The goal of this research was to explore and compare the perspectives of both parents and street children regarding the factors in the family systems that contribute to children leaving home and living on the streets. The study was done within the qualitative research approach and was applied research. It was a comparative study, comparing the perspectives of children and their parents/guardians. A literature review was conducted and formed the basis for a semi-structured interview schedule. A non-probability sampling method and a purposive technique were used in the selection of participants in this study. They met the following criteria. <ul> <li>They were boys and girls between ten and eighteen years of age.</li> <li>They had been benefiting from the Leratong and Itumeleng shelter services for at least six months and more.</li> <li>They had a family that consistsed of both parents, either single parent or at least a guardian who would be included as a respondent in the study.</li> <li>Their families were located around Pretoria for accessibility.</li> <li>They did not have constant contact with their families.</li></ul> The phenomenological strategy was suitable for this study and aimed to explore and understand the factors contributing to children living and working on the streets, thus understanding and interpreting the meaning that children living and working in the streets, together with their families, give to their everyday lives. The researcher found different family factors contributing to the street child phenomenon: <ul> <li>Poverty;</li> <li>Unemployment;</li> <li>Lack of effective communication between children and parents,</li> <li>Mischievousness by children;</li> <li>Step-family relationships;</li> <li>Child abuse and ill-treatment by parents/guardians; and</li> <li>The majority of the parents/ guardians were of the opinion that the government should provide intervention to solve the problem of street children.</li> </ul> / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Research examining prospective memory and aging has grown enormously in last decade but many unanswered questions remain. Prospective memory refers to remembering what one intends to do and it can be contrasted to retrospective memory which refers to what one has done. Prospective memory has been studied as part of traditional memory systems but recent research suggests that it may be better understood as an executive function. Three studies were carried out to examine prospective memory in older adults while addressing the weaknesses of the previous research. In Study I, prospective memory tests and a battery of neuropsychological measures were administered to 129 healthy young-old and old-old adults. Study II examined the utility of the Prospective Memory Screening Questionnaire (PROMSQ) in a group of over 500 older adults, some of whom exhibited mild cognitive decline. A subset of this group also received a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Study III included 80 healthy young-old and old-old adults. Along with a battery of neuropsychological measures, they were administered the Prospective Memory Test (PMT), a more comprehensive measure of prospective memory compared with the tasks administered in Study I. The analyses of Study I revealed age differences in favour of the younger adults on the event-based prospective memory tasks. Participants also remembered more information relating to the prospective memory component of the tasks than the retrospective memory component. In this study, measures of executive functioning accounted for more of the variance of the prospective memory tasks than the other cognitive functions, including retrospective memory. In Study III no age differences were observed for either time- or event-based prospective memory tasks. Performance on the PMT also was accounted for by measures of attention and executive functioning rather than the retrospective memory. A comprehensive error analysis on the PMT was also conducted. The results of Study II suggested that the PROMSQ may not be a good measure of self-reported prospective memory in older adults as the internal consistency of the measure was poor. Discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical implications of the results of the series of three studies. Possible reasons for the conflicting age results from previous research is addressed and related to the present findings. Finally, the strengths and weaknesses of the present series of studies the present series of studies discussed, as well as directions for future research. / Graduate

Recall of narrative content was studied in a sample of 170 children ranging from 5 to 11 years of age. Age range was divided into three equal intervals. The children within each interval were randomly assigned to four encoding conditions (symbolic, iconic, enactive, and symbolic-rehearsal) so that any effects of interactions between age-affected cognitive capacities and different encoding conditions could be gauged at 30 seconds and one week (after encoding). Between-ages (within condition) and between conditions (within age) comparisons revealed that age increase was generally, though not uniformly, accompanied by significant recall advantage. Analyses revealed that effects of different encoding conditions were sufficiently variable across the ages that age advantage was diminished when free recall performances of 5-7 year old children in enactive and iconic encoding conditions were compared to free recall performances of older children (9-11 years of age) in symbolic conditions of encoding. The results are discussed in relation to theoretical issues and educational questions. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This paper addresses the nature of Social Work supervision in the Directorate of Developmental Welfare Services. It contains five chapters namely Research Orientation, Literature Review, Social Structure in Namibia, Empirical Study and the last chapter is the Conclusions and Recommendations. The Research Orientation deals with motivating factors explaining the need for this research as well as pointing out the goal and objectives of the research. The goal of the research is to explore and describe Social Work supervision in the Directorate of Developmental Welfare Services in Namibia. The Literature Review gives comprehensive explanations of the importance of Social Work supervision in delivering social services. It provides opinions of different authors and their views on the nature of supervision, the supervisory needs of supervisees, and the functions and roles of supervisors. The Research Methodology chapter looks at how the research was done, how the researcher gathered information and the tools that were used. The research data was examined using the quantitative data analysis approach. Data analysis and interpretation breaks down the data obtained from the questionnaires, which are the instruments that the researcher used to obtain the information. The result consists of graphs and tables that clearly present the data. This chapter also covers the social structure of Namibia, a brief description of the regions in Namibia in order to help the reader understand the distances between offices. The Conclusions are a summary of the findings obtained from the respondents on the nature of supervision in the directorate. Possible solutions to improve supervision in the directorate are addressed in the recommendations. One of the recommendations is that the directorate should develop standardised supervisory guidelines. / Dissertation (MA (Social Work))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Abstract In this study, we examined potential protective factors against depression in the LGBTQ+ community by determining whether outness, self-esteem, perceived social support, life meaning, courage to challenge or resilience/hardiness, life satisfaction, and hope were correlated with less depression. There were 149 participants in the study, 38 of whom identified as members of the LGBTQ+ community, and 107 of whom identified as heterosexual. Participants completed an online survey that took approximately 30 minutes. It was predicted that protective factors would be negatively related to depression. Results of both correlation and regression analyses revealed no significant relations between protective factors and depression. In a post-hoc analysis, the correlations between these factors in the heterosexual participants were statistically significant. Protective factors may be less prevalent or less directly helpful in the LGBTQ+ minority community than they are in the heterosexual majority. In addition, LGBTQ+ participants reported significantly higher levels of depression than the heterosexual participants. Thus, these findings indicate that there are significantly less protective factors present in the lives of LGBTQ+ persons than there are in their heterosexual counterparts.

MPH / Department of Public Health / Post-apartheid South Africa’s healthcare system improved with many community members being able to easily access basic health care services. However, patient waiting time has remained a critical issue. Patients are well-known for arriving at healthcare facilities very early for the reason of avoiding lengthy queues. This, however, does not solve their problem. The purpose of the study was to explore factors influencing patient waiting time in Nthabiseng clinic in the Capricorn district of the Limpopo Province. The study was conducted at Nthabiseng clinic in the Capricorn District. A qualitative approach was adopted, and a sample was chosen from a targeted population through purposive sampling. Data were collected through a one-to-one semi-structured interview and analysed through the Thematic Data Analysis approach. The study found out that the Department of Health does not have a patient waiting time specific policy or legislative framework and/or a guiding document. It also showed that healthcare professionals define and calculate patient waiting time differently. Moreover, what is an acceptable waiting time to one is an unacceptable waiting time to another. The study recommended that a policy and Standard Operation Procedure be drafted to guide healthcare professionals on how to improve waiting time in their specific facilities.

This dissertation examines the impact of major hurricanes on changes in GDP for counties in four states – Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. The analysis examines the effectiveness of intergovernmental financing for major hurricanes between 2000 and 2014. It also examines whether institutional proximity of the disaster management function to the Governor's Office and the career status of the director affect the speed of recovery from the disaster. The analysis also assesses the impact that a counties's prior experience at dealing with disasters has on the speed of recovery.

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Bees are a diverse group of insects responsible for pollinating plants in agricultural and ecological landscapes. Wild bees are impacted by anthropogenic activity and associated habitat loss. Although 75% of bee species nest underground, this nesting strategy has been overlooked. In my thesis, I explored the nesting habitat requirements of ground-nesting bees by studying the relation between bees and edaphic factors. First, I reviewed existing literature about ground-nesting bee nesting characteristics (Chapter 2). I found that certain abiotic factors (e.g., soil texture, temperature, moisture, compaction, slope, and soil surface features), as well as biotic factors (e.g., floral resources, conspecifics, predators), could be key in nest-site selection. I also discuss possible explanations for the choice of these nesting characteristics, particularly edaphic factors. Secondly, in Chapter 3, I assessed relationships between specific soil factors (soil texture, compaction, slope and ground cover) and the wild local ground-nesting bee communities on 35 farms around Ottawa throughout 2018 and 2019. I found that higher percentages of sand and bare ground were linked to increased total ground-nesting bee abundance and species richness, whilst slope and diversity (Simpson’s index) were negatively correlated. Furthermore, associations with soil factors were found to be species-specific, especially for associations with sand content, which were either positive, negative, or non-significant. Ground-nesting bee community’s composition was influenced by sand content, slope, soil compaction and bare ground in sampled agroecosystems. Finally, in Chapter 4, I experimentally tested nesting preferences of ground-nesting bee species for soil texture. Based on one season of sampling, there was no association between bee abundance or species richness and soil texture. Together, my research sheds light on the influence of soil characteristics on species-specific nesting-habitat associations for ground-nesting bees. Along with floral resources which have received far more study, nesting habitat is vital for the well-being and persistence of bee populations, and therefore for their conservation.