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A longitudinal examination of the consequences of OCBs for individuals in organisations : the moderating roles of perceived organisational support and controlDevonish, Dwayne January 2014 (has links)
The present thesis was conceptualised and conducted against the backdrop of rapidly emerging research that challenges the conventional depiction of OCBs as positive extra-role behaviours that produce beneficial outcomes to both individuals and organisations. The thesis contends that OCBs may be either beneficial or detrimental to individual performers depending on their perceptions of the psychosocial work environment – i.e. perceived job control and perceived organisational support. Both perceived job control and organisational support have been researched in existing theoretical models and prior research which depict and assess these variables as key moderators in the relationship between work stressors and job strain. Hence, the present thesis hypothesised that both job control and support will moderate the effects of Time 1 OCBs (peer reports of OCB-I and OCB-O) on various individual-level outcomes of job satisfaction, organisational commitment, role ambiguity, role overload, work-family conflict, physical exhaustion and work-related depression measured at Time 2, based on a two-wave longitudinal panel methodological design. This newly proposed moderation model was tested across three interrelated Studies (Study 1, Study 2, and Study 3) in which the first two studies were cross-sectional based on Time 1 and Time 2 data, respectively, and the final study provided a longitudinal version of the same analyses. A direct effects model (where the effects of Time 1 OCBs on the Time 2 outcomes were assessed) and a mediation model (in which role stressors were modelled as mediators between OCBs and job attitudes and health) were also examined, alongside the proposed moderation model. In Study 1, based on data from 562 employees in Barbados captured at the first wave, structural equation modelling (SEM) analyses revealed that the direct effects model emerged superior to the mediation and moderation models. There were no significant interaction effects of control and support on any of the outcomes in Study 1. In Study 2, based on data from 427 employees (an attrition rate of 24%) captured at the second wave, the SEM analyses revealed that both mediation and moderation models emerged as the superior models. In the moderation model, both control and support emerged as significant moderators in several relationships between OCBs and the outcome variables. Finally in Study 3, the longitudinal SEM analyses revealed that the ‘normal causation’ direct effects model emerged superior to the reverse and reciprocal causation models as well as the mediation models. The moderation model also emerged as a superior model in which both control and support moderated several relationships between Time 1 OCBs and Time 2 outcome variables. Overall, the present thesis provided some support for the proposed moderation model and is consistent with key assumptions underlying existing theoretical models and findings of prior research on the stressor-strain relationship. The findings reinforced the role of personal job resources such as job autonomy and organisational support as critical factors that can buffer the potentially negative effects of OCBs for individual performers. Theoretical and practical implications, future research recommendations, and study limitations have been discussed in the final chapter of the thesis.
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Black Caribbean men, sexual health decisions and silencesSerrant, Laura January 2004 (has links)
Sexual health behaviour and the choices people make are influenced by whole range of factors including social grouping, education, peer pressure and access to services/information. Report on the health of the public in Britain have shown that sexual ill health is unequally distributed across society (Department of Health 2001; Royal College of Nursing 2001). people from socially disadvantaged and marginalised groups experience the highest levels of sexually related illness. Quantitative studies form the main pool of information available in relation to sexual health and risk. They have demonstrated that in some areas of the country the infection rates for STI's are up to twelve times higher in men from black Caribbean communities (Fenton, Johnson et al. 1997; Lacey, Merrick et al. 1997; Low, Daker-White et al. 1997). At present there is very little published qualitative information on the factors affecting sexual health decisions, especially in relation to black Caribbean communities. The research study focuses on black Caribbean men. A qualitative approach is used to identify and explore the key factors influencing the health decisions and risk activities of black Caribbean men in relation to sexual health. Social construction theory provides the theoretical underpinning for this study alongside aspects of feminism, criticalist and ethnicities based approaches. The stereotype of black Caribbean men as sexually insatiable and irresponsible emerged as a key feature of the social scripts associated with their sexual behaviour. The themes 'The nature of the stereotype', 'Living with the stereotype' and 'Hearing the silences' discussed in the data chapters explore the impact of the stereotype on the sexual health decisions of black Caribbean men. The experiences highlighted through the themes expose the importance of the political, social and personal context associated with specific sexual scripts on the sexual health decisions of black Caribbean men. Of key importance in these socially determined scripts are the screaming silences contained within them. The findings are reviewed in the light of current sexual health policies to consider how sexual health services and professionals can best provide for the sexual health needs of black Caribbean men. The thesis adds to current knowledge in sexual health and ethnicities in concluding that the sexual health decisions of black Caribbean men take pace in the context of the real or imagined expectations that society has of them. Individuals sexual decisions therefore occur in light of shared and personal appraisal of socially determined relevant issues. This forms the context in which sexual scripts are given meaning and sexual decisions take place. The study compliments the established pool of quantitative data available linking issues of sexual health and ethnicity in Britain. The findings presented within the thesis reveal a range of issues to initiate further qualitative research in the area and provides a lead for British based thinking on adult sexual health decisions and ethnicity.
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"Writing for your mother is more important than writing for the queen of England" : En undersökning av samtida ugandisk litteratur och desssamhälleliga rollJärverot, Eira January 2017 (has links)
This thesis aims to investigate the role of literature in the Ugandan society. It uses Bourdieus field theory and the book The Rules of Art to analyze a handful of interviewes with people on different positions on the literary field in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The interviews were collected by the author of this thesis in the beginning of 2015. The thesis examines the overall conditions on the literature market, the hierarchies and the character of the literature. In addition to field theory, it uses post-colonial theory, and Ngûgî Wa Thiong'os' Decolonising the mind to investigate the languages and styles of the literature. To investigate the literature outside of the educated circles and intellectual spheres, the concept of the literature as merely printed and publicated needs to be questioned, since there is also an existing body of oral literature in the country. Amongst the actors on the literature field there is an ambition for the literature to be a progressive force in the society. However the study shows that hierarchies on the literature field pushes the written and publicated literature further away from the general person. This also due to the limitations of the written literature, since the possibilities to access the literature is highly dependant on the income, literacy and educational level of the receiver.
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Identifying and understanding factors associated with failure to complete infantry training among British Army recruitsKiernan, Matthew D. January 2011 (has links)
BACKGROUND: Over 30% of the British Army‟s Infantry Recruits who underwent training between 1999 and 2003 failed to complete their training. Previous studies have focused predominantly on identifying the cumulative reasons for failure. There is a dearth of research investigating the effect of failure on the individual recruit and what influences their ability to pass training. AIM: The overall aims of this study were: to achieve an understanding of the role that antecedent personal, social and demographic factors play in a British Army recruit‟s ability to complete basic training; to investigate the possibility of identifying predictive factors that would identify infantry recruits who were at risk of being unable to cope with the transition to life in the British Army; and to explore the reasons given by those recruits who failed to complete basic training to develop a more comprehensive understanding of why recruits fail. METHODS: All new army recruits joining the first and second battalion between September 2002 and March 2003 were invited to take part in the study. A biographical questionnaire based on a modified version of the US Army‟s 115 item biographical questionnaire form was self-completed prior to infantry training by all those agreeing to take part in the study. Study participants were monitored weekly throughout their training and the training outcome (pass/fail) was recorded. The data was randomly split into a development dataset (two thirds) and a test dataset (one third). Independent variables were grouped into five categories (Demographic & Physical Measurement, Education, Outdoor Education, Non-Physical Activity and Conduct and Behaviour) and tested univariably and multivariably to examine their association with training outcome in the development dataset using logistic regression. The multivariable model was then used to construct a score and its sensitivity and specificity was tested using the test dataset. All those within the study who failed to complete Infantry recruit training were invited to take part in a qualitative semi-structured exit interview. These interviews were analysed using framework analysis methodology. Findings from both the quantitative and qualitative analysis were integrated to determine whether prediction of failure was practicable and to develop an increased understanding of the impact that antecedent factors and training experiences contributed to training failure. RESULTS: Of the study cohort of 999 recruits 36.2% (n=362) failed. Within the failure group 74.4% (n=269) gave reasons to suggest that this was attributable to difficulties in adapting to life in the British Army Infantry. Factors associated with higher odds of failure were: absence of female siblings (p=0.005), aggressive coping strategies (p=0.013), use of ecstasy (p=0.02), evenings per week spent at the family home (p=0.032), truancy (p=0.039), an increased number of schools attended (p=0.046) and classroom behaviour (p=0.052). The area under the curve on the test dataset was 0.58 (0.501-0.65 95% CI). Analysis of the qualitative data suggested that there was a marked difference between the socio-personal identity of recruits who failed training and the organisational identity of the British Army Infantry. Cognitive dissonance and varying extremes of stress were reported by those recruits that failed during the transition to military life. CONCLUSION: A screening tool constructed from items of the biographical questionnaire was unable to predict failure in training with sufficient accuracy to recommend its routine use for new recruits to British Army Infantry training. This study has identified that there is a lack of fit between military identity and the socio-personal identity of the infantry recruit which results in dissonance and stress during the transition into the military. It is recommended that future studies should focus on how to reduce the psychological impact of the transition into infantry training.
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Reconstructing identity in postcolonial African fiction / individualism and community in the novels of Ngugi wa Thiong'o / Dianne O. Schwerdt.Schwerdt, Dianne January 1994 (has links)
Bibliography: leaves 270-301. / 301 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of English, 1994
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Intellektuelle wider Willen : Schriftsteller, Literatur und Gesellschaft in Ostafrika 1960 - 1980 /Schulze-Engler, Frank, January 1992 (has links)
Diss.--Francfort-sur-le-Main--Université, 1990.
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A study of Ngugi wa Thiong'o's later novels to assess his adaptation of dramatic techniques and Gikuyu oral traditions to the requirements of fictionErapu, Laban Omella January 1992 (has links)
This thesis examines Ngugi wa Thiong'o's later writings in order to establish the nature of his quest for a people's literature. It illustrates how the author attempts to break the barriers between traditional oral forms and the relatively new written forms in addressing a basically "illiterate" audience. The research begins with an exploration of Gikuyu oral literature as an essential background to Ngugi's later dramatic and fictional writings as distinct from his earlier literary works in which he initiates the dominant quest for a more just society. Ngugi's return to these roots constitutes the central "homecoming" that characterizes his search for new forms. The analysis is conducted through three significant chronological stages representing Ngugi's writings over a period of about a decade from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. Each stage starts with a play and performance followed by a parallel novel, the first pair written in English and the subsequent ones in Gikuyu. The three stages - designated Transition, Homecoming and Realization - mark Ngugi's involvement in the promotion of Gikuyu culture and orature, both as a source of inspiration and as a cause to which he fully dedicates himself. The transitional stage depicts the convergence between conventional and traditional oral literary forms with which Ngugi begins to experiment. The second stage introduces significant departures as Ngugi begins to use the Gikuyu language as his primary medium of creative expression. The final stage demonstrates his ultimate assertion of the primacy of orality over the written word as a dynamic agent of transmission. The thesis concludes that Ngugi wa Thiong'o in these later works - while leaving the possibilities of his vision of a "New Earth" unfulfilled pioneers the African writers' climb down from an "ivory tower" to deal with the realities of the experience of the predominantly non-reading African masses, acknowledged as both recipients of and active participants in the relatively new written literature which purports to speak for their experiences and their times.
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The type of the main character Mminele depicts in Ngwana wa mobuMogodi, Mamokgabo Paulinah 30 November 2011 (has links)
M.A.
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'n Kritiese evaluering van die Suid-Afrikaanse Lugmag in die Tweede Wereldoorlog (Afrikaans)Wandrag, Nico 26 July 2010 (has links)
AFRIKAANS: Gedurende die Tweede Wêreldoorlog het die Suid-Afrikaanse Lugmag op verskeie fronte aktief aan die oorlog deelgeneem. Afgesien van maritieme operasies langs die Afrikaanse kus en die vervoer van personeel en voorrade in Afrika en Europa, het die Suid-Afrikaanse Lugmag in drie oorlogsarenas in Oos-Afrika, Noord-Afrika en die Middellandse Seegebied opgetree. Die vraag ontstaan egter: in hoe ‘n mate het die Suid-Afrikaanse Lugmag hulle van hul taak gekwyt? Was die operasies wat hulle uitgevoer het effektief en in welke mate het hulle ‘n bydrae tot die uiteindellke onderwerping van die Spilmoondhede gelewer? Om ‘n antwoord op hierdie vrae te kry, is die optrede van die verskillende Suid-Afrikaanse Lugmageskaders onder die loep geneem. Operasionele krygsvlugte is ontleed en die bydrae van die lugmag in die oorlog is na waarde geskat. Dit is dus duidelik dat dit hier nie bloot om ‘n chronologiese beskrywing van die rol van die Suid-Afrikaanse Lugmag gedurende die Tweede Wêreldoorlog gaan nie, maar veel eerder om ‘n evaluering van hulle werkswyse, operasionele vernuf en doelmatigheid. Nadat die bydraes van die onderskeie Suid-Afrikaanse eskaders ontleed is, het die ondersoeker tot die volgende slotsom geraak. In die eerste plek het die Suid-Afrikaanse Lugmag gedurende die oorlog tot ‘n gedugte gevegsmag ontwikkel wat die vyand die stryd op alle terreine met moderne toerusting sou aansê. In die tweede plek het die Lugmag 'n substantiewe bydrae tot die vernietiging van die Spilmoondhede se magte gelewer. In Oos- en Noord-Afrika sowel as in die Middellandse Seegebied het die Suid-Afrikaanse eskaders uitgemunt in die ondersteuning van land- en seemagoperasies terwyl hulle ook instrumenteel in die verkryging van lugsuperioriteit was. Dit was egter nie alleen die eskaders wat aan die oorlogsfront suksesvol was nie. Eweneens het eskaders belas met maritieme verkenningsvlugte en die vervoer van voorrade ook met eer uit die stryd getree. In sy wese handel dit in die geskiedenis om die verhaal van die mens: sy stryd, sy prestasies, sy oorwinnings; ook sy teleurstellings en sy nederlae. Dit is ook waar ten opsigte van die geskiedenis van die Suid-Afrikaanse Lugmag. Die tydperk onder bespreking gee egter meer blyke van prestasie as teleurstelling, meer blyke van oorwinning as nederlaag met betrekking tot werklike oor logsdeelname maar meer so betreffende persoonlike taakvervulling. Dit kan toegeskryf word aan individuele deursettingsvermoe, ywer, toewyding en idealisme ¬eienskappe wat dien tot herinnering maar ook tot besieling vir toekomstige geslagte. ENGLISH: The South African Air Force actively participated on different fronts during the Second World War. Apart from maritime operations along the African coast and the transport of personnel and material in Africa and Europe, they also operated in three theatres of war in East Africa, North Africa and the countries bordering the Central Mediterranean. However, the question now arises how effective these operations were and to which extent the South African Air Force contributed towards the ultimate destruction of the Axis Powers. To answer these questions the different operations of the Air Force Squadrons during the war were analized and evaluated. The researcher arrived at the following conclusions: In the course of the war the South African Air Force played a substantial role in the subjugation of the Axis Powers. In Eastern and Northern Africa, as well as in the Mediterranean area, the South African Squadrons excelled in assisting land and sea force operations while they were also instrumental in the attainment of air superiority. At the same time squadrons involved in maritime reconnaissance and transportation also took honours for their efforts. This magnificent record was achieved through supreme courage, fortitude and idealism on the part of the men and women involved. South Africa could therefore be justly proud of the more than 44 000 men who volunteered for service in the South African Air Force during the war. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Jurisprudence / unrestricted
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Eros and politics: Love and its discontents in the fiction of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’oAnnin, Felicia January 2020 (has links)
Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / In this study I focus on how Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s fiction portrays his socio-political vision through the prevalence of the intimate relationships it displays. The study critically analyses the significant role romantic love and friendship play in the novels The River Between (1965), Weep Not, Child (1964), A Grain of Wheat (1967), Petals of Blood (1977), Devil on the Cross (1982), Matigari (1987) and Wizard of the Crow (2006) against the backdrop of Ngũgĩ’s other fiction, plays and non-fiction. Ngũgĩ identifies himself as a Marxist, anti-colonialist/imperialist, and anti-capitalist writer, for whom there is no contradiction between aesthetic and political missions. The aesthetic and political projects take form through the representation, very importantly, of romantic love in his fiction. The significance of eros, which is clear in the fiction, is not, however, present in Ngũgĩ’s theoretical reflections on his writing as formulated in his essays. In Ngũgĩ’s early novels, we see love attempting to break the boundaries of religion and class in the creation of a modern nation-state. But there are obstacles to these attempts at national unity through love, the only relationship apart from friendship that is self-made, and not determined by kinship relations. In the fiction from the middle of Ngũgĩ’s career, we see romantic love consummated in marriage. The achievement of unity is, however, undercut by betrayal, which is a repeated theme in all the novels. The “betrayal” of the ideal of romantic love by materialism is the most significant threat to love. Friendship emerges in one of the later novels as a kind of “excursus” to romantic love that foregrounds, by default, the ways in which Ngũgĩ’s political vision seeks be consolidated through the personal relationship of romantic love. In Ngũgĩ’s final novel, we see his personal and political visions coming together in a utopian erotic union for first time. Because of the nature of the exploration, which aims at opening up the wider significance of eros, the study is not framed by a dominant theory, most of which would lead to understanding eros through gender and power relations. Instead, the study has been framed through concepts and debates on romantic love that emerge in sociology, anthropology, philosophy and literary history.
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