Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / The thesis hopes to augment this focus by exploring the multitude of discourses women make in terms of oppression, resilience being one such possible response. It is proposed that the research may expand on existing literature, offering an alternative perspective as to why women often remain in abusive relationships. Furthermore, the rationale of the thesis is to contest the notion that women who remain in domestically violent relationships do so for underlying pathological reasons. / South Africa

This research is aimed at finding empirical evidence to support the relationship between Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) compliance and the financial performance of South African companies on the JSE. An independent measure of the BEE score was obtained from the Empowerdex Top Empowerment Companies (TEC) ranking from 2004 to 2009. 14 sectors on the JSE were selected to ensure inclusion of all major industries in South Africa. A total of 209 companies were selected, and the multivariate exploratory technique of Cluster Analysis was used. The predictor variable of the company’s BEE status was then compared to a number of financial performance indicators such as annual share price, price-tobook value ratio and the price-to-earnings ratio (i.e. the outcome variables). By standardising the variables of the BEE score and using Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), the k-means Clustering method yielded four interpretable clusters with 15, 64, 95 and 35 companies respectively. The finding indicate that only in the case of the cluster of companies that increased it’s BEE score, were all three profitability measures significantly different and, according to the means, in the direction of higher profitability. However, there were no significant differences in the results to support the proposition that low-BEE scores of companies had a negative impact on their profitability and their firm’s value over time. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This study endeavoured to establish, specifically, the effectiveness of enterprise development initiatives within the McCarthy Ltd franchised dealer network and also to understand their low occurrence within the group. Effective implementation of enterprise development initiatives within McCarthy Ltd franchised dealer network would also mean compliance to the BBBEE codes of good practice. The study found that there was a lot of optimism among dealer principals to introduce and manage the concept of enterprise development within the group. A convenience sample of dealer principals from within the group countrywide was taken as well as that of beneficiary enterprises initiatives operating countrywide as well for this study. The actual occurrence of enterprise development within the McCarthy Ltd franchised dealer network however was not encouraging, at least based on the actual reported initiatives in existence. The study found that there was a significant gap between the requirements of start-up or early stage enterprises and requirements of maturing to mature businesses. It also indicated that dealer principals were not necessaril y always adequately equipped to deal with the requirements of beneficiary enterprise requirements and hence the low occurrence or lack of introduction of enterprise development initiatives on a much wider scale. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

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This research proposes a re-examination of the concept of death and the way it is utilized within selected contemporary African-American works of fictional literature. These texts present death and its use as a tool of empowerment as a paradigm beyond its traditional treatments in literature-particularly Africana-centered literature. Through the harnessing and manipulation of death, the characters featured in this work are recognized as those who encapsulate and re-invent circumstances that are otherwise disempowering and dysfunctional. Through death, these women re-propose their negative realities by using death as a manipulative for vengeance and to gain the ultimate freedom from oppression. In both Beloved and Kindred death is an escape mechanism through which the protagonists return to life as they would have it lived, and are re-born to re-engage life anew.

Black business community participated in SA economy for survival purposes rather than for prosperity and contribution to its development at large. The rest of the black population formed a labour pool as a race-based lumpenproletariat. It is only in 1993 that BEE was introduced to dramatically reform the economy by including all races. The aim of the study was to determine BEE owned company success factors given the criticism and challenges faced. A qualitative, exploratory study was undertaken to gain in-depth knowledge from thirteen BEE experts through semi-structured interviews. The respondents were selected by way of purposive and snowball sampling and the highest combined total NAV of the BEE owned companies studied is over R92 Billion. The study found that at a macro-economic level for economic empowerment to succeed, political, psychological, economic and social powers need to be present. At a micro-economic level access to funding, skills and value creation is instrumental in ensuring BEE ownership succeeded. White corporates also had to be involved to de-racialise the economy. To this effect a model was developed which maps out a blueprint for BEE owned company success. It is the recommendation of the study that BEE-owned companies should continuously innovate to fuel growth / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

The Changing Lives Program (CLP) is a Positive Youth Development (PYD) program that seeks to empower adolescents attending voluntary alternative high schools to take control and responsibility over their lives so they may change their negative life pathways into positive ones. The current study seeks to evaluate the CLP’s Personal Control and Responsibility Measure, an eight item scale devised to assess individuals control and responsibility over life change goals (CRLCG) and life in general (CRG). Using a weighted least squares mean and variance adjusted (WLSMV) estimator available in Mplus for categorical variable modeling, the current study ran confirmatory factory analysis on two theoretically possible models, a single factor and a two factor structure. After items regarding control over consequences dropped, results confirmed the hypothesized two factor model (CRLCG and CRG). Furthermore, analysis of measurement invariance found the factor structure form, factor loadings, and intercepts to be invariant across condition, gender, ethnicity, and time (time 1 and 2). Limitations of the current study and implications for future evaluations of the Changing Lives Program (CLP) are discussed.

This study is a retrospective examination of elements that influenced one elementary school staff to initiate and implement a school-wide innovation in their reading program in 1990-91. This school served 315 preschool children through grade three in small town set in the rural countryside. Case study methodology was used to discover how the change was initiated; why the particular program elements were chosen; the role of the staff, the principal, and the parents played in initiating the innovation; and what lessons this school's experience may have for school reform. As the school community planned for the initiation of their new reading program, the "whole language" approach to reading was gaining momentum. The notion of "early intervention" was popularly used to describe a variety of methods educators were using to deal with evidence of reading failure in young children. Their stories describe the challenges this school staff felt as they attempted a year-long initiative to merge phonics and whole language into a holistic approach to reading for grades one through three. Findings were reported around seven central themes emerging from the data collection, including: 1) empowerment, 2) academic improvement, 3) shared vision/beliefs, 4) collaboration, 5) focus on children's needs, 6) site-based decision making, 7) participatory leadership. / Ed. D.

To provide guidance to evaluators and stakeholders, evaluation scholars (i.e., those conducting research on program evaluation) have conducted numerous studies on the feasibility and effectiveness of using participatory and collaborative evaluation approaches in various contexts. While some participatory and collaborative evaluation approaches may involve youth in the evaluation of programs and interventions, few evaluations in this area have been formally documented and/or widely published. As a result, there remains a dearth of empirical research on participatory and collaborative evaluations involving youth. One such collaborative evaluation approach, empowerment evaluation (EE), appears to be well suited for engaging youth in program evaluation, as participants are co-evaluators. Using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, EE aims to teach program stakeholders, including beneficiaries, how to conduct their own evaluations. In this two-part mixed methods research project I sought to investigate and formally document: (a) the use of EE for programs targeting youth; and/or (b) the involvement of youth in EE of such programs. By investigating and documenting these areas, this study builds on the very limited body of empirical research on EE. As such, it provides important information to evaluators who are embarking on evaluations of programs targeting youth, so that they can make informed decisions about the use of EE and the involvement of youth in their evaluation activities. To address these goals, this study used a mixed methods case study approach and included two parts and multiple phases. Part 1 Phase 1 involved a survey of evaluators associated with particular Targeted Interest Groups (TIGs) of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) who are involved in evaluating programs that target youth. It determined the extent to which: (a) evaluators report using EE to evaluate youth programs; and (b) how evaluators report involving youth in EE of youth programs. Part 1 Phase 2 involved interviews with a select group of these evaluators and explored what factor(s) facilitate and hinder: (a) the use of EE to evaluate programs involving youth; and (b) the involvement of youth in EE of programs targeting youth. Part 2 then used observations from an EE with youth of their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) focused educational outreach program to explore: (a) what an EE of a youth program might look like in practice; (b) how youth can be involved in an EE. Youth also took part in follow-up interviews to allow an examination of: (c) the strengths and limitations of using an EE to evaluate a program targeting youth; and (d) the strengths and limitations of involving youth in an EE of a program targeting youth. Overall, the findings show that the use of EE to evaluate programs involving youth may be limited, however, there are factors that can facilitate and hinder the use of EE and the involvement of youth in EE. The findings also demonstrate that an EE can be carried out in practice with youth acting as co-evaluators and that through EE youth may experience both positive and negative outcomes of using EE and of being involved in EE. In light of these findings, ways to improve the involvement of youth in the evaluation of programs that target youth using EE are discussed.

This thesis includes two stand-alone articles with the overall purpose of critically exploring experiences related to sport-for-development from the program participants’ perspective on the one hand, and from the practitioners’ perspective on the other. After outlining the research objectives and present a review of literature, theoretical framework, epistemology, methodology, methods, and analysis, the first article focuses on the YLP participants’ experiences with a particular interest on empowerment processes. Specifically, I employed a Critical Youth Empowerment (CYE) framework in relation to youth experiences and larger community involvement with youth programming (Jennings et al., 2006). Photovoice was conducted and supplemented with eleven semi-structured interviews, one focus group and a month-long participant observation. The above-mentioned research was juxtaposed with a second article presenting an autoethnographic account of my own experiences as a practitioner and researcher. My autoethnography mixes theory, methodology, and methods throughout the narrative. My hope was to produce a theoretically rich and reflexive account of the experiences that led me to conceptualize sport-for-development differently. This self-critical piece aims at providing an opportunity for readers to reflect upon and hopefully challenge their own practices, knowledge production, and research orthodoxy.