Most children born HIV positive live longer and have more healthy lives since the advent of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART), together with the accessibility of Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARV) to persons living with HIV. However, some of those children find themselves in need of care due to abandonment, orphanhood and / or neglect. In South Africa such children may enter the formal Child and Youth Care System and be placed in centres such as Epworth Child and Youth Care Centre. Due to the complex nature of the consequences of such disclosure or non-disclosure of HIV positive children’s status to them, social service workers are posed with a dilemma. In the absence of clear guidelines and policy around such disclosure, the children concerned may be unaware of their HIV positive status, despite being on a medication regime. The aim of the study was to explore the perceptions of social service workers regarding disclosure of HIV status to children born HIV positive living at Epworth Child and Youth Care Centre in Lambton, Ekurhuleni, South Africa. The study was located within a qualitative research paradigm, and utilised a purposive stratified sample of 15 social service workers form various occupational groupings recruited from Epworth Child and Youth Care Centre. A semi-structured interview schedule was employed as the research tool, with in-depth one-on-one interviews being adopted as a method of data collection. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data collected during the interviews. The main findings of the study were that HIV status disclosure is viewed as a complex but essential process as it reinforces children’s ability to adhere to medication regimes and to dispel anxiety and suspicion within themselves and around their status; that non-disclosure may lead to poor or coerced adherence and strains the relationship between the children and the social service workers. Disclosure of children’s HIV positive status can be viewed as complex as it presents both positive and the negative. Recommendations relate to community educative and awareness programmes, policy and practice changes regarding disclosure and none disclosure of children’s HIV positive status, as well as future research.

Ungdomar med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning [IF] som grupp lever i en mycket ojämlik situation i förhållande till andra grupper i samhället. Många ungdomar med IF lever i ett utanförskap och forskning visar att det finns en ökad risk för normbrytande beteende för gruppen. På så vis är detta en klientgrupp som socialsekreterare möter i sitt arbete. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur socialsekreterare i en medelstor kommun arbetar med kriminella ungdomar som också har en IF. Studiens metod är kvalitativ utifrån semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra socialsekreterare samt en gruppledare. De vetenskapsteoretiska utgångspunkter studien grundar sig i är professionsteori samt samverkansteori. Intervjupersonerna hade en gemensam uppfattning om att arbetet med målgruppen är utmanande samt komplext. Både faktorer inom den egna verksamheten och utomstående faktorer skapade utmaningar för arbetet. Slutsatser som dras av den genomförda studien är att nuvarande insatser inte är anpassade efter målgruppens behov samt att kunskapen och samverkan kring gruppen behöver öka. Arbetet med målgruppen beskrivs vara komplext samtidigt som forskningen kring gruppen är bristande. Gruppen unga kriminella med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning måste uppmärksammas inom det sociala arbetet och forskningen för att skapa en mer gynnsam framtid både för målgruppen och de professionella som möter den / Juveniles with intellectual disability (ID) as a group live in an unequal situation in relation to other groups in society. Many juveniles with ID lives in isolation and research shows that there is an increased risk of norm-breaking behavior. In this way, it is a client group that social service workers meet in their work. This study aims to examine how social service workers in a medium-sized municipality work with criminal juveniles who have an ID. The method of the study is qualitative on the basis of semi-structured interviews with four social service workers and one group leader. The theoretical approaches of the study are professional theory and interplay theory. The interviewees had a common perception that working with the target group is challenging and complex, partly because of internal factors within the organization but also external factors. Conclusions that are being made are that current efforts are not well adjusted for the target group’s needs, as well as that the knowledge and interplay about the group needs to increase. Working with the target group is being described as complex and the scientific research about the group is lacking. Criminal juveniles with ID need to be acknowledged within social work and scientific research to create a more favorable future for the target group and the professionals who meet them

Human sexuality has been overrun with narratives that limit the possibilities of pleasure. Sex-positive workers have the potential to challenge the ways in which these limitations become embodied. In this research I explore narratives of sex education and youth, pleasure as prevention, and the medicalization of sexuality. I engage in collective biography as a way to identify how these narratives shape the way bodies and pleasure get taken up in specific places. Drawing from poststructural feminist theory I propose three ways of reconceptualizing bodies and pleasure as emergent sites of change and potential. Through an analysis of the experiences of sex-positive service workers in Canada, I consider what else, and for whom, bodies, pleasure, and sex education might look like. / Graduate / 0680 0733 0573 / yorkchender@gmail.com

In the last two decades the IT service support worker has emerged to be a worker-type of considerable socio-economic importance. Such workers are symbolic of the trends towards the importance of information/knowledge and information technology within modern economic/political systems. Such systems, heavily influenced by governmental bodies and business organisations, have aggrandised the use of rationalising customer-centric management techniques. And yet such symbolic workers are largely hidden and unacknowledged as a specific type of worker in the business literature. This thesis represents an attempt to conceptualise the IT service support worker as a worker-type, inducing a conceptual model that identifies three aspects to the worker: information systems worker; knowledge worker and service worker and considers them from each of these perspectives. This qualitative research draws on a rich mix of observational and interview data collected across five UK organisations to produce a narrative that suggests that, for different IT service support workers, those different aspects tend to be variably emphasised within their team roles. The study additionally offers a theoretical conclusion that IT service support workers might reasonably be divided into different classes depending upon not only the design of their team role but also their individual career orientations and the nature of the knowledge they actually use in their work. Four such classes are identified as being of particular significance and these are evocatively named: Resigned Robots ; Constrained Careerists ; Establishment Experts and Aspiring Artisans . Whilst being outside of the scope of this study, it is suggested that this novel typology might also be useful for classifying other worker groupings. The study is intended to be useful for the enhancement of IT service management practice and makes several contributions in this regard. These include the need for managers to recognise the importance of experientially-acquired knowledge for efficiency in IT service support work and a suggestion that managers might tailor HRM practices for different classes of worker.

M. Tech. (Department of Hospitality, Faculty of Human Sciences) Vaal University of Technology / Introduction: The education, training and development (ETD) industry has developed fast over the past few years in our country. One need only read the national weekend papers and see all the ETD vacancies advertised to realise that ETD issues are being given increased coverage in this country. The reason for this increased focus on ETD is the need for skilled workers in organisations. Reports on our competitiveness in the world have consistently identified the lack of people development as a major stumbling block for the South African economy in competing in the global market. Objectives: The main objective of this study was to measure the impact of a training programme for the food service workers providing meals to 300 elderly people attending the Sharpeville Care of the Aged centre, in terms of a skills development programme, in order to contribute to increased productivity and provide nutritious meals to the elderly. Methods: A baseline survey was undertaken to determine the nutritional status, food consumption patterns and nutrient intake in a random sample of 300 elderly people attending the care centre five days a week. Socio-demographic and health questionnaires, as well as 24-hour recall questionnaires were completed with the assistance of trained fieldworkers. Anthropometric measurements included weight, height, and Mid-Upper Arm Circumference. Furthermore, the existing menus served to the elderly were theoretically analysed using FoodFinder® version 3 program to determine the energy, carbohydrate, protein and fat content. A developed and tested questionnaire was used to gather information from ten volunteer food service workers at the care centre to determine the training needs. The results of the baseline survey, the menu analysis and training needs assessment were used to develop a training programme that was implemented for a period of ten weeks. Learning was measured after the training programme by administering the same knowledge questionnaire, as well as by a portfolio of evidence and practical assessment. Data analyses: Data for the baseline survey was captured on an Excel spreadsheet. Data analysis was done using the Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows version 10.0 program for all variables except dietary intake data. Dietary intake and food consumption data were analysed by a registered dietician using the FoodFinder® version 3 program, developed by the Medical Research Council (MRC). Daily nutrient intakes were reported as means and standard deviations and compared to RDAs. Paired t tests were done to determine correlations between knowledge of the food service workers before and after the implementation of the training programme. Results: The results indicated that the majority of the elderly had an income of between R500 and R1 000 per month and most of them reported an occasional lack of funds to meet basic household needs, confirming the presence of food insecurity. Daily dietary intakes (mean ±Standard Deviation [SD] were 5 041,2 ± 2 299,6 kilojoules (kJ) energy, 50,4 ± 28,2 gram (g) protein, 38,9 ± 28,2 g fat and 149,0 ± 76,6 g carbohydrates. The majority (29.5%) were overweight (body mass index [BMI] ~25) or obese (BMI ~30) whilst 33.5% had a mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of ~21.7 centimetres (em). Mean intakes of micronutrients were low in comparison with the reference standards. The volunteer food service workers were literate as the majority had higher than grade 10-12 training and 80% had previously received on-the-job training. The training programme was successfully implemented and the knowledge of the voluntary food service workers improved after the training programme was implemented. However, because of the small sample size no significance could be determined. Conclusions: The findings of this study confirmed that poverty, malnutrition, both under- and over-nutrition, as well as household food insecurity and poor health were the major problems observed in this elderly community. These findings correspond to other studies, however limited, conducted amongst the elderly in South Africa. The results indicated that, although the food service workers were literate and had received prior training, they still had a poor knowledge of appropriate food preparation method and practices, as well as nutrition, especially related to the elderly. On completion of the training programme, the knowledge of the food service workers improved. This study emphasises the importance of continued on-the-job training Recommendations: The recommendations of further research include: 1) A more detailed study to evaluate the influence of the training programme not only on knowledge and skills, but also on behaviour and attitude. 2) Periodically measuring such influence over a year to measure knowledge retention. 3) Implementation of a NEP for the elderly and its impact on nutrition knowledge and dietary intake behaviour tested. / National Research Foundation (NRF

This study aims to examine social service worker’s perception of factors that complicate and challenge their freedom of action in childcare investigation where children have witnessed violence between parents, and how they manage this in their assessments. Data was collected using qualitative semi-structured interviews with eight social workers from three social offices in Stockholm. The transcriptions from the interviews were analysed via thematic analysis. The results were analysed by using a social theoretical approach. Getting access to children’s perception of the experienced violence is shown in the study as achallenge for the social workers. The conclusions of the study show that high workload, co- operation within different units in the organisation and lack of authority for decision-making are the main factors that complicates the social workers freedom of action in their work. Consequences of these factors lead to less time for the social workers to meet the children and get their voice heard during the investigation work. The study also concludes that professional experience and support from colleagues enable the social workers to managetheir freedom of action during childcare investigations.

Thesis (M.A. (Human Resource Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The purpose of this study was to examine the school counsellors and social service workers experience of how the child psychiatry manage their authority in the collaboration concerning children with mental health problems. The study was conducted using qualitative interviews with school counsellors, social service workers and one former employee of the Swedish child psychiatric care. Our results are divided into two themes: Collaboration and distribution of responsibility and Children who fall between the cracks. Examples of groups of children who according to our study are at risk of falling between the cracks are those who apart from mental issues have substance abuse issues or social issues, those whose parents are in a child custody dispute, children who are acting out and children with self-harm issues. The study also reveals that it's easier for children whose parents are active and knowledgeable to get help from the child psychiatric care and that it's a requirement for both parents and children to be highly motivated.There are established social hierarchs between agencies who partake in collaboration regarding children with mental illness. The child psychiatry have a higher status than the social services and the school and therefore greater power to steer the collaboration in a way that benefits the organisations own interests. The structure of the Swedish child psychiatric care is founded in a way that benefits the sorting of clients through the requirement of diagnoses and the will to sort out the psychic problems from the social.Our conclusions with the study is the way that children with mental illness are categorized and where the child is referred is mainly because of a broad conception that Abbott (1981) could describe where the mental issues are considered as "pure" and the social issues are considered "impure".

Frontline client service workers are central to the service elements of any small and medium enterprise. People who have much customer or client contact are seen to be subject to stronger emotional display rules. These display rules may result in compromising the psychological and/or physical health of workers, because they often lead to a disturbing dissonance between felt emotions and the emotions one must exhibit. It is, therefore, of vital importance for service workers to exhibit Emotional Intelligence, which will enable them to manage both their own emotions and their interactions with other people. Their inability to do so may result in stress as well as physical and emotional exhaustion, also known as Burnout. The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between Emotion Work, Emotional Intelligence, Well-being and Social Support of client service workers within small and medium enterprises, A cross-sectional survey design was used. An availability sample was taken from small and medium enterprises employing client service workers in the Mpumalanga Province (N = 145). The Greek Emotional Intelligence Scale (GEIS), Frankfurt Emotion Work Scales (FEWS), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) and Social Support Scale, as well as a biographical questionnaire were used as measuring instruments. Cronbach alpha coefficients, factor analysis, inter-item correlation coefficients, Pearson product moment correlation coefficients, stepwise multiple regression analysis, and Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were used to analyse the data. Principal component analysis resulted in a one-factor solution for Engagement labelled Work Engagement, and a two factor solution for Burnout namely: Disengagement and Emotional Exhaustion. Regarding Social Support, a three factor model was extracted namely; Social Support - Co-worker, Social Support -Supervisor and Social Support - Family. A three factor model was extracted for Emotion Work namely: Emotional Dissonance, Display of Client Care and Extent of Client Interaction. A four-factor solution was extracted for Emotional Intelligence namely: Emotional Expression/Recognition, Use of Emotions to Facilitate Thinking, Control of Emotion as well as Caring and Empathy. An analysis of the data indicated that all of the correlations between the different constructs mentioned below are statistically and practically significant, Disengagement was positively related to Emotional Exhaustion and negatively related to Emotional Expression/Recognition, Emotion Use to Facilitate Thinking and Work Engagement. Emotional Exhaustion was positively related to Emotional Dissonance and negatively related to Emotional Expression/Recognition. Emotional Dissonance was positively related to Display of Client Care, while Display of Client Care was positively related to Extent of Client Interaction, as well as Caring and Empathy. Emotional Expression/Recognition was positively related to both Emotion Use to Facilitate Thinking and Work Engagement. Emotion Control was positively related to Emotion Use to Facilitate Thinking, while it in turn was positively related to Work Engagement. Finally, Social Support from Co-workers was positively related to Social Support from Supervisors and Family, and Social Support from Supervisors was positively related to Social Support from Family. A multiple regression analysis indicated that Emotion Work, Social Support and Emotional Intelligence predicted 29% of the variance in Work Engagement, 30% of the variance explained in Disengagement and 37% of the variance in Emotional Exhaustion. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) which was used to determine differences between the departmental, age, race, qualification, language and gender groups with regard to Emotion Work, Emotional Intelligence, Well-being and Burnout, indicated no statistical significant differences (p < 0,05). The results indicated a correlation between Emotional Intelligence, Emotion Work and Well-being factors. Emotional Intelligence factors predicted Work Engagement and Emotion Work predicted Emotional Exhaustion. Recommendations were made for the profession of client service work in small and medium enterprises, as well as for future research purposes. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Things develop quickly in today's internet-linked global economy and competition is intense. Speed, cost, and quality are no longer the trade-offs they once were. Today's consumers demand immediate access to high-quality products and services at a reasonable price. Thus, Managers are challenged to speed up the product creation and delivery cycle, while cutting costs and improving quality. Regardless of the size and purpose of the organisation and the technology involved, people are the common denominator when facing this immense challenge. Success or failure depends on the ability to attract, develop, retain, and motivate the employees. The human-resource employee is the drive behind all these voice-to-voice and face-to-face interactions, attempting to represent the emotions, attitudes, and behaviours required by the organisation. The objective of this research study was to determine the relationship between Emotion Work and Well-being among human-resource employees in the chrome industry. The research method consisted of a literature review and an empirical study. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect the data. A non-probability convenience sample was taken from human-resource employees in the chrome industry. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, the Frankfurt Emotion Work Scales, Greek Emotional Intelligence Scale, Emotional Labour Scale, and Social Support Scale were used as measuring instruments. The data was analysed by making use of descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, factor-analysis, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analyses of variance (multivariate analysis of variance and ANOVA), calculated using SPSS. Compared to the the guidelines of a > 0,07 (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994), all of the scales of the measuring instruments have normal distributions except for Engagement where the kurtosis was positively skewed. Compared to the guidelines of a > 0,07 (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994), the Cronbach alpha coefficient of all the constructs is considered to be acceptable. A factor analysis confirmed four factors of Emotion Work, consisting of Emotional Dissonance, the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions, the Display of Empathy, and the Display of Negative/Unpleasant Emotions. Emotional Intelligence also consists of four factors namely the Use of Emotion, Caring Empathy, the Control of Emotions, and Expression Recognition. Well- being consists of two factors namely Exhaustion and Engagement. Finally, Social Support consists of three factors Co-worker Support, Supervisor Support, and Family Support. An analysis of the data indicated that all of the correlations between the different constructs mentioned below are statistically and practically significant. The Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions and the Display of Empathy is positively related to Emotional Dissonance. The Display of Empathy is positively related to Emotional Dissonance as well as to the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions. The Display of Negative/Unpleasant Emotions is negatively related to the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions and the Display of Empathy. Exhaustion is negatively related to Engagement, the Use of Emotions, and the Control of Emotions. Engagement is positively related to Co-worker Support, the Use of Emotion as well as to the Control of Emotions. Family Support is positively related to both Supervisor Support and Co-worker Support. Supervisor Support is positively related to Co-worker Support. The Use of Emotion is positively related to Caring Empathy and the Control of Emotions. Caring Empathy is positively related to the Control of Emotions, the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions, and the Display of Empathy, while it in turn is negatively correlated to the Display of Negative/Unpleasant Emotions. The Control of Emotions is negatively related to the Display of Negative/Unpleasant Emotions. Emotional Dissonance is positively related to both the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions and the Display of Empathy. Finally, the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions is positively related to the Display of Empathy. In a multiple regression analysis with Emotional Dissonance as dependant variable and with demographic variables, as independent variable a statistically significant model was produced. More specifically, 11% of the variance predicted in Emotional Dissonance was explained by gender, age and ethnicity. In a multiple regression analysis indicated that Emotional Intelligence (specifically the Use of Emotion), Emotion Work (specifically Emotional Dissonance), and Social Support (specifically Co-worker Support) predicted 31% of the total variance in Engagement. Emotional Intelligence (specifically the Use of Emotion and the Control of Emotions), Emotion Work (specifically Emotional Dissonance and the Display of Negative/Unpleasant Emotions), and Social Support (specifically Co-worker Support) predicted 43% of the total variance in Exhaustion A multivariate analysis of variance, which was used to determine differences between ethnic, age, and gender groups with regard to Emotion Work, indicated that participants in the African ethnic group experienced higher levels of Emotional Dissonance than participants in the White ethnic group. Female participants display higher levels of Emotional Dissonance, the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions, and the Display of Empathy, while male participants experienced higher levels of the Display of Negative/Unpleasant Emotions. The age group of 42 to 51 experienced lower levels of Emotion Work owing to the experience of Emotional Dissonance, than participants in the age groups of 21 to 31, 32 to 41, and 52 to 66. / Thesis (M.A. (Human Resource Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.