Motivations: Socio-economic status (SES) is a major source of health disparities. Those who lived in resource-deficient social and physical environments and with low individual income have been found to be at increased risk of physical inactivity. In Hong Kong there is virtually no research on the effect of SES on adolescent physical activity (PA). It is therefore important to explore the SES differentials in PA among Hong Kong adolescents and identify the mechanisms underlying such differentials. It is also important to examine the extent to which SES acts as a moderator and mediator of associations between various potential determinants of adolescent PA. Methods: A hundred eighty-one adolescents aged 12-18 were recruited in the study. This study applied an ecological framework to study the SES effects on adolescents’ PA participation. Physical activity was measured both objectively using accelerometers and subjectively using self-reports. Individual, social and school environment factors were assessed by validated self-report measures. Neighborhood built environmental factors were assessed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data. Individual-level SES was based on parents’ report of monthly household income, while area-level SES was based on census data on median household income of selected study neighborhoods. Generalized linear models with robust standard errors were used to assess associations of individual, social and environmental factors with adolescents’ PA. They were also used to assess the moderating of SES and mediators of SES-PA relationships. Results: The results supported the hypothesis that individual, social and environmental factors would all contribute to the explanation of adolescents’ PA. Moderation analyses showed that the PA level of adolescents living in low SES areas might have been negatively affected by the presence of steep streets in the neighborhood environment and the lack of sports facilities. These effects were not observed in adolescents living in high SES areas. In contrast, only adolescents living in high-SES areas showed positive associations of school-based social support and school PA-related environment with PA. Mediation analyses showed that SES differences in adolescents PA participation could be explained by social support from family and access to sports/recreational facilities in/around the school. Significance: The current findings would imply that environmental interventions at the neighborhood level might benefit low-SES groups of adolescents as they seem to be more influenced by aspects of the neighborhood environment. By contrast, high-SES adolescents might be more reactive to school-based environmental interventions. To narrow the SES gap in PA participation among Hong Kong adolescents, interventions should encourage low-SES families to provide more support to their children by widening the available range of opportunities for PA, encouraging their children to participate in PA, and acting as role models. The findings from this study also suggest that the provision of more PA facilities in/around school neighborhood in low-SES areas could contribute to increasing PA participation among the adolescent population of such areas and, thus, narrow the gap between high- and low-SES groups of adolescents. / published_or_final_version / Human Performance / Master / Master of Philosophy

Thesis (PhD) --Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The rapidly growing presence of old and new media in postcolonial Namibia, particularly from the decade after the turn of the Millennium, has significance for cultural and identity transformations in the country. Formerly entrenched social identities, shaped by restrictive colonialism and indigenous traditions, appear to be under pressure as shifts become apparent in the face of globalisation. This thesis examines the characteristics of change from the perspective of young adults’ mediated experiences in the city of Windhoek. The research constitutes a cultural study that addresses the current knowledge gap regarding how growing local and global media presences are increasingly situated in youth identity and cultural lifestyle spaces. Degrees of reflexive response to mediated information and entertainment are examined in an attempt to understand awareness of and reaction to local and global power narratives situated in actors’ relationships with media. It was found that participants responded positively to the novelty and opportunities that global media offered for identity and lifestyle negotiations, while also revealing ontological anxieties about erosion of ‘traditional’ culture, and concern about absence of recognition and representation of the ‘local’ in global media productions. This led to the research conceptually establishing three participant orientations to media: cultural expropriationist, cultural traditionalist and cultural representationalist. The study concluded that while media seemed to be instrumental in identity and cultural change, social tension over matters of culture appeared to be emerging. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die snelgroeiende teeenwoordigheid van ou en nuwe media in postkoloniale Namibië, veral sedert die dekade ná die millenniumwending, is beduidend vir kulturele en identiteitsverskuiwings in dié land. Voorheen verskanste sosiale identiteite, gevorm deur die beperkinge van kolonialisme en inheemse tradisies, skyn onder druk te wees soos verskuiwings duidelik begin te word in die lig van globalisering. Hierdie proefskrif ondersoek die eienskappe van hierdie veranderinge vanuit die perspektief van jong volwassenes se gemedieerde ondervindinge in die stad Windhoek. Hierdie navorsing behels ’n kulturele studie wat bydra tot die begrip van plaaslike en globale media-teenwoordigheid as toenemend gesitueer op die terrein van jeugidentiteit en kulturele lewenstyle. Daar word ondersoek ingestel na verskillende grade van refleksiewe reaksies op gemedieerde inligting en vermaak, in ’n poging om te verstaan hoe bewustheid van en reaksie op plaaslike en globale magsnarratiewe gesitueer is in rolspelers se verhoudings met media. Daar is bevind dat respondente positief gereageer het op die nuwighede en geleenthede wat globale media bied vir identiteits- en leefstylonderhandelinge, terwyl ontologiese onsekerhede oor die ondermyning van ‘tradisionele’ kultuur, en kommer oor die afwesigheid van erkenning en representasie van die ‘plaaslike’ in globale mediaproduksies, ook aan die lig gekom het. Hierdie bevinding het gelei daartoe dat die navorsing drie oriëntasies onder deelnemers vasgestel het: kultureel-onteienend, kultureel-tradisioneel, en kultureel-verteenwoordigend. Die studie het tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat, terwyl die media instrumenteel in identiteits- en kultuurverandering blyk te wees, dit tegelykertyd sosiale spanning oor kulturele aangeleenthede aanwakker.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Submitted by Maria de Lourdes Mariano (lmariano@ufscar.br) on 2017-01-18T19:07:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 FRANÇA_Giselli de Oliveira_2014.pdf: 3491500 bytes, checksum: 2ec0ec206762cc9a8b8c6660eb299827 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria de Lourdes Mariano (lmariano@ufscar.br) on 2017-01-18T19:07:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 FRANÇA_Giselli de Oliveira_2014.pdf: 3491500 bytes, checksum: 2ec0ec206762cc9a8b8c6660eb299827 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria de Lourdes Mariano (lmariano@ufscar.br) on 2017-01-18T19:07:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 FRANÇA_Giselli de Oliveira_2014.pdf: 3491500 bytes, checksum: 2ec0ec206762cc9a8b8c6660eb299827 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-18T19:07:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FRANÇA_Giselli de Oliveira_2014.pdf: 3491500 bytes, checksum: 2ec0ec206762cc9a8b8c6660eb299827 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-22 / Não recebi financiamento / This qualitative research aims to analyze the emotional, sexual and reproductive trajectories of young mothers who have experienced social vulnerability, including the condition of institutional shelters. The goal is to evaluate how young girls perceive the relationship between their life experiences and how they experience sexuality, maternity and affection. The concept of socialization adopts Berger and Luckmann referential, and the gender concept follows the definition of Joan Scott. The methodology of History of Life, within the field of Oral History was adopted. Five interviews with young mothers who had the experience of sheltering next to Sorocaba (SP) were conducted. Two interviews were transcribed in full and deeply examined. In the analysis, the impact of various socializing agents was discussed- public and private, and the social construction of women's identities, especially motherhood. The analysis of the life stories of these young people allows us to understand motherhood as a marker of their sedentarization, who usually have a history marked by nomadism. Moreover, the reports allowed reflections on gender relations, the social and historical construction of the role of women in our society. The absence of programmatic responses referring to this population was discussed, as well. / Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa que objetiva analisar as trajetórias afetivas, sexuais e reprodutivas de jovens mães que vivenciaram situações de vulnerabilidade social, incluindo a condição de abrigamento institucional. Objetiva-se avaliar como as jovens percebem a relação entre suas experiências de vida e a forma como vivenciam a sexualidade, a maternidade e o afeto. O conceito de socialização é compreendido a partir do referencial de Berger e Luckmann, e o de gênero, pela definição de Joan Scott. Adotou-se a metodologia de História de vida, dentro do campo da História Oral. Foram realizados encontros com cinco jovens mães que passaram pela experiência de abrigamento em uma instituição da região de Sorocaba (SP) específica para essa população. Duas entrevistas foram transcritas na íntegra e analisadas em profundidade. Na análise, discutiu-se o impacto dos diversos agentes socializadores – públicos e privados, e a construção social das identidades femininas, especialmente a da maternidade. A análise das histórias de vida dessas jovens permitiu compreender a maternidade como um marcador do processo de sedentarização dessas jovens que em geral possuem uma história marcada pelo nomadismo. Além disso, os relatos possibilitaram reflexões acerca das relações de gênero, da construção social e histórica do papel da mulher em nossa sociedade. Ainda discutiu-se a ausência de respostas programáticas voltadas à essa população.

Orientador: Maria Filomena Gregori / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T06:26:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Braz_CamiloAlbuquerquede_M.pdf: 1289575 bytes, checksum: 9c8390068c9533960e962f4d67b3c933 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: Neste trabalho, lanço um olhar antropológico para o universo da body modification em São Paulo. A minha proposta, e desafio, foi realizar um estudo etnográfico junto aos/às profissionais, adeptos/as e entusiastas da parte ¿pouco usual¿ das modificações corporais, práticas que, dentro desse próprio campo, são denominadas como ¿extremas¿ ou ¿radicais¿. Nelas, a relação com a dor extrema está presente, o que as torna especialmente rentáveis para um estudo antropológico preocupado em interpretar o significado atribuído ao corpo, à estética e à dor, levando em conta as possíveis interconexões entre o corpo modificado e a experiência do prazer, do erótico. Esta Dissertação constitui uma tentativa de interpretar antropologicamente o que observei, senti e ouvi dos sujeitos desta pesquisa em campo. A discussão das técnicas corporais e da medicalização da body modification é o gancho por meio do qual discuto a possibilidade de efetivação de um discurso que enxerga nessas práticas um meio de conformação de projetos corporais individuais, em contraposição com a crescente profissionalização e normatização desse universo. A partir de dados de campo relacionados aos significados atribuídos pelos/as adeptos/as à experiência da dor, busco discutir também a potencialidade subversiva dessas práticas corporais / Abstract: The aim of this work is to shed anthropological light onto the realm of body modification in the city of São Paulo. My proposal is to pull off an ethnographic study together with non-mainstream body modification professionals, undergoers and enthusiasts. In this practice the quest for strenuous pain is present, which makes it some interesting ground to be scoured with an anthropological approach concerned with seeing into the role of body, aesthetics and pain, never shrugging aside the association between sexual arousal and modified body. This essay is directed towards my attempt to interpret what I could feel and gather from the subjects in the field work from an anthropological point of view. The discussion in body techniques and medicalization in body modification is the starting point from which I discuss means to spawn a discourse capable of viewing the practice as a manner to state self-body projects, as opposed to the growing profissionalization and normalization in the field. Taking into account field work data on how the subjects view pain experience, I shall discuss the subversive potential of these body practices / Mestrado / Mestre em Antropologia Social

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / South Africa’s violence and injury death rates pandemic are steadily growing. Global estimates reported by the World Health Organisation (2000) have revealed that there is an increase in worldwide deaths. Approximately 5 million people die as a result of injuries each year and hundreds of thousands more are left physically or psychologically scarred (World Health Organisation, 2000). There are alarmingly high incidences of violence, crime and injury deaths in South Africa and the impact of these injury fatalities is imposing an immense burden on government, communities, families and even individuals. The burden of fatal injury mortalities has not fallen evenly. In South Africa, low socio-economic communities have borne the brunt of this epidemic. This study presents a focus on mortality and injury patterns and emerging problem areas for children and youth in a peri-urban setting. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of the fatal injury mortality and suicide data of children and youth in the Stellenbosch district, in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of the problem areas of injury deaths such as the main causes and consequences and age, sex, race and other pertinent comparisons. The study also aimed to consider the impact and relationship between alcohol abuse and youth injury deaths. Mortuary data were compiled from 591 children and youth cases for the period 2001-2005 in the Stellenbosch district using the National Injury Mortality Surveillance System data form. The present study highlighted several key findings. Transport-related deaths were indicated as a serious cause for concern among both children and youth in peri-urban settings. The importance of specific road safety awareness initiatives within peri-urban areas and among specific age groups were also indicated. Violence-related deaths were determined to be a leading cause of death among the older age groups in the youth category, with sharp force objects being the leading external cause of violent deaths. This highlighted an additional key finding reporting that sharp force objects death are a more serious cause for concern than firearm deaths in peri-urban areas, which challenges previous urban data. vi Burns and drowning were indicated as pertinent cause of unintentional deaths among both children and youth within peri-urban areas. This was suggested to be due to the high use of paraffin enabled heating systems in house in peri-urban areas and the lack of safety surrounding materials such as matches in the home. In addition, suffocation deaths among infants were also identified as a concern. Furthermore, the link between alcohol abuse among the youth age group was indicated by a key finding that alcohol is a prominent risk factor for fatal injury mortalities among youth. However more studies are needed to explore the effects and risks of other substances on youth fatal injury deaths. Several implications of the research findings are identified for health care professionals, policy developers, government departments and non-government organisations to consider in reducing the mortality rates of children and youth. These implications are critical in informing preventative interventions and initiatives aimed at enhancing safety to children and youth living in peri-urban areas within South Africa. vii

This study examines the specific elements of youth’s experiences at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada (BGC) that contribute to the development of their social and emotional competencies. Social and emotional competencies include managing one’s emotions, developing concern for others, and making responsible, ethically informed decisions. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 respondents ranging in age from 16 to 18 years old. This study gave adolescents a voice, empowering them to contribute to a deeper understanding of the ways in which community youth programs can assist in positive youth development. Data analysis revealed three categories of themes: social setting at the BGC, interpersonal connections, and personal development. The CASEL model of social and emotional learning (SEL) was used as a conceptual framework, and evidence from the research themes was used to demonstrate how SEL skills may have been fostered at the BGC. The four elements of the BGC that were mentioned by respondents most frequently in relation to the development of SEL competencies were receiving and offering social support, acquiring successful coping skills, engaging in formal leadership opportunities, and developing conflict prevention and resolution strategies. The results of this study have implications for theory and practice. The information presented in this study can guide onsite workers to focus on specific aspects in their interactions with youth and inform future youth program planning. / x, 278 leaves ; 29 cm

Text in English / Background: The South African youth is confronted by unemployment. Ironically, even the youth of Soweto Township experience the harsh realities of unemployment, despite them playing a significant role to fight the apartheid regime. Therefore, the study explores the experiences of the youth of Soweto with regards to unemployment. Method: This study adopted a qualitative research approach and case study design. The purposive sampling method was used to select the sample. The sample consisted of ten unemployed youth of Soweto Township. The unstructured interview was utilised to collect data. Results: One of the main findings in this study was the fact that unemployment has impacted negatively on young people in Soweto Township. Unemployment has led to psychological effects and isolation amongst the jobless youth of Soweto. Conclusion: There is a need for great job opportunities for the youth in South Africa to grow the economy. This could also reduce crime among young people since it is well known that some of the young people have engaged in criminal activities due to unemployment. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

This study used a qualitative, explorative, and descriptive design to understand the experiences of adolescents after HIV status disclosure in Hhohho region Swaziland. The data were collected through in-depth individual semi structured face-to-face interviews from 10 adolescents living with HIV between the ages 15-19 years. To analyse interviews, Tesch’s qualitative data analysis approach was used. Findings from the study revealed that participants experienced sadness, despair and anger after disclosure and also had fear of death because some had lost one or both parents. The participants reported recurrent episodes of poor health, which resulted in failure at school. In addition, they stressed that they could not disclose their HIV status because they feared discrimination and stigma. Recommendations were made to improve coping strategies of adolescents and revising the nursing curriculum to equip nursing students with appropriate skills that would enable them to care for adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV). / Health Studies / MA (Health Studies)

For many people music is an important aspect of their daily life. Music preference is a complex subject tied to social identity, personality, leisure activities, religion, family and friends, and so forth. Music is also a form of expression, which is communicated to the public over various mediums and formats. The themes depicted in music media (music in the form of television, radio, and internet sources, both auditory and visually presented) are vast owing to the array of different artists and their individual worldviews that they put on offer for the public. The lyrical content and/or imagery put forward by musicians depicts an array of different themes, which are contextualised by individuals in their personal conception of their favourite music. The meaning that listeners/viewers attach to their music is equally related to their own background and life experience, including their belief system (religion). There has been a controversial increase in the sexualisation and explicitness of music media; however, there is a gap in the intersection between music, sex, and religiosity as a field of study. Understanding the influence of music media requires an understanding of the people who are experiencing this content. Taking a cybernetic approach and the position of the listener who determines the meaning of an utterance, as put forward by cyberneticist Heinz von Foerster, this study is a reflexive contextual enquiry into how people are experiencing and interpreting their music media and whether this media challenges their view on religion (if they consider themselves aligned to a religion). To address this broad research question, a two-part study was conducted. The first part consisted of a quantitative study of 459 students from the University of Johannesburg to obtain a snapshot of a young adult demographic in terms of their music media, sexuality, and religiosity choices. Thereafter, using the results from this first part of the study, a qualitative interview-based study was conducted. Together the quantitative and qualitative studies provide a basis for answering the main research question. The results show that the young adults in the study are thinking beings, not just manipulated by mainstream music media; rather, they decide what is right for them often motivated by their views on religion. Methodologies used in religious studies have been subject to criticism. One specific aspect is the lack of acknowledgment of epistemology within research designs. In addressing this critique, a second- order cybernetic study was conducted. By introducing a cybernetic approach to qualitative religious study, a new approach is thus also presented which is called A Reflexive Recursive Learning Approach to Religious Studies. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)