In this study, the accuracy of predicted psycho-socio-economic impacts resulting from mining and infrastructure projects is investigated by comparing it to impacts shown to actually occur. A systems theoretical approach was followed in conjunction with a qualitative methodology in order to conceptualise impacts in the social systems they occur. Data was collected through a document review (which included a total of 17 documents pertaining to predicted impacts, and 24 documents pertaining to actual impacts) and analysed by means of thematic analysis, which rendered four main themes and 20 subthemes. The findings of the thematic analysis were subjected to second-order analysis, which enabled the categorisation of impacts according to the level of accuracy with which they are predicted. To understand why some impacts are incorrectly predicted, a third-order analysis was performed. The study suggests that many of the commonly predicted psycho-socio-economic impacts are less accurate than what they should ideally be, suggesting that some of the assumptions on which these predictions are based should be revised, as should the conceptualisation of the impacts. The researcher argues that, in order to make accurate predictions about the impacts resulting from mining and infrastructure projects, sufficient knowledge of the attributes of the project, the nature of the receiving environment, the causal processes by which the project will bring about changes in the receiving environment, and the value systems according to which communities judge whether a specific change constitutes a negative or positive impact, is required. This argument is substantiated by highlighting instances of inaccurate predictions relevant to each category of required information. More fundamentally, however, the researcher argues that inaccurate predictions are the result of inadequate consideration of the systemic nature of psycho-socio-economic impacts and the context in which they occur, precipitated by the incorrect use of the “social impact” metaphor. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Psychology / unrestricted

Este trabajo de investigación hace un análisis cualitativo y cuantitativo de los paradigmas de la simulación. Los tres paradigmas estudiados en este trabajo son: dinámica de sistemas, simulación de eventos discretos y la simulación basada en agentes. En el análisis cualitativo, primero se detallan las definiciones y características de cada uno de los tres métodos para luego mostrar en un cuadro comparativo los elementos distintivos de cada uno de ellos. El análisis cuantitativo se realiza a través de un caso de estudio, donde primero se modela y se simula el problema a través del enfoque de cada método en particular. Después mediante diferentes escenarios se muestran las ventajas y desventajas de usar un paradigma sobre los otros. Esto se expone en un resumen comparativo de los escenarios. La integración de las características cualitativas y cuantitativas que distinguen a cada paradigma se presentan en las conclusiones. / This research work makes a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the simulation paradigms. The three paradigms studied in this work are: system dynamics, discrete event simulation and agent-based simulation. In the qualitative analysis, the definitions and characteristics of each of the three methods are detailed first and then the distinctive elements of each paradigm are showed in a comparative table. The quantitative analysis is performed through a case study, where first the problem is modeled and simulated through the focus of each particular method. After that, by using different scenarios it is showed the advantages and disadvantages of using a paradigm over the others. This is showed in a comparative summary of the scenarios. The integration of the qualitative and quantitative characteristics that distinguish each paradigm are presented in the conclusions. / Trabajo de investigación

Crown selected youth diversion has received little academic attention in Canada. As a process that channels offenders out of the formal legal system, diversion purports to achieve contradictory self-serving system and offender-based goals. Using 50 randomly selected prosecution files – half of which the Crown diverted and half of which the Crown prosecuted – a mixed method investigation of diversion assesses cases through quantitative content analysis and grounded theory method. Based on the quantitative analysis, it is argued that there is an emerging patterned nature of Crown selected diversion that is not completely benign. This patterned nature of diversion unearths a distinctive discourse of diversion/non-diversion. Qualitatively, it is argued that the cases are organized around three temporal moments that create an area for distinctions to be made in terms of threat, responsibility, (in)tolerableness and recourse. Seemingly, there is a persistent paradoxical existence of the diversion process that emerges from the case files.

Alors que les obligations d’information environnementale imposées aux entreprises prolifèrent, le phénomène semble placé sous les auspices du désordre et de l’imperfection. Ces informations peinent à se couler dans les catégories du système juridique et il est difficile d’envisager en parfaire le régime en s’en remettant aux objectifs qui leur sont assignés. Ces derniers sont effectivement si divers que le sens de la communication d’informations environnementales par l’entreprise semble indéterminé. Cette indétermination est corrélative à l’ambiguïté foncière du développement durable et de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises (RSE). Ainsi, plutôt que d’imprimer un sens particulier à la RSE en imposant aux entreprises des obligations de faire, les autorités publiques misent sur des obligations de dire particulièrement flexibles pour conduire les acteurs à expérimenter de nouvelles manières de conjuguer préoccupations environnementales et économiques. Derrière la prolifération désordonnée de l’information environnementale communiquée par l’entreprise, se dessine ainsi l’expérimentation, encore tâtonnante mais perfectible, d’une régulation informationnelle de l’environnement. Cette régulation s’analyse comme le produit de la convergence entre ces deux lames de fond que constituent l’essor de l’information d’une part, et de l’environnement de l’autre, dans nos représentations de la société, du droit et de l’entreprise. Dans le sillage de cette rencontre, une nouvelle image de l'entreprise s'esquisse qui appelle à repenser sa gouvernance et ses responsabilités. Dans le même temps, s'impose une relecture des concepts fondateurs et des objectifs du droit de l'environnement. / Corporate environmental disclosure has become an inescapable phenomenon both in the business world and on the legal landscape. But when looked at through the lens of the jurist, this phenomenon seems essentially imperfect and disordered. Environmental informations disclosed by corporations do not fit easily into classical juridical categories. And given the most diverse objectives ascribed to these informations, it is seriously questionable that a functional analysis could enhance their legal regime’s coherence. This functional indeterminacy does not occur by accident and it doesn’t seem temporary. Rather, it appears as the necessary corollary of sustainable development’s and corporate social responsibility’s (CSR) inherent ambiguity. Instead of giving CSR a specific meaning by compelling corporations to act responsibly in this or that particular way, public authorities design flexible obligations urging companies to explain how they, for their part, understand their own environment and reconcile it with their perception of economic constraints. The apparently disordered proliferation of corporate environmental disclosure is thus disguising the rise of an environmental regulation by disclosure. Advancing by trial and error and thus still perfectible, this regulation stands at the crossroads of two major strands : the increasing role that both information and the environment play in our representations of society, of the law and of the corporation. In the wake of this encounter, a new image of the corporation takes shape which implies to rethink its governance and its liabilities, while environmental law’s key concepts and objectives need to be read anew.

This thesis is a complexity-informed case study of a language school in Greece, which provides a rich description of how language pedagogy develops in the periphery of the English-using world. In addition, this study demonstrates the feasibility and potential of using Complex Systems Theory (CST) in the study of educational settings. The thesis begins by describing English Language Teaching (ELT) in Greece, thus setting the scene for the empirical investigation. This is followed by a review of ELT literature, with particular reference to theories of language, pedagogy and society, and by an overview of CST, which pragmatically synthesises complex realism and post-modern ways of knowing, and defines a set of principles to guide complexity-informed empirical inquiry. Having conceptualised the language school as a complex system, it is suggested that activity in the school was sustained by multiple intentionalities, i.e., collective, emergent, nested and generative drivers of activity. These included: (a) an imperative to provide certification to learners, (b) some learners’ desire to integrate in transnational discourse communities, (c) the expectation that language learning should lead to increased awareness of ‘English’ culture, (d) competition against the state school system, and (e) the unstated aim of protecting the professional interests of the school’s staff and stakeholders. Intentionalities were associated with specific pedagogical outcomes and cultural outlooks, and their synthesis is defined as a dynamic of intentions. Next, the thesis looks into the learning materials used at the language school, and it is suggested that these generate affordances which impacted pedagogy. The distribution of learning activities in the books was associated with synchronic and diachronic changes in the dynamics of intentions underpinning activity in the school. Complexity-inspired conceptual instruments, such as an ‘affordance landscape’ and ‘attractors’, are developed to describe the influence of the learning materials, and it is suggested that the learning resources used at the language school made transmissive and communicative pedagogy more likely. The empirical component of the study concludes by describing prototypical instruction sequences that typified ELT in the language school, which evidenced traces of transmissive and communicative pedagogy. Some sequences (e.g., Reading and Vocabulary, and Transmissive Grammar) evidenced transmissive influences, which were associated with local pedagogical traditions, whereas others, such as Process-Based Writing, were more closely aligned with the communicative ideology that is mainstream in ELT. The thesis concludes by synthesising the findings with insights from the CST literature. In doing so, it demonstrates the theoretically generative potential of a complexity-informed inquiry, which can help to formulate understandings of ELT that are sensitive to the interface between systems and their environments, while providing ontologically coherent accounts of structure and agency, and of behaviours that are neither completely random nor entirely predictable.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / This exploratory study is based on the case of the Rusitu Valley, a low income rural community in Zimbabwe. Data was collected using largely qualitative methods and quantitative methods were used to obtain supportive descriptive statistics. Information elicited from focus group discussions conducted with members of the Rusitu Valley community as well as responses obtained from a brief structured questionnaire were used to abstract the Rusitu Valley as a complex adaptive system. Input from in-depth interviews with government representatives in energy policy, local government and non-governmental organisations as well as a review of secondary sources was used to support the analysis and confirm the contextual validity of the study. This study revealed that there is intimate connection between renewable energy technologies and sustainable community development. A key finding was that the contribution of renewable energy technologies in Rusitu Valley is mostly towards the economic dimensions of the community and is relatively limited with regard to social and environmental dimensions. Therefore, this study concluded that renewable energy technologies have not sufficiently contributed towards sustainable community development in the Rusitu Valley. This study also found that the contribution of renewable energy technologies is constrained not only by internal limitations but also external factors. A conclusion drawn from this study was that effective contribution of renewable energy technologies towards social, economic and environmental facets can be enhanced through mainstreaming of renewable energy in policy and planning, as well strengthening institutions and local capacity which would have the overall effect of sustainable community development in low income communities

Då unga individer varken arbetar, studerar eller erhåller annan likvärdig sysselsättning skapas problem på olika nivåer eftersom såväl samhälle, familj och individ påverkas. Vidare saknas anhörigas perspektiv vilket kan problematiseras utifrån att kunskap kring unga individers återgång till sysselsättning är av betydelse och deras anhöriga kan tänkas besitta kännedom om ämnet. Studien syftar sammanfattningsvis till att genom kvalitativa intervjuer med anhöriga och en professionell person fördjupa kunskapsläget samt öka förståelse för deras uppfattning, med fokus på vad som hindrar respektive bidrar till unga individers återgång till studier, arbete eller praktik. Studien berör unga individer av olika kön i åldrarna 14 till och med 26 år vilka är eller tidigare varit utanför studier, arbete eller praktik. Ekologisk systemteori utgör studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt och används i en tematisk analys av resultatet. Studien resulterar i ett flertal bidragande respektive hindrande faktorer för unga individers återgång. Individens motivation, utveckling och relationer kan bidra till men också hindra återgång. Detsamma gäller stöd och anpassningar, organisatoriska aspekter samt anhöriga. Även normer och regleringar kan verka bidragande samt hindrande för unga individers återgång till studier, arbete eller praktik. Därutöver visar resultatet att unga individers återgång hindras av psykisk ohälsa, händelser, ekonomiska aspekter samt av den tid som individen varit utanför studier, arbete eller praktik. Studien görs som en del av Vi-projektet.

The study explored the narratives of three adoptive couples. The participants were selected using criterion based convenience and snowball sampling. The adoptive couples’ data was captured through written narratives and/or individual or joint semi-structured interviews. The data was then analysed by means of thematic analysis conducted from the perspective of second order cybernetics. The results note the participants’ experiences of their infertility threatened their functioning as a couple. However, this threat to the couples’ functioning was limited by the adoptions through two means. First, the adoptions limited the couples’ communication about their infertility. Second, the adoptions allowed the couples to continue functioning as a couple dedicated to the goal of becoming parents. Differences between the participant couples’ experiences surrounded their interactions with social workers; their selection of support structures; their interaction with external systems; as well as their anxiety towards the individuation of the adopted child. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / The majority of research on bullying focuses on learner-to-learner bullying, and educators are rarely identified or viewed as victims of bullying. This area of research is largely neglected, despite its serious negative outcomes such as burnout, deterioration in the educator–learner relationship and disintegrated of the educator and learning culture.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Parenting children with a hearing loss presents hearing parents with unique parenting challenges. Adapting to and managing these challenges is dependent on parents’ personal and social support as well as the resources available to them. There is limited research regarding hearing parents’ personal and social support and access to appropriate resources. In order to bridge this gap, the aim of the study was to develop guidelines for hearing parents parenting children with a hearing loss. A mixed methods approach with a sequential explanatory design using a two-phased approach was employed in this study. Phase 1 endeavoured to identify the problem and explore the needs of parents by using a staged approach. The sample in this phase included 103 participants in the quantitative study and 13 participants in the qualitative study. Phase 2 applied a consensus workshop made up of two rounds: Round 1 comprised a panel of experts, namely, academics in the field of child, family, and disability studies, and Round 2 included a panel of stakeholders comprised of hearing parents, professionals, Deaf mentors, and leaders working within the field of hearing loss. The purpose of the workshop was to reach consensus on the development of guidelines. From this research, a number of guidelines emerged for parents, focusing on:1) early intervention programmes for hearing parents and children diagnosed with a hearing loss, highlighting guidance and counselling for parents on early identification and screening programmes; 2) the need for social and emotional support to deal with the emotional impact of the diagnosis on the family, the parents, as well as the child with a hearing loss; 3) access to resources and information which is comprehensive and unbiased, allowing parents to make informed choices; and 4) support for communication intervention whereby parents are offered unbiased support in terms of communication options for their children. This study has important implications for the collaboration and partnerships between parents, social services (social workers), and health and family practitioners for the provision of family-centred practices.