One of the main environmental policy challenges is convincing individuals and organisations to engage in socially desirable courses of action; that is, to have them internalise the consequences of their decisions. As contributions from institutional and behavioural economics have indicated, policies aimed at fostering pro-social action can be ineffective and even counterproductive if the interests and concerns of the relevant actors are not properly considered throughout the policy process. In fact, international conventions and national legislation around the world generally recommend stakeholder involvement in order to properly address pressing environmental challenges. The evidence that underpins and informs this recommendation, however, is still insufficient and scattered across different strands of literature. On the one hand, research on participatory governance has indeed systematically documented the potential for policymakers and resource managers to obtain high-quality, context-specific and legitimate input for environmental policymaking from participatory processes. On the other, the available research has also cast doubt on the potential of participatory processes to produce concrete change in (pro-social) action on the ground. In general, the success of these processes ultimately depends on their design, implementation and context. However, most of these conclusions stem from rich qualitative accounts of participatory processes, structured comparisons of cases and systematic reviews of case studies and the available literature. With this type of evidence, it is difficult to neatly identify the impact of participatory interventions on pro-social and cooperative behaviour and systematically assess the underlying mechanisms. This thesis addresses these knowledge gaps. The thesis investigates the extent to which and the mechanisms by which participatory interventions could foster (or hinder) pro-social and collective action for natural resource management and environmental protection. It comprises four chapters, each constituting a stand-alone, self-contained academic paper. Throughout the different chapters, the thesis reviews and integrates insights from the literature on participatory governance and from the institutional and behavioural analyses of pro-social and collective action. Furthermore, using two laboratory economic experiments (Chapters 3 and 4) and one framed lab-in-the-field experiment (Chapter 5), the thesis systematically assesses specific hypotheses concerning the potential impacts of participatory interventions on cooperative and pro-social behaviour and the underlying mechanisms of these impacts. The introductory chapter of the dissertation gathers, presents and discusses the insights gathered from each chapter. It expands on the motivations for the thesis, presents the general and specific research gaps and questions the thesis tackles and clarifies the conceptual, theoretical and methodological foundations upon which the thesis is grounded. Chapter 2 (entitled Participatory interventions for collective action in environmental and natural resource management) reviews the literature on participatory governance together with the literature on collective action in natural resource and environmental management. The main goal of this review is to contribute to integrating the main insights from both strands of literature regarding (a) the potential of participatory interventions to foster collective action and (b) the channels through which they might foment (or hinder) collective action. It therefore seeks to help integrate the insights from these different strands of literature, which, although related, have generally been disconnected until now. The chapter draws on the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to organise these insights within a coherent conceptual framework. As the results of this literature review indicate, participatory interventions have the potential to foster collective action through two channels. Firstly, by helping resource users to change (and enhance) the rules, norms and strategies that constrain and guide their behaviour (the indirect channel) and, secondly, by directly influencing the specific behavioural factors (e.g. knowledge, trust, preferences, perceptions and beliefs) that collective action hinges upon (the direct channel). However, to sustain collective action, the relevant literature has consistently emphasised that trust needs to be continually cultivated and ensured. Therefore, in line with insights from earlier studies on participatory governance, the results of this literature review also indicate that practitioners and policymakers must not only design participatory interventions carefully to effectively build the trust needed to heighten and sustain collective action, but participatory interventions must also be adequately embedded within the broader (social-ecological and governance) context, providing for follow-up, enforcement, monitoring and conflict-resolution mechanisms. From Chapter 3 through Chapter 5, the thesis focuses on the direct channel, studying the potential of participatory interventions to directly influence behaviour within relevant economic action situations such as social dilemma and distributive action situations. Within a given environment and institutional context, the studies recreate processes commonly facilitated within participatory interventions. Chapter 3 assesses the effects of externally structured and facilitated processes of information exchange, and Chapters 4 and 5 examine the impact of inducing perspective-taking via role-switching techniques (Chapter 4) and instructions (Chapter 5). Thanks to this experimental approach, it is possible to systematically assess the behavioural impacts of these types of processes as well as the underlying mechanisms. Chapter 3 (entitled Structuring communication effectively for environmental cooperation) starts by reviewing previous experimental studies on the effects of two-way communication in social dilemmas to identify the elements that are commonly involved in effective communication processes. This review notes four cooperation-enhancing components of communication: (i) problem awareness, (ii) exploration of strategies to tackle the problem at hand, (iii) agreement on desirable joint strategies and (iv) ratification of agreed-upon strategies. A total of 560 students at Osnabrück University participated in a laboratory implementation of a voluntary contribution mechanism; a public goods game. The experiment implemented a series of interventions that represented these components of communication and contrasted the resulting levels of cooperation with the average outcomes of control groups interacting under either free (unstructured) communication or no communication whatsoever. The intervention that facilitated agreement on a common strategy (i.e. the combination of (ii) and (iii)) was particularly effective at boosting cooperation. Furthermore, combined with interventions promoting problem awareness and ratification, this intervention produced levels of cooperation similar to the average levels of cooperation observed in groups with free-form communication. The results of this experiment expand the understanding in the literature of the role of communication in social dilemmas and provide insights into the potential of structured and facilitated processes of information exchange and social interaction to foster collective action for environmental management. Chapter 4 (The effects of inducing perspective-taking through role reversal in a give-and-take a dictator game on pro-social behaviour) and Chapter 5 (Perspective-taking for pro-social behaviour in watershed management) deal with the effects of inducing perspective-taking on unilateral pro-social behaviour. The results outlined in Chapter 4 indicate that perspective-taking, induced through role reversal, can be associated with significant average changes in the participants’ self-reported state of emotions (in terms of both empathic and positive as well as in distressing and negative emotions). The emotional reactions that the role reversal seems to influence, however, do not appear to result in significantly more (or less) pro-social behaviour. The chapter explores and discusses two plausible explanations for these results, namely the transient effects of emotional reactions and the opposing effects of diverging emotional reactions on pro-social behaviour. These results come from the analysis of data from 144 students at Osnabrück University who participated as dictators in a laboratory implementation of a give-and-take dictator game. The design of the experiment allows the identification of the effect of inducing decision-makers to experience the other person’s position through unilateral role reversal on pro-social behaviour. During the simulation round, dictators in treatment groups experienced how it would feel to be in the role of the recipient. Dictators in the control groups only learned about the distributional consequences of their allocation decisions on recipients. Hence, through a treatment comparison, it was possible to single out the effects resulting from temporarily taking on the position of the other participant. To understand the underlying drivers of a potential behavioural change, the study elicited participants’ emotional states both before and after the simulation round. The results in Chapter 5 indicate that inducing perspective-taking can be associated with relatively greater pro-social behaviour based on an experimental study of downstream farmers’ behaviour in a watershed management context. Moreover, the provision of information on the social-ecological context during the perspective-taking exercise cannot account for the different behavioural patterns in the treatment and control groups. These results come from a lab-in-the-field experiment carried out with 177 downstream farmers in a Peruvian watershed. In the experiment, farmers in the treatment groups were motivated to imagine the upstream farmers’ perspective (i.e. to think about their thoughts and feelings) before deciding on whether or not to contribute to an initiative in the upper watershed. The initiative intends to help upstream farmers improve their well-being without compromising the water supply downstream. The behaviour of farmers in the treatment groups was compared against the behaviour of farmers in the control groups wherein perspective-taking was not induced. Taken together, the results of Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 illustrate the potential of inducing perspective-taking—commonly promoted in participatory processes—to trigger pro-social behaviour in economic situations. It can indeed alter relevant behavioural variables and trigger pro-social behaviour in distributive and social-dilemma situations. Nevertheless, as the literature on perspective-taking has previously indicated, the final effects depend on the specific procedures by which and the situations and contexts wherein perspective-taking is induced. Based on these findings, it is possible to sustain that participatory interventions do have the potential to effect changes in pro-social and cooperative behaviour at both the collective and individual level. Whether this impact is realised or hindered hinges on the procedures and contexts of participatory interventions. It would also depend on the mechanisms provided to follow up on the initiated processes and sustain and build upon the early outcomes. The contributions of this thesis are threefold. Firstly, it integrates insights from the literature on the institutional and behavioural analysis of pro-social and collective action and the literature on participatory governance for natural resource management. Secondly, it generates new evidence, based on experimental methods, in terms of the potential for participatory interventions to foster pro-social and collective action, and in terms of the mechanisms by which participatory methods and processes could effectively impact (or hinder) pro-social and cooperative behaviour. In this way, the thesis helps to bridge the gap of knowledge in terms of how participatory interventions can effectively change behaviour and, subsequently, encourage socially desirable social-ecological outcomes. In doing so, it also adds to the understanding of pro-social and cooperative human behaviour and the way that the processes of information-exchange and perspective-taking, which are often facilitated by participatory processes, may (or may not) advance it. Research on participation is, however, still ongoing and, in terms of the way forward, the thesis makes a third, methodological contribution. It demonstrates how experimental research in both the laboratory and in the field, conducted under a coherent conceptual and methodological framework, can complement one another and shed light on the extent to which and the means by which participatory interventions can produce changes in behaviour. The experimental method, in terms of both laboratory and field experiments, can therefore complement the set of methods traditionally employed to analyse participatory processes. The results of the studies comprising the thesis underscore the importance of carefully analysing the policy process. As contributions from the behavioural literature have repeatedly indicated, human behaviour is driven by a combination of self-regarding, social and procedural preferences. Hence, addressing pressing environmental challenges involving externalities and social dilemmas not only entails getting the policy design right to synergistically coordinate and orchestrate these different types of preferences. It also requires careful design, analysis and implementation of the activities and methods that structure and facilitate stakeholder interactions throughout the policy process.

Co-operatives are multifaceted as they have different meanings for their members. They are an important passage to sustainable development as they provide their members and communities with the opportunity of joining forces and addressing their needs. Various pieces of South African legislation endorse the establishment of co-operatives and support community members to own co-operatives. The research findings show that cooperative members are motivated to participate even though they experience challenges in the cooperatives. What keeps them going is the drive to succeed. This is strengthened by cooperative principles to which they adhere. The role of the social worker in initiating and supporting cooperatives, utilizing empowerment and developmental approaches, provides extra benefits for cooperative members, their families and the larger community. One critical benefit is the income generated through economic activities to support members and their families. Based on the research findings, recommendation are made with regard to practice, policy and further research. / Social Work / M.A. (S.S.) (Social Work)

This thesis examines the missiological writings of Orlando E. Costas (1943-1987), particularly The Church and Its Mission: A Shattering Critique from the Third World (1974); Theology of the Crossroads in Contemporary Latin America (1976); Christ Outside the Gate (1982); and Liberating News: A Theology of Contextual Evangelization (1989). From the early 1970s until his death in 1987 he wrote over 130 articles and 12 books in both Spanish and English that addressed key missiological concerns. A careful reading of a selection of Costas's texts oriented around a hymn, a gospel song, a psalm, and a poem provides the shape of this thesis. This thesis argues that Costas formulated a Third World evangelical missiology. Chapter one investigates what Costas's autobiographical material expressed about his positions on conversion, Protestant evangelicalism, missiology, and those living on the ‘periphery' of life. Chapter two recognises his commitment to the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean in particular and the Third World in general. Chapter three explores Costas's analysis of the Latin American Protestant Church in a revolutionary situation in the continent and chapter four examines his survey and critical appraisal of Latin American liberation theology. Chapter five recognizes the pastoral shape of Costas's missiology. Chapter six explores his critical interaction with two more conservative evangelical missiological positions, the Church Growth Movement and Peter Beyerhaus and the Frankfurt Declaration, and chapter seven surveys the discussion within the international evangelical community regarding the relationship between evangelism and social responsibility. Chapter eight examines Costas's Liberating News as an expression of Third World evangelical missiology. Chapter nine considers the theological issue of penal substitutionary atonement and his missiology. The thesis concludes with an appraisal of the issues and contributions of Costas's Third World evangelical missiology to current missiological discussion.

This study evaluates a sex education programme administered in an Indian high school. To this end, a literature search, empirical study and qualitative data were used to measure the effectiveness of the Education for Living programme. Adolescents are blamed for having pennissive attitudes, or for indulging in amoral sexual behaviour without considering the consequences. The fact is, sexual development of young people is affected in a fundamental sense by what is taking place around them. Many of the taboos, which operated in society years ago, have disappeared. This study looks into the history of the South African Indian community. In particular, this study focuses on the community's values, attitudes and traditional practices toward sexuality, sex and marriage. It further highlights how the processes of westemisation and modernisation have eroded many of these aspects of traditional Indian culture. The study concludes by examining the emergence of new-found patterns of behaviour and attitudes. It is not the intention of this study to provide any conclusive documentation on the subject of the Indian adolescent. However the major findings of this study have been fommlated as recommendations and implications for further research. Since sexuality is an ever-changing, life-long experience, there is a need for continuous acquisition of accurate sexual knowledge. Carefully designed programmes may serve to allay fears, dispel myths, diminish confusion, enhance communication within families and promote health and wellbeing across generations. / Social Work / M.A. (SS) (Mental Health)

Text in Afrikaans / Hierdie studie het ten doel gehad om die effek van gesinsgeweld op die Suid-Afrikaanse kind te bepaal. Die Opvoedkundig-Sielkundige Relasieteorie is gebruik in die identifisering van die effek van gesinsgeweld op die kind. Die volgende is in die studie bevind: Die geweldsvraelys kan gebruik word om die effek van gesinsgeweld by die kind te identifiseer en ook as hulpmiddel dien vir die terapeut in die verband. Die Opvoedkundig-Sielkundige Relasieteorie kan gebruik word om die effek van gesinsgeweld by die kind te identifiseer. Kinders wat geaffekteer word deur gesinsgeweld toon sterker deursettingsvermoe en wilskrag ten einde 'n sukses te maak van hulle toekoms en om nie in dieselfde omstandighede te beland nie. Seuns en dogters se emosionele ervarings toon weinig verskille. Relasie met ouers in gesinsverband word negatief be"invloed, terwyl relasie buite gesinsverband positief voorkom. Kinders wat geaffekteer word deur gesinsgeweld kan gehelp word, al is dit om die kind te verwyder uit die omgewing asook met terapie, gesinsterapie, ensovoorts. / The study was conducted to determine the effect of family violence on South-African children. The Education-Psychological Relation theory was used to identify these effects. In the literature, the following was concentrated on: The questionnaire can determine the effects of family violence on a child and assist a psychologist in this regard. Education-Psychological Relation theory can determine the effects of family violence on a child. Children affected by family violence show a stronger determination and willpower to succeed in their future and not to stay in similar situations. The emotional experiences of boys and girls show little difference. Relationships with parents are negatively affected, but relationships outside the family circle tend to be positive, Finally, children affected by family violence can be helped, albeit to remove the child from the enviroment and to use psychological therapy, family therapy, ectera. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Curative primary health care nurses are the first level of contact with health personnel the patient has when entering the district-driven health system of South Africa. It is imperative that these nurses are competent, or patients may suffer. Several factors exist as barriers to competent curative care. Donabedian's structure-process-outcome framework has been used in the study of these factors. Literature were selected from international and national studies of nursing to discover barriers and enablers in general nursing care but also specifically in curative primary health care. The curative primary health care nurses in the Southern Cape/Karoo region were used as a sample for the study. Data gained from questionnaires were organised to present the findings: Barriers to a curative PHC service seem to be multifactorial, with scarce resources causing great stress for the workforce. This have a negative impact on relationships between employer and employee, CPHCNs and their patients, the type of managing that take place, and the quality of the examination and treatment of patients. Slow changes frustrates workers, causing more stress and poor attitudes, feelings of not being valued, and not being motivated (internally and externally). Enablers examined showed that although the workforce may be discontented and overworked, they still try to deliver their best, with few medical mistakes. Patients still have a lot of respect for their healthcare deliverers, but this trend may not continue for much longer. Patients are already returning more often to clinics, causing even more stress for staff. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

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)

Thesis (M.Ed. (Voorligting))--Universiteit van Suid-Afrika, 2002.

Summaries in Engish and Afrikaans / The goal of this research is to evaluate whether a personal and social skills program can effectively be implemented by social workers in a prison. A control- and experimental group were used in a quasiexperimental design. The respondents were twenty-four white, male, sentenced prisoners in Pretoria Central Prison. The Heimler scale for social functioning and the Hudson-scale for family relations are the standard questionnaires, which were utilised to measure results during the pre-testing and post-testing phase. All twenty-four respondents completed the scales during the pre- and post-testing phase. The Wilcoxon t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test were used for statistical purposes. A computer was used to process data. Both measurement scales confirmed positive results. The independent variable, that is, the personal and social skills program had an effect in the desired direction on respondents in the experimental group. The Hudson-scale for interpersonal relationships, however, showed more dramatic results. The results for the control group, showed noticeable decline in both social functioning of the respondents as well as experience of family relationships. / Die doel van hierdie navorsing is om te bepaal of maatskaplike werkers in 'n gevangenis 'n persoonlike en sosiale vaardigheidsprogram effektief kan implementeer. 'n Kontrole- en eksperimentele groep was benut in die uitvoering van 'n kwasi-eksperimentele ontwerp. Die proefpersone was vier-entwintig Blanke, manlike gevangenes te Pretoria-Sentraal Gevangenis. Die Heimler-skaal vir maatskaplike funksionering en die Hudsonskaal vir gesinsverhoudinge was die gestandardiseerde vraelyste, wat gebruik is om die resultate tydens voor- en na-toetsing. Die meetinstrumente is deur al vier-en-twintig respondente voltooi. Die Wilcoxon t-toets en Mann-Whitney U-toets is benut vir statistiese doeleindes. 'n Rekenaar is gebruik om data te verwerk. Beide metingskale het positiewe resultate getoon. Die onafhanklike veranderlike, die persoonlike- en sosialevaardigheidsprogram, het 'n effek in die gewenste rigtings gehad op die proefpersone in die ksperimentele groep, hoewel die Hudson-skaal vir gesinsverhoudinge, meer dramatiese resultate getoon het. Die resultate van die proefpersone in die kontrole groep, het merkbare agteruitgang getoon op beide skale. / Social Sciences / M.A. (Social Work)

The need for an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation stems from the inability of development theory and praxis, which has informed the past Development Decades, to ameliorate abject poverty experienced by most people throughout the world. Emanating from a hermeneutical-interpretist epistemology the fundamental argument of an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation is that people and the crucial aspects of their humanity should be the central focus in development and evaluation processes. Thus, taking the people-centred approach to development as its starting point, an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation draws attention to the marginalised, particularly the poor, the rural poor, resource-poor primary producers, women and their households. An Anthropocentric Development Evaluation also argues for an actor-orientation to Development Evaluation to emphasise the situational, yet individual behaviour, of people. Alongside such an approach, lies the significance of culture and people's knowledge for development, as well as the limitations, risks, uncertainties and vulnerabilities people face as a consequence of their humanity. These may influence the extent to which they participate in spontaneous or imposed development initiatives. An Anthropocentric Development Evaluation then comparatively assesses three sets of similar, yet different, methodologies using people and aspects of their humanity described above as the focus for that assessment. The methodologies assessed include Action Research, Social Impact Assessment and the Complementary Rural Development Field Tools. The purpose of doing so is to obtain a suitable medium through which to test the focus of an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation in a development setting. The testing of an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation in a development setting is done first by providing an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation of aspects of life of people living in the community of Nyanyadu in KwaZulu-Natal. Social Impact Assessments using the focus of an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation are then made of two development initiatives in respect of the people of Nyanyadu. These two initiatives are a nutrition and social development programme and the national land reforms. The purpose of all these evaluations is to examine the extent to which people and their humanity are seen to be crucial in development processes. / Development Administration / D.Litt. et Phil. (Development Administration)