My goal was to examine how experiences and behaviors of individuals and their romantic partners impact relationships on a daily basis. I conducted three separate but empirically and conceptually related studies. For all three papers, the sample was both members of heterosexual romantic relationships (N = 164 couples, 328 individuals) who completed measures each day for seven days. The papers were informed by tenets from interdependence theory and the conservation of resources model. The main purpose of the first paper was to examine a set of relational constructs (i.e., satisfaction, commitment, closeness, conflict, ambivalence, maintenance, and love) to determine which constructs fluctuated daily. All seven relational constructs showed significant within-person variability and were thus appropriate for further daily investigation. With this information, the next step was to understand how to foster positive relationships by examining what daily experiences were associated with those fluctuations. In the second paper I examined whether daily hassles and uplifts were associated with same-day and next-day feelings about the relationship. For same-day effects, I found that hassles were associated with decreased positivity and increased negativity about relationships, whereas uplifts were largely associated with increased positivity. I also found interactions between hassles and uplifts, suggestive of "blunting" effects whereby the positive effects of uplifts were nullified by high levels of hassles. For the next-day effects, I unexpectedly found that uplifts were associated with <italic>decreased</italic> positive relational constructs on the next day, possibly indicating a return to homeostatic levels. In the third paper, I moved to a more explicit examination of dyadic processes by examining both actor and partner effects and focusing on the role of relational sacrifices, or the daily changes individuals make for the sake of their romantic parnters. I expected that sacrifices would be beneficial for positive relationship quality, particularly on days characterized by low (versus high) hassles. I found support for these expectations with regards to actor, but not partner effects. Overall implications are that the everyday things that individuals experience (e.g., hassles and uplifts) and enact (e.g., sacrifices) are important considerations in fostering less negative and more positive romantic relationships.

In this dissertation, I focus on associations between relational sacrifices and commitment (e.g., daily commitment and tripartite dimensions of commitment). This collection of empirically and conceptually related studies are guided by interdependence and commitment theories. First, in Paper 1, actor-partner interdependence models (APIMs) are used to examine individuals' and partners' self-reported perceptions of relational sacrifices in association with actors' daily relational satisfaction and commitment. Here, actor and partner reports of frequency, ease and partner awareness of sacrifices were independent variables and daily satisfaction and commitment were dependent variables. For the sample of unmarried, expectant cohabitors (N = 140 individuals; 70 couples), higher perceived ease of daily sacrifices by both actors and partners was associated with individuals' higher daily satisfaction and higher daily commitment. Relational sacrifices are again independent variables for papers 2 and 3, but tripartite dimensions of commitment (i.e., personal, moral and structural commitment) are specified as dependent variables. In paper 2, data from a subset of the sample of unmarried, expectant cohabitors from Paper 1 who completed qualitative interviews about their commitment (N = 82; 41 couples) are used. Here, associations between sacrifices and commitment were primarily patterned around moral commitment. Specifically, individuals' reports of more frequent and less easy sacrifices, and partners' reports of higher perceived partner awareness of sacrifice, were associated with individuals' higher moral commitment. In contrast, partners' reports of more frequent sacrifices were associated with individuals' lower moral commitment. Beyond moral commitment, individuals' reports of higher perceived partner awareness of sacrifice were associated with their own higher structural commitment, but no significant associations were found with personal commitment. In Paper 3, associations between frequency of and satisfaction with relational sacrifices and tripartite commitment dimensions are examined in a sample of 731 individuals currently involved in romantic relationships. Unlike the sample from Papers 1 and 2 (unmarried, expectant cohabitors), the sample here consisted of individuals across varied relationships statuses (e.g., casual dating, serious dating, married). With this broader range of relationships represented, more frequent sacrifices were associated with higher structural and moral commitment, whereas higher satisfaction with sacrifices was associated with higher personal commitment. Despite a lack of patterned results across this collection of studies, the variation of findings across the samples suggests that the relationship between sacrifices and commitment may be different for different populations. For instance, results from papers 1 suggest that unmarried, expectant cohabitors may be wise to focus on making easier sacrifices given associations with more positive daily satisfaction and commitment. Moreover, results from paper 2 suggest that personal commitment may not be salient for these individuals as patterned findings were specific to the relationship between sacrifices and (mostly) moral commitment. Nevertheless, with a broader population represented (paper 3), associations were found across tripartite commitment dimensions. Thus although sacrifices may not have been relevant to personal commitment for unmarried, expectant cohabitors, it is for others. Taken together, these studies demonstrate the diverse ways in which individuals experience sacrifices relative to daily experiences, and various forms, of commitment. This knowledge can be used to inform individuals how they may choose to function in relationships, practitioners how they may design relational intervention and improvement strategies, and researchers how to apply theory and approach studying commitment across diverse populations.

Ce travail entendait examiner le fonctionnement de la sainteté dans la théologie politique biblique juive, et ce en se servant de la méthodologie sociologique (au sens large) à l'étude de la politique. L'objet de notre recherche n'est pas l'action de la Divinité, mais les actions des hommes qui agissent à partir d'une certaine représentation de la Divinité et de leurs relations face à elle. Notre étude a montré que la conception de la sainteté, telle qu'elle fut appréhendée dans la recherche (chez Durkheim, Otto, Eliade, James, Underhill, Zehner, Comstock, Berger) ne permet pas d'expliquer la sainteté biblique. En effet, ces savants partagent tous l'axiome d'une séparation de la sainteté et du profane, ainsi que l'idée que le message religieux vise à transférer la sainteté, qui se limite elle-même, vers le profane, et ainsi à exercer ses effets sur ce qui l'entoure. Toutefois, comme l'a indiqué Dan, cette conception échoue à rendre compte de la pensée biblique parce que dans sa nature, la réalité ne se divise pas en deux domaines séparés, le profane et le saint. Notre étude a indiqué que l'idée de sainteté biblique dérive de l'idée d'alliance. Celle-ci, représentant le système des relations entre le transcendant et l'immanent, donne son impulsion à la dimension du politique, et reflète l'exigence adressée au peuple d'Israël de fonder une Histoire théocentrique sanctifiant l'espace public. La sainteté, qui est imposée à l'individu, s'inscrit dans le cadre d'une finalité à l'échelle collective exigeant tant de l'individu que du collectif un travail morale sur soi. Elle comprend une série de présuppositions philosophiques, qui concernent les relations matière-esprit et le rôle du libre choix. La finalité de la sainteté n'est donc pas individuelle, mais collective: elle est destinée à "produire" la sainteté collective d'une nation politique. Cette nation possède, selon le récit biblique, une finalité d'existence universelle. Ce travail contribue à mieux comprendre la philosophie politique biblique, et la place de la sainteté collective ainsi que ses effets sur les cérémonies, les institutions et la Constitution. Notre recherche aide également à mieux appréhender la notion de sainteté dans la mesure où la Bible oppose l'impureté à la sainteté et à la pureté, en elles-mêmes deux notions distinctes, tandis que le profane n'y joue qu'un rôle secondaire. / This research has examined the function of the concept of Holiness in biblical political theology, by using methodology from the fields of sociology (in its broadest sense) to study politics. The topic of this research is not the activity of God, but rather the activity of human beings in their relationship with the Divine. The research revealed that the concept of Holiness (in the thoughts of: Durkheim, Otto, Eliade, James, Underhill, Zehner, Comstock, Berger) does not fully explain Holiness is it appears in the Bible. These thinkers and authors share common assumptions that divided the Holy from the secular, and then posit that the Holy seeks to influence the secular, and the Gospel aims to bring the Holy toward the secular. However, as pointed out by Dan, their formulations do not reflect clearly the biblical thought because, in the Bible, reality does not split into two sections: Holy and secular. The concept of Holiness in the Bible, as this research has shown, emerges from the notion of covenant—i.e., reflecting a promised relationship between the transcendental and the immanent, stimulating the political realm, and animating a demand from "Am Israel" to establish theocentric history that consecrates the public space. This Holiness expects and demands intensive work by the individual as well as the collective to advance the understanding and practice of morals to the standards of the Holy. The biblical concept of Holiness includes a series of philosophical assumptions regarding the relationship between matter and spirit and the role of human free choice, but it is not purposed toward individual aims; rather, it establishes as the purpose of existence the creation of collective Holiness; first, nationally, and ultimately, universally. This paper contributes to the understanding of biblical political philosophy, and to a better grasp of the concept of collective Holiness, its place and its implications upon rituals, institutions and the Constitution. The research also contributes to the understanding of the concept of Holiness by examining the use of the term in the Bible, and pointing out that Impurity is the opposing term to both Purity and Holiness, and that all three of these terms have meaning separate and apart from what is considered to be within the concept of secular.

Cette thèse a pour but de dresser un panorama complet des croyances de Xénophon en la divination. À l’aide d’une analyse rigoureuse de la totalité des œuvres de cet auteur antique pendant longtemps déprécié, il ressort que le problème de la consultation des dieux, loin d’être abordé de manière anecdotique et spontanée à la façon d’un legs de la tradition que la pensée critique n’a pas touchée, est au contraire un élément essentiel de la formation d’une réflexion profonde sur la piété et plus généralement les rapports qu’entretiennent les hommes avec les dieux. D’autre part, en raison du zèle de Xénophon à avoir rapporté des récits ou des réflexions à propos de la divination, cette analyse offre l’occasion de mieux comprendre les subtilités de cette pratique rituelle logée au cœur de la religion grecque et qui ne saurait être réduite à une forme de superstition. / This thesis aims to provide a complete overview of the beliefs of Xenophon about divination. Using a rigorous analysis of all the works of this ancient author who has long been depreciated, it seems clear that the problem of the consultation of the gods, far from being addressed incidentally and spontaneously like a traditional legacy that critical thinking has not reached, is on the contrary an essential element in the formation of a deep thinking on piety, and more generally of the relationships between men and gods. On the other hand, due to Xenophon’s zeal to have reported stories or thoughts about divination, this analysis provides an opportunity to a better understanding of the intricacies of this ritual lying at the core of Greek religion and that can not be reduced to a form of superstition.

Student Number: 9804661E Master of Arts: Social Work Faculty of Humanities / Given the high incidences of child abuse not only in informal settlements, but in South Africa as a whole. The present study looks at the social factors that contribute to child abuse in informal settlements. To identify specific social factors in an informal settlement i.e. Ivory Park, which make children in this community to be vulnerable to child abuse. The study aims to identify different forms of child abuse, which occur in Ivory Park, to develop an understanding of the family structure and the functioning of the families. The study further explored the perception of community members on child abuse, and their knowledge and awareness on children’s rights. The study also attempts to bring to our attention that concern about the problem of child abuse is not new. It acknowledges the historical context of this problem, that throughout history children world-wide have been subjected to domination, murder, abandonment, mutilations and forced labour. Practices that seem brutal and senseless today like infanticide and ritual sacrifices of children are actually recorded in the Bible. These were considered normal and acceptable practices at the time. The systematic study of child abuse is fairly a recent phenomenon, it’s only in the sixties that this issue has been discussed and debated in certain parts of the world. The study also points out that the problem of child abuse is not unique to South Africa, but it is a problem in many parts of the world. Also that the understanding of child abuse has shifted over time. The central force behind these changes has been the establishment of various organisations in North America and Europe. These organisations opposed violence against children and advocated for the rights of the children. In South Africa this change came about when the present South African government ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children in 1996 and also when the Rights of the Child were enshrined in Section 28 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The study poses a question as to why child abuse cases and statistics seem to be on the rise and understanding why children are being abused when there are so many pieces of legislation and human rights documents, that aims to safeguard the interest and the protection of children particularly in South Africa. The study also looks at different theoretical perspective on child abuse to help us in terms of explaining and understanding as to why children are abuse. Finally, the study looks at different social factors specific to South Africa that might contribute to child abuse, and the history and location of Ivory Park. On the basis of the findings of this study, the researcher makes some recommendations through which professionals in the helping professions together with community members can address the problem of child abuse in informal settlement.

Les guerres puniques ont longtemps été présentées comme la victoire de la civilisation contre la barbarie étant donné que les seules sources à en parler étaient romaines. En ce qui concerne la religion des Carthaginois, les Romains et les Grecs avant eux s'en sont fait une image plutôt négative. Les principaux traits retenus à propos de la religion des Puniques sont leur dévouement acharné à des rites sanguinaires (immolation massive d'enfants en bas âge) et à l'impudique Astarté, pratiques religieuses jugées barbares et scandaleuses. S'ajoutent aux manifestations lugubres de la piété punique un total manquement à la parole donnée et un irrespect sans précédent des serments et traités de guerre, connus communément à Rome sous l'appellation passée en proverbe : punica fides qui s'oppose à la fides, notion éminemment romaine. Toutefois les Grecs et les Romains ont bien dû, à maintes reprises, reconnaître que les Carthaginois pouvaient avoir des pratiques cultuelles tout à fait comparables aux leurs (prières, sacrifices, présents, fondation de sanctuaires dans les pays conquis...) et faire preuve d'une piété exemplaire. Ils ont constaté, en outre, que le panthéon punique était semblable aux leurs et que les Carthaginois étaient même capables de rendre hommage aux divinités étrangères. Il s'ensuit que la perception de la religion punique dans la tradition classique est contrastée et souvent contradictoire. / For a long time, Romans and Carthaginians lived side by side, and especially, in mutual conflict. The conflicting relationships that had been knitted, in the Mediterranean, between these two outstandingly powerful nations, this dense network with shady alliances, oppositions and hostilities, shaped the image of the Punics. We will endeavour to make out the way the Romans perceived the Carthaginians as it is not possible to know how the Carthaginians regarded themselves: The latter attempt is doomed to failure regarding the lack of Punic literary sources. It is mainly the Carthaginian religion that had marked the Romains: these people were considered as thoroughly irreligious. They were, on the whole, negatively pointed at. In fact, the Punic wars were, for long time, presented as the victory of civilization over barbarity since the only sources on the matter were Roman. Regarding the Carthaginians’ religion, the Romans, and the Greeks ever before them, had conceived it in a rather negative way.

Soixante auteurs latins, du troisième siècle avant JC jusqu'au cinquième siècle de notre ère, sont convoqués dans ce travail pour contribuer comme annalistes, historiens, généraux ou Césars à démêler l'écheveau des mythes, légendes, faits historiques attestés relatant un sacrifice humain à Rome et dans l'Empire. Bien peu de ces faits furent eux-mêmes reçus comme sacrifices humains par les Romains toujours prompts à les interdire dans les provinces conquises, affirmant ainsi la supériorité de leur civilisation. Notre regard de penseurs modernes, soutenu par la rémanence toujours actuelle de véritables sacrifices humains dans le monde, nous conduit à explorer la littérature latine et, nous appuyant sur les textes dans une approche comparative, à tenter de distinguer les meurtres, assassinats, châtiments, des pratiques rituelles de mises à mort sacrées d'êtres humains. Le recensement de ces sacrifices, au sens où notre conscience actuelle nous enjoint de les définir comme tels, aboutit à une typologie dans laquelle sacrifiés, sacrificateurs, divinités allocutaires prennent la place que des siècles de respect absolu de la Loi, de la tradition, de la religion ont désignée comme nécessaire à la pérennité des institutions et de l'imperium romains. Au cœur de ces pratiques, souvent maintenues pendant des siècles, la puissance du sacré émerge comme un fondement consubstantiel à l'Urbs, le substrat de croyances générées par l'époque archaïque et consolidées par une fidélité indéfectible aux prescriptions des patres conscripti. L'angoisse des Romains affrontés aux peuples italiques puis aux barbares du nord et du sud, le constat amer que leurs légions ne sont pas invincibles et furent souvent vaincues, génèrent au fil des siècles une psychose de pérennité et de domination imposant un recours constant aux dieux protecteurs. Confortés par l'enseignement des mythes, généreux dans la transmission des légendes et l'admiration des héros, tout imprégnés de la cruauté de récits sanglants, les auteurs latins ne conçoivent les sacrifices humains que comme la mise en œuvre de rites religieux légaux à valeur expiatoire ou propitiatoire dans les situations de danger extrême pour la Cité. Il faut attendre l'apparition des premiers apologistes chrétiens pour qu'émerge une condamnation définitive de toutes les pratiques sacrificielles tant animales qu'humaines, en parallèle au rejet des divinités et croyances ancestrales. Une ère nouvelle s'annonce pour Rome, ère qui ne verra pas la disparition totale de tout sacrifice humain dans l'Empire.

Soixante auteurs latins, du troisième siècle avant JC jusqu’au cinquième siècle de notre ère, sont convoqués dans ce travail pour contribuer comme annalistes, historiens, généraux ou Césars à démêler l’écheveau des mythes, légendes, faits historiques attestés relatant un sacrifice humain à Rome et dans l’Empire. Bien peu de ces faits furent eux-mêmes reçus comme sacrifices humains par les Romains toujours prompts à les interdire dans les provinces conquises, affirmant ainsi la supériorité de leur civilisation. Notre regard de penseurs modernes, soutenu par la rémanence toujours actuelle de véritables sacrifices humains dans le monde, nous conduit à explorer la littérature latine et, nous appuyant sur les textes dans une approche comparative, à tenter de distinguer les meurtres, assassinats, châtiments, des pratiques rituelles de mises à mort sacrées d’êtres humains. Le recensement de ces sacrifices, au sens où notre conscience actuelle nous enjoint de les définir comme tels, aboutit à une typologie dans laquelle sacrifiés, sacrificateurs, divinités allocutaires prennent la place que des siècles de respect absolu de la Loi, de la tradition, de la religion ont désignée comme nécessaire à la pérennité des institutions et de l’imperium romains. Au cœur de ces pratiques, souvent maintenues pendant des siècles, la puissance du sacré émerge comme un fondement consubstantiel à l’Urbs, le substrat de croyances générées par l’époque archaïque et consolidées par une fidélité indéfectible aux prescriptions des patres conscripti. L’angoisse des Romains affrontés aux peuples italiques puis aux barbares du nord et du sud, le constat amer que leurs légions ne sont pas invincibles et furent souvent vaincues, génèrent au fil des siècles une psychose de pérennité et de domination imposant un recours constant aux dieux protecteurs. Confortés par l’enseignement des mythes, généreux dans la transmission des légendes et l’admiration des héros, tout imprégnés de la cruauté de récits sanglants, les auteurs latins ne conçoivent les sacrifices humains que comme la mise en œuvre de rites religieux légaux à valeur expiatoire ou propitiatoire dans les situations de danger extrême pour la Cité. Il faut attendre l’apparition des premiers apologistes chrétiens pour qu’émerge une condamnation définitive de toutes les pratiques sacrificielles tant animales qu’humaines, en parallèle au rejet des divinités et croyances ancestrales. Une ère nouvelle s’annonce pour Rome, ère qui ne verra pas la disparition totale de tout sacrifice humain dans l’Empire. / Sixty latin writers, over the period from 3rd century b.c, to the 5th of our era are summoned in this work to contribute as annalists, historians, generals or caesars to untangle the skein of myths, legends, historical facts reporting a human sacrifice in Rome and in the Empire.Very few of these facts have been received as human sacrifices by the Romans, always eager to forbid them in the conquered provinces, thus maintaining the superiority of their civilization. Our look as modern thinkers, sustained by the present perpetuation of true human sacrifices in the world, leads us to investigate the latin litterature and, learning on texts with a comparative approach, to try to differentiate murders, assasinations, punishments, from ritual practices of sacred executions of humain beings. The census of such sacrifices, in the sense our present consciousness binds us to define them, results in a typology in which sacrified ones, sacrificators, adressed divinities, take the place that centuries of absolute respect of law, tradition, religion have appointed as necessary for the permanence of roman institutions and imperium.In the heart of these practices, often maintained during centuries, emerges the power of sacerty as a foundation consubstantial with Urbs, the substratum of beliefs generated by archaic times and strengthened by an indefective loyalty to prescriptions of patres conscripti.The anxiety of the Romans facing italic peoples and then northern and southern barbarians, the bitter acknowledgement that their legions are not invincible and had often been defeated, generate along centuries a psychosis of permanence and domination requiring a constant turn to protective gods.Strengthened by the lesson of myths, generous in the transmission of legends and heros admiration, wholly filled with the cruelty of bloody stories, the latin writers do not conceive the human sacrifices but as the realization of legal religions rites with either an expiatory or propitious value. One has to expect the appearance of the first christian apologists so that emerges a definitive condemnation of all sacrificial practices as much animal ones as human, at the same time as ancient beliefs and gods are thrown out. A new era is on the way for Rome, era which will not see the total disappearance of human sacrifice in the Empire.

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