Nursing is a female dominated profession; making it difficult for men in the profession to excel in their caring capacities as nurses. This study aimed at identifying and describing male and female nurses' insights into and perceptions of socio-cultural influences on the recruitment and retention of men in the nursing profession and also explores their experiences in providing intimate care to patients of opposite gender. The study adopted a qualitative research methodology: 16 male and 11 female nursing students were purposively sampled and were interviewed using semi-structured questions. Themes of nursing seen as women's work; low status; stigma; caring and helping others were developed. Feelings of embarrassment and discomfort; fear and refusal of care were experienced when providing intimate care to patients of opposite gender; this has led male participants to develop strategies to protect themselves from sexual accusations. The Nursing Education Institutions (NEIs) have insufficient toilets for male nursing students; there is a lack of male role models and feminine pronouns are used when relating to professional nurses. Evidently socio-cultural perceptions of nursing enforce a negative image. The difficulties experienced by male and female nurses when providing intimate care and lack of male-friendliness in NEIs were discussed. These factors will lead to a further decline in the recruitment and retention of men in nursing; skilled and intelligent nurses are leaving the profession. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

Gender stereotyping is a phenomenon found in all spheres of life. School children often have to bear the brunt of these prescribed roles and stereotypes. This study includes a literature review of the characteristics of a professional educator as well as the theoretical background on gender issues. It employed Participatory Action Research as a strategy with the aim to empower teachers to improve their classroom practice, and ultimately, to improve the teaching-learning dynamics for learners in the science and technology classrooms. The participants, who are science and technology teachers, are vastly different people whose one common goal it was to empower themselves and to change their classroom practice on a continuous basis. The study looks at some of the beliefs these teachers now hold after the intervention for promoting gender equality in the classroom. Science and technology are the domains of historically male-dominated fields, and by means of this study I aim to equalise the learning opportunities for both boys and girls. / Comparative Education / M. Ed. (Comparative Education)

The focus of this study was on the experiences of a small sample of local women who are HIVpositive and are living in poverty. The researcher was interested in exploring the psychological and social experiences of these women using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. This research aimed at giving these women a voice to express their first-hand, personal accounts of living with HIV in poverty. Data was analysed for meaningful units, which were interpreted inductively and hermeneutically, and categorised into super-ordinate themes. Six themes within the participants' experiences of living with HIV were determined, namely: (I) experiences of diagnosis, (2) disclosure experiences, (3) stigma, (4) ARV experiences, (5) experiences of social support and (6) poverty. This research found that after an HIV-positive diagnosis, most women experience a variety of emotional reactions. These reactions however seem to change overtime into positive acceptance of the HIV diagnosis. Most of the women in this study preferred to use partial disclosure than to fully disclose their HJV-positive status openly to families, friends and to their community. Reasons for not using full disclosure included fear of discrimination and stigma, which included a fear of being rejected or being blamed for their status and a fear of losing relationships. It was also evident from the findings that most of the women had experienced stigma directly and therefore partial disclosure was used as a coping mechanism to protect the self from further harm. It was also revealed that stigma not only has a negative impact on disclosure but also on social support and ARV experiences. Because ofHIV-related stigma, lack of social support was a struggle that almost all the women in this study had experienced. Lack of understandings about their medication also had a negative impact of the ARV experiences. Stigmas along with poverty are the major struggles that HIV -positive women have to deal with in their day to day living. The findings of this study reveal a need for further research in this experiential area as well as campaigns and education around issues such as stigma, medication, and emotional difficulties associated with HIV.

This research focused on the experiences of HIV disclosure to significant others amongst people living with HIV. The aim of the research was to explore how people living with HIV experience disclosure of their HIV positive status to their significant others. The social constructionist perspective was utilized to gain a deeper understanding of the experience of HIV positive status disclosure to significant others. The study’s sample comprised of five participants who were recruited using purposive sampling strategy. Data was collected with using face to face semi structured interviews. Themes were extracted and analysed using thematic content analysis. An analysis was made as to whom participants choose to disclose to, the reaction of the people they disclosed to, as well as their reasons for disclosing. Results were reported as the participants’ experiences and noted as is or unadulterated. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

This study aimed at determining whether participating in an environmental education programme (GLOBE) was positively reflected in participants' environmental perceptions, attitudes and level of environmentally responsible behaviour. An ecologically homogeneous sample consisting of 40 Grade 8 GLOBE participants and 40 non-GLOBE participants was selected. Pearson correlation coefficients, multiple regression analyses and t-tests were employed to compare the research groups. Results showed that GLOBE participants were more positive in their attitudes and actions toward the environment than non-GLOBE participants. GLOBE participants were however not environmentally more perceptive than non-GLOBE participants. Analysing responses of the GLOBE participants in terms of gender and place of residency was fruitless as the sample was too small to yield meaningful results. It was recommended that a more controlled and extended replication of this study, paying specific attention to initial motivations for participation/non-participation in the GLOBE programme, be considered. / Psychology / M.A.

The main aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between landscape, memory and heritage. It aims to establish that landscape is not only an inseparable part of the intangible process of memory, but also the formation and perpetuation of cultural and individual identity. The composition of heritage, including the sociocultural and biophysical, is therefore a complex result of varying interactions between memory and landscape, as perceived by the living custodians. The intangible values of meaning, memory, lived experience and attachment, in relation to people's connection to locality and landscape, are traced back to the tangible fabric of place. Through means of qualitative and quantitative anthropological fieldwork methods and an extensive literature review, the sociocultural profile of the Mpondo is briefly documented. The subsequent case study explored a site in the Eastern Cape on Ngquza Hill, where the oral traditions and memories connected to the site are mapped. These elements were accessed through employing the theories of mnemotechnics. / Anthropology and Archaeology / M.A. (Anthropology)

HIV/Aids is a worldwide pandemic and as South Africans we are at the epicentre of this global health crisis. The harrowing statistics are useful as a means to quantify a horrific situation; however, what these facts do not do is provide connection amidst the uncertainty surrounding the disease. This research aims to bridge the disconnection and break the silence that weaves a net around the illness and those infected by it. This is done by deconstructing one man’s story of his journey with HIV; by looking at his personal epistemology; and by contextualising his story within his family and within the society in which he lives, South Africa. Finally, it is my reflections and interpretations that form the bridge between a construct of HIV/Aids and a life lived with the disease. / Psychology / M. A. (Clinical Psychology)

Three years into the human territory, the fight against HIV/AIDS still prevails. According to Fuller (2008), it is estimated that by 2025, 80 million Africans will have been killed by this pandemic, while 90 million are estimated to be infected by HIV. Close to 3 thousand women are infected with HIV daily. In the beginning of 2008, some 22,5 million sub-Saharan Africans were living with HIV (Fuller 2008). In South Africa, 5 million people are estimated to be infected with HIV, 250 thousand die each year due to AIDS-related deaths, while a thousand people die daily and 17 hundred get infected daily. South African women are the hardest hit population group, compared to their male counterparts (Fuller 2008; Zuberi 2004). In South Africa this epidemic crawled under the shadow of denial, fear, ignorance, stigma and discrimination, which disrupted efforts to prevent further spread and care for the infected and the affected individuals and groups. South African women are subjected to gender inequality, sexual violence and rape, and in the presence of HIV/AIDS their plight became exacerbated. They became subjected to blame and rejection because people do not want to associate themselves with this group, who possess the deadly infectious disease which is associated with commercial sex workers, intravenous drug users and homosexuals. The aim of this research was to investigate the plight of anticipated and enacted stigma among the South African women who receive treatment as outpatients in the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. The study was conducted among six women who are living with HIV/AIDS over a period of four weeks, with a qualitative research design adopted as research method. In-depth interviews were used as the primary tool for data collection. This study was conducted in order for the researcher to obtain insight into the subject of HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and to highlight the experiences of participants for policy and programme designing and development purposes.

This study investigated the exposure of employees in the South African Police Service (SAPS) to the HIV/AIDS workplace programme, levels of knowledge of HIV/AIDS, perceptions of stigma and discrimination and of participation by stakeholders in programme implementation. The researcher subscribes to the view that stigma and discrimination are major obstacles to the successful implementation of the HIV/AIDS workplace programme as this notion has been substantiated by numerous studies. Self-administered questionnaire was used as means of data collection. Findings suggest that the employees of SAPS based at the National Head Office have high levels of knowledge on HIV/AIDS. However, the majority of the respondents indicated that they would not feel comfortable to disclose their HIV positive status, fearing the consequences thereof. / Sociology / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of adolescents living with vertically acquired HIV receiving treatment, care and support services at Dora Nginza Wellness clinic, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Six adolescents living with vertically acquired HIV (four females and two males) between the ages of 16-17 years participated in in-depth semi-structured open-ended individual interviews. Tesch’s (1990) method of data analysis for qualitative research was used to analyse the interviews. Adolescents that participated in the study spoke widely about the outlook on their illness and their lives both in the past and present. They depicted fear, anxiety, pain and sadness in their lived experiences. They were anxious about their own death and had experienced illness and death of parents, siblings and close relatives due to HIV and AIDS. They described painful and traumatic life events related to their illness which included knowing their own HIV status and severe health problems and hospitalisations. They all learnt about their HIV status in early adolescence and choose not to disclose their status to people outside the family due to fear of rejection, stigma and discrimination. Taking ARVs was challenging to the participants due to side effects and strict medication schedules. Their school attendance and performance was affected by their illness. Family was an important resource of support. The participants had good experiences of HIV treatment at the Wellness clinic. The findings suggest that adolescents living with vertically acquired HIV faced a number of challenges in dealing with their disease and its treatment. They need intensive care and support services that enhance their positive self, facilitate self-disclosure and decrease and discourage stigma and discrimination at school and within their communities. / Health Studies / M.A. (Social Behavioural Studies in HIV/AIDS)