The study analysed four South African non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to determine which internal areas/parts promoted and inhibited its functioning. In this context, areas/parts refer to purposes, structure, relationships, rewards, leadership, helpful mechanisms and attitude towards change. The main objectives of this research were to investigate the different areas of functioning to determine which ones were hindering and which were helping the NGOs. The research would subsequently provide feedback and recommendations to the relevant stakeholders. The research design was quantitative with the Organisational Diagnosis Questionnaire (ODQ) being used. The questionnaires were analysed on the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Overall results revealed that the internal areas of leadership, purposes, rewards and relationships were promoting the organisations’ functioning while structure, helpful mechanisms and attitude towards change were inhibiting the organisations’ functioning. The results also revealed the promoting and inhibiting factors/areas for each organisation. The promoting factors contribute to the organisations’ functioning and the inhibiting factors hinder the organisations’ functioning. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.

This qualitative research project attempts to consider how HIV-infected African women position themselves, through the stories that they tell, within the dominant discourses of HIV in contemporary South Africa. The research is couched within the theoretical framework of social constructionism which upholds that there are no absolute truths but rather that individuals inhabit different 'realities' and possess different 'knowledges' relative to their social and cultural context. In this view language is the medium through which discursive practices inscribe identities with meanings. Seen through a Foucauldian lens, these discursive practices, in the case of South Africa, operate as forms of surveillance and social control to 'silence' those living with HIV. Through cultural and patriarchal norms operating in conjunction with the racialising legacy left by apartheid, women, particularly African women, have come to be the group most infected with HIV. Despite their often-difficult circumstances, narrative research has shown that, through acts of storytelling, many African women are able to construct positive versions of their lives. Using body mapping in conjunction with narrative interviewing, a small group of African women of varying ages and from diverse locations, but all belonging to a single Durban-based HIV support group, were asked to tell stories about their lives and how their experiences of themselves had been impacted by HIV. Their body maps and stories showed that, while dominant discourses about HIV/AIDS do function to limit their positions for positive self-definition, these women also produced counter-narratives that resisted some of the discrediting social constructions of the illness. Four dimensions relating to self in time, self in relation to others, HIV as a disruptive event, and spiritual beliefs and morality were found to be operating in their narratives. In addition, a fifth dimension, looking at how research practices themselves are 'situated' and construct 'subjects' in particular ways was considered and this called on 'the researcher' to deconstruct the subject positions of his (in this case) own discursive positioning. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

BACKGROUND: HIV/AIDS has seemingly conquered all medical means of prevention. An approach is therefore needed which focuses on the future of a generation, in equipping today‟s children with the necessary knowledge and skills, to prevent future HIV/AIDS infections and implications. In an attempt to combat HIV/AIDS, Life Orientation has been incorporated in the South African school curriculum as one of the learning areas. Children hereby are receiving knowledge on HIV/AIDS and life skills. Research however, has found that young people do not necessarily respond to, or internalise information received. Programmes which focus on interactive participation and experiential learning are needed for desired outcomes. Specific focus on self-esteem, self-efficacy, communication and a sense of future are also necessary, as these aspects play a crucial role in health behaviour or the lack thereof. iThemba Lethu has been endorsed by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education and focuses specifically on these issues. iThemba Lethu has granted Indlela permission to use their programme in schools in the Amaoti community, referred to as the Indlela Life Skills programme, to make a positive contribution to the youth of this vulnerable community. Because programme evaluation is an integral part of programme implementation and development, this study will focus on process evaluation of the Indlela programme. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This study aimed to investigate if the strength of athletic identity affected the rankings (or salience hierarchy) of 6 every-day life roles among 100 elite South African Swimmers. The link between performance and athletic identity was also investigated along with an investigation of the effects of age and gender. There was found to be no interaction between athletic identity and ranking of life roles; only the athlete role was found to be significantly different between high and medium athletic identity groups. A difference was found between elite and non-elite athletes in the ranking of life roles. There was also no association between athletic identity and performance. As age increased athletic identity decreased, and gender was found to have no influence on athletic identity. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2005.

This study uses data from three free-ranging and one caged troop to describe the visual signals identified in the South African subspecies of vervet monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops pygerythrus) and to then compare them to those seen at other localities and in other species. It further assesses some signals used specifically by adult males - those involving secondary sexual characters - in terms of male social strategies. In the pursuance of this four aspects of the literature were reviewed in detail. It is concluded that: 1. Natal vervets use fewer visual signals that do other species living in more open habitat. These signals are, however, very similar to those recorded in East Africa, while differing more from those isolated in the West African representitive of the vervet group. 2. Vervet troops are not closed units and migration - both into and out of the troop - occurs frequently. The data suggest that it is a male phenomenon related to the availability of females. 3. The signalling function of the genitals does not accord with that ascribed to them by Wickler (1967). Penile extensions are closely associated with aggressive behaviour by the signaller, and scrotal retractions with submissive behaviour. Associated with these structures are displays that facilitate their presentation to the recipients. 4. While males yawn more than any other age-sex class, largely for social and not physiological reasons, there is no clear evidence that yawns serve specifically to display the canines. Nevertheless, by being strongly associated with certain interactions they are presumed to accrue signal value. 5. As males move into troops where they must compete with unrelated males for the same resources, it is concluded that the genital signalling system has evolved to mediate male relationships. This is of special significance as the "multimale" system of vervets is regarded as being less developed than those of Papio or Macaca monkeys. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1982.

This study attempts to provide pertinent insights into the experiencing of black South Africans who are gay or lesbian. The aims of the investigation were to provide more holistic information on the gay and lesbian worldview in general; to provide a conceptualisation of the ontology of black gay and lesbian individuals in South Africa within a psychosocial context, and to explore the effects of a dual oppressive system related to race and sexual identity. Of 150 questionnaires distributed to black gays and lesbians, 23 were completed. Although frequency tables were utilised to organise the responses to the 73 items on the questionnaire, a phenomenological approach was adopted in interpreting responses. Within this paradigm, the initial focus was on the exposition of individual responses and thereafter, on the contextualisation of common themes in the perceptions of black gays and lesbians as a group. The study generated pertinent insights into the experiences and perceptions of black gays and lesbians, related to the lifespan development processes (early childhood to ageing) and relevant socio-political factors. In this regard the study highlighted issues that need to be addressed by black gays and lesbians in their acknowledgement of sexual identity; concerns the participants experienced as children; issues regarding relationships, parenting and old age, and the influence of religious, legal, social and political factors on their worldview. Among the most significant findings generated by this investigation, is that of the adoption of society's homonegative attitudes by gays and lesbians themselves at almost every level of their psychosocial development. Respondents also tended to emphasise oppression with regard to being gay or lesbian, than with being black. Recommendations for future research have been identified for the purposes of generating further insights into the experiencing of black gays and lesbians in South Africa. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1996.

Cromwell's (1968, 1972, 1975) stimulus redundancy theory was tested on two levels: firstly, by examining the process-reactive and paranoid-nonparanoid dimensions which form the basis of identification of high and low redundancy schizophrenics; and secondly, by examining two predictions of the theory pertaining to the information processing characteristics of high and low redundancy schizophrenics. In the first part of the study, three schizophrenic groups (acute, chronic and remitted), nonschizophrenic psychiatric patients and normals were assessed on material relevant to ascertaining the basis of subdivisions such as the process-reactive dimension. It was concluded that process-reactive ratings were largely measures of extrinsic factors, such as social competence, and were of some practical use in assessments of prognosis. However, there was little basis upon which to conclude that such subdivisions of schizophrenic samples would result in the identification of groups of patients who would differ fundamentally in their cognitive functioning. In the second part of the study, two predictions of Cromwell's stimulus redundancy theory were examined: rate of processing and extensity of attention. The performance of high and low redundancy schizophrenics, nonschizophrenic psychiatric control patients and normal controls was assessed on three information processing tasks. The results offered no positive evidence for Cromwell's theory: low redundancy schizophrenics were not found to process information faster, or to have a broadened attentional field as compared to high redundancy schizophrenics. It was concluded that a more fruitful direction for future research may lie in investigations of the strategies of processing used by schizophrenic patients. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1980.

An ethological study was undertaken in two primary schools in Natal to assess the effect of schistosome infections on the ordinary behaviour of schoolchildren in endemic areas. The following topics are discussed :- 1. The life cycle of the parasite, the possibility of an evolved tolerance of it, the likely limits of such tolerance, the possibility of selective exposure of certain kinds of children to the parasite, and the role of severity of infection in impairment. 2. Appropriate measures for investigating the impairment of the human host centring around the measurement of activity in the context of social interaction. 3. An ethological approach to evaluating human response to disease. Results indicate that there is selective exposure of more active, sociable children to the disease. In low-level infections of both Schistosoma haematobium and Schistosoma mansoni there is little evidence of a drop in energetic activity under normal conditions. In subjects with higher egg counts or simultaneous infections with both schistosomes, activity levels drop generally, and especially under hot, humid weather conditions where the drop in activity is greater than that for control subjects. This work throws doubt on earlier studies indicating that the parasite had no behavioural effect on humans: these studies did not control for selective exposure and may have used methods of low sensitivity and doubtful relevance to everyday life. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, 1981.

Biotelemetry has been coupled with an ethological approach to investigate a postulate that the physiological, behavioural, and social functioning of individuals coact in order to maintain homeostasis in an everchanging environment. Attention was focussed upon body temperature, behaviour, and the social situation, as they occurred together in each of five 'undisturbed' adult vervet monkeys. One male and one female were housed alone in single cages, and the other three, all females, were part of a natural troop that live together in captivity in a 6.5 metre radius geodesic dome. Intensive studies, including in-depth and multiple repeated measures at each level of functioning permitted comparisons between and within subjects, so that the connections between body temperature, and individual and social behaviour, could be scrutinised. Techniques for observation, data processing, and factor analysis have been considered, and procedures to facilitate the organisation and interpretation of information are suggested. The results pointed to individual variations superimposed upon a rhythmic underpinning of all the functions monitored. A synthesis of the data of body temperature with individual and social behaviour supports the contention that the individual responds to the vagaries of the environment as an integrated system within which the different levels of functioning are linked. It was found that the oscillation in body temperature was greater in the vervets that lived alone than in the vervets that lived in a troop. These results were supported behaviourally since the isolated subjects could only complement autonomic thermoregulatory responses with individually based behavioural strategies, whereas their troop-living conspecifics could utilise both individual and socially directed behavioural mechanisms. Within the troop an inverse relationship between body temperature variation and social status was revealed that is, the lower the status of the subject, the more the body temperature fluctuated around the mean. Behaviourally, it was found that the lower the status of the subject, the more difficult it became to gain access to resources, and to manipulate interpersonal space. In addition, harassment by troop conspecifics increased and, consequently, the efficiency with which behavioural patterns could be executed, was decreased. An analysis of the data also led to the proposal that social grooming has evolved as a thermoregulatory mechanism; to the identification of three different facets of individual behaviour and of social behaviour; and to the idea that the rhythmic changes in the troop's spatial conformation reflected cyclical patterns in behavioural and social activity. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal Durban, 1984.

The overall purpose of this study was to uncover, from among a sample of university students, naturally occurring, salient and less potentially harmful group categories and stereotype content. The reason for this was to learn more about which group categories and associated stereotype content ordinary South Africans naturally consider to be salient or important, rather than those group categories and stereotype content that South Africa’s academic establishment may unduly focus on. This was done because of a suspicion, which itself was based on an extensive review of the history of South African stereotype research, that the group categories and associated stereotype content of race and gender may be the subject of an undue focus on the part of South African academia. The results generated by this study were to be used to supply future stereotype threat studies in South Africa with accurate, relevant and specifically less potentially harmful group categorisations and associated stereotype content. The research questions of this study were posed at two hierarchical levels, the ‘higher’, more abstract “groups of people in South Africa” and the ‘lower’, more local, “groups of people on campus”. The reason for this was to learn how the manipulation of hierarchical group salience conditions would affect the group categories generated by the participants and the stereotype contents about those groups. The results of the study suggest that while the category of race seems to be the most salient or important among the participants, the category of gender was not salient at all. This occurred at both the national and campus hierarchical levels. The broad categories of economic status and social class were the second most salient, but only at the national level. There was some evidence of the effects that manipulating hierarchical group salience conditions had on group category and stereotype content generation. Certain group categories and stereotype content were generated exclusively at either the national or campus levels, and when they were generated at both levels, there was evidence to suggest that they were generated in slightly different ways. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.