<p>This study explored women's perceptions of how their illness (Rheumatoid Arthritis- RA) affects their relationship with their intimate life partner. RA is a chronic, inflammatory, auto-immune illnes, which mainly affects the synovial membranes of multiple joints. This highly inflammatory poly-arthritis may lead to joint destruction, chronic pain, deformity and loss of functioning as unfortunate outcomes of the established illness. RA affects key life domains such as psychological well-being, social well-being, family and couple relationships, employment, loss of independence and restrictions in daily functioning.</p>

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 19, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 255-265). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation proposes an approach to energy that transcends the focus on energy as a mere technical economic or engineering problem, is connected to sociological theory as a whole, and takes issues of equality and ecology as theoretical starting points. In doing so, the work presented here puts ecological and environmental sociological theory, and the work of environmental justice scholars, feminist ecologists, and energy scholars, in a context in which they may complement one another to broaden the theoretical basis of the current sociology of energy. This theoretical integration provides an approach to energy focused on energy justice. Understanding energy and society in the terms outlined here makes visible energy injustice, or the interface between social inequalities and ecological depredations accumulating as the social and ecological debts of the modern energy regime. Systems ecology is brought into this framework as a means for understanding unequal exchange, energy injustice more generally, and the requirements for long-term social and ecological reproduction in ecological terms. Energy developments in Ecuador and Cuba are used here as case studies in order to further develop the idea of energy justice and the theory of unequal ecological exchange. The point is to broaden the framework of the contemporary critical sociology of energy, putting energy justice at its heart. This dissertation contains previously published and unpublished co-authored material.

Thesis (MTech (Public Management)) --Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009 / There is mounting dissatisfaction among South African communities concerning the state of housing and safety and security in South Africa. This, coupled with intentions of government, which have not always been as successful as anticipated, has led to situations where communities that were promised development, embark on uprisings against poor service delivery, which they receive. This study investigates involvement of all stakeholders, specifically the community, in community development projects, in order to determine what effect this has on the end result of community development projects. The main focus of this study comprises involvement of the community and the impact that it could have on the initiation and planning steps of the project management process. The study uses both a qualitative and quantitative approach. The quantitative survey was administered through use of two closed ended questionnaires; one was directed at residents of the N2 Gateway, as the beneficiaries of the N2 Gateway Housing Project, and the other at residents of Langa on four subdivisions of Langa, namely northern, southern, eastern and western Langa. The qualitative survey was administered in the form of interviews that were held with managers in the Provincial Government of the Western Cape who are responsible for implementation of the Bambanani Against Crime Project and the N2 Gateway Housing Project. The study reveals that both projects made little use of community engagement during the initiation and implementation stages, which had a visible effect on results of the project, as confirmed by results of the survey. However, the project had a different approach owing to the nature of the project. The Bambanani Against Crime Project solely relied on volunteers from the community for implementation and this aspect had a big impact on the end result of the project. The N2 Gateway Housing Project did not accommodate community involvement at any stage of the project, which ultimately led to dissatisfactory results in respect of views of the community, and the department that implemented the project.

D.Litt. et Phil. (Social Work) / From the onset of his involvement with social work practice in industry, candidate found himself reflecting upon the position and resulting characteristic functions of social work practitioners within an industrial context. The search for clarity in this regard led to the perusal of reading matter and the consideration of past experiences and encounters. This culminated in a desire to investigate the positioning of industrial social work in order to effect a compromise between the promotion of the objectives of industry viz. financial gain and human resource development. The main research issue or problem of the study, therefore centres around the positioning of industrial social work, and consequently the title of this dissertation is "The positioning of social work in the labour milieu". The purpose of this study is the placement of industrial social work within the context of meaningful work, work environment, influences from within industrial enterprises on man as worker, human resource activities in industrial enterprises, the course of industrial social work in industrial enterprises, the embodiment of social work in industrial enterprises and the provision of guidelines for social workers to position their profession most effectively in industrial enterprises. The study is exploratory-descriptive in nature, since the domain of study (industrial social work) is still being regarded as fairly unfamiliar and relatively less researched as compared to other branches of generic social work. Methodologically viewed, the study, the outcome of which is documented in this dissertation, was undertaken by marshalling practice experience into expertise mainly by interacting it with an eclectic literature study, a conceptual analysis of certain concepts and constructs central to the management of industrial social work, and systematising impressionistic wisdom while collecting information and gaining insight. In addition to the study of literature, information was collected by studying official documents of various industrial enterprises, consultations with various colleagues and attending seminars, courses and workshops, whilst regular consultations with my promotor took place and in the process progressing from an argumentative phase to guidelines for practice. In the study the following main conclusions were drawn: Although only partially, man's work and his work environment offer opportunities and challenges in reply to his quest for a meaningful life. An industrial enterprise co-ordinates the occupational activities of people rendering certain goods and services at specific venues. People, material, machines, means, markets and management, are utilised in the work environment as resources for the production of goods and the rendering of services to industry, its employers and the community. Man as employee is subject to influences from within industrial organisations but also reflects certain distinct characteristics. Organisationally, industrial social work is a manpower managment function, whilst industrial social services usually form part of the enterprise's manpower department. Industrial social work ensures from the corporate social responsibility of industrial enterprises. This responsibility is external (concerning the community in general) and internal (concerning employees and their families). The latter enables employees to contribute optimally to the production process and the realisation of business objectives and in compliance with their individual abilities and potential, to develop in human beings with a commitment to work. The establishing of an industrial social service usually develops from a micro to a macro level, from a peripheric to an integrated component of the enterprise. A typology of composite industrial social work models illustrates this statement in the dissertation. The general aim of industrial social work is to contribute to the realisation of corporate objectives by rendering professional services to employees. The components of the strategic planning of industrial social work are similar to those of any management planning. The study is concluded with guidelines for the positioning of industrial social work in industrial enterprises.

This thesis explores the factors that explain varying degrees of coherence in European Union (EU) crisis management and draws implications for its role as an international security actor. The analysis starts from the assumption that coherence is a function of competing and conflicting interests and norms. The influence and interaction of these factors across governance levels are viewed through two theoretical lenses: liberal intergovernmentalism and sociological institutionalism. Derived hypotheses are evaluated through a comparative case study design, focused on three instances of crisis management in Africa, namely Libya (2011), Somalia (2011-2012), and Mali (2012-2013). The analysis traces the activities and interaction of EU institutional actors and member states, with a focus on France, the United Kingdom (UK), and Germany. It suggests that the degree of coherence in EU crisis management is contingent on the congruence of domestic economic and electoral interests, as well as national threat perceptions. But it also depends on the extent to which EU-level coherence norms resonate with national norms on the use of force and preferred modes of multilateral cooperation. The study identifies scope conditions for the interaction of interests and norms: if economic and electoral stakes are high and calculable, interest-based calculation prevails. If, instead, decision-makers are faced with low stakes and uncertainty, embedded national norms are more likely to shape their behaviour. The Union thus represents a rather unpredictable security actor, whose multi-level coherence depends on the context-specific balance between domestically defined interests, stakes, and salient norms.

There is limited research pertaining to assessing the happiness levels of various disciplines within the healthcare industry. Furthermore, happiness and physiotherapy studies are two research areas that are not necessarily associated with one another on a global perspective. Hence, the happiness levels have not been adequately established for private physiotherapists. This treatise is the first attempt to evaluate the happiness levels of private physiotherapists in South Africa. A thorough literature review was conducted to determine the current climate of happiness studies pertaining to the business industry, with focus on private physiotherapy businesses in the healthcare sector. The literature review enabled the development of a hypothesised model, which was tested with quantitative techniques consisting of a questionnaire, data collection and statistical analysis. The research confirmed that influence, social relations, life balance, optimism, work and leisure are all positively associated with the happiness levels of private physiotherapists in South Africa. These variables are recommended as key focus areas for physiotherapy business owners to address, in order to positively affect happiness levels in the workplace and thereby create favourable bottom line results. In accordance with the reviewed literature and the findings of this treatise, by adequately addressing these variables the business owners of physiotherapy practices will generate a workforce that are more productive, demonstrate greater collaboration with colleagues and customers, produce happier customers, are more positively energised and are less absent and more loyal to the business. It is recommended that the proposed model is tested to provide further benefit to the industry by constructing evidence-based retention and recruitment strategies for high performing private physiotherapy staff.

Doctorat en sciences sociales, politiques et économiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished