Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-89).

Thesis (MSW(Social Work))-University of Pretoria, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.T.) -- School for International Training, 2006. / Advisor -- Pat Moran Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-72).

The possible role and involvement of the Church in social development has reemerged as an important focus of contemporary academic and religious development discourse in South Africa. There are strong voices arguing for churches and other Faith-Based Organisations to be regarded as strategic in contributing to addressing the challenge of poverty as agents of social development. Yet, as church congregations multiply throughout South Africa, they appear to be less responsive to the challenge of poverty facing South African communities, contrary to the rich history of churches in the past. The need for churches to be involved in sustainable community-driven development initiatives to fight poverty in their local communities cannot be denied nor be met with just rhetoric and scholarly dissertations by theologians and academics. The vicious cycle of poverty in our communities must be eradicated as it represents a social injustice in terms of South Africa‘s Constitution and speaks to deep structural inequalities inherent in our society. Whilst researchers have made several proposals for churches to move from social welfare and relief, there appears to be little research with a clear practical strategy which congregations can implement to enhance their social service delivery role from social relief to sustainable community development. This has left a considerable gap which the current research sought to address. This study thus responds to the call by previous research for churches to implement strategies other than mere relief. Hence, this study contributes to the religious development discourse in South Africa, by developing a strategy to enhance Church-based social service delivery initiatives from social relief efforts which are not sustainable, to community development efforts which are sustainable and which will be consistent with the current social development policy context and contextually relevant to the socio-economic challenges of poverty and its consequences in South Africa. The study was conducted in two phases. During phase one, the main purpose was to gain a deeper understanding of the historical and current involvement of the Church in providing social services which address poverty in communities, to enhance understanding of the factors which influence the provision of social services by churches, as well as to understand participants views of how church-based social service delivery can be improved in order to fight poverty. For phase two, the goal was to develop a strategy to enhance church-based social service delivery from being social relief to being community development oriented. The following objectives guided the research process: To review selected and applicable literature to gain a deeper understanding of the historical and current involvement of the Church in the delivery of social services in order to fight poverty; To explore and describe the perceptions of church leaders and congregation members of the historical and current involvement of the Church in the delivery of social services in order to fight poverty; To explore and describe the factors which influence Church-based social service delivery in fighting poverty; To explore the views of church leaders and congregation members on how church-based social service delivery can be improved in their churches to inform the development of a strategy to enhance church-based social service delivery in fighting poverty. This study employed a qualitative research approach grounded in the interpretivist social science paradigm. The qualitative research approach necessitated an exploratory, descriptive and contextual method of inquiry. A descriptive case study method was also used, with the Methodist Church of Southern Africa selected as the main case of focus. The target population in this research comprised of Christian churches with a historical involvement in social service delivery in pre-apartheid South Africa. Purposeful sampling of 5 churches was undertaken, namely; Roman Catholic Church (RCC), Anglican Church (AC), Dutch Reformed Church (DRC), KwaSizabantu Mission (KSB) and Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA). Data collection was conducted in two phases. Phase one comprised a literature review; Phase two comprised gathering empirical evidence by conducting face to face semi-structured interviews with clergy and from conducting one focus group interview with congregants. The information obtained from participants was transcribed, coded and analysed using content analysis and by a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS), namely ATLAS.ti. Findings revealed a marked difference between the historical and current churchbased social service delivery suggestive of decline, accompanied by the lack of empowerment opportunities for current church leaders and congregation members in community development facilitation. Further evidence suggest the lack of cooperation between church leaders and congregation members; as well as the lack of sustainability of interventions owing to an absence of resources and the lack of capacity to create sustainable economic opportunities. Findings also revealed that church congregations are rich with people with various assets - skills, strengths, capabilities, passions, gifts, talents in various fields, which they can share with one another as congregations and communities. The discussion of findings reflected that historically, Church-based social service provision involved holistic intervention mechanisms, empowerment, collaborations and sustainability of interventions suggestive of second generation strategies of community development, while currently, Church-based social service provision involves mostly social relief and social welfare efforts suggestive of first generation strategies. The findings suggest a holistic strategy for ―reawakening the co-operativeness‖ of congregations to facilitate sustainable Church-based social service delivery towards fighting poverty in local communities. The strategy which was then developed and described with its sub-strategies, namely: Establishment of collaborative relationships Creation of empowerment opportunities Facilitation of holistic interventions The goal of the strategy is to guide church leaders and congregation members in facilitating sustainable Church-based social service programmes to fight poverty.

No description available.

Research on the unique challenges facing racialized and minority adolescent girls in Canada has prompted sport actors to develop tailored intervention strategies to address the disproportionately lower participation and retention rates of these subpopulations. However, much research has relied on unitary conceptualisations of participation barriers facing socially disadvantaged adolescent girls, which has produced “one-size-fits-all” policy and program solutions to address declining participation trends. Therefore, in my thesis research, I used intersectionality theory, a feminist participatory action research (FPAR) approach, and semi-structured interviews with 11 coordinators and coaches in the City of Ottawa’s Community Centre Basketball League (CCBL) to understand how they address the recruitment and participation of second-generation African Canadian adolescent girls in low-income Ottawa neighbourhoods. I then used Braun and Clarke’s (2019a) reflexive thematic analysis to better understand the facilitators and barriers to the recruitment and participation of these girls in the CCBL program. I identified four themes that inform the recruitment and participation of second-generation African Canadian adolescent girls in the CCBL: a) CCBL coordinators hire coaches who can relate to the program users through shared culture and/or lived-experiences; b) CCBL coaches use their identities and lived experiences to enhance their understanding of the program users; c) CCBL coaches and coordinators make efforts to build trust with and increase buy-in from parents to improve participation from program users; and d) CCBL coaches and coordinators make religious accommodations in response to the needs of Muslim and Christian program users. The findings from my research can be used to promote more inclusive and equitable community-based sport programs serving ethnoculturally diverse adolescent girls in Canada.

archives@tulane.edu / Background: Despite a large body of literature citing the benefits of community-based distribution of family planning (FP) services and high-quality FP services, there is a lack of studies measuring the quality of community-based FP services. Objectives: 1. Evaluate how client perspectives on quality differ from those of health professionals; 2. Identify factors that influence client recall of contraceptive counseling; and 3. Develop a metric for measuring quality and test the association between client satisfaction and quality. Methods: This study employed a convenience sample of 1,179 women ages 15-49 years old who sought contraceptive services from community-based FP distribution events in Kinshasa, DRC. Data were collected using three different instruments: CEIs, COs and provider interviews. Methodology: Paper 1. The 28 variables measured by both the CEI and CO were compared using Gwet’s Agreement Coefficient. Paper 2. The association between recall and provider and client characteristics were tested using multivariate linear regression. Paper 3. Exploratory factor analysis was performed and resulting factor scores were used to test the association between quality and client satisfaction in multivariate linear regression models. Results: Paper 1. According to Gwet’s AC1, COs and CEIs were in agreement for 18 of the 28 items, with most discordant variables falling in the “effective use of the chosen method” domain. Paper 2. Average recall score was 67.6%. Time since the provider’s initial training and quality of the client-provider interaction were associated with higher client recall. Being a first-time user was associated with lower recall. Paper 3. All three domains of quality were significantly associated with client satisfaction after controlling for client characteristics and interactions. Conclusion: This is one of the first studies to measure the quality of individual contraceptive counseling sessions during community-based distribution events. Findings have resulted in several recommendations to improve client recall and satisfaction during these events. / 1 / Rebecca Rosenberg

Development asks that the inequity and unsustainability of the widening gap between rich and poor be narrowed, ultimately impacting on households in the most economically excluded communities. Local community-based organisations (CBOs) provide much of the organisational fabric through which development is delivered. Largely resourced by the poorest themselves, many of these CBOs aspire to attracting funds from the development aid industry. In attempting to comply with the rules of these funding sources and compete in funding relationships, organisations become players in the funding game fraught with power imbalance and seemingly contradictory incentives. Neither the funding agencies, intent on disbursement, nor the CBOs in their desire to build organisations and contribute to their communities, seem aware of the true costs of these relationships. Aid funding is complex, operating at numerous levels, across a multiplicity of varied organisations, stakeholders and contexts. Over the last 60 years, the aid industry has evolved complicated and highly engineered mechanisms to manage relationships with funding recipients, including detailed conventions for evaluation. As part of contractual obligation, criteria for success are pre-defined; outcomes are predicted; and targets are projected. Development, however, is not linear or predictable. It is contradictory and complex. Despite objections and alternatives since the late 1980s, ‘conventional’ linear, simplistic rationale has dogged the development industry. The HIV support sector as a focus for funding, capacity building and service contracts from government and international aid agencies, offers rich examples of aid industry dynamics. This research, set amongst small but established CBOs working in HIV/AIDS support in Soweto and Lawley (Gauteng) and Mabeskraal (North West Province), explores alternative evaluation approaches, methodologies and principles, based on grounded evaluation. Two models are tested and compared. Firstly, inward-looking, organisation-based, reflective self-evaluation using Stories and Metaphor. Than secondly, outward-looking, community research using a Most Significant Change approach. The evaluation processes developed help participating CBOs describe success and outcomes against their own criteria. The approaches use narrative, visual and metaphorical formats. The central purpose of the research is meta-evaluation aimed at an effective process using iterative, cumulative action research based on the principles of grounded theory. Meta-evaluation data included descriptions of the processes and the nature of evaluation results. They are analysed using reflection, learning and re-design in an action research cycle. The results provide both practical insights into conducting evaluation, and the principles of effective development in a CBO setting. They demonstrate that grounded evaluation can be used to understand organisational dynamics and programme outcomes. Participatory methods, particularly visual and verbal communication, are shown to be far superior to written communication in this setting. The results demonstrate the mutual compatibility and ethical inseparability of organisation development with evaluation, providing insight into the practice of utilisation-based evaluation. The value of appreciative inquiry and the risks of accusatory inquiry are described. A thread that runs through the results highlights the impact of power, ownership and process use in effective evaluation. The research has also elaborated some of the intractable contradictions and conundrums in development aid. Money carries the power vested in global economics and market forces. In making funding judgements, evaluators purvey the power of wealth inequity: the very power imbalance which itself purports to address. As a development practitioner, an evaluator’s role should be to facilitate pathways out of dependent mindsets. As gatekeepers to financial support, however, their work entrenches distortions in perceptions of wealth and power. These complex interactions of power and ownership demand moderation and compromise. The industry requires investment of greater energy into theoretical, methodological and practical research. Suggestions for such research are included. Without fresh creativity, development and evaluation will remain frustrated forces within an entrenched, self-perpetuating system of inequity and disparity. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Over the past 20 years, child and adolescent community mental health has evolved conceptually, clinically, and scientifically towards the community-based systems of care model. This model asserts important values and principles, including the centrality of the child and family in the care process, the integration of the efforts of disparate agencies and interveners into a contextual approach, and the importance of serving children with serious disturbances in their homes and communities. The article reviews the evolution of the community-based systems of care model, its evidence-base, its application in practice, and the challenges it faces in today's human services environment.

Breastfeeding provides both short- and long-term health benefits for infants and mothers, yet African American mothers are less likely to breastfeed than mothers of other racial backgrounds. Despite the optimal positioning of healthcare providers to encourage breastfeeding, African American mothers are more susceptible to inadequate breastfeeding support from providers than White mothers. Focusing only on mothers who breastfed, this study analyzes African American mothers' experiences with healthcare providers related to breastfeeding. Data consist of in-depth interviews with 22 primarily middle- and working-class African American mothers who breastfed. The interviews focused on decisions to breastfeed and support or assistance from healthcare providers. Data were analyzed thematically using initial and focused coding. During prepartum, 27% of the mothers' providers asked about breastfeeding decisions without further discussion, which resulted in some mothers seeking out their own research. This finding reveals the prepartum period as a critical point where more breastfeeding education can be implemented. During immediate postpartum, 59% of mothers received formula from the hospital, which resulted in either anger or indifference. Angry mothers stressed this as an obstacle to their breastfeeding goals. In addition to the other breastfeeding barriers African American mothers face, they faced the additional barrier of the provision of formula in this study. Also, in the postpartum period, of the fifteen mothers in contact with healthcare providers regarding breastfeeding, twelve mothers sought breastfeeding assistance from professional lactation consultants rather than regular providers. These findings point to the significance of lactation consultants in breastfeeding support. Future interventions could focus on the implementation of lactation consultants to the standard healthcare team. Questions remain regarding the extent to which these experiences reflect racial bias in healthcare settings. Regardless, our findings point to a need for greater breastfeeding support for African American women in maternity care settings, especially during the postpartum period.