There is a noticeable improvement in the quality of the lives of women engaged in economic activities beyond the home. In a democratic South Africa, women – including those in rural areas – are being freed from their fixed gender roles. Today women are regarded as co-participants in any undertaking, whether as organisers, natural environmentalists or economists, in order to achieve sustainable development. It is for this reason that a number of laws and statutory bodies are in place to speed up the empowerment of women. Consequently, women as individuals or groups are doing their best to respond to the call of democracy in order to balance the equation which has for long remained skewed. In the study area of the Makhuduthamaga Local Municipality, women have initiated projects through mobilisation of their capabilities and available resources to sustain their personal needs, and those of their households. Hence, their well-being with regard to health, nutrition, mobility and social connectivity has improved. There is no doubt that these women are primary breadwinners for their families on a daily basis, as the majority have no other source of income or their husbands’ jobs are taken by migrant labour. The research reveals that, unless women stand up and take action to disprove what is known as ‘feminisation of poverty’, nothing good can happen. Through Participatory Rural Appraisal and Community Asset Mapping techniques, an observation of ethical considerations, participants responded willingly and exposed the realities of their lives. One remaining challenge that needs to be constantly monitored is that there should be a balance between policies and practices with men needing to be empowered to understand, accept and assist in the empowerment of women with a view to achieving sustainability in almost every undertaking. / Geography / D.Litt. et Phil. (Geography)

Text in Afrikaans / The purpose of the study is to examine the extent and demands volunteers have in a managerial function. Volunteers are responsible for the management of the branches of the ACVV, functioning in a specific environment. The variables of these environments have a definite influence on the functioning of a branch and place specific demands on the members. The group of respondents consisted of chairpersons of branches of the ACVV in the West Coast region. The findings of the empirical studies are that all levels of the environment bring pressure to bear upon volunteers. The demands placed upon them have a bearing on the managerial tasks and have a negative effect on the willingness of volunteers to serve as board members. It is imperative that training and development of volunteers, in welfare organizations, must be ongoing in order to empower and give them confidence for these managerial tasks. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Social Work)

A community development project involving the tribal leaders, civic organisations and the aged action group had been completed in 1994 in Rathoke, a rural area in the Mpumalanga Pre ince. In the process, the reseacher observed tension built as a result of the refusal of people in authority like tribal officers, civic organisation members and individual professionals to acknowledge that aged people can take a lead in articulating their needs and alternative solutions. Assumptions prevailing among them are that: 1. Old and rural people need help. 2. Have no potential for leadership development. 3. Are dependent on existing leadership structures and 4. Their needs are not a priority. On the bases of these assumptions, the reseacher undertook to do a case study based on the analysis of community development process reports kept for the project.There have been a number of learnings which can be of benefit to people interested in the leadership concept in the field of community development. / Social work / M.A. (SS) (Mental Health)

An exploratory descriptive design was used to examine income-generating self-help groups in the rural area of Moutse, Mpumalanga, South Africa in terms of viability and ability to empower women economically. Income-generating self-help groups of women in Moutse have grown over the years with the initiative of the extension officers of the Department of Agriculture. These groups are also used by the women to enhance personal growth and family support. The success of the income-generating groups relates to abstract needs, such as the individual member's motivation, self-esteem gained through participation in decisionmaking processes and the implementation of projects. Skills are acquired in the process of participation in which abstract and concrete needs are addressed. The failures of the groups are as a result of lack of funding, unavailability of resources, lack of appropriate support and training, lack of co-operation and some unhealthy competition among groups in the area which results in the groups not being economically viable. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Science)

Emotional abuse is a problem experienced worldwide, crossing all economic, educational, social and ethnic segments of all societies. Overtime, many empirical researchers concentrated on studying the occurrence and impact of physical abuse on women but neglected to study the effects of emotional abuse on the woman's physical and mental health. But with time, researchers began to realise that emotional abuse also had a great impact on the lives of women. Therefore, a detailed exploration of emotional abuse between intimate adult partners has only recently emerged in the literature. Though it is difficult to separate emotional abuse from other forms of abuse, many women in our research who were provided with a definition of emotional abuse identified and confirmed that they have been emotionally abused in their past or are being abused in their current intimate relationships. This research project focused mainly on women who suffered and have survived the wounds of emotional abuse in intimate relationships. Group work is aimed at the growth and development of the individual. This study reports on an in-depth analysis of the arrangements and formulation of the structure of support groups, and the effectiveness of the functioning of these groups. Participants who joined the support groups in this research, were women who have undergone therapeutic intervention and are/or were engaged in a healing process that involved reintegration, implementation and maintenance of therapeutic goals. Support groups do provide a place where people can share their experiences in a safe environment, and where they can symbolise their experiences and consequently make them more acceptable to the self. It has been concluded in this research that support groups were effective in giving members the opportunity of helping each other to heal from the wounds of emotional abuse by being supportive, giving feedback, making helpful suggestions and providing useful information necessary for their growth and development. Therefore, participants who joined the support groups agreed that they have benefited by receiving the encouragement and support from one another, which contributed towards their process of healing emotionally, and in turn, caused them to change from being helpless victims to survivors of emotional abuse. / Sociology / D. Phil (Sociology)

The traditional theories of development concentrated on stimulating economic growth and ignored the social aspects involved. Despite the massive injection of donor funds, the situation of the poor deteriorated. The projects in Tembisa are an example of this, as the community was not involved in the assessing of needs or designing of interventions and were only the implementers. The evaluation offers an alternative developmental paradigm that has been used with success in other similar circumstances – the sustainable livelihood approach (SLA). The SLA contends that urban communities should become planners, initiators and executors of local development in order for any transformation to occur. Urban communities have to change their behaviour and attitudes, be willing to accept change, and to take ownership of the projects. The facilitators, NGOs and government have to be willing to unlearn their traditional ways, listen, and accept that they are not the only experts in the field. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Text in Afrikaans / Die probleem van armoede is aangespreek deur middel van die groepwerkproses, waardeur mense sodanig bemagtig is dat die kringloop van armoede verbreek kon word. 'n Kwasi-eksperimentele navorsingsontwerp is gebruik met die groepwerkprogram as onafhanklike veranderlike en die algemene tevredenheid en graad van bemagtiging van die groeplede as die afhanklike veranderlikes. Slegs die voorondersoekgroep en twee eksperimentele groepe is aan die program onderwerp, maar nie die kontrolegroepe nie. n Voor- en natoets is deur aldie groeplede voltooi, om kwantitatiewe data te versamel. K walitatiewe data is versamel deur deelnemende waarneming en doelgeribte gesprekvoering. Die belangrikste verskil tussen die resultate van die eksperimentele groepe en die kontrolegroepe, was dat eersgenoemde tot aksie oorgegaan het terwyllaasgenoemde passief gebly het. Die gevolgtrekking kan dus gemaak word dat die groepwerkprogram wei tot die bemagtiging van die groeplede gelei het wat aan die program onderwerp was. Sleutelterme: Armoede, werkloosheid, haweloosheid, kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe navorsing, eksperimentele ontwerp, beskikbaarheidsteekproef, groepwerk, bemagtiging. / The problem of poverty was addressed through the group work process, in order to empower people so that the cycle of poverty could be broken. A quasi-experimental design was used with the group work programme as the independent variable and the general contentment and degree of empowerment of the group members as the dependent variables. Only the pilot study group and the two experimental groups were exposed to the programme, while the two control groups were not. Pre- and posttests were taken of all the group members to gather quantitative data. Qualitative data was gathered by means of participant observation and purposeful conversation. The most important difference between the different groups was that action was taken by the groups subjected to the programme, whereas the control groups remained passive. It can thus be concluded that the group work programme was instrumental in empowering those group members exposed to the programme. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Work)

This thesis is an account of how a networking approach may assist participatory community development. The author undertakes naturalistic action research into how she can improve her social practice with a view to gaining equal participation amongst university and community members in a community development practicum. She describes how efforts to maximize group participation are typically countered with various forms of non-participation, analogous to a rebellion against authoritarianism. Dialogue with her doctoral peer group about tacit meanings from her personal history reveals that she is too heavily invested in community involvement. A stance of irreverence gives her the freedom to realize that her politically correct approach is conveying the message that "MY way of participation is THE way". She embarks on a networking programme of action in the hope of achieving more balanced participation. A multidisciplinary workshop and a study tour show her that openness to multiple inputs may free people from restrictive views and problematic styles of participation. She initiates the formation of a local network and finds that this is a more free-flowing structure that encourages fluid problem solving among community, government and university participants. The author's original anxieties are, however, revived when networking, too, becomes entangled in organizational complexities. She eventually realizes that she tends to base her actions on premises of power and justice and that it may be helpful to base new ventures on information flow and creativity instead. Her new approach to group facilitation elicits creative inputs from others. She finds that deliberate debate of the assumptions on which collective undertakings are based releases an awareness of alternative approaches to addressing unequal resource utilization in the commons. A review of the local Network's development over six years draws attention to networking resources, and its uses, structuring and management. The author's experiences continuously demonstrate that the assumptions of independence and freedom of choice may provide a more satisfactory basis upon which to manage community participation. / Social Work / D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

Emotional abuse is a problem experienced worldwide, crossing all economic, educational, social and ethnic segments of all societies. Overtime, many empirical researchers concentrated on studying the occurrence and impact of physical abuse on women but neglected to study the effects of emotional abuse on the woman's physical and mental health. But with time, researchers began to realise that emotional abuse also had a great impact on the lives of women. Therefore, a detailed exploration of emotional abuse between intimate adult partners has only recently emerged in the literature. Though it is difficult to separate emotional abuse from other forms of abuse, many women in our research who were provided with a definition of emotional abuse identified and confirmed that they have been emotionally abused in their past or are being abused in their current intimate relationships. This research project focused mainly on women who suffered and have survived the wounds of emotional abuse in intimate relationships. Group work is aimed at the growth and development of the individual. This study reports on an in-depth analysis of the arrangements and formulation of the structure of support groups, and the effectiveness of the functioning of these groups. Participants who joined the support groups in this research, were women who have undergone therapeutic intervention and are/or were engaged in a healing process that involved reintegration, implementation and maintenance of therapeutic goals. Support groups do provide a place where people can share their experiences in a safe environment, and where they can symbolise their experiences and consequently make them more acceptable to the self. It has been concluded in this research that support groups were effective in giving members the opportunity of helping each other to heal from the wounds of emotional abuse by being supportive, giving feedback, making helpful suggestions and providing useful information necessary for their growth and development. Therefore, participants who joined the support groups agreed that they have benefited by receiving the encouragement and support from one another, which contributed towards their process of healing emotionally, and in turn, caused them to change from being helpless victims to survivors of emotional abuse. / Sociology / D. Phil (Sociology)

The traditional theories of development concentrated on stimulating economic growth and ignored the social aspects involved. Despite the massive injection of donor funds, the situation of the poor deteriorated. The projects in Tembisa are an example of this, as the community was not involved in the assessing of needs or designing of interventions and were only the implementers. The evaluation offers an alternative developmental paradigm that has been used with success in other similar circumstances – the sustainable livelihood approach (SLA). The SLA contends that urban communities should become planners, initiators and executors of local development in order for any transformation to occur. Urban communities have to change their behaviour and attitudes, be willing to accept change, and to take ownership of the projects. The facilitators, NGOs and government have to be willing to unlearn their traditional ways, listen, and accept that they are not the only experts in the field. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)