Published Article / Psychosocial support has been defined as an ongoing process of meeting emotional, social, mental and spiritual needs, all of which are considered essential elements of meaningful and positive human development. It goes beyond simply meeting the learners' physical needs, placing greater emphasis on learners' psychological and emotional development and their need for social interaction. The Free State Department of Basic Education defines vulnerable learners as orphans, heads of child-headed households, neglected learners and all learners who do not have access to a basic set of school uniforms. The department states that there are currently 70 000 of these learners in the province. This article presents a theoretical critique, within a social justice paradigm, of efforts aimed at supporting vulnerable learners psychosocially in the rural areas of South Africa. It describes attempts to afford vulnerable learners education and addresses their marginalisation and inherent powerlessness (social justice). It argues that psychosocial support (meeting their needs) for vulnerable learners will improve their access to education.

Scientific literature is concerned with the impact that climate change will have on natural disasters in the near future. These events disrupt our daily lives and can cause damage that may never be repaired. Merging science and social science, the study of vulnerability looks at how human systems will be impacted by these natural disasters. In the United States, hurricanes in the Gulf Coast are projected to increase in intensity as well as have an increased capacity for damage with a rise in sea level. Therefore, it is important to understand who is systematically vulnerable to these impacts of natural disasters and how we can mitigate this damage. Through this thesis, I argue that these impacts of hurricanes will put already vulnerable populations at a greater risk for damage caused by these events in the future. I will briefly outline the scientific basis on which the claims of increased hurricane activity are founded, as well as outline concepts of vulnerability. I examine case studies of Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina, both of which can inform how social disparities delineate vulnerability in the United States. Based upon this historical understanding that recovery from a storm is highly contingent upon social and economic resources available to an individual or community, I argue that vulnerable communities must be highlighted. I then project vulnerability based upon demographic characteristics of communities within the Gulf Coast in order to highlight these areas of necessary attention.

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Research has outlined numerous factors that impact on HIV risk behaviours of African people. These include a history of sexually transmitted diseases, number of sexually transmitted diseases, number of sexual partners, the perceived behaviour of peer groups and perceived vulnerability to HIV. Little is known regarding the factors that promote perceptions of vulnerability to HIV and the role this constraint plays in the maintenance of AIDS risk-reduction practices among African people in rural areas. This research paper gives an overview of the vulnerability to HIV among African people in a rural area. The information has been collected in the Kuruman district. The multi-disciplinary survey was undertaken with one of the objectives to investigate the vulnerability to HIV amongst African people in a rural area. The aim was achieved by means of a study of the relevant literature and through empirical research. The available literature on the subject was consulted to determine whether any research has been conducted in this field. The empirical research was conducted to confirm previous research findings. In this study the survey method was used as a systematic fact gathering procedure. Data was gathered by means of an interview schedule. The researcher administrated the schedules by conduction personal interviews with respondents. In this research, which forms part of the Thusano project, the focus was on the vulnerability to HIV/AIDS of people living in a rural area in the Kuruman district. The Thusano project forms part of a multi-disciplinary research project of the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University, entitled the Social-motor Empowerment of Families in Impoverished Circumstances under the Leadership of Professor A.E. Pienaar of the School of Biokinetics, Recreation and Sport Science. "Thusano” means to help each other and this is a Nelson Mandela funded project which has to address the needs of families in impoverished circumstances living in seven communities in the Kuruman district. The project is driven by the social worker, Ms Tineke Uys, and field workers. An early childhood programme aiming at school readiness has been implemented by them. However, many other needs are identified by the social worker which they are not able to address properly, such as HIV prevention and counselling, family violence, identification of motor delays and other health related problems. The research was conducted in seven communities of the Kururnan district with regard to 50 respondents from different households. The findings of this research reflect that there definitely are factors such as practising unsafe sex, poverty, poor education and over-crowded households that play an important role in the people's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in the seven communities of the Kuruman district. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Abstract This dissertation explores four key questions within the HIV/AIDS paradigm1 and the impact it is having on orphans and vulnerable children in the district of Quthing, Lesotho. These questions are: What is the status of social safety nets? How are communities surviving with the growing number of orphans and vulnerable children? What might be the early warning signs of community breaking points as a new category of child-headed household emerges? What are the human drivers of the pandemic in terms of behaviour and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS, orphans and vulnerable children, and sex; and in terms of reasons why people are not heeding the warning signs and adopting behaviour change? The findings of the dissertation reveal that communities are overwhelmed with the demands placed on them to support orphans and vulnerable children to the point where culture, traditions, and society at large are showing early warning signs of irreversible strain. Despite the efforts of government, donors, the humanitarian sector and the communities themselves, awareness of HIV/AIDS is not translating into behavioural change and as such the spread of the virus continues unabated among the youngest and most vulnerable groups. 1 The set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline. ii

Vulnerable plaque is a clinically silent condition of atherosclerotic plaque that leaves a large number of patients at risk of a coronary event. A method to detect vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque would greatly enhance the ability of clinicians to diagnose and treat patients at risk. Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) offers a way to extract both spatial and biochemical information from plaque by taking several wide-field images over time. The goal of this study was to determine the potential of a FLIM angioscopy system to detect and differentiate coronary atherosclerotic plaques ex-vivo into several groups including thin, fibrotic, lipid-laden, thick-cap fibroatheroma (FA), and fibrocalcified. Samples were extracted post-mortem weekly and sliced open to have their lumens imaged. For each sample, 51 time resolved wide-field images were taken over 10 nanoseconds at 390 (±40) nm, 450 (±40) nm, and 550 (±88) nm wavelengths. To analyze the samples, the intensity map and lifetime map were created at each wavelength. The intensity map was simply the wide-field images summed in time and normalized. In order to calculate lifetime at each point, a fast, model-free Laguerre deconvolution algorithm was recently developed for FLIM data analysis and was used. This allowed for fast, efficient estimations of the fluorescence decay curves at each pixel of the FLIM images and facilitated the computation of quantitative parameters describing the fluorescence emission of the tissue, specifically, the relative fluorescence intensity and lifetime at defined emission bands. Statistical analysis on these FLIM derived parameters indicated that the autofluorescence emission of the plaques allows for distinguishing relative plaque thickness: thin plaque, whose signal is dominated by elastin fluorophores, shows a marked difference between thicker plaques, such as fibrotic, fibrocalcified and thick-cap FA (who are dominated primarily by collagen). However, the ability of the current FLIM system to differentiate vulnerable plaque remains in question due to the absence of thin-cap FA samples. Further work has also been proposed; of primary concern is gathering thin-cap FA plaque samples needed to validate the system’s ability to differentiate vulnerable plaques from other common groupings.

Research has outlined numerous factors that impact on HIV risk behaviours of African people. These include a history of sexually transmitted diseases, number of sexually transmitted diseases, number of sexual partners, the perceived behaviour of peer groups and perceived vulnerability to HIV. Little is known regarding the factors that promote perceptions of vulnerability to HIV and the role this constraint plays in the maintenance of AIDS risk-reduction practices among African people in rural areas. This research paper gives an overview of the vulnerability to HIV among African people in a rural area. The information has been collected in the Kuruman district. The multi-disciplinary survey was undertaken with one of the objectives to investigate the vulnerability to HIV amongst African people in a rural area. The aim was achieved by means of a study of the relevant literature and through empirical research. The available literature on the subject was consulted to determine whether any research has been conducted in this field. The empirical research was conducted to confirm previous research findings. In this study the survey method was used as a systematic fact gathering procedure. Data was gathered by means of an interview schedule. The researcher administrated the schedules by conduction personal interviews with respondents. In this research, which forms part of the Thusano project, the focus was on the vulnerability to HIV/AIDS of people living in a rural area in the Kuruman district. The Thusano project forms part of a multi-disciplinary research project of the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University, entitled the Social-motor Empowerment of Families in Impoverished Circumstances under the Leadership of Professor A.E. Pienaar of the School of Biokinetics, Recreation and Sport Science. "Thusano” means to help each other and this is a Nelson Mandela funded project which has to address the needs of families in impoverished circumstances living in seven communities in the Kuruman district. The project is driven by the social worker, Ms Tineke Uys, and field workers. An early childhood programme aiming at school readiness has been implemented by them. However, many other needs are identified by the social worker which they are not able to address properly, such as HIV prevention and counselling, family violence, identification of motor delays and other health related problems. The research was conducted in seven communities of the Kururnan district with regard to 50 respondents from different households. The findings of this research reflect that there definitely are factors such as practising unsafe sex, poverty, poor education and over-crowded households that play an important role in the people's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in the seven communities of the Kuruman district. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

This study contributes to existing, but limited research on institutional caregiving of vulnerable children. Institutional caregiving is an organized goal directed activity which occurs within a family-like system that aims to protect vulnerable children and optimize their emotional, psychological and physical developmental needs. The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions that caregivers who work at children’s homes have regarding their roles and responsibilities and thereby obtain an insight into their day to day experiences while executing their responsibilities. The primary research question that guided this study was: “How caregivers at children’s home perceive their roles and responsibilities?” A qualitative research approach was applied and it was guided by the interpretive paradigm to gain subjective and perceived realities that caregivers have regarding their roles and responsibilities. A case study research designed was used and a total of eighteen caregivers were purposefully selected to participate in the study. A focus group interview, a group collage and semi structured individual interviews served as data collection methods for the study. The study used the roles dimension of the McMaster Model of family functioning which is based on the System’s theory as its theoretical framework. Findings of the study were aligned with literature and revealed that the caregivers perceived their fundamental roles and responsibilities as that of providing food, shelter and a protective environment. Their perceived responsibilities also include catering to the children’s emotional and health related requirements. It was interesting to note that in addition to their perceived roles and responsibilities, caregivers viewed their work environment as a child-focused environment and expressed the need to be acknowledged as professionals, be empowered with more caregiving skills, and be paid in accordance with their contribution. The study recommends that the unique needs and pressures of institutional caregivers be adequately studied and addressed in ways that will in turn facilitate quality caregiving. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / This research originated from a focus group which the student was part of as a research assistant. The focus group concentrated on LGBT aging and care where participants who are HIV positive spoke about their concerns. The Anti Oppressive practice was deemed suitable for this study as it gives charity on social justice movements as the major roots necessitating the emergence of anti-oppressive practice in social work (Wilson & Beresford, 2000; Thompson, 2002, 2003). Social work, in being a unique profession, contains several distinct approaches and philosophies regarding care, what it constitutes and how to stop or slow social problems that generate the need for care. The project was funded by the National Research Fund.

The aim of this dissertation is to contribute to the development of a strategy for church involvement in the care of vulnerable children in low income households. The extent and nature of the problems caused by HIV/AIDS is inconceivable. Of particular concern is the children affected by HIV/AIDS. There is little consensus as to whether institutionalised care can be replaced by community-based care. The church needs an informed approach for future intervention. Existing research covers the needs of children to a certain extent, but does not have conclusive answers as to how these needs should be met. There is little, if any research examining the totality of the child’s needs. This research will determine what the vulnerable child’s unmet needs are, and get a first indication of the extent to which they are being met in the low-income household. Missiology is the field within which this study is undertaken. A good understanding of mission and the link between mission and the holistic study of the needs of vulnerable children is discussed as basis for further reflection. In an attempt to determine the totality of the child’s needs, the fundamental human needs theory, developed by Manfred A. Max-Neef is used. According to Max-Neef, all human beings have 10 fundamental needs: subsistence, protection, affection, creation, idleness, understanding, participation, identity, freedom and transcendence. These needs can be satisfied by an infinite variety of satisfiers. The findings of the study include: 1. Caregivers perceive the quality of life of vulnerable children to be high, but fieldworkers’ perceive it to be poor; 2. Denial of the vulnerability of children is associated with the denial of the existence of HIV/AIDS in the community; 3. There is a lack of knowledge of the importance of early childhood, accompanied by a lack of parenting skills for optimal early childhood development; 4. Children are not provided with opportunity and skills to manage grief; 5. The protection of children against abuse and crime is questionable, and 6. The needs of the children in the safe-house do not seem to be satisfied more or less holistically than those who live in families, or vice versa. The church can play a pivotal role in addressing the needs of vulnerable children. Apart from providing care herself, the role of the church is to be a catalyst of holistic care: 1. The first task of the church is to develop a thorough and holistic understanding of the total context, such as the fundamental needs of vulnerable children and the roles of different care-givers; 2. The second task is to promote understanding of the nature of vulnerable children’s needs amongst all role-players, and 3. The third task is to facilitate the best possible use of existing resources to satisfy the prevailing fundamental needs. The most important interventions recommended are: 1. Development of skills and knowledge for early childhood development. 2. Development of knowledge and skills in age-appropriate grief management, and 3. Further study to develop integrated community-based, institutional care. / Dissertation (MA (Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Science of Religion and Missiology / MA / unrestricted