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The concern of this investigation is to explore a range of contemporary experiences of the Buddhist Meditation Practice of three South Africans of Western origin and to understand what factors were involved in their meditation practice. The number of people practising Buddhist Meditation in this country is gradually increasing and retreat centres for the meditation practice are emerging at various places in this country. A wide range of experiences accompany the meditation practice but very little research has been done amongst adults to study this phenomenon. Initially, in this study, the researcher practised Buddhist Meditation by participating in a meditation programme at the Buddhist Retreat in Ixopo in KwaZulu-Natal, for twenty-one days, to familiarize herself with the experiential knowledge of Buddhist Meditation. This was done by the researcher compiling a detailed diary of the meditative experiences and various themes were drawn from it. The data collected was compared and validated with contemporary research findings on Buddhist Meditation. This data was then used to formulate some of the questions for the semi-structured interviews that were conducted subsequently. Three adult subjects of Western origin, one male and two females were interviewed. Each subject had been meditating for an average period of ten years and can therefore be regarded as long-term meditators. They had practised Buddhist meditation in groups at various retreat centres around the country and also individually at home. The average age of the subjects was forty-five years, with the youngest subject being forty years old and the oldest being fifty-three years old. All three subjects were professional people employed at a university in South Africa and all were able to articulate their meditative experiences very well. Since the research project involved the study and exploration of the human experience related to Buddhist Meditation, it was more appropriate to use the phenomenological case-study approach rather than a measurement orientated procedure. The descriptive, phenomenological perspective is more appropriate for the elucidation of the data collected. It gives greater and clearer meaning to the human experience of meditation that is being investigated. The results of the study can best be summarised by stating that all three subjects undertook the Buddhist Meditation Practice because of their awareness of an existential conflict in their lives. Another reason for practising meditation was for personal development. The study also shows that a variety of effects of the meditation practice was experienced by the subjects. These included experiencing feelings of calmness, peace and relaxation, transformation of consciousness, heightened or increased awareness of certain external and internal stimuli, conscious of the changing nature of experience and experiences of objective consciousness.

The purpose of this case study is to explore the issue of contempt in the therapeutic relationship. The aims are twofold; namely, to illustrate to what extent the case studied throws light on existing theories on contempt in psychotherapy, and to enquire about which stance adopted by the therapist is most appropriate in the therapeutic interaction with a contemptuous client. It investigates the validity of using the case study method in examining both the content and the process of this particular course of psychotherapy. Literature on contempt in psychotherapy is reviewed, as well as the foundation-stone on which it rests, namely, the Kleinian approach to envy . The concepts of the superego and false self are also drawn upon in understanding this particular client's dynamics. The client's therapy is then presented and explored, in order to gain insight into how a psychotherapist's understanding of the contemptuous client can clarify the process of therapy. It highlights the limitations and potentialities that exist in working in this sphere of resistance, and raises questions relevant to therapists faced with these clients. The case study shows how theory in this area is helpful in understanding the contemptuous client, and that the ability of the therapist to endure and survive the contempt of the client is a crucial factor in working with the contemptuous individual.

M. Com. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This study explores the transfonnational processes ofwomen leaving the sex trade. It discerns what interpersonal and intrapersonal transitions foster a sense of personal expansion and transfonnation in leaving the sex trade. The co-researchers consisted of four women who had left sex trade work. Phenomenology and narrative inquiry served as theoretical and methodological . frameworks that guided the study. In addition, thematic analysis was utilized specifically to isolate metathemes and themes within the data. What was important to the coresearchers in their transfonnational processes was as complex and unique as their personal histories and experiences. However, overarching similarities emerged from the co-researchers narratives. The metathemes distinguished in the data were understanding history, self/identity, building relationships, sexuality, economic viability, and triggers. Future considerations for further research include having a larger sample, representing male experiences of transfonnation, and interviewing co-researchers two years following the initial interview. / Graduate

M.B.A. / The aim of this research is to analyse whether a link exists between employee satisfaction (for the stores studied) and profitability, for the selected Edgars stores analysed

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Two delta and two gamma alcoholics were assessed by case study according to the theoretical formulations of Transactional Analysis. Scripts and Games were elicited through the Thematic Apperception Test, Laddering Procedure, and Life History. Analyses demonstrated, firstly, that parallels were present between the parent-child relationship and present adult transactions; secondly, that needs, fears, and control mechanisms were traceable to early parental injunctions; thirdly, that among these subjects, delta alcoholics tend to play the alcoholic game "Lush", and gamma alcoholics tend to play the alcoholic game "Drunk and Proud". It was concluded that the script and existential position appear to play an important role in the maintenance of the drinking pattern. Alcoholic Loss of Control appears to be influenced by the degree to which aggression is suppressed.

The term "empowerment" is frequently used by organizational researchers, management practitioners, and consultants. However, despite the popularity of the term, there is a lack of empirical work and no generally accepted definition. As part of a thorough multi-disciplinary literature review, fourteen different conceptualizations for the term empowerment were discovered and classified into four categories: Micro (intra-psychic), Meso (relational-interactive), Macro (structural), and Misnomer (bogus). As a result of this work, both a new definition and a multi-level process model of empowerment are offered. Empowerment is defined here as an enhancing and energizing context specific process that expands an individual's power and feelings of trust, is usually facilitated by another, and results in increased levels of self-esteem, self-efficacy and other characteristics related to personal growth and control, which eventually lead to outcomes such as performance and satisfaction. The proposed multi-level process model postulates that the process of empowerment is driven by changes in information, responsibility, and active belief, and mediated by intra-psychic factors. This model was empirically tested in a between-subject, pre-test, post-test simulation design. Over a period of three weeks 135 graduate students completed a novel application of in-basket exercises, within which an empowerment manipulation was embedded. This manipulation included increasing information, responsibility, and active belief for the empowered manipulation and decreasing these three components for the disempowered manipulation. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that, as predicted, the manipulation had a significant impact on the three mediating intra-psychic factors (self-efficacy, self-esteem, and locus of control) and an analysis of variance found significant results in the predicted direction on the dependent variable of job satisfaction. Regression analyses revealed the predicted mediation relationship between the intra-psychic variables and the dependent variable of job satisfaction. However, none of the analyses yielded significant results for the performance measures (initiative, sensitivity, planning and organizing, delegation, administrative control, problem analysis, judgement, and decisiveness). Several potential explanations are offered for these results, including a motivational interpretation which focuses on participant's motivation directionality. Theoretical and practical implications for these results are discussed as well as directions for future research. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

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