MPCCs. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were adopted in order to present the perceptual views of these women. Various methods of collecting data were used in order to have a wider perspective of how Telecentres and MPCCs are utilized by rural women. This includes a profound investigation through which a pilot study, participant observation, focus group, interviews and questionnaires became instrumental to the whole research. The findings of the pilot study conducted in Mogalakwena Hewlett Packard inclusive of community (HPi-community) reflected that there are discrepancies and deficiencies which exit between Mogalakwena HPi-community and the three Telecentres Botlokwa, Mankweng and Mohodi. The tripartite marriage between Government Hewlett Packard and the municipality enable the Mogalakwena HPi-community to provide better ICT facilities. The other three Telecentres fail to meet the standard of the Mogalakwena HPi- community due to the fact that they lack financial support. Participant observation assisted in discovering that ICT access created a good relationship between Botlokwa Telecentre and its neighbouring institutions. It was also discovered that most youths come for computer-skill acquisition. Focus groups interviews were conducted using English and the local language (Sepedi) in order to meet the rural women’s level of understanding. Through in depth analysis, the study indicates that poverty, unemployment, limited funding, illiteracy, and unavailability of ICT facilities for the disabled are the main issues that contribute to the low impact of Telecentre and MPCC utilization. Apart from this analysis, ICT access has a significant impact on the lives of rural communities especially women. However, there is still a need for an accelerated growth in ICT utilization. It is recommended that effective mechanisms be put in place to assist improve the situation in ICT provision. This must involve the people themselves taking initiatives, of course with the active support of government.

The development policy and plans of the Thai government have emphasized economic growth aimed at 'modernising' the country, enacted through agricultural modernisation and industrialisation under the name 'rural development'. Women In Development (WID) approaches based on the modernisation model have been added to 'development' plans more recently. Examination of the effects of these WID programmes upon rural women demonstrates that poor women are disempowered by the 'top-down' rural development programmes. This study is an attempt to test collaborative action research (CAR) as a methodology to empower rural women to become the decision makers in the rural development process. CAR was carried out in Sandee Village, northern Thailand. This suggests that rural women can be empowered through continuous cycles of the collaborative learning process of planning, acting, observing and critical reflection with the researcher acting as a facilitator. Through this learning process, rural women have increased their capacity to make choices, to deal with existing constraints and to create changes. In this respect 'development' can be initiated from within. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

While there is abundant literature about Australian rural women including references to those who have had or wish to have some form of tertiary education, little attention is given to those who are the subject of the present study, graduate rural women, in this case of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The significance of the research emerged from its focus on the experiences of such women, with the purpose of the study being to present an exploration of their previously unrecorded perceptions of themselves as graduates occupying a place in their rural communities - to articulate the impact and import of graduate status for rural women. As understanding the articulations rather than explaining the data was deemed to be more appropriate to the exploration, a qualitative-interpretivist approach was adopted, recognising that a grounded constructivist epistemology would assist in viewing the experiences through the eyes of the participants. Data were collected in the form of written narrative - correspondence via e-mail - which allowed both the participants and myself to revisit and reflect upon each other's comments. The graduate women's comments were wide-ranging, from matters of concern to all country people, to those which were particularly relevant to graduate rural women, such as the perceived value of their own expertise and their experiences in taking up either professional or other roles in the rural context. The depth of thought, the powers of perception, the identification of lines of reasoning, the development of interwoven themes in rural life, and the manner of expression through the articulation of common occurrences, revealed far more than was originally envisaged. From the resultant collation of data it was possible to identify, examine and associate important perceptions which permeated the lives of graduate rural women. An exploration of the term rural and being a rural person in that environment was an important pre-cursor to interpreting subsequent articulations as the meaning of rurality extended the accepted geographical definitions and comparative urban-rural economic and social relationships. With this understanding, remembered experiences embraced the stages of becoming and being graduate rural women in professional practice and in everyday life, evidencing the participants' introspective, positive appreciation of the impact and import of their university education in the fulfilling and rewarding application of their professional skills. The concluding stage involved the graduates' relationship with the members of their rural communities as they attempted to pursue their lives at the level of their confidence and belief in themselves and in the value of their education. Challenging situations were recounted, indicating a schism to be overcome in that association, with male culture and traditional attitudes, the feminist movement and the rural crisis being included in the considerations. The core concepts, upon which the findings of the research were structured, emerged from the participants' articulations to illustrate the stages of becoming and being graduate rural women, both from the introspective and contextual viewpoints. The written narrative articulations of graduate rural women defined their reflective views of self-empowerment through education, countered by the challenges and constraints of social reality in the application of that ability in the rural context of their professional and everyday lives. The previously unrecorded perceptions of this significant section of society have added to the store of knowledge by giving graduate women a voice, a basis for further expression and a collective presence and identity in the rural situation. The future value of this research lies in its dissemination to raise awareness of identified issues and in its invitation to explore a wider sphere of knowledge enrichment beyond its central focus.

This thesis examines the construction of healing from childhood sexual assault from the perspective of adult women who had been sexually abused in their childhood years. The purpose of the study is to provide a space to hear the stories of rural women, and a forum to allow those stories to be shared with a wider audience. Its focus is on the women’s accounts of how their lives have been shaped by those experiences, what transformation has occurred, what people and processes have helped or hindered their journey and how they construct healing. It aims to develop an understanding of the notion of healing as reported by survivors themselves and does this though an emancipatory methodology underpinned by a critical post-modern framework. This study differs from previous studies in that its focus is specifically on the construction of healing and its participants are all rural women. The qualitative research methodology demonstrated in this thesis maintained a focus on the women’s narratives. It employed a unique method – a ten week discussion group in which the women chose the issues to be examined. The presentation of the data, maintains the commitment to the primacy of the women’s accounts. It utilises the themes they decided upon as well as those which emerged from the literature. The constructions of healing, which emerged from the sharing of stories, include healing as a non-linear process where individual strengths and transformation is acknowledged. The thesis argues that healing includes all aspects of survivors’ lives such as their relationships, parenting and engagement with their community. The implication for social work practice is that service provision to assist healing must focus on more than psychological and behavioural effects of childhood sexual assault. The method of collecting the women’s stories also has great potential for social work research because as the thesis argues, while generalisations cannot be made from the findings, the actual method has great value in giving voice to marginalised groups.