This thesis is about a pastoral theology of participation, guided by the process of participatory action research. It explores through the lived experience of the participants practical ways of doing friendship. On this research journey, I explore the discourse of individualism and how it blinds us to our connectedness as creations in the image of God. Without denying the benefits scientific development have to offer, I argue for a more richly textured individualism, inviting concern for the consequences of our actions on the well-being of others as part of our ethical ways of being. The Fourth Century description of a Christian as `friend of God' was the inspiration for the metaphor of friendship as a powerful counterweight against the isolating forces of a culture where the distorting ideology of consumerism and individualism are prevailing. I argue for the re-membering of this metaphor for God as friend, and the church as community-of-friends. Through the telling of tales of living friendship, interwoven with and giving life to the philosophy of friendship, I build further on the metaphor for the church as community-of-friends. I propose a Friendship Position Map and the metaphor of a circle of concern, arguing that although it comes more natural to us to love those close to us, and reach out to them in friendship, in an ethical spirituality of participation and mutual care, we are to follow Jesus' example and show hospitality towards all others, including strangers and enemies. Where many authors write about the importance of community, this thesis is about how to create the nourishing community we long for. It explores practical ways in which communities can overcome obstacles in their way to connect to each other through ethical ways of loving and doing friendship. It offers some ideas about learning to be friends in the inner circles of the circle of concern with those close to us, in order to do friendship in the outer circles. I explore the role of the church and faith communities as habitat for the nurturing and/or cultivating of living friendships, in inviting faith communities to live as community-of-friends; friends of God and of one another. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D.Th. - (Practical Theology--Pastoral Therapy)

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In today’s global business environment, multinational companies recognise that expatriate management is a major determinant of success in international business. Expatriates do not only face changes in the work environment but face a full range of cultural, personal and lifestyle changes that influence the success of an international assignment. This study investigates the relationship between cross-cultural training and expatriate adjustment. A quantitative longitudinal study was conducted within two phases to explore a European multinational companies cross-cultural training programme and its effects on expatriate adjustment in South Africa. Overseas experience, language proficiency, spousal adjustment, cultural distance and host country friendships were also explored as antecedents of adjustment. The empirical study included descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that there was no statistically significant relationship between cross-cultural training and expatriate adjustment. While previous overseas experience showed a significant positive influence on sociocultural adjustment, it had no significant effect on psychological well-being or culture shock. Cultural distance displayed a significant negative influence on sociocultural adjustment and psychological well-being / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com.

The main aim of this study was to develop a diversity management content model based on the organisational team sport intervention and to compile a process model to implement organisational team sport in an organisation in nine financial organisations in Gauteng, South Africa. The diversity constraints relevant in this study were age, gender, race, religious beliefs, physical abilities, ethnicity, generation gaps, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, physical abilities, education, income, political beliefs and income. The study was conducted among 63 sport participants and nine sport coordinators employed at nine financial organisations in Gauteng, South Africa. The data were collected by means of focus group interviews with sport participants and individual interviews with sport coordinators. The results indicate that organisational team sport interventions as a diversity management initiative do have benefits for the employees (i.e. the employees learn more about and from one another, communicate openly, become friends, trust and respect one another, are able to work together in a team, have equal opportunities and there is less stereotyping/discrimination) and for the organisation (i.e. productivity, the company is able to achieve its goals, employees are more cohesive and able to work together, there is creativity, new ideas are generated and client service improves). The findings of this study contribute valuable new knowledge to the literature on the diversity management content model based on organisational team sport interventions because no studies have been conducted on an organisational team sport intervention model that can be utilised as a diversity model in organisations. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Com.

The thesis analyses forms and levels of social exclusion of Zimbabwean migrants in the South African labour market and society. The research reveals that migrants face social exclusion through unruly practices of public officials and institutional bias. At community and individual level migrants are devalued and stigmatised by the local South Africans and other Zimbabwean migrants. To some extent Zimbabwean migrants participate in their own exclusion as they are divided along regional and ethnic lines. The thesis proposes an analytical framework for understanding the social exclusion of Zimbabwean migrants emphasising on how devaluation of migrant identity narrows the existing structure of opportunity, leading to various coping mechanisms some of which are deviant. The thesis proposes a moral and pragmatic view in understanding the social exclusion of migrants from a cosmopolitan perspective where migrants are citizens of a global world. Using a qualitative methodology the research provides an in-depth analysis of the life histories of fifty eight (58) ‘documented’ and ‘undocumented’ Zimbabwean men and women in Kempton Park and Tembisa. The research was carried out in 2012. Migrants respond to social exclusion by using social capital in the form of family/kinship, ethnic and church networks. Zimbabweans mainly rely on bonding rather than bridging social capital. To a greater extent, migrant networks help them to ‘get by’ and simply survive. The few that have managed to ‘get ahead’, have made use of networks with South African residents and other individuals outside their migrant network systems. These have facilitated acquisition of fake identity documents, jobs and other necessities. Family networks are beginning to repel migrants because of the economic pressures they face leading to the weakening of ties among Zimbabwean migrant family members. / Sociology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)

The work deals with the social-psychological aspects of old age. The first part characterises these basic terms : old age, the needs of elderly people and different types of senior care. In the part {\clqq} Illnesses of elderly people`` it deals with the most common illnesses and their effects on the social {--} psychological life of elderly people. It describes the separate views of society on old age and the influence of illnesses on elderly people. It goes on to describe the violence commited against senior citizens and the need they have good social relationships (family, friends).It also suggets different leisure time activities and ways for the elderly to utilize their time. In the next part there are different examples from various senior citizens in which they tell the story of their life, about their joys and problems. The practical part includes the research about the common life of elderly, which we can see every day. I have seen both positive and negative things, which come with old age. There I compare the leisure time activities of elderly men and elderly women.

The main focus of this master thesis is to encourage the development of sociable relations in junior level pupils towards schoolmates and other children. This intention also involves support of positive relation towards oneself and the environment. The teoretical section of the tesis defines basic terms and gives characteristics of juior school age with consideration to development of child´s drawing technique and the impact of media to its personality. The tesis furthermore deals with culture and aestetic taste, which is an integral part of upbringing and education, and it also involves treatise on using of fine arts on the field of education, benefits of visual creation and its potential in the sphere of comunication. The practical section presents a graphic project called ``Let´s be friends``, which is based upon cinematization of the book written by C. S. Lewis ``The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe`` (directed by Andrew Adamson USA, 2005). Its purpose is to draw children towards deliberation about friendship and revealing the secret of how this relationship works. The project is to give the children posibility to enter the storyline, perform it, which is meant for supporting as well as developing their creativity and imagination. In the conclusion, there is a reflexion caried out by the means of visual creation activity.

Ungdomsbrottslighet är ett utbrett problem i världen och inte minst i Sverige. I denna studie undersöktes förekomsten av ungdomsbrottslighet och i vilken grad personlighet (Cloningers biopsykosociala modell för unga), familjeförhållanden och vänners brottsliga beteende relaterar till detta. Vidare studerades i vilken grad brottsligheten skiljer sig åt beroende på kön och bostadsområde. Studien genomfördes på ett urval om 1461 ungdomar i årskurs 7 och 8 som en del i projektet LoRDIA. Resultaten beskriver ett tydligt positivt samband mellan ungdomars brottsliga beteende och personlighetsdraget Novelty Seeking (sensationssökande, d.v.s. att individen är impulsiv, utforskande och spänningssökande). Vidare återfanns ett negativt samband mellan brottslighet och familjesammanhållning och ett positivt samband mellan brottslighet och vänners brottsliga beteende vilket tyder på att en god sammanhållning inom familjen verkar som en skyddande effekt mot brottslighet medan umgänge med kriminella vänner ökar risken för brottsligt beteende. Studien visade vidare att det finns tydliga könsskillnader i ungdomars brottsmönster. Förutom att killar begår fler brott än tjejer visade det sig att personlighetsdraget Novelty Seeking, som har ett generellt statistiskt signifikant samband med brottslighet, inte gav ett signifikant samband för killar boende i ett sämre socioekonomiskt område. Studien framhåller att både individuella karaktäristika och sociala band är viktiga för förståelsen av förekomsten av ungdomsbrottslighet. / Juvenile delinquency is a widespread problem in the world and not least in Sweden. This study examined juvenile delinquency and the extent to which personality (the Cloningers biopsychosocial model for the young), family relationships and friends' criminal behavior relate to this. Furthermore, the extent to which crime differs depends on gender and residential area. The study was conducted on a selection of 1461 adolescents in 7th and 8th grade as a part of the LoRDIA project. The results describe a pronounced positive relationship between youngster's criminal behavior and the personality trait Novelty Seeking (i.e. the individual is impulsive, exploratory and sensational seeking). Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between crime and family cohesion and a positive correlation between crime and friends' criminal behavior, which suggests that good cohesion within the family seems to be a protective effect against crime while dealing with criminal friends increases the risk of criminal behavior. The study further showed that there are pronounced gender differences in youth patterns of crime. In addition to boys committing more crimes than girls, it appeared that the personality trait Novelty Seeking has not a generally statistically significant relationship with crime for boys living in a worse socioeconomic area. The study emphasizes that both individual characteristics and social ties are important for understanding the existence of juvenile delinquency.

The thesis deals with the issue of singletons. Its main question is directed to the childhood of singletons and its importance for the whole life of a human. It wonders whether the childhood of singletons affects humans in adulthood, or in which areas and which way. The thesis is divided into two parts, theoretical and part of the research. In the first part basic terms are defined which constitute the basis for the second part of the work. The research part of the work is more extensive and forms the core of the thesis. It is a qualitative research. Biographical design, specifically the realistic biography, has been used as the most appropriate research plan. First, three interviews were made and processed - depth probes of the respondents who grew up as the singletons. The analysis of the probes divided the interview into three stages: childhood upbringing, the upbringing of their own children and self-education. After processing the individual parts of the research, the final synthesis revealed that the childhood of the respondents and the fact of being an only child had a significant impact on their overall life. It affected their childhood and also the following life stages. The biggest deficit of the singletons was in socialization, predominantly in the area of interpersonal relations and...

The diploma thesis focuses on the so called "false friends" in contemporary Czech and Polish. Both languages are first introduced in the context of their linguistic and typological features as relevant to the subject of the thesis. Particular attention is paid to the differences between the two languages, and therefore possible language interferences. Furthermore, the paper discusses the issue of so called "false friends" and, based on the studies of E. Lotko, there were selected four types of false friends (grammatical (according to the grammatical gender of the noun), lexicographical, stylistic and valency false friends) and discussed more. Those lexical units are first characterized in general terms, and are then focused on the apecific "false friends" contained in the Common European Framework of Reference (levels A1-B1 for Czech as a foreign language). The second part of the thesis (based on the acquired theoretical knowledge) tries to design and recommend a methodology for working with so called "false friends" in the teaching of Czech as a foreign language to the target group of native Polish speakers. This includes worksheets for students as well as the methodology for teachers. Key words False friends, Interlanguage homonymity, Czech language, Polish language, Common European Framework of...