In two experiments, I arranged the environment to determine if a relation existed between the social setting, which was defined by the presence of a peer or multiple peers and measured by the participants’ verbal behavior, and the learning of new reinforcers for the participants and the confederate peers. The peers were used to establish an intervention setting that fostered interaction between individuals but did not require it. In both experiments, two pre- and post- intervention tests of the dependent variables were used to measure the learning of new reinforcers. In Experiment 1, two intervention conditions were counterbalanced across participants to identify if a neutral stimulus would attain reinforcing value by observation if it was simultaneously delivered to both participant and peer for responding to previously learned math equations (Condition 1) or if the conditioning phenomenon was only observed when the neutral item was delivered to the peer (while the participant was present but denied access to the stimulus) for responding to previously learned math equations (Condition 2). Participant behavior was measured for all variables across all phases of the experiment and peer behavior was measured during the pre- and post-intervention screening test. The results from Experiment 1 showed that the participants did not learn new reinforcers when the neutral stimulus (NS) was delivered simultaneously to both participant and peer as they completed math worksheets. However, the previously neutral stimulus did become a reinforcer when the participant did not receive the NS but observed the peer receive the NS as they completed the math worksheets. Peer behavior was also measured during the pre- and post-intervention screening test and was consistent with the participants’ results; peers acquired new reinforcers during Condition 2 but not Condition 1, even though they were never denied access to the stimulus. In Experiment 2, I tested whether reinforcers would be conditioned through observation regardless of the role that the participant was assigned during the intervention. Pre- and post-intervention tests for the dependent variables measured the behaviors of all nine participants regardless of the participant’s intervention role (e.g. peer, recipient). In Experiment 2, participants were randomly put in groups of three that included two participants (peers) who observed the third participant (recipient) receive the NS as a reinforcement operation as all three were completing math worksheets. The setting was arranged in this manner to test the effect of the reinforcement operation when two peers observed one recipient receive the stimulus. The results are discussed as an analysis of social contingencies, reinforcement operations including deprivation and other implications that can be drawn from the changes in the participants’ and confederates’ behavior during the pre-and post-intervention measures.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The issue of social development for farm workers has always been a contentious one, primarily due to a history of development being one of repression and exploitation. Decades of exploitative control have left a social situation characterised by poverty and extreme inequality of power, between farmer and worker, black and white people, and between men and women. The legacy of this brutal past is not only to be found in the conditions under which farm workers now live, but rather the psychological and institutional barriers preventing their achievement of a better life though effectively utilising the opportunities available to them. Poverty and marginalisation is a formidable barrier to overcome in this environment. In becomes clear that any development programme aimed at providing farm workers with support in their struggle for a better life - the essence of “development” - will of necessity need to address these factors. The complexity of the farm situation, with its myriad of historical, social and economic problems, requires an innovative approach which represents a combination of, and compromise between, the priorities for farmers and those of workers, and mechanisms which promote broad based minimum standards as well as innovation and leverage for longer term benefit. The Land and Agricultural Bank of South Africa has initiated a number of products and programmes to promote development and land reform for farm workers. The intention of these is to stimulate farm based development through leveraging the various governmental development programmes and the commitment of landowners. In particular, Land Bank is to introduce a Social Discount Product to provide incentives for the Bank’s clients to implement development projects on their farms. This article explores some of the issues Land Bank has experienced in developing its products to promote farm based development, and specifically the Social Discount Product. It examines in "brief the current development context for farm workers, and in particular their conditions of life and work. It also reviews some of the current mitiatives to promote farm-based development by a variety of actors, governmental, private sector, and civil society. An outline of the Land Bank’s Social Discount Product and other programmes is then presented. Finally, issues and challenges are identified which are critical to the success of development and land reform for farm workers. The article contends that land reform for farm workers cannot be viewed separately from the broader process of development on farms. The reason for this is partly that land reform, or redistribution, will only affect a minimal number of farm workers, while the majority still seek improvement in their life conditions and opportunities. For this reason, it is important to identify the challenges to development on farms, and the spectrum of measures and interventions necessary for promoting overall development. / Paper presented at the SARPN conference on Land Reform and Poverty Alleviation in Southern Africa Pretoria

A RESEARCH REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES, SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND, JOHANNESBURG, IN THE PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE FIELD OF DEMOGRAPHY AND POPULATION STUDIES 17 September 2015 / Context: Generally, marriage has been early and almost universal phenomenon in Sub-Saharan Africa, and this can be seen as an important factor in determining fertility. However, fertility among never-married women is no longer negligible. Non-marital childbearing has increased, as women spend much of their reproductive lives unmarried, while remaining sexually active. Although a number of studies have examined non-marital childbearing, the exploration has been largely on teenagers and adolescent youths. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors predisposing never-married women aged 25−49 to have children. Methodology: This study was a secondary data analysis of the 2006-07 Namibian Demographic and Health Survey data. The study population was never-married women, aged 25−49, with a total weighted sample of 2,121. The dependent variable was never-married fertility, categorised into women who have had no birth and those who have had at least one birth. Age specific fertility rates were calculated using the TFR2 module. Bivariate and multivariate binomial logistic techniques were used to examine the association between independent variables of interest and never-married women’s childbearing experience. Results: The study showed that 79% of never-married women, aged 25−49, had at least one child. Respondents from poor households, less educated respondents, rural dwellers and women from the Herero ethno-linguistic group, were more likely to be never-married mothers. The odds of being a never-married mother increased with age. The results further showed that the likelihood for being a never-married mother was higher among those women who reported ever having used contraception. Furthermore, the results showed that delaying age at sexual debut decreases the probability of being a never-married mother. Conclusion: Childbearing among never-married women is common in Namibia, and with increasing age, the risk of having children outside of marriage increases. The consequences of never-married women’s childbearing should be studied, with a focus on the factors identified to influence their childbearing. Furthermore, policies and programmes addressing never-married women’s fertility should reflect the factors associated with never-married women’s fertility in a context where marriage levels are decreasing and fertility is happening outside of marriage.

This purpose of this study is to incorporate women into the history of homelessness. Women's experience is missing from the narrative of industrial era homelessness, which causes researchers to make a distinction between the modem day homeless population and its predecessors. This distinction prevents researchers from examining the long term structural causes of homelessness and analyzing the role homelessness plays in U.S. society. This study explores the population characteristics and living conditions of three groups of women who were considered homeless during the early decades of the twentieth century in Portland. These groups include single working women who lived away from their family, prostitutes, and single mothers. This study also traces the development of charitable institutions and social welfare programs that arose to meet the needs of homeless women during this era and examines the relationships between homeless women and the reformers and charities that took up their cause. The inclusion of women's experience into the history of early twentieth century homelessness necessitates a broadened definition of the homeless phenomenon. Women's homelessness during this era was both defined and determined by their family situation. Women who lived outside of the patriarchal family were considered homeless and suffered economic hardship because of their non-traditional living arrangements. Incorporating an analysis of home back into homelessness will result in non-gendered policy implications. Labor market remedies and affordable housing solutions are still needed, but changes to the structure of the household economy are also called for. The unpaid labor women traditionally perform must be socially and economically valued and the sexual division of labor within the home needs to be challenged.

This paper is about locating the meaning of a series of games known as the Dark Souls series in relation to contemporary social conditions in Japan. I argue that the game should be thought of as an emblem of the current cultural zeitgeist, in a similar way one might identify something like Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums as an emblem of the counter cultural 60s. I argue that the Dark Souls series expresses in allegorical form an anxiety about living in a time where the meaning of our everyday actions and even society itself has become significantly destabilized. It does this through a fractured approach to story-telling, that is interspersed with Buddhist metaphysics and wrapped up in macabre, gothic aesthetic depicting the last gasping breath of a once great kingdom. This expression of contemporary social anxiety is connected to the discourse of postmodernity in Japan. Through looking at these games as a feedback loop between text, environment and ludic system, I connect the main conceptual motifs that structure the games as a whole with Osawa Masachi's concept of the post-fictional era and Hiroki Azuma's definition of the otaku.

No description available.