The focus of this study is the Southern African Development Community (SADC) preventive diplomacy interventions in Lesotho in 1994, 1998 and 2007. The core aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of the SADC security mechanism (the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security (OPDS) in conflict prevention, management and resolution on the basis of the Lesotho experience. Data for this qualitative case study was collected through interviews and document analysis. The twenty four participants for the study were drawn from the SADC OPDS unit, Lesotho political parties, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Academics from the University of Botswana (UB) and the National University of Lesotho (NUL), retired Botswana Defence officers who participated in the Lesotho missions and office of the post-2007election dispute dialogue facilitator in Lesotho. Documents on the SADC Treaties, Protocols, Communiqués and interventions in other set ups were used to highlight its operational policies, mandate, structures, successes and challenges. Lesotho was chosen as a case study because SADC employed both non-coercive (SADC Troika and Eminent Person mediation, 1994 and 2007 respectively) and coercive measures (the 1998 military intervention). The findings of the study revealed that SADC as a regional body had its own successes and challenges. Different perceptions on the SADC interventions in Lesotho emerged mainly between the participants from the ruling party and the opposition parties. While the former commended SADC for successfully mitigating the calamitous effects of 1994, 1998 and 2007 post-electoral violence, the opposition parties viewed the regional organisations as engaged in illegal interference in the domestic affairs of the country to defend the incumbent governing party. It also emerged from the study that the SADC security mechanism has numerous structural and operational flaws. There were several unanswered questions revolving around the legality and mandate of some of the missions. For instance, no concrete evidence emerged as to whether the 1998 military intervention was authorised by the SADC. The study also revealed that SADC has learnt valuable lessons from the Lesotho missions. Some of the reforms which the SADC has introduced in the OPDS such as the establishment of the SADC Stand by Force, Early Warning structures, the Mediation Unit, and a panel of expert mediators emanated mainly from the Lesotho experiences. The study recommends that SADC needs to harmonise the efforts of its OPDS structures such as the Mediation Unit; the Troika; the Inter-State Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC); the Inter-State Politics and Diplomacy Committee (ISPDC) and the Summit of Heads of States and Governments for rapid, coherent and well coordinated interventions in future regional preventive missions. It is also recommended that SADC should focus on identifying and mitigating underlying causal factors such as underdevelopment; poverty; deprivation of freedoms, marginalisation and other forms of social stratifications and oppression in its preventive diplomacy missions if durable peace is to be achieved in Lesotho and any other future cases.

The following treatise focuses on the ongoing conflict within the church regarding the issue of homosexuality. It is an important issue that has divided both churches and denominations and it continues to cause hurt in both the lives of Christians and non-Christians alike, both straight and gay. The popular position seems to be that the church, and Christians in general, are homophobic and believe that Christianity and homosexuality are not compatible. This research is a case study and focuses on a church in London. The research was carried out to discover whether this position, often portrayed by the media, was true of this church. It also sought to discover whether theories of conflict management and in particular John Burton’s theory of basic human needs could offer insight and alternative approaches in future discussions. The findings of this research offer hope in the situation in that they show this particular church is not homophobic, nor do the majority believe homosexuality and Christianity to be incompatible.

This treatise explores the potential for destructive conflict between locals and foreign nationals in Summerstrand. In the context of this study, foreign nationals have been defined as people who are from other African countries. This specification was made because it is this particular group that has been victim to violent attacks in South Africa. Those attacks have taken place throughout the country, especially in 2008, in areas that are regarded as ‘townships’ in the South African context. This treatise could be regarded as an unusual product, as it does not explore the dynamics of a township; instead, the focus area is a ‘suburb’. The suburb in question is called ‘Summerstrand’ and it is located in Port Elizabeth. Before the research was conducted, it was assumed that due to the differing dynamics of a suburban area, where people would be wealthier and more educated, the potential of a violent conflict taking place between the two groups (locals and foreign nationals) would be lower. In this treatise, firstly, the topic will be explained more in detail together with an overview of the background to the topic. The background will be discussed in further detail as literature relevant to the field of study will be reviewed and presented in Chapters 2 and 3. The ensuing chapters will elaborate upon how the research has been conducted, after which the findings of the study will be presented to the reader. The last chapter of the treatise offers an analysis of the findings of the study, draws conclusions from the study and offers recommendations in light of the findings of the study.

If manufacturing organisations are to improve their competitive positions in the global arena and increase profitability, their operations strategies need to be focused on: reducing cost, improving quality, increasing efficiency, improving the speed of delivery, developing and improving process flexibility, and ensuring that higher service levels are achieved and maintained. One of the critical success factors in implementing these strategies, within manufacturing organisations, is the relationship that exists between the maintenance and production functions. There is sufficient evidence to suggest that in many manufacturing organisations, the relationship that exists between these two functions is usually one of conflict, which if left unmanaged or unresolved has the potential to severely hamper effectiveness, productivity, creativity, and profitability of the organisation. The overall purpose of this research was to identify the interventions that manufacturing organisations can pursue, to effectively manage and resolve the conflict between the production and maintenance functions, in order to improve their competitive position in the global economy. The study was conducted in one particular manufacturing organisation in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. A research questionnaire was used as a means for collecting empirical data. The research questionnaire included various instruments used by previous conflict researchers, to identify and analyse the following dimensions of conflict within the organisation: conflict management styles used, the types of conflict perceived, and the amount of conflict perceived. The questionnaire was also designed to identify the sources of conflict, collect demographic information, identify issues relating to diversity, and indicate the respondents’ preferences to various organisational reporting structures. The results of the survey revealed key findings, which enabled the researcher to draw meaningful conclusions, and make recommendations as to how organisations can effectively manage and resolve the conflict that exists between maintenance and production functions.

Years of political unrest, forced removals, migrant labour and overly rapid urbanisation have had a negative effect on the lives of many South Africans and poverty, unemployment and the HIV/AIDS pandemic have increased the challenges facing young people in South Africa. With 54 per cent of South Africa’s population younger than 24 years and two-thirds of South Africans between the ages of 18 and 35 years unemployed, youth development is an urgent and critical social investment. Current research stresses the importance of an integrated and developmental approach that recognises young people’s optimism and resilience and builds on their strengths. Of the various youth developmental interventions being implemented in African countries, including South Africa, an initiative that is being used increasingly, is the international broad-base programme known as the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP). Using an experiential approach honed by over 35 years’ of working mostly in prisons in more than 35 countries, AVP teaches the attitudes and strategies (such as self-awareness, empathy and community-building) needed to transform conflict nonviolently and addresses the important psychological need for intimate connection with others. This study investigates how the experience of an AVP workshop can influence so-called ‘at-risk’1 young South African adults’ perceptions of personally-experienced conflict situations. The study was conducted in partnership with a local youth development project and used a narrative analysis approach to explore the pre- and post-AVP workshop conflict narratives of a group of Xhosa-speakers from the Eastern Cape. To support the analysis of the conflict narratives, focus groups were conducted three months later and again after six months with a selected sample of volunteers. Participation in the study was wholly voluntary and by informed consent.

Notre travail s'inscrit dans l'intersection de deux disciplines qui sont la Théorie des Fonctions de Croyance (TFC) et la fouille de données. L'interaction pouvant exister entre la TFC et la fouille de données est étudiée sous deux volets.La première interaction souligne l'apport des règles associatives génériques au sein de la TFC. Nous nous sommes intéressés au problème de fusion de sources non fiables dont la principale conséquence est l'apparition de conflit lors de la combinaison. Une approche de gestion de conflit reposant sur les règles d'association génériques appelé ACM a été proposée.La deuxième interaction s'intéresse aux bases de données imparfaites en particulier les bases de données évidentielles. Les informations, représentées par des fonctions de masse, sont étudiées afin d'extraire des connaissances cachées par le biais des outils de fouille de données. L'extraction des informations pertinentes et cachées de la base se fait grâce à la redéfinition de la mesure du support et de la confiance. Ces mesures introduites ont été les fondements d'un nouveau classifieur associatif que nous avons appelé EDMA. / This thesis explores the relation between two domains which are the Belief Function Theory (BFT) and data mining. Two main interactions between those domain have been pointed out.The first interaction studies the contribution of the generic associative rules in the BFT. We were interested in managing conflict in case of fusing conflictual information sources. A new approach for conflict management based on generic association rules has been proposed called ACM.The second interation studies imperfect databases such as evidential databases. Those kind of databases, where information is represented by belief functions, are studied in order to extract hidden knowledges using data mining tools. The extraction of those knowledges was possible thanks to a new definition to the support and the confidence measures. Those measures were integrated into a new evidential associative classifier called EDMA.

D.Cur. / The overall objective of this study is to describe a model that will serve as theoretical framework for facilitating interaction to both nurse educators and nursing students during conflict at a college of nursing. There is need for transformation at colleges concerning interaction during conflict and that can be facilitated through practising the opposite elements of negative interaction, identified in the field-work of the research study, which is compliance with norms, justice which is fair and equal treatment, facilitative communication, power sharing, facilitative peer group dynamics. A unique contribution in the model description is the facilitative interaction elements identified as opposites of the results of the field research, namely: Compliance with norms Justice, which is fair and equal treatment Facilitative communication Power sharing Facilitative peer group dynamics.

D.Ed. (Educational Management) / This research focuses on the conflict and the concomitant disruption experienced in black urban secondary schools in the RSA. The causes, the nature and the extent of such conflict and disruption are indicated, and the attempts thus far, to manage such conflict, are discussed. Attention is also given to alternative methods of managing conflict in an effort to curtail the disruption of schools so that unimpeded meaningful education may take place. The premise is that education is at the centre of conflict in black communities and that unrest and disruption at schools constitutes a specific form of conflict in the South African situation. The variable success rate achieved in attempting to combat conflict in black schools through conventional methods of managing such conflict necessitates a search for alternative conflict management methods in education. This research focuses on the process of mediation as a technique for managing conflict. The main aim is to ascertain whether mediation may be employed to manage conflict in black schools effectively. To achieve this aim, both a study of the literature and analytical research have been carried out by way of a questionnaire and interviews. The use of mediation as a technique for managing conflict in schools overseas and the successes achieved in USA schools are also addressed. The conclusion is drawn that a very real need exists to use mediation as a technique for managing conflict in black schools. This research shows that mediation is both an acceptable and a viable mechanism for the effective management of conflict in black schools. Several recommendations are made on the use of mediation as a technique for minimising conflict and disruption in the field of education. It is recommended, inter alia. that all teacher training programmes should include courses on non-violent conflict management techniques. with the emphasis on mediation. Education authorities should put to use the resources and the skills of all institutions that have managed conflict through mediation.

This study examined the consistency between verbal responses to hypothetical conflict scenarios and the actual conflict resolutions techniques children apply in everyday play. Twenty-one children were interviewed and observed in order to determine their conflict resolution strategies. During the interview process, each child was asked to finish 6 hypothetical conflict scenarios. During the observation portion, each child was observed in 2 conflict scenarios. Significant (p < .05) differences were found with regards to verbal responses for 3 scenarios, verbal and behavioral responses of females (females exhibited more socially acceptable conflict resolution strategies in their verbal responses, yet less socially acceptable conflict resolution strategies in their behavioral responses), and socially acceptable responses to conflict in verbal strategies. Results were discussed in light of previous research comparing gender differences and peer relationships to conflict resolution strategies.

No description available.