The current study examined whether there are sex-based differences in adolescents’ accuracy in perceiving and acceptance of parental socialisation values. Together with their parents, a total of 134 adolescents (aged 13 to 18) from private Christian schools in Johannesburg, South Africa participated in the study. After creating the measures of overall accuracy, overall acceptance, specific accuracy and specific acceptance, a series of mixed-design ANOVAs were conducted in order to evaluate the six research hypotheses. The results illustrated that there may be sex-based differences in adolescents’ accuracy in perceiving the importance that their mothers and fathers place on the value of power as a socialisation value. However, the overall results suggested that the focus on the effect of adolescent sex on adolescents’ accuracy in perceiving and acceptance of parental socialisation values was too narrow because various parent sex and adolescent sex interaction effects were found. Furthermore, there is no clear pattern indicating how sex influences adolescents’ accuracy in perceiving and acceptance of parental socialisation values, thus suggesting that the influence of sex is value-specific. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology: Research Consultation)

The objective of this research was to explore perceived stress and role conflict that dual-career couples are facing in South Africa. The relationship between work and family is a common topic in the field of Industrial and Organisational Psychology. Research has been conducted in other countries, in particular the United States; however not much research has been undertaken in South Africa. Hence, the purpose of this study was to explore the effect of stress and role-conflict on dual-career couples and the relationship on work-family balance in this context. This research aimed to look at gender differences on work-family conflict, in an attempt to understand perceived role conflict and the interplay of spillover on dual-career couples. A cross-sectional research design with a snowball sampling technique was used. The sample obtained for this research comprised of 105 participants who fulfilled the dual-career couple status. The Work Family Linkage Questionnaire (WFLQ) by Sumer and Knight (2001), with two additional questions on stress included by the researcher, were used as the measuring instrument. The results indicated that there were statistically and practically significant relationships between perceived stress and role-conflict in the different domains. Although no statistically significant results were obtained in the gender experience of role-conflict, when looking at the mean scores it was evident that men and women experienced role conflict differently. There were no significant differences between dual-career couples with and without children across all the sub-scales. However, the descriptive statistics suggested that dual-career couples without children experienced higher stress caused by work life than their counterparts with children. For future research it is recommended that more questions on stress be added, and also that variance in sample size of gender and couples with children and without children be increased as this was also a limitation of the current research. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Masculinity is a relevant and important research priority in South Africa, where problematic constructions of adolescent masculinity are linked with a range of health issues and psychosocial risks. The theoretical basis for this qualitative research study was social constructionism informed by dialogical theory and psychoanalytic accounts of masculinity, including Kristeva's theory of abjection. The overall aim was to explore the lived experience of adolescent boys in order to understand how boys are subjectively positioned in relation to hegemonic standards for 'acceptable' masculinity in social contexts. Following ethical guidelines, boys were purposively sampled for the study from two school settings, a 'multicultural' urban single-sex school and a 'monoracial' rural coeducational secondary. A mixed method approach was used - a photo-narrative visual research method, focus groups and semi-structured interviews within a constructionist paradigm. Visual and verbal data was analysed by means of an integrated quantitative content analysis and qualitative narrative analysis. Findings suggested that hegemonic standards were experienced in different ways by boys in terms of subjective positioning and microcultural context. Peer-groups were identified as having major importance for adolescent boys as a means of validating masculine norms, with sport functioning as an important masculinity marker. A central finding was that peer group norms created the conditions for inclusion and exclusion, which in turn lead to the construction of 'acceptable identities'. Performative 'doing' and symbolic 'having' were identified as two important ways of constructing masculinity - ways that were not always in accord. Another important finding was that boys battled to create even a rough congruence between masculinity norms and an authentic sense of self. There was a convergence around hegemonic norms of toughness, emphasised heterosexuality and displayed risk-taking across contexts; however, these norms were understood in different ways. Non-relational and objectified sex talk was a strong focus of hegemonic masculinity for most boys in the study. Toughness was understood as alternatively verbal, performative or physical, and these differences were linked to racial and cultural differences. Similarly, there were racial and cultural differences in how expressions of masculinity were 'commodified'. Hybridised identities emerged from the multicultural context of School A but not in the monoracial context of School B. Based on the findings that boys occupied several positions simultaneously and experienced contradiction among various identity positions, it was suggested that Connell's masculinity framework provided only a limited macrosociological perspective that neglected the ambiguities of masculine subjectivity. The study identified a range of means by which boys negotiated distances for alternative masculinities outside of hegemonic standards. The collective pressure of meeting an illusory and unattainable standard of masculine acceptability was identified as a source of conflict and anxiety for most of the boys in this study. This anxiety was managed in various ways including finding alternative constructions of masculinity in sub-cultural contexts, religious experience and in traditional cultural practices. These findings have implications for programmes and policies that address issues of masculinity in relation to the challenges and risks facing adolescent boys in South Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

Research on masculinity has become an area of increasing interest internationally and in South Africa. Research in South Africa focussing on masculinity and its impact on violence, sexuality and HIV/Aids has begun to escalate. Researchers and social scientists have come to the realisation of the need to investigate how men feel about being men in a society in which they have been dubbed sexist, violent and rapists. This thesis is an attempt to study the linkages between a culture-of-honour and violence. It does so by conceptualising culture as 'a set of affordances and constraints that channel the expression of coercive means of social control by self and others' (Bond, 2004, p. 62). By examining the subjective experiences of South African men in relation to concepts of masculinity and pride, it is hoped to determine whether honour norms generate hypersensitivity to insults and threats to the reputation of men which encourage men to respond with violence in order to reclaim or save 'face'. This aggression may be directed at other males as well as result in heightened tensions in heterosexual relationships that lead to violence (Cohen & Nisbett, 1994; Cohen & Vandello, 2003). A qualitative methodology was adopted for this investigation and semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight young men from comparable educational backgrounds and differing cultures. These interviews were audiotaped and transcribed. The notion of honour in men's construction of masculinity was evident and reveals commonalities as well as difference in the salience of honour constructs. Future studies are proposed to explore in more detail the relationship between honour and masculinities as well as the role of women in perpetuating honour norms in society. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

The field of masculinity research is an increasingly important area of concern for gender researchers. Contemporary masculinity studies have extensively explored the construction of masculine identities and the range of social processes that generate them. However, these studies have largely focused on non-disabled masculinity and as a consequence have overlooked the construction and subjective experience of disabled masculinity. This research is thus an attempt to address this gap by focusing on the construction and subjective experience of visually impaired adolescent boys. This study consisted of semi structured face to face interviews with visually impaired boys, which were fully transcribed and analysed using the integrated analytic approach of social constructionism and psycho-analysis. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

The Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (EEA) deals with the achievement of equity in the workplace. This involves the promotion of equal opportunities and fair treatment as well as the implementation of affirmative action measures. Telkom, like many other organizations in South Africa was, and is expected to comply with the Act. Compliance includes the development and promotion of female employees into leadership positions. Very few Telkom female employees are in top leadership positions. Even those that are in top positions have been recruited externally. South African history may play a role in the problem by regarding males as leaders at work and at home. The intention of the study was to explore leadership challenges facing female employees within Telkom and to be able to understand the perceptions and realities accompanying these challenges. Theories based on gender, traits, leadership, the hierarchy of needs and development were used as the theoretical framework in this study. The systems thinking approach was used to assist in looking towards a broader perspective. The population of the study was female employees at Telkom Head Office in Pretoria. From these, twelve served as a sample for the study. In gathering data, semi-structured interviews were conducted. Qualitative analysis was used to analyse data. Analysis and interpretation involved identifying themes, coding and interpretation. The findings in the study are: the strong belief that leadership is solely for males or females is incorrect; there are leadership challenges facing Telkom female employees. The study focused on leadership challenges facing Telkom female employees at middle management, junior management and operational level. These are OP to M4. It is for this reason that the researcher thinks that a future study that will focus on leadership challenges facing top and senior female leaders can be conducted for comparison, as well as another study to ascertain the influence of the working environment on these leaders. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

Women's magazines are popular cultural forms which offer readers representations intended to advise women on how to work towards and achieve idealised femininities. They perform such a function within the wider socio-historical context of gender relations. In a country such as South Africa, where patriarchal gender relations have historically been structured to favour men over women and masculinity over femininity, the representation of femininity in contemporary women's magazines may serve to reinforce or challenge these existent unequal gender relations. Informed by a feminist poststructuralist understanding of the gendered positioning of subjects through discourse, this study is a textual analysis that investigates the subject positions or possible identities offered to readers of Destiny, a South African business and lifestyle women's magazine. Black women, who make up the majority of Destiny's readership, have historically been excluded from the formal economy. In light of such a background, Destiny offers black women readers, through its representations of well-known business women, possible identities to take up within the white male dominated field of business practice. The magazine also offers 'lifestyle content', which suggests to readers possible ways of being in other areas of social life. Through a method of critical discourse analysis, this study critically analyses the subject positions offered to readers of Destiny, in order to determine to what extent the magazine's representations of business women endorse or confront unequal gender relations. The findings of this study are that Destiny offers women complex subject positions which simultaneously challenge and reassert patriarchy. While offering readers positions from which to challenge race based gender discrimination – a legacy of the apartheid past – the texts analysed tend to neglect non-racially motivated gender prejudice. It is concluded that although not comprehensively challenging unequal gender relations, the magazine whittles away some tenets of patriarchy.

Agriculture plays a significant role in South Africa’s export earning and in providing employment opportunities. Amongst the major agricultural crops is citrus. Within the context of postmodern and feminist geographies and utilizing the intensive research design, this thesis discusses citrus production with a focus on growers and black women workers in the Kat River Valley area in Fort Beaufort, Eastern Cape. The thesis also explores the challenges and implications of restructuring within agriculture for growers, cooperatives and labour within the citrus industry. It is argued that whilst legislation related to labour and tenure within agriculture has changed since the mid-1990s, power relations in the citrus industry have remained firmly entrenched. Consequently, the flexible labour strategies that the citrus farmers adopted have had serious consequences for women worker

The current study examined whether there are sex-based differences in adolescents’ accuracy in perceiving and acceptance of parental socialisation values. Together with their parents, a total of 134 adolescents (aged 13 to 18) from private Christian schools in Johannesburg, South Africa participated in the study. After creating the measures of overall accuracy, overall acceptance, specific accuracy and specific acceptance, a series of mixed-design ANOVAs were conducted in order to evaluate the six research hypotheses. The results illustrated that there may be sex-based differences in adolescents’ accuracy in perceiving the importance that their mothers and fathers place on the value of power as a socialisation value. However, the overall results suggested that the focus on the effect of adolescent sex on adolescents’ accuracy in perceiving and acceptance of parental socialisation values was too narrow because various parent sex and adolescent sex interaction effects were found. Furthermore, there is no clear pattern indicating how sex influences adolescents’ accuracy in perceiving and acceptance of parental socialisation values, thus suggesting that the influence of sex is value-specific. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology: Research Consultation)

Feminist theories emerged out of the revolutionary enthusiasm that swept the Western world during the late eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe. Based on the assumption that all persons have "inalienable or natural" rights upon which governments may not intrude, feminists in Europe and America advocated that equal rights should be extended to women who up to this point were not considered legal beings separate and deserving of these rights. Most African writers and feminists have argued that since most of the theories of feminist jurisprudence have their roots in this Euro-centric context, they cannot be applicable to African women and should therefore be discarded. The thesis acknowledges that to a certain extent their assertions are true. For years feminist jurisprudence has been restricted to an academic engagement with the law failing to take into account the practices and customs of different communities. It has largely been the realm of the middle class bourgeois white female and therefore has been inaccessible to the African woman. The thesis aims, however, to prove that these theories of feminist jurisprudence although Euro-centric have a place in the understanding and advancement of African women's rights in South Africa. In Chapter One the writer traces the history of South African women's rights and the laws that affect African women. Chapter Two presents the emergence of feminist theories and categories of feminism. The writer then seeks to identify the misunderstandings and tensions that exist between the two. The narrow conception of Euro-centric feminism has been that its sole purpose has been the eradication of gender discrimination, however, for African women in South Africa they have had to deal with a multiplicity of oppressions that include but are not restricted to gender, race, economic and social disempowerment. This is dealt with in Chapter Three. It is the opinion of the writer that despite these differences feminism does play a critical role in the advancement of women's rights in South Africa. Taking the South African governments commitment to the advancement of universal rights, the writer is of the opinion that African women can look to the example set by Western feminists, and broaden these theories to suit and be adaptable to the South African context. The answer is not to totally discard feminist theories but to extract commonalities that exist between African and European women, by so doing acknowledging that women's oppression is a global phenomenon. This is the focus of Chapter Four. To avoid making this work a mere academic endeavour, the writer in Chapter Five also aims, through interviews, to include the voices of African women and to indicate areas that still need attention from both the lawmakers and women's rights movements (Feminists). Finally, the writer aims to present a way forward, one that is not merely formal but also substantively attainable.